Valentine's Day, with all its soppy, enforced romanticism, cliched roses and Hallmark teddies holding hearts with saccharine messages imprinted on them, is enough to make any sane woman dry-retch.
Although I'm morally opposed to any commercialised "holiday" that tells you to spend more money, I'm in favour of showing the
ones you love, you love them. All too often we get caught up in the rush of the day-to-day and forget to take a moment to show our love and appreciation for the people in our lives who make it all bearable (even if that person is you). And though I don't believe in a prescribed day for said actions, if V-day is what it takes to remind you to hug your love, then by all means, use it for that purpose.
If you are going to do this though, please don't just buy whatever mindless gift the junk mail catalogues tell you to. Put some thought into it. It doesn't have to be expensive, you just have to spend some time thinking about what the person who means most to you would really like. It may be your spouse, mother, brother, best friend or you may be using this opportunity to give yourself some well-earned appreciation.
There are some typical gifts that are okay: lingerie, jewellery and shoes are always welcome. Just buy with the person in mind. Men, don't buy sexy lace lingerie if you've only ever seen your partner in cotton boy-legs. Don't go to a chain-store jeweller if they've been drooling over the Meadowlark website for the past six months. And shoes? They can be a hard one. Unless you're absolutely certain, a voucher is always a safe bet.
Speaking of vouchers, massage or facial vouchers are good, even the non-girliest of girls will enjoy a good rub-down. Flowers are nice, but die in a week or so. If your partner is green-thumbed, get a potted plant or flower or herbs for the kitchen windowsill. Put a ribbon around it and you've got yourself a thoughtful gift that will last, and cost you less than $10. If she's more clothing-inclined, you could buy an item with a nice floral print instead of actual flowers, such as the gorgeous roses in Blak's winter collection (it's hitting stores now).