Sweetening Up the Men

Valentine’s Day Gift Guide for your man 

When it comes to hol­i­days and gifts, men can be as dif­fi­cult to buy for as for women. Even in movies there’s the James Bond kind of guy, Spiderman kind of guy. And then there’s Jake Sully.  Here are a few ideas to toss around, and one tried and true experience. 

First of all, you need to decide where it is that your rela­tion­ship is lead­ing.  If you just met, keep it sim­ple; if you are four to six months into the rela­tion­ship, maybe some­thing more inti­mate or some­thing you’ve heard him men­tion that he would like to have; and of course, if you’ve reached the state of monogamy, you have many other options. 

We will start with some sim­ple ideas and moveto the more extrav­a­gant.  Society seems to think that the men are the ones who need to make hol­i­days super big for their women but there is no rea­son why you can’t be the one to make the hol­i­day festive.

Try some of these ideas:

1.  Clothings

Watch him closely for a bit, see what his style is but def­i­nitely be sure to pur­chase him an item that is already part of his wardrobe style.  For instance, there’s not much point in pur­chas­ing a gym rat a three-piece suit.  And, you prob­a­bly won’t even get him in a real but­ton up shirt so just be prac­ti­cal.  Remember, the gift is for him, not you. 

2.  Kitchen Gadget and Utensils

If your man has lived alone for some­time, chances are he has found that cer­tain gad­gets make life eas­ier, espe­cially when prepar­ing for meals.  Kitchen gad­gets like one-cup cof­fee mak­ers or elec­tric can opener for those end­less cans of spaghettio’s. Or, if he like to make elab­o­rate din­ner par­ties for his friends, kitchen mit­tens, table run­ner, are sim­ple but surely loved.

3. Deodorant, Cologne and after­shave

 A man’s scent is more sta­ble than women most of the time.  After a few meet­ings, you prob­a­bly know what kind of deodor­ant, cologne and after­shave he uses and prob­a­bly prefers.  Unless he has dropped hints that he would like to make a change, take the safe route and stock him up on his favorites. 

4.  Gift Cards and chocolate

Gift cards for book­stores, cof­fee shops, iTunes, and other major spe­cialty stores are always safe. Pair it with a box of home­made choco­late, now you take cheap out of the equa­tion

5. KISS (Keep it Special and Secret)

And the tried and true method I men­tioned above, keep it all one big secret.  Leave him notes guid­ing him to the next place where he will con­tinue the trea­sure hunt.  And depend­ing on your rela­tion­ship, you can end the trea­sure hunt at fancy hotel com­plete with the Valentine’s Special. (Bonus, make a stop at a good retreat spa like Le Petite Retreat Day Spa)

Of course you don’t have to go all out and make the occa­sion big­ger than the rela­tion­ship itself.  Just be your­self, keep your eye on the qual­ity of the rela­tion­ship and try to choose a gift that rep­re­sents the time you’ve spent together, regard­less of whether it has been 2 days or 20 years.