It’s ingrained into Americans from early childhood that if you love someone, you give them candy. This starts with the exchange of candy hearts as part of Valentine’s Day. It is reinforced as children are taught to share their candy with people they love or care about. It is also drummed into their heads by the advertising of chocolates in heart shaped boxes or huge Hersey kisses for anniversaries, dates, and, of course, Valentine’s Day.

With the big red holiday fast approaching you may be wondering how to escape this conditioning and give your sweetheart something different. But it’s even there in the name sweet – as if your lover were something to eat, like chocolate or candy hearts. So you surrender to the conditioning and try to come up with a different type of candy than the ubiquitous hearts.

A good alternative is to do a little research on your sweetie. What candy did they love as a child? Was is a candy bar that has disappeared from stores or a type of hard candy or some other treat that was available at drug stores during their youth? Whatever it is, there’s a good chance that old time candy has it, or can get it for you. They specialize in hard to find candies from bygone eras.

You’ll be surprised by the number of candies and other sweet treats that you thought were no longer being made that can still be enjoyed. And your significant other will be surprised — and delighted — that you cared enough to get them the candy that they thought they’d never see again.

In some parts of the country, Spring is a time for costumes. From Mardi Gras parades to charity costume balls, there are plenty of opportunities for people to put on a mask and become someone else for a few hours. For many people, costumes are intimidating and they can never figure out what to go as. For others, putting on a new identity is something they look forward to the rest of the year.

A good way to figure out what costume to wear to any type of masquerade is to identify your preferences. Think about the things you love in general and then narrow it down until you have a costume picked out. For example: if you love music, you may decide that your favorite era is the 1960s and your favorite band is the Beatles. Then it’s just a matter of searching Beatles Costumes until you find the perfect fit.

The possibilities really are endless. You can choose to be a fictional character, a superhero, a sports star, or dress as a profession other than your own. There are mythical characters like vampires and zombies or you can choose an animal or plant costume to stand out from the crowd. Remember to take into account the theme of a given party or ball . Some will restrict costumes to certain eras, styles, or colors, so you may have to adjust your choice accordingly.