Valen’s Vanity Square

I suddenly thought of February. Yes, the month after January. ;P

There are several special occasion to celebrate in the month of February. Firstly, Valentine’s Day; secondly, my birthday! Then, closely followed by my niece’s birthday.

I’m not going to think what I will give hubby on the Valentine’s day, coz I probably will not give anything. But I will think of what I might want hubby to buy me for my birthday, haha! I know, that’s so unfair, huh?

And then, I also have to think of what birthday present to give to my cute niece who is going to be 2 years old. May be I should start browsing websites that offer gift ideas for boys and girls. I reckon boys and girls play with similar types of toys when they are toddlers, e.g. tricycles, bouncing balls, musical toys, simple puzzles, etc.

I have a few weeks to consider and do some window-shopping first before I decide. Of course, not forgetting to think about what gift ‘request’ I should extend to hubby, haha!

We’re heading to the beach this weekend, not only because there is a long stretch of public holidays, but also because it’s hubby’s birthday!

That also means I need to get a birthday present for him before the day. But this birthday present has to be ‘bigger’ than usual, as I’m considering of combining two gifts into one. The other occasion will be - our 10th anniversary!

Although the two special days don’t fall on the same day, they are just about 10 days apart. So it’s reasonable to give him a two-in-one present, isn’t it?

At first, I thought of getting him a bulova watch, but then he has just got his Tissot not too long ago. Perhaps I’ll get him some golf clubs. Oh no, may be I should get him a DSLR camera, so that I can use it too! Haha!

As for my present, I don’t know what plan hubby has in mind. I shall wait for the surprise…

With so many year end holidays and festive season around the corner, people are starting to send out holiday cards.

While there was for a period of time where digital greeting cards or electronic holiday cards were popular, until we thought that printed cards would soon be wiped out and become non-existent, reality proven the otherwise.

Printed cards are back in trend in the recent years actually. People now actually prefer DIY cards, where they can personalized and customized the cards, be it wedding invitations, Valentine’s cards, Christmas cards or gift labels. Everyone wants their cards to be unique and special.

Won’t the printing of cards hurt our resources because we have to chop down more trees? Well, if you are a eco-friendly person, you can always make your own greeting cards using resources recycled from used cards, photos, graphics cut out from magazines, etc.

Or you can choose to purchase greeting cards made from recycled paper. Recycle doesn’t mean that it will compromise on the design quality. Like the Christmas card and gift label below from Pear Tree Greetings.

They can be simple or elaborated, but they are always personalized. Don’t you think so?

We’re still in the first quarter of the year. What is one of the things that you usually do in the beginning of a year? Marking down on the calendar the birthdays of your spouse, parents, sisters, brothers, and friends, weddings of your colleagues, graduation day of your cousins, etc.

So, it’s good to plan all the gifts to give (and your budget) in advanced, isn’t it? To make your gifts unique, you may want to consider giving personalized gifts. A number of personalized gift ideas are such as:

For wedding gifts, you may give the to-be-wed couple a customized hand painted ceramic signature plate to replace the traditional wedding guest book. The signature plate, with all the guests have signed on, can serve as a piece of decor in the house for many generations to come.  Customized cake toppers also make fun wedding gifts.

For birthday of your nephews and nieces, I think they will like a photo pillow or photo blanket very much. They can sleep on a very nice photo of them with their beloved puppy or cat, perhaps, and have beautiful dreams every night.

If you have a girlfriend who are going to become a mom, she will appreciate your handmade baby diaper bag gift. She’ll be the coolest mom in town to have a lovely diaper bags that comes with a matching handbag, changing pads and reversable nursing cover.

If you need more personalized gift ideas, I’m sure you can find a lot of ideas from the internet. So start researching for your 1-year gift ideas!

Finally, managed to get tickets for the “Valentine’s Day” movie. It’s such a sweet and warm movie. Not that kind of lovey-dovey movie, but it does convey a bit about the true meaning of love.

Not sure if Valentine’s Day is such a huge day in LA, but from what was shown in the movie, it seemed that one had to queue up in a long line in order to buy flowers on that day. Reminds me of how we queued up to buy barbecued dried meat for CNY…

Ooooh, and the body of the actors in the movie… 6-packed abs, toned biceps… I think hubby must be thinking “how am I going to achieve that kind of body? I want that body too!” while watching the movie, haha!

Sometimes it really makes me wonder how the actors got so shaped up, is it truly through workout regimes or by taking muscle supplement? Or both?

