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"Milestone" Birthdays--who celebrates?

missfrodomissfrodo member
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in Chit Chat
Just curious as to who out there makes a big to-do out of milestone birthdays (in this case it's H's 30th, and I consider each decade a "milestone," I guess).  We haven't done anything special for birthdays in years: I get him presents, he gets me presents, maybe we'll go out to eat.  But I was curious to see if anyone else treats decades as extra-special, or if it's a weird thing that only a few people do?  We're big kids at heart, so I'm thinking of throwing him a somewhat traditional birthday party (food, drinks, cake, maybe Cards Against Humanity).  His grad school friends have been meeting up at restaurants and arcades for their birthdays, so I feel kind of weird wanting to host something at our house, but at the same time I love hosting.

Have any of you done something big for an adult's birthday?  I love parties and celebrations, so I may just be super weird in wanting to make a big deal out of this--I'm one of those crazy people that has birthday presents for her dog (she'll be 1 soon!).  My feeling is, growing old can suck and our lives are full of stress, so why not make it fun?  
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Re: "Milestone" Birthdays--who celebrates?

  • STARMOON44STARMOON44 member
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    My parents kindly took me and a handful of friend out for a very fancy dinner for my 30th. Most of my friends had some sort of celebration for 30. I don't think there is anything weird about hosting a party in your house!
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  • charlotte989875charlotte989875 member
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    I love birthdays, and any reason to host a party or celebrate, so I say the more parties the better. 

    How does your H feel? I know I love birthdays and celebrating, but my H hates them and would be pissed if I tried to host a party for him, even on a milestone birthday. 
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  • thefanciestbecklerthefanciestbeckler member
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    I celebrate every birthday. I love going to parties, I love hosting parties, and I love making everyone feel like their birthday is the most special day ever.

    DH doesn't feel that way at all. He hates being the center of attention and thinks a birthday is just another day.

    That being said, I threw DH a 30th birthday party. I hope he will throw me one. He agreed that 30 warranted a party as long as it wasn't huge or crazy. So we had about 10-15 people over, I cooked tons of food and baked him a cheesecake, and we all hung out, watched football, and had some drinks. It was a lot of fun.

    Ask your H how he feels about it before you do anything. Your idea sounds like a lot of fun to me, as a party person.


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  • ahoyweddingahoywedding member
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    charlotte989875 said:
    I love birthdays, and any reason to host a party or celebrate, so I say the more parties the better. 

    How does your H feel? I know I love birthdays and celebrating, but my H hates them and would be pissed if I tried to host a party for him, even on a milestone birthday. 
    Yes, this. My dad LOVES parties so we threw him a big thing for his 40th and I think a few other milestones. My mom, on the other hand, would rather things pass without mention. It was recently her 60th birthday and her sister tried to make a big deal out of it and I think she got really embarrassed. 
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  • short+sassyshort+sassy member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    My H and I don't really do too much for our birthdays, even milestone ones.  But I don't think there is anything weird or wrong with people who do.  I think the plans for your H's birthday sound great.
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  • OurWildKingdomOurWildKingdom member
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    Just a few weeks ago, we had a party for Housemate's 40th birthday. Everyone had a blast. Go for it!
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  • MissKittyDangerMissKittyDanger member
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    Go for it!

    For me, depends on the milestone. I celebrated more on my 19th bday than my 20th because I was allowed to drink legally. I think people are planning something for my upcoming 30th .... but idk.
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  • Ro041Ro041 member
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    FI and I both threw each other a big party for our 30th birthdays.  We said we won't do another big birthday party until 40.  

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  • missfrodomissfrodo member
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    MissKittyDanger said:
    Go for it!

    For me, depends on the milestone. I celebrated more on my 19th bday than my 20th because I was allowed to drink legally. I think people are planning something for my upcoming 30th .... but idk.
    Yeah, it's the same way in the US but with 21 (as the legal drinking age).  I don't really drink, but H does, and for his 21st I don't want to think about how much alcohol he must have consumed (he'd been drinking illegally in college for years, so he'd built up quite a tolerance)!
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  • levioosalevioosa member
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    We did a trip for SO's 30th.  Neither of us are big on parties though, just our personal preferences.  


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  • downtondivadowntondiva member
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    edited March 2017
    I'm not a big party person, but my husband and I have talked about taking a big vacation for our 30th birthdays (which will be in the same year). Other than that, for our birthdays we just do something like go to dinner or to a baseball game. This year for my birthday we are going to a concert. I just see birthdays as a good excuse to do something fun, get together with friends, etc.

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  • SP29SP29 member
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    We celebrate the big milestone birthdays. Otherwise it might be dinner out, with our without friends. Or perhaps an event of sorts.

