What I Want For My Birthday: 30th Edition

I turn 30 on Sunday, and earlier this week, my husband asked me what I want for my birthday. He told me to answer him that night, but he didn’t ask again, so I assumed that he had forgotten and that I had more time. It was great because I had (and still have) absolutely no idea what I want for my birthday.

The truth is, I hate telling people what I want for holidays. My sister constantly annoys me in this way. Every single year she insists on gift lists months before Christmas and I pretty much fight against it for weeks until giving in. I know that people who ask for gift lists want to make sure they get their people things they will like, but to me, it can feel like it takes the surprise and the effort out of it.

Between January and April, there are four other people in this family that I need to lead the charge on birthday celebrations. When it comes to mine, I don’t want to have to do all the work myself.

It has also become much harder to think about the things that I want now. I think becoming a mother has done that to me. With so many people in my life that I am taking care of, I can’t think about what I want. Those luxuries are never a priority, and if I focus my thoughts on them, I only end up disappointed. So I never think about these things and end up unable to get back into that mindset when people ask me what I want for my birthday or Christmas.

To make matters worse, this is my 30th birthday, which I think is a big deal, but I’m pretty sure the only other person who feels this way is my bestie. Which means, I’ve set myself up for disappointment. I want it to be a day worthy of a 30th birthday with gifts worthy of entering a new decade. So, with that in mind, here are some birthday gift ideas for my husband who may or may not have already gotten me something. Also, none of this is sponsored, which is so annoying. (This is why I should come up with gifts lists early, at least: so I can be paid to advertise for some of my favourite products).

30th Birthday Gift Guide

Race Registration

Within the last few days, I’ve decided that I am going to run another half-marathon in the year I’m thirty. Ideally, I’d love for it to be a destination race, perhaps in Disney again, but there is absolutely no way we can afford it and also no way I can take on fundraising right now, so that’s out of the question. I have already signed up for some of my favourite local races, one of which would be perfect for that half-marathon goal this year, so I can’t get that one as a gift. The one race I would really love to do but still haven’t signed up for yet is the Epic Canadian and this year I’d like to do both the 5 and the 10K in the same day. (Note to Dan: I don’t actually know how you could surprise me with this, plus, I might have a coupon code to get some money off the registration. Search “Epic Canadian” in my email if you need to).

Charm

The Pandora bracelet you once got me continues to be a favourite gift of mine, but lately, we’ve only been filling it as new babies come into our lives, and at this rate, we’ll never get it filled (and I’m not willing to have more babies for the sole reason of filling my bracelet). Now is a great time to add some colour or some gold to the bracelet. There are some cute heart ones for Valentine’s Day. But feel free to get creative. I can’t do all the work for you. Also, if you’re going to the Pandora store, can you please pick up a bracelet opener for me, too? I think they have those. I can’t do it myself anymore without ruining my nails.

Cut and Colour

You know how often I get my hair done, right? Like, once every two years. In our family, my hair is super low on the priority list. How nice would it be to enter this new decade with a fresh do? I can’t really tell you where to get a gift certificate from. I still have yet to find anyone local who actually does what I ask them to do when I go in to get my hair cut, but I haven’t really given anyone much of an opportunity either, considering how rarely I get my haircut. Maybe Yelp can help.

Time and a Starbucks Card

You know what I could really use for my birthday? More hours in my day. But, since that isn’t possible, maybe I could ask for some time alone to write. I know you’ve given me this for birthdays before, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever even redeemed any. So maybe, for this birthday, you just block some time out in our calendar for it?

Makeup

Okay. This present isn’t really worthy of a new decade, but it is the stuff that I would be spending money on if I could. / I might even spend money on it even if I shouldn’t. Makeup is the one thing I am always wanting more of. I’ll make it easy for you this time, though:

• I need a new bottle of mascara and literally will have to get some this week. My preferred mascara is at Sephora and called Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes 4-in-1 mascara. Or maybe try the Better Than Sex mascara because the name is awesome and we should see if it lives up to the claim.
• Colourpop makeup. You won’t find this in Sephora. If you want it in time for my birthday on Sunday, you should probably just give me an e-gift card. If you want to know which products I’m currently drooling over it is Where The Light Is and KaePop.

Stuff For the Home

Again, this isn’t a particularly epic gift for the beginning of an epic decade, but, remember how I shared this stuff with you? I pretty much love them because stripes and hearts are my favourite. So this pillow. And this mug. And this heart shadowbox. Which would look super cute next to this ampersand shadowbox. Or maybe in that case, we should have two heart shadowboxes. <3

That’s all I’ve got, really. I still don’t know if I’ve come up with a good answer for what I want for my birthday. At the moment, I want someone to deal with dinner so I don’t have to (edited to add: Dan dealt with dinner so I didn’t have to!) and I want people to stop telling me they’re hungry and I want more coffee for our coffee machine because I’m about to run out. I want you to be home and I want the house to be clean and I want time to read this weekend and I want to feel like I have done everything on my to-do list, which is way too long. I want sick-Logan to stop crying. I want to stop getting the kids in and out of car seats. I want the photo on my license that I got renewed today to look way better than it does. I want time to run but I really don’t want to run right now. And I’m so sorry that I want my birthday to be epic, despite knowing I shouldn’t set high expectations.