Gifts for him and her

Gifts for lovers

2009-07-01T13:43:00.000-07:00

Lovers fall in love with each other for various reasons; may be it is the personality traits such as the ability to carry on an intelligent conversation, may be it is the sense of humor, may be it is the musical talent or simply the attractiveness of ones physical body and its build. Lovers get involved passionately with each other and to display their passion besides words and physical acts, they may choose to give gifts to each other.

Sometimes, gifts for lovers are passionate gifts that spark the imagination to places it has never been to before. Sometimes gifts that lovers exchange are romantic gifts of flowers or a magical charm bracelet. Gifts for lovers do not have to be expensive or pricey for the other half to appreciate and enjoy. Cheap gifts for lovers are available in a million places, especially on line. It is not the money that one spends that is important; it is the thought and the feeling of holding on to something physical.

Gifts for lovers are designed generally to be something that someone can give right upon meeting and start the rendezvous with a smile and an uplifted mood. Not necessarily exotic, sometimes if your lover is involved in reading books, you could present a novel that he or she has been wanting to read for a long time, but never got a chance to go to the bookstore or go online to get it and there you can impress them by a simple lover’s gift of a book or a novel.

Gifts for lovers can even end a quarrel or a way to make up for a serious heated argument you may had previously. Between married couples, a thoughtful gift has the power to even save a marriage that is on the rocks. So save your lover, impress your lover, thank your lover and put a smile on your lover’s face with a passionate or romantic gift.

Arangetram gifts

2009-06-04T15:45:00.000-07:00

Arangetram is the function when a student of classical Indian dance or classical Indian music performs on stage as part of their graduation requirements. The word “arangam” denotes a stage and the word arangetram denotes rising up to the stage for performance. As such gifts for arangetram are commonly given. Arangetram gifts are somewhat unique in the sense that one usually does not give a gift certificate to a restaurant or give an ipod or an mp3 player as a gift.

Arangetram gifts have to be in line with the spirit of the occasion at hand. Again there are two kinds of arangetram gifts. One is the arangetram gift given by the performer’s parents to the invited audience as well as to the gurus; the second is the arangetram gift given by the audience to the performer. The arangetram gift given by the parents of the performer to the gurus are usually silk sarees bordered with gold strands if the guru is a female and silk dhotis lined with gold strands if the guru is a male. Arangetram gifts are also to be given by the parents to the accompanying artists. As far as giving arangetram gifts to the invited audience by the parents, these are usually small gold or silver figurines or lamps. Such items are available at local jewelry stores all over India and in Indian jewelry stores in London, New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Paris and other major cities. There have been some elaborate and lavish arangetrams where the parents have given diamond rings and diamond necklaces as gifts to the gurus, but that is taking it too far in my opinion.

Arangetram gifts given by the invited audience that appreciates the performance by the student are usually in the form of cash. This has been the real world tradition in recent times because the parents of the performer ends up spending a lot of money in putting together the graduation show and any monetary assistance goes a long way in reducing the expenses on their behalf.

Gifts for pongal

2009-05-31T10:30:00.000-07:00

Pongal celebrations are predominantly elaborate in southern India and generally fall around mid January of every year. Generally, the celebrations mark the end of old man winter’s reign for the year and the start of warmer climatic conditions. More importantly, Pongal forms the beginning of the first harvest season and so farmers and those involved in the agricultural business look forward to a bountiful harvest. Celebrations of pongal include prayers to God as well as singing, dancing and other social gatherings.

Pongal gift giving has been in existence for years and years now. What has changed is the kind of gifts given during pongal. For those of south Indian origin that currently live in western countries, pongal gift giving is quite different from gifts exchanged during pongal amongst south Indians living in India. While this is true, the basic underlying principle behind the gift giving practice during pongal remains the same. That is, essentially one prays for a bountiful harvest, thanks the Lord for the past and looks for His blessings in the future.

If you are living in India, exchange of high quality veshtis which are a traditional men’s garment or exchange of saris which are a traditional women’s garment are common. Some wealthy families in the agricultural businesses may give the gift of an elaborate pump set for farm irrigation during pongal celebrations. If you live in one of the western countries, pongal gift giving is more modern by way of boxes of chocolates, gift certificates to expensive Indian restaurants and such.

Pongal is also the name of a sweetened rice dish that is prepared with lentils and aromatic items such as cardamom and saffron. And as such most pongal gifts are connected one way or the other with food, grains or harvest. High class kitchenware is becoming a popular pongal gift in recent times. A full set of good quality dinnerware such as expensive china is a good idea. A recommendation is also the presentation of silver utensils for formal dining.

At the very least, one should send good quality Pongal greeting cards. Stay away from cheap gifts for the occasion of pongal, since that is believed to set the tone for the coming future.

