Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2004 | 8:17 a.m.
"Money cannot buy love, but it makes shopping for it a lot easier."
This anonymous bon mot appears in a small volume, "The Lover's Quotation Book: A Literary Companion" (Pushcart Press, $10.95), that I found in a bookstore many years ago. I doubt it's still in print, but it's worth looking for. Its pages are filled with more than 300 literary observations and witticisms on the "joys and sorrows of loving" by everyone from Mae West to Plato with many more in between. It's a book meant to be shared with a special someone.
Add a box of Ethel M chocolates, a glass of Graham's Six Grape Port, a favorite champagne or an Italian sweet, sparkling wine or a personal favorite, the delicious Inniskillin Ice Wines produced in Ontario, Canada, and all's right with the world.
Ethel M's Valentine packages for men and women are sensational and sexy, too. A limited-edition, black lace-covered Flamenco Fan gift box is fully lined and has a hinged lid that so that small treasures can be stored in it when the chocolates are gone. Love letters, yes; e-mail, no!
For sheer fun, the exclusive leg-shaped satin box clad with a black-net stocking and adorned with a red-and-black-lace garter can't be beat. Also exclusive to Ethel M is the black-satin boxer shorts box filled with a hand-packed selection of favorite chocolates. Imaginative, delectable sweets designed to please any Valentine.
Wine Spectator's new guide for a worldly traveler: Hot off the press is "Wine Spectator's Guide to the Best Wine Restaurants in the World, 2004 Edition" (Running Press, $12.95), an ideal gift for wine enthusiasts who travel.
"BWR" is filled with useful information. Many fine restaurants allow their diners to bring their own wines. Most charge a fee for the service required. Corkage fees in fine restaurants in the U.S. can cost as much as $35 per bottle, but on average are about $20.
A small number of generous restaurateurs charge no fee. Only a few of the international eateries listed charge a corkage fee. All of this information, including how to tip the wine server, is included.
More gift suggestions: Trader Joe stores have scads of affordable flowers, including orchid plants that require little urging to bloom throughout the year. An orchid plant, and instructions for caring for it, is a thoughtful, romantic gift. So are the flowering bulbs in little ceramic pots ($2.49 each). They're in Trader Joe stores right now and they're in every stage of blooming. Buy some that are in the earliest stage; arrange on a small tray and wrap in ribbon. Beautiful to behold and long lasting ... like true love.
Valentine originals: Men and women can keep love interest alive by dreaming up their own ideas for Valentine's Day. Of course, you have to be tuned in to what makes that important person happy. It can be as simple as dinner in a noisy pub that he likes or seeing a chick-flick that she prefers to shoot-'em-ups.
To paraphrase the Roman poet, Ovid, creativity makes love unending.
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