Speaking of birthdays....

[pinkcat]

What's the best gift you've ever been given? What's the best gift you've ever given to someone else?

I was talking with a friend the other night about this, and thought this would be a fun GTKY.

And....go!

[pinkcat]

My answers would be:

Best gift I've received: My husband is really good at thoughtful gifts. He did a scavenger hunt for my birthday this year with clues all around the house that were about some of our first dates, places we'd been together, etc. and it was really nice. Also, for our first anniversary he got me a beautiful ring that was a "something blue" he had been thinking about since before our wedding. He knew I had I planned on borrowing my godmother's ring to wear as my something blue for our wedding day and knew that was special to me, but wanted me to have my own something blue from him. I thought it was cute he thought about it that long!

Best gift I've ever given: Because my parents helped so much with our wedding I wanted to get them something really special. They had a tape copy of their wedding video, but couldn't watch it because they didn't have a VCR anymore. My husband and I snuck the tape out of their house and had it made into a DVD. We then edited the video so that it was a whole "Story of the (last name)" and was set to all of their songs, had pictures of our family growing up, and some other videos added in. There were many tears when we watched it all together!

[titania]

Best gift I've received: My sister made a beautiful scrapbook for me for my 30th birthday. It had wonderful old and new pictures, lovely quotes, and lots of sparkles. It is so special.

Best gift I've given: MH and I treated my sister to a trip to Harry Potter world at Universal. She is the biggest Harry Potter fan, so the three of us went for the weekend. She was so excited and we all had a blast together!

[pinkcat]

Jul 21, 2015 9:24:41 GMT -5 titania said:

Best gift I've received: My sister made a beautiful scrapbook for me for my 30th birthday. It had wonderful old and new pictures, lovely quotes, and lots of sparkles. It is so special.

Best gift I've given: MH and I treated my sister to a trip to Harry Potter world at Universal. She is the biggest Harry Potter fan, so the three of us went for the weekend. She was so excited and we all had a blast together!

Can I be your sister? A trip to HP world sounds amazing, what a nice gift!

[Ray]

Best gift I've ever received ... Blue nalgene water bottle when I was 16. Idk why but it's always been my favourite.

Best gift I've ever given... I just made this for my friend for her shower out of some of my wedding jewelry, a card from my wedding, and other things. It's to hang your rings on while you're doing dishes. I also made my friend a scrapbook when she moved away. Idk probably things I've made for people.

[ihatepizza]

I can't even think of one gift that someone has given me because I've been so lucky to have such amazing people in my life giving rocking gifts (probably because I'm so predictable). A best friend made me a "get well scrapbook" while in hospital in highschool (I was in hospital for 4 months) and had put in it pictures and "get well soon" signatures.

I'm really horrible when it comes to giving gifts, I spend hours thinking of the perfect gift and then usually end up giving a mediocre present because I stress myself out so much. I think the best gift was giving my sister a specific sum of money so that she didn't have to work while in her last year of university.

[doodler]

Jul 21, 2015 9:50:43 GMT -5 ihatepizza said:

I can't even think of one gift that someone has given me because I've been so lucky to have such amazing people in my life giving rocking gifts (probably because I'm so predictable). A best friend made me a "get well scrapbook" while in hospital in highschool (I was in hospital for 4 months) and had put in it pictures and "get well soon" signatures.

I'm really horrible when it comes to giving gifts, I spend hours thinking of the perfect gift and then usually end up giving a mediocre present because I stress myself out so much. I think the best gift was giving my sister a specific sum of money so that she didn't have to work while in her last year of university.

This is not a response to your post.  But.......you hate pizza?  Is that even a thing?  

[rablissful]

Best gift received (in recent memory): probably my knitting needle set that my SO gave me. They're gorgeous and I love them.

Best gift given: I haven't given it yet! My sister and I are trying to plan a weekend away with my mom to NYC as a Christmas/birthday gift. Get a hotel room, go to the 9/11 memorial (which she's been dying to see) and go see Aladdin on Broadway. Nevermind eat all the yummy NYC food.

[doodler]

So that I don't totally thread jack

Best gift I have been given? It wasn't for my birthday, but my parents gave me an amazing trip to tour Europe with my Mom when I graduated high school. Also my grandparents bought me a blue topaz and diamond ring for Christmas one year. I have been wearing it for about 15 years now. My grandfather passed away 9 years ago and it is always a comfort to me to know that he gave me that ring. Also, my grandfather passed away December 10. My grandparents have these really old soup bowls with handles that I love and my grandfather and I had a conversation about them that year. He had asked my Mom to find him some so that he could give them to me for Christmas. Christmas that year was obviously very tough and it turns out that my Mom had gone hunting to find me bowls just like my Pop's and she gave them to me from him for Christmas. I obviously cried my eyes out and I cherish those bowls. We eat in them all the time.

[lgraceh]

Hmmm this one is hard, but fun!

Best gift received: Probably my dogs. My first dog was a rescue I got for my 8th birthday, and my second was a college graduation present.

Best gift given: I really love giving experiences. My H still talks about his birthday 2 years ago. We played tourists in Seattle and did all the things! We had brunch at the top of the Space Needle, a Duck Tour, the Great Wheel, Gum Wall and Pike Place. He also got a Seattle Mariners themed gift basket with a sweatshirt, tickets to a game, and local brewery beer.

