Daughter No 2 (there’s a son in between) celebrates her 30th in a few weeks. She LOVES birthdays, especially hers. Mrs M and I asked her what she wanted last night and, unusually, she couldn’t actually think of anything.
I’ll list a few non-starters –
CDs, records etc. She loves music, plays it constantly, but she’s a total digital native so everything is online
Kitchen stuff – she says she’s got all she needs, plus, although she really wants a good quality lettuce spinner thing, she doesn’t think that’s a suitable present for a milestone birthday, which Mrs M and I totally get. (Although I suspect Mrs M will buy her one anyway).
Books – Again Mrs M will inevitably buy her a book, cos that’s what she does for everyone whether they want it or not. Thank God she bought me Earth To Moon for my last birthday because while I’m not a reader, I did say I would like to read it.
Skin care/beauty stuff – she’s obsessed with this and buys her own from social media people
Any ideas gratefully received
An air fryer. Don’t get one of the cheap ones, though, like we did. Ours has a flat bottom (better ones have a sort of vortex shape) and the non-stick coating quickly came off the griddle thingy, so it is usually to be found ‘soaking’ in a washing up bowl.
If she plays music constantly, some good over ear noise cancelling headphones (Sony, Sennheiser, B&W etc)
My eldest is 30 next week.
Toying with the idea of a Theme Park Pass for a year.
Afte that … I’m out of ideas to be honest.
A subscription to The Afterword?
Huzzah!
If she loves music then how about a quality digital music streamer? Or if she already has all the kit, how about tickets to see someone of her choice play live? (These are my obviously my choices – my birthday’s in September…..just saying.)
@Boneshaker Tickets – great idea – thanks! I’ll see what’s coming up
Daughters No1 and 2 – 32 and 29 yo respectively have been getting tickets for birthdays and Christmas for many years now. Always seem to go down well. I live int he US – and daughter no1 has been living in New Zealand and Australia for the last few years. It’s a fun challenge for me to find something halfway round the world that (I think) she would like.
When stuck for ideas I have resorted to Ticketmaster gift certificates – but hardly appropriate for a “big” birthday.
I have also bought restaurant gift certificates for the “down under” daughter. Find a stupidly expensive and well-reviewed restaurant and – well – hopefully they are happy. Shes a vegetarian so more of a challenge (in a good way)
Along the lines of that theme park pass idea, one of my more successful gifts was when I bought my parents a year-long theatre pass. This was a big provincial venue walking distance from them. They saw plays, musicals, panto. They even saw The Proclaimers!
That’s a good one!
Was it 500 miles walk away?
Excellent idea!
How about a Martha Marlow album? I hear she’s quite good.
Ha! I know you’re a big fan. Message me.
Landmark birthday suggest some kind of jewellery that can have a connection (pendant with family photo?) or thing that is a bit too luxurious for her to buy herself – bag for example. Or some good shoes/boots?
Some kind of experience – theatre or shows. I’m reliably informed spa days are good!
Hotel stay or vouchers? Combined with some tickets to an exhibition or something?
If she’s part of the apple ecosystem then a watch is something people say they don’t need but secretly love and use all the time very quickly (son and partner both now onboard).
Or noise cancelling headphones. Big fan of the Sony wh1000 headphones – the 5’s will be great value now the 6 has just come out, and they’re still selling the 4 after nearly a decade so no worry about longevity.
Or an experience day. Ms Moles is going to drive a WW2 tank for the second time later this year.
I’m interested in how your son and partner use their watches. I was suckered into buying myself one by the notion that it would be able to somehow enhance my life, but it spends most of its time in the drawer. I can’t seem to find much to do with it (I am an extremely boring individual tho, the watch can probably tell that)
The more you wear one, the more you realise what it does. I was at the gym on Sunday and the exercise equipment connected through NFC and traked my exercise data. I almost always use my watch to pay for things – no wallet or phone juggling. Similar with train tickets and nectar and club cards.
I use it to set timers when cooking (Siri’s key use case is a pasta timer) and to keep track of football scores.
It tracks my sleep and my daily activity. And it will apparently tell me I am about to have have a heart attack (a friend swears this functionality on his apple watch saved his life – he went to hospital rather than went to bed).
But you have to wear it in order to discover these things.
I have an Android one, counts my steps every day and measures my heart rate. Especially useful when running, stay out of the danger zone. Oh it tells the time too!
Ah, Leedsboy’s secret is out – “Hey Smartwatch – what’s today’s Wordle answer?”
Actually, I use it to view the camera behind you and, after I have stopped laughing at your Wordle efforts, I simply use the word that you took 6 attempts to get.
Six? I was having a good day then?
The core function of the watch I would say is health and activity: so basics like steps, km cycled, swam, run, heatrate, exertion, calories etc. but a whole load of other fancy health metrics. They also use them for sleep tracking and I did see Mrs Moles talk to someone who rang via the watch Dick Tracey style. Finally it can locate your actual phone when it’s down the back of the sofa.
And the top specc’d one has fall detection and will call an emergency contact. A friend had a Transitory Event that at the time seemed a lot like a stroke (paralysis down one side etc. ) His wife went and bought him one on discharge.
Erm … this top-specc’d watch – does it have a tourbillon?
You can’t beat a watch with a tourbillon.
Arf!
Mrs F has an iWatch and I don’t, because I am analogue.
First thing every morning she checks a chart to see whether she had enough quality sleep.
I ask myself “am I still tired?” and put the kettle on.
You the man
Yeah I used to track my sleep, but how tired I feel when I wake up is a pretty good indicator.
