Most people think of flowers as women’s territory. A lot of men refuse to learn anything about flowers. Men know they are supposed to purchase flowers in order to impress women, but that’s as far as their knowledge goes. Think of how impressed she’ll be though when you purchase flowers that last longer and look more beautiful because you put in the time to learn how to choose the freshest flowers. When you start with the freshest flowers and take care of them properly, she’ll have that reminder of your love for that much longer.

When to Buy

When you’re at the market, look for flowers that are just beginning to bloom. While they might not look too impressive in their bud form, they will last longer when you bring them home. It’s tempting to buy flowers that are fully bloomed and look impressive at first glance, but these flowers rarely last through the day. Budding flowers will quickly open and look just as impressive if you give them a little time.

If you are buying roses, gently press at the head (near the base) to make sure that the base is firm. If it’s soft or spongy, then their life span will be shorter and they will start to droop a lot sooner than the roses with a firm base and crisp petals.

Conditioning Flowers

When you bring the flowers home, you need to take care of them right away. Don’t leave them in their floral wrap and wait for your significant other to put them in a vase. If you take care of the flowers, she’ll be doubly impressed, and the flowers will last twice as long.

First, strip the flowers of any excess leaves or thorns that will be below the water line. Not only will this look better, but it will help the flowers push all the nutrients they gain toward their petals instead of their leaves. This process is called stripping the stems.

Next, put the flowers in a bucket of cold water for an hour. This hydrates the flowers before you cut the stems, making them bloom when they’re fresh. By putting them in cold water for an hour, you ensure that they’ll need less water later on when they are displayed.

After the flowers have sat for an hour, split the stems. In other words, cut the flowers to the length you want. When you are cutting the stems, make sure you cut on a diagonal line, since this increases the surface area where the flower can drink water and helps the flower live longer.

Arranging Flowers

Hopefully your flowers came with some sort of flower food, and if they did, you should mix the food with water and make sure it is fully dissolved before you arrange the flowers in the vase. Arranging the flowers is rather simple, since you can keep changing things until you like the way it looks.

When you’ve mastered these easy flower care tips, you’ll be more prepared when your anniversary rolls around this year. There’s no need to delegate all things floral to the ladies, and she’ll appreciate the effort you went through in learning the basics.

You want to get the best diamond your money can buy. Diamond classification is standard in the industry, so as long as you know what you are looking for, you can buy a dazzling pendant necklace or engagement ring that will be sure to impress both the recipient and your wallet.
Perhaps you have heard about the Four C’s of diamonds—cut, color, clarity and carat. These terms are very important and can help you find the quality of diamond you want in the price range you can afford.

Cut

The cut of the diamond refers to more than whether there is an oval, round or princess (square) shape to the diamond pendant necklace or ring. The cut also refers to the quality, or how well the diamond was cut. When a diamond is cut improperly, light does not reflect well off the surface of the diamond face (called a table), making it appear less sparkly and brilliant. When you are looking at diamond pendants, look for cuts that have a “very good” or “excellent” rating to get a diamond that really shines.

Color

The mineral composition in a diamond will make the color slightly different from one gem to another. Diamonds range from absolutely colorless to yellow, blue, green and even red. For traditional engagement rings or diamond pendant necklaces, you will most likely be looking at the colorless to yellow scale. The color of a diamond contributes to the shine, since a colorless diamond allows more light to filter in and reflect out. The highest color grade is D, and then it progressively gets slightly more color as the alphabet continues (E and F diamonds are colorless, with G-K being variations of near colorless and L-M being slightly colored). Sometimes a yellow diamond might be marketed as “champagne” or “cognac.”

Clarity

Some diamonds have flaws (or inclusions)—whether from improper cutting or from its natural process when it was formed. If there are a lot of flaws, or if they are large and visible, the clarity of the diamond necklace pendant, bracelet or ring will be worse. These inclusions might look like a scratch, cut, air bubble or other mineral deposit, and might be visible only with magnification. The clarity of a diamond will range from FL (flawless) to I3 (Included 3 – with blemishes visible to the naked eye). If price is a concern, then you might want a diamond that has a VS1 or SI1 rating, where the inclusions aren’t visible except to a professional using magnification.

Carat

The carat weight is how jewelers measure the weight of the diamond. Larger diamonds will be more expensive, namely because they are rarer in nature. The carat measurement is one of the most obvious factors in looking at pendant necklaces and rings, since it is visible at a glance.

The Four C’s of diamonds are very important when you’re choosing jewelry, and if you know the basics, you will be more prepared in finding the diamond that fits your needs and budget.

When buying an anniversary gift for your spouse you will by no doubt be presented with many options with style and quality. Oftentimes it is tempting to go with an “almost perfect” item on sale, instead of a “perfect” item that costs more. There is something in a psyche that causes us to love a good deal. This is the reason big box retailers are so popular and our mail boxes are full of “specials”. But at what cost?

A recent study showed that more than 98% percent of Americans receive no inheritance. Another study I read recently said that almost all of the wealth we accumulate over a lifetime ends up in a landfill. Thats right, most of our vehicles, electronics, and other items we are so proud of end up worthless in about 20 years. And all that wealth we worked so hard to achieve ends up worthless.

Historically, the “American Dream” was considered giving your children a better life than you had, today we still use the term “American Dream” but manufacturers have convinced us that the real American Dream is stuff. Instead of accumulating wealth to hand down to our children we spend it on a home, car, and big screen televisions.

Now I am not advocating we don’t enjoy the money we work so hard for, or restrain from buying vehicles. Instead I am making the case for quality.

You see, in my opinion one nice quality watch is worth 100 cheap watches and one quality end table is worth 100 from IKEA. Not because they function any differently, but because one can be handled down for generations, while another will be in a landfill in less than 10 years.

So what does this have to do with Anniversary Gifts? Simple, you will have many choices when picking out a gift for your spouse. Some will be cheaper than other, but don’t choose off of price alone. Consider if what you are buying is something you would be proud for your grandchildren to hand down to your great grandchildren. It may cost more, but it will hold its value when cheaper items have become worthless.