Holiday Gifts

I just received an email from Torrid inviting me to “Improve my rear view” by purchasing Spanx foundation garments. I was wondering if I should be intrigued or insulted by this advertisement. It got me to thinking how the ladies here feel about the 2007 version of a girdle. Is it yay? Nay? Only on special occasions? I have a close friend who wore one to a party once and she couldn’t wait to get home and take it off all night.

1. I try and buy toys for only birthdays, holidays, special occasions. My kids do not get a toy every time we step foot into walmart or the mall or whatever. They know this and do not expect one. It keeps the clutter at bay (and keeps them from being too selfish).

As for the watch design, it is difficult to give some definite advice - the tastes differ. But you should consider whether you are looking for a timepiece to suit your everyday style or you need a watch to accompany you on some special occasions. Some watch designs perfectly match any situation you may think of. It is great if you discover the watch designed as though to reflect your personality and life style.

But none of this is of any surprise in our current working environment. What is different is what awaited me this morning on my arrival into work. On my desk, there sat a bear. A very lovely, fluffy, soft bear. It's not unusual for things to appear on my desk - one of my colleagues always brings gifts for the team on special occasions; Easter, Halloween, Christmas. What was unusual was the fact that I was the only person with a bear on her desk. And beneath it was the following note, from said colleague:

Americans have traditionally bought flowers only on special occasions, while Europeans have long known that beauty like flowers should be enjoyed regularly, not just when we have guests. Not only do flowers add color and aroma to a living room, kitchen, or dining room, they also lift our spirits and stimulate an emotional response. New schools of thought such as ‘flower therapy’ suggest various color combinations help stimulate memories and generally improve our moods. A study by Rutgers University confirms that flowers do in fact make people happier, even men!

■ Cabbage rolls stuffed with pork and seasonings. These were made for special occasions, christenings, communions etc.

Friday was my last day as a contractor, Monday I start my full time employee position, so my officemates insisted we needed to go out for lunch. I was just going to go to the cafeteria with Barb but Chandrika insisted we needed to go someplace "far away". I suggested Sankt Gertruds Kloster (some say it is one of top restaurants in the world, it is very good). It's far away and the type of restaurant you would go to for special occasions. But the frown I got when I told my officemates where it was told me that wasn't what they had in mind. We settled for Todai in Redmond. It's not Sankt Gertruds Kloster but it is very good and several thousand miles closer. It is one of Barb's favorite restaurants and my (former) officemates, Chandrika and Eric, both gave it high marks.

As with many houses from the 19th century, this house has two front doors. There’s a very logical reason for this. One door leads into the “keeping room”, where the family keeps house. The keeping room contains the large fireplace for cooking, and of course a table and chairs for the family to relax. This is not the room you want to introduce your guests into! So a second door would lead into the living room, which was probably only used for special occasions.

I am mindful of restaurants’ tendency to over-charge and under-perform on special occasions. (Picholine on New Year’s Eve was my latest experience of that kind.) At the venerable seafood palace Oceana on Valentine’s Day I am happy to say that we were not disappointed, although I suspect it is possible to have a better meal there than we had.

Although I highly recommend The Bar Vendôme, you'll have to remember that this is still the Ritz- polite but insistent staff at the door will ask you why you are entering the hotel (just say you are going to The Bar Vendôme), dressing nicely helps, and the price tag will probably make you consider this place for special occasions only. But then again, any occasion is an occasion for perfect hot chocolate. The standard has been set high by the Ritz, but if something out there in Paris is better, I intend to find it.

I collect them early in a morning - taking the heads of full blown roses just before they’ go over’ - and make these pretty little pinkish beads that I string with pearls and rose buds to make a keepsake. So Roses collected in 2005 have been bought by people for this years weddings, new arrivals and anniversaries - special occasions to be marked by an everlasting Rose.

Last night, I decided to welcome myself to my new home by spending the evening with Proust, since I haven’t a lot of money for wine and such. The former is a good enough substitute for the latter, and no one who has read and loved Proust could call themselves poor otherwise than with an ironic smile, the sort of smile that says, poor, yes, if only I weren’t so rich.

The mister surprised me BIG time yesterday…when I had called him at work he says, “Hey babe I bought something for you!” I’m thinking, “ooooh what is it?” Since there are no special occasions we were celebrating and what not.

Lei are almost always worn today at formal island occasions like weddings, they’re ubiquitous at funerals, and cast into the surf when one leaves Hawaii as a promise to return. It’s become common practice to give them as gestures of affection to your family and loved ones on special occasions; for birthdays, welcomes, good-byes, and, most timely at this time of year – at graduations.

Jerome Carcopino notes in Daily Life in Ancient Rome that at the time of the Emperor Claudius, the Roman calendar contained 159 holidays, of which 93 were devoted to games given at public expense. In addition, there were games given on special occasions, and others paid for by private citizens; Carcopino concludes that “in the epoch we are studying Rome enjoyed at least one day of holiday for every working day.” The games, he says:

Have a special family reunion or picnic planned for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend? Read our tips for handling special occasions, then visit the dLife Recipe Box to search for some diabetes-friendly picnic dishes.

