you know, because there are so many single men reading my blog. but just in case you have a male friend or little brother in potential peril over this very dilemma, i thought i’d offer some aid.  for that girl you’ve gone out with a few times, and are agonizing over whether you should even get her a gift, let alone what the gift should be, the answer is, first, yes – always get a gift.  err on the side of generosity.  it will come back to you, trust me.

as to what the gift should be, i’m going with costume jewelry.  something inexpensive and a little less lovey-dovey than, say, a heart-shaped pendant encrusted with CZ gems.  you want to go relatively classic – after all, you probably don’t know her style that well yet – but not boring.  tricky business, i know.  and so, may i suggest this scaled cuff bracelet:

i can’t think of many women i know that wouldn’t happily add this to their jewelry collection. it’s classic and tailored enough for the office, but also a great way to dress up a date dress (most men i know aren’t a fan of the huge jewelry trend as a rule).  banana republic does costume jewelry extremely well, and this is a piece she’ll wear for many, many dates to come.  and if the dates (and the girl) fade away, well, you only spent $36.

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