So, if you haven’t already marked your calendar, Valentine’s Day is on a Saturday this year. That means restaurants will be packed! If you want to take your Sweetie out and you haven’t yet made reservations, make them now!!!

A good alternative to a crowded restaurant is an intimate evening at home. If you aren’t an accomplished cook or don’t want to take time away from your evening together, no worries. You can get some nice take-out and jazz it up with a few embellishments of your own.

Say you both love Chinese food – you could order from your favorite place (here in Cambridge, MA, we love Changsho!) and you could light some candles. Better yet, make a candle garden like the one pictured here, but instead spread white rice on a red plate with red candles (making the decoration and …read more

I have COLD hands! Maybe that is why I am drawn to this:

Which is available by clicking here: ThinkGeek.com

Although small and inexpensive, this could make a very nice gift. Let me explain…the key to gift giving is to really get into the head of the recipient – that is what I mean by making gift giving personal. We have to consider the person; their personality, their likes, dislikes, hobbies, et cetera. There are no wrong gifts! There are ill-thought-out gifts, gifts that are mismatched to the person, but no wrong gifts.

Who would this be a great gift for? It could be great for a hiker, hunter, your child to keep in their pocket on the walk to school, your school crossing guard, your dog-walker, and more! This would make …read more

I am trying to set up some V-Day related interviews so that I can get the scoop on some things like the wines, flowers, chocolates, etc. I am going to try to do interviews on a regular basis so if you want to see something specific covered or you yourself are an expert on something that you think the readers may be interested in, send me an e-mail (alyna@thegiftdetective.com)!