[onesweetworld]

I'm a pretty great gift giver when I really know someone, I like to think I listen really well.

I'd say the best gift I've ever given was an autographed CD. I met this guy on the lawn of the Gorge at DMB night 1 in 07. I was head over heels but he lived in Colorado and I'm on the East Coast. We video chatted every single night for hours and he truly became one of my best friends. He kept telling me that one day he would marry Colbie Caillat and she would sing Magic at their reception. So, I went to a very small CC show in MA after her first album, before that album got big. And I asked her to sign the album cover "Will You Marry Me ________? " and autograph it.
I mailed it out to him and made him wait to open it on video chat; the look on his face was absolutely priceless.

[pinkcat]

GKU is full of good gift givers!

[kawaiikitsune]

Best gift I have ever received was concert tickets to see Fall Out Boy, Hawthorne Heights, All-American Rejects and From First to Last (they were touring together).

I can't really think of the best gift I've given someone. I got my younger sister an MxPx c.d. and had it autographed by them when I went to Warped Tour many moons ago.

Edite b/c I remembered one!

[lilac]

What's the best gift you've ever been given? The best gift I have ever received was my barrel horse. He was a Christmas present from DH in 2013.

What's the best gift you've ever given to someone else? I gave Dh a brand new hunting gun with scope for His birthday. He adored it!

[ihatepizza]

Jul 21, 2015 9:53:59 GMT -5 doodler said:

Jul 21, 2015 9:50:43 GMT -5 ihatepizza said:

I can't even think of one gift that someone has given me because I've been so lucky to have such amazing people in my life giving rocking gifts (probably because I'm so predictable). A best friend made me a "get well scrapbook" while in hospital in highschool (I was in hospital for 4 months) and had put in it pictures and "get well soon" signatures.

I'm really horrible when it comes to giving gifts, I spend hours thinking of the perfect gift and then usually end up giving a mediocre present because I stress myself out so much. I think the best gift was giving my sister a specific sum of money so that she didn't have to work while in her last year of university.

This is not a response to your post.  But.......you hate pizza?  Is that even a thing?  

Hahah sadly, yes, it doesn't earn me very many friends. On a side note I looooovvvveee pasta with marinara sauce, figure that one out

[singingsea]

What's the best gift you've ever been given? On my 30th birthday H surprised me. I thought we were just going bowling. As we were getting in the car a limo pulled up on our street. I thought there must have been a wedding going on somewhere or prom but it was for me. My close friends and family were already inside. The limo took us to one of my favorite restaurants and then to a rooftop bar downtown for drinks and dancing. Probably my favorite birthday ever.

What's the best gift you've ever given to someone else? The one I'm planning for H. His birthday is December 27th so basically he's been screwed over for the last 31 years of his life. I want to plan a birthday trip to either Chicago or New York City. I don't know if it will happen this year or next. Everything depends on if we get KU and cash flow but it's something I want to do for him.

[gabride2010]

Like doodler, my best receiving present wasn't for my birthday. When I graduated with my Master's degree last year, my parents took H and me on a trip to Alaska. We got to go Halibut and Salmon fishing. We also got to meet Otto Kilcher (from the TV show Alaska the Last Frontier). We had an amazing time, and that is our favorite vacation ever.

The best gift I've ever given was to H last year for his 30th birthday. I arranged a surprise party for him at my parents' house, and I invited his/our friends. He was completely surprised, and he said he had never had a birthday party that had his friends involved (at any age). It was really special for him!

Edited to fix tag

[beckynsean11]

Hmmmm Best gift ever? I think that would have to be the PPF necklace my husband gave me in 2003. It was the first gift he ever gave me. He had come from NJ to NOLA to visit me for the first time, we'd been internet friends for 6 years up to that point. He brought a very pretty, simple PPF necklace with him & wasn't sure if he'd give it to me or not. But the night we were going to celebrate my birthday, he decided to give it to me. I really don't know if either of us really realized that we'd have ended up where we are right now, 13 years later.

Best gift I've ever given was probably the guitar I gave him as a wedding gift. I surprised him with a Silverburst Gibson Les Paul.

[wowcheezits]

The best birthday gift my family can give me is a cooked dinner and a spotless house. It's the simple things in life that matters.

The best thing I gave for a birthday present was a cell phone for my17 year old.

[thelittleredm]

My favorite gifts tend to happen for things other than my birthday.

The best gift I've ever received was from my parents when I graduated college. Right before highschool, my dad lost his job and my mom want working at the time. It took my dad a few months to find work and then it was off and on. I was pissed about our family's situation and eating rice all the time so I wrote a list of things on a little white board and all the things were situations I was convinced would never happen in my future because we had no money.
The list: I would never own a horse, I would never go to college for a horse related degree, my dad would never find work that could pay anything, and something else I don't remember. I had thrown out the board because I felt guilty writing so many negative things. By the time I graduated, all those things had been accomplished and apparently my mom fished said board out of the trash after seeing it in there and they have it to me as part of my gift after my graduation ceremony. It made me bawl like a baby.

The best gift I've ever given was probably H's 9mm gun. It was a combo gift with a small gun safe and something he's wanted for a very long time.