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by William Wise / July 30, 2015
Fort Worth Food, Shop Local, Tanglewood Moms

A Birthday She’ll Remember

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Photo credits for this blog post: Bree Linne Photography

Mom’s Best Birthday. Ever!

If you’re like me trying to make your wife’s birthday special is always a little nerve-wracking. Well, it’s that time of year for me again and I thought I’d do things a little differently this year. I decided to mask my annual anxiety by writing a blog about it and getting the birthday girl’s input on what a mom really wants. She said that was cheating and I told her it’s for the good of moms everywhere. If we give the husbands a peek into things that really make their wives happy there will be a lot more happy wives around birthday time and a lot fewer returned gifts. She swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. So listen up fellas; along with the always adorable handmade cards from the kids, here are some things that make moms really happy.

First, family brunch or lunch. Yes a date night at a fancy restaurant is always nice but more than anything moms love having the whole family together to celebrate special moments. You have a mom, right? You know how she is. She loves it when all her children and grandchildren are gathered together. Well, your wife is the same way, but if you have small children they may not fit the ambiance of a quiet dinner. So, opt for a nice lunch somewhere with the whole crew. We chose Ellerbe Fine Foods. Ellerbe is one of our favorite spots in Fort Worth. The food is always amazing, the service is impeccable, and the atmosphere is relaxed. You can’t go wrong with anything on the menu but be sure and try the bread pudding for dessert and order champagne to celebrate the birthday girl. You’ll want to sign up for the newsletters on their website if you are a foodie like me.

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Of course, wifey is going to want to look pretty for the family outing so you can send her for a manicure or a blow out beforehand. If you don’t know what a blow out is just ask your wife. Hint: it has nothing to do with tires. Just know she will like it and she’ll look gorgeous. Now think how amazed your wife will be when you turn up for lunch with your kids looking spiffy too. Our boys wore coordinating bow ties from fabric by Funky Wright Designs and made by The Bow Next Door. Great options to support other local moms.

Ok, the venue is set, the birthday girl is looking hot, the kids are squared away, you’re a professional dad so you always look dashing; time to talk gifts and gift wrapping. From what I can tell all women like jewelry, so it’s hard to go wrong there. My wife is a jewelry designer so she can be tough to buy jewelry for, but your wife probably isn’t, statistically speaking, so you should totally buy some of my wife’s sterling silver jewelry. Or you can’t go wrong with a run down to Kube’s or Grissom’s for a gold or platinum piece. You don’t have to break the bank either, if you tee this up right whatever you pick out is going to hold eternal sentimental value and will be a long time favorite of hers. Now you are going to pair that pretty little bauble with a hand calligraphed scripture or favorite quote on canvas, like the one below. When she unwraps that her heart is going to swell. That’s when you hit her with the jewelry. The icing on the cake, so to speak.

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Hold on though. The weak link in this whole deal is the gift wrapping. Don’t get the present wrapped at the store where you bought it. They’re just going to throw it in a bag with some tissue paper and some ribbon. And whatever you do don’t wrap it yourself. You stink at gift wrapping. How do I know this? Because you’re a man. The thing is, for guys, gift wrap is simply a layer of trash in the way of the prize; one more thing to go out with the recycling on Wednesday morning. But for women there is something sublime about well executed gift wrapping. They really admire it. They’ll talk about it for multiple minutes before gently untying knots and separating tape from paper and folding it nicely into a little stack that they lovingly take home with them and save in a drawer somewhere. It’s awesome how reverently they approach gift wrapping. This is why you can’t do it yourself. You must take it to a professional. The best in the biz is Prim & Proper on 7th St. After Prim & Proper get their hands on your wife’s gifts she isn’t even going to want to open them. She’s going to want pictures first.

