Maybe ask each guest to bring him 35 of something for his birthday. They will need to think creatively.

I would surprise him with a remake of a favorite childhood dinner. Mine was marinated flank steak with rice and broccoli with enough leftover for a steak sandwich the next day.

@1929Spanish-GW, that is my fave adult dinner.

Very sophisticated childhood dinner Spanish! Mine was tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.

ETA - Does DS2 play golf? If so, what about personalized golf balls as party favors? Not sure there is time for it but I know there are sites that can put a likeness or name on balls or tees.

Wait, why is 35 a milestone?

Ruby, ha, mine was spaghetti and meatballs!

Sue, he has always been the baby lf the family and it has really just dawned on all of us that he is an actual adult. 🤷‍♀️ It’s as much a milestone for us as for him!

I like the idea of asking the fam to bring 35 of something. I think you are the one who suggested that more than ten years ago and I bought our friend 70 lottery tickets for his birthday. (He turned 80 last year!) The little boys could count out 35 paper clips or candies.

Golf related favors are a great idea, Rubyclaire! I think he would get ankick out of personalized balls.

You guys are a fount of good ideas! Now if I could only remember his favorite childhood dinner 😳 I’ll ask DD !

think you are the one who suggested that more than ten years ago and I bought our friend 70 lottery tickets for his birthday.

LOL yes, that probably was me, because it is one of my go-to's.

The little boys could count out 35 paper clips or candies.

Yes, or a playlist with 35 songs, etc etc. It need not be large or expensive.

I asked chat for a birthday menu based on 1991 foods and events. This is the result.

Celebrating 35 Years: A Taste of June 1991 ✧ ───🍸 WELCOME DRINK

• The Snapple-Tini
  • Premium vodka, peach Snapple, fresh lemon juice, and a crisp prosecco float.
  • A refined nod to the height of the 1991 "Snapple Craze."

🧆 FIRST COURSE

• Gourmet Fried Green Tomatoes
  • Cornmeal-crusted heirloom tomatoes topped with a zesty, house-made remoulade and fresh microgreens.
  • Celebrating the iconic box office smash film released that year.
• Artisanal Bagel Bites
  • Mini brioche bagels topped with hand-crushed San Marzano marinara, prosciutto di Parma, and melted fontina.
  • A classy play on the massive retail launch of Bagel Bites in 1991.

🥗 SECOND COURSE

• The '91 King Salsa Salad
  • Crisp romaine, charred sweet corn, black beans, and cotija cheese, tossed in a fiery roasted tomato salsa-vinaigrette.
  • Honoring the historic year that salsa officially outsold ketchup in the United States.
• Honeycrisp & Fennel Salad
  • Shaved fennel, wild arugula, and toasted walnuts tossed with crisp Honeycrisp apple slices.
  • Utilizing the legendary apple variety first released to the public in 1991.

🍽️ THIRD COURSE

• Pan-Seared Salmon with "Designer" Balsamic
  • Crisp-skinned Atlantic salmon over a bed of creamy parmesan polenta, drizzled with an aged, herbed balsamic reduction.
  • An homage to the 1991 fine-dining obsession with flavored and designer vinegars.
• Classic Chinese Chicken Salad
  • Shredded napa cabbage, grilled chicken breast, juicy mandarin oranges, and toasted almonds in a bright ginger-sesame vinaigrette.
  • The quintessential, upscale 90s restaurant staple.

🍰 FOURTH COURSE

• Deconstructed Viennetta
  • Crisp, dark chocolate shards layered between elegant waves of high-quality vanilla bean gelato.
  • A gourmet recreation of the ultimate, iconic 1991 ice cream centerpiece.
• Adult "Fruit Gushers"
  • Fresh, local raspberries injected with a sweet, tart pomegranate reduction.
  • A playful, adult twist on the famous snack that debuted in 1991.

My oldest turns 35 next year, just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something. 🤓

ChatGPT's take is kind of funny. Like it looked up corporate archives or something -- who remembers the year a product was introduced?

And arent charcuterie boards just grown-up Snackables?

I think my kids’ favorite foods would include pasta with butter (no sauce! eww!), Kraft mac & cheese, chicken nuggets, and those Yoplait yogurts in tubes.

Jojoco: yes!

DS2 eats so quickly that it was a challenge when he was growing up to keep him at the table. He likes everything. I think I will have steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans since I know he likes that!

Off topic but related: there is an internecine war raging about what to do for my upcoming 70th birthday. So far we have DD, DS1, DH and my mother each pushing a completely different idea. They think I don’t know! 😂

Oh how exciting, kswl! I hope you love whatever they settle on!

My DD's 40th birthday will be while we are in Cape Cod. We'll go out to dinner at our favorite restaurant there. And I scheduled massages for us during the week. I'm racking my brain trying to figure out what to buy her and so far I've come up with exactly zero ideas. When I ask her she tells me: 1) a week in Cape Cod; 2) dinner in Cape Cod; 3) babysitting the grands so they can have a date night while in Cape Cod. Um, these are all things we do every year and are not presents!!! Oh, and the last time she said a Dyson AirStrait which I already bought her a few months ago. She's so annoying. Just tell me something you want and won't buy for yourself, dammit ;-)

Sorry for the tangent, but where do you go in Cape Cod and what do you like to do there. We are there next month for a wedding and strangely, I have never really been except on the way to MV

Oh and KSWL, what do YOU want to do for your 70th?

Adding a tangent on a tangent. My favorite Cape Cod places are Chatham for cute shopping ( take a drive to Monomoy Island), The National Seashore — which covers a lot of territory — , Wellfleet and Provincetown. I love the drive to Ptown, which kind of feels like you’re driving off the end of the earth. Are you staying for a while?

im only there for a long weekend if you mean me, in Chatham

Mtn, I want to go to Top Golf with both DS’s, SIL and DH (if he wants to go, he doesn’t play golf) on an evening, and I would like to have a birthday lunch (better for DD and the grands) with the whole fam and my best friend at the club, and a nice spa day with DD and my mother. Because Lucy is still breast feeding this will probably translate into 45 min facials 😎 Something for everyone!

Mtn, I love Chatham. We always go for a day to shop. There's one store I always find really cute things. I don't remember the name. It's in a little strip of stores off Main St. I think Carmine's Pizza is on the corner.

Our favorite restaurant is Fisherman's View in Sandwich. Maybe too far for you.

Mostly we go to the beach.

Where are you staying in Chatham?

kswl, that sounds like the perfect day to me. Well, maybe not the Top Golf part. But lunch with the family and spa treatment is perfection!

@Sueb20 - I was wondering the same thing about why 35 was a milestone birthday because my oldest daughter is turning 35 on the 24th of this month. It's a bit of an odd feeling to have my daughter getting so close to 40! I started worrying that I hadn't thought about doing something "extra" for her 35th birthday!

My oldest daughter was a bit of a "surprise" - I had very serious endometriosis and had been told that it was unlikely that I would be able to conceive (I had already gone through four surgeries for endometriosis before I was 20 years old). I had my oldest daughter several years before any of my friends started having children = none of my friends have sons/daughters who have crossed over into their thirties!

I just had a milestone birthday celebration for my youngest daughter back on May 28th - my "baby" turned 30 - it feel very weird to have both my girls in their thirties. Makes me feel OLD! 🤣