It’s not easy to maintain a great body, even if you can achieve it at the first place. Perhaps those are the things we don’t know about - actors and actresses have their own sacrifices in order to be in their best shape and look…

So, may be it’s better to just be an ordinary person?

Thought I won’t be posting anymore before I go to Langkawi Island next week, but can’t help to just ‘drop by’ and wish everyone out there a warm and happy Valentine’s Day!

I was at the shopping mall yesterday and oh man, so many people were shopping for Valentine’s Day gift. If you have not bought your honey sweetie valentine any thing, you still have time before you leave for your Valentine’s Day dinner. Just pick up something from your nearest shopping mall, whether it’s a full-prized men’s watch, or discount furniture, or simply a teddy bear from the bargain corner, as long as it is something that he or she likes or needs.

As for me, I’m not exchanging gifts with hubby this year. Both of us are at the edge of being financially broke. I think my only best Valentine’s Day gift that I can give to him is… Not Making Him Spend Any More Money. Hahaha!

What is a lanyard??!! Some guys may ask this question, you know. Well, I’ve written a post on Coach cellphone lanyards before, so you can hop over there to read and check out what a lanyard is.

But really, do you know how lanyard came about, what’s the history, etc? This is what I came across on the internet, some interesting story about lanyards.

Throughout the last few hundred years, the lanyard has been known and used in modern societies. Made of a simple chord, and secured with a knife, it was actually used in times of war as a weapon. Typically worn on the left shoulder, the ends with the knife was simply tucked into the breast pocket. Usually kept near the bandolier, the knife was later completely removed and became an ornamental item that was used as part of a mundane dress code. Now dethroned as somewhat of a dangerous object, the snout decorative colorful item is now found in a store near you.

Lanyards in our contemporary time are made of a variety of different materials. Cotton and nylon are used in a type of a braided tubing matter that allows people to place things on them such as logos or even their names and are used by businesses when promoting their particular product lines. The popularity of lanyards in this venue are because of the relative inexpensive nature of the item and the limitless possibilities that can be used in regard to the styles, winks, and colors that may be used to represent the company itself.

Instead of a knife being used, lanyards can now hold things such as key is, cell phones, and many other small items indicative to our modern technological society. Along with our eyeglasses and smaller objects such as bottle openers, the lanyards can be easily lost unless they are worn consistently around your neck or your wrist. This ability makes them a staple item to hang the things from that can typically be lost very easily.

If you were to make a lanyard yourself, this would be something I tend to a friendship bracelet taking only a few minutes of the day to make it once one becomes adapts at weaving and twisting cords of material into the proper length and size that is wanted. The lanyards have come a long way in regard to their purpose and use. Despite their ugly and dark history, lanyards have become a prominent piece of ornamental attire that is an everyday staple in our modern society.

So now you can tell this story to your girlfriend when presenting her a lanyard as this Valentine’s day gift.

If your guy is a video game fanatic and you, somehow, are willing to spend a little bit more on him, then the second video game console made by Microsoft, Xbox 360, appears to be the perfect gift for him this Valentine’s Day.

You’ll be rest assured that the xbox 360 will give your guy a totally new gaming experience with the Xbox 360 Wireless Controller and the content-rich Xbox Live. The integrated Xbox Live service allows players to actually compete against each other real time on the internet. Players can also download arcade games, game demos, trailers, TV shows, and movies. That’s a really cool ‘expensive’ toy, eh?

A warning though: once your guy got his hands on Xbox 360, he might just decide to change his ‘dating partner’ for the rest of the evening. So, give at your own risk!

If there are women who are shoe fetish, I’m sure there are men that are necktie fetish. Haha! So if your guy belongs to this group of species, a necktie as your Valentine’s Day gift to him may be a good idea.

Don’t just pick any necktie. There are certain things that you need to watch out when selecting a tie, particularly one to go with a suit. Here are just a few tips suggested by experts (not me, of course!):

• Select the right tie length and width. In general, people usually go for a length of 54 inches and a width of 3 1/4 inches.
• Check the quality of the tie - it should feel smooth to the touch. Try silk ties; they are always a good choice.
• Inspect the tie’s lining. Good quality ties are lined to the tips. Good lining gives the tie a good shape and bulk.
• If the tie twist when you drape it over your hand, it’s not gonna lie flat on your chest. Dump it.

Fashionable European neckties available at www.Ties-Necktie.com

Before you go shopping for the right tie for your guy, why not check out first the assortment of neckties at www.Ties-Necktie.com?