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2009-05-02T07:20:00.000-07:00

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Gifts for poonal

2009-02-21T07:14:00.000-08:00

Poonal celebrations also known as upanayanam form a part of the religious celebrations for Hindu brahmin boys. Such poonal functions generally performed when a Hindu boy reaches at least seven years of age are usually conducted when the boy reaches odd age years starting the age of seven. Upanayanam being another name for the function, it is also known as the sacred thread ceremony or the “genoii” function in parts of North India. Being a religious ceremony, there is obviously chanting of the vedic mantras conducted by priests, followed by a satisfying meal provided to all the guests. In modern times, gifts for the boy whose poonal ceremony is conducted are usually given by the immediate relatives such as brothers, sisters, parents, uncles and the like. However, gifts are also given by the guests attending the function. Most gifts are not limited to religious gifts such as gifts of religious books, tapes and such. Since poonal celebrations nowadays cost quite a bit of money, gift cards to popular stores and retail outlets have started becoming the norm in today’s high speed society.

Poonal gifts although are meant to be gifts directed toward the budding brahmin boy have in recent years metamorphed to gifts directed towards the parents of the boy. It is not uncommon to give the gift of money by way of gift credit cards to the parents of the upcoming brahmin boy. Since college education would just be around the corner, a gift by way of simple check to be spent towards the child’s college education, although might sound quite banal and mundane, nevertheless goes a long way in planning for the future.

Of course, modern day gifts such as ipods and mp3 players and video games and such electronic gifts are becoming popular and appeal to the young crowd.

Gifts for beer lovers

2009-02-10T12:56:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows of a beer lover in their circle of friends and family and if you are wondering what to get as gifts for beer lovers, there is a variety of items that you can lay your hands on. Giving gifts for beer lovers is very easy and targeted, namely, buy something that is connected with their love of drinking beer. Beer lovers are usually not picky people and so buying gifts for beer lovers is quite easy, actually. If you are still confused about what to get as gifts for beer lovers in your circle, here are some ideas.

Give personalized beer mugs as gifts for beer drinkers. Nothing is more satisfying than drinking beer from a mug that has your name etched on to it. Beer bottle openers are a cheap set of gifts for beer lovers. How about getting a beer book such as the Ultimate Beer by Michael Jackson. You can also get a set of beers of the world case which has beers from breweries around the world. Beer hoodies are another popular gift for beer lovers. These come with a pouch in the front where one can store a beer bottle or beer can.

You can also order and gift out a set of beer koozies for your beer loving buddies. Perhaps the most exotic gift for a beer lover is the beer trip. This is where your travel agent can set you up with a planned tour where you go to a foreign land and go through various beer stops, breweries and pubs for your beer loving enjoyment. This is one of the most expensive gifts that you can give but one that is nevertheless meant to be a memorable one. In choosing countries for beer trips, the best ones obviously are Ireland and Germany especially during Octoberfest.

Of course, if you simply want to be cheap, get him a six pack of Budweiser!

Gift card basics

2009-02-07T08:19:00.001-08:00

Time and again, the question comes up about gift cards and gift card balances and unused gift card balances. This situation is pretty important to be addressed, because every year billions of dollars worth of gift cards are being purchased by people to be given away as gifts to friends and relatives when they are not too sure about what to buy them as gifts. Now the recipients many times get these gift cards, put them away and they get forgotten or they go and spend a certain portion of it and end up leaving an unused balance in their gift cards for months and sometimes even longer and sometimes forget about the existence of the unused balance. This ends up being an utter waste of money. So what do you do and what happens now?

First of all, when you receive a gift card, read the terms and conditions of the gift card. Many gift cards have an expiration date, while most of them do not. If the gift card that you received does have an expiration date, then it is imperative that you use it before the expiration date arrives. If it does not have an expiration date and the company that it is issued with goes bankrupt, then your gift card may likely become useless unless a competitor decides to honor the gift card for a certain percentage of it. For example if you have a gift card for store A and it goes out of business or for some other reason is bought out by chain store B, then store B may choose to honor the card and may choose not to honor the gift card. If they choose to honor it, then you are okay otherwise you are out of luck.

Many states have laws that spell out the fact that a certain percentage of the unused portion of the gift card will go back to the state. Check with your state about its laws. In all cases, leaving an unused balance in a gift card is generally not a good idea. A gift card is not to be construed as an investment vehicle. It is not an investment. It is a gift that someone has given you that may become useless if it is not promptly used. Some gift cards may also have fees associated with maintenance charges and you do not want to be paying those frivolous charges. Thus evaluate the gift cards that you may have received and make sure that you redeem them in a timely fashion.

