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Best Valentine’s Day gifts under $500
Ooni via Amazon; Apple via Amazon
If you’ve got a big budget to work with this Valentine’s Day, go ahead and treat your loved one to a gift they’ll never forget. To help you find the perfect gift for your Valentine, we scoured the internet to find the best Valentine’s Day gifts under $500 that will suit multiple interests, including home cooks, tech enthusiasts, fashion fans and more.
We’ve made sure these gift ideas are worth the big price tag. All of these items have a four-star rating or higher, and include tons of positive reviews from customers and CBS Essentials staff.
KitchenAid Artisan Series 5 stand mixer
KitchenAid Store via Amazon
This stand mixer is widely considered to be one of the best stand mixers on the market, making it a coveted kitchen essential for home cooks. The KitchenAid stand mixer features an impressive 10 speeds that can handle everything from whipped cream to cookie batter. The Series 5 comes with a five-quart, dishwasher-safe stainless-steel bowl, a coated flat beater, a coated dough hook, a six-wire whip and a pouring shield.
Last time we counted, we found a dizzying 23 color options for this model, so if your loved one has a thing for ice blue, a classic, candy-apple red or — get this — “matcha green,” KitchenAid has you covered.
Get it at Amazon for $450. Rated 4.8 stars.
WalkingPad C2 mini foldable walking treadmill
WalkingPad
Your fitness-minded partner who works from home will love getting their steps in on this compact walking treadmill. This treadmill is the perfect size to slide under a standing desk. When it’s not in use, this fitness machine can be folded to almost half its size for easy storage, so it’s the best treadmill for a small space.
“If your goal is to up your daily step count without compromising your house decor, the compact WalkingPad is an excellent option,” personal trainer and studio owner Lauren George says. “You can fit it under a standing desk to accrue more steps while answering emails, or hop on for a stroll while watching TV. The belt is also designed for maximum cushion and comfort.”
Originally available for $600, this treadmill is on sale for $450.
Apple Watch Series 9
Apple
The Apple Watch Series 9 boasts better speeds, battery life and functionality than previous generations. It now supports a double-tap gesture that makes it easier to control the watch with just one hand. A new chip also improves how the watch gathers and analyzes data from the accelerometer, gyroscope and optical heart sensor.
There are two case size options -– 41mm and 45mm –- and multiple casing color options including starlight, midnight, silver and (Product)RED. You can also choose between several different case material options (all of which are waterproof). The aluminum option, for example, also now comes in pink. Prices vary by size and color.
All run the WatchOS 10 operating system which comes preinstalled on the watch, along with a collection of apps.
Ooni Fyra 12 wood-pellet pizza oven
Ooni
Looking for a Valentine’s Day gift for the home chef who seems to have it all? Surprise them with this outdoor wood-pellet pizza oven.
This wood-pellet pizza oven from Ooni can reach temperatures of up to 950 degrees, creating stone-baked, 12-inch pizzas in as little as 60 seconds (though the oven takes about 15 minutes to warm up). And at just 22 pounds, it’s highly portable and storable.
Sure, it may take a little practice to perfect that perfect pizza toss, but that’s all part of the fun. Through experience, CBS Essentials has found that this sweet little oven turns a pizza party into a social event. Everyone will want to take a turn with the pizza peel.
“Normally I am a skeptic but this won me over almost instantly,” an Amazon customer says. “What an amazingly well-designed tool. I burned a couple of the first pizzas getting used to the cooking speed (I rather expected it) but by the fourth pizza perfection was at hand.”
Ganni Bou bag
Ganni
Ganni is one of the most popular affordable luxury brands out there. The Danish fashion label’s T-shirts, dresses, shoes and bags are all over fashion-forward Instagram and TikTok feeds.
If your loved one is a Ganni fan — or a fan of great handbags — get them this unique hexagonal silhouette bag made from recycled leather. It boasts a tone-on-tone metallic Ganni butterfly logo, nine hand-braided strands with a knotted detail and metallic dice engraved with the Ganni butterfly logo.
With double compartments, internal magnet closure, a flat card pocket and an adjustable, removable shoulder strap for crossbody wear, it’s a must-have addition to your Ganni collection. And did we mention that the colors are irresistible?
