Not that I’m a travel agent, but if I was, there are some holidays I know certain Sun signs would love to take – or better yet, receive as an anniversary, birthday, Christmas or wedding gift!

So when I saw that Fairmont Hotels and Resorts had recently launched their Apprentice Trips program, which combines their globally famous luxury brand with a range of accommodation-based activities that relate directly to the culture or landscape of the locale, and, with hotels in 16 different countries, well, that’s a lot of “experiential” packages to choose from.

Talkative Geminis keen to parlez avec vous might enjoy booking the seven-night French Immersion Package at the historic Chateau in Quebec City while environmentally-aware Aquarians could rush for the Eco-Learning Package at the Faimont Kea Lani in Maui. They can choose from one of five eco-learning activities at the resort, which include organic farming in a rainforest, and helping to preserve Hawaii’s archaeological sites by planting native species, among others.

Cancerians may either thrill to Shop With Chef at local markets in Toronto while enjoying a two-night stay at the Fairmont Royal York, or harvesting and hands-on cooking of ingredients from the Secret Garden package in the Fairmont Singapore.

No need for Taureans to book in overnight for the four-hour-plus Sweet Designs package at the Fairmont Pacific Rim in Vancouver – they can have their chocolate (or cake) – and eat it too.

Virgo golfing nuts might enjoy a Tees to Greens stay at the Fairmont Scottsdale where they receive helpful golfing techniques and a behind-the-scenes look at how golf courses are kept so pristine!

In the United Arab Emirates, the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr offers a four-night package for guests to master the regal skill of falconry (the falcon is the UAE’s national bird). I can see this appealing to Leos who think they’re a bit sheik.

In Monte Carlo, guests interested in perfume and exotic oils can broaden their knowledge with the Magic of Aromachology Package, which also includes a 60-minute aromachology massage for two. Wonderful for Pisces.

Librans can choose from taking their favourite best friend with them to Fairmont Turnberry Isle in Miami for the Gal Pal Experience, learning how to do proper back rubs, facials and foot massages, or to learn The Art of Buying Art at the Fairmont Dallas. Since they have a keen eye for art, this one might appeal.

Novice hikers and mountaineers can head to the Fairmont Yangcheng Lake resort in Kunshan, China for the Adventure Awaits package. Gotta-be-first Aries and explorer-mad Sagittarians would love to try this out!

Even politics gets a look-in, with the How to Pass a Bill in Washington Package at the Fairmont, Washington D.C., where a Federally registered lobbyist will advise participants on the crafting and promoting of an agenda. Constitutionally, a bill only requires three steps to become law in the US. Who would have thought that first step could take place while you were on holidays? This is just perfect for power-broking Scorpios and Capricorns.

Love to shop? If you and your partner become the Face of LoveStars at www.itsinthestarsonline.com, you could win a $AUD500 gift card to the retailer of your choice (or hey, 5 x $100 gift cards to 5 retailers – your call!) simply by entering the Be the Face of LoveStars photo competition.

Have a friend or family member take a high resolution (300dpi) colour shot  or two of you and your partner happily reading your hardcover LoveStars astrology report together.

If you win, you’ll receive the $AUD500 gift card. If you’re one of 5 x runners-up, you’ll win back the cost of your hardcover LoveStars report (from $89), credited to your Visa or Mastercard credit card.

LoveStars reports make ideal personalised gifts for couples for anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas, engagements, Valentines Day and weddings. These 30-35 page reports help any couple – newly dating or married for ages – (re)discover the magic in their relationship.

The Be the Face of LoveStars photo competition finishes 31 August 2010.

If you simply must have the latest iPhone 4, US retailer Radio Shack is offering a trade-in program that might prick up your ears…

Bring in an iPhone 3G 8GB or 16GB and Radio Shack will give you a $100 gift card, or if you have the fancier – but still of course, hopelessly out-of-date – 3GS 16GB or 32GB iPhone – and they’ll reward you with  a $200 gift card.

You can use this towards the new iPhone 4 model when it arrives on 24 June or, anything else in their store. If you are in the lucky, but unusual position of having two 3G or 3GS iPhones, you can keep one and trade in the other for gift cards that you can give to another for their birthday, or cash in for some type of techie gift.

The offer doesn’t extend to the original iPhone apparently and all trade-in models must be in good condition.

The Radio Shack offer runs until 25 July 2010.

There are many online retailers who do not ship worldwide (It’s In The Stars does offer free shipping worldwide) and this can make it a problem when you spot the perfect item for say, someone’s birthday on an overseas (usually US) website.

The solution is to get your goodies sent to you via a mail forwarder which packages up your purchases into one big goodie box and ships it to whichever address you desire.

There are seven things to consider when ordering through a mail forwarder:

1. Do they offer you an American address? Many retailers won’t ship outside the States, let alone have a foreigner buy from them! Heaven forbid those aliens could shop online in America.

2. Do they offer a shopping service? Thanks to anti-fraud policies, many online retailers won’t accept credit cards with an address not from their country. You may need them to purchase the items on your behalf, first paying them, of course for the items, and a shopping fee, usually into a Paypal account.

