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At this point, most men over the age of sixteen have discovered that Valentine’s Day is a gift-giving minefield. From the moment you see the date on the calendar, you’re set up for failure. Here are the top five reasons why jewelry boxes are the ultimate Valentine’s Day gift ideas.

Jewelry Boxes Can’t Be Mistaken for Diamonds

If you plan to buy jewelry for the woman in your life this Valentine’s Day, be very careful. If you’re not engaged, that little velvet box looks very much like it could contain a diamond engagement ring. If you’re married, then she’s hoping for the diamond anniversary band, diamond journey necklace, or 2-carat diamond studs women’s magazines have conditioned her to want. It’s unlikely you’ve bought the thing she’s expecting to see inside that box, so now you lose. Here’s how the conversation with her best friend will go the next day:

Girlfriend: So, John took me out to this gorgeous restaurant last night.

Best Friend: You’re so lucky. He’s so romantic.

Girlfriend: And then he handed me this little velvet box.

Best friend’s eyes widen with excitement: Oh my God, did he?

Girlfriend shakes her head: It was just a pair of emerald earrings.

Best friend heaves a sigh, and mutters something disparaging about men.

. . . Save yourself the trouble and buy a jewelry box instead.

Jewelry Boxes Don’t Die

Roses are lovely, and expensive, but for the same amount of money, you can buy a gift that won’t rot and die a week later. Sure, you could buy her a rose bush that won’t die, but now you’ve got to dig a hole, plant it in the yard, and care for it. An elegant mahogany wood jewelry box won’t require any more work on your part.

Don’t Imply Anything

If you’re not married or engaged, then buying a woman jewelry implies that you intend to continue buying her jewelry. Instead, buy her a jewelry box. It says, “I know you like to wear jewelry, so I bought you something nice to keep it in.” You win points because you showed you thought about her, but you haven’t locked yourself into anything — another win for you.

Don’t Give You Indigestion

Aside from the hassle of getting Valentine’s Day reservations, driving to the restaurant, tipping everyone, and paying for an insanely expensive meal, a heavy dinner could lead to indigestion. Indigestion is not conducive to other popular Valentine’s Day activities. Instead of taking her to an expensive and crowded restaurant, order in and present her with a lovely jewelry box. Unless you eat the wood, it’s guaranteed not to make you sick. You win bonus points if you cook for her (unless you cook ramen noodles.)

Cheaper than Jewelry

Does it seem like the cost of jewelry doubles around Valentine’s Day? Avoid the jewelry industry conspiracy by avoiding jewelry. Instead, get her an affordable leather jewelry box. It will make her think of jewelry, but it will save you a bunch of cash.

If you are one half of a couple, then Valentine’s Day is the perfect opportunity to show how much you really care. Make the day extra special by paying attention to little details and do not forget a lasting gift for your love.

To start the day, if you do not have time for a special breakfast, put a short love note in a lunch box, brief case, purse or wallet. A phone call during break or lunch time is a nice gesture, to let your love know he/she is thought of throughout the day.

After work, do something to make dinnertime a little extra special. If you do not want to cook, do not worry. Pizza delivery or a nice dinner out is great! If the budget is tight, even a hamburger at a fast food restaurant is okay, if done in the right spirit. Do something a little different. Sometimes, it really is the thought that counts.

Finally do not forget a Valentine’s Day gift for your love. A flower is traditional, but it soon wilts and dies away. Chocolates, in a heart shaped box are also the norm, but the treats just get eaten and then you have nothing to show for the holiday. So, why not purchase something that can be used throughout the year, like lingerie.

Valentine’s Day lingerie is not only beautiful; it will last well beyond the holiday. It neither wilts nor gets used up, and it says “I love you” all year long. Today, specialty lingerie stores have a great selection for both him and her. For instance, who does not like silky sleepwear?

A good lingerie store has much more than what most people think of as traditional items. The inventories are growing to include costumes, sleepwear, accessories, shoes and more. You will be surprised when you shop for Valentine’s Day online or in a department store.

