Valentine’s Day Gifts for the Loves in Your Life

by Lori Cunningham   

It’s February…that means…love is in the air!  Who’s your love?  Your husband?  Your  boyfriend?  Your adorable son?  Your precious girl?  Your family?  I love Valentines Day.  It’s a fun day filled with chocolates, conversation hearts, silly Valentines cards for the kids, Valentines parties in the kids’ classrooms, and hopefully a romantic dinner.   

Do you have fun traditions you like to perform on Valentines’ Day?  A girlfriend of mine buys a heart-shaped Baskin-Robbins cake for her family.  Her  family looks forward to it every year.  I’ve taken her daughter to Baskin-Robbins a couple of times and her daughter usually tells me about it every time we walk by the cake cooler case.  I keep thinking to myself, “what a great excuse to buy a super yummy cake!”   

I recently had the opportunity to talk with Maria Bailey on MomTalkRadio.com on 1/30/11 about my traditions on Valentines Day.  Interested in the mom banter? Click here.  I enter the show on towards the end at 25 minutes, 27 seconds into the show.   

While at the Consumer Electronics Show, I stumbled upon a few fun gadgets and accessories that I thought I’d share with you.  There’s something for everyone if you’re looking for a fun Valentines Day gift:   

For the Trivia Buff in Your Life:   

Wiki Reader   

The Wiki Reader is really a neat little gadget.  It contains the contents of Wikipedia.com in one little, easy to carry device.  The Wiki Reader delivers over three million interconnected articles in the palm of your hand!  It is completely offline; no Internet access is needed.  As the WikiReader website declares, “the WikiReader is discovery, investigation, entertainment, and inspiration all rolled into one.”  And you know what, it’s true!   

The Wiki Reader is a simple device…the two inch display is in black & white and is not backlit, which means you’ll need to have light to read it.  This feature saves greatly on the two AAA batteries included.  The touchscreen display is very readable and articles include a number of underlined words which jump to their specific topics by pressing the underlined word.  The Wiki Reader just announced that a free upgrade is available which will allow readers to view and read over 33,000  books free from the Project Gutenberg library…straight from the Wiki Reader itself!  Although a 16 GB memory card will be needed to store all these great books.  The Wiki Reader retails for $99 online with free shipping.  I will be reviewing the Wiki Reader in a later post.   

For the Music Lovers in Your Life:   

Yurbuds Ear Buds   

During CES, I would sometimes call my family back home during the evening events.  The only way I could hear them is if I used the free pair of mini headphones I was  given from a vendor.  They sure came in handy as I would have never been able to hear my kids talk otherwise.  Unfortunately, it didn’t take long before both my ears started aching.  I found myself pushing the earphones closer to my ears to hear better.  After the first use, I was done using those them.   

Fortunately, a day or two later, I found Yurbuds.  Yurbuds graciously extended a sample from their Ironman Series for me to try.  The earphones fit like a glove!  They are uniquely shaped, designed for ultra-soft comfort, exceptional sound, and a secure fit.  The sound quality was excellent and literally, I could have the earphones in all day and they’d still be comfortable.  Although there are several different series of Yurbuds, the Ironman series is designed for intense workouts and for runners.  Fitness buffs will absolutely LOVE these headphones.  They won’t slip out, no matter how intense the workout or run.  Yurbuds were developed by a marathon and triathlon athlete, so they are designed to stay put despite the conditions.  Featuring extra long cords and a zippered pouch when not in use, the Ironman Yurbuds retail for $49.99, however, the less intense Yurbuds Blue retail for less at $29.99.   

Safe Sound Headphones for Kids   

Before attending CES, ListenToYourBuds.org contacted me to talk about the importance of lowering the volume when listening to loud music or noises.  In a study initiated by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) on teens using personal electronic devices with headphones, more than half of the high schools students reported at least one symptom of hearing loss.  To prevent hearing loss, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) recommends that children and teens practice safe listening habits such as keeping the volume of their music at a safe level and taking listening breaks when listening to their personal audio/video devices.    

