Lockdown birthday ideas
July 11, 2020 6:51 AM Subscribe
I have a milestone birthday coming up. Due to lockdown restrictions in my city, my original plans are no longer an option. What should I do to celebrate instead?
Current restrictions mean that I am unable to leave my home for anything other than essentials (grocery shopping, takeaway), medical care and exercise. Additional factors: it will be a weekday, my housemate will be working from home, it is winter and rainy.
Given these constraints, how should I celebrate my birthday and make it special? Assume I have some money to spend on this (both objects and experiences).
Things that I have thought of so far:
- Zoom with friends
- Reading a new book
- Watching a new tv show / movie
- Breakfast in bed
- Going for a long bicycle ride or walk
What I would have done in the before times:
- Had a few close friends over for a boozy dinner
- Gone hiking and camping with friends
- Gotten a massage and taken a nice long bath
Current restrictions mean that I am unable to leave my home for anything other than essentials (grocery shopping, takeaway), medical care and exercise. Additional factors: it will be a weekday, my housemate will be working from home, it is winter and rainy.
Given these constraints, how should I celebrate my birthday and make it special? Assume I have some money to spend on this (both objects and experiences).
Things that I have thought of so far:
- Zoom with friends
- Reading a new book
- Watching a new tv show / movie
- Breakfast in bed
- Going for a long bicycle ride or walk
What I would have done in the before times:
- Had a few close friends over for a boozy dinner
- Gone hiking and camping with friends
- Gotten a massage and taken a nice long bath
I had a significant birthday in self-quarantine. I asked friends and social media 'friends' to share a favorite dance tune on youtube video. I made a big list and danced as much as I could.
Make every meal really good. Doesn't have to be extravagant, just tasty, not too unhealthy, not junk. You are laying the groundwork for future you. Wear something celebratory. Cake and ice cream, festive beverages.
You are safe, alive, and well in a terrible time. You are not entirely alone. Yay!
posted by theora55 at 7:20 AM on July 11, 2020 [2 favorites]
Make every meal really good. Doesn't have to be extravagant, just tasty, not too unhealthy, not junk. You are laying the groundwork for future you. Wear something celebratory. Cake and ice cream, festive beverages.
You are safe, alive, and well in a terrible time. You are not entirely alone. Yay!
posted by theora55 at 7:20 AM on July 11, 2020 [2 favorites]
I'm making a separate comment because I want to comment on another area of "restriction" in your post - the date and timing.
Birthdays mean different things to different people, but in my family, you don't NEED to celebrate on the specific day of your birthday. Most times, the party is the weekend before or the weekend after. You can have a little countdown on the actual day, but really, the celebration is when you make it.
But also, birthdays are arbitrary - I personally celebrate milestones outside of years, including (but not limited to) my 10,000th day, my billionth second, and my 1500th week.
posted by bbqturtle at 7:25 AM on July 11, 2020 [3 favorites]
Birthdays mean different things to different people, but in my family, you don't NEED to celebrate on the specific day of your birthday. Most times, the party is the weekend before or the weekend after. You can have a little countdown on the actual day, but really, the celebration is when you make it.
But also, birthdays are arbitrary - I personally celebrate milestones outside of years, including (but not limited to) my 10,000th day, my billionth second, and my 1500th week.
posted by bbqturtle at 7:25 AM on July 11, 2020 [3 favorites]
Online shopping binge?
If you like baths and you have a bit of lead time, you could buy a nice supply of bath bombs and bath salts online. A new book, bath goodies and a nice glass of fancy booze (a cocktail) in the bath sounds like a good way to spend a birthday evening. Maybe some nice new cozy PJ's to get into afterwards, or new fuzzy sheets. You can buy it all online.
BBQturtle and others, according to the poster's bio they are in a city that has the strictest possible quarantine right now. They are not, in fact, allowed to have any visitors at all, or to leave the inner city boundaries. Depending on what part of the city they are in they may have police at their literal doorstep enforcing this. Residents of some buildings are not permitted to leave even for groceries, although from what the poster says it does not sound like they are in those buildings.
posted by lollusc at 7:55 AM on July 11, 2020 [6 favorites]
If you like baths and you have a bit of lead time, you could buy a nice supply of bath bombs and bath salts online. A new book, bath goodies and a nice glass of fancy booze (a cocktail) in the bath sounds like a good way to spend a birthday evening. Maybe some nice new cozy PJ's to get into afterwards, or new fuzzy sheets. You can buy it all online.
BBQturtle and others, according to the poster's bio they are in a city that has the strictest possible quarantine right now. They are not, in fact, allowed to have any visitors at all, or to leave the inner city boundaries. Depending on what part of the city they are in they may have police at their literal doorstep enforcing this. Residents of some buildings are not permitted to leave even for groceries, although from what the poster says it does not sound like they are in those buildings.
posted by lollusc at 7:55 AM on July 11, 2020 [6 favorites]
I would get friends together to watch a movie over a screensharing app. Pick either an old favorite that everyone will want to talk about or something new that you're excited to see. Whether you want to use an app that does video chat or text chat is up to you--I prefer text so people aren't afraid to talk over the movie, but it depends on your friends.
posted by gideonfrog at 8:13 AM on July 11, 2020
posted by gideonfrog at 8:13 AM on July 11, 2020
Response by poster: Apologies, I should have made that part clearer in my question - I am indeed in a city where no one is allowed to have visitors at all, or to leave the inner city.
posted by goodnight at 8:13 AM on July 11, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by goodnight at 8:13 AM on July 11, 2020 [3 favorites]
I have a birthday coming up and so I have been dragon hoarding nice food stuffs/books/movies so that I can pick and choose from a bunch of good options when the day comes. I am making sure I have ingredients for peanut butter brownies in case I am in a cooking mood, but I also have nice chocolates in case I just want to eat those while reading. I am also going to try and schedule Zoom/FaceTime calls with family and maybe friends.
