Op Shop Shoot: A Birthday

I took secondhand to the extreme and used a brown paper bag for wrapping paper :P
The little box at the front is a present from my Madre.
Mum's present beat everything I got combined :P

Something I was dreading when I started this challenge was buying presents. The thought horrified me, but I went with it anyway. As luck would have it, the first birthday presents I've had to buy are for my super rad friend, whose face has appeared on this space more than once, Nageena.

We've only been friends for a year and a half, but this kid has been there for me through the thick and the thin, no matter what. We have become the annoying kids who get tipsy after a drink and a half and decide it's a good idea to run fully clothed (think jeans and jumpers) into the freezing cold winter ocean together, and are happy just laughing at ourselves while everyone else looks on in horror. Our coffee tolerance seems to go up and down at the same time, and even though we're both dreadful at it, we're always good for a very long, very serious game of pool.

At the same time, there is an understanding that sometimes one of us will just need some space, and so we'll leave each other alone, but I know that if I really need it, she'll pick up her phone at 2am in the morning anyway to let me rant about something, while she is nice and forgiving... Up until the next morning when she'll kill me for waking her up that is :P

So, while I knew Nageena (i.e. Geeny Maskeeny - don't kill me!) would probably laugh at me if the present failed, the pressure was still on cause I really wanted to get her something lovely.

My Mum & Nageena have the same, excellent taste.
It's mildly ridiculous, but it means I know to listen to them both
when they say something isn't quite right :P

While out and about trying to find gifts like those I'd imagined, I realised the trick for this kind of thing is really to go out without any assumptions or ideas of what you'll get, and go a week or two before with loads of time to browse just in case you don't find anything the first time round (I'll know this one for next time).

Also, get creative. It doesn't have to be little trinkets or something that will necessarily last forever. The flowers, using the twine from the wrapping as bracelets and getting a good friend we don't see much of to come along to breakfast as a surprise were probably Nageena's favourite parts of the gift (I think).

But most importantly, as it is with all gifts, forget about yourself - in this instance, you don't matter in the slightest - and think about who it is you're celebrating. Because odds are, if they're the type of friend who you're willing to spend hours and hours traipsing around op shops for, then they're pretty darn special and they deserve to have a day that's all about them.

So Happy Birthday Nageena! Thanks for being so rad and I hope your day was lovely :)