birthday or valentines day present ideas for long distance relationships

If you’re new to my site, welcome! If you’ve been on here before, yes this may be déjà vu. That’s because this is a post I already made a few years back, but since I lost everything on my old domain I shall repost here [and edit to stay relevant]!

xx

Long distance relationships may seem like all fun and games until it’s your significant other’s birthday… Then it gets real. Or Valentine’s Day… and it gets realer. And it’s always stressful, you can’t just hastily get a gift at the last minute for these types of relationships, it includes planning and time management. Four years ago I had to get everything in order and take it to the post office two weeks before his birthday, just so it can get on time– and it did! One year I threw everything in a box and scurried to the post office and it shipped in five days! The future! And if you’re lovestruck baboon like I am, you’ll surely know that you’d have to make that present for any holiday extra special to compensate for you not physically sharing it with them.

So a birthday, Valentine’s Day, or Christmas gift or any package in general is unfinished without these:

Letters
Girl, you better handwrite some letters because any package sent across any land without a letter is totally incomplete. They literally just tie the present together, and it’s always nice to read something written from someone you can’t see. There’s just something endearing about it. So write about how you wish him/her a happy birthday or Valentines Day or even talk about your day or just write a bunch of mushy lovey dovey stuff. He/she will appreciate it. I promise you. And to amp up the cheese, my boyfriend and I like to kiss the paper and draw a circle around the spot we kissed. Shhh, I know we’re lame.

Candy
If your man/woman doesn’t have a sweet tooth, then just throw in something that you have where you live that they don’t have. Germany, in particular, don’t have M&M’s with the peanut butter filling nor do they have Kirkland (from Costco) chocolate macadamia nuts, and my boyfriend looooves those. It may seem minuscule, but small things like this really count.

Throw something in at the last second
Whether it be a stress ball that was laying around on your floor or you blindly grabbed your favorite pen (you can always get a new one!!) just throw it in there. I don’t even follow my own advice sometimes, but if my boyfriend sent me a package with something totally random that he just threw in the box right before he closed it up, it’d be really cute. It’s not some ordinary package but a package with some of your personality and flair.

If you really listened, you’ll know what they want
I was fortunate enough to spend a lot of time with my boyfriend considering the distance between us, so I know what he likes and what he dislikes. His certain style and colors he favors, so I naturally would be able to find something online or at the store that I’d know he’d like. So for a birthday present, this is ultimately up to you. If you know your girlfriend said she loves wayfarers, get your girl a pair of Raybans! If your boy said his tech deck just broke… Then maybe you should get him a new one even if you don’t like them.. Use anything to help you. If you see a pattern occurring such as pink colors in every picture in her instagram, you should get her something pink. (If I got ANYTHING in a creme or jade green color, I’d be very appreciative) So don’t be scared!

A picture of you
It seems so simple, yet it’s not. It could be a picture of just you or you two together. It’s great because it’s not costly, you just need a cheap frame and a picture. One time I sent him a tiny picture frame but inside was not a picture of me but a paper with my lipstick kisses! So don’t be afraid to get creative.

An article of clothing
Sure, you don’t want to throw in your cutest top or something that is overdue for the wash, but the main point is to give your partner something that smells like you. I’d wear a pajama shirt that I wouldn’t miss for a day then throw that in, or even a shirt you’re gifting your boo would be great!

Flowers
I’m not saying to call up your SO’s mom to get a bouquet of flowers from their grocery store (although you could, and it’s cheaper), but to keep it more of a surprise I’d suggest you order flowers online. They also include adding chocolates to the order, which I think would be great for Valentine’s Day. It’s so cute and it’s like you ordered them yourself in their hometown! It’s a good break from the Internet and packages, it’s something refreshing.

A service I used was Flora Queen, they delivered the day I asked and the flowers looked just as it was portrayed online, so I greatly admire their service. Problem was, when they asked for any special requests, I asked for them to deliver it before 8 am, which is understandable that sometimes they cannot guarantee the exact time you wish, and to not call him to make it a surprise and they wrote my special request on the paper that came with the bouquet, so be careful with that.

I have not used any other services beyond that, but I checked out 1stinflowers and they seem to ship within the United States if your companion lives in the same country as you, but I cannot speak for any of their services.

Most importantly, make something
Guys. And gals. This is probably the holy grail of packages. You need to hand make something to add you to them. They can’t touch you, but they can touch something you made with your own sweat blood and tears, and it’s probably the best part of any package or present you can give. For example, two years ago I stitched together a very deformed looking plush heart and added a tiny handwritten note in the middle for my boyfriend, and I know he knows it looks silly but I’m sure he probably liked it. Then this year, I drew a portrait of us kissing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge, a very very very bad drawing but I bet he giggled at it and thought it was cute for all the effort I put in it. Can’t sew and can’t draw? Two years ago I went to Build-A-Bear and added some contraption in the stuffed bear’s hand where if you squeeze it you’ll hear a voice recording of me saying “I love you”, in my very young and peppy voice. Whatever it may be, just be creative.

It’s really easy. Well, the execution is hard, but overall it’s really easy.

That’s all I can suggest for now. If you have any other suggestions or question, post it in a comment! And let me know if he/she enjoyed it. 🙂