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This is where you’re going to knock this birthday out of the park. You are going to hire an awesome photographer to take a portrait of your family. We try and schedule this every year and my wife keeps the portraits documented in an album, so far 9 pages have been filled each with amazing changes from one year to the next. If you haven’t started this tradition, there’s no better time than now. It’s best to let Mom prepare where and when to schedule the photos, but that you thought of including this touch is going to make her melt. She loves nothing more than preserving memories, have you seen her Facebook lately? Pro-tip, she loves candids…check below for one heckuva deal.

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So there you have it; the perfect birthday for your bride. I’ve included some links to the local businesses that we endorse for the services mentioned above. Also, some of these businesses have extended offers exclusive to our readers and some have chosen to participate in a giveaway. Simply comment on this blog post to enter to win. We will randomly choose a winner on Saturday.

Giveaway: Ellerbe $50 Gift Card, Tara Leenhouts at the Salon Upstairs for a haircut and blowout $55, Funky Wright Designs Gift Tags $30, and a CSM Calligraphy Canvas $30 as shown above.

The Contest is now OVER. Congrats to Jennie!! We will get in touch with you about your prize!

Special offers for Tanglewood Moms: 50% off of gift wrapping at Prim & Proper until August 31st, mention “Tanglewood Moms”; 20% off Wishing Well Jewelry until August 31st, use code TANGLEWOODMOMS. Bree Linne Photography is offering Sunshine Minis, quick, natural, 1 hour lifestyle sessions taken of mamas (or dads!) and their babies during wake up/morning time. Babes in jammies, playing, eating breakfast, etc. Can even be nursing pictures if mom wants.  The purpose is to catch those special, private, precious moments. $100 in Aug and Sept when Tanglewood Moms is mentioned (normally $200).

SunshineSession-1

Birthday girlBree Linne PhotographyEllerbeFort WorthFunky Wright DesignsMom's birthdayPrim & ProperThe Bow Next DoorThe Salon UpstairsWishing Well Jewelry
47 Comments
  1. Nadia Arriaga July 30, 2015 10:49 am
    Reply

    Love all the pics…such a beautiful family. Just found out I share a bday w Victoria. Happy, happy birthday Victoria!!

  2. Jessica Bolger July 30, 2015 10:54 am
    Reply

    Sweet family pics! Love all of these ideas! Passing along to Tommy!!

  3. Arden Jones July 30, 2015 11:01 am
    Reply

    Love this!! Every husband should read!! 🙂

  4. Mary Austin July 30, 2015 11:15 am
    Reply

    Oooh! How exciting! We would LOVE this!

  5. Catherine Markle July 30, 2015 11:48 am
    Reply

    Love this!

  6. Meredith Mahoney July 30, 2015 11:49 am
    Reply

    I love Ellerbee’s! The bread pudding is amazing

  7. Karen Telschow Johnson July 30, 2015 12:10 pm
    Reply

    Wow! That looks like so much fun! I want to play!!!

  8. Julie Wilkinson July 30, 2015 2:40 pm
    Reply

    Great ideas for a special celebration!

  9. Ashley July 30, 2015 4:17 pm
    Reply

    LOVE everything about this! Definitely sharing with my husband! ??

  10. Lauren Matthews July 30, 2015 6:16 pm
    Reply

    My fave… Ellerbe’s! And y’all are way too cute!

  11. Amanda Wolsey July 30, 2015 7:12 pm
    Reply

    Billy Bob– Please please get with Coleman before my birthday in September! Great job!!

  12. Casey Oliver July 30, 2015 8:34 pm
    Reply

    Such a beautiful celebration for a great lady!

  13. Amanda July 31, 2015 7:59 am
    Reply

    So Sweet! Love the pics!

  14. molly Kanthack. July 31, 2015 8:47 am
    Reply

    great Job Billy Bob!! I’m impressed especially how you managed to get all the kids dressed and looking spiffy! beautiful family.

  15. Amanda Schooler July 31, 2015 9:20 am
    Reply

    What a great blog, I am not only sending this to my husband but bookmarking this for future reference. Beautiful family!

  16. Sarah shaw July 31, 2015 11:00 am
    Reply

    So sweet!

