Valentine's Day gifts: He shops, she shops

Valentines day is just around the corner. Looking for the perfect gift? Look no more. Alan Murray and Laura Landro, assistant managing editors for the Wall Street Journal, wrote an article about great gift ideas for the man or woman in your life. Our directory, www.RentExoticCars.net, was mentioned in the story as the place to find exotic rental car dealers. The story also mentioned finding a Ferarri 360 Coupe from one of our featured advertisers, Las Vegas Exotic Car Rentals. Below is the full story as shown in the Wall Street Journal and Pittsburgh Post Gazette.


(as seen on Pittsburgh Post Gazette and Wall Street Journal)
Valentine's Day gifts: He shops, she shops

Monday, February 05, 2007By Alan Murray and Laura Landro, The Wall Street Journal

BUYING FOR HER
By Alan Murray
Valentine's Day gifts are filled with peril.
Any other day of the year, an ugly sweater or a cheap-looking pair of earrings is just further evidence of your poorly developed shopping skills. On Valentine's Day, it becomes a "symbol of our relationship." Get it wrong, and it may be your last.
"Experience" gifts only heighten the risk. Quality control is difficult. A hot-air-balloon ride may sound like a romantic journey, but what if the weather turns bad? Or if your pilot tells off-color jokes? Those baskets can be really small.
No wonder so many guys stick to red roses, Godiva chocolates and Tiffany baubles.
Still, in the spirit of adventure, my colleague Laura Landro and I have decided this year to abandon the material world and look for the perfect experience. The good news is that there are now a number of Web sites that can help, including XperienceDays.com, cloud9living.com, excitations.com and signaturedays.com.
Before we dive in, though, a few words of caution:
Remember that you want this to be the perfect experience for her -- not you. Renting a Ferrari Spider for the day may sound like bliss -- but will she take it the same way? Same goes for bungee jumping. Fearing where I might go with this, Laura sent me a warning email that read: "Hint: Nothing that involves anything rustic." So much for bull-riding school.
Check it out first. Buying a diamond on the Web is one thing. Buying the time of your life is something else. Before I commit myself to a dinner cruise for Valentine's Day, I want to see the boat, the menu and maybe even check out the crowd.
Here's my hit list for women's gifts this Valentine's Day and Laura's responses:
Dance Lesson for Two: Even if it's not your thing, she'll love this one. Xperience Days offers this in New York for $115, with dance styles ranging from the Viennese waltz to the West Coast swing to the tango. Also available in San Francisco and Philadelphia.
Laura Landro responds: I love this idea, but it's a gamble if your loved one is a natural klutz. I can get out there and shake it with the best of them in freestyle boogie mode, but when I've tried to learn real dance steps I trip over myself -- and my partner. My mother, who can do a mean fox trot, has tried to teach me at weddings without success; my husband, who knows all the right moves, says I always try to lead. I'm ready for professional intervention.
Helicopter Tour: I've always wanted to do the tour of Manhattan. And the rotor noise makes it harder to hear the pilot's bad jokes. Signature Days, Cloud 9 and Xperience Days all offer this option, starting at $69 per person. In Boston, you can get a helicopter tour of old lighthouses; in San Diego, you can cruise the coastline; and from Sedona, Ariz., you can tour the red rock canyons.
Laura: When I told Alan I didn't want anything rustic, I also meant I didn't want anything dangerous. The last time I got in a tourist helicopter was a ride eight years ago over active volcanoes on the Big Island in Hawaii. As our pilot swooped down to hover over a gaping crater full of red molten lava I swore if I made it out of there alive I'd never do this again. Seriously, check the record of the tour operator if you don't want to risk your life; while helicopter-accident rates have declined in recent years, they are still higher than overall aviation accident rates.
Spa for Her. Sometimes the best way to show you care is to give her a day away. A day at the spa for her is a nice gift, with a wide range of options and prices.
Laura: I will always accept a spa gift with pleasure as long as Alan follows his own advice: Check it out first. Nothing is less pleasant than a spa that isn't spic and span, and I'm leery of New Age places that scrub you down with grape pips, silt or Dead Sea black mud. And no co-ed communal steam rooms!
Lobster Fest: If you are within reach of FedEx, you can have live lobsters delivered to you year round, with clams, corn, chowder with a big pot to prepare it all. All you need to complete the feast is a stove or fire for cooking. It's a great way to bring back a bit of summer in the middle of winter. Try lobstertogo.com, or mainelobsterdirect.com
Laura: I have to admit I'm skeptical. Are they still alive, fresh and kicking after a long flight in a cargo hold? Come to think of it, hold the lobsters; I never liked the whole throw-them-alive-into-the-pot routine anyway. And this still means I have to cook and clean up, right? Just take me to a local lobster shanty.
Dinner at Home: Not going out can often be the most romantic experience. In Washington, Cloud 9 Living will come into your home and prepare a gourmet meal, with matched wines. The price is stiff -- $440 for three courses -- but you avoid the uncontrolled distractions of a crowded restaurant (and the uncertain result of cooking yourself). Signature Days offers something similar for $379 in most major cities. Or check with your favorite local caterer to see what they can provide.
Laura: Now you're talking! I don't have to cook, I don't have to clean up, and we don't have to drive home! And it wouldn't hurt to end the evening with a little bauble floating at the bottom of a champagne glass!