Then, if the decision is too difficult, you can always fall back on the good old standby-a gift certificate. Sometimes, you want your love to have the best lingerie, but you want to make sure that the selection is just exactly what he/she wants. With the plethora of colors and styles, a gift certificate is a great solution.

So, with only about 3 weeks until the holiday, start thinking of ways you can make Valentine’s Day special this year. From the time you get up in the morning, until you go to sleep at night, show your love. From a simple note to a lasting gift-like lingerie, you can make the holiday a couple’s dream.

If you know how to decorate for a St. Patrick’s Day party, then the actual decorating can be almost as much fun as the party itself. Shamrocks, Leprechauns, and Pots-O’-Gold are the typical St. Patrick’s Day decorations, but it is how you use them that will set the tone for your party. But if you are not sure just how you want your decorations to look, then these tips and ideas will get you started. With all the St. Patrick’s Day decorations and party supplies available online, your decorating choices are almost unlimited. And with just a little creativity, you can create a St. Patrick’s Day party that everyone will enjoy.

Your St. Patrick’s Day party decorations should start at your front door or the entrance to your party room. Everybody is a little Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, and this is where you can start to ‘show your Irish’. Nothing says ‘party’ like balloons, so that is the place to start:

Balloons

- Using the traditional St. Patrick’s Day colors of green and white, (gold too), put a bouquet of 3 – 5 balloons at your party entrance. Or tie them to a porch railing or walkway lamp post.

- Balloons can also be used as attention-getters, so you can use them on your snack or beverage tables to draw your guest’s attention to them.

- If you have a sit-down party table you can use a grouping of balloons as your table centerpiece.

- Room corners, and bare spots that don’t really fit for other decorating pieces can be filled with balloons too! For corners, just make a balloon bouquet anchored to a floor weight, with ribbons that let the balloons float at eye-level. Use the same technique for other bare spots in the room, just adjust the balloon height to match the space you want to fill.

*Note: Small party-size helium tanks are available at most party supply stores, and stores with party supply departments.

Next you should consider where you might use St. Patrick’s Day banners, flags, and streamers. Just like balloons, using a sign or banner at the entrance is a good way to announce the party.

Banners, Flags, and Streamers

- There are a lot of St, Patrick’s Day flags you can use outside your home to announce “your party spot”, they can also be used as wall-hanging decor’ at the party room entrance, or on the walls of the party room.

- Banners can be used to ‘anchor’ a St. Patrick’s Day decorations grouping on a wall. Use them over or under a grouping of decorations cut-outs of shamrocks or other St. Patrick’s Day theme items.

- Streamers can be used as ‘swags’ on a wall or across the header of an entrance, around the edges of a snack or beverage table, or even from corner to corner of a wall in the room.

- Garland-type streamers can even be used on your table tops. Weave them around large items on the table, or down the center-line of a sit-down table.

Shamrock, Leprechaun, and Pot-O’-Gold flat cut-outs are a standard part of almost all St. Patrick’s Day decorations and party supplies packages. You can use these to accent a party theme, or to create groupings of decoration pieces.

St. Patrick’s Day Cut-outs

- Shamrock cut-outs can be used on your walls, individually, or as part of a group of cut-outs to create a collage’ of different St. Patrick’s Day theme items.

- Large flat cut-outs can be used like placemats under service pieces on the party side-tables, or main table centerpiece.

- Smaller cut-outs can be put on larger service pieces, (like ice bowls and beverage coolers), to add a touch of St. Patrick’s Day color.

Decorating Tips:

- Try to use your St. Patrick’s Day decorations and party supplies to maintain a design theme, not just a conglomeration of St. Patrick’s Day symbols plastered everywhere.

- Don’t let your tables become flat and one-dimensional. Use elevations and vertical decoration items to give your tables some depth. For instance: a small shamrock or pot-o’-gold cut-out can be attached to a tissue box or basket to give a vertical look instead of just lying flat on the table.

