Caitlin and Tessie and I were talking on Twitter awhile back about iPhone cases, and Tessie said that the choice of iPhone case tells you everything you need to know about a person. Which made me want to send her photos of iPhone cases I like and have her read them like a palm.

Modern Green Pearl Lace (photo from Amazon.com). I feel I SHOULD want this one, and I do. But I want it as one of a large wardrobe of them, so don’t form a conclusion too quickly.

Speck Products Love Birds (photo from Amazon.com). I like this one, too. But I don’t like how from a distance the birds look like holes in the pattern instead of like birds.
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We did end-of-year teacher gifts our first few years of having schoolkids, but now I don’t typically do them. I’m more likely to put all the teacher-gift eggs into the December-gift basket.

But I do sometimes do something for end-of-year, especially if there’s something significant about the particular year/class. For example, last year one of my children’s teachers was retiring, and she’d taught another of my children as well. I had copies of “first day of school” pictures printed from both kids’ first days in her class, and enclosed them with a thank-you letter and a Target gift card and a card wishing her a happy retirement. (Forty years teaching first graders. Can you imagine? No, don’t try.)

Mid-year, I think classroom items can be a nice thing to donate—but at the end of the year, I suspect teachers just want to PACK IT UP. No more pencils, no more books, no more children’s dirty looks! I aim instead for things I think they might be able to enjoy over the summer. A gift card to Panera, for a time of year they might be able to go to lunch. A gift card to a book store, for a little recreational reading. A gift card to the over-priced-but-delicious ice cream store. A gift card to a place that sells iced coffees (photo from Starbucks.com), for keeping them cool in August when they’re reassembling their non-air-conditioned classrooms.
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Spring is such sweet, sweet relief. No more slushy boots, no more icy roads.

I’ve put away my nice warm boots and I’m back in Converse (photo from Amazon.com). So is the teenaged assistant at the kids’ karate class, which worries me: do Converse bridge the generations, or is one of us off our mark?

I like the Burt’s Bees tinted lip balms: I keep one in my pocket and use it like regular chapstick, but I like the little bit of color. When I bought the Sweet Violet (photo from Amazon.com), I’d expected a purpley color for fall—but it’s more of a lilac-pink, perfect for spring.
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A couple of weeks ago I bought myself a Webkinz fox (photo from Amazon.com), after seeing the kids play Webkinz and feeling envious. I felt a little silly, but I shouldn’t have: for less than $10, I have had evening after evening of games. NO THEY ARE NOT BABY GAMES, SHUT UP.

And it could have been even less than less-than-$10, if I hadn’t been so picky about getting the fox. But I WAS picky about getting the fox, so it was $9.90. (I also considered the hedgehog.) (Photo from Amazon.com.)
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Perhaps you were already aware of the vast variety of available Pez dispenser sets. I was NOT aware. I knew that I could choose from various holiday-themed dispensers (Santa or snowman, bunny or lamb), and I’d seen a variety of character ones at the check-outs, but I didn’t realize there were AWESOME SETS.

…Or actually I guess I MUST have realized it at some point, because I see an Orange County Choppers set that I remember linking to on a guy gift list long ago. But I must not have REALIZED-realized.

Lord of the Rings Pez dispenser set (photo from Amazon.com). These sets are NOT CHEAP, I notice. Regular Pez dispensers are a dollar or two; these end up costing more like $4 or so each. Well, that doesn’t sound like as much when I type it out like that. I suppose most of the impression of Great Expense is from coming in a set instead of being sold individually.

Hello Kitty Pez dispenser set (photo from Amazon.com). I saw this set or a very similar one at Target awhile back and had to work fairly hard to keep myself from buying it. I don’t even LIKE Pez. But I do like Hello Kitty, and sets of things, and collections.
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You know how owl stuff is everywhere? Just EVERYWHERE? I’m so happy.

Kikkerland Owl contact lens case (photo from Amazon.com). This makes me wish I wore contact lenses.

Owl flatware (photo from Amazon.com). Ohhhhh, I wish I had seen this for the silverware post! (One more wish and I’m out of wishes.)
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Gift ideas for guys seem to fall into the same category as gift ideas for teenagers: with so few ideas, sharing what little we have can only improve matters. So here are some of the things I’ve given Paul recently, in case they’d work for your guy too:

Cooking for Geeks (photo from Amazon.com). I was irritated but affirmed when I bought this for Paul for an upcoming holiday and then saw he’d checked the same book out of the library.

