Drool-Worthy Gifts For The Chocoholic's Birthday!

Yeah, looks good, doesn't it? But you ain't seen nothing yet. Here's a site with quality chocolate to eat and drink. Plus supplies for making your own fancy chocolates that might be too pretty to eat. Ha!

Don't go there hungry or you'll drool on your keyboard. Or is that just me?

One yummy thumbs up.

Hey Look! It's All About You!

Birthday Calculator

Here's a fun thing. Fill in your birthday on a form and learn

all about you, your life path, your traits, your skills.

Your date of conception! Fascinating!

Try it out. What do you think? Is yours accurate?

technorati tags:birthday, idea, blog

Adopt An Animal--Birthday Gift Idea!

Adopt An Animal, Adopt A Wild Animal, Adopt A Farm Animal: "All Adoptable Animals

Adopt A Koala

WAF Adopt A Koala Kit in three-ring binder with Photo, Fact Sheet, Certificate & Help Animals Info Packet.

Adopt A Koala from World Animal Foundation and make a difference for animals and the environment. Your WAF Adopt An Animal Kit comes in a deluxe three-ring binder and includes:

•Photo of Your Adopted Animal On Binder Cover & Fact Sheet
•Adopt An Animal Adoption Certificate
•Fact Sheet About Your Adopted Animal Species
•Help Animals Info Packet Packed With Information On Animal Issues & How You Can Help Animals And The Environment

Adopt An Animal Adoption Kits make great gifts and can be sent directly to the recipient at a date of your choosing. "

What a great birthday gift for a koala lover! Or maybe your loved one is into another animal. They've got you covered here. Check it out.

notes from the laundromat: birthday wishes

notes from the laundromat: birthday wishes: "Saturday, April 08, 2006
birthday wishes

'Don't be afraid to want things, to yearn, crave, or lust for anything. And don't be afraid to go after what you want. If you can't satisfy yourself, then how can you expect anyone else to satisfy you?' - Cameron Tuttle

My birthday is on April 17th. It brings up the idea of WANT. What do I want?
Birthdays are always a confusing time for me. Some people talk about them to the point of being obnoxious. I have a friend who starts the countdown 3 months before and then celebrates for a month after her birthday. (If you are one of those people, sorry – yet you must know that it puts A LOT of pressure on those around you to make you happy.)"


Good point. I'm speaking as a person like her, always drawing a blank when asked what I want. I'm thrilled with things that make my life better. I don't tend to know exactly what qualifies, so it's kind of hard for someone else to know what that is and wrap it up as a gift.

I thought a typewriter would provide me with a writing career. I thought a loom would provide me with a weaving career. I got them, but didn't put in the amount of effort required. Did that cure me of wanting this type of life-changing thing? Um...no.

What does that mean? What I really need is gumption? Do they sell that anywhere and gift wrap it?

Are you like this too? Would you like the gift of commitment, determination, gumption or something similar?

Stroh's Ice Cream Birthday

A Songdog's World of Random Thoughts - The rest of the birthday story: "27th-Mar-2006 07:25 pm

The meatloaf was stellar. Mom made two meatloaves, actually. (Meatloafs? No, that would be a certain 70s rock singer and his doppelgänger.) One was 'plain' and one was Mexican—it contained red and green peppers and some other seasoning. The cake was good, but I will have very pleasant fantasies about the ice cream, which was Stroh's brand Sanders Bumpy Cake: vanilla ice cream with bits of frosting from their locally famous chocolate butter cream frosting cake. I may have to go visit my mom this week. Frequently.

(Yes, the beer Stroh's. Stroh's Ice Cream was founded by the Stroh's brewery founders in 1919 to tide the company over during Prohibition. [link])"


Beer lovers, take note. In Michigan you can celebrate your birthday eating cake with Stroh's ice cream in it. Yes, THAT Stroh's. Beer, baby. And ice cream? Huh.

Go there. He's got links.

Who Shares Your Birthdate?

Who else was born on your birthday? Here's a site that reveals all! What fun!

I found a dozen people share my birthday. Too cool!

Lebanon Daily News - Local News

Lebanon Daily News - Local News: "Homeless animals benefit from girl’s birthday party
By DAVID MEKEEL
Staff Writer
Lebanon Daily News

A typical 10-year-old might ask for a bike or a Barbie doll for her birthday.

Caridad Dieppa isn’t typical.

When Caridad invited friends to her birthday party Saturday at the YMCA’S pool at the Lebanon VA Medical Center, she asked that they bring her something extra special.

“This year I asked everybody to get dog food and cat food for animals at the Humane Society (of Lebanon County),” Caridad said while taking a brief break from her party.

