The birthday boy is King for a day... or everyday ; )
Jim and I started dating summer of 2012, so last year was his first birthday that I got to plan for him. I was very much smitten at the time [still am, of course] and so I spent weeks deciding how I wanted to knock his birthday socks off. About 10 days before Jim's birthday I started to plant clues about what we would be doing on his birthday. I sent him clues in the mail, left the clues for him to discover on his windshield, even left a clue at a coffee shop! I instructed him to go in and ask the barrista for his clue. I had gone in earlier that morning and pre-paid for a hot chocolate. When he went in to accept his clue, he also received his favorite hot beverage! One of the clues was cut up into puzzle pieces for him to put together, another was set up as a cryptograph. I sent him clues every day for over a week because I wanted to extend the amount of time that he felt special.
On the day of his birthday, I left work early to hide his presents at the first location my clues indicated to meet me at. It was staring lake park, the place where we had our first date. He instantly found his gifts [woodchips are not a good cover] and loved what I got him! I picked out a kitchen torch [he's been on a lifelong journey of making the perfect french toast and a chef tipped him off that he should try using a kitchen torch on the tasty stuff] and also custom made him a men's tank top. He always jokes that there should be a tank that says 'Son's Out, Guns out' and thought it would be perfect for Easter. As in... the Son of man is out [of the tomb] and the guns that are out are his biceps - hence the the phrase being printed on a tank top. It was silly, but he had talked about the idea so many times that I figured it would greatly surprise him if the idea actually came true! After he opened his gift we swung on the swings for a little while and enjoyed the setting sun. Next, we went over to my dad's house where we enjoyed Canadian bacon and pineapple pizza - a fave shared by both Jim and myself! Just before I headed to the park to hide Jim's gifts, I went over to my dad's house where he helped me load the bed of his truck with tons and tons of blankets and pillows. Seriously, TONS - I'm pretty sure we used over 20 blankets and 10 pillows. We then took my dad's truck and drove to the top of a bluff. I had preloaded several movies onto an iPad. I had Jim choose whatever movie he wanted from the bunch [he chose Top Gun!] and we cuddled in the 'truck nest' and enjoyed the movie under the stars. It was so romantic and cozy! After the movie ended we just hung out and talked until about 1 am. I know that's not that late, but we both had to work the next day so it was fun to stay out later than normal. It was the perfect and most romantic evening. Of course, that's a night that I'll never top! But I'm okay with that... It's a fond memory from the days of falling in love : )
Jim's tank top gift from last year - custom design by me!
Enough about last year! Yesterday I went out on a little hunt for a few things. I drove all the way to the nearest Panera bread [about 35 minutes away] just for Jim's favorite bagel! I know it sounds a little ridiculous, but he really LOVES the cinnamon crunch bagel. Go ahead and try it yourself, you'll see! I also prepped a delicious hash brown bake for him to have with his bagel. This morning I got up at 5:15 while Jim was in the shower to throw the hash brown bake into the oven. I also had enough time to prep Jim's lunch and hang a birthday banner for him! His morning gift consisted of a lunch box and thermos that he requested. I filled the thermos with mocha and the lunch box with Canadian bacon and pineapple pizza that I picked up from Domino's yesterday [plus I added a side of honey - we LOVE dipping our pizza in honey]. I also prepped some chocolate covered strawberries since that's one of his favorite desserts. Those didn't turn out so great since I had troubles with melting the chocolate - but your taste buds aren't worried with what chocolate covered strawberries look like! I also left Jim a little note on a paper towel warning him that the strawberries weren't so attractive.
New lunch box, ugly [but tasty!] strawberries, and note!
I was planning to post the recipe for the hash brown bake - but this post became a lot longer than I planned! I'll be sure to post all of the birthday recipes tomorrow!
Have a great day! I know Jim is going to : )
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