Wirelessly posted (My IV to the Net: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry7250/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

Don't think about what YOU would appreciate...

If you put yourself in the shoes of someone making not too much a year, I think cash wins.

Some too expensive flowers that smell nice but will die in a few days or some cold hard cash that can actually be used to put gas in your car or pay off some bills or to take your SO out for a bite to eat.

The personal thank you note(s) are what make the gift personal. The cash signifies that you are serious about being grateful.

I remember being in grad school with student loans piling up, working a job that paid me $7 an hour and getting a $120 flower arrangment as a wedding gift.

I promised myself then that I would never give someone else a useless gift.