    One year for my birthday, DH took me to a concert (regular birthday).

    DH turned 30 back in October. I got bought him a luxury car tour package (where you get to drive various cars around for a few hours), and then hosted some friends and family at our house.
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  • missfrodomissfrodo member
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    CMGragain said:
    missfrodo said:
    Have any of you done something big for an adult's birthday?  I love parties and celebrations, so I may just be super weird in wanting to make a big deal out of this--I'm one of those crazy people that has birthday presents for her dog (she'll be 1 soon!).  My feeling is, growing old can suck and our lives are full of stress, so why not make it fun?  
    Growing old is GREAT!!!!!  Nothing wrong with celebrating.  Every year is a milestone for me.  We like cruises - they make a fuss and bring you a special chocolate dessert.  Holland America serenades you with their version of the "Happy Birthday" song in Malay.
    While I wish I had my young, healthy body again, old age has its perks.  Retirement, grandchildren, freedom from child rearing responsibilities and worries, mortgage paid in full after so many years, money to do fun things, like travel - not so bad!  Life is good!
    I'm glad you enjoy it!  Unfortunately, my grandparents have not aged gracefully, having extensive health issues that prevent them from really having a good time (they're almost 90, though health issues began decades ago).  I hope H and I are able to enjoy ourselves later in life--right now there's a lot of stress, H dealing with grad school and managing our nonexistent finances so we'll be able to pay off his loans when he graduates.  He wanted to go to Dave and Buster's, which is a huge arcade, but we're pretty damn broke and the nearest one is about a 3 hour drive away so it's not ideal.  There's a small, independent arcade by our house, but it's more expensive to play the games and there aren't as many options.  I told him we'll go to celebrate when I get a new job.
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  • CMGragainCMGragain member
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    edited March 2017
    I hope your Grandparents enjoyed life while they could.  I'll never see 90.  Cancer sucks (found a new lump today), but life is good!
    I remember life when I was young and had to watch every penny.  Just getting a babysitter for an evening out was a big splurge for us. It gets better when you are older and those debts are paid.  We bought our first new car when DH retired with his bonus.  Until then, we had always bought older, used cars to save money.  Glad we did.  We are still cautious with money, even though we have plenty, now.  I still clip coupons.
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  • downtondivadowntondiva member
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    ernursej said:
    I throw a birthday party get together every year and have my friends over for a wine and cheese. Gives me an excuse to buy lots of cheese and wine and my friends to come over and drink and eat. 
    That sounds perfect! 
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  • missfrodomissfrodo member
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    downtondiva said:
    ernursej said:
    I throw a birthday party get together every year and have my friends over for a wine and cheese. Gives me an excuse to buy lots of cheese and wine and my friends to come over and drink and eat. 
    That sounds perfect! 
    Yeah, it does!
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  • TrixieJessTrixieJess member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    MissKittyDanger said:
    Go for it!

    For me, depends on the milestone. I celebrated more on my 19th bday than my 20th because I was allowed to drink legally. I think people are planning something for my upcoming 30th .... but idk.
    Lol, we had to find a bar outside of our city to celebrate my 19th because I'd been drinking in most of the ones locally since I was 16.

    For my 30th my friends put together a big party with another friend who's birthday is a few days from mine and we had a joint party, it was so much fun!

    For my 40th I want FH to plan something low key. I'm doing a big bash because he doesn't really get a lot of parties.
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  • lovesclimbinglovesclimbing member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its First Answer
    Birthdays were never a huge deal in my family. A lot of times it was just cake and presents with family, sometimes with a couple friends over. My parents never had big celebrations for 40 or 50 or anything like that. I doubt we will. 
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  • ernursejernursej member
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    edited March 2017

    @downtondiva and @missfrodo it is so much fun. I look for different wines and cheeses each year to keep it interesting. I know that hosting your own party is generally frowned on, but my crowd does parties like these and no one brings gifts. Just an excuse to get together.

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  • MissKittyDangerMissKittyDanger member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    TrixieJess said:
    MissKittyDanger said:
    Go for it!

    For me, depends on the milestone. I celebrated more on my 19th bday than my 20th because I was allowed to drink legally. I think people are planning something for my upcoming 30th .... but idk.
    Lol, we had to find a bar outside of our city to celebrate my 19th because I'd been drinking in most of the ones locally since I was 16.

    For my 30th my friends put together a big party with another friend who's birthday is a few days from mine and we had a joint party, it was so much fun!

    For my 40th I want FH to plan something low key. I'm doing a big bash because he doesn't really get a lot of parties.
    For my 30th, our plan is that I'll be pregnant and can pull away from being 30 and more focus on pregnant lmao It'll be a couple weeks from being 12 week mark {yes we planned ...} so I don't mind telling certain family :)
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