It’s Birthday Week!
by Katy on May 16, 2025 · 28 comments
We have two birthdays just a few days apart in our family of four, which is always fun! Our traditional method is to celebrate with a Day of Adventures instead of loads of physical gifts and this year is no different.
My husband wanted to go to a Yankees vs. Mariner’s baseball game, which prompted our three day trip up in Seattle this week. We had lots of fun exploring the city, (mostly by foot) and bought nothing more than food and my aforementioned reusable water bottle. This was a more elaborate celebration than normal, but that’s because my husband turned 60, which is something to commemorate!
Tomorrow we celebrate our youngest’s 27th birthday with a more traditional “Day of Adventures,” which’ll include yummy Asian food, a movie, sweet treats, arcade games and maybe one more thing that I haven’t quite figured out yet.
Time together having fun is a better gift than any physical item we could buy in a store! Especially now that the “kids” live on their own and quality family time has to be scheduled out in advance.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
Wishing you all a great week, and many more!
Thank you!!!
Sixty is a special milestone and 27 is worth celebrating, too. Enjoy all of your quality time together!
Love to hear about your adventure celebrations!
My husband and I traveled with my parents to Orlando for 2 nights at a hotel. We ate in the condo both nights and my Mom and I brought way too much food. My husband made a regional dish from our hometown in Upstate NY and we had a great time reading, sitting by the pool, and visiting. Dad and I walked a mile around the hotel complex and Mom helped me update my perpetual Bday and Anniversary calendar. Didn’t leave one time and had the best time!
Michele, I’m curious about “a regional dish from our hometown in Upstate NY.” Are we talking Buffalo Wings, the Rochester Garbage Plate, Syracuse Salt Potatoes, Utica Greens, etc.? Inquiring minds (well, this inquiring mind in Central NY, anyway) want to know. 😀
Me too!! Binghamton Speidies perhaps?!?
I would love those two days, husband would not. When most vacation minutes of a day are planned out, I may as well be in non-stop meetings at work.
I’m glad the four of you had a good time.
This is just the cutest photo!
Happy everything to your family this week. We lived in Seattle for a couple years. Great city for a weekend hang.
Got pulled over last night after a 13 hour workday…ugh. My rear light was out, so I “You Tube” how to fix it, bought the bulb and did the whole thing in less than 5 minute right after work today. Thrifty win because I did it myself and now I won’t get a ticket.
Inspired by your water bottle post, I went to a local thrift store to find a replacement lid for my favorite thermal bottles after the lid broke. (I may have dropped it.) A replacement from the company was only $3 but after shipping and handling it was going to be $15. No thanks. Found one on my first visit. Woohoo! And it was only $2. Supported a local business and put a preloved item back in use. Didn’t buy anything else as I need nothing.
My oil change was due so I used a coupon for a local spot. They gave me a free bottle of water, the female manager was awesome and it’s one maintenance item that will help me keep my car for a long time. Bonus-they offer oil top ups for free!
Cut peonies to give to my mom for a postponed Mother’s Day. Used a vase I already had that she can keep.
I didn’t pay someone to walk my dog, made my own coffee, brought my lunch to work and I am throwing together a bunch of random things to make my dinner and tomorrow’s lunch.
Feeling accomplished today.
Yeah for birthday week!
Today was a low spend day. Spent most of the day at home. Had an eye doctor appointment. Got a cool pink pen while I was there and two Bluey stickers for my laptop. I love Bluey!
This evening I attended our library Sip n Swap at a local bar/restaurant/arts center. Everyone brings books to pass on, the library pays for pizza so you just buy your drinks. I just had water with lemon (but I do tip) got 5 new books to read which I will bring back to swap next time. Many of my friends hang out here so I got to visit with a bunch of people for the $3.50 I put into the parking meter and my $5 tip.
Happy birthday! Today is my son’s birthday too!
1. I cooked his favorite chicken dish at home. I did have to buy chicken as I had none and haven’t seen a sale in awhile. But $13 to feed 7 people plus leftovers sure beats going out to eat.
2. I made his cake myself
3. His main present was tickets to a MLB game. I am also trying to embrace experiences over useless gifts. We did get him a rooftop kayak rack since he got a kayak recently but it was surprisingly inexpensive
4. I have not had to water my garden since I planted it as it has rained every day
5. Dd graduated with her LPN. We went out to dinner ahead of time but just ordered water with out food. 3 of the 4 of us has leftovers for lunch the next day. She already has a job that will pay her $28 an hour!
Your #1 is impressive – not only cost but leftovers after feeding 7.
1. My frugal celebration today is that the vet’s office called and my sweet Snuggles boy does NOT have heartworm! They ran a test at the office; it came out negative. So they sent a blood sample to a bigger lab, just to make sure. It, too, is negative. Looks like the dog pound either made a mistake or that Snug’s first test was a false positive. I had to pay quite a bit for the heartworm test, but now I’m glad I did. Oh, and BTW, Snuggles was the perfect gentleman during his vet visit and I think the veterinarian and her staff fell in love with him, too.
