Top 10 Romantic, One-of-a-Kind, Valentine’s Day Gifts

The day of love and romance is fast approaching. Do you want to settle for flowers and chocolates this Valentine's Day as the gift to show your special someone how wonderful and loved and important they are to you? Sorry, but in my expert opinion, while flowers are beautiful and chocolates are sweet, they really show no imagination. You gotta do something at least bit different to show someone they are really special to you. The idea is to show your valentine, that of all of the people on planet earth, they are the only one you are interested in. A one-of-a-kind gift is the perfect way to tell your sweetheart that they are unique, matchless, and one-of-a kind in your heart and life.

I’ve scoured the web, consulted the most gifted minds, and even done some brainstorming all on my own, and here are - my Top 10 Romantic One-of-a-Kind Valentine’s Day Gifts. Any one of these will show your heartthrob just how much you really care and how lucky you are to have them in your life. Just a note: I’ve left out all the “gifts” that are more experience-oriented. I’ll cover these on the Top 10 Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day.

1. A Bottle of Memories. Memories on a Bottle will etch a personal message on a bottle of wine for you. Even better, for couples who have some history together, take an elegant bottle (perhaps the champagne or wine bottle from a special night out) and fill it with slips of parchment on which you have written individual memories of your time together.

2. A Romantic Bouquet of Cookies. You can buy custom cookie bouquets of heart-shaped cookies that are brightly iced with fun or romantic messages that you can personalize. This makes a thoughtful (and yummy!) gift.

3. Jewelry Done Right. If you are going to do jewelry (a long time favorite and an old stand by), make yours extra special by making it very personal. Choose a style or design that really fits your sweetheart. Or have it custom made with two interlocking hearts, or other symbols that are particular to the two of you. The best way to make a gift of jewelry really romantic is with a special inscription – and not “Valentine’s Day 2009.”

4. Framed Photo of You. Oh, but you can’t stop there. It has to be one of a kind. It has to be romantic and special. So add a lipstick kiss on the photo, a message, a favorite line from a song or poem, or a saying or quote that means something special to your valentine. The saying could be something that just the both of you get the true meaning of.

5. Framed Photo of You Two. Choose a photo from a special moment, place, date, or trip. Put the photo on one side and a piece of parchment on the other. Use your computer or have someone handwrite out a poem, saying, lines from song or poem, something about special a moment or milestone, or a special message.

6. Love Note in a Bottle. Pour your heart out on paper (a nice piece of

parchment), roll it up and place it in a decorative bottle. You can really go all out with this idea, by offering to draw a bath for your sweetheart then floating the bottle in a bathtub you’ve prepared. Picture this - a tub filled with nice warm water, bubble bath, candlelight, a glass of wine, soft romantic music playing, and a flower arrangement or petals surrounding the bath Now you can complete the moment by having a super-soft brand new towel, and some lingerie to slip into afterward. You can also go to Love Notes Messages and choose a really great bottle and have your words put inside.

7. Love Reminders. Engrave small stones or pewter shapes with words or a short phrase. You can give a single stone that will fit in the pocket or purse – “pocket rocks”. Or make bigger ones to be displayed around the house. Beach rocks are great for this. Or create a collection of engraved river rocks, each one listing a trait or feature you love about your sweetheart. Place them in a very cool glass dish or bowl and, presto, you’ve got an amazingly cool gift that tells him/her what you think about them.

8. Journey Journal – Put together a small journal that holds pictures of events from your relationship. Include things you love about him/her, favorite memories, milestone events, trips, concert, airplane or movie tickets from places you’ve gone together. Include your words, thoughts, and feeling along with inspirational or romantic sayings, song lyrics or lines from a poem.

9. Photo Book – With just a few clicks, you can create a high quality, totally professional photo book. Upload photos of the two of you at different stages of your relationship, maybe even include some photos of places you want to go together. Check out Kodak or Shutterfly.

10. Compose It. If you have a particular talent – let’s say in music, singing, writing, drawing, painting, sculpture, etc – use it to create at totally unique gift for the love of your life. Write and record a song just for him/her, write a story or poem, draw, paint or sculpt something just for her/him.