Comfier neck and back massager with heat
Comfier via Amazon
The Comfier neck and back massage chair pad brings a spa-like experience to any chair in your house. It features 2D/3D finger pressure Shiatsu massage and rolling, compression, vibration and heat functions.
The chair massager is designed to target your neck, shoulder, back and thighs. It can be placed on a sofa, couch, recliner, office chair or dining chair. This corded electric massager features three adjustable intensity settings.
CBS Essentials shopping expert Joan Kubicek gifted this massager to her husband. “It definitely relieves upper back tension, and those cricks I get in my neck,” he told her. “Plus, you can move it from your desk chair to many, many other chairs, so the end of your work day doesn’t have to mean the end of your massage.”
Nespresso Pixie Espresso Machine
Amazon
If you’re significant other looks forward to their morning coffee, splurge on this Nespresso coffee maker for them. The Nespresso device features a high pressure pump and great heat control.
“I love how much space this saves on my countertops,” CBS Essentials editorial director Leslie Gornstein says. “It’s amazingly easy to use and very easy to maintain.”
“Nespresso is constantly putting out new and interesting coffee flavors, including iced-latte pods for warmer seasons and — my favorite — Hawaiian Kona, so there’s always something fun to try if you’re a Nespresso owner,” Gornstein says.
Sonos Beam Gen 2
Sonos
The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) soundbar is able to generate spatial audio that makes the sound seem like it’s surrounding you, without the need for a subwoofer and rear speakers. (You can still easily add these items to your home theater setup if you want them.)
The Sonos Beam can be controlled using the Sonos app or voice commands. The soundbar supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Apple AirPlay 2. You can manually adjust the bass, treble and loudness in the Sonos app, plus activate the soundbar’s Speech Enhancement feature that makes it easier to hear dialogue.
We like how the Beam can be used in conjunction with all other Sonos speakers located throughout your home.
Beam is suitable for TVs 65 inches or smaller. It works best in a small- to mid-sized room, such as a living room or bedroom.
Comme des Garçons Play high-top Converse sneakers
Saks Fifth Avenue
The problem with heart-shaped accessories or heart-themed clothing is that they tend to be corny, or something that is hard to integrate into an everyday wardrobe. Not so with these Comme des Garçons Converse sneakers. The curious and cheeky Play heart is just plain fun, and has an edge to it that makes it fashionable.
One of our CBS Essentials shopping experts, Rachel Center, has owned these sneakers for years. She says she frequently gets compliments on these when wearing them out.
Get these Converse for your sneakerhead significant other, or for anyone who will appreciate a cute pair of shoes to wear on Valentine’s Day (and beyond).
Longchamp custom My Pliage Signature travel bag
Longchamp
This travel bag by Longchamp may be the most customizable bag available this Valentine’s Day. You can choose between 16 different color options for the body of the My Pliage bag, the primary and shadow colors, and the recipient’s own pop-art inspired initials.
You can also customize the color and metal types used in the trim, as well as the color of the initials stamped on the snap enclosure.
Not quite sure what will look best on the bag? The brand offers inspiration images if you’re seeking color combination ideas.
Gorjana Diamond Alphabet necklace
Gorjana
Valentine’s Day is one of the best times to get your loved one diamonds. We love this dainty diamond initial necklace from Gorjana because it’s an everyday piece, instead of something that is more appropriate for special occasions.
Each initial is set with 11 diamonds; the rest is made with 14-karat solid gold. We like that, unlike other “affordable” pieces of diamond jewelry, the diamonds in this necklace aren’t too small to see.
What’s also great about this gift is that it comes with complimentary gift wrapping that allows you to write a personalized note to your Valentine.
Roger Carstens, the Biden administration’s top official for freeing Americans held overseas, on Friday arrived in Damascus, Syria, for a high-risk mission: making the first known face-to-face contact with the caretaker government and asking for help finding missing American journalist Austin Tice.
Tice was kidnapped in Syria 12 years ago during the civil war and brutal reign of now-deposed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. For years, U.S. officials have said they do not know with certainty whether Tice is still alive, where he is being held or by whom.
The State Department’s top diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, accompanied Carstens to Damascus as a gesture of broader outreach to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, known as HTS, the rebel group that recently overthrew Assad’s regime and is emerging as a leading power.
Near East Senior Adviser Daniel Rubinstein was also with the delegation. They are the first American diplomats to visit Damascus in over a decade, according to a State Department spokesperson.
