Do you ever struggle with what to get your boyfriend, fiancé, or husband? If the guy in your life is anything like the guy in mine, when he wants something, he goes out and gets it himself… So when gift giving occasions come along I’m often stumped. So, this year I have three gift recommendations for you that I hope help you make this Valentine's Day extra special. Plus, if you're headed out for a V-day date check out our Colombia, MO dining recommendations at the end.
1. Outdoor / Tailgate Guys: Solo Stove
First up is the outdoor-ish gift… For the partner who enjoys the outdoors in any capacity (maybe at a tailgate, in the backyard or in the woods. This is the gift I know my husband would add to the list himself too: The Solo Stove. We have ours in the camper and love the ease of starting our fire quickly and easily anywhere. It's smokeless so you don't have to play musical chairs as the wind shifts to avoid drowning in smoke and you don't end the night smelling like the campfire either.
Plus, tons of accessories and adorable mini options snowball into gifts for the next birthday or just because too.
It's nice to have a fire built in 2.5 seconds and easily done by myself if I wanted. Plus with the new heat deflectors they’ve fixed the issue of it not really dispersing heat around the firepit (which is GREAT in the summer when you don’t want to be hot but still want a fire, but not so good when you’re cold). Smokeless, easy to build, contained, burns down to ash, hot cooking fire, safe exterior are all reasons we love this and use it often so it’s my #1 choice for spoiling your outdoor loving significant others this year.
2. Pocket Knife
Next up… the ‘just a little something’ gift … I have a suggestion for the gift yo4 don’t want to have to think too hard about and don’t want to spend a lot on. While this isn’t the mammoth gift, it’s one that looks nice and will get a ton of use.
This pocket knife is durable, comes in handy, looks great and won’t break the bank. And I can tell you from real world observation of my own husband in the wild, it’s a ‘never leave the house without’ item which is always a great gift goal right?
3. A little bougie... a Tissot Watch
This gift is for the man in your life who likes style! For the one who wants to be a little bougie and is impressed by high quality. This is a nod to his fashionable side while still being functional. And whew boy ladies this is how you SPOIL him rotten.
4. Boudoir Portraits
Now, this last gift idea is the ‘SURPRISE’ make him blush gift. This gift is for WOWing your partner to thank him for all he does for you and it’s sure to put a BIG smile on his face.
Boudoir sessions are available both in Missouri (hotel & in-home) and Illinois* (in-studio, hotel & in-home).
These sessions are intimate (obviously) so to get started you can book your zoom consultation here to set up your complimentary first meeting so we can walk through all the details with you, help style your session, talk through the feel of your session and even more…
Just for Valentine's day we even have brought back our 15-minute Micro Boudoir session now! This in-studio session includes 1-2 outfits and 5 digital artist files... The perfect sexy Valentine's day gift sure to surprise and delight him!
Here's when & where you can book us:
- IL studio: 1/13-14 & 2/3
- MO studio: Email for availability through February
If you're interested in seeing more from recent boudoir sessions and learning more about the experience, you can join our Facebook Community.
5. Planning Your V-Day Date
If you're stuck on where to hit for your V-day date, boy to we have some suggestions! If you're looking for a nice lunch date we love Belly Market. Their goat cheese salad is my favorite and Ryan's a big fan of the classic ham & cheese. If you're looking for more of a cocktail and appetizer vibe, we suggest Room 38 to feel a little glittery while still a chill vibe. Now, if you want a classic Valentine's date night, we enjoy Sycamore for dinner.
Or you could do what my family does and try to avoid the Valentine's Day dinner date crowds, LOL. So instead of going to a sit-down restaurant, we choose to head to our favorite local burger stop, last year we went to Billiards on Broadway... and we love the low pressure of not trying to get a reservation or plan a date or get a sitter and instead hitting a casual family dinner out for a burger!
We hope you have a fantastic Valentine's Day and if you shop or try out one of these options we'd love to see it! Tag @sjanephotography on IG with your choices.
