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Posts Tagged ‘Valentine's Day’

Valentine’s Day Fun Facts

February 8th, 2010 by Matthew C. Keegan | 2 Comments | Filed in Fun Stuff

There are major holidays and then there are Hallmark holidays, the latter falling under the category of less important celebrations which are still oftentimes acknowledged through the sending of a greeting card or small gift. Many men look at Valentine’s Day as being a day of lesser significance while most women seem to rank the holiday up there with Christmas and their birthday.

love letterGuys, you lose on this one: make sure that you remember your sweetheart this Sunday. Or else.

St. Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is not what most people think that it is. At least when it comes to being seen in its original context. Back in the 5th century the Roman Catholic pope, Gelasius I, recognized the service of a martyr named Valentine, elevating him to sainthood. Thus, St. Valentine’s Day is the actual name of the holiday even though it has come to represent love between a man and a woman.

As we move deeper into the 21st century, Valentine’s Day is likely to continue to evolve. In recent years people sent e-cards, but that has largely fell into disfavor because of the possibility of viruses attached. Instead, if you want to send a viral message you do that by visiting their Facebook account. Why chance receiving something that can wreck your computer?

Fun Facts

With each Valentine’s Day holiday, comes word of some tradition or idea worth noting. Yes, chocolates, roses, and a funny card are usually welcome gifts, but consider what some people are planning to give this year and where you can find them:

Red Heart USB Drive – she loves her computer, so why not give her a fun, memory device? (www.coolcubetoys.com)

Chocolate Lips – For a lip smacking good time, available in pink or purple foils. (candywarehouse.com)

Lovopoly – A romantic version of the classic Monopoly game, for the lover in you! (findgifts.com)

Romantic Fortune Cookies – Chinese take out food pail holds nine fortune cookies with sweet sayings. (amazon.com)

Ladybug Chocolates – Give a six piece ladybug shaped truffles set to your sweetheart (moonstruckchocolate.com)

Be Mine Wine – Give that special wine, champagne, or nonalcoholic beverage on Valentine’s Day. (personalcreations.com)

Classic Jewelry – When all else fails, buy jewelry. But why settle for something he or she won’t wear once the holiday is over? (redenvelope.com)

True Love

That’s it, folks! Fun gift ideas for Valentine’s Day, ways for you to express your love to the one nearest and dearest to your heart.

Photo Credit: Billy Alexander


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Still Hanging On To Those Gift Cards?

February 5th, 2009 by Matthew C. Keegan | 5 Comments | Filed in Consumer Tips

Christmas was six weeks ago and you’ve likely eaten the last of the fudge, thrown out old egg nog and have removed every last vestige of the holiday. After all, Valentine’s Day is next week and you don’t want to have a Santa figurine standing next to Cupid now, do you?

More than likely you still have at least one taletell sign of Christmas hanging on — it could be pinned to a bulletin board or stashed into your junk drawer. Yep, I’m talking about that gift card you received from a relative or friend on Christmas day, a card for a store you don’t even patronize.

So what do you do with an unwanted gift card? You trade it in!

Several websites have sprung up over the past few years, destinations where you can go and trade in your unwanted gift card for one that you really want.

MonsterGiftCard.com, PlasticJungle.com and GiftCardRescue.com have all gotten into the business to help move unwanted cards. Most of these sites require that you sign up and they’ll take a fee for helping your exchange your current card. Sure, you may not get anything close to the value of your card, but an unused $50 card means that you’re out fifty bucks.

When visiting these and related sites, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the fine print. Most sites will take cards valued between $25 and $200, giving to you the redemption value of the card. At GiftCardRescue.com for example, you’ll receive 60 to 80 percent of the card’s value.

You can then choose to receive cash via Paypal or select a new card from the site. Next, you’ll mail your card to this service and receive your cash about forty-eight hours after they have it in their possession. New cards are sent out via mail once they verify your trade in.

As with any sort of online dealing, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with each site’s fee policies. You could be charged fees for commissions and shipping, additional costs which can devalue the worth of your trade. Lastly, be on the look out for dormancy charges for not using the card within a certain period of time and make sure that the card you are sending in hasn’t expired.

Of course, if you don’t want to bother with such online services you can do what millions of shoppers do: regift the item. After all, Valentine’s Day will be here before you know it!


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