Style Lush

Fun Friday: Music and Earrings

Last week, I shared that I hoped that Andrew and I would continue doing gifts that included spending time together instead of just presents. But gifts are always great. This week, we had a bit of a combination.

Andrew's gift: When Andrew and I first started dating, we listened to a lot of David Gray, an artist we both LOVE. I also listened to a lot of Ingrid Michaelson, and her first album always reminds me of when we were falling in love, just two Decembers ago. It seemed like fate when I found out that they were playing a show together in Sacramento.  Best of all, the tickets were purchased by donating a toy to a local homeless shelter and their school for homeless kids. I felt good about buying the tickets and we had a great time together.  The tickets were a great gift: they made a difference for a charity and we got to have an amazing night together.

My gift: Technically, I haven't received my gift yet; however, I've been told I get to pick out a pair of earrings from Etsy...I am particularly enamored of some earrings that are made of typewriter keys. I've been thinking about these:

What do you think, friends?

Fun Friday: Kings and Magazines

By Amy

Gifts are great---I can't complain!  I get one every Friday. Still being creative each and every week can be tough, and when things get busy, I find myself just wanting time to hang out with Andrew. Sometimes, it's fun to make our Fun Friday gifts to one another less about a present, and more about an experience, which is what we did last week. 

What I Got:  Andrew got us tickets to see a Sacramento Kings game. While sports are not my cup of tea, we met up with a friend of his from high school, and it ended up being a really fun night.  Andrew is from Illinois, and we live in California, so it's rare that I get to spend time with people who know him from when he was younger. I got a few good embarrassing stories out of it, too.  

What Andrew Got:  One of Andrew's favorite things in the world is sitting at a bookstore with a coffee and a pile of magazines or books to browse through. So, I decided to take him on a little date, where I bought him a coffee and a magazine. It was easy, and it made him happy---plus, we got to spend time together.

I found myself hoping that we do more of these sorts of Fun Friday treats more often. The Fridays that are most fun aren't the ones with gifts of stuff, but ones with gifts of time.

                                                                                                            *image from www.sacramentoscoop.com

Fun Friday: The Beverage Edition

by Amy

I'm not gonna lie, Fun Friday gifts can be a little tricky sometimes.  Trying to keep gifts cheap and fun is difficult.  Andrew, however, is practical to the death, so I know that every Friday I will receive something I can actually use.  I like to keep it a bit more fun, and get Andrew something he might not buy for himself.  These subtle differences in gift giving should give you some good insight into our personalities...

What I Got:  Vanilla Protein Powder from GNC.  Because of a few things.  First of all, I have been having wicked amounts of dental work done lately, meaning that eating can be quite a challenge.  I've been campaigning for a while to get some more protein powder, but since we had the world's largest drum of chocolate protein powder, purchasing more didn't seem prudent.  Andrew heard my pleas for something I could mix fruit into, since I can't exactly bite into many things, and purchased me a bag.  I was thrilled!

What Andrew Got: 
I am a coffee fiend, but Andrew doesn't share my love, save for Caramel Macchiatos.  He doesn't believe in purchasing one every day, as that can get expensive.  Still, I know how coffee puts pep in your step, so?  I purchased him a Starbucks gift card. 

Fun Friday: Face Masks and Favorite Things

By Amy

One of the nice things about Fun Friday is that it doesn't always have to be the most exciting thing in the world. Last week was one of our more practical weeks, but still one of my favorites.

Andrew's gift: Andrew sometimes complains that his eyes feel swollen and puffy. He had remarked that he'd once borrowed his sister's gel eye mask and that it helped. So, what did I bring home?

My gift:  I commute 60 miles to work each way, and fill up my car every two days or so. Andrew's gift of a gas card was practical, but very useful and thoughtful. I loved that some of my "gas fund" was freed up to spend on other treats -- hee hee! He also threw in a 12-pack of Diet Coke, one of my FAVORITE things and something I rarely purchase at the store, for good measure. 

I loved that this week's Fun Friday was practical, but still thoughtful for each of us. Andrew uses his eye mask nearly every night (shhh!) and I have been enjoying my Diet Coke and a full gas tank. It made my Friday even better.

Fun Friday: Amazon

By Amy

Sometimes, coming up with a gift for Fun Friday can be a little stressful, particularly when you are writing about it---I know I feel pressure to up my game! Last week was particularly stressful for me, and I didn't have a whole lot of time to go searching for a gift. Thankfully, Amazon came to the rescue!

