Her Birthday: A Survival Guide

Her Birthday: A Survival Guide

GET HER DRUNK
“For my 22nd birthday, my boyfriend took me to a vineyard and we got a private tour and tasting. About four of my friends’ boyfriends have stolen that idea.” —Jenna

MEDDLE AT HER WORKPLACE
“I woke up the morning of my 27th birthday, which happened to fall on a Monday, to learn that my fiancé had called my boss the week before and requested the day off for me. It was such a nice surprise, and all of my coworkers Aw!’d for, like, a week straight.” —Emma

PHOTOS? FINISHED!
“I’d been dating my boyfriend for three years when I turned 30. I was expecting a piece of jewelry for such a big birthday, but he presented me with this big photo album with pictures from our entire relationship. Two years later, I still look at that album more than our wedding album.” —Stephanie

DO HER SISTER (A FAVOR)
“My husband flew in my sister, who lives across the country, for my 31st birthday. The sweetest part was that he didn’t even make a big show about how he had arranged and paid for it. I didn’t find out till l thanked my sister for splurging on the ticket and she told me that my husband had picked up the tab.” —Betsie

SHE’S THE BOSS
“My husband woke me up with a list of places, restaurants, and activities around our city, all with a little checkbox to the left. He told me to check off the things I wanted to do that day. It was cool that he came up with all these ideas, but even cooler that he recognized I like to take control, and let me make the final call on how we spent my birthday.” —Helen

GIVE THE GIFT OF SLEEP
“I’m always complaining about how I have to wake up 10 minutes earlier in order to grab coffee at Starbucks on my way to work. I don’t like making it at home because it never tastes as good. So this year, my husband bought me a Keurig one-cup brewer and 365 of the K-Cup packs from Starbucks so I can have the coffee I want and get 10 more minutes of sleep every morning. It was over the top, but we ladies like over the top.” —Jess

THINK FAST AT TIFFANY’S
“Last January, one of my friend’s boyfriends asked me to go to Tiffany with him to help him pick out a Valentine’s Day gift for his girlfriend. We spent about an hour in the store and at one point, he asked, ‘If it were you, what would you want?’ I showed him a gorgeous silver and citrine necklace I’d been eyeing. A few months later, on my 28th birthday, my boyfriend handed me a box with the silver and citrine necklace. The whole thing had been a set-up! Sneaky … but very, very smart.” —Lianna

BE A CARPENTER
“I turned 30 right after my boyfriend Kevin and I moved in together. We’d been looking at dining room tables for the new place, so when I came home from work and saw one, I assumed he’d bought it. Nope, he made it. Not that I ever doubted my boyfriend was, you know, manly, but this made him seem seriously masculine. And hot. And yes, we’ve had sex on it.” —Sashi