My best friend's husband is throwing her a surprise birthday party for her 40th birthday this Friday. Money is tight here, but what would be a good idea for a present? She has a beautiful home, and shops like crazy. So what is something thoughtful that I could give her? Any help would be appreciated! TIA!!!

Is the gag gift route out of the question?

You mention a beautiful home and shops like crazy, does she do things for herself? Perhaps a certificate for a manicure or a pedicure and you will accompany her?

If she is a good friend and you have access to photos,etc, perhaps a scrapbook of her "first 40 years"?

cj/

ETA: More magazine (MORE - MORE Magazine ) is targeted at women over 40 (and how terrific they are! ) - I love this magazine. Maybe a subscription? 2 years for $20

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

I like CJ's scrapbook idea - if you can access the pictures via your friend's husband, you could whip one up in the amount of time you have. Not very expensive - or it doesn't have to be - depending on how much scrap supplies you might have/borrow. You might want to have access to a scanner so you can scan the pictures and give them back.

What I did for my sister's 40th was along the same lines, but without the photos: I emailed our parents, my other sisters, brother, and her good friends. I asked them to submit a paragraph describing their favorite thing about her. As each response came to me via email, I just changed the font to make it attractive, and printed it on pretty paper, and put it into a scrapbook (aka memory book) that I got cheaply at A.C. Moore.

Some people were funny, some responses were serious and very touching - all of them created a GREAT book!

That was almost 3 years ago - she still keeps it out on her coffeetable!!

Devinmom - what an awesome idea to capture people's thoughts for the birthday girl like that! You rock!

I had another thought - maybe get a picture of your friend as an infant or toddler and a current photo. Use a two-window mat with a very wide border and set it up at the party so that people can sign with their best wishes. (Kinda like the wedding photo thing that people do...)

There is also a bottle of wine and/or anything else that gets better with age....and attach a tag with that sentiment.

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

I was thinking of some sort of flashback theme? Here's a good website for the 60's that maybe you could use even in the scrapbook idea? Like have the song of the year, what the prices of gas and milk or something were. The price of a house was about $26,000. I bought my sister a card with this theme and we had a lot of fun reading what happened the year she was born.

1960s Flashback-Economy / Prices****

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

This may work if she has a good sense of humor. It's what I did for my best friend on her 40th. Get a nice lined basket (use a Michael's 40% off coupon). Then, fill it it with common everyday items or some hobby items they might like, but use with a twist. Wrap everything, then attach a note to each little gift. These are some examples:

Box of tissues: 'Sweater accessory'
Dental floss: 'Floss'em if you got'em!'
Her favorite foundation: 'Crack and dent repair'
Artist supplies: 'For your inner child'
Aspirin/pain reliever: "Daily vitamin"

She really enjoyed it. DH and I had an absolute blast coming up with ideas for the descriptions on each gift.

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I want to keep ALL of my paycheck and eliminate the pyramid scheme known as Social Security (there is no lockbox ). Do you want the same thing? www.fairtax.org

I remember when I turned 40 and my friend got me a nice bottle of wine, a candle, and bubble bath. It was a pleasure to kick back in a bubbly tub with my glass of wine by candle light.