This may not seem
Very important, I know.
But it is. So I’m bothering
Telling you so.
–Dr. Suess’s Sleep Book

Happy Birthday to Theodor Geisel, whom you may know better as Dr. Seuss! Who among us didn’t grow up on his books? You know what I mean…being read Ham & Eggs and The Cat in the Hat as a bedtime story, watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas every December, reading The Lorax as an introduction to environmentalism, getting Oh the Places You’ll Go! for a high school graduation gift…the guy had quite the monopoly going.

Dr. Seuss’s warm-hearted, wonderfully weird children’s books, populated by their cast of furred and feathered humanoid creatures, were as entertaining to kids as they were instructive to adults. Above all else, his work encouraged kids and adults alike to take moments out of their day for things that were purely joyful, serving no purpose more important than relaxation and time spent together. It’s not a bad message, and in honor of Dr. Seuss, sit down today to take a little time for your own enjoyment! After all–it’s doctor’s orders.

When you think things are bad,
when you feel sour and blue,
when you start to get mad…
you should do what /I/ do!
–Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?

Little luxuries are all around us if you know where to look – be it a bright red lipstick that makes you feel like a movie star on a Monday morning, a mini-facial that makes you glow inside and out, or a book that takes you to the other side of the world. These tiny everyday gems are anxiously waiting to be discovered by you and wrapped with a bow, and each chapter of the LLGG seeks to deliver a new morsel of inspiration to you and your holiday season. Fancy shmancy is out; it’s those legendary “small packages” that hold the key to a perfect season of giving.

Chapter 11 and gifts for your significant other… and no, no one’s going bankrupt! To bring you the best in couples gift recommendations, I consulted with Dating and Relationship Expert Andrea Syrtash for inspiration. Her newest book “He’s Just Not Your Type (And That’s a Good Thing)” will be coming out in April 2010. Until then, enjoy these picks that hopefully are your type.

Andrea Says: Gifting an experience is the BEST gift a couple can give to each other. Book a candlelit massage, return to your first date spot or hire a chef to make you a special dinner at home. Take a cooking course together. Creating a unique memory is often more meaningful than a material gift.

1. Rather than using your creativity to reminisce with a scrapbook of your best Kodak moments, cater a brand new memory to cherish for scrapbooks (or Facebook albums) to come.

Andrea says: Create a spa at home. Buy your date bath oils and massage gels with a gift certificate for a service performed by you.

2. Nutcracker Sweet 3-in-1 Body Wash, Bubble Bath and Shampoo, available at bathandbodyworks.com – Was $10, now $5

Infuse festive holiday spirit into your bathtub with this nutty-scented reminder that you have a fun, snowy Friday-night-in ahead of you.

Andrea says: Buy a gift based on a goal you have together. For instance, if you’ve always wanted to travel to Spain, buy some items you may need for your trip or enroll you and your partner in language lessons.

3. Spanish Vocabulary Challenge by William Fleig & Cathy Wilson, available at learningthings.com – $7.96

In between language lessons, challenge each other grade-school style.

Andrea says: The key thing when you are buying a gift for your partner is playing into his or her passions. If he’s passionate about golf, but him cuff links with golf clubs, accessories for the game or a round of golf on a new course. If she loves music, gift her love songs that make you think of her on iTunes.

4. Fame Monster by Lady GaGa, available at Tower.com – $8.99

Men… if she doesn’t have the CD already there’s a good chance she wants it.

5. Golf Inspired Mousepad, read more here - $16

He’d probably enjoy a real round of golf more… or Apple’s new touch mouse. But you get the idea.

6. Love Baseball by Bergino, available at Vivre.com – $25

If your special someone is passionate about both baseball and loving you… what better way to hit your holidays out of the ballpark?

Why not book a couples massage or a day at the spa? As far as couples gifts go, this is about as good as it gets. Save 20% on your gift by purchasing a SPA WEEK® Gift Card and then booking your treatment at one of our fantastic day spas. They’re redeemable nationwide for massages, facials and beyond. Couples paradise.

When it comes to books, most attention is focused rightfully on what’s between the covers-but Vintage International thinks you should pay attention to the covers, too. They’ve just re-released the collected works of Nabokov with new, modern covers.

18 artists were commissioned to create the covers using only pins, paper, and butterfly boxes. The result is a series of book covers that are fascinating artwork in their own right, which makes me wonder why publishing companies don’t pull stunts like this more often-books that double as artwork? Double the culture for the price of one!

Check out all the covers at  Vintage International’s blog and tell us which one you like best!

Genealogy is a fundamentally interesting idea—knowing where and whom you come from is interesting at the least. At best, it might help you understand why you are the way you are. But who has time to interview relatives and chase down records, which might be overseas anyway? This is the point at which my interest shuts down. If I were headed to the countries around the North Sea, where my family comes from, you’d better believe I’d be seeking out some more vibrant local color than the shade of paint on the library’s walls.

I might be far more inclined, however, to find genealogy fascinating if all the work was done for me. Amazingly, Legacy Novels offers just this service and more. Turn over your family’s history to the Dallas-based company and they’ll do all the work of interviewing your living relatives to collect their stories and your family lore. After collecting all they can, a team of professional writers will transform your story into a novel, which will be professionally bound with photos, mementos, and whatever else you might like to include. At the very end of it all, they’ll even throw you and your family party to unveil the book. And all you have to do is sit back and enjoy.

The price tag for the project varies depending on how involved it is, but I can imagine how this might be worth the investment as a family heirloom. What kind of story would your family’s history be? A serious epic of hard work and accomplishment? A crime thriller? A sweeping romance? A rollicking adventure?