I’ve heard of a rise in sleep tracking anxiety, which is just bonkers. Turn the bloody things off, go to bed on time, and buy an alarm clock!
I also read a book in bed, with a reading lamp, not something on a Kindle with a blue backlight. When I nod off, I might crumple a page, not smash a screen.
Sleep tracking can be useful if you are trying to improve the amount by trying different routines. I have found going to bed earlier (when I start to feel tired) and avoiding drinks during the evening has improved my total sleep a bit. I can see how it could make people anxious – but not weighing myself won’t improve my body mass index.
True – but then again, lowering your BMI won’t necessarily indicate that you’re healthier, since it can’t differentiate between weight due to belly fat and weight due to rock ‘ard muscle.
It’s not that difficult a question in my case.
I stopped bothering with sleep tracking when I realised I had developed an abusive relationship with my watch.
Every evening it would pat me on the head and congratulate me for my healthy lifestyle, all the exercise, the sound biometrics and whatnot. Then the following morning it would inform me in a tone of restrained horror that I have the sleep pattern of a werewolf mainlining espresso.
Had to get off that emotional rollercoaster. Massive red flag.
Spa weekend
Belgian Grand Prix – good call.
Always the best GP of the year.
On me Bucket List – hopefully will get there in a couple of years (just need to convince Mrs D to spend the weekend watching Racing Cars – the availability of Belgian Beer may swing the deal)
‘They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?’ was a decent tune.
Co-op Weekend
(It’s better than a Happy Shopper)
Half a kilo of really good Thai grass.
Seconded.
A drumming lesson from Zak Starkey
A CD player and the Suede back catalogue.
We all have too much “stuff” so I prefer things that dont hang around. Tickets, booze some sort of treat
How about a massage? Full hour and a good one near her, not that Endota Spa rubbish.
Buy her a horse. Then you’ll never again run out of things to get her.
I reckon, as a kid, I had a horse on the top of my Christmas list for 5 years straight.
Nada.
Living in the suburbs might have discouraged Santa.
Thanks for all the suggestions!
Apple watch – $AUS649 – bit beyond our budget. She’d love it though
Lucky daughter
I think there’s a lot to be said for a memorable experience. But it should be something personal that you and your family have created, not a package you’ve bought from an events company.
This may inspire you—
A friend in London turned 70 recently and she gave herself a wonderful present.
The afternoon started with a champagne garden party at a friend’s house in Camden. then we all went down to the Camden Plaza to see a mystery film. No one knew what it was until the lights went down. We all tried to guess but nobody got it.
From 1950, James Stewart in Harvey. It was brilliant.
The cinema had 30 seats which was just the right size. None of us will forget that evening.
Of course, with your piano- tinkling skills, you could show a silent classic and provide the soundtrack yourself,
No pressure, of course,
Good luck with it all.
Josephine Hull’s performance in Harvey is one of the greatest comedic performances of all time, and should be hailed as such more often! Without her, the film wouldn’t be half as good as it is (and it is).
It’s also impossible to get hold of on DVD, to my great annoyance….I thought I had found it a couple of years ago, but when it arrived it was some old TV version of the play – which they had failed to mention at my online vendor. I got my money back, but I still haven’t found [what I’m looking for] it.
(Don’t say Amazon, I don’t use it. I could say I don’t because of their general awfulness as a company, but I probably would if they accepted customers that doesn’t own a mobile phone… 😉 )
To my delight I found it on DVD in Brighton last week @Locust.
It was there prominently displayed in the shop window, screaming Buy Me!
You are very welcome to borrow it whenever you like.
Thanks, @Kaisfatdad, that’s a very generous offer.
However, I can’t even borrow books from the library, because the pain of having to return something I love is too great, so I wouldn’t like to borrow your DVD of Harvey – if I managed to give it back to you, I’d suffer; if I didn’t manage to return it, you’d suffer! 😀
I’ll just check my online vendor occasionally – sooner or later I’m sure they will managed to get it in stock. Just the other day I found Manhattan Murder Mystery for sale and ordered it – I’ve been looking for years for that one!
I bought a huge Woody Allen DVD box set some years ago, but that one (a favourite of mine) wasn’t in it, for some strange reason.
i bought Harvey at Timeslip on Trafalgar Street, 5 minutes from the station @Locust.
https://www.facebook.com/p/TIMESLIP-100064620133905/
A new discovery. I will return there.
TELEPHONE.
+44 7511 911280
I am sure he can get another copy, if you ask.
Oh that’s too much work for a lazy person like me! I like it when “roast sparrows fly directly into my mouth”, as the saying goes… 😀
I’ve waited many years, I can wait a few more.
As a big fan of Woody Allen, having seen every film at least twice, Manhattan Murder Mystery is my favourite.
Effortlessly funny and clever, which is somewhat of a miracle, considering the circumstances surrounding the filming of it (IIRC)!
I’ve just had an idea. How about a personalised video message from a favourite pop celebrity?
For example, Robert Fripp (£74), Toyah (£29) or Engelbert Humperdinck (£259).
https://www.cameo.com/browse/musicians/pop
If you get Fripp and Toyah together do you get a discount?
Not a bad idea. I’ll have to find out (from her sister) who she, like, REALLY likes…
I’ve bought her tix for Annie and the Caldwells who are playing a few days after her birthday. She’d never heard of them but she’ll like them
Daughter smiles at Dad – “That’s very nice, thank you. Didn’t want an Apple Watch anyway “.
They are superb and have released one of the albums of the year. She’ll love them.