On the home page of my website is my mission statement that I want to teach clients to balance work, life, fitness, food and fun. This is something I work on too so I thought I would share a bit of my regular life in today’s post rather than the fitness side.
At the end of August, I shared in an Instagram post I would be going alcohol free in September and October to help my marathon training and to hopefully reduce excess calories. In order to make it achievable (hurray for SMART goals), I gave myself two times when I could drink within that timespan. The first was my 10th wedding anniversary in September and the other was my husband’s 40th birthday in October. Being British, drinking is a big part of his culture (not to say it isn’t in America, but I do think we tend to favour eating over drinking in most celebrations). I would always choose dessert over a drink anyways so I didn’t think the challenge would be too hard. Although I am discovering the late summer weather is making it quite tough to stick to my word!
James and I were married on a Friday afternoon in Upstate New York in 2010. Our 10th anniversary was a Thursday night in early September. I had run home from work and James had gone on a bike ride with some friends that afternoon. We didn’t do presents or cards that morning because I am usually headed out the door by the time James is getting up. For the last 10 years (much to James’ chagrin), we have been inspired by the anniversary themes when choosing gifts. I told him this is the last year we have to do presents. We have learned that these forced gifts don’t always work out. Here are a few examples:
1st anniversary is traditionally paper– James tried to purchase a Liberty voucher for me because it was my new favourite shop in London. Unfortunately their vouchers were coins! I did end up with a lovely necklace though.
6th anniversary is iron- James and I are both avid readers and apparently not very creative. We order the same iron bookmark from the same Etsy shop with slightly different inscriptions. The ironic part is that neither of us ever use them because they are too bulky and heavy.
Tenth anniversary is tin and this was so tricky! Most of the gifts I could find were lovey-dovey tin signs covered in hearts, which is not our style at all. Another popular option seemed to be tins of mints or tea, which was a little under my budget. We tend to be practical so when James suggested he get me something not made of tin, I was a little relieved! It definitely took some of the pressure off.
What did we end up giving each other? I got James:
Personalized tin enamel mugs for camping. These I found on Not on The High Street. There was one flaw I noticed then I opened them up. James has always been Mr. Millington and then became Dr. Millington in 2007. It felt a little silly to have his establishment date of 2010 but when paired with mine, it looks cute. To make these mugs more accessible for camping and hiking, I added on carbineers to clip to rucksacks or picnic blankets.
Custom framed artwork from Etsy. What did couples do before Etsy? To keep with the theme of 10 and the fact that James loves maps, I chose a mountain landscape from the DreamSeizeCherish Etsy shop with different destinations we have travelled together over the years. It was easy to order, and when placed in a wooden frame (I could not find a tin one!) it will look great on our wall. To make it more personalized, I changed the lovey example quote to one from Winnie the Pooh (Tao of Pooh is one of James’ favourite books).
Personalized champagne bottle.* This got the best reaction from James of them all. He is incredibly hard to buy for because he is practical, picky with clothes, and can really get himself anything that he really wants. When Say it With Champers reached out to me, I thought this would be a fabulous idea. At the time, we weren’t exactly sure how we would be celebrating so I figured it would be a nice treat with dinner if we ate at home or if we went away for the weekend (and we could use our tin mugs!). The bottle quickly arrived after I approved the design proof. The bottle was inserted into an inflated bottle case and then in a cardboard box. It fit perfectly so I just put a bow on the box rather than waste wrapping paper (we like to be environmentally friendly when possible). With a large clumsy puppy tearing around, I didn’t want to risk the bottle breaking if I put it in a gift bag.
As soon as James opened it, he laughed. I had sent a selection of photos of the two of us and Say it With Champers were quick to respond and advise which would look best on the bottle. Apparently they made the right choice! Because of the personalized labels, there wasn’t much space on the label to learn about the champagne itself. The label indicated it was Brut so we knew it would be dry rather than sweet. According to Say it With Champers website, their champagne is either sourced from Philizot & Fils or produced by their own family in Festigny, both in Champagne regions of France. I think we Philizot & Fils and we loved the taste, easily finishing bottle with our dinner that evening. The empty bottle is now placed prominently on our dining room shelf.
James got me:
A ginormous bouquet of flowers. It is quite rare that I receive cut flowers. James feels they are not sustainable and therefore prefers to gift potted plants. On our recent camping trip, we bought a very nice (small) vase and I think he had hoped to put these flowers in the vase. James admits he “might have gotten carried away” when we realized all of our vases (we have three) are small. Even after cutting the flowers down, they ended up going in the dog toy storage container. The lilies are still blooming and looking fresh. Flowers are something I tend to go to for self care so it has been lovely having them around the house. Luckily, Maple has only knocked them over once.
Vouchers for driving lessons. During lockdown, I struggled to take my inflatable stand up paddleboard to the Royal Docks. The kit is very heavy and I technically wasn’t supposed to be on the Tube. Also, I think James would appreciate a back up driver when we are trips and he wants to head to the pub. I am a mediocre driver in the US, where the roads are wide and straight. I dread to think hope I will do on London’s streets. Stay tuned as I am sure I will share my adventures on Instagram.
A car shaped cookie cutter. He tried to get some tin in there. We are fairly certain it is not tin though. You may not know that I love to bake (yes, I don’t just eat raw cookie dough). I have a fairly large collection of cookie cutters and would make them more often if I had a large table or counter to roll the dough out on. As a Christmas tradition, we always make a variety of cookies, including cut outs.
If you ask me, I think we ended our anniversary gift giving on a high note with this year’s gifts. I don’t want to say we are settled into married life, but we know each other well enough to get practical gifts (our flat is too small for more crap) but can still surprise each other too. I put a lot of time and effort into this last anniversary gift and now need to start over for his 40th birthday next month. A personalized bottle of champagne might be a good start.
Come back next week to read about our active staycation in Oxfordshire where Mollie’s Motel and Diner was our base.
We look so young!
Thanks to Say it With Champers for the complimentary bottle. All opinions are honest and our own.
Recent Comments