Paul kept complaining about (and breaking the handles off of) my “sucky” measuring cups, so I did a post asking for advice on a good manly set. To my surprise and dismay, the comments section filled up with suggestions for measuring cups that cost about triple the amount of money I’d had in mind. But I thought about it and got used to the idea that maybe better quality = costs more, and then there was a sale combined with a free shipping deal, and so I bought him a set of the Williams-Sonoma measuring cups and spoons (photo from Williams-Sonoma.com)—and Paul LOVES them. On the next gift occasion, he hinted that he would also like the odd-sizes set, so I got him those too. (He was slightly cheesed that the two sets of measuring cups don’t nest together, but it wasn’t a big deal.)
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I’ve been experimenting with doing my hair in casual updos, and what has become abundantly apparent to me is that I need more clippy/pinny things (and also more strength/flexibility in the armular region, but one thing at a time). I have a large clip; and I have two smaller clips that together are just barely enough to hold up my hair; and I have a side-claw clip. Annnnd….that’s about it. Oh, and I have an assortment of barrettes and elastics, too, and some hairpins I’ve never successfully used for structural support.

I don’t want to go too wild with decorativeness. Or rather, I DO, but I’m worried it’ll take the look from “Casual Updo” to “Thinks She’s Going to the Prom.”

On the other hand, something fully practical like the Caravan Thick-Hair Tortoiseshell Barrette (photo from Amazon.com) in my shopping cart doesn’t exactly stir the soul. What I’d like to find is some clips that are sensible (i.e., hold up big chunks of hair comfortably) but also pleasing (i.e., PRETTY)—without overdoing it (i.e., PROM). It’s a fun challenge.

I noticed that Caravan hair clips were in general getting good reviews, so I browsed that section longer and found some good possibilities. The Tortoiseshell Flowers barrette (photo from Amazon.com) seems like exactly the sort of thing I’m looking for: the tortoiseshell makes it casual/plain and goes well with my shades-of-brown-and-blonde hair, and the flower shape makes it a little prettier than a rectangular barrette.
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Paul and I have had a smoother marriage since I stopped wanting us to exchange gifts on Valentine’s Day and anniversaries: Paul doesn’t like buying gifts for those occasions, and I don’t like getting gifts that come with a heavy sigh of obligation, and it’s hard to buy a similarly romantic/significant gift for a guy, and I get uptight about money—so overall it started feeling like it wasn’t a good idea for us as a couple.

Every so often my wish for a Significant Gift outweighs this, as for example on our tenth anniversary when I said ahead of time that I would like Expensive Earrings of His Choice, please, to wear sentimentally on all subsequent anniversaries, and I got him something unromantic for his computer—but for the most part we skip it. I still enjoy giving the kids a Valentine’s day gift, and I enjoy the fun of their classroom exchanges, and I still like Valentine’s Day decor and wearing pink/red that day and so forth.

I’m always interested to hear how other couples handle it. Some people who like to buy flowers are partnered with people who like to receive them. Some people who like to go out for dinner are partnered with people who like to, too. Some people who like lingerie are partnered with people who feel like it’s a gift for themselves. …And some people are not paired quite so neatly, and have to figure things out.

What I’d like to know today is what you’d LIKE to receive for Valentine’s Day—if for example you could have your same significant other, but replace the cells in their brain responsible for Valentine’s Day gifts. I’d also love to hear what you normally do, or what you’re likely to get instead—but I think it would be fun to do a sort of Fantasy List. My own tastes, as you will see, run toward the Classic: chocolates, flowers, jewelry.

See’s Pink Satin Heart (photo from Sees.com). I don’t think I even actually DO want this, even though it was the first thing I thought of when I turned my mind to the question. I DO love chocolates, ESPECIALLY heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, and I pined for this one as soon as I saw it—but $40 for not even a pound and a half of chocolate? And the box is so so pretty, but what would I use it for after the chocolate was gone? I used to save heart-shaped boxes, but I never did find a way to use them so I finally tossed them out in our last move. Still. If I were in a dating relationship, not married, I think this would be my favorite gift to get. I’d enjoy the extravagance of it, and I’d keep love notes and ticket stubs and photos in the heart-shaped box.
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I am in full Enjoyable Calendar Fuss Mode now. When I went to my Amazon cart this morning, one of my calendar options (the Wallpaper calendar, which I found after writing this year’s calendar post) had dropped to half price so I bought it—but I’m not really sure about it (the picture of it makes it look like it might be one of the cheap dollar-store ones that rips and curls), and also I still need a second one.

In the meantime, let’s exchange loot lists! Here are some things I got this year:

A Week in Winter, by Maeve Binchy (photo from Amazon.com). This won’t be released in the U.S. until February, so what I got was a note in an envelope saying it had been pre-ordered. Which is what I asked for: this is Maeve Binchy’s last book (she died this year) and I really really really really really want it the very first minute I can have it. I don’t want to patiently wait for the library copy, or for the next gift occasion.

Kiva gift card (screenshot from Kiva.org). Kiva is one of those places where you can give a tiny loan (like, $25) to someone else. Then that person pays it back to you, and you can loan it out again. And again and again. The idea is that sometimes people only need a small boost to make a huge difference in the way they make a living (especially in a country where a little cash goes a long way), but banks are not going to loan them $100. Four Kiva members can team up to loan it, though. I’ve been enjoying loaning and re-loaning so much, I put a $25 Kiva card on my wish list.
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