Caridad is an animal lover; she has been as long as she can remember.

“I have a little dog,” she said. “His name is Pancho, and he’s 4 years old.”

Caridad said that she loves to watch Animal Planet with her mom, Gissett, at their Lebanon home. It was while they were checking out their favorite channel that Caridad came up with her grand birthday idea."


Here's a girl with imagination and follow-through--and she's 10! She already knows she wants to be a veterinarian.

Give her a few more birthdays and she'll be a major force to reckon with. You go, girl!

First Cello Birthday

"I've been playing cello now for 11 months. On my birthday, the 27th, it’ll be a full year. So, what have I been doing for the past year?

Well. Let me tell you!

With my first cello, I learned how to tune first. When I got it, it wasn’t set up at all (for safe travelling). So, not knowing how to do any of it, I went to my first lesson with an unstrung foreign object that I had never heard. My instructor, Richard Frost, was NOT impressed with my cello, though he didn’t say anything about it - it was a good beginner’s cello - especially for someone who wasn’t sure if she was going to stick with it or not.

Professor Frost first had me learn open notes and told me to get some books, All for Strings theory and sheet music. I sounded horrid! Squeak and squall, sharp shreiks and hitting two strings at once. I felt so sorry for my Professor! He gave me practice to do with just the bow, at first. I thought he was a little nuts - the sound came from the cello strings, not the bow! Or so I thought. Ha!"

Fascinating insight into playing cello. Guess where she got the bow that turned her sound from unmusical to something that brings tears in a good way? Would you believe, eBay? Good going!

Chess Man's Birthday

Sue's space: Birthday Day: "January 31
Birthday Day
Today's was hubby's BD. Steak pie was on the menu as well of BD cake. He insisted on Spice Cake, but heck it was his birthday so he has a right to choose. Dinner went well we had friends to dinner then we played a couple games of cards. He also liked his birthday gifts. The girls and I gave him a coke popcorn tin as well as a Coke cookie jar we also gave him an Elvis tin. His parents mailed him a Coke chess board with I just know he loves. And from friends he received a gift certificate to a games store. I think all in all he had a good day."


I didn't even know there was a Coke chess board. Here's a pic, courtesy of www.chessusa.com. Happy birthday, fella!

Birthday Card Memory Trigger

Blog: "32 Birthday Cards

This past Saturday was my friend, Margaret’s birthday. I mailed her a card, the 32nd birthday card I’ve given her. My friendship with Margaret is the longest standing friendship I have. We met when we were pre-school age.

My backyard was sort of kitty-corner from Margaret’s, so we saw a lot of each other in those days when kids could roam a neighborhood, play at someone’s house for hours without parental arrangement, and be out til dark. I have many memories of playing at her house and having her over to mine as well as playing in groups with other kids.

Over email this week, Margaret reminded me of when we made “fuzzies”. (I don’t know if anyone out there remembers that storybook about warm fuzzies and cold pricklies – a good story.) We would make fuzzies out of yarn and some from pom-poms on the back of footie socks.

I also remember collecting and looking at stationery with Margaret, those tri-fold cards that you’d seal with a sticker that matched the theme of the stationery. I remember one of us had a set of strawberry themed stationery and matching red strawberry stickers. Another set of cards had little mice and stickers that looked like cheese wedges. "


A look down memory lane upon sending a life-long friend yet another birthday card. Great stuff!

110-Year-Old Birthday Story

Gnomist: Super-Centenarian: "Super-Centenarian

Several days have now passed since my great-grandfather’s one hundred and tenth birthday. The attention from local and national news outlets has now subsided from his ascent into super-centenarian-hood. Today I will take him back to Skye Acres retirement home, where he will spend the remainder of his days.

I arrive early to his hotel room and begin to help him pack his belongings. My grandfather sits on the bed, eyeing me suspiciously as I carefully place the artifacts of his life in the suitcase. I take a moment and stop. Marveling at how, after one hundred and ten years, a man’s entire worldly self can be packed into such a small space. I look up at my grandfather, and he doesn’t notice my hesitation. His eyes have wandered to the window. He focuses on the birds, the freedom of their flight. I see his eyes darting to follow the frenzied path of the squirrels. Finally, he looks out over the hills to see the sun rising.

“39,160,” my grandfather says.

“What does that mean?”

“The gentleman at the television station said that to me on my birthday. He said that’s how many sunrises I had the opportunity to see in my life.” My grandfather pauses and his eyes focus hard."


Here's a good birthday story I really enjoyed reading. Whether it's fact or fiction, I don't know.

