Anyone done anything unique for a spouse or significant other's milestone birthday?

[digamma]

My wife is turning 30 next month. I'm racking my brain trying to come up with the perfect thing to do. Nothing doing, yet, though. Any ideas?

p.s. Kickstand can ignore this, as I know he doesn't really believe in the birthday. ;)

p.s.s. Please keep them clean, Franklinnoble.;)

[Franklinnoble]

Damn.

What's your budget? You need to think of something along the lines of a romantic getaway... like, I'd take my wife to some Bed and Breakfast in wine country... or maybe a train trip to Shasta... or a dinner cruise... or something like that. It really depends on how much you wanna spend, and how much time you have to spend it.

[Coffee Warlord]

Oh the possibilities for mayhem are endless here.

[Laddin]

I agree with Franklin. The amount you want to spend dictates what you do.

If you can afford a romantic get away, most of the women that have left me in the past enjoyed that.

If you're on the budget, women love getting flowers at work. I don't know why, but they love showing off to their friends.

I also once blew up a bunch of balloons and some glitter and tassels and that while she was out at the store. She was so surprised, she treated me like it was my birthday that night.

[cthomer5000]

even I felt like giving the ladies man suggestion here.

I would say a vacation of some sort is probably a solid (and pricey) suggestion.

[digamma]

We're actually going to be going on a vacation in the vicinity of her birthday, so we should have that part covered.

I also made the mistake of getting married 5 days after her birthday, so I have to be careful (as part of the wedding date bargain) not to combine any birthday/anniversary presents or celebrations.

Flowers will be sent on both occasions.

We'll probably end up having a party with some of our friends, but I'd like to do something to recognize it is just not another year come and gone.

[Eaglesfan27]

Flowers at the workplace are solid for every birthday. I highly recommend a small intimate weekend getaway if you can afford it. Also, a party of some sort with her friends is likely in order.

I'm in the reverse situation with my wife looking for hints from me what I want for my 30th Birthday (which is a little less than 6 months away.)

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola - I don't know if it is just my wife, but she really prefers for me to deliver the flowers to work myself. I guess it is special because I took time off of work and she can brag about me to her friends.

[Buzzbee]

One thing my wife did for me was to put "30's" everywhere. She made me breakfast and the the buscuits were in the shape of 3 and 0. She went to Party City (don't know if the have those in Callie, but I'm sure you're familiar with them) and bought numerous "30" signs. Little ones, big ones. They turned up everywhere. Open my deodorant, BOOM, there's a 30. Open the medicine cabinet, BOOM, there's a 30. Open the fridge for a glass of milk, BOOM, there's a 30.

Other ideas to remind her she is 30:

- Call her or email her at 8:30, 9:30, 10:30, etc. to wish her a happy birthday.
- Thirty balloons.
- Thirty pieces of candy/chocolate or other such foodstuff.
- Thirty roses/flowers, given to her one at a time over the course of the day. (If you can get her co-workers to assist, this can be VERY effective)
- Post little signs all over the house with questions on them, the answer being "30" to each one.
- Glue 30 shiny pennies to a wooden board in the shape of a 30 (cheesy, but suprisingly effective, and not a bad keepsake of the occasion)
- Any other idea that incorporates "30"

Yes, it may be a little cheesy, but it makes it fun for her, and for you. She never knows where the next 30 will pop up, and you have fun coming up with creative ideas.

I'm sure my FOFC brethren could come up with numerous other ideas, serious, not so serious, clean, dirty, and otherwise.

[lynchjm24]

Other ideas to remind her she is 30:



Yeah, women love to be reminded that they are 30. After that she'll be counting the seconds until 40!

[The_herd]

Sex would be considered unique in my household. You could try that.

[Draft Dodger]

first off, EaglesFan is right - women like their flowers at work where they can be the center of attention a little bit.

for my 30th, my wife surprised me with a luau-themed surprise party. it had been something she'd worked on literally for about a year. she rented a hall, hired a DJ, had invited a ton of people who all wore tacky Hawaiian shirts. it really was a lot of fun, and I didn't have the slightest idea what was going on until I walked in.

for her 31st (she was 8 months pregnant on her 30th, which limited me too much), I returned the favore. We're both big hockey fans, so I secretly rented a party suite in Manchester for a game for our AHL team. there were 13 of us, we had a party before-hand, then went to the game via 2 stretch limos. It was a terrific night, and she was completely surprised.

last summer, I surprised her with a Wife Appreciation Night. No occasion... I picked her up at work in a limo (the driver held up a "Christine, Wife Appreciation Night" sign up as she was coming out to the parking lot). We zipped home to change, and headed off to dinner on the way to a Def Leppard concert. Again, all of this was a surprise for her - she didn't know anything until she stepped outside and saw the limo.

so, I'd vote something involving a limo - really, they aren't that expensive, and they really go a long way to winning you some brownie points (I cashed in a few on the way home from the concert).

but, truthfully, ANYTHING that indicates some sort of prior thought/planning is going to go a long way to making her happy

[sterlingice]

first off, EaglesFan is right - women like their flowers at work where they can be the center of attention a little bit.
Now maybe it's just me, but I've always found this to be tacky and somewhat, well, asshole-ish behavoir. You're getting your kicks at the expense of others because it's as if the person is saying "my husband is willing to come and spoil me but none of yours are". Because the rest of the day, whoever gets this always has a conceited grin on their face. And this typically fosters that bitchy, backstab environment that women, in particular, have at work. But what do I know...

SI

[Draft Dodger]

tacky and assholish are both words used often to describe me, so this fits perfectly!

:)

[Bee]

I think the best one I've done so far has been a vacation (took her someplace she'd been dying to go for years). But a week before her b-day, I started giving her presents each day. They were each a hint about the place we were going (with like a little note in each dropping a hint). I figured she would figure it out after the 3rd or 4th day, but she didn't figure it out until we were getting ready to leave.

[cuervo72]

Sex would be considered unique in my household. You could try that.

Tried that before. My wife asked me if I had a gift receipt so she could exchange it.

[Balldog]

A couple weeks ago my friend turned 40, his wife threw a surprise b-day party. It wasn't like most surprises. He thought they were going out to dinner, they were "waiting for the babysitter" and about 30 cars pulled in his driveway honking. And we threw a party right there at their house. It was classic, he was all excited about that.