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lifestyle & arts
THe North shore weekend
2/01 – 2/02/14
love & marriage
■ by joanna brown Though the Valentine’s Day decorations have wallpapered local stores since Dec. 26, I remain stumped. Sure, I have a shopping bag full of treats for my son’s preschool classroom and enough pink-and-red sprinkles on hand to candycoat the driveway — but I have nothing for my Valentine. He, I believe, gets off easy Feb. 14. He can stop at most any drug store, grocery store or gas station to grab a bunch of daisies on his way from work and arrive home looking like a hero. If I were to try the same thing, he would raise an eyebrow. Flowers, it seems, are not a manly gift. The research says that after-work driveby does not cut it these days. A 2013 Valentine’s Day spending survey by BIGinsight shows the average person spent $130.97 on candy, cards and gifts. Total spending in the United States was $18.6 Ravinia North Shore 2-1 Mahoney ad_Layout 1 billion.
Most gift-givers buy candy, and another third buy flowers. A sad 15 percent of giftgivers buy gift cards – a totally amateur gift, in my opinion. Given, not all of this spending goes to your One And Only. The same survey found that 60 percent of shoppers shared the love with family, and 25 percent bought gifts for friends. One in five Americans bought a Valentine for their pet, a category where total spending exceeded $800 million. Another sign of the times: 40 percent of smartphone users will dial up a gift idea; 46 percent of tablet owners will do the same. As if on cue, I asked my Facebook friends for manly gift ideas in the same genre as flowers and candy. I received exactly one response: a DVD of a favorite movie. (Technically, I received two responses, but “the honor and privilege of having a spouse” was disqualified because it was submitted by a blissful newlywed who is currently being deprived of sleep by his 1/21/14 9:17 AM Page 1 beautiful infant daughter.)
jack ziegler./the new yorker collection/www.cartoonbank.com
Never easy to buy a Valentine’s gift for a man
So, as I am prone to do, I called on the experts. Sherry Smith is a home and holiday sales associate at Wilmette’s Chalet nursery. She celebrates Valentine’s Day as the anniversary of her first date with her husband of 34 years, and she has helped countless hapless shoppers. She’ll probably enjoy a dinner-and-a-movie outing this year, akin to her date in 1972. “It’s definitely harder for women on Valentine’s Day,” Smith and I commiserated. The Chalet doesn’t offer fresh cut flowers for Valentine’s Day, but there is a whole table of items for men to pick up for their wives. Some are equally appropriate gifts for men. There are rubber shoes for gardening and countless garden tools, as well as seed packets to get an early start on the summer garden. Tropical plants, Smith suggested, make a nice vessel for delivering airline tickets to
a tropical locale. There are his-and-hers coffee mugs and stainless steel wallets (to prevent high-tech pickpocketing) and birdhouses in a range of styles. But there are also perfectly masculine gifts in the floral department. Venus flytraps, Smith recommended, or anything with more greenery than pink and lavender blooms. She is particularly fond of a preserved boxwood wreath – heart-shaped, no less – for indoor use. It only needs to be misted monthly. Just be careful while you’re shopping. There’s a drugstore, gas station and grocery store at the same intersection of Lake Avenue and Skokie Highway — and likely a swarm of men looking for parking spaces. Love & Marriage columnist Joanna Brown can be reached at Joanna@northshoreweekend.com. ■
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