Ideas-little jokey present-50th birthday

[shootingstar]

My partner and I are invited to a surprise 50th birthday next weekend. BUT my partner will not be with me....off cycling in Europe!

But I'm going. The guy is more of a friend of his, but we know the couple since they are a cycling couple too. We attended their wedding.

Invite specifies no gifts. But honest, an interesting/fun card is worthwhile for signature 50th birthday. But what sort of small, fun gift would you consider?

[snapdragen]

Fifty signed birthday cards?

When my best friend turned fifty, I sent her a card every day for a little over a month. I think I bought every "You're 50 years old" card I could find.

[Bad JuJu]

A funny poem, maybe one you write based on a famous poem that most people at the party will likely know? You could print it on nice paper--suitable for framing--and read it aloud at the party.

For my 50th birthday party, guests were asked to bring, in lieu of gifts, a poem or other reading to share. Some were serious, but most of them were a scream, including the following birthday haiku:
Getting older sucks
Yes, it really really sucks
It really sucks a lot.
(Though I think some liberties were taken with the strict haiku form. )

But everybody doesn't have to be doing that for you to do it on your own--could be fun.

[kat_h]

Since he rides too maybe some comment about him being a half-century and print out some maps of good 50 k rides to celebrate with.

[mimitabby]

that's a really cute idea, Kat.

For me, becoming 50 was sort of an unpleasant idea. Bday gifts that do NOT focus on age would have been my preference. Food is always nice.

[solobiker]

When my brother turned 40 I gave him a large card with every possible way that I could write 40 such as: 40, 4T, fourty, TTTT etc..

[SouthernBelle]

that's a really cute idea, Kat.

For me, becoming 50 was sort of an unpleasant idea. Bday gifts that do NOT focus on age would have been my preference. Food is always nice.

I was pretty much that way too.

[divingbiker]

Well, this wouldn't work for your friend, but the type of gifts I got when I turned 50 (in Belize, with 7 friends) were a pair of "hot pants" with BELIZE written across the @$$, a toe ring, and some fuzzy pink slippers.

The only thing I still have is the slippers.

[shootingstar]

This morning at the end of our ride, we did find an artsy bike card for him.

And yes, coincidentally did think of cobbling a customized cycling haiku for him and we will have fun doing it.

I'll be writing it up in Western calligraphy within the card ...( using calligraphy angled-cut marker. I used to dip/paint ink onto real calligraphy steel nibs on vellum paper and became good at it. But haven't practiced enough for such a long time... to make Carolinian or Gothic style script perfect....Long ago when I could execute such stuff prior to cycling).

thx, kh for the cycling route maps idea. Maybe we make up a 50 kms. route that's kinda jokey..

[Kano]

The year DH's sister turned forty, HE went to the dollar store and got forty items. We packed them in a great big box and shipped it off to her...

Karen in Boise

[snapdragen]

I have a friend at work who loves cows. When she turned 50, I decorated her cubicle with fifty cows of all shapes and sizes.

[singletrackmind]

When I turned 35 my sisters gave me a coffee cup that says I'm 40 and now I really am. Every time I get it out I think about them and chuckle about that silly cup.

[Trek420]

Since he rides too maybe some comment about him being a half-century and print out some maps of good 50 k rides to celebrate with.

Make sure you specify they are flat, easy, low key ..... better yet organize a half century ride for him. "Ride ____'s age"

Or since 50 is the new 30 get a bunch of "your 30" stuff.

[KathiCville]

For my cycling BF's 40th, I got him (among other things) a funny cartoon T-shirt from the New Yorker's Cartoon Bank. About $20, I think. Go to www.cartoonbank.com, and plug in different keywords like cycling, bike, bicycle---you'll come up with a bunch of possibilities.

Or, if you've got a little time this week, see if you can get a childhood pic of the birthday boy, scan it, and turn it into an iron-on transfer on a plain t-shirt, with a smart-a** tagline about his age. Simple, personalized.

There are also some great cycling-related bumper stickers available via Internet. Even if he doesn't stick it on a vehicle, he'll probably get a kick out of the thought/gesture.

[BTW, I'm turning 50 next week, and celebrating the occasion with a WomanTours cycling trip on the Natchez Trace in Mississippi. I *love* to mark *big* birthdays by doing something special......]

[Bad JuJu]

[BTW, I'm turning 50 next week, and celebrating the occasion with a WomanTours cycling trip on the Natchez Trace in Mississippi. I *love* to mark *big* birthdays by doing something special......]

*OT alert*
BTW, don't forget to post a report when you return from your tour, Kathi. I covet that ride!