Women! Opinions Needed!

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surich

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Jun 18, 2009
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If she likes to read, buy her several books by her favorite author. If she likes movies, buy her some DVDs (even the movies YOU dont like, but she loves!).

An idea for later... my hubby always said that the birthday should last all day, not just during the time you open your gifts. After all, its your birth DAY! So, what he did one memorable year, was to wrap several gifts, and label them as to when I could open them!

gift 1 - morning coffee
gift 2 - arrive at work
gift 3 - break
gift 4 - lunch

etc....you get the idea! ;-)

Then when I got home, he would give me the "piece de resistance" or ultimate gift, at dinner that evening. Have to say... he made me feel like a princess all day! :hubba:
 

Annastasia

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I'll put in one more vote for something hand made.

The best birthday gift I've ever received was from my father, who lives all the way across the country. He made me a special bottle of wine from grapes grown at the house I grew up in (which I miss very much), with a special hand drawn label and a hand made custom box with my name and a little message woodburned into it.

It made me cry. *Nothing* makes me cry.

I don't know what sort of things are important to your wife...but is there anything she maybe misses, or wishes she could do or see? Try making her something to go along with that, perhaps.

Come back and tell us what you came up with!
 

Porphy

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Ok I'll give a little info on her as someone suggested so you can make a more informed choice:

- 30 something, a young 30 something...more like 29ish even :).
- Hobbies: Collecting candles and boxes.
- Wants: Nothing materialistic, love, affection, attention (she gets these)
- Likes to read (true crime, rag-mags, psychology books)

The "piece de resistance" is a little simple 'something' that has a lot of back-story. I think I'll have to give the back-story first before I can tell you what it is:

We met while both stationed in the same unit on Ft. Sill, OK. She was a prim and proper girl from Texas and I was a surly antisocial twit from Florida. She couldn't pronounce my last name correctly and it bothered me to no end. She was country. I was metal. She had a drawl, I had elocution. I read Chaucer, London, and Bronte, she read Cosmo and Star... Bottom line: we were made for each other.

My job kept me up until the wee hours of the morning and she was an insomniac, so late at night we were the only ones awake in our barracks. We soon became best friends. We remained that way for quite sometime and then come Valentine's day we dropped the pretenses, got each other gifts and began dating. It's during our dating period that I realized I had the most awesome lady in all the world and if I didn't ask her to spend the rest of her life with me I'd regret it forever.

I worked 3rd shift at a hospital on base and she was our units mail clerk. Her job consisted of a total of three hours of work a day and mine was "solo" work so we didn't have much interference from the actual Army leadership in our unit, as such, we became rather independent. Her room was only 2 doors down from mine but she was effectively living with me. We kept her room in inspection condition and kept my room in "tornado landing zone" condition. We spent our days in squalor completely in love. She'd lounge around in her terry cloth robe and I'd make do in a "wife beater" and some skater shorts.

One morning I return from work to our barracks room and find that it's been cleaned unto perfection. The place really was drastically messy just hours before when I left, and now it was immaculate. She was actually at work by time I got home so I went to the mess hall to eat and found out from a friend that we had a surprise inspection over the night. Somehow, my lovely lady got wind of the inspection and cleaned the entire place up so I wouldn't get reprimanded...and it was messy enough that I would have. You have to understand, she is in NO WAY WHATSOEVER domestic...at all. She doesn't do cleaning.

I was heart struck...shot dead by love and affection. This was probably the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. She found out only moments beforehand and frantically cleaned my/our room. Now here's the kicker. In the process of all of this crazy cleaning she ended up destroying her favorite terry cloth robe. She wore this all the time, it was her "comfort" wear and she gave it up to keep my hide out of the fire.

Well long story longer, we got married soon there after and have lived a happy and content life since. I always talk to her about getting another robe but she always puts it off and I've never been able to find a good match... earlier this month however I found it. An exact copy in just her size! 12 years of looking and I found her robe, brand new and super comfy.

