Thursday, November 5, 2009

How do we celebrate Torsten's birthday?

Torsten's birthday is on Saturday. I've already given him his present (Rock Band Beatles, but the cheaper version without the limited-edition instruments). I gave it to him early because I knew he would want to play it with his best friend, and his best friend was here for two weeks in September.

So, now I don't have a gift for him, except possibly one little tiny thing, but that's OK, because he's aware of it and we will spend some time this weekend playing Rock Band to remind him of the present. That will just have to be good enough.

But the question is... what to do on the birthday itself? We have made plans for a late dinner at a highly recommended restaurant that we haven't tried before. We plan to drive to a Denver suburb in the morning to purchase a birthday cake at a German bakery and maybe have some brunch.

But... what in between? I thought maybe some sort of relaxing spa day, like a massage? But he's not so into that. Is this a guy thing? Even the suggestion of just hanging out in a spa hot tub for awhile didn't seem to appeal to him.

Suggestions of taking a day trip into the mountains, taking a day trip to Boulder, taking a day trip to Colorado Springs... all shot down.

So far, the front runner seems to involve lazing around at home. Which... well, there's nothing wrong with that, but weekend birthdays don't happen all that often and we do a lot of lazing about at home on regular weekends. So it would be nice to do something a bit different for his birthday.

Edited to add: Some of the comments are making me realize that I need to clarify: this isn't about me. Torsten actually wants to go out and do something special on his birthday. He just doesn't know what that would be. I am not going to drag him kicking and screaming out of the house on his birthday to do what I want.

So, I put it to you. What should we do to celebrate his birthday? We have a few parameters:
  • We don't want to spend a whole ton of money but it would be OK to spend a little to do something fun/special.
  • SOMEONE doesn't want to drive more than an hour or so away. And as it is SOMEONE'S birthday, he gets to choose.
  • Apparently it has to be manly (no massages, and I'm guessing this means pedicures are out of the question as well).
  • Must be relaxing (as in, not busy-making or overscheduled).
  • So much the better if it involves beer.
Any thoughts? Because I am stumped.

34 comments:

  1. What about a trip to a local brewery?

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  2. I came to suggest exactly what Mandy already said - local brewery sounds ideal. There must be one easily within an hour drive, maybe even two or three nearby each other that you could tour. Tastings are very cheap and extremely fun in my experience - My sister & I spent an afternoon around the Southernmost of the NY Finger Lakes (famous, as I'm sure you know, for the wineries) a couple hours north of her college, and since my husband was along we went to one brewery in addition to all the wineries, and the brewery ended up being about our favorite stop of the day!

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  3. I know it seems lame, but maybe go to a movie? Better yet, does Denver have one of those movie theaters where they serve food/beer? Oh, wait... Google says yes!

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  4. On weekends where we don't want to spend (much) money, we'll create a movie theme and then make a coordinating meal - for instance, we finally sat down and watched all of the Godfather movies and made an accompanying meal of baked ziti and homemade cannolis. We've also done this with action movies and a basket of large "theater sized" candies and homemade popcorn boxes.

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  5. Beer tasting while in a rented limo? Maybe a few different brewerys...i said limo that way you can both induldge without worrying about driving and it is a birthday!

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  6. A brewery does sound fun. We'd probably rent a movie and grab a couple beers and veg out at home between our morning and evening plans. Sounds fun to me. :)

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  7. I really like e-l-e-e's suggestion. I have always wanted to go to one of those.
    Also, guys + gifts (at least, gifts that aren't WAY too expensive, like a freaking motorcycle or season tickets or something) = SO HARD. Girls are easy. Little things are fun. With Jim it's like the only "little" thing he likes is beer. And really, how many times can you give someone the gift of inebriation before it starts to look like you both need an intervention?

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  8. I say let him decide...it's his birthday. Sometimes being lazy is especially fun on your birthday. :)

    And yes, it is a guy thing. My husband would rather do anything else than go to a spa.

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  9. I'm probably going to be the outlier in this recommendation, but I say why not stay home? Just because it seems boring and bland and just like every other weekend, maybe that's exactly how he wants to spend his special day. And maybe he's entertaining all your suggestions because you're his wife and he loves you and he loves that you're putting so much thought into this. But, if nothing seems right, why force yourselves to do it just because it's his birthday?

    Other ideas besides brewery-related festivities. What about a museum or a gallery? Is there a German heritage museum in the city? What about an impromptu scavenger hunt where you give Torsten a bunch of clues and he has to complete each one. It could be as simple as taking a walk around your favorite path. To buying a trinket at some obscure store. To taking a photo of the two of you by some landmark. Might be a fun way to spend a few spare hours.

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  10. Brewery tour, wine tasting, movie, see a play, historic site...

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  11. I would suggest a few more things, but if he wants to stay home then do that with him. I actually spent my last birthday sleeping and laying around and I loved it.

