This is how you celebrate your best friend's birthday
of your BFF
After my own birthday, my bestie celebrates on the easiest date to remember: Liberation Day. It's just a shame that it's no longer a standard public holiday, but only once every five years, because it was always so easy to plan something. But anyway. Birthdays remain fun, although for me and my bestie, the dirty thirties are really lurking around the corner now. Oh well, they say it's not so bad; your third decade.
But if you want to organize something for your partner in crime, you want to do it right. Something that gives you the title of ‘best friend’, so it’s time to get creative and I'm going to help you with that.
A treasure hunt
Take your time for this, you can't just – boom – arrange this in a few hours. Get started with tasks she has to do; either alone or together with a group of friends. Think of tasks like getting your ears pierced, jumping into the Amstel or into the fountain at Hotel Americain (if you happen to be in Amsterdam), hitching a ride with a stranger, requesting André Hazes in a random bar, swapping outfits with a stranger, that kind of nonsense. And don't forget to bring a bottle of drink, that will lower the embarrassment level a bit.
A Beerpong tournament
Beer lovers pay attention, is your BFF celebrating her birthday on the 24th or 31st and does she enjoy a competition? Then you need to go to The Butcher Social Club and sign up for the Beerpong tournament. Seriously, I swear, this is fun. And you can also win €100 worth of beer.
The surprise party, but with a twist
A classic, of course, a surprise party, but it's still fun. Give the party animal an exact time to be ready outside and have her picked up by an Uber. The driver drops her off at a restaurant where you (maybe with a few other close friends) are sitting for dinner. She probably thinks that's the surprise, but while you're having dinner, her house is transformed into a party house. So when she is dropped off at home at the end of the evening (make sure it looks like everyone is going home and that the Uber driver is driving slowly so you can all head her way), she will be overwhelmed with ‘SURPRISE!’ when she enters her house and sees all her friends there.
Bet she will love this?
24 hours as Santa Claus
Okay, for this you also need to be in tip-top shape, because the goal is to stay awake for all the hours she is celebrating her birthday. And with each new hour, she gets a gift. If you want to make it a bit more intense, she has to take a shot every hour. Lovely in the early morning hours.
A surprise getaway
Or yes, surprise, not necessarily, but what you do is take her away for a weekend and don't tell her where. What you do is give her a subtle hint about the destination of your getaway every day for seven days, a week before departure. It doesn't have to be expensive, you know. Think of Antwerp, a weekend in Maastricht, somewhere just over the border in Germany. Bet she will love this?
Festivals
Is your friend a summer baby? Plenty of festivals where you can celebrate her birthday nicely, although opinions on the editorial team are divided about this. Personally, I always find it very cozy, because you don't have to arrange anything in terms of music, food, and drinks. Just hope that the sun shines as well as your friend on that day.
Do something good for someone else
This is not so much a tip for celebrating someone else's birthday, but more something you could do on your own birthday. Once I was at a friend's birthday where she indicated on her invite that she wanted all children's gifts that she would then give to a good cause. I know for sure how I'm going to celebrate my upcoming 28th this summer...
