In a recent conversation with my son (who left the nest last year and is dating ‘Adorable Girlfriend’), he revealed that he and A.G. have a weekly date night. When I asked what he had planned he commented that money is tight since he’d just paid bills and was in between paychecks, so he was going to suggest they take advantage of the fresh rains and enjoy an evening of puddle jumping followed by hot chocolate.

His realizations impressed me:

1. Take care of important things first when it comes to budgeting your money
2. Let the lack of funds spur creativity
3. Important relationships deserve the investment of time

That conversation inspired this list of gifts designed to foster meaningful relationships for the newly independent adults that are juggling school, part-time jobs, and dating.

• A cool picnic back pack loaded with everything necessary for an outing: Map or tour guide featuring the local hiking trails, sunscreen, trail mix, granola bars, salami, cheese, crackers, and sport’s drinks…exploring all the trails in the tour guide will promote good health and provide activity for future dates at a relatively low cost over time
• Gift card to the movie theater
• “Movie Madness’ gift box that’s stocked with popcorn, candy bars, nutty snack mix, soft drinks, and a gift card to the local video store (Or, why not purchase a plan where you can have 3 movies out at a time and give him carte blanche to use one of the three at all times?)
• A plant to grow & nurture, as does the relationship, with a Tree-in-a-Bag or a windowsill garden
• Gift cards to the local coffee shop or smoothie joint (In support of local businesses, I like to choose the ‘mom & pop’ joints over the big chains, which as an extra perk, often have free wi-fi & live evening music or art exhibitions making for a cool date)
• Gift card to the grocery store so they can shop together and then cook dinner together
• Gift card to a restaurant that can be used for a date (I’ve done this in the past for him. He told me they found a way to make it last by ordering from the appetizer menu that was 1/2 price during happy hour rather than ordering entrees.)
• Passes to the local miniature golf/amusement park

What’s your suggestion for these ‘newly independent daters’?

The “O List” is Oprah’s own compilation of must-have items. The list contains everything from books to body care to gardening tools to high tech gadgets. This is why we consider “O List” as a fine starting point for gift inspirations, and why we include many of Oprah’s “O List” items in our gift ensembles.

An interesting idea from the folks at Consumer Reports. It’s called ShopSmart Mobile. Now you can have CR’s expert ratings sent directly to your cell phone.

There has been many a time I’ve found myself at Costco, pondering what seems like a good price on product, wondering how it compares to the product next to it. It seems ShopSmart might have identified a big need for the price/quality-conscious consumer.

Check out the ShopSmart Mobile information here: ShopSmart

I have to agree with BuzzBop, MacWorld was disappointing. Other than the extremely thin notebook, there wasn’t much that caught my attention. And about the MacBook Air, sure it’s tiny and light, but as BuzzBop points out, how much durability has been sacrificed? I would expect, given its conveniently transportable size, I would want to take it everywhere…that’d make for an awful lot of abuse, don’t you think? Could it withstand it all?

I tried to question Quickbooks about whether or not they will be introducing a Mac version of Quickbooks Premier…they were unable to tell me much except that they aren’t able to talk about new products being worked on…or not being worked on…thanks for nothing.

What did catch my eye:

1. Vertus Fluid Mask 3, photo imaging software, makes cutting and blending images quick and easy; can be used as a plug-in or stand alone (this would make En Wrapture’s graphic design guru’s work much easier)
2. DataPilot software that allows you to backup and sync contacts, calender, music, photos, etc. between your computer, cell phone (not just for the iPhone), and iPod
3. iVolta Wireless Charging System which allows you to charge multiple devices at the same time on a charger plate without the usual tangled mess of wires
4. Hybrid Solar Charger - soon to be featured on the En Wrapture website as an option for an eco-friendly gift, this is the perfect gadget for travelers and the environmentally conscious and is able to power a GPS, mobile phone, mp3 player, PDA, digital camera, game console, etc. with the adapter tip system cable and USB tip
5. EcoSmart computer gear by Targus - line is priced from $50-130 and includes laptop slipcase, computer bag, messenger bag, and backpack, and are made of 100% recycled polyester, contains no PVC, metal hardware is nickel-free, plastic hardware is recyclable, and a portion of every sale is donated to the Conservation Fund to replant trees in Southern California in areas that have been destroyed by fires

Tip: If you aren’t going to hear the Keynote speaker, skip the first day and avoid the lines and crowds because you can get the skinny online and the following days are much more pleasant and more productive.

Last year was the first time I attended, in search of the newest techno gadgets for En Wrapture’s corporate clients.

And no, I’m not a Mac user, much to my significant other’s chagrin, as it is he who handles the many malfunctions of my PC. My frustrations quickly become his. As we surf side by side, he loves nothing more than to throw the inadequacies of my PC in my face, which occurs often and easily since I am usually bemoaning that I can’t connect to the internet or my wireless printer, have been knocked off, or am crawling at a snail’s pace, all the while he happily surfs uninterruptedly.

So, why am I not a Mac user? I have long been sold on the advantages to owning a Mac by S.O., how I can easily do everything I currently do in Microsoft Office etc. That’s not the problem. The problem is that we use Quickbooks Premier for our bookkeeping. Although Quickbooks has Mac versions of several of their programs such as Pro, Premier is not one of them…otherwise, after the year I’ve had with HP and Microsoft and how the time lost due to problems has wreaked havoc on inputting our financial data and keeping inventory current - we are way behind (and here it is the end of the year – Yikes!) so, I’d be there.

Back to MacWorld…rumors abound regarding what’s in store: MacBook Tablet, next generation iphone…if you want to follow what’s up with Apple check out www.mac-sage.com for a wealth of information.