It’s so much pressure to think of a 10-year anniversary present. I mean, what do you get a guy who you’ve been with for a decade?!! Shoes? A cupcake? Haha.

I’m an open book so I make it reallllll easy for my loved ones to get me presents – I just tell them what I want and hope to God they get it. But Dean? He never wants anything! His idea of a gift is a whole day in the office without anyone disturbing him so he can focus on his beloved excel sheets… or a whole day with his kids laughing and smiling. He’s such a simple guy. Not materialistic at all, very content with his companies, his family, his 5 shirts and 3 pairs of jeans haha. I really hit a jackpot with him, didn’t I?

I sat back and thought some more. Like wow, this is for real TEN years of being together. Ten years of being friends, ten years of being in love, ten years is a lot! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.. TEN! Even typing that was long… what more living it. In our decade together, there are just so many memories that are left in hard drives in forms of photos and videos. I started reminiscing of our times together in London, how we first met, how he made me pay for my own movie tickets, how I felt whenever his name appeared on my phone, how nervous I was when I introduced him to my parents, how nervous I felt when he introduced me to his, how I felt about all of our “firsts” moments… and all that put a smile on my face. And I think this will put a smile on his face too.

So I got cracking once I got the idea. Went through four different hard drives and as sweet as it was to unlock all those memories, I remembered groaning and thinking GAHHHH WHY DO I TAKE SO MANY PICTURES. In front of me was a decade of memories and what felt like lorries worth of photos. But for that 2 hours, I just buried myself and finished all the planning. I knew which frame was going to feature what moment and which photo. And it all came together beautifully.

I got TinyType to illustrate and plan it out for me with Iman’s help. And with our Uncle Handyman’s help, they snuck into my home while I was in Bali to fix them on the wall. The plan was to come home and surprise him with it, but our flight was so delayed we got home at 4am tired and smelly. I tried to keep the lights off for as long as I could, but obviously he saw. It put a smile on his face, and it was a smile I want to see for the rest of my life.

cof

Would’ve been better if he shed some happy tears, but you know, maybe next decade. -___-“

At the end of the day, no money can buy the gift of a journey. And these priceless memories shouldn’t be left in a dusty hard drive, they should be remembered forever. I want to wake up everyday with Dean, and be reminded not just of our present, but of our beautiful past too.