Happy Friday, everyone! Did you get in an order for personalized Valentine's Day chocolate before the shipping deadline? (If not, you might want to check out our Valentine's Day gift certificates!) We've been getting many sweet and romantic (and cute and funny) Valentine's Day chocolate orders- here are five of the best we received this week:

• For my Favorite Chocolate Monster (Dark Chocolate with Coffee, Toasted Hazelnuts, Goji Berries and "My Valentine" in Valentine's Day Packaging) Because monster is the cutest term of endearment!

• Even the Penguins Wear Sweaters. (Dark Chocolate with Sour Cherries, Hazelnut Brittle, Fleur de Sel and Bourbon Vanilla) Because OMG, penguins.

• Nymph Delight's (Dark Chocolate with Real Gold Flakes, Cayenne Pepper, Bourbon Vanilla, Mini Cookies and Writing 'I Love You' in Valentine's Day Packaging) Because the pre-raphaelite era was the most romantic.

• Roses are red Coco is not - Boy, do I love you a lot! (Milk Chocolate with Mini Heart Decoration and Caramel Pieces in Valentine's Day Packaging) Because you wrote me a poem?

• To My Better Three Fourths (White Chocolate with Strawberry Bits, Sour Cherries, Cashews, Caramel Pieces and Writing 'I Love You' in Valentine's Day Packaging) Because we LOL'd!

Have you got any special gifts or dates planned for Valentine's Day?

Can you believe that Christmas is in less than two weeks? Luckily our Advent Calendar helps me keep track this year or I wouldn't even have started with holiday gifts yet! You might think that the CEO of chocri has a personalized chocolate bar for everyone on their list, but every chocolate bar I get for my list would mean a chocolate bar less for our customers during this busy time of the year, so no in a weird twist no one gets customized chocolate from me for Christmas!

Luckily there are a number of other cool mass customization companies that are the perfect choices for unique gifts for the holidays. One of my absolute favorites are the custom dress shirt makers at Blank-Label. Hence I made sure that our Advent Calendar includes this goody today:

A $45 Gift Certificate for your Custom Dress Shirt from Blank Label

Custom-tailored dress shirts for men have been around longer than mass produced dress shirts of course, but they are traditionally very expensive. It's not unusual to pay $200-400, have to go in to the tailor so he can measure you, and leave with a very nicely fitting custom dress shirt - that is nothing special.

Blank-Label really turns that around. Three things Blank-Label revolutionizes:

• You can have a custom fitted shirt, but without anyone measuring you but you yourself. Blank-Label has a smart way to ask you for the measurements that count, which you simply enter on your site
  

• Blank-Label really differentiates not with custom fit, but with custom design. On the website, you can design your own shirt by choosing your desired fabric type not only for the shirt in total, but also for sleeves and plackets, or the inside of the collar for example. And the list continues - you can customize your pockets, buttons, add a monogram... and you can really make the shirt your very own.
  

• Finally, custom dress shirts from Blank Label are much less expensive! It starts at $45, and then depends on the customization options you choose

And as you can see in the picture and in the fact that we're giving one away, they have gift certificates - so you can give your man the power to create his own style!

You want to try this out, or give a creative man in your life the chance to design his own dress shirt? Then order your customized chocolate bars today, and you might just get an email from me with your gift code tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! We'd like to take this opportunity to thank you!

• Thank you to our customers who buy from us, recommend us, and contribute to our success with their creativity. We wouldn't be here without you!
• Thank you to our employees and colleagues, both in Germany and here in the States - you're making it all happen!
• Thank you to our partners for delivering the chocolate to our customers, for supplying us with the best toppings and chocolate out there, and for helping us run everything smoothly *Thank you to other customization companies that make mass customization a trend in the US and beyond
• Thank you to the press that spreads the good news about customized chocolate
• Thank you to DIV Kinder for turning our donations into a better place for children
• Thanks to everyone who is giving us advice, supports us, and cheers us on in our quest to bring customized chocolate bars to the world!

Although a nice bottle of red wine is, let's face it, always welcome- sometimes you get a bit of vino fatigue. Walking into a dinner party or Thanksgiving gathering with the tenth bottle of wine of the evening can feel a bit anticlimactic. People love getting gifts, but giving gifts is something people really enjoy, too. Finding the perfect gift for someone who has done you a kindness is a great feeling, and what's more fun than the look on someone's face when you present them with something unique and perfect for that particular individual?

If you're reading this blog, you know that customized chocolate is what chocri is all about. Our chocolate is of excellent quality, but our vast range of toppings means that we literally have something for everyone- well, everyone who loves chocolate. (Which is pretty much everyone.) Our recommended creations do very well, but there's something people love about selecting their own one-of-a-kind gift to their exact specifications.

You also probably know by now that custom chocolate takes a bit of time to assemble- we want to get it just right to your specifications! And Thanksgiving is tomorrow! However, one of our most popular gifting options year round are our customized chocolate gift certificates, allowing your recipient to visit our site and create their very own personalized chocolate.

If you're looking ahead, you can always create a bar for your hosts or hostesses. But if you've only got a day, an hour or five minutes and don't feel like hitting up the crowded liquor store or bakery on a holiday, we have two other options in which you might be interested.

Our printable gift certificates, like our chocolate, are customizable. If you have a printer or prefer to give something tangible, this is an excellent option.

However, not everyone has a printer. Some people are a bit more data oriented, too, and we have gift codes so you can even bypass the printing step. When you place your gift certificate order, you will immediately receive a gift code in your email so you can pass it on to the recipient through email. (Or inscribed in a card if you want to be all fancy.)

If you're looking for a quick, unique and reasonably priced gift option for your host or hostess and you're short on time, you can find our gift certificates page here. And if you need help with your order, you can find us on Twitter!.