21 FUN SALUTE

I am a newlywed, who has been married for almost five months of bliss. I'm still mentally in bride mode, with all the intentions of sex and romance, but wife and work mode can't seem to get it together to execute the goal plan. 

My precious husband and I are each close to 60 years old, we both work full time, and it seems to be a challenge to do fun things because our Mondays off together, lately, have been filled with errands, chores, naps, appointments and the reality of a busy life!  It's exhausting at times to be a responsible adult.

I wanted to do something memorable and special to remind Mike that I fall in love with him a little more each day. I will share my ideas, and you can adapt them to suit whomever you want to spoil in your life. 

I called my plan 21 FUN SALUTE because my precious hubs is an army veteran & because I like puns. We had 21 days in our house while my angelic bonus son, Jackson, was visiting his perfect sister and amazing brother-in-law in Virginia. 

Each day, I gave Mike a greeting card, and a surprise. I wrote little love letters to go along with the theme of the daily gift. He not only loved it, but he works from home, and his coworkers started asking in conference calls, or emais "what did she get for you today?" 

I would like to think I am the coolest wife among his work team members. I haven't asked, I won't be issuing a challenge to the other wiveshere hasn't been any confirmation, so I will just assume I reign as the coolest wife. 

On some days, the gifts were tiny, like a snack he likes to eat during work at his desk. Snacks score MAJOR points with him. I imagine the entire male species, is always up for a snack, and that includes the urban dictionary definition of "snack" too.  On other days, a few of the surprises were pretty spectacular, if I do say so myself. Here's what I came up with.

Day 1 Gone Fishing Coffee Mug. He loves fishing. He hasn't done it in a long while, and I want to encourage him to do more of what makes him happy. 

Day 2 Salted Caramel Macarons. I purchased them at Marshalls Home Goods.

Day 3 I informed him that I booked 2 nights in September for us at Getaway House in Wimberley, Texas. We love Getaway House. This will be our fourth visit to a Getaway outpost, second visit to the Wimberley location. My bucket list is to visit all of their properties in America. Should you want a $25 off discount code, contact me! Check them out at getawayhouse.com, or take a gander in some of my old Instagram posts when we visited. @kimberleigh.coyne on the Gram. 

Day 4 was a lottery scratch off, and I told him I hit the jackpot when I married him!

Day 5 I informed him that we both will have our cars detailed in our driveway on an upcoming date, by the owner of 5 Star Gem Auto Detailing. I will write a review about the exemplary service. This will be the second time 5 Star Gem Auto Detailing works on Mike's car and the first time I will treat Midas to a spa day. Midas is my car's name, btw. The owner/detailing expert is Christopher, and his cell iis 832-885-1467. Tell him I referred you.

Day 6 $10 Chick-fil-A gift card

Day 7 I hosted a steak night at home for the 2 of us with juicy cuts of meat I purchased at Trader Joe's. 

Day 8 he got a delivery of a mixed dozen Tiff's Treats cookies. For future reference, I won't include Oatmeal Raisin. My precious husband dislikes  all fruit, which, apparently includes raisins. I had zero issue with eating the two oatmeal raisin cookies. He took care of the remaining 10 varieties. We are an excellent team. 

Day 9 I  informed him I requested a Sunday off from work, on October ninth, so we could do an overnight trip to Fredericksburg, Texas. It will be my first visit there! 

Day 10 Well, he has my "hole" heart and I do-NUT want to do life without him, so I gave him a half dozen sour cream donuts from Trader Joe's, which I know he loves. I do, as well! Win-win!

Day 11 $20 Starbucks gift card 

Day 12 It was a Saturday, and informed him I had taken the next day off, so we could have TWO days off in a row together. He was happy about that. I love spending time with Mr. Skilton. 

Day 13 I treated him to a movie date night, and we saw Bullet Train in a VIP theater at Bender's Landing Regal Cinemas in Spring, Texas. Once you experience the VIP theater, you won't want to see movies in any other kind of theater. I am now totally ruined, I'm "Team VIP or Nothing!" All you can eat popcorn, soft serve vanilla ice cream and sodas are inclusive in VIP theaters. My bonus son and I saw Lightyear in the VIP theater, and I got hooked. They don't serve kool-aid, but I totally drank the VIP Kool-aid, if you get what I am saying. 

Day 14 I informed him I will make a customized Charcuterie board for him, with all his requests.  This idea was given to me by my bonus daughter. Sidenote: my precious husband calls it a "Chattahoochee Board," because he is the poster child for Dad Humor. If you could see me as I write this, I am shaking my head "no," and rolling my eyes.  

Day 15 teriyaki turkey jerky from Trader Joe's. He adores it! 

Day 16 peanuts from Trader Joe's for snacking during his work day. No shells on the peanuts. I am a full service wife. Actually the peanuts come unshelled in the bag, so the only service I provided was purchase and delivery. 

Day 17 I introduced him to my Crumbl Cookies obsession, and I purchased 6 treats for us to try. I ate most of them, though. I confess to that fact. I wrote a blog entry about my cookie reviews called "Let's Get Ready to Crumbl!" I hope you enjoy reading it, because I most certainly enjoyed feeding my face with Crumbl cookies in order to do the research. P.S. there is a "cult" of almost 70,000 Crumbl Cookie reviewers in the Facebook group "Let the Cookies Crumbl." I may or may not be a group member. "I don't know" says the author as she dusts cookie crumbs off of her shirt. So, ummm, yeah, IDK, maybe. 

Day 18 I informed him I bought 2 tickets to the Lone Star Flight Museum for us to go explore. We will go on a Monday soon. FYI, LSFM is open 10-5 on Mondays.

Day 19 I informed him I bought tickets to ZZ Top for us and I invited my daddy. He and my dad are huge bros, so I wasn't sure if he was more excited that we had seats for ZZ Top or because my dad will be going with us. ZZTop will perform at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Sunday September 25th. Doors open at 6pm and you can buy your tickets on the Live Nation app. 

Day 20 I brought a Chantilly Vanilla Sheet cake from Trader Joe's home for him. We both love that cake, as does our dog, Bagel. Obviously, I frequently got snacks at TJ's for this 21 FUN SALUTE,  which is ultra convenient, being that I work there!

Day 21 I made a nice dinner for him at our place and we had a picnic in our bed, watching movies. 

Our daughter reads this blog and I don't want to get a text from her saying "TMI!" but I will coyly mention I threw in a few days at home with little to no clothing on while we were the only 2 humans in the house to spice things up a bit. I also purchased two ensembles of  "vacation lingerie" to be premiered on our upcoming retreats to Wimberley and Fredericksburg. The 21 FUN SALUTE will trickle into September and October. At least two outfits will.  

Customize this gifting idea for your favorite human or for someone who you want to remind how treasures and loved they are! I had a blast planning it.