Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching and, while I would agree that we don’t need a specific day marked on the calendar to tell our loved ones how much we care, it’s nice to do a little special something for your special someone.

Ray and I generally exchange a little gift on Valentine’s Day every year, in spite of the fact that we shower each other with gifts of love all year long. (Okay, that sounded cheesy…) There have been some years when all I did was make a handmade card filled with heartfelt words of love. One year I created a photo memory book and included letters and notes from before we were married.

This year I was approached by Red Envelope to help spread the word about their Valentine’s Day gifts. I I found so many great items at RedEnvelope.com, but decided to give Ray a couple of items to bring a little fun into our times alone together. You know, after all the kids are sound asleep in bed…

It was super easy to place my order, once I had narrowed it down from several items to just two. (Only one is pictured above, so I don’t ruin the whole surprise for Ray.) I chose 2 day shipping for a bit of a fee, but I wanted to be sure that I would receive his gifts in time. I was so excited when the big red boxes arrived for Ray, already wrapped and tied with a bow!

Red Envelope is a great site for gifts for anyone you want to remember this Valentine’s Day. In fact, LivingSocial has a great deal through the 5th of February. You get $30 to spend on unique and personalized gifts for just $15!

I was compensated in the form of a Red Envelope gift card for the purpose of this post.

Thirty One Gifts is the leading provider of fun, stylish and functional products for women, their families and the home. From signature purses and totes, to storage solutions that help organize your life, there’s something to fit every personality and situation. The name Thirty-One comes from the verses of Proverbs 31 in the Bible that celebrates the busy, hardworking wife, mother, friend, daughter and sister in all of us. Thirty-One recognizes women for who they are and all they do for their families and their communities!

Two of Thirty-One’s Thermal Totes are on sale for $10 and $15 through January 31st. Now is the perfect time to stock up on these for Valentine’s Day, end-of-year teacher gifts or summer travel! Go check ‘em out.

Win it!

Enter for a chance to win a $100 gift card to Thirty One Gifts. All you need to do is leave me a comment on this post, after you’ve had a chance to check out the Thirty-One Gifts catalog, and tell me which item you most like and why. Easy peasy! I’ll choose one lucky winner at 9pm (EST) one week from today, on February 4th.

Do you like to sample new and interesting wines from around California? Or, perhaps you know someone who has everything, but enjoys good wine… What a great gift a shipment (or even an entire club membership) from The California Wine Club would be!

We hadn’t ever heard of the Tulip Hill Winery until The California Wine Club sent their December selection to us.  Turns out it’s in Nice, California, where they make some amazing reds.  (I don’t even know where Nice is, to be honest.)  But, thanks to the club, we experienced the 2009 Cabepulciano (45% Montepulciano and 55% Cabernet Sauvignon).

We aren’t wine connoisseurs by any stretch, but we know what we like.  This red was one of the best we’ve tasted recently and it suited both our palates; Me – sophisticated and refined, Christine - amateurish and inexperienced. Shhhhh…don’t tell her I said that.

The white for December was Tulip Hill’s 2009 Reserve Chardonnay, which was excellent chilled.  We aren’t huge white wine fans, but this was a good one and made for a great starter when a couple of buddies of mine visited…but I did get in a bit of trouble for not waiting for Christine to get home.  Whoops!

Chris and I both think that a membership form The California Wine Club would make a fabulous gift. Not only would it be nice for wine enthusiasts, but would be a fabulous idea for the friend or family member who has everything!

Ooh, and guess what? You can receive a special 10% discount when purchasing gifts from The California Wine Club, just in time for the Holidays! Be sure to use promo code datestodiapers when ordering.

If you would like to try out The California Wine Club, you can use the same promo code and not only will they take off 10% off your first month, but they will also send you an extra bottle of wine in your first month shipment as a special joining offer for being one of our friends. There is no obligation to stay past the first month, but we’re pretty certain you’d want to!

One of the best parts about this time of year for me is all of the goodies that we get to enjoy. Gingerbread lattes, warm cookies, sweet and salty bites of goodness, and baskets full of yummy treats.