I am also trying to prepare myself for the fact that I may, despite all the prep, feel a bit low when the day comes—days that are supposed to be fun and special are sometimes disappointing even in normal times and these are not normal times. But the nice things might still be things that help and/or that I will enjoy in future days.
posted by pie_seven at 8:16 AM on July 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
I am also trying to prepare myself for the fact that I may, despite all the prep, feel a bit low when the day comes—days that are supposed to be fun and special are sometimes disappointing even in normal times and these are not normal times. But the nice things might still be things that help and/or that I will enjoy in future days.
posted by pie_seven at 8:16 AM on July 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
It's okay if you decide to just do you, takeout and a calm day and phone calls with a few people. I had a very minimalist 40th birthday due to quarantine and didn't want the stress of trying something virtual.
About month later I have decided I will throw a party for my 50th.
It felt weird to celebrate so I basically just marked the day with my immediate family and thankfully got a few nice packages.
posted by typecloud at 9:40 AM on July 11, 2020
About month later I have decided I will throw a party for my 50th.
It felt weird to celebrate so I basically just marked the day with my immediate family and thankfully got a few nice packages.
posted by typecloud at 9:40 AM on July 11, 2020
Order yourself flowers if it’s permitted to get those delivered.
You say in the before times you would have had a nice bath, I would still do that! And order a bunch of splurge bath products. If you don’t have towels or a robe that you love, get those as a gift to yourself. (If you’re no longer in a place with a bathtub, this portable/collapsible bathtub has good reviews on Amazon.)
Get yourself new, nice pajamas to wear and pick out a special outfit to wear during the day even if you’re not leaving the house.
Bake a cake or cupcakes. It will still feel festive even if you’re doing it yourself.
posted by sallybrown at 11:23 AM on July 11, 2020
You say in the before times you would have had a nice bath, I would still do that! And order a bunch of splurge bath products. If you don’t have towels or a robe that you love, get those as a gift to yourself. (If you’re no longer in a place with a bathtub, this portable/collapsible bathtub has good reviews on Amazon.)
Get yourself new, nice pajamas to wear and pick out a special outfit to wear during the day even if you’re not leaving the house.
Bake a cake or cupcakes. It will still feel festive even if you’re doing it yourself.
posted by sallybrown at 11:23 AM on July 11, 2020
I like getting a fancy cupcake/dessert item (for one). Having a whole cake seems like a good idea but then it just makes me sad after. Cupcakes don’t have this same problem.
posted by raccoon409 at 4:51 PM on July 11, 2020
posted by raccoon409 at 4:51 PM on July 11, 2020
I did about what pie_seven did: bought myself my own presents weeks in advance so I had them on hand to open on the day. Chatted with some folks on Zoom during lunch. Played games with people online. I had good food and cake already saved on hand in the freezer.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:42 PM on July 11, 2020
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:42 PM on July 11, 2020
Response by poster: Thanks for the ideas everyone - I think I'll be treating myself to a few gifts (things that I would normally consider splurges), getting takeaway from my favourite cafes, reading, and starting a little DIY project :)
posted by goodnight at 8:34 PM on July 11, 2020
posted by goodnight at 8:34 PM on July 11, 2020
I had a significant birthday in the early part of lockdown in New York, and I did a table read of a favorite play over Zoom with friends. That specific activity may not appeal to you, but the thought process was "I wouldn't normally make people devote two hours of their lives to my pet thing, but I can get people to indulge me in this specific instance." I think your ideas about self-indulging are great but don't sleep on the fact that other people are going to be amenable to indulging you too.
posted by babelfish at 9:10 PM on July 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by babelfish at 9:10 PM on July 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
If there are any walks you're allowed to do that would be a treat, do those. For me, doing either the longish walk to where there's a good view of the water or driving five minutes to where there's a nice foresty park are treats that can mostly work as long as exercise is allowed. (The first I've been doing whenever I'm up for a longer walk, the second I only did for my birthday because driving to parks is discouraged where I am.) Even going in a different direction than usual could be nice for the change. (I quite enjoyed doing that recently though my daughter was less than impressed at the surprise hill on our route.) Happy birthday!
posted by Margalo Epps at 7:54 PM on July 12, 2020
posted by Margalo Epps at 7:54 PM on July 12, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
No matter your countries or areas restrictions, you can still have a few close friends over for a boozy dinner. Or at least your housemate. I recommend you pick up some fancy steaks / whatever food you can to treat yourself and make it happen. Ask your housemate to treat it like a nice restaurant, but of course, spiff up and help yourself as well.
Going hiking is exercise - you could even go hiking with people you know. I know many, many people are camping, and dispersed camping is still allowed almost everywhere. So I think that trip is more permissable than you'd otherwise consider. If you're in the USA, most state/national parks are still open and allow dispersed camping.
That bath is still definitely an option.
You could check in to a local hotel with jacuzzi suite, make a fancy bath, watch some hotel tv, and treat yourself that way.
posted by bbqturtle at 7:04 AM on July 11, 2020