Tuesday 12 June 2012

A Minimalist Birthday



My sister drew me this card then emailed it. More reliable than the post getting here!


Happy Belated Birthday to...me :) On Sunday I turned 27 (though with two small children sometimes I feel twice that). I had a wonderful birthday and lovely presents but thankfully managed not to accumulate any clutter. Sometimes birthdays and Christmases can be tricky when you're trying to live with less, and exchanging gifts when you don't want any more 'stuff' is hard work trying not to offend anybody.

My lovely husband and boys gave me some great gifts that I'd like to share with you as ideas for what to get the minimalist in your life...

1. A home cooked meal with a nice bottle of wine. This was the night before my birthday and we enjoyed our first glass of wine since we moved here. There were candles, there was great food and we talked and talked all night. Perfect.

2. Photos. J printed out some photos from our 'archives' that he knew I liked. We currently have no photos up in our house and it was time that changed! Some of the boys when they were young and some more recent ones too. No frames and because they are digital prints, we'll just keep them as long as we live here.

3. A lie in. Nothing better.

4. A hand-made card from my 4 year old. He wrote 'Happy Birthday' himself, so proud.

5. A cake. Consumables make great minimal gifts.

6. Kindle books. J gift wrapped my kindle and I opened it to find some new poetry and 2 new novels. I'm a big reader and had entirely run out of fiction so this was perfect timing. My Dad also gave me a voucher for some more and a great list of recommendations.

7. A meal out with friends, babysitter pre-arranged :)

My friends also gave me a plant which I'm desperately trying not to kill and my sons picked me out a little notebook they liked.

 I feel very spoilt! Birthdays and special days don't have to be about spending lots of money, they should be about spending time together and showing love and appreciation.
I certainly feel loved and appreciated and grateful for all that I have.

Have you got any great ideas for simple minimal birthdays? I'd love to hear about them in the comments. That and any ideas on keeping a very lovely but quite sickly house plant alive... Thank you!




3 comments:

  1. Honestly my 27th sounds just like this! Except we opted to treat ourselves to fish & chips... I told Paul (boyfriend) to not spend lots of money, so instead he made a beautiful big photo collage of the pics from when we visited my Mum and Stepdad in the Middle East. A very special present that will hang nicely in my Mum's old house in Salisbury that we are about to move into... Felt very touched by your latest post. I cried and lost it a bit in the house, but for old feelings and memories. Now is the time for a new chapter. Lovely to read your blog, Ailsa - so impressed by you and Jay's move. Really hope you and all your boys (!) are happy and healthy xxx

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  2. OK i don't need to be anonymous - I just don't have a blog or anything! It's Emily P xoxox

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    1. Thanks Emily, lovely to her from you and glad you have the same prioroties :) Hope your move goes smoothly and I'm sure you'll be making lots of wonderful new memories in your new home. Thanks for your kind words, we're all doing really well thanks, hope you are too xxx

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