- Expanding accordion-type decoration items can be set on up-side down baskets to give them some elevation.

These are just some basic ideas to get you started. When you check out some of the St. Patrick’s Day decorations and party supplies available online, with these ideas in mind, you will discover many more items to use to decorate for your St. Patrick’s Day party.

Do you remember Spud Webb winning the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 1986? Standing at only 5’6″!, Spud beat the defending champion Dominique Wilkins with a variety of nasty dunks – a one-handed 360, a two-handed double pump and a 180 reverse double-pump just to name some.

So, it’s clear that you don’t need to be very tall to dunk. It’s all about the vertical jump – your vertical jump! And what matters most: you can train it! You can increase your vertical leap. If you don’t agree at this point, you don’t need to read any further.

Spud Webb had a 42-inch vertical – what is yours? To find out, stand near to a wall and stretch your arm upright over your head. Now, mark the top point of your hand on the wall. Put the hand down and mark your fingers with some chalk or paint. Now, jump as high as you can and touch the wall with your hand. The distance between the two marks is you vertical.

Ok, by now, you know where you’re at and where you want to be.

The next step is your overall fitness. Your legs must be strong enough to take up a vertical program. You also have to lose the extra pounds (if you have some).

For that, go jogging and use the jump rope 3 times a week (jogging: minimum 45 min. 3 times/ week; jump rope: 100 jumps 3 times a week)

Jumping rope not only gives you explosiveness and calf strength but is also a great way to build stamina, and work on your overall leg strength.

Other, highly effective exercises are calf raises and squats, as they train the most important muscle groups in the jumping process. Do these exercises every now and then (the days you do not run).

Important note: don’t exaggerate (max. 1 set of 8 reps 2 times/ week)! After 2 or 3 weeks your legs should be prepared for a vertical program.

You can now try exercises like this one:

Stand straight up, and jump as high as you can without bending your knees (they will bend slightly). As soon as you hit the ground, jump back up again. Repeat the motion a number of times. This exercise is very effective at strengthening your lower leg muscles.

St. Valentine’s Day, February 14, is a wonderful time to share love and laughter. It is a time to feel special and to wallow in the romance of being in love. It is a joyful time if you are lucky enough to be in a loving, committed and faithful relationship. To love and feel truly loved in return is a wonderful feeling at any time of the year, but even more so on St. Valentine’s Day. To have a lover, partner and friend who is devoted to you, and you to them, is the most powerful form of love that can be imagined.

But for some, St. Valentine’s Day can be a heartbreaking day when feelings of being unloved, of loneliness, of being trapped in a bad relationship, of abandonment and hurt, can really intensify.

If you are feeling unloved this St. Valentine’s Day then there is something positive, effective and empowering that you can do to change the situation you find yourself in.

On St. Valentine’s Day, many people turning their thoughts, words and deeds to love. Because of this, there is a special “Love Energy” permeating the atmosphere. Quite literally, love is in the air on this special day.

With the power of Magic and some simple love Spell casting you can capture this “Love Energy” and turn it to your advantage.

Use the Power of Magic if:

You want to reunite with an ex
You want to attract someone special
You want your lover to commit to you
You want to break free from a bad relationship
You want to be truly loved, honoured and respected

Valentine Spell

This is a simple love Spell you can try at home.

You will need the following ingredients for this Valentine Spell:

A pink candle A pink rose Rose Quartz crystal tumblestone Carefully light the candle.

Concentrate on the lover you want in your life. Visualise yourself being loved by your faithful, loving, passionate lover. While concentrating, hold the Rose Quartz crystal in your left hand and the pink rose in your right. With your left hand circle the Rose Quartz crystal 3 times around the lit candle with care.

Say 3 times:

Lover be mine my sweet Valentine
Bring henceforth to me with power divine

With your right hand circle the pink rose 3 times around the lit candle with care.

