The best chocolates for the special mom in your life

Your mother or wife or any of the other moms you're getting a gift for might appreciate a nice box of chocolates, and as Mother's Day is fast approaching (Sunday May 13), you might want to check our recent boxed chocolate test results before grabbing a box off the nearest display rack just for convenience sake.

It's not every day that our expert tasters are compelled to use words such as "amazing," "sophisticated," and "ultra-smooth." But that's what they said about some of the excellent chocolates we recently tested.

To discover which chocolates you think would melt your mother's heart, use our chocolates buying guide as well as our Ratings (available to subscribers) and reviews.

Some of our recommended boxed chocolates include selections from Christopher Elbow, Godiva, Moonstruck Chocolates, and Theo Chocolate, among many more.

You might also want to check which chocolates ranked the least favorite out of the ones we tested, which our panel of expert taste testers described as "chalky, gritty, or hard."

Other gift ideas:
We've previously ordered bouquets from 1800Flowers.com, FTD.com, and ProFlowers.com. The results were mixed when we compared the blooms to their corresponding Web photo, so order with care. In our small study, 1800Flowers.com was best at sending what was ordered, followed by ProFlowers.com and FTD.com. And the flowers most likely to look the way they did on websites were tulips, roses, and orchids.

And if you plan to take mom out for a nice meal, or treat her to a spa package, it's worth visiting Groupon, LivingSocial, and other group-buying sites for deals at local restaurants, retailers and other businesses near you. Surf for local spa packages, brunch specials, or other outing and activity specials.

—Maggie Shader