Do you have an upcoming anniversary, birthday, bridal shower, enagement, hen’s party or wedding that you’d like to delight someone with a romantic gift?
 
For a strictly limited time, you can buy an attractively boxed $99 LoveStars gift certificate for just $59 through Daily Deals!
 
Sign up with http://www.dynamicrewards.com.au/dailydeals/sydney (or enter your city) to receive this amazing Daily Deal.
 
Daily Deals work on group buying. A minimum number of people opt to buy the Daily Deal and once they reach that number, everyone gets the Daily Deal. Twittering, Facebooking, blogging or passing it on to your friends helps you reach that number.
 
After you buy your $59 boxed LoveStars gift certificate through the Daily Deal, Ill email you for your mailing address to send it to you (expiry 31 October 2010 or later).
 
You simply redeem your gift certificate at www.itsinthestarsonline.com for your own luxury hardcover 30-35 page LoveStars report delivered worldwide by Express Post.
 
Don’t delay – visit http://www.dynamicrewards.com.au/dailydeals/sydney now!

If you’re keen to ramp up the sensuality factor in an existing relatinship, maybe you’re dating someone newish and want to um, seal the deal, or you’ve been together for ages and it’s time to make a commitment, circle Tuesday 13 July.

That date has a very erotic aspect: Venus (love, beauty) in Virgo trine Pluto (depth, sexuality) in Capricorn. When these two planets meet, glances are exchanged, sensuality dominates and no-one wants to stay platonic anymore!

If you’ve been thinking of proposing, this is the best date in July to get engaged. It follows the New Moon in Cancer (New Moons always mean fresh starts, growth and beginnings) and Cancer rules family.

A Venusian Virgo proposal suggests you’ve thought things out romantically with a cool head - it’s not a Las Vegas quickie-style elopement you’re after – and Pluto in Capricorn points to long-term, unconditional commitment.

These two earthy signs want to build something over a long period of time; Venus wants to be adored and Pluto just wants to have sex!

If you have any interest in having children, you could be extra-fertile today…

As we all know, most couples getting married these days have already been living together, they may have already been married; they certainly have all the kitchen accoutrements you can poke a meat thermometer at, but you can never have enough date nights once you’re married!

One very clever Chicago couple who lurrrves to eat out realised that they too, didn’t want any more traditional department store registry “stuff”, but were busting (hopefully not out of their pants) to try some of the latest and greatest restaurants to hit Oprah’s hometown city.

They’ve created Foodie Registry which allows couples to select restaurants they’d love to try, for their guests to give them a gift certificate towards dining there, and it’s a wonderful idea actually for anyone else who’d love a special night out for say, their anniversary or birthday.

It also makes it soooooo much easier for couples to have something to write about in their wedding gift thank you cards. They’re going to be much more genuinely excited about dining at say, French restaurant Marche, than say, a pair of white hand towels.

Foodie Registry plans to expand into other American cities, too. Expect a queue of Taureans, Leos, Librans and Capricorns…

On Sunday 14 February, there will be millions of happy couples gazing adoringly into each others’ eyes, and whispering sweet nothings. There will also be several hundred thousand others thinking, “How can I get out of this mess?”

With this in mind, I’m going to suggest Valentine’s Day gift ideas when you want to celebrate your love, and when you just want to kick them to the curb.

Flowers – OK, now you already know that most women get flowers but don’t really want them… 
Love ‘em: If you insist on spending waaaaaay too much on a bouquet (and paying through the nose for Sunday delivery) AND you know she really does love them, see The Flower Man where they will be more than happy to separate you from a week’s mortgage payment.
Loathe ‘em: wait til 5pm on Sunday evening, and when you pull it into the petrol station, pick up a wilted bunch of sad-looking daisies in cheap cellophane reduced to clear, shove it in her hands and say, “There!”. That ought to do it.

Chocolate – Again, this didn’t rate too highly as what women wanted (especially for Baby Boomers).
Love ‘em: Look for a chocolate shop where the glass-fronted counters display individual chocolates with fantastic dustings of confectionary sugar, sprinkles and truffle powder, sugar fruit decorations on silver trays and mouth-watering descriptions of each flavour, and the shop assistant is wearing white gloves so as not to disturb the gloss of the chocolates, and use your credit card with the biggest limit.
Loathe ‘em: Give your soon-to-be-dumped partner a box of Cadbury Roses reduced on sale, that you’ve already opened and eaten your favourite creme centers, just leaving the tacky toffee chews.

Jewellery – This was the third most-wanted gift in the Valentine’s Day survey.
Love ‘em: Want to make her really happy – and your wife? Go see the helpful people at Tiffany, Harry Winston, or Fairfax & Roberts and select the biggest carat diamond ring you can afford so you can propose on Valentine’s Day (hopefully with more success than Ashton Kutcher in the Valentine’s Day movie). Already married? Visit the same stores and see what amazing necklace, earrings or bracelet they can help you find for her.
Loathe ‘em: If you’re planning on breaking up with her, you give her a cheap friendship ring, some generic gold-plated necklace or a bangle you picked up in a $2 shop.

