What did you do for your 40th birthday?

[NotmySundaybest]

Mine is upcoming & I'm looking for inspiration to plant ideas with DH!

Had a really straightforward bring-a-bottle party. Not a lot of cash at the time. Unearthed a bottle of Sainsbury's Value vodka and bought some orange juice and a load of crisps, bought a pack of tealights and put them in jars. Made a playlist with a track for every year of my life (cheated and had a couple of extras from my favourite years). Invited everyone, mostly local but a few friends from further afield came. Packed them all into the house. Had a fantastic time.

Lockdown. Single parent. Fun.

Giving birth the dc3. In lockdown. Fun times :-)

7 months pregnant with Ofsted the next day

I had a big party with a live band, it was fab.

The week of my birthday, I had a 90s party.

I put the Spotify playlist together. Dance floor was full most of the night.

I had a donut mountain for a birthday cake.

I got my original Playstation down from the loft and loaded it with Tekken.

I had a table with 90s board games on.

I had a TV playing a loop of 90s ads on YouTube.

I got the bar to ensure they had Smirnoff Ice, Hooch and WKD on sale.

Dress up was optional, but most wore something 90s based.

I had the best time!

The day of my birthday, I went to a local Michelin starred restaurant for dinner.

The year of my birthday, I went on a city break to a place I'd wanted to go for 30 years.

Have fun whatever you decide.

Well I have a few years yet… however DP is 40 this weekend, it’s also our 20 year anniversary of being together this year ( not till July) so we combined it to do a epic weekend in london. To do all the things we used to do before kids. We planned it a year ago, booked a 5 star hotel, booked some restaurants. DP booked an indoor skydive for himself. ( although, might have to cancel that as he got pneumonia 2 weeks ago, he’s still recovering) it’s the first time we are leaving the kids for longer than 2 days. So we will be making the most of it….

Trekked to a waterfall then went for a posh meal out.

Went for a European city break to run a half marathon with my sisters!

I had a barn dance! It was great 😊

DH gave me a pedicure during the pandemic 😁

For my 40th my husband surprised me with a trip to Philadelphia as I’d wanted to see the “Rocky Steps” and then we flew to Las Vegas and we did all the sights such as the Grand Canyon etc. My birthday is very near to NYE so we spent that there too. We had our children with us so we didn’t go too wild but it was a fantastic trip. For my husband’s 50th we went to Cabo San Lucas Mexico .

Had a big party with family and friends at the local cricket club. It was ace.

On the day I took it off work, met a friend for lunch and went out for dinner with the family.

10 days in Dubai staying at the Burj Al Arab, Atlantis & Address @ dubai marina. My life has had a spectacular downturn in the almost 3 years since then though. My life looks nothing like this now in fact you probably wouldn't know to look at me I'd been out of the UK

😂 I was wondering what the story was there, romantic weekend away with my ex - standard idea for a 40th 😄

Mine too 🫤

I had an amazing 40th! My fiancé booked La Manoir aux Quat'Saisons for a luxurious weekend. My actual present was my first mobile phone! Cost a bomb though.

Covid lockdown shat on it from a large height unfortunately
Had wanted to be in Dominican Republic whale watching

DH flew my sister and my best friend over to surprise me (we live in Caribbean), and I threw myself a big party.

The following week we went to an eco lodge in the rain forests of Honduras for a long weekend where we were the only people other than the staff. Magic.

DHs 40th this year and I have no idea what I'm doing yet.

Partner made m and s dine in. Thanks covid!

Went for a pub lunch with my mum and DH, then out for dinner with my best friends. Low key but lovely!

Celebrated a lot! My best friend and I have birthdays 8 weeks apart. So we decided to do one thing each month in our birthday year. This included theatre, comedy gigs, seeing Lionel Ritchie and Pete Tong (2 different months!) ., alpaca trekking, a day trip to the seaside with no children, the hotel choclat experience on the London Eye where we got very drunk as one of only 4 people drinking in a pod of 20 and trips to Rome and Paris. Definitely made the most of turning 40! Now saving for the next one 😱

Hired a bar and had a big party joint with three close friends.

Just last year for me. I just went out for a couple of meals. First one with some friends, the second with family. I struggled a bit with it so I didn't really want any fuss. It turned out to be my last birthday with DM so I'm glad it was just a small family meal and we could all have a nice time.

For DPs 40th we went to New York. It was the last summer before COVID was a thing so it was good timing. DM looked after DS because he was a bit too young and we had a great time.

I went to London, saw a play and stayed in a nice hotel.

My 30th was spent on a harley in Western Australia.

My 50th I went to Adam's, a michelin starred restaurant in Birmingham.