If you have younger children, it may be hard to decipher at what level they are listening to their music or DVD when using headphones.   There are safe sound headphones you can buy such as TUNE A FISH RECORDS “protective Ear Gear”* (on sale now at Amazon.com for $10.99) or Maxell’s Kids’ Safe Headphones ($11.02 also on sale at Amazon.com) which automatically keep volume levels safe for kids.  For a four minute video on preventing hearing loss in children, see this segment on Fox News.   

For the Little Learners in Your Life:   

Jump Start   

Many of us are familiar with Knowledge Adventure’s  great Jump Start programs.  They started out offering CD discs for the computer and in changing with the times, now offer kids an online 3D world adventure in addition to games for the DS, Wii, and downloadable apps.  From “training dragons to exploring lost islands, JumpStart.com includes thousands of games and activities for kids ages 3-12.”  Knowledge Adventure knows kids will be engaged and learn more if the learning games they are playing are fun and interactive.  JumpStart.com offers monthly plans at $7.99, yearly plans at $74.99 and lifetime plans at $149.99.   

For the Gadget Lover in Your Life:   

Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse   

OK, you’re probably thinking, REALLY?  Who needs another mouse?  Well, this one is kinda cool.  First off, when you take it out of the box, it lies completely flat.  Place the two enclosed AAA batteries into the mouse, plug the mini USB thumb drive into one of your computer’s USB ports and wait for the software to begin loading. Once loaded, Microsoft automatically directs you to a “Try Out Your Arc Touch Mouse” online tutorial.  The tutorial teaches use how to use its slide technology and buttons.  The slide strip works really well and can scroll through pages quickly.  With it’s BlueTrack Technology, the same technology used in the Swiftpoint laptop mouse I reviewed, you can use the mouse on practically any surface except glass and mirrors.  The best part about the Arc Touch mouse is that you can lay it completely flat to pack away in your travel bag.  It automatically turns off when you lay it flat.  The Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse retails for $69.99 online at the Microsoft store, or you can pick it up for $49.95 at Amazon.com.   

For You, the Memory Keeper in Your Life:   

Muvee Reveal   

Moms are the memory keepers of the family.  Do you have tons of photos and videos but never seem to have the time…or inclination to put them together into a snappy video?  With Muvee Reveal software, moms can create amazing personalized videos in just three steps.  First, upload your photos and videos, next choose a style (there are 10 included), and lastly add music from your music files.  The amazing thing about Muvee Reveal is that it was designed to accentuate pictures and videos to the beat of the music.  So the flow of the music enlivens the story line as it plays out.    

I had the opportunity to talk to one of the cofounders and CEO of Muvee, Terrence Swee, while at CES.  It was a great interview, Swee is very passionate about his product and he understands well that moms have limited time to put together movies.  Muvee Reveal is designed to make movies “automagically” as Swee says.  For those moms who like to tinker with their movies more to make them even more customized, Muvee Reveal offers more advanced features.  Muvee offered me a copy of the software to put together some of my videos from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2011).  See WellConnectedMom’s channel on YouTube to see a movie on some cool home technology from CES  I put together using the Muvee Reveal software.  

Well, there you have it.  Some fun and different ideas for Valentines Day for your favorite people in your life.  I will be traveling to New York City this week to attend the annual International Toy Fair.  It’s been a goal to go to the Toy Fair since my college days, so I’m REALLY looking forward to it.  Follow me on Twitter @wellconnectdmom and on Facebook – Well Connected Mom as I scout around to find the hottest toys for Christmas 2011.  Thousands of new toys will be introduced at the show.  Which ones will be the hits?  I’ll let you know!   

Natasha was super excited to receive her new TRON LightCycle USB Drive!

Also, congratulations to our TRON LightCycle USB Winners!  Natasha, Peter, David, Jennifer from MadMooseMama.blogspot.com, Jackie from FreeIsMyLife.com, and Marie from TheNewXmasDolly.blogspot.com  all won super cool TRON LightCycle USB’s from our  TRON giveaway.   

* The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) sent me a pair of TUNE-A-FISH ear gear headphones for kids and promotional materials to learn more about the ListenToYourBuds.org campaign and help spread the word about decreasing hearing loss in children and teens.  I have used kids safe headphones before and I am a big believer in them.  kids safe headphones give me great comfort in knowing that my five-year old is listening to his DVD player at an appropriate audio level.