My New Favorite Birthday Gift Idea (for Ladies)

I found this awesome book today while perusing a neat, funky, little shop called Heliotrope in Downtown Decatur. I was looking for something for my sister-in-law, whose birthday is next week. What a great find (I ended up not only buying for her, but for two other birthdays coming up soon as well)!



The book is called "Celebrating You (and the beautiful person you are)." It's a lovely read, but while there, I had the idea that I could make it even better and personalize the book for her by including notes on each page. For instance, one of the pages says, "You add extraordinary to the everyday" and I included a note about how she left us a welcome basket in our townhouse in Atlanta when we moved here with a lot of really neat things - gift certificates for local restaurants, some books for Shaan, some "made-in-Atlanta" adult beverages, just to name a few. It was really thoughtful and she is particularly good at paying attention to detail and doing special things like that. So, I included that information on the page in the book. By the time I finish "personalizing" each page, it really will be a neat keepsake (I hope)! I feel it's such a rare thing to receive hand-written items in this uber-connected, electronic era.

I still have a book my best guy bud from college gave me this season (spring) 10 years ago as we were preparing to graduate. I picked up the book and re-read it tonight since this "Celebrating You" book reminded me of the book I had received a decade ago - it really made me smile, what a great "flashback." The book is called "Wear Sunscreen - A Primer for Real Life" and here's what my friend wrote in the intro. to the book - "I know it's not much, but I thought it was appropriate. Since we both know you have a hard time with the sun & sunburns, this book screams out for you!"

A little background - I was a sun-aholic in college, and with my blond hair and blue eyes, well, you get the picture...



It's just so great to feel "known" and to have it permanently documented somewhere (not in an email that gets chunked when someone runs out of space, etc.) I really think this "Celebrating You" book allows you to give a wonderful keepsake that will be remembered for years. While I bought it for some upcoming birthdays, it could also be great for a Mother's Day gift, Christmas, etc.

Just wanted to pass it along for what it's worth! Everyone deserves a chance to be celebrated every now and then! :)