Gifts for bloggers

2009-01-12T12:57:00.000-08:00

Getting gifts for bloggers is quite easy compared to others. Why? Because bloggers are generally easy going people that are generally socially responsible and environmentally conscious. There is the occasional exception to the generality as always. Hence buying gifts for bloggers whether for a special occasion as a blogger’s birthday or anniversary or be it Christmas time or Diwali time or simply a gift for a blogger because he or she made a difference in your life or your outlook or simply because you love them is actually fairly simple. Here are some ideas that I thought you might find interesting.

Since bloggers spend a lot of time in front of their laptop screens, giving a gift of a laptop lap desk is simple, functional and will save the blogger’s back. Talk about a gift to a blogger who has spent countless hours bringing you quality content – how about a gift certificate to a massage therapist? Bloggers sometimes spend late night hours bringing you their wonderful blogs and so getting them a nice fancy coffee pot and a set of good quality coffee cups will help them get their dosage of caffeine so they do not fall asleep at their lap tops. And for those bloggers who also have to juggle their time with a full time job, a ceiling reflective alarm clock to wake them up in the morning will help them keep their day time jobs.

Bloggers have to manage their finances just like the rest of us. And what is their biggest cost. Well, web hosting of course. So giving the gift of paying their web hosting charges for a year or so might be a welcome gift for a blogger who is strapped for cash. Bloggers love to increase traffic to their web sites and so when thinking about giving a gift to a blogger, think of giving them some money towards their ad campaign so they can spread the word about their blogs.

If you are really cheap and do not want to spend any money, at least link to their blog from yours. I am sure your friendly blogger will appreciate it

Sending gifts to India

2008-12-27T06:24:00.000-08:00

Quite often there are questions from people regarding sending gifts to India. Such questions are usually from people who know of their colleagues that are working offshore on a project in India and are interested in sending gifts to colleagues in India; or these are people who are contemplating on taking up a project in India and are interested in their wives or children sending them gifts to India on their special occasions such as religious functions, birthdays and such. With the globalization of world economies, there are a lot of companies that do business in India and hence there is a constant stream of people that go back and forth between various countries and India and the questions of sending gifts to India constantly come up. This brief article addresses this issue.

Sending gifts to India has never been easier as it is now. In the early days, the vendors that offered these gift services to India were primarily courier based companies that would only send your pre-packaged gift to India and were simply delivery services. However, in recent times, that industry has gone through a process of maturing. You can now send flowers, chocolates, dresses, toys and other goods as gifts to India very simply using the internet. What is even more exciting is that you can shop through a local outlet that is located in India and have the gift delivered to a local address in India. This is especially useful for items that have a short and limited shelf life such as special food items. You can choose the value of the gifts that you plan to give such as gifts under ten dollars or gifts under fifty dollars and such. If you are not too sure about what to buy as gifts for your loved ones in India, many sites will even suggest several options to choose from.

Many of the online gifts to India vendors offer pricing in various currencies and payment is generally by credit card. You want to ensure that the network is secure and safe prior to authorization of charges. Investigate the vendor prior to placing your orders and read their cancellation policies. Stay away from fly by night operations and deal only with reputable vendors. A little bit of up front due diligence can go a long way in ensuring that your excursion in sending gifts to India will be a pleasurable experience.

Gifts for machinists

2008-12-26T08:22:00.000-08:00

Machinists form a unique breed in the realm of human beings and the trades that they pursue. Machinists are generally detail oriented folks that have to pay careful attention everyday in their workplaces to close tolerances, dimensions, geometric shapes and such. This makes getting gifts for machinists a challenge in itself. Not that buying gifts for the machinists in your life an impossibility, but one has to be very choosy when picking out gifts for machinists. While the peculiarities of the machining trade makes buying gifts for machinists a challenge, one needs to remember that machinists are human beings too with emotions, feelings and a need to be felt wanted and loved by their near and dear ones. So if you have a dad or husband or boyfriend or boss or simply a friend that is a machinist, it is hoped that this article will make buying gifts for the machinist in your circle of acquaintances somewhat easier.

When buying gifts for machinists, you need to consider if you are buying with the aim of making their jobs a little easier or something that you want to buy them so they keep their minds off of work. In the former case, gifts for machinists could include for example buying a copy of the handbook for machinists available in major book stores everywhere. Or you could buy them the gift of a workplace swivel light, a set of machinists wrenches and tools available at stores such as Sears. A great gift idea for machinists is a set of dial gages and micrometer and caliper set. An idea that a friend of mine gave me regards to gift ideas for machinists was a subscription to the machine shop magazine.

