I like the things.
I like the pretty things that are made by hand or bought at the store or are cheap or are expensive. Things are nice. I like to amass them and touch them and get all Gollum-y with them.
But then I forget about the things. When we lived in Korea, we bought lots of things. Namely, DVDs. Impromptu DVD stores would open up in vacant storefronts and B and I would buy so many that we we could barely carry them home. We would carry copies of Love, Actually and Full Metal Jacket between our teeth as we lumbered back to our apartment. When it was time to leave Korea, we put our hundreds of DVDs on a boat and shipped them back to the US.
Half of our hundreds of DVDs never made the trip. We had been back in the US for a couple months when we got a letter from the USPS saying that a remnant of the box was found on a freight carrier and could we please describe the contents of the box? Erm, hundreds of DVDs? Possibly pirated?
Some of the ones that made it over
You can’t take the DVDs with you, but you can remember the tiny storefronts that would open and shill an entire shipping container of pirated DVDs in the span of a day. You remember how you wanted to kill your husband that day because *once again* he didn’t rinse off his breakfast plate, but somehow bonding over your mutual love of Charlie Chaplin in a non-air conditioned store made you remember that your love was stronger than a congealed egg yolk.
We like the things, but the experiences are what we take with us. My mom always told me this when I was growing up and Mother’s Day and her birthday rolled around, and I’d be like fhjhgkjhkdlsahgdkjfgkjd I want to buy you the thiiiiiings!!! She’d kindly reply that things are nice but she just wanted a guaranteed moment when she could be with us.
It’s all true! I hate admitting that my mom was right (I enjoy deluding myself into believing that I am the smartest of all the people and I need no help…lulz), but those moments of bonding are what you take with you. They don’t get lost in a freighter because you chose the cheapest packing tape available.
It’s more of a lesson for me than for B that occasions should be celebrating with doing rather than getting. He’s a Spartan guy who just wants time with his best girl Wee Cee (and maybe some fancy teas and Alexander McQueen underpants. I can’t even.) The perfect gift for his second Father’s Day is a custom love coupon book from Datevitation that I made for him online, filled with outings and dates he can cash in for special C time. I picked from over 350 dates and activities for them to enjoy together, and I customized the text to include inside jokes and stuff that we imagine C to be saying. Once I was done making the book on Datevitation’s website, they printed it out in the good ol’ US of A and shipped it to me.
Datevitation is a family business committed to helping couples treasure the small (and big) moments of their lives. The illustrations in their books are completely customizable for any pairing: you can make a coupon book for your parent, your kid, your best friend, or your romantic partner. Books start at $20 so it makes for a thoughtful yet economical gift.
HOWEVS, since the lovely folks at Datevitation are so groovy, they are offering a special discount for you guys! Use the code WAITINGBLOG for $10 off your purchase in May or June. That means you can get a one-of-a-kind gift for Father’s Day (or any occasion) starting at $10! (True story: I spent $7 on a greeting card for B’s birthday last week. Let that sink in a little. SEVEN DOLLARS PLUS TAX for a piece of cardboard that I wasn’t even wild about. Datevitation books are an excellent alternative to overpriced greeting cards filled with words that are not your own.)
The order cut-off date for guaranteed delivery by Father’s Day is June 6 so make sure to get your order in before then.
Oh oh oh! That’s not all! One of you is going to win your very own customizable Datevitation custom love coupon book! Oh yeah! Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway by clicking here.
What is the best activity-gift someone has ever given you?
The Waiting 
My husband took me hiking for Mother’s Day. It was without the kids, but it still counts.
My favorite thing I did for him was when we revisited our honeymoon location a couple of years later, I secretly arranged a carriage ride for him by the most iconic and charismatic driver there. It was awesome!
I would live to go hiking. You guys certainly live in a beautiful place to do that.
Paint balling for sure! That couple looks so sinister and in love!
Can you believe I’ve never paint balled? I need to get on that before I’m old and gray.
This is awesome. What a great idea!! So personal, and so much cooler than that $7+tax card… sweet!
I like the camping illustration, it’s pretty nifty. Reminds me of when I was a kid, how we would gather around the campfire with our marshmallow sticks. I hated the cold, I hated the fact that I smelled like campfire smoke until my clothes were washed, I hated the bugs – but I loved sitting around the campfire.
Cool giveaway!
It is a really cool gift idea for sure. Very good quality too! I am so tired of buying junk made overseas that ends up breaking, so their product is a terrific alternative.
I used to go camping a lot too when I was a kid. We always went to a fishing camp so instead of smelling like smoke we smelled like fish. YUM.
This is awesome! I love love loved it, and I can’t even imagine all the funny things that are in his little book! :)
I will show it to you next time we Skype ;D
$7+ for a card?! That’s nutts. I wont spend any more than £2 on a card; i’d rather make my own ones :)
The little books look awesome though; great idea!!
Pound signs are so much sexier than dollar signs ;D
This is very cool. If I didn’t totally hate my dad right now I would do this for surez. I love things too, but I also love having no things. I have to do a clean out every couple of months because I get overwhelmed with clothes and knicknacks.
I’m going to enter the contest just for shits and gigs though! How did you hook up this promo? So cool!
You can make a coupon book for anyone! They have a bajillion options for moms too (and your mom is awesome so…..)
I pretty much just threw away a food processor today because I’m so sick of C getting it out and trying to put the plug in her mouth. I’m a good mom. ;D
Those are seriously cute! I totally feel you on the $7 card thing. I hate how expensive cards have gotten. I know that sounds like such a first world problem thing to bitch about, but it’s the truth. It’s like, “I have $20 to spend on a gift for this person. I can get them…a greeting card and a Snickers.”
Which is not a bad gift! But I know what you mean ;D
My husband took me to paint pottery on our first date. It was the best date ever. Then, we never went back to get our mugs. I was so sad when we actually became a couple, so he took me 1 yr later to make another. I love to drink my coffee out of that mug. It’s still technically a thing, I guess, but the memory that goes with it is priceless.
Oh…and I am loving that coupon book. I will have one, whether it be free or $10. I love coupon codes.
This is definitely worth every cent. I love ours! This is indeed a very very decent coupon code.
It is insane the amount of nostalgia I attach to all each of the coffee mugs we have. I made B one with a Banksy picture on it (I sent away to have it done, but still…) and it makes me so happy.
[…] ← Previous […]
That coupon book looks awesome, what a great idea! Too bad I live in Canada :-(
Love this idea Emily! I’ve made little books like this, for years… but the idea of having someone else make it for me, is even better! Sweetness, in a few clicks. I too have a “problem” with things. Too many of them piled up in my “office” (read hoarder’s den). But, we muscle on, oui? Wee?
That’s really what I liked about it too. You can spend a a little time making it or a lot and it still ends up looking great ;D Be sure to enter the giveaway because the entry count is still pretty low so you have a great chance at winning!