They plan to meet with HTS representatives to discuss transition principles endorsed by the U.S. and regional partners in Aqaba, Jordan, the spokesperson said. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Aqaba last week to meet with Middle East leaders and discuss the situation in Syria.
While finding and freeing Tice and other American citizens who disappeared under the Assad regime is the ultimate goal, U.S. officials are downplaying expectations of a breakthrough on this trip. Multiple sources told CBS News that Carstens and Leaf’s intent is to convey U.S. interests to senior HTS leaders, and learn anything they can about Tice.
Rubinstein will lead the U.S. diplomacy in Syria, engaging directly with the Syrian people and key parties in Syria, the State Department spokesperson added.
Diplomatic outreach to HTS comes in a volatile, war-torn region at an uncertain moment. Two sources even compared the potential danger to the expeditionary diplomacy practiced by the late U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, who led outreach to rebels in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 and was killed in a terrorist attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound and intelligence post.
U.S. special operations forces known as JSOC provided security for the delegation as they traveled by vehicle across the Jordanian border and on the road to Damascus. The convoy was given assurances by HTS that it would be granted safe passage while in Syria, but there remains a threat of attacks by other terrorist groups, including ISIS.
CBS News withheld publication of this story for security concerns at the State Department’s request.
Sending high-level American diplomats to Damascus represents a significant step in reopening U.S.-Syria relations following the fall of the Assad regime less than two weeks ago. Operations at the U.S. embassy in Damascus have been suspended since 2012, shortly after the Assad regime brutally repressed an uprising that became a 14-year civil war and spawned 13 million Syrians to flee the country in one of the largest humanitarian disasters in the world.
The U.S. formally designated HTS, which had ties to al Qaeda, as a foreign terrorist organization in 2018. Its leader, Mohammed al Jolani, was designated as a terrorist by the US in 2013 and prior to that served time in a US prison in Iraq.
Since toppling Assad, HTS has publicly signaled interest in a new more moderate trajectory. Al Jolani even shed his nom de guerre and now uses his legal name, Ahmed al-Sharaa.
U.S. sanctions on HTS linked to those terrorist designations complicate outreach somewhat, but they haven’t prevented American officials from making direct contact with HTS at the direction of President Biden. Blinken recently confirmed that U.S. officials were in touch with HTS representatives prior to Carstens and Leaf’s visit.
“We’ve heard positive statements coming from Mr. Jolani, the leader of HTS,” Blinken told Bloomberg News on Thursday. “But what everyone is focused on is what’s actually happening on the ground, what are they doing? Are they working to build a transition in Syria that brings everyone in?”
In that same interview, Blinken also seemed to dangle the possibility that the U.S. could help lift sanctions on HTS and its leader imposed by the United Nations, if HTS builds what he called an inclusive nonsectarian government and eventually holds elections. The Biden administration is not expected to lift the U.S. terrorist designation before the end of the president’s term on January 20th.
Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder disclosed Thursday that the U.S. currently has approximately 2,000 US troops inside of Syria as part of the mission to defeat ISIS, a far higher number than the 900 troops the Biden administration had previously acknowledged. There are at least five U.S. military bases in the north and south of the country.
The Biden administration is concerned that thousands of ISIS prisoners held at a camp known as al-Hol could be freed. It is currently guarded by the Syrian Democratic forces, Kurdish allies of the U.S. who are wary of the newly-powerful HTS. The situation on the ground is rapidly changing since Russia and Iran withdrew military support from the Assad regime, which has reset the balance of power. Turkey, which has been a sometimes problematic U.S. ally, has been a conduit to HTS and is emerging as a power broker.
A high-risk mission like this is unusual for the typically risk averse Biden administration, which has exercised consistently restrained diplomacy. Blinken approved Carstens and Leaf’s trip and relevant congressional leaders were briefed on it days ago.
“I think it’s important to have direct communication, it’s important to speak as clearly as possible, to listen, to make sure that we understand as best we can where they’re going and where they want to go,” Blinken said Thursday.
At a news conference in Moscow Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had not yet met with Assad, who fled to Russia when his regime fell earlier this month. Putin added that he would ask Assad about Austin Tice when they do meet.
Tice, a Marine Corps veteran, worked for multiple news organizations including CBS News.
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