Every year, for those in relationships, there’s that special day that rolls around when guys are sent into a frenzy and girls talk to their girlfriends to compare notes on what they expect their boyfriends/hubbies to do. Yes, it’s that anniversary date. Often dreaded and misunderstood, anniversaries can seem stressful. I know some couples decide to not even celebrate their anniversary due to the fluffiness and the expectations it throws on the relationship. It’s supposed to be romantic, sweet, exciting, sexy, fun, meaningful, and sentimental all at the same time. Basically it’s supposed to be the God of date days (often left to the man to figure out).
Dave and I have been together for 4 years now. We started dating while we were both working in the nightlife industry, which was a nightmare, but we stuck it through and are somehow still not sick of each other. Lots of tears, laughter, and a puppy later, we made it to another milestone.
The way we kind of evolved to see our anniversary over the years was more of a celebration instead of expectations. We laid everything out on the table about what we wanted to do, what our gift budget was, and who’s responsibility it was to organize what.
We normally go dutch on everything. One of us pays for the outing, someone else pays for dinner. Our entire anniversary budget is basically split down the middle. Even our anniversary gifts have to be the exact same price. I know a lot of girls would call me crazy but I think that your anniversary should be about pampering each other if anything. And when your man is running around like a chicken with his head cut off trying to organize everything and get your perfect present, it’s really not so much about the anniversary anymore.
We decided that our anniversary day should be all about having fun together and celebrating what makes us a team. So what did we do?
Fitness Gifts
Dave and I have been on a massive fitness tip recently. I finally got him to join a gym and now he’s addicted beyond belief. Naturally our theme for our anniversary gifts (although unintentional), was fitness based.
I got him this Fitbit scale which is a pretty nifty tracker. It tells you things like BMI, weight, is connected to wifi, and synchs to your Fitbit app. Dave, like most men, is pretty into tech (let’s not get started on video games) so this was a fun new toy for him. He’s also trying to put on weight (which is infuriatingly hard for him) so this is a fun tool to use on the daily for tracking. It’s pretty pricey for a scale, sitting at $150, but we suspect it’ll stay pretty handy for a while.
Dave got me spring workout wardrobe update with the help of Lululemon and Reebok. Normally, I wear all black to the gym, which is ironic because I love color (something Dave actually got me into 4 years back – when you rarely caught me in anything but black). And of course, to stay in suit with tradition, new stackable rings from Pandora were thrown into the mix. Cheese alert: Every band/stackable ring represents a new year we’ve made it together!
Walks to the Museum
When we were just starting to learn more about each other, sorting through problems, setting goals, and all that other relationship building stuff, going for long walks and aimless drives were a mainstay for us. We would kind of go on autopilot and just talk. I think it’s probably one of the biggest reasons why we’re still together today. We just talked… a lot.
We are also culture-fanatics and like visiting art galleries, site-seeing, and museums… and anything to do with the Roman Empire era. So visiting the ROM was a no brainer (when we decided that we would skip a spa-weekend which was our original plan).
It’s weird but it’s almost a turn on looking at exhibits and talking about how cool and intriguing all these pieces of history are. We’re little nerds like that.
Lots of Food
And what’s an anniversary without amazing food. We both are amateur foodies and, specifically, oyster glutens. For lunch, we went to the NY Diner that we had one of our first dates at. We haven’t been there since, so it was cool reminiscing how far we’ve come since then (back when it was still about impressing the other person and thinking about what you said in front of them before saying it).
For dinner, naturally, we opted for oysters, oysters, and more oysters (something we do every anniversary, without fail). They are indeed an aphrodisiac, but we just love oysters in general. I would go as far as to say, it was one of our bonding points. We can easily eat 4 dozen between the two of us, but decided to be modest, so we only did 3 dozen.
And so concluded another celebration of another year together. It’s always so crazy to think about how far you’ve come together – the people you were then and the people you are now. I truly grew up with Dave, I was barely out of high school when we started dating. In general though, you grow in any relationship. You change, you go through ups and down, and you’re each others’ rocks when things get out of control.
As much as sometimes you just want to strangle them, your anniversary has a way of reminding you just how much you love them and that there’s nothing you can’t accomplish with your partner in crime by your side.
What’s your philosophy on an anniversary? What are your go-to celebration traditions?