It's stupid I know... it's just a robe, but it means soo much more. She gave up her comfort to save my ... when we were dating and I knew then that she had to be mine. She had my heart so if she left I'd have died. So I have this simple little thing stowed away, awaiting the big day and I'm so glad I'll be able to give her back some of what she sacrificed in the course of making me the happiest man alive.
---------------

So this is what I have so far:

-- piece de resistance
-- her family and friends are compiling a home movie to give her something more personal than silly ol' cards this birthday
-- horseback riding on the beach (insanely difficult to find horses in S. Korea BTW) followed up with a romantic picnic of her favorite cheeses and chocolates.
-- a surprise small birthday party at her work the day before ... I plan this so she can find out about it and think she knows the surprise. This also keeps her co-workers from ruining "our day"
-- Teddy Bear surgery. One of her beloved Teddy Bears lost his eyeball and I finally tracked down a replacement eye. We get to perform ocular implant surgery that day. This type of stuff brings her great joy.

I need a few more ideas so I can set them up throughout the day like Surich suggested, maybe every three hours or so give her something new.


--- thanks so much for the inspiration folks, before starting this thread I had one present and a pseudo-party planned, now I have a working plan and almost a whole day of surprises in store.
 

BlondieLocs

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Aug 24, 2009
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Ok I'll give a little info on her as someone suggested so you can make a more informed choice:

- 30 something, a young 30 something...more like 29ish even :).
- Hobbies: Collecting candles and boxes.
- Wants: Nothing materialistic, love, affection, attention (she gets these)
- Likes to read (true crime, rag-mags, psychology books)
That was me - and that helps a lot. ;-) She sounds a lot like me, actually...

Further suggestions based on this info... Have the robe monogrammed. With the number 12, maybe? Or with something that will only make sense to the two of you. ie. my wedding ring was engraved with the letters TWIMY for That's Why I Married You - which was a long running joke between the ex and I. [Note to self: Get new ring engraved with TWIDY]

If you do want to get her something "materialistic", based on the fact that she loves to read, I'd suggest a Kindle, or Sony Reader or the like. Personally, I bought myself the Reader for Xmas last year, and it's the best gift I've ever received. I have 200 books on it right now. But then, I'm also a gadget geek.

Rather than buying her (or making) candles or boxes, can you register the two of you for a candle making class? I'd bet that would be an experience she'd like to share with you...

...found out from a friend that we had a surprise inspection over the night. Somehow, my lovely lady got wind of the inspection and cleaned the entire place up so I wouldn't get reprimanded...
That cracked me up. I dated a guy in the military once... Slept over in the barracks. The next morning while they were on parade his buddies decided it would be funny to make him believe that they were having an inspection while I lay sleeping in his bed. :D

It's stupid I know... it's just a robe, but it means soo much more. She gave up her comfort to save my ... when we were dating and I knew then that she had to be mine. She had my heart so if she left I'd have died. So I have this simple little thing stowed away, awaiting the big day and I'm so glad I'll be able to give her back some of what she sacrificed in the course of making me the happiest man alive.
Not stupid at all!! I think your gift is perfect and I would venture to say that this kind of thinking is one of the very reasons she married you.

Love all the ideas you came up with so far. Like I, and some of the others here, have said it's the experiences and memories that women are looking for. You've put a lot of thought into this so far, and your lady's a lucky woman. :thumbs:
 

Porphy

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Rather than buying her (or making) candles or boxes, can you register the two of you for a candle making class? I'd bet that would be an experience she'd like to share with you...

It's S. Korea we'd go to the class and the first 50 minutes would be "lets get to know the big white monkeys". Followed by "lets talk about them like they aren't here because they can't possibly know our complex language". Maybe I could get a teacher to come to the house though.

Since money is not a concern...how about flying her parents or a cherished friend over to celebrate her birthday in person? Bring home to her so to speak.

OMG, you have no idea how frustrating it is trying to get her family here, grrr!. This was one of my original ideas but her mother thinks we live in a kwanza hut and crap outside in the rice patties. When in fact our apartment is pretty dern nice even by American standards. They are so xenophobic it's not even funny. As for her friend, she has one friend who means the world to her but she has a 3 year old autistic child and a lazy husband, so between working her .... off and taking care of the lil' tyke she can't find the time. This is why I am sort of extorting them to make a home video for her. It's the best I can manage until I can get her back home for a few weeks.

Wow! By the end of this thread you guys will know my life story and all the intimate details of my life. 8-o

I think I will look into getting someone to come give us a class in candle making. I think that would rock and we can be comfortable in the home. If there's one good thing about Korea it's that you can pretty much get anything if you grease the right wheels.
 
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