birthday countdown

My oldest daughter turned 18 last week!  The celebrating began earlier than usual for this milestone birthday.  I thought it might be fun to have a countdown leading up to the big day, so she was given a gift each day for eighteen days.

I added a few “twists” to the eighteen days of gift giving.  Each gift consisted of eighteen of one item, and I attached pictures from previous birthday celebrations as the gift tag which served as a reminder of how many days until she turned 18.

It all started with 18 miniature chocolate bars that were given to her 17 days before her birthday…

16 days until her birthday…18 hairclips

15 days until her birthday…18 Vineyard Vines stickers (one of her favorite stores, and YES they were free) inside a fun change purse

14 days until her birthday…18 pieces of Bit O’ Honey (a favorite candy)

13 days until her birthday…18 macarons from a NYC bakery (The overnight shipping cost made up for the free Vineyard Vines stickers!)

12 days until her birthday…18 pairs of earrings (fashion jewelry from H&M)

11 days until her birthday…18 packs of her favorite gum (should last her entire senior year of high school)

10 days until her birthday…18 mechanical pencils (She said these would last THROUGH college!)

9 days until her birthday…18 Mr. Freeze (our local ice cream place) dollars inside another change purse from Bloomingdales

8 days until her birthday…18 Dylan’s Candy Bar stickers (more freebies) inside a Sloane Ranger accessory bag

7 days until her birthday…a gift card to Biggby Coffee for (you guessed it) $18

6 days until her birthday…18 pink and white roses

5 days until her birthday…a gift card to Chipotle for $18

4 days until her birthday…18 fancy paper clips

3 days until her birthday…18 lottery tickets (she will be legal to purchase her own in THREE more days) inside a glam makeup bag

2 days until her birthday…18 candy cigarettes (Now I am in NO way condoning smoking, but I thought this would be fun since she would be legal to purchase the real thing in two more days.)

1 day until the BIG 18th birthday…I delivered 18 balloons to her school (The original plan was to tie them to her car in the school parking lot just before she left at lunchtime.  However, it was 90 degrees that day and I was afraid they would pop or melt.  Instead, I delivered them to her last class of the day for a fun surprise.  Thank you to her yearbook teacher for her help with that one!)

Now if you are keeping track, that is ONLY 17 gifts.  On her actual birthday, I surprised her with 18 mini red velvet cupcakes (another favorite) while she was at lunch with some friends.

SURPRISE!

I hope she enjoyed the countdown as much as I enjoyed putting it all together for her.  I still can’t believe she’s 18 years old…I feel like I was JUST waiting for her to be born!  She said she liked the macarons the best, and she laughed at the paper clips and pencils…they will come in handy, though.  I think her favorite part was the pictures that I included with each gift…it was a stroll down memory lane as we reflected on past birthday celebrations.

Happy 18th birthday to A!