And say:

May our love and hearts entwine as one
So mote it be and so it be done!

Let the candle burn down and when safe to do so, gather up the cold wax. Bury the wax along with the pink rose and Rose Quartz crystal in your yard, garden or window box.

Valentine Love Potion

On the eve of St. Valentine’s Day prepare the following ingredients:

One measure of red wine One sprig of fresh rosemary or a teaspoon of the dried herb One red rose One measure of any red fruit juice -strawberries, raspberries, pomegranate or cranberries. One teaspoon of honey Strip the rose petals from the rose and place in a clean jar with a screw top lid. Add the rosemary and the measure of red wine. Steep this love potion mixture overnight.

The following day – St. Valentine’s Day, February 14 – strain the prepared love potion mixture and discard the petals and herb, retaining the liquid. To the liquid stir in the fruit juice and honey and set aside until evening.

Prepare yourself physically and mentally to consume the Valentine Love Potion by bathing, meditating and concentrating on whom you desire. Carefully light red candles and let them burn during your preparations. Add rose or lavender essential oil to your bath water. Visualise your perfect partner in your arms, loving you as much as you do them.

When you feel ready, relaxed and ready to receive the love you deserve decant the Valentine Love Potion into a fancy glass. Now you are ready to drink your Valentine Love Potion.

Take one sip and say:

“As I drink may love be mine”

Take another sip and say:

“To me bring forth my Valentine”

Take a third sip and say:

“Allow our love and hearts entwine”

Finally take a last drink and drain the glass and say:

“So mote it be!”

Valentine Dreaming

To dream of your true soul mate take seven Bay leaves and kiss each one before placing them under your pillow on the eve of St. Valentine’s Day. Close your eyes and repeat the following seven times with sincerity and belief.

Seven times I ask of thee,
a true and loyal love to send to me

Professional Love Spell Casting

If your situation is complicated or you don’t feel confident or lack experience in using the power of Magic, you can ask for help from a professional Spell Caster. Of all Magic Spells cast, by far the most popular are those for Love. A professional and experienced Spell Caster will have the knowledge, expertise and experience of casting effective Love Spells, including Valentine Spells.

The majority of people have played bingo at some point or other in their lives. The game is fun, and so simple that even young children can quickly learn to play. The standard rules for the game involving playing using bingo cards with a grid 5 of 5 fields, with each of these fields containing a number between 1 and 75. Custom versions of the game, played with bingo cards printed with the words, phrases or even mathematics problems, are increasingly popular. These variants of the game are now quite common not only in social and community events, but also in schools and colleges, where teachers are increasingly applying the game to education.

Although various versions of bingo are popular in education, including for teaching English and other languages, practicing reading skills, and of course math, perhaps the most popular variants are those with holiday themes. In holiday versions of bingo, the bingo cards are printed with words or phrases relating to the particular holiday. Thus, in a Christmas game, the cards might be printed with things like “Bethlehem” or “Santa Claus”, in a Saint Valentine’s game with words, like “love” and “romance”, and in the case of Saint Patrick’s Day bingo (marking the Irish National Day which falls on March 17th), words or phrases relating to Ireland, such as “Blarney Stone”, “Dublin”, “Guinness” or “shamrock” would be used.

Saint Patrick’s Day bingo is suitable for people of all ages groups to play together, although it does require that the game organizer does do a bit of preparation work in advance of the game. The preparation work is not that difficult – the organizer simply needs to obtain some suitably themed bingo cards.

There are really three options for doing so. The first option, is to prepare the bingo cards by hand, but this is very time consuming. The second options it to buy some preprinted bingo cards with a Saint Patrick’s Day theme – this is definitely possible but can be expensive. The third, and for most people the best option, is for the organizer to create the bingo cards using their computer and some bingo card maker software. Using a computer, saves time and money, plus has the advantage that the software can be used again and again for producing custom bingo cards for other events and holidays throughout the year.

Can you write a poem about March Madness and you favorite team in it? =D