In the case of the latter, when you are considering buying gifts for machinists to keep their minds away from work, you could get fancy T-shirts with funny sayings and pictures; or how about a personalized hat or coffee cup or a personalized set of can koozies or beer koozies. You could always treat them to a fancy get away vacation if your budget permits or get them an ipod touch which is the latest in the ipod craze at the time of this writing. Since machinists are detail oriented people, you could buy them a set of novels that are as far away from reality as possible so their minds are taken away from their daily grind; such novels obviously available at Amazon or Barnes and Noble and other bookstores.

In all cases, get your machinist acquaintance a gift and he or she is sure to be thankful for your thoughts.

Mother's Day Gifts

2008-12-10T11:19:00.000-08:00

Mother's day is coming up on May 11. Do not forget to get your mother's day gifts.. Traditionally, a great mother's day gift package could include a nice dress and a mother's day brunch at a nice restaurant. Last year my children got an ipod as mother's day gift and that was a huge hit! The year before for mother's day gift, my wife got her mother an arrangement from a store called Edible Arrangements that sells fruits and chocolates decorated as a floral arrangement. This store is located in several areas of the U.S. and may be expanding into other countries. Their web site is http://www.ediblearrangements.com/ .Special elaborate cookie trays or flower bouquets are a good idea also.
Remember, our mothers have done a lot for us -- they have done a lot of sacrifices during our early years of growth and given us the love and care and nurturing that has made us who we are. A small token of appreciation once a year is not too much to ask for. So just dont stop with a card. Get your mom something and surprise her

Gifts for the husband

2008-12-07T01:01:00.000-08:00

It is actually harder to find a gift for men than it is for women. Some ideas here. If your husband is into sports such as golf, baseball, football, etc, then may be a golf vacation package or season tickets to his favorite teams' events would be great. If he is an electronics buff, then one of the many mobile technology gadgets would be great. If he is an outdoorsman, may be hunting and fishing accessories would hit the spot. Simply wants to work around the house or the yard -- then get him a great lawn mower with all the bells and whistles, or a gift card to a do-it-yourself store or even a subscription to a handyman-type magazine. If he is the executive type, then a great suit or a laptop would be welcome. Remember, men need as much love and attention as women do!

Gifts for the wife

2008-12-06T01:01:00.000-08:00

There are hundreds of resources regarding buying gifts for one's wife. Sometimes, it is confusing. Jewellery is always at the top of the list. All women love !diamonds. There are diamond pendants, rings, necklaces, and the like. Some research may be needed, since diamonds come in many levels of clarity, cut, inclusions, etc. Platinum jewellery is becoming very popular nowadays. Besides jewellery, a spa vacation is a good idea. If these are beyond budget, not to worry, there is always something else. The ever-popular ipod or i-phone will always perk up attention. If your better half is interested in books, a big gift certificate to a book-store is a good one. In the land of style and fashion, a good handbag, a great winter coat or other accessories make good gift ideas. Women love shoes -- shoes of all kinds as is stated in http://www.shoesofallkinds.blogspot.com. Bundle up the gifts with a bouquet of flowers. After all, a gift is given to express one's love. Shouldn't it be done in style?

Hanukkah Gifts

2008-12-05T00:12:00.000-08:00

Hanukkah celebrations usually last eight days with candles being lit every day. Potato pancakes and various dairy products such as cheese are consumed during hanukkah. Gelt or coins are usually given to children as Hanukkah gifts. Chocolate coins are a more modern hanukkah gift to children.Be creative in choosing Hanukkah gifts.
Humurous yiddish T-shirts, artwork depicting lamps, gourmet gift baskets of kosher foods are common Hanukkah Gift ideas. Dreidel or four-sided tops can be given to teenagers as hanukkah gifts.
Of course modern day Hanukkah gifts include the ipods, digital cameras, i-phones, high quality leather totes, leather handbags, gold and platinum jewellery.Lately gift cards to high-end stores seems to be the trend.

Diwali Gifts

2008-12-04T09:19:00.000-08:00

Diwali is celebrated by Indians as the Festival of Lights. Also called Deepavali or Divali, it is similar in character to Christmas celebrations. People wake up early in the morning and anoint their bodies with sesame oil and wash off using soap nut powder, wear new clothes and use fire-crackers. Plenty of tasty foods are consumed including lots of sweets. Diwali gifts are then exchanged. Diwali gifts generally involve fancy shirts, dresses, suits and the like. In the modern day gift cards to clothing stores is common. Diwali Gift boxes with fancy sweets is very common. Such gift boxes usually include sweets such as pedas, burfies, chum-chums, son-papris, etc. Fancy candles and exotic lamps also form great Diwali gift ideas, since Diwali is after all a festival of lights. Diwali release of movies is quite common in India and hence gift certificates to movie theaters is catching on as a gift idea for Diwali, so people can enjoy the latest Bollywood hits!