Colognes, perfumes, chocolate, flowers…these have been gifted so many times , they are usually expected. So how can you sweep your significant other off their feet AND do something new?

#1. Order a personalized novel starring
both of you as main characters

I decided I wanted to send my husband something that told our story, and that we could look back on. But I wasn’t in the mood to handcraft anything or hassle with shipping and posting. So I went looking online for custom, personalized gifts. Keychains and glass engravings aside, I finally found the perfect thing at www.bookbyyou.com! We were both into the older periods of history, so I chose the one titled, Medieval Passion, though there are many other titles. The re are many different genres one can choose from on the website, whether you want the story to be realistic to your current life or the farthest from it. The idea was great, and every so often, we will pull it from our bookshelf and read a few pages and mostly remember the good o l‘days. However, since I‘m more of the avid reader, I end up having to read it aloud. This gift is great for anyon e who loves to read, or if you love seeing your name in print and don’t mind reading aloud every night until you finish the novel.

#2. Act out a Fantasy

In the same way, my husband found that sending things is often way more exciting for the receiver. He knew that I often wished a letter in a bottle would magically come floating at the exact moment I was standing at the shore of a beach, and so spent hours finding the perfect poem online. Then he customized it by adding in things about me, my name, my favorite scent, whatever the poetry required. And then he found a website that allowed people to customize a message on parchment paper and the company would take care of rolling it up and fitting it into the bottle and shipping it. My box arrived with a note in a bottle, and a wooden case for the bottle that was designed with a world map. It’s very cool looking actually, any how, I was so excited to see what he had written to me that I did not have the patience to figure out the tools to get the cork open w ith (I don’t drink, therefore I had never invested in acork screw opener ). I took the bottle and smashed it against the pavement outside and grabbed the folded yellow note within . Although I regret breaking the bottle, I love how that lovely love letter lingers above my desk in my office where I can continually see it and remember.

#3. Gift an Experience

For his 29th birthday, I presented my gift to my husband through a slideshow. At the very last slide, I put a picture of a plane and then some text explaining that I had bought him a2-hour flying lesson gift certificate to be redeemed at a nearby flying school whenerer he wished. It was a very cold November and though he was ecstatic about being gifted an experience, he thought it best to save it until Springtime.This put the idea into his head that experiences were really an amazing gift idea and he bought me a spa package at an organic spa in downtown Toronto, two birthdays ago. I’ll never forget that oxygen facial. Or how I looked afterwards. 

#4. Encourage his/her hobby

My husband loves cooking. If he weren’t in the automotive industry, he would be a desi Bobby Flay. Actually, he loves cooking meat and seafood and by cooking, I mean, grilling or bbq-ing. Even though we don’t have a bbq, he sets his butcher-cut rib eye steaks in a bowl of smoky marinade, then strategically place it on the grill in the oven and makes his own dinner. Or he’ll grill the perfectly done salmon, not too pink and not so flaky and overcooked that it’s falling to pies. of course, I make the lemon butter sauce; he doesnt have the patience for sauces. Anyway, in order to hype up the anticipation for spring and summe, I ordered a personalized apron for him. It says, “Ameer, Master of the Grill” with a cute picture of a bbq in red and black. Then I folded it up and put it into a basket along with a basting brush, chicken wing recipe cookbook, a Bobby Flay gourmet bbq cookbook and 2 chicken wings seasoning mixes, and arranged all the items in an aesthetic manner. The boy thought all he was getting was another dress shirt and tie to match, but he was so relieved and surprised to find something he could actually use! He is still waiting on his super-macho new bbq to arrive before using the rest of the stuff, but the basket has definitely inspired him to pursue his hobby more passionately.

#5. Make a Public Display of Affection

For our wedding anniversary, both of us were not in the mood to spend any money on things we didn’t have room for (we still have a lot of boxes waiting to be unpacked) and were hoping to travel to Spain and celebrate our 3 years. Since traveling will al most never be asurprise for my husband (I have to make sure he can take time off from his 24/7 job), I thought I would give him my greetings a different way this year. There were no Hall mark cards that perfectly summed up what I wanted to say anyway. I went through our wedding photos and picked out one that I loved best. Then I went to CP242 breakfast television website and noted the email address to which I could send milestone announcements. I uploaded our photo along with a sweet message and pressed send. They need 2 weeks notice in order to make any announcement, so I lied and said our anniversary was on July 21st. On the day of our anniversary, July7, I wished my husband and told him he would get his gift two weeks from that morning. A fter that, I kept my lips sealed. On the night of July 20th, It old him. I had to, other wise he would n’t set his alarm to wake up at 8am to WATCH the announcement. I was so nervous that they had found out I lied or that we didn’t make the cut to go on TV, that I went online to see what exact minute they usually did milestones, worried that we had some how missed it. At that same instant, I heard Melissa saying, “Happy Anniversary Iqra and Ameer…” and though the announcement only lasted a minute or less, it was SO worth it. I will always recall how Melissa said that she thought it was SO sweet, my message. Ameer went to work and told his co- workers who were very interested in doing something similar. For those of you who live in Toronto, I highly recommend this. You can do this for your significant other, for a family member or even your kids. Don’t worry about recording it, a ll milestone clips are posted online on CP24‘s website, and I believeare available for downloading. For those of you who live in different cities, check your local News station’s website for information on whether they have a similar opportunity.

Author: Iqra Azhar