Let’s say you are celebrating Family Day aka Thanksgiving at your favorite aunt’s house this year. All your relations are arriving with specialty recipes in tow, and you notice a young lady you’ve never seen before. You’re secretly praying that you’re not related to her, when your aunt introduces her as a new associate at the job who couldn’t make it home to be with her family. You breathe a sigh of relief, put your Mack on and proceed to have a great evening getting to know her. Talk about luck. See you recently broke up with your girlfriend of two years and didn’t want to trudge through the holiday season alone. Perfect timing.

This time of year is one of the most fun and enchanting times to start a new romance. That’s why so many singles find it unbearable not to have a ready date for all the parties and gatherings between Thanksgiving and the New Year. Singles may feel compelled to find someone to share the season with, rather than spend the holidays alone. Pressured by the fairy tale atmosphere, people can lose sight of why they are really dating. So, while you may choose step up your game on the dating scene, don’t lower your standards: anyone is not better than no one. Try to remove the holiday glitter from your eyes and see people for who they are. Not as potential holiday stand-ins. This is a special time of year so raise the bar on the company you keep, don’t lower it.

If you are fortunate enough to make a holiday hook-up, what about gift giving with that very special, but very new someone? In any relationship, we would choose to be with a giving person. However, giving doesn’t only mean material gifts, there is also a person’s time, energy, and warm wishes. One of the biggest challenges in a new relationship is not to get caught in the crossfire between the newness and the holiday spirit. In those moments when you’re contemplating that very expensive gift for the sister you’ve only been dating for three weeks, pause. Remember that you set the tone right now. Whatever you start off with as your gifting benchmark, always make sure that you can do better with each year. Pace yourself if you’re in it for the long haul. And save yourself just in case you wake up one day in mid-January wondering what you saw in her in the first place. When it comes to gifts and the union is new, be honest with each other from the jump off about whether you want to gift or not. A small token that shows thought is much better than too much money spent on something she might not even like. It will save everyone’s feelings and cut down on the long term resentment.

Even if yours is the company you choose to spend the holidays with, make it memorable. Treat yourself well. Go see a show, enjoy a gourmet meal for one, or indulge yourself in a spa treatment. Then do something that really matters, like spending time with an elderly neighbor or buying toys to donate to a charity. Maybe plan a surprise for the children of an enlisted person who is stuck in Iraq this holiday season. There are lots of ways to celebrate this most wonderful time of the year, but in all things remember the reason for the season! Happy Holidays!