- By Martini SeverinWe’ve all been there, you’ve been invited to a dinner party or are staying over a friend’s house for a few days and you can’t decide what to bring to demonstrate your appreciation.  Showing up without a gift is not social suicide, but courtesy will no doubt endear you to your host’s heart.  Worry no more; we’ve done the hard work for you.  Below you’ll find a few options that will have your host thanking you profusely.

Ceramic Place Card Settings

Open Weekdays 11am-7pm;
Sat 10am-5pm;
Sun 12pm-5pm
Directory

These versatile ceramic place card holders fit snugly in a miniature wooden easel and are reusable.  These place cards can be used to indicate where guests should to sit. Your host will simply mark the appropriate names with a sharpie. The place cards can also be used on the dinning room or buffet table to differentiate the Brie from the Camembert.  Best of all, your host will need but a bit of Windex to wipe away whatever was written on these lovely placeholders.  The place card holders retail at $40 for a set of four.

Stir it up!

Stir: Mixing It Up in the Italian Tradition
By Barbara Lynch, Joanne Smart, Deborah Jones
Harvard Bookstore
Cambridge, MA 02138-3820
(617) 661-1515
Hours: Open Mon-Sat 9am-11pm; Sun 10am-10pm
website

Boston is home to some of the best chefs in the United States.  One of those chefs, Barbara Lynch released her book in 2009, Stir: Mixing It Up in the Italian Tradition, recently.  Gift this book to your host.  Better yet, gift the book and make him or her a Tomato Tarte Tartin for dessert or the Gorgonzola fondue to show your appreciation for their generosity. The book retails for about $35.

A Helping Hand in the Form of Hand Lotion

Mon- Fri 11am-7pm;
Sat 10am- 6pm;
Sun 12pm – 5pm

No doubt your host will wash dishes or do a bit of scrubbing to prepare for your visit.  Give them a helping hand in the form of milk. Tokyo Milk hand lotion that is.  With names like Gin and Rosewater, French Kiss and Honey and the Moon, your hosts will be enchanted with the clever packaging and the moisturizing benefits of Tokyo Milk’s hand lotions. Each 2.3 oz. package retails for $23.00 at the Beauty Mark.

Say it with Chocolate

Mon-Thu, Sun 8am-9pm;
Fri-Sat 8am-10pm

Flowers are always appropriate, but why not be sweet like the sweetheart you are by showing your appreciation to your hostess with chocolate.  Not any chocolate, but L.A. Burdick’s chocolates in the shape of tiny yet adorable mice. These artisanal chocolate mice are perfect with tea, a treat on their own, or shared with a large group of friends over dessert.  The silk tailed mice come in a box of 16 for $46 or in a box of 9 for $32. Choose to gift the mice in dark chocolate with an orange interior, in milk chocolate with a mocha interior or in white chocolate with a cinnamon interior.

Martini blogs on the Boston fashion scene at BeyondBostonChic.com. She goes in search of the latest trends and snaps shots of men and women around the city who really understand style.