If you are poking around on the internet for Valentine's day gift ideas, I have news for you - you're cutting it REALLY close. Good luck. At this point maybe you should just get an e-gift so you can go to sleep and get ready to turn on the charm tomorrow. I know this sounds cheezy, but I sincerely believe that a really thoughtful donation to charity in someone's honor is a great gift. Because let's be honest, if you're reading this blog post, you have electricity, internet, and probably a computer of some sort (holla to all those folks out there using the computers at the library!), you and all the people you know probably have plenty of STUFF in your lives. Most people have too much STUFF, it clutters up our lives, it doesn't really improve our lives that much. So really THINK about the person you want to show love towards, and think about what that person loves. Here's some ideas:
- Someone who loves his or her pet? Donate to the shelter where the pet was adopted from!
- Someone who commutes every day through Central Park? Donate to the park!
- Someone wants a pet? Pre-pay for the adoption fees at a shelter and let your sweetie pick the pet!
- A professor that really changed your life? Donate to your alma mater!
Just get creative! For an all around animal lover, I like the Humane Society of the United States, because they have solid results helping both people and they do lots of education and legislation.
Moving on from donation gifts, home-made gifts are particularly special and who knows I might get around to making that vegan chocolate fudge for my husband one day. The nice thing about home-made gifts are it's not so much about the thing, but the fact that you put in the time and thought nice thoughts about your gift recipient while you were making it.
OK, I know non-material gifts don't cut it for everyone, so here's some things for dudes out there that might actually need stuff. (Part 1 inadvertently turned into a post about ladies' gifs, so this one is men's gifts!).
Patagonia Men's Nano Puff Hoody - It's usually cold around Valentine's day, and I usually project my own personal preferences when I give a gift, so there are a lot of warming-related V-day gifts. I've had my eye on this jacket for a long time because it is synthetic and super light (I'm always freezing and sometimes I like to look at insulating outerwear online and fantasize about wearing it all). I like that this is an insulating layer, which makes a perfect gift because it's cozy and you can wear it indoors or out, over several different seasons depending on what you wear it with. If you're not into these colors, you can usually find previous season colors (on sale!) and styles (vest, pullover, jacket) online. Even though Patagonia certifies its down as "non-live plucked" (jeesh!), I still prefer to stay away from down completely, so Nano Puff is the way to go. I would get this for my husband if he didn't already have a enough hoodies, but once those wear out he might end up with this!
Uniqlo Heat Tech Socks and Finger Socks - The socks in our home are pretty sad- most of them are from 12-packs bought years ago, and now there are holes under the ball of the foot and at the Achilles from being worn completely through. I get grouchy when I wear them because they droop down and bunch up under my foot, which is very uncomfortable (especially when wearing boots and it's hard to pull them up!). Some times when it's past time to do laundry, we wear them upside down so the hole (and the heel material) is on the top of the foot. So anyway, I bought these nice socks as a gift for my mother-in-law's boyfriend, who was really kind to us while we were staying at her apartment. He's a dancer, so I thought the toe socks would be good for him to stretch his feet in, and the Heat Tech socks were appropriate because it's been super freezing cold out. He said he really enjoys wearing them and that having nice socks totally makes a difference in his day! He's totally right, having comfortable feet makes a big difference. I know socks sound really boring and utilitarian, but NICE socks really do make your feet and by extension, the rest of your body feel better. A lot of people have told me to get wool socks because I'm always cold, but honestly I don't have time to separate them out of the laundry and wash them in cold and line dry them and all that so they don't shrink, plus I don't care if it's made out of unicorn wool, those things still get itchy. That's why we have TECHNOLOGY!! 
Bonavita Porcelain Immersion Coffee Dripper
- I got this for my husband because he looooves his coffee every morning. Sometimes in the evening he'll get a faraway look on his face with just the slightest hint of a smile, and I'll ask him,"What are you thinking about?" He'll snap out of his reverie and reply, "My first sip of coffee tomorrow morning." So anyway, about 2 years ago my mom gave him a lifetime supply of paper cone filters and a Clever Coffee Dripper, which he has used and loved every day since then. I am happy he loves it (PS the cheap part of me is glad that he's not paying $3+ for coffee every day) but I was worried about the plastic slowly disintegrating from from the repeated heating and cooling of having boiling water poured into it. I wanted to find something similar but made of glass, metal, or porcelain, and here it is! All the parts that touch the coffee are porcelain, except the little stopper which is silicone. A long time ago hubby used to drink coffee with milk and sugar, but now he drinks it black. So he veganized his drink!
