XANTHE - a message for you

[Rhiannon]

Things a girl might like for her 40th birthday. Possibilities include:

A piece of china maybe Wedgewood or Aynsley
Book about 50 years of the Queen's reign
Picnic blanket and picnic set
Silver photo frame

Xanthe, unless you have any ideas to add, what do you think? Whip round about £25.

Sorry this is so unsubtle!!!!!!! A.

Rhiannon

I'm blushing with embarrassment as I type this, but IMO a young lady approaching the prime of life would very much appreciate something to give her the illusion of still being youthful ie a picnic blanket (if possible like the one Jill has) or a small rucksack to put picnic in, so that she can keep fit by dragging her family off for long country walks, OS map in hand, trying not to get lost.

It was my 40th two days ago, and my DH has arranged a weekend away without the kids, which is great. He also gave me two parcels, one with a copy of The Lady, anti-wrinkle cream, big Bridget Jones knickers and some multi-vitamins. The other one had Glamour magazine, slappers-red Chanel lipstick, black lacy underwear and a sachet of Resolve for hangovers!

At my party, six couples clubbed together to buy me a voucher for my favourite but viciously expensive jewellry designer, others bought me a gorgeous John Rocha bag, Molton Brown smellies and John Bayley's memoir of Iris Murdoch.

Fantastic birthday, loved every minute of it (including freezing to death on the football field watching DS let a few goals in).

Forty is fine so far!!!

Bee, what a brilliantly thought out prezzie from your husband. Really fun idea.

Xanthe, marvellous, was veering off towards to book! Your wish is my command. A/R

I was thinking of adding to this thread, but it seems like there is a private thread going on between Rhiannon and Xanthe. If you know each other, why not pick up the phone rather than excluding others ?

Please don't think this is a "private" thread - after all it's very public! It's just a bit of fun, as I've only just started posting on Mumsnet, so please be nice to me.

Seriously though, I do think 40 is quite a "milestone" and would be interested to hear what other imaginative gifts other people received or ways you have celebrated.

Dh who is also 40 this year is in denial and can't bear to think about it. I wonder if this is common among men. As far as I'm concerned 40 can hardly be classed as middle aged these days as we generally live so much longer. Also I feel more confident at 40 than I did at 30 and am proud of my "achievements" - dh and two wonderful (most of the time) ds's!

Still I'm not letting dh bury his head in the sand entirely and am insisting we celebrate with a family gathering in the summer between our birthdays. We normally only have large gatherings at Christmas when we see umpteen relatives in the spacre of a couple of days, so I thought it would be nice to get together in the warmer weather.

I had assumed that this was an open conversation, but I can see that it appeared a bit private.

Anyway - Xanthe, have a good birthday, and let's have some other ideas from Mumsnetters.

One of my friends got a group together and they all went to one of those places where you paint a piece of pottery (in this case they all signed their names on a plate), then the shop fires it for you and you pick it up a few days later.

Picard, if it was a private conversation, I would have phoned wouldn't I? Please feel free to join in. R