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  12. If Torsten really wants to stay home and laze around but you like the brewery tour idea, why not make your own? I saw this on a blog somewhere (but now I can't remember where). You could hit up Whole Foods or a well-stocked liquor store and buy like, one each of a bunch of different kind of beers from all over the world/his favorite region. You could get cheese and pretzels and bread and whatever else you drink with beer and have a homemade beer tasting party, just the two of you. If that's not your bag, I think a brewery tour sounds like a great idea. I've done it before in Shiner, Texas and it was so fun. And I'm not even a beer person!

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  13. So I get another idea based on beer + staying home, and I come back to see that missris already had that idea too...take him out to buy a bunch of microbrews he's never tried before, then stay home. Best of both worlds! BUT I still say brewery if you don't want to stay home, it is so fun because you get to taste everything and they tell you what's in it and how they made it, and what flavors to look for. Really really cool. My beer-loving husband loved it and wants to do it again ASAP.

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  14. Hmmm, am I reading the schedule wrong? Because brunch and dinner sounds like plans to me! I like the idea of a movie in between.

    If I have the days wrong, I like the idea of a brewery. The tastings they show on the Food Network always look so fun.

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  15. I am all about the brewery idea. Do the Coors tour! It's classic all-America fun... ha ha. Or what about bowling? Oh, and the museums are all FREE Saturday because it's Arts Week...so it's a good time to do something like that.

    Where are you guys going to dinner?

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  16. If lazing around at home is what he wants to do on his birthday, make it happen. When YOUR birthday falls on a weekend, you can choose. :-)

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  17. what about a museum? any neat exhibits in the area right now?

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  18. Breweries are not very exciting. Does Torsten have a favourite pub or bar there yet? I'm not sure what the pub scene is like in Denver, but you guys could go around and try places like that out.

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  19. What about the Coors tour? Or you could go to Wynkoop Brewery.

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  20. I have always wanted to take a tour at New Belgium Brewery out in Fort Collins. It is seriously on the life list -- LOVE their beers. That could be fun. Plus it's supposed to be a pretty cool town, I mean, heck they have a roller skating rink...whoop whoop! :) It might be a fun little day excursion...

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  21. some ideas...
    1. i would do breakfast at Bump and Grind on Pennsylvania and 17th, i think. it is not really relaxing, per se, but their food is out of this world.

    2. i would go to ft. collins and do a brewery tour, type thing.

    3. while up in ft. collins, i would make a trip to lyric cinema cafe. movie theater with wine, cheese, beer, other awesome food

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  22. As others have mentioned, a tour of a microbrewery might work - as opposed to going and tasting a bunch of microbrews, which seems like a one way ticket to hangover city. Learning about the breweries can be pretty interesting, and isn't a huge time commitment. Just a fun, slightly different than everyday thing, plus you can have some beer (an amount of your choosing!).

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  23. Is there a pub theater in Denver that is playing a super macho action flick? Up here we have a few theaters that serve whole meals as well as a few that serve pizza and beer that you can nosh on while you watch the movie :)

    It isn't huge, but it is a night out!

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  24. i was going to recommend a brewery tour / day as well :-) is that not an option?

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  25. pumpkin chunkin and a corn maze! (with beer)


    or...go dancing!

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  26. wait - maybe they don't have corn mazes in CO...

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  27. breckenridge brewery, love their beer! and happy birthday to him!

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  28. I second a brewery in either Boulder (try Walnut Brewery or Southern Sun) or in the mountains (try Beau Jo's pizzeria in Idaho Springs or...something in estes park...baby waking up, sorry).

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  29. Pub night, of course. Gather some friends, play around of poool and drink beer?:)

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  30. The New Belgium Brewery tour in Fort Collins is phenomenal! It's a drive (hour and a half), but would be fun. Then there's always Coors in Golden, which is fun, too but that's not quite the same as a small town brewery.

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  31. www.cafeberlindenver.com

    Beer and snacks and a walk around downtown?

    Or I love the brewery tour idea

    http://www.denver.org/dining-nightlife/bars-clubs/denver-brewery-tours


    You may not wan to miss this later in the year, not for Torsen's birthday but it looks like a fun Denver Holidays thing:

    http://www.denverchristkindlmarket.com/

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  32. I have a terrible time with Aaron's birthday too. And this year I gave him his anniversary gift early, so that was a major boring Anniversary for him!

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  33. What Mandy said, or a trip to a German beer hall if they have one in your area? We just had one open up by us not too long ago and I want to marry it, so there is that.

    Good luck! and happy early birthday to Torsten!

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  34. Oooh, a brewery tour is a great idea.
    Or what about a sporting event?
    I don't know if you're a big cook, but doing a little three-course dinner with microbrew pairings.
    I've never known a guy to turn down a massage at home with candles and stuff. ;)
    Guy birthdays can be so hard!

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