3. Will it be a once-off purchase or will you do this on a regular basis? Some mail forwarders require you to sign up for at least one month or longer, and even offer 12-month subscriptions. Others let you do it ad hoc.

4. Can you have extra names on your mailbox? You might like to team up with your sister or best friend to cut down on shipping charges when you buy online internationally. Some mail forwarders let you have additional names for free.

5. Do you need the item stored? Some mail forwarders give you the option to hold your mail for you for a certain period of time. Maybe you’ve bought it out-of-season and don’t want your partner to discover their surprise gift before Christmas or your anniversary.

Or you might be heading to the US shortly and want them to send it to you at your hotel so you can save on shipping AND airline baggage fees and you can use/wear/read/eat it there. Storage periods vary with some holding your products for free, others charging a fee.

6. Are you planning to shop through one store or several? Repackaging services can save you a fortune as all your goodies are consolidated into one neat package.

7. Do you want to track your items? Some mail forwarders use USPS only which doesn’t provide tracking; others use DHL which does, but costs quite a bit more.

Next post: comparing the costs and features of several US mail forwarding companies…

One of the most innovative ways to raise capital has been done by luxury UK chocolate retailer Hotel Chocolat. Rather than turning to big banks or angel investors to raise money for so they can expand (the stores – not the customers eating the chocolate),  they’ve come up with a brilliant out-of-the-(chocolate)-box idea.

Customers who buy GBP2,000 worth of Hotel Chocolat Chocolate Bonds receive six free tasting boxes a year of chocolate worth GBP107.70 as their dividend, while those who lash out on GBP4,000 worth of Chocolate Bonds receive a waist-expanding dozen tasting boxes worth GBP233.35 per year.

While money always trumps anything else, chocoholics who also consider themselves sweet on investing can use their tasteful chocolate dividends to thoughtfully dole out as indulgent gifts for themselves, or to receive as a regular emergency supply of gifts to keep on hand for birthdays, hostess, housewarming, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or Christmas gifts.

Can’t you just see the Taureans and Librans going mad for this one!

Retailers are always keen to know what they call “consumer spending intentions”.

And if you know what these intentions are, they can give you interesting gift ideas for birthdays – but also for anniversaries, Christmas, engagement and wedding gifts – in fact, any sort of gift occasion where you’re treating someone to a product or service they might buy for themself if they had the extra money. They are in fact, a public gift wishlist.

In a new survey of 1,200 consumers by eBillme which looks at what people would spend their money on once the economy improves (read: when they have some extra money), travel won out as the top way to blow cash, with 52% voting for it. I’d be on a plane too if I had some spare room on my Visa!

So if you’ve got an important gift occasion that you’d like to surprise someone, you probably can’t go wrong with a plane ticket (has anyone actually ever received one as a present?), a gift certificate for a hotel, resort or bed-and-breakfast stay, vouchers toward a cruise, island or spa vacation, or even a gift card for the car rental for the weekend. 

Dining out is right behind at 51%. Restaurant gift certificates offer your gift recipient a lot of freedom and a wonderful memory, but most people – especially women – just want a break from cooking. Did you know you can also get gift vouchers for chefs to cook up up a storm at your home – whether for an event, or to help you stock up your freezer?

Third-most popular choice for people to spend their money is clothes and accessories (41%). You’ve probably seen what they wear often enough to give them gift cards for the right sort of retailers. During winter you probably can’t go wrong with fine leather or suede gloves, a soft lambswool sweater, or a pashmina. Summer? Clothes are harder to guess although groovy t-shirts are always fun. I’d think about giving them a huge plush beach towel, a beach bag, a weekend bag or beach umbrella. Who should you buy these for? In the This Should Be No Surprise Department: Almost twice as many women as men (52% vs 30%) want new clothes and accessories.

Just over a third (34%) want to buy electronics. I’d hate to know where to start with that one. Knowing whether they’re Mac or “i” people (iPhone, iPod, iPad) makes life easier. For example, they could be completely stoked to have their favourite image or their business logo turned into a mobile phone cover. And yes, men are twice as likely as women to want to spend their money on electronics.

In fifth place (29%) are concert and movie tickets. You can buy books of 10 vouchers for the movies or shout them a night at the Gold Class/La Premiere cinemas. Concerts provide sooooooo much room for error – do they prefer the sounds of Sinatra or Slipknot? The cost of these can run into hundreds of dollars if the show also happens to be intrastate (eg like when they play at the Hunter Valley vineyards) so if money is an issue you may have to play it safe but dull with iTunes gift cards. A quarter of men and women equally want movies and music so you can’t really go wrong here if you can’t spring for a plane ticket…

Many companies give you a discount or a surprise when it’s your birthday, but there are some baby and children’s companies who surprise your own child with a gift on their birthday – very clever.

Everything Boys is one of the few children’s clothing websites targetting parents of boys aged 0-8 years. Customers who subscribe to their newsletter simply send in their son’s , grandson’s, or nephew’s birthday date  and Everything Boys mails him a little gift on his birthday.

Mon Tresor which makes adorable children’s accessories such as hair bows will offer a “free gift” with purchase.

