yet another "birthday ideas" thread

[stewie]

I know these threads pop up a bit, but here's one more lol...

it'll be in October, her birthdays mid week, so i'll be having a weekend before birthday for her.

I need some back up plans though. with it being October and always having shit weather here, I need to come up with some ideas that are indoor and outdoor. places that can be done on a seconds notice (if not make reservations and if things change just cancel them when I need to).

id like to make it an all day event. wake up, go for breakfast/brunch, do an activity or 2, ones that aren't bank breaking, but can have a lot of fun doing with just the two of us. for dinner I was thinking of a surprise birthday dinner with her close friend at somewhere like yaletown brew pub (unless I can get some better ideas from here :s). as for a birthday present, I gotta find a "decoy" present. one that's cheap but she'd accept (was thinking of a glowpet since shes always wanted one). then on her actual birthday, I was going to give her a days notice, tell her to bring classy clothes to my house right after work, get dressed, and have dinner at the revolving restaurant, come back to my house, then give her the real gift (she had been eyeing down a painting for a looong time and then suddenly it was gone *I bought it* and she got sad, so that will score me brownie points lol)

anyways, I need some day time activity ideas!!! some indoors and some outdoors in case mother nature decides to be a bitch. any help?

[Tapioca]

Daytime activities:
- Walk around False Creek with coffees/hot beverages of choice. Bring a camera.
- I believe there's a ceramics place in City Square mall on 12th and Cambie. You can each pick something to paint. Good way to spend a couple of hours and shouldn't break the bank.

Dinner suggestions:
- Yaletown Brewery is a good place to mingle, but not a great place to have a meal. If you're set on Yaletown, there are many other places that would be better. There's Society (a Glowbal restaurant) which has slightly better food, but a pink chandalier which women love. If she's a burger-and-potatoes type of person, I would suggest Romer's. If you feel like spending a bit of money, there's always the Flying Pig or Rodney's Oyster Bar. If you're okay with chains, the rooftop patio at the Keg Yaletown is pretty sweet.
- Gastown, IMHO, has much better places to have a meal and relax. Chill Winston has always been a favourite of mine.
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[604chn]

I'm sure she's going to be incredibly surprised and happy at the painting alone.

For outdoor activities, any kind of flower garden like Van Dusen, easy hike, bike ride, dog park if you guys have a dog. At night if you want to, Fright Nights?

Indoor, you guys can go shopping, eating, theater (Insidious2), indoor rock-climbing, Aquarium, Science World, MoA at UBC (kills a couple hours), ice-skating or Casino. Lots. Depends on what she likes though, then you can narrow it down.

[melloman]

Outdoor nice day:
-Walk along the seawall, plan it out so you can stop and have a hotdog and enjoy the view.
-Harrison Hot Springs. Same as above, walk around, enjoy the weather and get something to eat from one of the small restaurants.
-Go up Grouse Mountain, hike around, go up the windmill and enjoy overlooking the city.

Indoor:
Extreme Air Park (Richmond), Rock-climbing, Art Gallery, Castle Fun Park

Really depends if she's on the active side or not though.

[stewie]

604chn - love those ideas! van dusen for a walk (anyone ever been there in October? how is it? only time ive ever been there is for the Christmas lights), even if its raining lightly we can take a giant umbrella. never been to society, just looked at the menu and I think ill make reservations for just the 2 of us that night. sounds like a cool restaurant with a menu that's got a twist to it.

so for now, the plan is:

wake up at her house in maple ridge
go for brunch in Vancouver (since I live in Burnaby we'll stop off at my house anyways to get more clothes etc for the day)
head to van dusen for hopefully a while just walking around if the weather will let us.
would probably have to head back to my house after that, grab a cab and head to society (she hates driving dt and im not allowed to drive, and this way we can have a few drinks)
cab back to my house for the night


anyone have any suggestions to replace van dusen just in case it does turn out to have shitty weather that day? extreme air is a good place to go, lots of fun lol. shes scared of heights so rock climbing is out, castle fun is to far away, and shes scared shitless of horror movies lol.

[604chn]

Never been to Van Dusen in the fall. I've only been there for the Christmas Lights and in the summer. I've actually forgotten what it looks like.

I'm thinking Science World or Museum of Anthropology. There is also the Beaty Biodiversity museum in UBC as well if she is into science. Vancouver Museum...you know the one with the giant metal crab structure in the front. Ice Skating can be fun.

You could also try The Bloedel Floral Conservatory. A bit humid but comon', when's the last time you've been there. It needs a bit of support so it's an option for a rainy day.

[meme405]

Brah it sounds like you have already done the hard part (present), or atleast thats the hard part for me.

Im sure she will be stoked on whatever else you got up your sleeve.

Oh on the revolving restaurant I hope you mean Cloud9 if it is the other one, don't go it was terrible when I went.

[stewie]

0.o I didn't even know there was 2 of them...lol
My reservations are at top of vancouver.

Guess I got some research to do as to which has a better view and is classier
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[tiger_handheld]

Originally Posted by stewie

as for a birthday present, I gotta find a "decoy" present. one that's cheap but she'd accept (was thinking of a glowpet since shes always wanted one). then on her actual birthday, I was going to give her a days notice, tell her to bring classy clothes to my house right after work, get dressed, and have dinner at the revolving restaurant, come back to my house, then give her the real gift ....

Spoiler!

(she had been eyeing down a painting for a looong time and then suddenly it was gone *I bought it* and she got sad, so that will score me brownie points lol)

trolled

[stewie]

from the activities listed here from you swell people, ive put together the day plan

wake up at her house in the ridge.
tell her to grab a spare set of nice clothes for later.
go for brunch around 11ish.
get to vandusen gardens around 1ish
walk around etc. they have a free guided walking tour at 2pm every day that I was thinking we'd go on.
from there go a few more blocks to the bloedel conservatory. walk around hand in hand(sappy) looking at all the pretty flowers trees and birds until maybe 430-530
from there head to my house so we can both get changed.
cab it to society for dinner, but i'll have her sister/her fiancée, and her 3 best friends there already. from there her sister would drive us back to my house and we'd head back to maple ridge.

then on Monday(her actual bday) she'd get her real bday dinner with just me, and her present. I plan on wrapping the picture up, but for shits and giggles, ill get a jewelry box that's wrapped up and put a picture hanger in there then give her the picture...just to fuck with her lol

so, thanks for the tips on vandusen and the bloedel conservatory

[604chn]

Originally Posted by stewie

so, thanks for the tips on vandusen and the bloedel conservatory

No problem. I actually haven't been to those two places in a while. I'd like to go to the Bloedel Conservatory in particular.