Meeting the parents

Listen up, gentlemen. The first time you meet your girlfriend's parents, you MUST bring something for her mother. Forget about the rest of the family (well, get them a cake for plus points haha). I think that it makes a really good first impression to bring your girl's mom some flowers or a nice plant.

Flowers

Characteristics of a mom that would love a bouquet of flowers:

• The glamorous mom that holds dinner parties on a regular basis
• Gardening means picking out the plants she likes and having them planted by a gardener. Or maybe she had a landscaper design everything for her. 
• She loves flowers inside the home more than outside. 
• She goes to the nail salon for her regular mani-pedi.
• Her style is more chic and clean which she partners with some perfectly lined eyes and deep red lips. 

What flowers to get her:

• No roses please. Save the romantic flowers for your girl. Yes, get your girl some flowers too. 
• Ask your girlfriend what her mom's favorite color/flower is and incorporate it into the bouquet. (See previous post)
• No need for a card, in my opinion.
• Some take into account the meaning of flowers. Here are a list of a few flowers with nice meanings. 
• Baby's breath - festivity
• Carnations- gratitude for pink ones and cheerful for yellow ones
• Daisy- innocence
• Freesia- spirited
• Hyacinth- sincerity
• Hydrangea- perseverance
• Jasmine- grace and elegance

Where to buy flowers:

• See aforementioned post

Plants

Characteristics of a mom that would love to receive a plant:

• The domestic goddess- she cooks,cleans, and is the captain of the house.
• She likes to get down and dirty...in the garden. She takes care of plants like babies. 
• Her garden is her prized trophy. It seems as if she spends just as much time or more working on her garden as she does inside the house. 
• Her style is mostly bohemian and free spirited. She likes floral prints, flowing skirts, and natural hues like tan and gold. 
• She rocks the natural look with hardly any make up to cover her beautiful face. 

What plant to get her: 

• Orchids. This is a no-fail plant to give to moms. They're so beautiful and rather easy to take care of. They also stand for "delicate beauty". 
• A small fruit bearing plant like a young calamansi tree. We had one in our garden before and we'd actually use the calamansi for cooking. I remember seeing someone sell young red pepper plants in a bazaar which I thought was a cute gift idea. 
• Herbs for a mom who cooks a lot. 

Where to buy plants in Manila:

• Market! Market! in Taguig
• BF Homes in Paranaque
• Weekend bazaars

How to wrap the plant:

• Make sure the pot the plant is in is nice and clean. 
• You can wrap the pot with some nice ribbon to add a bit of oomph! 
• Here are some other gift wrapping ideas I found:

via weddingdish

Cute Christmas idea from Alex Schlegel via Pinterest

via bride.net

Last few tips

• Don't spend too much money. You want to impress but you also don't want to appear like you're buying the mom's approval. 
• Don't expect that giving something to the mom means instant approval. Be polite and engaging in conversations.
• Match the lovely gift, whether flowers or a plant, with a well dressed boy. Go for pants/ shorts (and no, not those super short shorts from Topman. Sorry.) with a polo shirt and closed shoes. No slippers for dinner please. 
• Relax. Breathe. Be yourself. 

For Masterchef aspirants

Here's a gift I'd give to budding chefs and long-time cooks alike. It's the Apron Guide made by Suck UK and available at Ava.ph!

If your mom hates looking through the cook book with flour dusted fingers, then this would be the perfect gift for her.

It's such a handy guide to wear while in the kitchen! If I had one (and if I started cooking LOL), I'd write my own notes on the cotton apron to add to the already comprehensive list. 

As for gift wrapping, I'd wrap it like any towel- rolling it and tying a nice ribbon around it. Very simple and easy to do. 

Simple gift wrapping from damasklove

But if you wan't to put a little bit more effort into the wrapping, putting it into a clear jar would look really nice too. Your recipient could use the jar afterwards for storage so it won't go to waste.

Wrapping from supermommoments

I'd also add a nice Christmas label on the top of the jar. It's very easy to make these on your computer and just print the design on sticker paper. 

Jar labels from according-to-kelly

You can order the apron at Ava.ph for P995. 

The perfect gift for your special girl

Whether your special girl is your girlfriend, your wife, or even your mom, a Pandora bracelet is the perfect gift to show your love for her.

Jewelry is always a tricky gift to get for a girl. She's either going to love it and wear it often or hate it and just keep it in it's box forever. The piece has to fit her style and her personality. So boys, if you do plan to get her jewelry, make sure you know her well and know what she likes. It's not the most affordable gift to buy. It's an investment and it requires you to shell out a little bit more than usual. That is if you get her real gold or silver, which is what I think all men should buy. No fancy accessories please because we would rather buy those ourselves. Also, some people are allergic to fake gold/silver so better to be safe than sorry. And don't you want to impress your special lady? :)

I received a Pandora bracelet last year from Chi and I absolutely LOVE it. Not as much as I love him, of course. Haha! My bracelet started out with the silver bracelet, 1 charm, 2 clips, and 2 spacers. It has grown since then to have 3 charms, 2 clips, 2 spacers, and a safety chain.

That's my bracelet and each piece holds a significant memory. The murano glass charms are yellow and purple because those are our favorite colors. There's a "21" charm because he gave the bracelet on my 21st birthday. I got the the flower safety lock right after graduation. The buddha will always remind me of our trip to Shanghai, our first trip out of the country. And last, but certainly not the least, the heart. I think that's self explanatory :)

As you can see, the bracelet is more than just a gift to me and, ironically,  that's why I think it makes the perfect gift to your special someone. You can customize it from the kind of bracelet (silver, gold, and even leather) to the different charms and spacers. They've got a really wide variety of choices so I'm sure you can tailor fit the bracelet to suit HER personality and YOUR budget. You can start with just the essentials (bracelet + 2-3 charms + 1-2 spacers) and build the bracelet together as you form new memories. 

Here are some bracelets for your inspiration. These are full ones and I can't wait to fill mine up! 

Pictures are from theparadenorwood.com,  oliverjamesjewellers.com,  tootiifruitii.wordpress.com,  neverenuffstuff.com,  pandoraukcharms.zifn.com,  imagesaz.com, stylelifefashion.com. 

You can find Pandora at Bonifacio High Street, Lucerne at Edsa Shangri-la Mall, Adora at Greenbelt 5, and Newport Mall at Resorts World Manila. Check this out for complete addresses of their stores in the Philippines.   They package everything in nice white boxes and they include every purchase with their latest catalog. Also, every time your girlfriend/wife/special someone visits their store, they can have their bracelet cleaned for free! It takes around an hour so I usually leave my bracelet with them, go around the mall to eat or shop, and then come back for it before I go home. 

Check out the Pandora website for more info. Or you could just look at their beautiful pieces :)