Perfume - Hmmm, this can smack of I’ve-got-to-run-into-the-department-store-to-buy-something-anything!
Love ‘em: Hunt down that discontinued perfume she’s wailed isn’t made anymore if she’s mourning the loss of a favourite (eBay could help). Or buy the pricey parfum version of her favourite scent. Eau de toilette is the cheap version and it doesn’t last as long.
Loathe ‘em: A can of Impulse body spray should do the trick.

Lingerie – eeek! Be very careful here! No-one wanted lingerie even though a few women got it.
Love ‘em: Don’t buy her anything that looks vaguely like a hooker on Halloween would wear ie red and black. Lace, or broderie anglaise in white or pale pink tones is less about sex and more about making her feel pretty (which does make her feel sexy). Please check her size from her underwear drawer. Women can’t bear receiving something too small – or too large with this type of very body-conscious gift.
Loathe ‘em: Well you can really go to town here and give her some of the nastiest polyester underwear around. Something that looks like it’s been bought in a shop favoured by men in raincoats should appall her enough to know it’s never gonna work.

Meal/picnic – this was pretty popular!
Love ‘em: Book a cosy table for two at a beautiful restaurant she’s been longing to dine at where she gets the chance to really dress up, the music and lighting is low and the waiters give seamless service. Book a taxi so you can toast to your relationship over a bottle of champagne.
Loathe ‘em: Make sure the takeaway cafe has at least one chipped laminated table you can sit at while you wait for your greasy order along with the local tattooed bikies. Bonus points if it has eye-wateringly bright fluorescent lighting, tiled floors to increase the noise and slipping factor, and a really basic menu (“Steak with chips”) with spelling mistakes in plastic sleeves.

Romantic personalised gift – this was the second-most wished-for Valentine’s Day gift.
Love ‘em: Give her something special that’s about her (first) or your relationship (second). It needs to be something she can keep and enjoy, and that features her name (and hopefully yours, too), birthdate, or photo. It also needs to have good “boast factor” so she can enjoy showing it off to her friends.
Loathe ‘em: I don’t think anyone would create anything personalised for someone they wanted to dump or they’d be sending mixed messages.

Weekend away – hurray! This was THE most wished-for Valentine’s Day gift.
Love ‘em: Whisk her away somewhere special where she can relax, feel pampered and have plenty of time to enjoy being with you. Whether it’s an island resort, a cosy, antique-filled B&B, a Love Boat-style cruise, a health spa or a fancy city hotel, a romantic getaway will win you major points!
Loathe ‘em: Tell them you’ve booked a weekend away at a resort. With someone else.

A new Valentines Day gifts survey has found that while many women receive flowers, what they really want is a romantic weekend away or a personalised gift from their partner.

The online survey by It’s In The Stars found that what women wanted to receive for Valentine’s Day was a weekend away (30.4%), a romantic personalised gift (22.9%) or jewellery (17.6%).

What they’re actually getting are flowers (41.9%), chocolate (14.7%) and personalised gifts (11.0%). While 3.6% had received lingerie, not one woman wanted it as a Valentine’s Day gift.

Of the three age groups, Generation X (31-43 years) was the most likely to receive flowers (55.8%), while Gen Y women (18-30 years) got the personalised romantic gifts (19.0%) and Baby Boomer women recieved chocolate (17.9%).

I’d say that men might get the raw end of the bargain on 14 February as 82.4% of all women spent less than $100 on their last Valentine’s Day gift!

Gen X women are the most likely to spend under $50 (43.1%) but also over $200 (12.1%). Gen Ys stump up for gifts $101-$200 (13.3%) while Baby Boomer women prefer to spend $51-$100 (46.3%).

The top five locations where women bought their Valentine’s Day gifts were department stores (27.0%), specialty/personalised gift websites (16.8%), big box retailer eg Target (13.9%), boutique/specialty stores (10.9%), and supermarket/grocery stores (7.3%).

Women living in rural/regional areas were twice as likely as city girls to buy Valentine’s Day gifts online from a specialty/personalised gift website (25.6% vs 12.1%).

Just over half (52.3%) of all respondents would give their partner a gift certificate for Valentine’s Day.

And finally, the Sun sign voted as the best Valentine’s Day gift-giver was an equal tie between Cancer and Pisces (12.2% each), with Gemini and Aquarius in second place (10.0% each) and followed by Taurus (9.3%).

Aries men are the least likely to have have given a great Valentine’s Day gift (5.0%).

If you live in Sydney, Australia or will be travelling there with your partner between now and 31 March 2010, book into the Medusa in trendy Darlinghurst in Sydney.

It’s In The Stars has teamed up with Contemporary Hotels so that guests staying at this contempory luxury boutique hotel can receive a LoveStars astrology report for couples as part of the LoveStars of Medusa package!

Ideal for Valentines Day getaways and anniversary celebrations, you’ll receive one night’s accommodation in a Deluxe room, a LoveStars report (after supplying your birth details), upon arrival, Aveda products in your room, newspaper and Lindt chocolates, complimentary use of Fitness First Gym and Cook & Phillip Pool, late checkout (subject to availability) for just $240 or you can upgrade to a Premium Deluxe room for $290 per night or the Grand room for $340 per night.

