11 Ways to Surprise Your Significant Other

Is it just me or does everyone else also sometimes struggle with surprising their significant others? I personally love surprises; if you tell me you have one I'm going to beg to know but I do love them. My boyfriend on the other hand is the total opposite. He doesn't like giving or receiving surprises, in his words, "I'd rather plan with you than surprise you". I think it's so I still do the planning! Either way I still love trying to do different things that he doesn't always know about when I can. I actually just planned a surprise gift for him but I can't say in case for some reason this is a blog post he might read! Anyways, despite loving surprises, I never know what to do so I went searching, found some ideas, and thought I'd share them!

• Write little messages or 'love letters': Personally calling something a 'love letter' makes my brain stress just a bit. When I was in Italy I wrote Dylan a hand-written letter just saying how I missed him and appreciated him. Of course due to the Italian mailing system, I returned home four weeks later and about two weeks after that Dylan finally received it! Any little note on a post-it is great because it's just a little random reminder of how you feel or saying that you love them! My dad sometimes leaves my mom a little note with a candy bar in her car for her to find!

• Buy concert tickets to their favorite band: I love this idea because it's a great experience and they will enjoy it. Dylan and I don't always listen to the same type of music but I think we both can say appreciate and enjoy what the other listens to!

• Flowers: Sometimes flowers are over looked or people say that they don't want to spend money on something that's going to die. Those are all excuses though because people love flowers and you can find very cheap flowers at a lot of places!

• Give them a massage: It doesn't have to be anything fancy but is a great idea! I bought a massage bar from Lush and use it all the time. They are only about $13 and can be reused over and over again. You start off with it so that it moisturizes the skin then you don't need to wash it off or anything after. I don't think I need to explain why a massage is a good surprise though! You can also pay for them to go to one but that gets pricey and most appreciate the act coming from their s/o.

• Book a romantic hotel: Personally I doubt I'm going to do this one much but I did book a hotel room once for Dylan and I when he came to OU for a date party. I live in my sorority house, have five roommates, and my bed is a size twin so it was more of a necessity to be able to sleep comfortably rather than romance. This may be nice for a little stay-cation or night on the town!

• Random little gifts: If you see a new book by their favorite author or a DVD of a movie they loved (that's not on Netflix) then buy it and make it a little gift! When the Fault In Our Stars came out on DVD Dylan bought it for me that day and dropped off the DVD and flowers for me to come home to after practice. It was such a sweet surprise and not a ton of work for him to do! It's been over four years since then and I still think about it (the little stuff matters)!

• Make them breakfast: I don't live with Dylan and am not there when he wakes up so another one where I personally probably won't do this one very soon but I know I personally love waking up to the smell of bacon and waffles in the morning. Breakfast in bed? You can count me in!

• Go to their favorite store and get them something: Some of these are a little bigger than others but if you're looking for a gift or something to do and don't want to ask them then these work! The amount of times we have men come into Lilly Pulitzer and ask for our help to find something! They say what she likes and her size and we help them pick out something she might like. At Lilly we can also look up what has been previously bought to help also! This is a nice idea to get something materialistic that's small or bigger that you know they'll enjoy.

• Check out their Amazon Wish List: This is a follow-up to the bullet point above but some people make wish lists on Amazon of things they like or want to buy. This is a great place to find random things they like! Mine has all random junk I will never buy so make sure they are a person who actually want those items though!

• Do something to lighten their load: If they are having a stressful week or have a lot on their plate try to help out! Take their car to get washed or do something around the house you don't normally do like cook dinner or do the laundry!

• Plan a date by yourself: I like this idea! Dylan and I don't go on many planned dates, we just normally end up at Applebee's to eat since that's our go-to. Not all of the time, but a majority of time when we go on planned dates, I am the one who plan them so having a date planned and surprised is a great idea to do sometimes. You can dress up and go to a nice place to eat, or have a picnic; there's lots of options!

These are just a few things I thought were good ways to do something and surprise your significant other! As always I love feedback and hearing about something you've done to surprise your significant other that they enjoyed!

xx, Taylor