Oops.

I love birthdays. I love coming up with birthday surprises and then rushing around to purchase or make them. I love making other people feel special. I love baking and writing cards and making people happy. It's just my thing. I love birthdays . . . (just not my own).

So, last week was my sweetheart's 28th birthday. We've been together long enough now that it's starting to get a little more difficult to come up with unique birthday/Christmas/Valentine's/anniversary gifts for each other (well, maybe I shouldn't speak for him . . . but it's hard for me!). Chris' gifts should be easy. He's a crazy-relaxed guy who is happy with an extra kiss or two and a casual day in celebration of the annual event. I always try to make it something more, though, because deep down I know that if I can make at least one day a year special for him, it will make our life together that much more beautiful. After all, I'm the grumpity one in this relationship and he still smiles and makes me happy every single day . . .

I digress.

This year, I gave myself a monetary limit (something we're not very good about in these pre-children years) and swore I'd stick by it. That is, until I decided to buy him tickets for a concert that he won't be able to enjoy until December. I had already blown my budget but how could I give him something he wouldn't be able to enjoy for a few months and call that a birthday gift?! Ha, I could justify getting him something else, I decided, because one of those tickets was really for me so I had at least half of my budget free to use for him. Right? Right.

So, on I went to brainstorming some other ideas. I'd been wanting to get him a Lisa Leonard Designs leather cuff with one of our special phrases engraved on it but then I realized time was running out for that. Time is always running out, isn't it? And then we started talking about how his wedding gift—a very special watch—was in need of repair because the kinetic mechanism hasn't been keeping time lately and then it hit me: instead of a leather band why not get him a cool leather cuff-like watch to wear while his other watch is sent out for repair?! Woo hoo! Oh . . . what's that you say? Wouldn't that blow my budget? Yes . . . but he's so worth it. Not to mention, now I had an excuse to visit a Fossil store. Oh, have I ever mentioned that I love me some Fossil? Pretty sure I have.

OK. On with it.

I had a very happy boy on my hands last weekend. Between the Field Museum visit and a trip to the flea market (where he scored bigtime with a book of maps from WWII—he's a history buff) and 5 days off work spent with me (something we never do) and his mult-part gift (that was about 2.5xs my self-prescribed budget because of course I couldn't stop with the tickets and the watch), Chris was beaming most of the weekend. Especially when he opened his last gift from me. Which, my darlings, is why I was actually blogging about Chris' birthday to begin with.

A couple of weeks ago my mom purchased some Jay McCarol fabric that reminded me so much of something that should be in a Mario game that I had to get some to make a funny pair of boxers for Chris (because in addition to being a history buff, he's the biggest Nintendo nerd ever . . . I say that with love). So, I pulled out a Simplicity pattern (I won't say which one because you'll all laugh at how poorly I followed the directions) and snip, snap, snipped away. I pinned and sewed and unpinned and sewed another seam and then reinforced that seam and then realized that the part that was supposed to go from crotch to wasteband (and was supposed to be folded over to encase the elastic) was, oh, approximately 3.5". Hmm. That can't be right? For an adult man? Hmm. Well, needless to say, I eventually figured out that I'd sewing the wrong seams at one point and that the part that was sewn together as the crotch-to-wasteband section was actually supposed to be the inseam. Dude. Don't even ask how I did this. I debated ripping it out and getting it all sewn together correctly in time for Chris' birthday . . . but then decided to wrap them up as is . . . just to see the expression on his face. And, let me tell you . . . it was classic.

Yes, they might also be a little bit too big.

Oops.

And, while I'm sure he was plenty happy with this gift because he could laugh at me . . . I couldn't let that be the last thing he opened and leave a target on my back for my jokester husband. I was glad I chose to conclude his birthday gift package with another special little something that won't be very interesting to you but was something very thoughtful for him. Maybe more on that later.