21st Birthday Stripper Story

Newport University, Advertures of Flat 3: "
January 14
Ted aka Adam's 21st Birthday Shindig
Righto this will be a novel when im finished, where to start? Well let me say that its 5.00PM and where drunk.. no wait a minute Got up today at 4PM still drunk from last night.. Jesus I have never been so drunk in my life.

The 'Planned' Agenda For the Night

* Start @ The Bull for Meal and Drinks around 2PM
* Back to Ted's Flat (In Suits for Male company and Shirts and Ties for Female Company) @ 5.30PM for more drinks and shots
* SU Bar @ 7PM
* Taxi into Town @ 9PM
* Reflex and then off to Clubnite... Now lets just say none of this works =P

Well lets just say like that fucking happened So lets start. True to there word at 2PM, off down to the bull.. now I cant give you any stories about what happened down there but im sure J, Alex, Ted or Chris will give you a low down if any in the comments. Unfortunately I was stuck at a garage while my car got repaired :( When my car was eventually repaired I thought it would be a good idea to join them for a birthday pint but only to find that they where just leaving :( So taxi service 'r us came to the rescue. Lets just say after there double vodkas, after shocks, pints, wine and sambucas ment they where pretty much already pished."


What's a poor university student to do to help celebrate a buddy's 21st birthday? Why, dress up in drag, of course!

If you've got some time, there are pictures galore of the whole night, even though the birthday boy missed the last half.

Well, you're only 21 once, eh?

Happy "New Big Honking Monitor To Me" Birthday!

Free Candy For Everyone: "Happy Birthday To Me
Filed under:World of Warcraft, Gadgets — Tara @ 11:55 pm

It was my birthday this weekend, so of course I needed to get myself something really nice. What to get, what to get? Well. A few weeks ago, my monitor blew up. Yes it did. What was I doing at the time? Playing World of Warcraft, of course. It was quite dismaying. I had no recourse but to push the power button on my machine - no nice log off, no returning to a town. I left my character out in the cold wilderness since I had no way to see what I was doing.

But what was I to do? My lovely 21″ Trinitron was dead. There had been a scary pop and all attempts to turn it on yielded only a cycling clicking sound. Not good. After booting up my trusty laptop and doing some web research, I realized I needed to have this monitor. A 24″ wide screen LCD with a native resolution of 1920×1200. Well. It seems that WoW actually supports this resolution. Oooh. Ok, must have. After waiting a bit for it to go on sale, I managed to find a massive coupon for 35% off and ordered it this week."


Here's a smart cookie who turned a disaster into a great birthday present to herself. All the better to play games with, my dear. He-he-hee!

(Sorry, I turned into The Wicked Witch of the West there a second. Halloween IS coming.)

And she got it discounted. Happy birthday, Tara!

This Birthday Is In The Bags

Hot Momma Drama: Time for a birthday story...---Hot Celebrity Gossip Served Up Nice and Fresh: " So many of you know last week was my birthday. It's really no big deal..I'm not one of those people who announces to everyone I see on that day that , 'Hey..it's my birthday.' In fact, I had lunch on my birthday with my friend Julie..and she had NO idea it was my birthday. Granted she felt like a big dork when she found out 3 days later..but oh well. Anyway..the point is I got some sweet CASH-ola for my b-day. Which is the best present you can get..( I dont' care what anyone says..it is!) So tonight I decided to go out and spend it."


This blog just goes to show that a frugal gal can go right off the deep end for her birthday!

Overcoming Un-Merry Birthday Memories

Maragold's Fancy: BIRTHDAY - P45blogs.net: "BIRTHDAY

I don't do birthdays. The Gnome says I give him 'mixed messages' because I remind him of the date but when it comes down to where to go and what to do, I avoid commitment.

I realise this. I realise that as the day approaches I get tenser and tenser, not knowing what to say or do. I realise I get irritable.

May I share some of my birthday stories? Sit down, they're long. You may want to pee first because if you wiggle when I get to the teary part I'll smack you.

I am one of six kids (2 older boys, three younger) and my parents had very little money. On our birthdays, around 1 pm we got one present, Mom made a cake, we had hot dogs and crisps and it was all over by 1.15. This was the ritual until I was about ten and the youngest boys finally understood there would be no balloons, entertainment or games and stopped, well, participating is the word I want. No one had a party with friends or relatives.

Everyone's birthdays fall in June, July and August except for mine (likely part of my parent's problem, no time to save up, hmmm, new insight there) One year, my father actually complained when he saw my mother lighting the candles on the third birthday in a month: 'Good lord, it never ends, does it?' He was not kidding. He wasn't smiling and he left the room after we sang the song."


Here's someone who intends to have a happy birthday no matter what. At 43, she's had ONE nice party and she threw it herself. Good for her!