BUYING FOR HIM
By Laura Landro
For most women, a romantic evening with a little bling, some bubbly and a bouquet of long-stemmed roses is the only Valentine's Day experience we really want; our biggest fear is a gift that is really more about an experience he'd like to have, such as a couple of tickets to the playoffs or a camping trip in the backcountry.
On the other hand, since many experience gifts benefit the giver as well, this Valentine's Day my list includes gifts that will teach him a skill I can enjoy (such as a cooking class), enable me to accompany him somewhere I really want to go (that Rolling Stones concert he'd never get the tickets for) and provide him with services that will spiff up his grooming, golf game or general appearance. Worst-case scenario, he rejects some of my gifts after I've already paid for them -- but I can always use that spa certificate to get myself a facial.
Here are my picks and what my colleague Alan Murray has to say about them:
A Personal Concierge: By the time he's thought to make a reservation for the hot new restaurant or club, get tickets to a play or buy me that bauble for Valentine's Day, it's probably too late. Concierge services offer to take care of it for him. Quintessentially (quintessentially.com), based in London with offices in New York and elsewhere around the globe, offers memberships starting at $1,500 a year and can get last- minute reservations at hot spots, hard-to-get tickets and entry to private clubs. Less pricey: services such as Yourpersonalbutler.com and Finiconcierge.com that charge by the hour for errands like shopping and picking up your dry cleaning. To find one near you try the International Concierge and Errand Association (Iceaweb.org)
Alan Murray responds: I've never had a concierge or a "personal butler," and fear I'd make poor use of it. I think I'd rather pick up my own dry cleaning and have a weekend away instead.
Cooking Classes: He may be a whiz at the grill, but how about sharpening his culinary skills and making him feel like the Iron Chef in the process? Local groups offer gift certificates; try Oakland, Calif.'s Compassionate Cooks (Compassionatecooks.com). Culinary schools typically offer adult classes, such as the New York Institute of Culinary Education's four-session "Techniques of Asian Cooking" for $425. For a real splurge, the school's "Camp BBQ" trips to North Carolina, Texas or Tennessee include an old-fashioned pig pickin' and barbecue tips from famous rib-masters ($3,750 double occupancy, not including airfare.)
Alan: This is a great idea, and I accept! I'd particularly like to know how to make my own North Carolina-style pulled pork barbecue, since that's in short supply in my hometown of Greenwich, Conn. The problem with this experiment is someone will have to eat what I cook. (My daughters generally refuse any food prepared by me.)
Flexible Concert Tickets: My husband loves the symphony, but we stopped buying season tickets because our hectic schedules made it difficult to commit to concerts months in advance. Now, more concert halls are offering FlexPass tickets that can be redeemed for any weekday concert, subject to availability. The New York Philharmonic offers gift certificates redeemable for any of its concerts in Avery Fisher Hall; The Pittsburgh Symphony offers gift certificates in Flex 8 coupon books redeemable for eight tickets to any Mellon Grand Classics or PNC Pittsburgh Symphony Pops concert; $322 for eight coupons. And of course he has to take you to dinner afterward.
Alan: I'm with Laura -- season tickets are a scheduling nightmare. FlexPass is a much more attractive option.
Pampering: Though men seem to have a general aversion to spa treatments other than a massage, the pedicure is the one treatment men are least likely to book for themselves -- and most in need of. More spas are luring men to the pedicure chair with private rooms, vibrating seats that massage the back, and "sports pedicures" that use bracing scrubs and exfoliating tools to sand down and soften years of calluses and gnarly nails. Depending on the salon, prices can range from $30 to $100.
Alan: Leave my feet alone! You'll never catch me doing this, no matter how much you think I need it.
Golf Lessons: Even the most experienced golfer thinks he can gain an extra edge with a lesson. If he hasn't ever picked up the game but needs a new pastime, it's not a bad sport to take up -- and it's something you can do together. You don't have to belong to a golf club or even leave town to learn the basics. Drive 495 (driveclubs.com), in lower Manhattan, offers 30 simulated courses in a vast, second-floor, 15,000-square-foot space with a putting green ($125 to $350 for private lessons).
Alan: Golf lessons are a good idea. But don't expect them to make this game any less frustrating.
A Spin in a Luxury Car: OK, he wants a ride in a Ferrari Spider. Make it happen! Car clubs that let members share the use of vintage classic cars or new high-end autos have sprung up in recent years. The Classic Car Club in Manhattan asks a $1,500 fee for insurance and other costs; memberships start at $7,500 for 40 days of driving its classic sports, luxury and touring cars and member events. Luxury car "timeshare" company Club Sportiva, whose memberships start at $3,500, has several locations (clubsportiva.com). You can also find dealers who rent exotic cars for a day or a week nationwide at rentexoticcars.net, including Las Vegas Exotic Car Rentals ($1,195 a day for a Ferarri 360 Coupe).
Alan: If he's really into cars, this could be a good way to go. But make sure you know your man before blowing the money. Personally, I'm just as happy in my Mini Cooper.

(Note: Prices at time of publication. Laura Landro and Alan Murray are assistant managing editors at The Wall Street Journal.)