Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

So excited about J's birthday tomorrow!

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    So excited about J's birthday tomorrow!

    Hey all! I hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday so far! Just wanted to share that I have concocted a birthday present for my SO that I am SO excited about and he is going to get it TOMORROW! Here's the scoop...

    TL/DR Version:

    I can't be with J on his birthday tomorrow, so I threw him a card shower. He will get the stuff after work tomorrow!

    Long Version:
    My SO is a wonderful human who doesn't care about stuff very much at all - he cares about loving other people and being with his friends and helping people be better. He doesn't like a huge fuss for his birthday, so a huge surprise partynor a super expensive gift wouldn't be to his liking. He is a-ok with observing his birthday though. He enjoys great food, fine cigars, and fine bourbon or really good beer a lot and has a cigar club he participated which has many very cool friends. His primary love languages are quality time and words if affirmation.

    I am a firm believer in celebrating birthdays in some ways - always have been, but even more so since my husband died in 2009. My thought is you never when you aren't going to get your next birthday, so try to enjoy celebrating every one - whether it's with a huge party or just drinks after work with your favorite colleague.

    Since I'm so far away and J isn't materialistic at all, I was at a loss for what to do for him. I had already sent him a box of his very favorite cigars a few months ago to celebrate him opening his side business, so I wanted to do something different. About a month ago, while driving home from work, I struck upon a great idea! I decided that since his friends and family are his favorite thing ever, I would get him a box of love from them. How does one do that? Well, you throw a birthday card shower!

    I made an event on Facebook and invited every friend and family member I could the of that I'm connected with to send cards to my home in time to arrive a few days before his birthday, so I could package them up nicely and send back to SC. I also contacted one of his best friends, who he happens to work with, for help. Between the two of us, we got about 22-25 cards and letters for him, and some of the people sent little gifts too! People who sent things in include:

    1) His 86 year old mother - who I had to explain things to a couple times because she didn't really understand what was what. She wrote a proper letter which I think is great.
    2) His very best friend, who wrote a letter in invisible ink because he is a dork like that. J will love it.
    3) my very best friend, who hasn't met him yet but will in a few weeks
    4) a bunch of people from work, including his boss and the lead pastor (he works at a big church). This was really important to me, because he often feels unappreciated at work since people tend to be too busy to say thank you.
    5) the manager of his favorite sushi restaurants, who he is friends with and I have met too. She sent along a birthday card, gift card, and stuff to make authentic ramen at home (his favorite food.)

    So far, I am 99% sure that this is going to be a big surprise for him. I have set his expectation that I am just going to take him out to whatever dinner he wants when we go on a short vacation in August, so I don't think he's expecting a gift now. His work buddy that is in cahoots with me just invited him to go to the cigar bar after work Monday (his actual bday) so that is his birthday observation. I've made a big deal out of the fact that I have to work all day and teach a class in the evening so it will be late before I can contact him.

    Anyway. I'm excited and I know he is going to love it. I might be winning the girlfriend olympics with this one.

    What sorts of cool things have you done to celebrate your SO from afar?

    #2
    All that makes me feel excited for your SO too.

    Post how it goes and what his reaction is :3

    Well, me and my SO were still friends when during our birthdays in 2015, we weren't even too close, though the interest was there. I gave him few drawings I drew for him (well, showed pictures of drawings). And I was really late too, cause he didn't do anything himself and I felt pretty carefree after that + I was busy. (my birthday is 2 days before his, he is not really someone to give gifts)
    Let's see how it goes this year

    Comment


      #3
      That's very sweet of you!

      Today is my boyfriend's birthay, and it's the first time we're apart for his birthday.. I wasn't very original, I only sent a card with a short love letter (withapieceofundiesinthecard coughcough) he comes back in October so I will be buying him all kind of gifts here and give it to him when he comes back. :3

      I already bought him a quality gym shirt, and I intend on maybe buying a Wii U or a fun Xbox One game we'll play together. ♥

      Comment


        #4
        That sounds like a really meaningful b-day gift! Great idea QueenD

        Comment


          #5
          How did it go?

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Jelly11 View Post
            How did it go?
            I won't know til later tonight. He typically works until around 5 or 6 Eastern time in the US, and so I don't expect to hear for around 8 hrs or so. I have to teach a class after work myself so I might not get to talk to him til almost 10 eastern. I'm sure his friend will take pics and such.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Jelly11 View Post
              How did it go?
              Hi guys, sorry it took a long time to post an update.

              J's friend took him out for a drink and a cigar after work around 6 his time. Shortly after they settled in, J was presented with the box. J's friend took a short video of it to send to me - J was totally overwhelmed and 100% surprised and didn't know what to say.

              I had 3 cards in the box that I wrote. One was just explaining what the present is, then there was one with a gift certificate to the club, and the final one was my letter. He has only read my cards at this point. The whole idea of the present was so overwhelming to him, he needed time to process it. Also, he wanted to actually visit with his friend and felt it might be rude to just sit and read cards. I finally got to talk to him around 10:45 his time. I shared with him how long is been planning for it and how Matt and I coordinated. He wouldn't let me tell him who all has cards in the box because he wants to be surprised as he reads them. He said it was the best present he ever got.

              I'm thrilled he loved it. At the same time, this is one of the evenings I'm the most upset about this distance since we got together. I don't feel well today and I'm just so mad to be far away. I'm having those weird feelings like how can it ever work out for some reason, even on top of him loving the present. I don't really understand why I feel that way.

              My only weird thing

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by QueenD View Post
                Hi guys, sorry it took a long time to post an update.

                J's friend took him out for a drink and a cigar after work around 6 his time. Shortly after they settled in, J was presented with the box. J's friend took a short video of it to send to me - J was totally overwhelmed and 100% surprised and didn't know what to say.

                I had 3 cards in the box that I wrote. One was just explaining what the present is, then there was one with a gift certificate to the club, and the final one was my letter. He has only read my cards at this point. The whole idea of the present was so overwhelming to him, he needed time to process it. Also, he wanted to actually visit with his friend and felt it might be rude to just sit and read cards. I finally got to talk to him around 10:45 his time. I shared with him how long is been planning for it and how Matt and I coordinated. He wouldn't let me tell him who all has cards in the box because he wants to be surprised as he reads them. He said it was the best present he ever got.

                I'm thrilled he loved it. At the same time, this is one of the evenings I'm the most upset about this distance since we got together. I don't feel well today and I'm just so mad to be far away. I'm having those weird feelings like how can it ever work out for some reason, even on top of him loving the present. I don't really understand why I feel that way.

                My only weird thing
                I'm so glad he liked it!

                Sorry to hear you are having a down day. I know sometimes it slaps you across the face out of nowhere about the logistics and practicalities of it, but as many a wise user on here has told me, it's best not to think about it earlier on (am I right in thinking you've been dating for about 7 months or have I made that up?). For now just enjoy it and worry about that later. The commitment you have put into the present shows how dedicated you are and it will get to a point where that will shine through and make it work.

                Also, talk to him. Share that you miss him and really wanna be there. I'm sure he feels similar. I don't know about you but sometimes I just find it comforting to tell him I miss them. My SO is the opposite and dislikes talking about it but each to their own.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Yay, so awesome that he loved it. Even if it was almost technically impossible not to

                  And that feeling is awful but unfortunately irreplaceable part of LDRs and strikes during the happiest moments too.

                  Comment

                  Working...
                  X