Wayne is Hawai’ian and those are Ti Leis that we are wearing, made from the Ti plant (Cordyline fruticosa) . I had never heard of them before. Apparently that type of lei symbolizes good luck and prosperity and are traditionally worn for special occasions like weddings and graduations.

On very special occasions, and if you were lucky, there was the local French restaurant. Veal cordon bleu was my particular favourite, along with French Onion soup. French cuisine was the bomb. Very special.

I have a drinking helmet, for those special occasions. Everybody sometimes needs a funny hat.

When it comes to special occasions (or special bottles) and all eyes turn to you expectantly…it may be time to make a toast. Some of us dread it, some of us love it a bit too much. It occurs to me that toasts are best kept brief and understated. Some of my favorite toasts are petite…”To us”, or “To Absent Friends” or “To Joy” come to mind. While a select few of us can make up an Emersonian oratorical pearl at the drop of a hat, if you are not so lucky here are some useful tips for your next turn as...

A great advantage of transferring images to a computer is the use of software to edit and enhance your images. You can adjust tones and even add special effects and characters. Some allow you to create and organize photo albums. On special occasions and holidays, you can create greeting cards using stored photos. What you can do is only limited by your creativity.

This beautiful work of edible art was created by the wife of one of my son's co-workers. She has her own cake decorating business and does quite well. She has made every cake for my grandson's birthdays and several for other special occasions. I've seen a lot of special-occasion cakes but this woman really is an artist with the frosting, as well as with the added thematic touches of chocolate coins and candy beads. And, from the response of the 15 kids and 20 adults at the party, the cake inside the frosting was pretty...

So, you've met a girl and you've got to know something about her. Perhaps you met her in a bar, or maybe you've only talked via e-mail or over the phone. It doesn't really matter - the key is you've made contact.

Anyway, you've asked her to come on a date with you and she's accepted. Most likely, this will involve you going out for a meal (the #1 choice of most people today) - I'll leave it up to you as to whether you pay or you go Dutch. That's not important.

So, what's the big tip? Bring her a gift. That's it. Simple, and oh so effective. This one act will set you apart from about 95% of other guys.

I hate Swensen’s. Why are we here

Dude, don’t say that - Swensens has a special place in my heart

What the f87k does that mean?

When I was a kid, I only got to eat at Swensen’s on special occasions. Like when I got good results for my exams.

Ohhh… for me it’s Pizza Hut. I only got to eat there when I did well in my exams.

I gave him his present on Saturday. It was on his amazon list. The Return of the King, Tree of Gondor watch by fossil (see image below). Very nice and it even came in an awesome leather, round case. He loved it, but will only wear it on special occasions because he doesn't want anything to happen to it. He's more of a watch collector than wearer.

My shirt and I...we were quite the topic of conversation. I loved it...but it definitely has to be reserved for special occasions, like cd release parties.

Roy Peter Clark, vice president and senior scholar at the Poynter Institute for journalism, said media hoaxes most definitely have declined, but the main reason probably has nothing to do with political correctness.

"It's the general realization that April Fool's Day is the lamest holiday ever invented," Clark said. He said its roots probably go back to "the medieval Feast of Fools, a holiday of sanctioned misrule."

"But that was a release from the oppressive culture imposed by the church," he said. "There's so much misrule in the world today that we might be better off with an April Wisdom Day, or April Common Sense Day."

So Easter isn't far away. I have fond memories of Easter in my early childhood. My dad had a camera and shot movies of us. I had frilly dresses and bonnets. And we were always taken to a park where we had a picnic. My brother and I chased each other around with little sticks. They were our guns. We would each have a basket filled with those hard candy coated marshmallow type eggs. (gross now but I used to love them) a chocolate bunny, usually a kite, tons of jelly beans and those little yellow marshmallow chicks. I soooo believed in the Easter bunny. It was a great joy to own that belief. Not sure why and don't really want to ponder about that right now. It made my somewhat dreary childhood magical. Santa, the Easter Bunny, tooth fairies, they all have their purpose for some of us. They all play and have played very important roles in a lot of lives. I know for me it was more of an emotional belief than a physical one. Like the entire time you knew they didn't exist but thier magic did. Hard to explain.

A romantic interlude always gets better with chocolate. There must be something in chocolate that always seems to make things more romantic.

Romantic gifts are probably the most difficult to give. Certain holidays, like Valentine’s Day always elicit the same types of ideas for gift giving. Candy or flowers are standard choices. Other times, you may want to just say "I Love You", but not want to buy an expensive piece of jewelry to do so. Yes, you could just send flowers again, but why not open your mind to a more creative idea that will be thoroughly enjoyed by your loved one and yourself?

Next time you’re in a quandary over what to give, consider a romantic gift of food or wine. What about a decedent chocolate assortment like the "Say It With Chocolate" gift basket? This sumptuous gift basket was created with the chocolate lover in mind! Filled with a variety of Ghirardelli chocolates, chocolate-covered sandwich cookies, chocolate-covered espresso beans, chocolate chip cookies and chocolate-covered grahams, this gift will put your lover into orbit!

This is a silly, yet practical holiday gift: the Orca Mitt. Gadgetboy vouches for it below.

We have an ORKA and can vouch for it. They look funny but are awesome in the kitchen! Great for a unique gift too.