  17. Kristen Brown July 31, 2015 11:02 am
    Reply

    My birthday is in September and I would love to try out all of these fabulous places!

  18. Carolyn Thorp July 31, 2015 11:02 am
    Reply

    What a good read!! Such a lovely night and such a gorgeous family!

  19. Laura Ferguson July 31, 2015 11:05 am
    Reply

    What a wonderful birthday! Love the photos!

  20. Lisa Hewitt July 31, 2015 11:05 am
    Reply

    The perfect way to celebrate!!!

  21. Amy Brown July 31, 2015 11:05 am
    Reply

    This sounds absolutely incredible, and my bday is in October!!

  22. Jennie July 31, 2015 11:09 am
    Reply

    Great ideas! Love it!

    1. Victoria, Tanglewood Moms admin August 1, 2015 4:46 pm
      Reply

      You’re the winner! We will get in contact with you to get you your prize!

  23. Jacque pritchard July 31, 2015 11:24 am
    Reply

    Already sent the link to my hubby!

  24. Tiffany Vahrenkamp July 31, 2015 11:52 am
    Reply

    What an amazing day!

  25. Darbie Brown July 31, 2015 11:58 am
    Reply

    Love everything about this!! Beautiful family too?

  26. Melinda July 31, 2015 12:28 pm
    Reply

    Happy Birthday! Such great ideas and incredible family photos 🙂

  27. Amy Lahoud July 31, 2015 12:35 pm
    Reply

    I absolutely loved this. Some great pictures and advice.

  28. Emily P. July 31, 2015 12:57 pm
    Reply

    What a great giveaway! I’ve been wanting to try Ellerby!

  29. Courtney Plumbley July 31, 2015 1:32 pm
    Reply

    So sweet! Love this post!!

  30. Becca Gray July 31, 2015 1:36 pm
    Reply

    I love the idea of having a professional photographer! Passing this on!

  31. Meredith Talley July 31, 2015 1:57 pm
    Reply

    The closest I’ve gotten so far to trying Ellerbe’s is my 7 month olds Wholesome Spoon purees ?. Would love to try it soon!

  32. Angela July 31, 2015 2:01 pm
    Reply

    Such cute pics. Love Ellerbe’s – one of our favorite spots!

  33. Cheryl Murray July 31, 2015 2:59 pm
    Reply

    Wow! It all looks so fantastic! Thanks for putting this together!

  34. Katy Tomlinson July 31, 2015 4:37 pm
    Reply

    Love all of these!!

  35. Julianna July 31, 2015 5:28 pm
    Reply

    What a fun party and great giveaway!

  36. Raven Atchison July 31, 2015 5:36 pm
    Reply

    Such great ideas! Thanks for writing!!

  37. Carrie McPadden July 31, 2015 7:11 pm
    Reply

    Super fun for everyone! Lovely family and great read.

  38. Kirstie Massingill July 31, 2015 8:01 pm
    Reply

    My hair could totally use a cut & blow out! This would be amazing!

  39. Jordan Formby July 31, 2015 8:55 pm
    Reply

    So fun! What beautiful pictures!

  40. Charity Aughinbaugh July 31, 2015 9:30 pm
    Reply

    thjs is beyond beautiful. What a memorable day. Happy for you Victoria! Would love to win. 🙂

  41. Sara k. July 31, 2015 10:58 pm
    Reply

    Hubby could take a few hints 😉

  42. Kathleen McElvain July 31, 2015 11:18 pm
    Reply

    Love all the pictures and suggestions!!

  43. Jennifer Hassibi August 1, 2015 1:46 am
    Reply

    Nicely done, Billy Bob!!! Happy birthday, Victoria!!!!

  44. Jenni Cole August 1, 2015 8:10 am
    Reply

    LOVE these happy pics! Victoria, you look beautiful!

  45. Meredith miner August 1, 2015 2:50 pm
    Reply

    Great article!

  46. Sara Camp August 1, 2015 3:46 pm
    Reply

    Just beautiful- your family, the pics, the idea, and the write-up.

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