Alternative, funky children’s clothes retailer Wee Willie Winkie will offer 10% off plus gift with purchase on your birthday.

Shannon McDonald Photography will offer 10% off all children’s birthday party shoots in the Melbourne, VIC area.

Baby and children’s boutique retailer Angelfish Dragonfly has a Birthday Club for customers who have bought at least one item. This entitles their child to receive a birthday card and the parents to receive 10% off items for one month following their child’s birthday, plus a small gift.

Customers who email Photo Blockmounts their birthdate will receive a discount code to use for the whole of their birthday month.

Lindsay Lohan reportedly gave her mother Dina the Mother’s Day gift of a closet makeover (no, her mum is not gay) to sort out her parent’s enormous volcano of clothes waiting to erupt on some unfortunate visitor to her bedroom.

Apparently the celebrity organiser, Linda Koopersmith spent seven DAYS – not hours! – organising Dina’s clothes into some sort of structure, with labelled drawers (bet you could do it much cheaper with a Dymolabel).

Anyway, Dina is a Virgo, who are usually known for being neat and organised. Her birthday on 15 September 1962 reveals that on her 47th birthday in 2009, transiting Saturn (responsibility) in Virgo (precision) opposed Uranus (freedom) in Pisces (escapism). This is a tough aspect which will dog her until September 2010. She has already come under fire for being irresponsible, most notably for letting 16-year-old daughter Ali into clubs, and not insisting Lindsay complete rehab therapy, let alone stop drinking yada yada.

Like mother, like daugher, Lindsay is a famous hoarder herself and she’s pretty used to people pawing through her dirty laundry as well.

Lindsay is a Cancer and they’re well-known for being hugely sentimental, unable to throw anything away, attaching emotional significance to their possessions. Owning things in Cancer Land = security therefore decluttering can mean = insecurity! On top of this she has Moon (needs) in Taurus (money, possessions) which increases her tenacious, hoarding style plus a glamourous, look-at-moi Venus (beauty) in Leo (entertainment) which pressures her to look on-trend for the paparazzi.

One of the strongest aspects in Lindsay’s chart is Sun opposite Neptune. The Sun rules your self and your identity while Neptune rules, among other things, glamour, cinema and photography, but also delusions, illusions, escapism and addictions of all kinds.

Lindsay has has a highly publicised battle with alcohol and drugs and it would also seem, with the mall. Shopping is really an escape for her.

If only someone could help her sort her her own mess…

Why am I talking about Mother’s Day when it passed nearly two weeks ago on 9 May?

Because quite a few stores and online shops will be selling the items they ordered in especially for Mother’s Day at reduced prices now.

And there will be certain items which can be snapped up and bought for birthdays, Christmas or housewarming gifts.

While Mother’s Day bouquets are unlikely to be alive now, you might well find a bargain on glass vases, ceramic troughs, crystal bulb vases, planter boxes, woven baskets or mosaic-style containers. Any of these chujzed up with a fresh bunch of flowers and greenery will make a welcome birthday gift later on.

Candles remain enormously popular – do they have any of those on sale? Vanilla, freesia, magnolia, rose or frangipani-scented candles supposedly for mothers also happen to make the ideal multi-purpose, generic gift for yourself, a hostess gift, for someone’s birthday or for a Yulefest Kris Kringle present.

Bath and body gift sets are everywhere – remember how The Body Shop was the first to package these in the 80s? Pick up one or two to put away and give for a friend’s birthday, and they make a cute gift for friends who’ve just renovated their bathroom.

Nighties and pyjamas are an iffy Mother’s Day gift and I’m sure most mothers would not be thrilled with the majority of them on offer but those long, floor-sweeping ones with long arms and decorative necklines might make a thoughtful gift for your grandmother’s birthday while PJs could be a great get-well gift for a friend who’s feeling subpar.

Luckily, no-one ever puts Mother’s Day labels on boxes of chocolate so as long as the use-by date hasn’t passed, you could collect a couple of these and put them away for hostess gifts and for those unexpected guests at Christmastime.

And dare I mention the other clearance sale item you could snap up?Those household appliances that were promoted as the ideal Mother’s Day gift. While I would expect a smack on the head for giving my mother a juicer as a present for Mother’s Day (or any other gift occasion), it would be a great gift for your twentysomethings finally moving out of home. And it makes a surprisingly thoughtful gift for your grandparents” health - especially if your grandfather (like mine) is refusing to eat his vegetables…

If you love the movies AND it’s your birthday between now and 31 July 2010, you can go to the movies for free!

Australian movie chain Hoyts is celebrating 100 years in cinema and giving you the present!

Simply register at http://celebrate.hoyts.com.au/ to receive a free movie ticket on your birthday which you can use to see any movie at any cinema, including the fancy ones at La Premiere, Directors Suite, IMAX, Xtremescreen and thehalfpipe which is a bean bag cinema, in NSW, ACT, VIC, SA and WA. 

Note: you will have to supply photo ID at the box office to collect your ticket.

Great birthday present for anyone who happens to be a Gemini, Cancer or in the first week of Leo!