Andrew's gift: Andrew made it really, really easy for me last week.  He had a Facebook status update on Thursday evening that read something along the lines of, "If you're not reading it already, Wired magazine is the best magazine out today." At first, I considered stopping at Borders on my way home to pick him up an issue, but then decided to take it a step further. Amazon.com had full-year subscriptions for $10. I love this because it means that this Fun Friday will be remembered all year!

My gift: A few minutes after I sent Andrew's magazine notification via email, I received one of my own: I had an Amazon gift card in my email! As a book-lover, this is basically the best gift ever. Now, I can pick out whatever it is I'm dying to read. Any suggestions, Style Lush readers?

Fun Friday!

By Amy

Last week's Fun Friday was one of the best yet, in my humble opinion, because it involved all the good things that a really great gift should: nostalgia and quality time.

What Andrew got:

When Andrew and I first started dating, he had this amazingly comfy pair of Old Navy pajama pants. When we were watching TV one night, I'd forgotten my sweats, and so he offered me the pajama pants. Even though they were enormous, I fell in love as soon as the soft cotton touched my skin. From then on out, they were simply referred to as "Pants" and we would have silly wars over them: whoever put them on first at night got to wear them and I even took to hiding them so that I automatically got to wear them.Because Pants were old and very well-loved, they started ripping, until finally, they were totally inappropriate, due to the giant HOLE in the crotch. Sadly, they were retired. I own a million pairs of sweats, so for Fun Friday last week, I got Andrew new pajama pants. They are soft and comfy, and I'm doing my best to NOT steal them. At least not yet. And while I will always miss old pants, I'm hoping that these will become just as near and dear to our hearts.

What I Got:

Ever since I saw the preview, I've wanted to see "Where The Wild Things Are." Andrew got us tickets to see it on Sunday night. This was especially fun because I am a teacher, and had been on Fall break for the two weeks prior. It was fun to end my break with a date night. The movie was great, and I loved that my gift involved us spending time together.

Fun Friday!

By Amy

I am thrilled to be able to introduce Amy -= Style Lush's very first feature writer. Amy is the genius behind Fun Friday, and she'll be sharing it with us every week right here. The moment I first heard about Fun Friday, I knew that it needed to be shared with the world (right after it was shared my husband) and I think the more you hear about it yourself, the more you'll agree. 

~Elizabeth

My boyfriend Andrew and I have been dating for two years and have lived together for almost a year. And can I be honest about something? Maintaining the "magic" has been difficult. Work, chores, cooking, finances, stress, a shared bathroom -- it can all quickly lead to losing that loving feeling.

And if your significant other is anything like MY significant other, he's perhaps not the most sensitive and romantic. Andrew believes in practical gifts. He will spend hours crawling Google for a short story I need to teach my 8th graders, but when it comes to flowers or chocolate, forget it. I appreciate that, I do, but I'm a girl. I want presents. And it goes both ways -- I also want a way to thank Andrew for all of the things he does to make my life easier.

After a particularly loud "discussion" one evening, I told Andrew that I wanted to know every single week that he was thinking of me. The truth is that he wanted the same from me. Every person wants to feel that their partner or spouse cares about them, appreciates them and thinks about them. The problem is that very few of us have time for a weekly date night or the money for expensive gifts and flower deliveries.

Thus, Fun Friday was born.

The rules are these: one gift, every Friday. Andrew plays poker professionally and he plays from home on Fridays, so the gift must be procured by the time I arrive home from work. The gift should be inexpensive -- under $10 (though, I will mention here that Andrew is terrible about following this rule and usually goes above the $10, while I tend to be the cheaper one) and should be something that is either expressly for the other person or for us to use as a couple. The first week, Andrew forgot, and tried to play off purchasing dinner that night as a gift. No dice. It needs to be an actual present. Bonus points for cards attached to said present.

Past gifts have included a book for me by an author I enjoy, Andrew's favorite snacks (Sour Patch Kids and Gatorade), and Trivial Pursuit: Genius Edition. 

Fun Friday has really transformed our relationship. I look forward to coming home every week and knowing there will be a little gift waiting for me. It makes me feel special to know that every week, Andrew has thought about me for a few minutes and picked out something that he thinks I will like, and I enjoy taking a few minutes to think about him and appreciate all of the nice things he's done for me throughout the week.

So look for me here each Friday with a little snippet about what I got and what I'm giving. I'm hoping Fun Friday catches on like wildfire and a wave of Friday Slurpee giving sweeps the land.  I can't wait!