My husband, Marc, just turned 27 today. As usual, he didn’t let (and didn’t like) people to know. He just went on a day trip for a client meeting with a friend, who had absolutely no idea that he’d be sharing his car with a birthday boy. I really don’t know how he managed to keep that to himself (I always made sure my closest friends remembered my birthday! Hehe). And to think he had kept on reminding me of his upcoming birthday for two months.

Marc had managed to weedle out two “advanced birthday gifts” from me: letting him buy a Nikon D40x and a ludicrously expensive Crumpler camera-laptop bag. It’s a good thing we already have Paypal here in the Philippines—I was able to get my blog earnings way earlier than cashing in checks, so I didn’t feel too bad about spending that much for a ludicrously expensive bag. I’m going to keep on repeating it’s ludicrously expensive because I really think it’s ludicrously expensive.

If we spent our hard-earned money from web design for that ludicrously expensive bag, I’m probably still whining about it now. It’s just a ludicrously expensive luxury, you know? It’s not like our camera and laptop will melt or something if we didn’t put them in that bag.

Honey, all you’re getting from me today is a priceless kiss and an optional wild night 😛

Happy birthday!!!

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I am the type of person who would appreciate any gift (especially when it came from the giver’s heart), but I always preferred to give gifts that have practical use to the receiver. I don’t know, but I just feel that giving them gifts that they will really use somehow shows that I really meant to give it—I didn’t pull it off a shelf and wrap it up just to be able to give something.

That’s why I find it really hard to think of gifts for guys.

I have always thought it was a gender thing. If you’re a girl, you know what you’d like to have so it’s easier to figure out what your girlfriend would like to have. Buy them a pretty blouse from a tiangge, and you’re done—you don’t need to wonder if they’ll find it useful, because you know that it’s something that they would wear. Body spray, same thing. But guys? I don’t find it as easy.

For one, I’m not a guy. I don’t really know what a guy would like to have, or rather, what a straight guy would like to have (I find it easier to think of gifts for guys if they’re gay).

Obviously, I don’t have a problem thinking of what to give my husband. He is, after all, my husband—I know the stuff he likes. This it’s-so-hard-to-think-of-gifts-for-guys just really applies to guy friends celebrating their birthdays, or when the need to come up with a Christmas list arises. Marc is absolutely useless when it comes to Christmas lists, so I’m on my own here 😛

The female side of our Christmas list is ready for shopping—I just need to find time to buy them. But not the male side.

It’s not as easy as going to Body Shop and getting them those bath package things. Body spray? Um, I’m not a guy, but I sure won’t like to get an Axe deo-cologne for Christmas (it’s like saying “ey you stink so I’m giving you an Axe deo-cologne to combat your awful body odor”).

What gifts do you give guys that they’ll be able to use?

I honestly have no idea. A little help will be appreciated. Any ideas?

Worse comes to shove, I’ll probably end up getting our guy friends and relatives t-shirts again. Now, I’ll just have to remember what shirt designs I bought them last year, or I’ll end up giving them the exact same thing this Christmas 😛