I want to start this off by saying that I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe. My thoughts and prayers are with anyone struggling during this challenging time.
It looks like we are all staying in our homes a bit longer than maybe we hoped, so I thought it would be fun to share some birthday celebration ideas for those with upcoming birthdays!
I recently celebrated my 23rd birthday while social isolating. The few days leading up I was really bummed, because obviously this is not how I pictured celebrating with my friends and family, but it actually ended up being a great birthday using some of these fun ideas!
1.) Get Take-out From Your Favorite Local Restaurant
Whether it’s Mexican, Italian, or Asian, there is probably a local business near you that needs your support. Most restaurants are offering take out options to keep their business open and to provide food for those that are probably sick of cooking the same meal every week. Get your favorite dish (and maybe an extra for leftovers) and enjoy a nice meal! You can even set the table with a tablecloth, wine glasses, and some candles to make it feel a bit more like a restaurant.
2.) Virtual Game Night with Friends
There are tons of games online that you can play with your friends but recently my friends and I have been enjoying playing Cards Against Humanity online. It’s just like the game in real life! Hop on a Zoom video chat with your friends and enjoy the game.
The gaming website had to change the name of the game due to copyright issues but their version is the same! You can play here.
3.) Build Yourself a Birthday Present Box!
My friend sent me this for my birthday and it was so cute that I just had to share! This website allows you to build a cute box of fun gifts! You can pick the design on your box and fill it with things like candles, snacks, socks and more. Then you can choose a card, type a note, and someone from the team will hand write the note for you! This is a great gift for anyone, but especially if you’re looking to cheer yourself up on your birthday! You can build a box here.
4.) Host a Zoom Surprise Party!
Ok, this would be kind of hard to keep it a surprise if it’s YOUR birthday, but if you know of someone else’s birthday coming up this is such a fun idea! Invite friends and family to join a Zoom call at a set time but make sure they don’t tell the person who’s birthday it is. Plan a Zoom call with the person who’s birthday it is for just a few minutes after everyone else joins the call. (Ex. tell the family to join the call at 4pm and tell the birthday person the call is at 4:15pm). They’ll think they’re just having a 1:1 chat with a friend, but when they join the call all of their friends and family will be there ready to celebrate from the safety of their homes!
5.) Have a Movie Night with Friends!
I’m sure you’ve heard of it by now, but just in case… there is a google chrome extension called Netflix Party that allows you to chat with your friends while watching any show or movie on Netflix in sync with each other. Have the person celebrating their birthday pick their favorite movie or show, grab a glass of wine, and enjoy a nice movie night! You can go here to learn how to install and use the extension (it takes 2 seconds).
Have a happy happy birthday and stay safe!