Dysfunctional families. Don't you just love them? NOT.

I admire this lady's determination to overcome it and see the joy and blessing of reaching forty-three. You go, girl!

Another Book of Birthday Stories--and Here's An Author!

lisayee: Opposite of Italian: "Opposite of Italian
Got my copies of THE YEAR WE MISSED MY BIRTHDAY (Scholastic) yesterday in the mail. It's an anthology of birthday stories and I have one in it called 'The Opposite of Miffy.' My story involves sushi, prison and electric shopping carts. Other authors who have stories in the book include Lois Lowry, Norma Fox Mazer, Sharon Robinson, and Lois Metzger. I think the book is only available via Scholastic Book Clubs."


Sushi, prison and electric shopping carts? It's got to be anything but an ordinary birthday story!

I consumed many a Scholastic Book as a young 'un. I bet I would enjoy this one too. Guess I better scare me up a kid to keep me supplied with goodies like this.

How About a Poker Birthday Party?

The Online Series Of Poker - Multisite Poker Tournament: "How To Throw The Perfect Poker Party

Every Thursday, Stacey Stefanich and some friends go to an Applebee's restaurant to have dinner and a drink or two.

But the meal is just a preamble.

The night really starts at 7:30, when they gather around poker tables at a friend's house to best one another with a couple decks of cards and some poker chips.

Poker's popularity has exploded in the past couple of years. Chris Moneymaker, an accountant from Tennessee with only online poker experience, was a major catalyst when he won the 2003 World Series of Poker. People now obsessively watch poker on television and play online.

And poker parties are becoming more common and even a regular part of some people's social lives."


It's not just for fellas anymore. This blog talks about a lady who regularly plays with the guys and occasionally wins! Know a female whose birthday is coming up? Want a new idea for how to celebrate it? An all-girls or guys-and-girls poker night birthday party could be fun.

October Baby's First Birthday Ideas

baby's birthday: "Fall 1st Birthday:
Purchase Anne Geddes plain note cards (the one with the pumpkin). Print on paper for inside (I understand these are hard to find)
'Our Little Pun'kin is turning ONE!'
Cake: Pumpkin cake made in a bundt pan. Frosted orange and decorated with autumn foliage (artificial) in the center. Mini bundt cakes for children with tootsie roll for stem. Serve with pecan praline ice cream.
Activity: Go to the pumpkin patch and choose your pumpkins. Have a pumpkin carving contest."


These are all good ideas. I particularly like the Anne Geddes note cards. Have you seen her astounding baby pictures? What she does with babies? Incredible stuff. Even if you're (gasp!) NOT into babies, you can't help but smile her Anne Geddes pictures.

Two Birthday Stories With Great Charm!

DenverPost.com Bloghouse » Birthday story: "Birthday story
Photo by Julie Soulen / Colorado Journal
So, I was sitting on the front step, doing nothing in particular,
when Julie appeared on the road, just cresting the steep hill
about a quarter mile away. Now, this was not unexpected
since she had left on her morning walk a half hour
or so before. Also, just as expected, Dude the Dog
could be seen trotting along beside her, his tail
a golden banner in the early sun.

No, the scene was as I have witnessed it
countless times before on those days
when I am too tired or too lazy to accompany
them on that two-mile trek. What was unusual
was the sight of a big, white balloon
floating above her head. And it followed her
all the way up the road, through the gate
and right up to the steps where I was sitting.

“Happy birthday!” she smiled, and handed me her prize.

“You shouldn’t have,” I responded, accepting the gift
and watching it bob about playfully in the breeze.

“Well, to be honest, I didn’t. I found it. It was stuck in a tree over on Pete’s Road. Isn’t it a hoot!? Some little girl let it go way down in town and it sailed all the way up here and I found it!”

She was actually beaming."


There's more to this story, then goes into another story. Both are charming birthday stories well worth your time. Check it out.

Collect Birthday Friends For Marathon Celebrations!

A View from Sierra County: "Edging Toward A Celebration

Counting Down the Days

My birthday is rapidly approaching, ushering in a brief season of celebration. For the past couple of decades, I have collected friends that are fellow Libras, and found ways to celebrate our birthdays together, with events stretching out at least a week on one side and the other of the actual date. One year, my friend Suzi (whose birthday is exactly a week ahead of mine) threw a killer birthday bash to ease into becoming an elder (it was her 50th)... including flying in crab and hiring two different bands for two nights' worth of dancing at a lodge up in the Gold Lakes Basin."


Now THAT'S cool--collecting friends who share your birthday month. Go ahead and read this birthday girl's blog. She has lots of good ideas and stories about birthdays.

She's a knitter. No wonder she's so creative!