This is topic In Need of Brilliant Ideas, or: Lime, You'd Better Stay Out of This Thread, I Mean It in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.
Our first wedding anniversary is coming up on Oct. 5. We figured, since Lime is also slated for a raise (he's probably talking to his boss about it right now!) because of his promotion, we'd go ahead and spend some nice money on gifts. It's the only first anniversary we'll ever have, after all.
So, I thought I'd come up with a brilliant idea. His old guitar is in sad shape, and I figured, you can get a pretty nice new guitar for between $200 and $300, right? I even looked at the website of a store we've been to together, and they did indeed have some 40 acustic/electric guitars in that price range.
Unfortantly, last night we were chatting, and he happened to mention that he's thinking of saving up for a new guitar, and said that it should only take him a year or so to save up. "A year?" I think - that's a whole lot more time than I was expecting him to say! Turns out he wants a nice guitar. Like, $1200 or so - maybe more, depending. And who am I to argue, really? My beautiful Lorée (oboe) cost four times that.
Well, anyway, if he wants a high quality guitar, then I need to come up with another anniversary gift. Something good. Something he'll love as much as I imagined he'd love picking out a guitar. That's where you all come in.
I'm asking the brilliant minds of Hatrack to help me out with this. What can I get for my beloved husband for our anniversary?
Posted by T. Analog Kid (Member # 381) on :
What does he like to do besides play guitar?
Posted by Bob's replacement (Member # 4445) on :
I have no suggestions, but man is this thread title gonna kill him.
I think we should start taking bets on whether he can hold out or not.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Note that you could also get him a guitar on credit, and drop $300 down.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
A diamond tipped guitar pick? A cell phone, with your number pre-loaded. A DVD player with LotR TTT Special Edition preloaded. Take him to Barnes & Noble/Borders/store of your choice and say, "Everything you can carry by yourself, without a bag or box." (I suggest putting a small time limit on his chance to choose--say 6 hours.)
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
It's your paper anniversary, so perhaps you could get him (paper) tickets to a great concert? You could then also include the paper menu to a good restaurant where you'll have dinner afterward.
Posted by Christy (Member # 4397) on :
Edit: duh, someone posted before me which makes mine make no sense! Are you looking to go traditional, or just something really cool?
*puts on thinking cap*
[ August 12, 2003, 05:40 PM: Message edited by: Christy ]
Posted by larisse (Member # 2221) on :
Vána ,
If the first anniversary is paper, why not get him a book of guitar songs or a blank music book or notebook (almost blank... maybe a small word of inspiration from you) where he can jot down ideas and such that pop into his head. I am presuming that he not only plays, but does some music writing as well. If not, it's something he can start . It may not be a guitar, but it'll be something he can use with it when he finally get's the one he is working toward.
I hope that helps. And knowing me, I've probably totally overlooked a thread mentioning Lime's musical abilities and antics so I apologize for stating the obvious. You may at me all you want.
Posted by Tristan (Member # 1670) on :
quote:Note that you could also get him a guitar on credit, and drop $300 down.
If he is picky enough to want to spend $1200 on his guitar, I think it is safest to let him make the choice for himself.
Posted by Vána (Member # 3262) on :
Hi - sorry! I'm at a training in Bloomington, IL today. I can't respond. But that's for the ideas so far!
I'll get back to you all soon. Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
What about some advanced guitar lessons?
Posted by Christy (Member # 4397) on :
Old books -- for one gift I got Tom a 2nd edition Alice in Wonderland book, which he loved.
Art -- Tom got me two collages/paintings from a local artist that I had seen in Borders and loved. It was an excellent gift and something we'll have and cherish for a long time.
Journal/scrapbook -- my sister has made inspirational books where she buys a blank journal and cuts out pictures from magazines and places a bible quote underneath them. The rest of the journal can be left blank for Lime to write in, or you could write something to him. Scrapbook -- a history of your dating up until you wedding with pictures, cards etc.. I had already done this before we got married, but gave Tom a time capsule for our first anniversary with a bunch of questions about where we wanted to be in 10 years and what our favorite memories were.