2. I had a frugal near miss: I thought the deadline for submitting all your property tax protest paperwork was today (Friday). No, it was midnight Friday –aka one minute after 11:59 p.m. Thursday. So, in a panic, I canceled my substitute teaching gig and ran to the library. My computer printer went on the blink and is so old, it is no longer “supported”, so I either have to get another or use someone else’s. I rarely need to print anything out (this is a need vs. want thing, as I’d like to print things, but….) so I’m opting to not have a printer of my own. I did all the paperwork and photocopied everything at the library and it cost me under $5 for everything. Bonus: I even found some report I compiled 2 or 3 years ago, the last time I had to do this, and it was a long list of the defects in my house; I sent that in, too. (Of 15 things, only 2 have been/were fixed as of Jan. 1, the date they use for evaluation.) Anyway, I drove across town to the county office that does property tax stuff — and handed it in on time. Whew! They’ll call me when my hearing is scheduled. So the near miss is a frugal WIN! (Well, I did miss out on my substitute teaching money, and that cost me. But it won’t cost me as much as having to pay sky-high property taxes.)
3. The county tax office is down the street from the used bookstore, which has a basket out front that is much like a Little Free Library: ie, the books in it are free for the taking. En route home, I stopped by and took home an armful of books, which I’ll share with others. Two of the books went to the teacher’s lounge bookshelf, which also operates as a LFL.
4. Today at school, a teacher’s garden had an overrun of squash, so she brought a big bucketful to school. It was in the teacher’s lounge with a note that said “help yourself.” I got 2 yellow squash, which I’ll probably slice up and eat with dip when I watch TV. Fresh, homegrown veggies — yum!
5. Bought a much bigger lunch bag at Goodwill, so I had enough room in there to stash the squash. I bought it on Senior Citizen Discount Day so it was 20% off. Will repurpose my old lunch bag as a first aid kit or something.
That is wonderful about Snuggles’ heartworm test and his sweet behavior. Best of luck with your property tax appeal.
Thank you, Ruby. Snuggles is lying on the floor by me, thumping his tail, so he is sending his love to you. Either that, or he wants a tummy rub!
Happy birthday to Mr. NCA. The trip sounds like a great birthday experience.
I agree that time together is the ultimate gift. I’m still working on my adult child regarding my opinion/preference. A lot of progress has been made but there is room for further growth.
Happy 60th to Mr. NCA, and I’m glad you had a good time in Seattle (except for having to replace the water bottle, which is a pretty minor thing when all’s said and done). And I agree re: time together with your nearest and dearest. You’ll cherish the memories later, as I do mine of my adventures with DH.
I’m beginning to consider what I might do for my upcoming 70th birthday in late August. One possibility–something DH and I sometimes talked about but never got around to doing–is what we called “One Lap of the County.” In other words, I’d take a day or two to cruise the perimeter of our county, searching out yard sales, other chances for thrifting, and chicken BBQs along the way. (The fact that my birthday lands at the start of Labor Day weekend this year may increase the likelihood of all these opportunities.)
@A. Marie, I have my 65th this September (9/11, actually, lucky me!) and I don’t generally like a big fuss, but I SO love your idea of a “lap of the county”. I have a “Regional District”, a “Provincial Riding”, and a “Federal District” that all could be explored! The Regional District is most doable in a a weekend, however there are more days in my life than just a weekend. Gonna contemplate this!
That’s a fun idea, would you bring a friend?
That sounds like such a great birthday thing to do. I just might do this also for my 65th birthday !
My favorite thing is creating fun birthdays for my family..vs going out. We also love “experiences.” My husband and I have birthdays just days apart, in late June/early July that also run into Mother’s day and Father’s ’’s day..so, over the years, we usually pick one big say to roll it all into one. Our grown son still enjoys spending time with us..!! So he will stop by and I often will set a gorgeous table with decorations from my “stash”— I reuse party decor for years!! I love to cook so I usually find some recipes.. like our favorite salmon with cilantro ,tomatoes,capers, on the grill over a caesar salad or a home made manicotti with sausage gravy..and build a meal around it.. cocktails on the patio by the pool, and maybe an afternoon movie or excursion to a local park for a hike. Some years we pack and picnic and go somewhere in nature to enjoy.. so many ways to celebrate that don’t break the bank and provide memories vs. STUFF (from China.)
Ladies –
I thoroughly enjoy reading all of the neat ideas everyone has posted. About three months ago, I came across NCA’s blog, and now I read her frugal finds/ideas. This is the first time that I expanded the comment section to read more. What wonderful ideas. Thanks for a great read.
Awww, I love you guys in your baseball caps!
And Mr. NCA looks so happy. 🙂
The happiest!
Hooray for birthday months! My family has three of them — June, September and November, with two birthdays in each month. And a single birthday in February. I would love it if my family did experiences, but we seem to be locked into Amazon wish lists.
Tomorrow my oldest grandson graduates from high school. I am giving him cash rolled up in a birdwatching mug. Yep, he’s a birdwatcher, but still, as he points out, a cool guy.
I went to Aldi this morning with $20 to spend. I did it, but all that $20 gets you these days at Aldi is coffee, creamer, oatmeal, granola, and honey. Well, at least it was easy to carry.
I made croutons from bread heels when I realized how much the ready-mades are.
The “used” suitcase arrived from Amazon and it is in perfect condition. Glad I took a chance on it!
So smart to find a “used” suitcase and what a relief that it was in perfect condition!
Happy belated birthday to your hubby – 60 is a milestone I too will celebrate in October. And happy birthday to your child. Lovely photo of you both.
Thank you, I’ll pass that along!