Follow these 4 steps to create a thoughtful (yet affordable) romantic gift that will have your sweetie singing your praises.

http://youtu.be/Iav37u-gjnY

Step 1: Pick the Songs! – No duh! Well, while this the most obvious step, it is also the most important (and the most time consuming) part of the process. Sure, you can just go into your music collection and start picking out love songs at random, and if you don’t have a big collection, there are plenty of resources online to help you come up with ideas (check out for instance, About.com’s list of the Top 100 love songs). But if you want to put together a truly thoughtful CD, you should really think through each and every song you pick. Look for songs that you’ve had fun listening to together in the past, and for song titles and lyrics that would be truly meaningful to the recipient. Here are a few examples of some of the songs on the CD I made for Olga, and why I picked them:

• Green Eyes by Coldplay – Olga and I recently went to a Coldplay concert and we both love the band. I picked Green Eyes though because Olga has the most beautiful green eyes I’ve ever seen so the song makes me think of her whenever I listen to it.
• Here & Now by Luther Vandross – This one is a bit of an inside joke that I’ll let you guys in on. Olga is the most positive and optimistic person I have ever met. It is one of the qualities I love about her most. She likes to talk about living in the “Here & Now” so when I saw this song title I just had to include it on the CD. Turns out it is an unbelievable love song too by one of the all-time R&B legends.
• She’s My Kind of Rain by Tim McGraw – I haven’t liked the rain ever since we were forced as kids to do recess indoors when it was raining outside. I picked this song because if I were to like any kind of rain it would be Olga’s kind.
• Count on Me by Bruno Mars – Olga and I are huge Bruno Mars fans and this is “our song.” Obviously, if you are making a love song music mix, you should include your song. And if you are in a relationship don’t have a song, then get one ASAP.

Step 2 – Burn a physical CD – I know that most people don’t really use CDs anymore, but there is something about receiving a physical present that makes it much more meaningful. And once you give her the CD, you can always put the songs on her iPod if that’s where she is more likely to listen to it. [If you have never burned a CD before, it is very easy to do. There are plenty of tutorials that you can find on Youtube. Here’s one that shows you how to burn a CD on iTunes.]

Step 3 – Try to be crafty I’ll start by admitting that Arts & Crafts has never been my forte. I am a terrible artist and can barely cut a straight line with a scissors. But remember, it is all about the effort. Even if it doesn’t look beautiful, if they can see you tried then you’ll get an A+ for effort. Here is what I suggest if you are using iTunes to put together the Playlist:

1. Once you have finished making your playlist, title it appropriately. For instance, I titled my playlist “Love songs for Olga”
2. Click on the playlist you just created so it is highlighted >> Select File then Print >> Keep the radio button on the default setting of “Print – CD jewel case insert”; For Theme, select “Text Only (Black & White)”
3. Print out the Song List and add a sweet handwritten note on the space provided (this is why I suggestedthe “Text Only (Black & White)” theme).
4. Use a scissors to cut out the insert (there are lines indicating where to cut). Fold and put in the CD case.
5. Use a Sharpie to write a To: / From: on the CD itself.

Step 4 – Give her the CD AND explain your selections – This is the best part. You can try to be creative in the delivery by putting it under her pillow or in her laptop case, but I would actually suggest personally delivering it to her. You can wrap it if you’d like, or even just say I made something for you and hand it to her. Why do I suggest giving it to her directly? Because the smile on her face will be twice as big if, when you deliver the CD, you take a few moments to explain why you picked the songs you did.

10/04/2011

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