Usually the kiddos and I are the ones baking, assembling and delivering said baskets full of homemade confections, but this year we were the lucky recipient of a Mrs. Prindable’s basket and got to see and taste for ourselves how incredibly delectable these tasty treats are.

The bag of Classic Vanilla Caramels was empty before I could catch my twins, and as soon as I cut in to the first apple we were all hooked. The layers of caramel, nuts and chocolate coating just barely stole our attention from the fragrant tart apple. Between me and the kids, that apple lasted a mere 45 seconds. No joke.

I wanted to find out a bit more about Mrs. Prindable’s products and I sat with my jaw dropped – drooling, no doubt – as I watched their apple coating process. The time and attention that goes into each Mrs. Prindable’s creation is truly awe-inspiring, perhaps because I know from experience how much work it is to just dip an apple in caramel and make it look good…

Thanks to Mrs. Prindable’s, my kids will be gifting their teachers with a very special apple for Christmas. Your’s can, too, with delivery before Christmas for as little as $12.95 (more for Premium delivery).

Mrs. Prindable’s sent us the Premium Holiday Basket (pictured above) in exchange for this review. All opinions and thoughts are my own, as always.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.  It’s also the most anxiety-inducing time of the year, as the inevitable holiday gift-buying frenzy approaches.  Everyone wants to give wonderful gifts, but with a lack of time and with friends and family living distances away, buying gifts can prove a stressful task, made even worse with harried trips to the mall, and outrageous shipping costs.

One simple solution is the gift of digital gift cards.  This holiday season, buy gifts up until the last minute, from the comfort of your own home, at clickit!togiftit! The website offers busy people the opportunity to send digital gift cards redeemable at almost 50 vendors, including restaurants, retail stores, entertainment and online stores.  There is no cost to ship and no fee to purchase.  You can even personalize your gift by selecting the egift card design of your choice or uploading your own photos or images, to be delivered directly to the recipient’s inbox.

The best part?  Clickit!togiftit! offers a special gift with purchase promotion starting now.  For example, gift a $25 TGI Friday’s eGift card and get $5 to use yourself.  Or, receive a $10 eGift card at The Children’s Place for every $40 you send.  The promos change each week and you can see the newest promos by visiting Clickit!togiftit!. You can even buy gift cards for your own use and reap the reward, like a “daily deal.”

I was compensated by Clickit!togiftit! in exchange for sharing this information with you.

Last month Ray and I told you about the California Wine Club. Did you have a chance to hear how much we enjoyed our first shipment?

Well, to recap – we loved the wine and the ease in which we came by it. As in, it was literally delivered to our doorstep, making it a great gift idea for the upcoming holidays. In fact, my parents would really enjoy a gift membership… Hmmm.

Anyway, we received our second shipment not too long ago, and were just as pleasantly surprised. Not only did the bottles selected for us far surpass our expectations, but the information that accompanied the wine was very fascinating. It is so neat to see the photos of the vineyards and wineries in the newsletter, but the info about the wine itself and the winery from which it came makes the wine seem so much better, in some crazy way.

Ray and I are excited to try the California Wine Club’s holiday wines this month. Of course, we will be sure to share our thoughts with you, but for now how about a chance to win some wine?

Leave me a comment telling me about your favorite wine and you can win a one month shipment from The California Wine Club! To earn extra entries you can “like” The California Wine Club and The Boring Wine Guy on Facebook and/or follow @cawineclub and @boringwineguy on Twitter. Just leave a separate comment for each. (Giveaway open to all readers over 21, residing in the any of the states in the U.S. with the exception of Utah.)

Ooh, and guess what? All of you can receive a special 10% discount when purchasing gifts from The California Wine Club, just in time for the Holidays! Be sure to use promo code datestodiapers when ordering.

If you would like to try out The California Wine Club, you can use the same promo code and not only will they take off 10% off your first month, but they will also send you an extra bottle of wine in your first month shipment as a special joining offer for being one of our friends. There is no obligation to stay past the first month, so you’ve got nothing to lose and only quality wine to gain!