Coupons -- for massages, housework, a night out...be careful what you put on them, though. *laugh* I gave Tom a free wish and he didn't use it quite as I expected.
I like the idea of the menu from a good restaurant, too and/or tickets to some kind of show. We went for New Years to the Symphony Orchestra and loved it. See something you wouldn't ordinarily see.
Posted by ginette (Member # 852) on :
Buy a model of a large beautiful old sailing ship that he has to put together himself?
(or don't you have this saying when you get married, 'to step in the marriage boat' or something like that?)
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
No. But it's an interesting saying, nonetheless.
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
I'd just like to say that each time I see this thread topic, I want to say, "Anybody want a peanut?"
Posted by Vána (Member # 3262) on :
*hugs Papa Moose* That really made me laugh.
Alright - I'm back. Now I can update you all and make some comments and stuff.
That raise we were counting on? Much, much smaller than we had anticipated. So! New price range! $75-$100, I'd say. I have some money put away, of course, and I really do want to get him something nice, so I'm willing to go over for a perfect idea.
Other things he likes, besides guitar. LotR (of course - he's the one who introduced me), his computer (but I'm not buying him components for our anniversary), Japan/Japanese culture, books, movies. I'll let you know if I think of other categories that might be promising.
Letting him just go for it at B&N or Borders might be fun - I'll think about that.
Concert tickets is a good idea, too - I'll have to check out tour schedules for the (very few) bands he might like to see. We already bought season tickets to the Rockford Symphony Orchestra, though that's more for me than him.
He doesn't really do any composition - he doesn't even read music very well. He uses tablature (is that the right word?) to play from, most of the time. I'm trying to get him to learn commercial chord symbols, at least (and then maybe he can teach me - I failed that test in music theory). And he hasn't gotten through the book I bought him for Christmas, yet, so no need for another one.
Lessons might be cool, if I could find a good teacher. But would he want classical or not? I just don't really know.
Old books - where would I go about looking for old books? There are a couple I think he'd enjoy having...I think.
I could never figure out what kind of art he'd like - his taste surprises me very often, even after being with him for four years.
The coupons are a great idea - I'll very probably include some of those.
Thank you so much for the ideas! Do you have any more? Besides helping me, it's fun to have this on the front page to annoy Dan. Heeheehee - I'm so bad. Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Old books -- there are bookstores that specialize in old and/or out-of-print books. There are also a LOT of online resources, especially useful if you have a specific book(s) in mind.
Andrew and I got each other signed books for our first anniversary.
I got him The No Spin Zone. That was when they were flying off the shelves like hotcakes and the wait for an autographed copy was really, really long. I called up Bill O'Reilly's office and his assistant promised that she'd get it to me in time. She did and she included a card from her, which was so nice.
Andrew got me Religious Experience, Justification, and History by my favorite professor, Matthew Bagger. Prof. Bagger wrote Andrew a really nice note (which he showed me after the anniversary) and wrote an awesome inscription.
Posted by Vána (Member # 3262) on :
Hmm...favorite professor...hmmm.
I'll have to see what Prof. Walter Wangerin, Jr. has written lately, and see if any of it is something Daniel might like a signed copy of. Very good idea.
Posted by larisse (Member # 2221) on :
Just to add one more to rivka's bookstore list: http://www.abe.com/. Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
It’s not new, but if he doesn’t already have it I would think that Wangerin’s As For Me & My House would be an appropriate anniversary gift.
Posted by Vána (Member # 3262) on :
Hmm...haven't read that one. It might indeed.
You know, you guys are all just fantastic. It's one of the best things about Hatrack - people here like to help each other out, even for little things like gift ideas. Thank you so much!
Posted by solo (Member # 3148) on :
You can never have too many guitars. Find out if the $1200 one is an electric or acoustic and buy him one of the other style. I would assume the $1200 one would be an electric guitar and I know you can get a pretty nice acoustic for $300.
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. It may not be a guitar, but it'll be something he can use with it when he finally get's the one he is working toward.![[Laugh]](graemlins/laugh.gif)
at me all you want.
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