CTTOI, you probably wouldn't want to give her something that looks like a $2,000 diamond. Maybe something that looks like a $1,000 diamond is more appropriate, which means a $100 Moissanite.

Her sister is a certified diamond appraiser (I don't remember the proper certification title) and her family are all jewelers. Haha. SOL.

Actually, I'm applying for specialty school and she is changing career paths. If I get in, it'll be another 3 years and for her it'll be another 6 years for specialty.

Watch out for the ROC girls. Not that I'm saying your wife is, but the stereotype that I've always heard is that they got their mind on your money and your money on their minds.

subscribed to this thread, as meg's 30th is smack between this christmas and valentines day.

I was planning on letting her drive the miata, especially cause it'll be on jackstands so she'll forget about the idea by the time warm weather comes around.

jk. she rocks the stick all the time, her DD is a first gen cooper S

Not all diamond testers can detect Moissanite.
If you give her a beautiful Moissanite, and then gives you shit because it's not a diamond, that will tell you something about her you probably think you'd rather not know...

I'm with JasonC. My J-wife has some brand stuff, but is about as frugal as anyone I know, and would make my great grandmother(great depression mother) proud. If she has as much money as you say she does (drives a bimmer, notice you didn't say old bimmer), and you start at $500 for a present, being a student with no job, then I kinda have to agree with some of the other statements mentioned above. Hawaii is a planned trip together, not a present for a girlfriend's birthday. If you are spending her money, then go right ahead. But i haven't asked my wife for anything, and she hasn't asked me for anything since before we got married. We are both in the buy it if you want it bad enough position. We have bought each other stuff if we thought the other would really like it, but it has lead to the Japanese gift progression so we stopped.

Serious answer:

Birthdays for us aren't about gifts...they are about time.

We make damn sure we wrap up any other obligations (work, school, etc.) before the birthday weekend so that we can just spend time together as a family. That time usually entails going out to eat, and may entail a trip to some story to buy, together, the thing whoevers birthday it is has had their eye on but couldn't justify otherwise.

Occasionally we'll surprise each other, but it's never expected, and in all honesty those gifts usually end up being the least used and therefore a waste of our hard earned money.

For my daughter we make it a point to take her somewhere, usually the zoo. It just has to be somewhere she enjoys and that we are all together usually walking and spending time together. One year for me we hit all the museums downtown. It was neat because we were just strolling through the displays without any point of seeing them, but many of them sparked great conversations, and it was beyond relaxing.

It's not every Saturday that you just get to tell the world to completely fuck off, and enjoy the time with your loved ones like you don't care about a single thing. If she is really a loved one she'll not only appreciate a day like this, but look forward to it.

It's not about the money spent, but the experience. And I don't mean a staged, paid for, exciting thing with pressure and all like a vacation. I'm talking about an instance in the hustle and bustle where you can just focus on each other for a change, and remember why you admire and adore that person.




That or concert tickets...those always rock.