June 30, 2003
So does the title of the "BEST girlfriend in the world" go to the Fizgig?
So here I am - 9 months and 2 days into the best relationship of my life and I am hoping to win and accept an award.
Why you ask?
Because it just so happens to be my fella's birthday and I have tried to kick ass in the gift giving department.
If you know me then it's not hard to believe that I started thinking about his birthday present in February. I truly feel that shopping and gift giving is an art form and that I have perfected it to a new level. And this being his first birthday with me as his girlfriend is HUGE to me. I had to have the perfect gift. It had to fulfill MAJOR criteria. It couldn't be extravagant enough to be 'showy', yet it had to be way too much and something I knew he'd probably never buy himself. I gave it a lot of thought and then one day - it just came to me.
As I've mentioned several times, my fella is a sports nut. During one of our super fun (of course, not being said and/or typed tongue in cheek) days in watching TV, nothing was on. He, being the perfect male channel surfer, finally settled on a ESPN classic football game from the 1980's. He actually remembered the original game, which did unnerve me a bit, however, considering I can recite every line in 16 Candles - I can't be too scared. (lest the pot would be phoning reminding me how black I am!)
Anyway...we started talking about the game and it prompted me to ask him why he was a Dallas Cowboy fan. I asked because he's originally from Iowa and has lived in many cities and states throughout his adult life before finally settling in Chicago (thank goodness for me!) but has never lived in Dallas or anyplace in Texas. So he explained that as a kid, because Iowa doesn't have any professional teams - he just picked the Cowboys, because he thought that Tony Dorsett and Roger Staubach were amazing players. Of course I was like, Who? But, tick, tick, click, click. Information recorded in my brain on his two favorite players of all time.
Fast forward to April. Remember the information recorded? Well, I did and I started searching. I started thinking that I wanted to get him something that pertained to either player - even though I'd never heard of them. I looked them up, reading and learning all I could about them. I browsed book stores and sports memorabilia store and I scoured websites that sold things. I tried to come up with an idea short of having them ring his doorbell. For his BIG present - I finally decided on getting an Authentic Tony Dorsett signed Cowboys Jersey in a black Shadow Box frame. I went the extra mile and had them engrave the Dallas Star Logo in the bottom corner of the glass. It was simply an extravagance that I knew he'd NEVER buy for himself and I was fairly certain that he'd like it.
To be sure, I asked our mutual friend D. He assured me he'd love it and even went so far as to say "he might even shed a tear when he sees it".
I placed the order in late April - 2 full months prior to his birthday. Then I got the heartbreaking news - no Dorsett jerseys were available until his next signing - which just happened to be June 29th - the DAY before his birthday! I didn't care - this is what I HAD to have for him and they compromised by sending me the frame straightaway so at least he'd have that. So I created a cute sign with all Tony's stat's and a picture of what the jersey would look like and hung it inside where the jersey would eventually go.
Along with the jersey, I also bought several books that I knew he'd like, a few DVD's, a new masculine patterned "bed in a bag" comforter set, and lots of little stuff to funky to mention. Also as an early b-day present, I had bought us tickets to see Tom Petty at Summerfest and planned a night away in Milwaukee for this past weekend and it was awesome.
This morning I got up early and dropped off a Simpson's Lunch Box filled with sodas and treats for his day with a note telling him it was in place of having breakfast in bed - since a) we didn't stayed together last night and b) he doesn't eat breakfast. Besides, M&M's, Mountain Dew and Chip Ahoy's are the breakfast of Champs anyway.
Then tonight was the night for unveiling. Tonight was the night for gift giving. Tonight was the big birthday dinner. I made reservations for Joe's Stone Crab & Steak house downtown. I had him come over early to open the gifts.
He seemed happy with everything. Although to be honest, I think he is a little sad to see the Dallas Comforter go - I think he'll still want to bring it out on special occasions.
He seemed to love the frame and promise of the jersey (keep your fingers crossed that we get it by next week!) and plans to hang it above his fireplace.
Our dinner was fabulous and as usual, we found much to laugh at, or in my case snort at - especially the intricacies of his BMW and how the electrical system never ceases to amaze. Sorry, inside joke
So it looks like next year I'm going to have to somehow arrange for Tony, Roger and maybe even Emmitt to ring his doorbell.
I mean - I have to - I'm going to have to top this one.
I'm giving myself a month off and then I'll start again.
After all, he's worth every minute of my planning.
Who knew I'd ever be this happy?
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