Yep, creating a personalized, unique gift takes more time. Your words and thoughts are the best presents. These are ways to capture them and preserve them. The time and effort you take to put them together will speak volumes about the way you feel about your valentine.

To the Funk Zone

Last year, after a busy, exciting Halloween season, Scavenge closed its doors on State Street after more than 10 years of being a favorite fixture in downtown. You know the story – rising rents on State Street were just too much. So the doors closed, but Scavenge was still out there in cyberspace – shipping costumes and lingerie and everything in between to customers all over the country.

We’re Back!! Oh yeah, it’s the Return of Scavenge! Our store has found a new home. We did not return to State Street, but we’re within spitting distance. Our new home is in the Funk Zone and that is a perfect fit for our offbeat, way-cool store. Our doors opened this week giving Santa Barbara back it’s only year-round, downtown costume shop.

We’re back and better than ever. Come check out the new store at 52 Helena St. For all you Santa Barbarians out there, Helena is that little street that comes right up off Cabrillo (which runs along the beach) between Rusty’s Pizza and Wheel Fun Rentals. Our store has got a new look, complete with purple floors. While the store may seem smaller, our selection is still just as big, maybe even bigger than before – we have a large warehouse that is holding tons of costumes and lingerie for you.

This means you can get those all the costumes you need for those summer theme parties, for your 4th of July celebrations, and the lingerie you want to spice up those hot summer nights. Check out our online selection --- it’s huge, it’s vast, it’s fricken humongous. We have so much more than we could fit in the store. Make your life easier by ordering it online and arranging for in-store pickup.

Keep your eyes on the Independent for special Grand Re-Opening announcement. It will look something like this:

Bring the ad with you and get a free gift. Sorry, can’t tell you what the gift is, but I’ll tell you this – it’s something you can use with a costume everyone should wear at one time or another.

I Want to Feel Like a Woman

I have become a Biggest Loser watcher. I didn’t start until just about 3 weeks ago – with only a few episodes left. I am just floored every single time I watch this show. I’ve even cried a couple of times – that’s saying a lot since I’ve only watched the show three times. I amazed at the determination, the heart, and the progress of these folks. When they show clips of the contestants from the beginning of the series and you see the person now – WOW! They look totally different. Some of them have lost well over 100 pounds – they have lost more than my entire bodyweight. It’s like they had been living their lives with me hanging around the neck or waist. They just carried around that load of extra pounds everyday of their lives.

So last night, they showed a clip of one of the final two women contestants. At one point several weeks earlier, she said she wanted to lose weight so she could wear dresses, heels, pantyhose, and feel like a girl. She kept re-stating that – she wanted to wear clothes that made her feel feminine, like a woman, pretty.

Isn’t it amazing the power that clothes have on our minds? Wearing certain clothes can make us feel happy, silly, glamorous, sexy, or frumpy, serious, dark, or tired. If you wear baggy sweats, you probably are feeling comfy, cozy, and like lounging around, right? If you wear something snug fitting, with a low neckline, along with some pants cut in a flattering way, dressier shoes, all topped off with sexy panties, you probably feel a bit different than you did in the sweats. I am very aware of how the way I dress makes me feel and I use it on purpose. Feeling kind of down or low energy? Time to put on a goofy shirt. Want to feel sexy and “like a woman?” Slip into a fun, sexy bra and panty set, and then build from there. Pick out the shirt that shows off your best features, the pants that make your butt look just right, and so on. Then just watch – your walk changes, along with the look on your face, and the way you feel.

So, basically, you could say everything we wear is a costume in some way or another. We wear our work costume to the office. We wear our lie-around-the-house costume. We wear our I-just-want-to-be-happy-goofy-and-silly costumes. We wear our workout costumes for those fun and sweaty times. We wear our swimsuit costumes for our beach and poolside appearances. We wear our sexy costumes to make dates and bedroom time extra fun. Costumes, costumes everywhere, everyday. Each one works for us in a different way. Some we wear for others. Some we wear for the way it makes us feel. Think about the costume you are wearing right now. Now think about how you’d like to be feeling – and pick out a “costume” that makes that happen for you. That can be anything from underwear, to lingerie, to shirts, or the full-on, official costume.