Whether you’ve got something amazing planned or you’re strapped for cash, you can never have enough romance on Valentine’s Day…

The idea of giving little IOUs for back massages and breakfast-in-bed isn’t new, but the Simply Romantic Ideas blog has created 14 professional-looking coupons featuring a big red rose, that you could print off for free to surprise your beloved.

Ranging from the innocent (“Good for one free home-cooked candlelight dinner”) to the not-so-innocent (“Good for one sexual fantasy come true” – well, I could see trouble ahead with that one…) as well as the potentially ruiniously expensive (“Good for one free day at the spa” – does the man not know he could be up for HUNDREDS of dollars!!! Hmmm – don’t include THAT one if you’re on a budget), you could find something that just adds that little extra to Valentines Day.

In very exciting gift news, It’s In The Stars has teamed up with Australia’s leading online florist, Roses Only to create a stunning gift to take their breath away!

If you’ve got an anniversary, birthday, Christmas, engagement, wedding or important romantic gift occasion, you can now give your partner a box of beautiful long-stemmed roses from Roses Only with a boxed gift certificate for a beautifully designed, hardcover, 30-35 page LoveStars report!

And if you’ve got a baby shower, a christening, naming ceremony or want to delight a new parent, you can surprise them with a box of long-stemmed roses with a boxed gift certificate for a beautifully designed, hardcover 45-50 page BabyStars report!

Note: deliveries currently for Sydney and Melbourne only. Please contact Roses Only to request other locations.

A US study done a few years ago found that men and women have very different reasons for giving gifts.

In general, men tend to give gifts to get a relationship started (he he, you know what I mean!) while women give them to maintain closeness.

So when you start dating a guy and he is buying you heaps of little gifts, it means he’s keen, and he’s trying to get you into bed. Ironically enough, when he stops buying gifts that means you’re officially in a relationship and that he can now relaaaaaax (and not worry about gifts again until your birthday, Christmas, Valentines Day, or anniversary).

Women often think they have to reciprocate with gifts at the early stage to be polite and show their interest. But the only wrapping men want to rip off doesn’t cover a gift…

If you unintentionally buy too-generous a gift too early on, your relationship will fizzle in surprisingly quick time because – how ironic is this – he thinks you are after a commitment!

Men prefer to give and receive gifts that are practical. They’re very happy to receive a powerdrill if they’re into DIY so they assume you’d like a Mixmaster for your kitchen. Even most romantic gifts have a practical purpose: to please the woman so she’ll sleep with him…

Men also buy gifts to get out of trouble ie flowers, jewellery etc when they’ve been forgetful, neglectful or just nightmarish in general. So when a woman buys him something during the course of a year, a man often thinks, “what has she done?”. But women buy gifts to show people they love them and are thinking of them, usually buying them things that would make them happy.

Women are typically the gift-buyers as they know everyone’s birthdays, what they like, their favourite colours, what hobbies people have and so on. For this reason, it’s usually a woman selecting the gifts for employees and colleagues at work too.

Most men don’t really notice that level of detail – nor are they that psychic. You need to give him a list of ideas, email him a wishlist (he won’t be offended, actually kinda relieved) or make a BIG FUSS every time you see that particular item together when you’re both shopping, so he gets it – and buys it too.

Women also judge other people by the gifts they give them and are hurt, disappointed or angry when it’s a generic gift. They respond especially well to gifts which have some meaning or personalization to make it special. A man doesn’t have to spend that much on a gift to thrill a woman – but it does have to be something he’s put thought into.

Tomorrow night (Tuesday 21st April) is a smokin’ night for romance, thanks to a gorgeous Venus conjunct Mars in Pisces aspect.

Venus is the planet of love and beauty, Mars is your sex drive and when they meet in Pisces, it’s just lovely! If you’ve got a special someone, take ‘em out tomorrow night to make the most of this subtle, sensual, soulful evening.

Pisces rules dancing, photography, film and just a little magic. Why not whisk them out for a slow dance somewhere, go see a romantic, cuddle-up movie, have an early evening picnic looking up at the stars, but please don’t waste it - at least do something far more glorious and magical than Thai takeaway in front of the TV. If you’d love to propose, THIS is THE night! Time to kiss, forgive and make-up? It’s great for understanding, compassion and sweetness, too.

Single and looking for love? You might just find it. But swim up to them, sideways, gently. This is a sweet aspect that’s not meant for pushy, aggressive manoeuvres.  Take your time, read the signs. Three looks and smiles = interest.

Since Pisces is also pretty psychic, why not take a chance on that girl/guy who keeps giving you shy glances and ask if they’d like to have a drink with you? If you’re any good at palmistry (or if not, dare I say, fake it?), take their hand in yours and trace their love lines. The feel and touch of another’s hand can be a dead giveaway of chemistry.

Oh, and this is the perfect night to end by giving your partner a lovely massage with essential oils.