The Traditional Anniversary

We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary this past weekend.  Sort of bad timing with Vinny's big exam this week, but I digress.  Each year we have great fun trying to take the whole idea of the traditional anniversary gifts and putting a modern spin on it to make it our own.

Year 1: Paper.  Traditionally spouses would exchange stationary or some such thing.  Our first anniversary, I gave Vinny a photo of our positive pregnancy test and he gave me us tickets to see one of our favorite Broadway shows, RENT, on Broadway along with hotel reservation in New York City.  We also signed the paper to buy our current house that day, so we got one another a mortgage too!

Year 2: Cotton. I think this was traditionally sheets or towels.  In our defense, we had a newborn at the time, so we slacked a bit.  I got Vinny a pair of boxers with my picture on them.  He got me towels.  Not so romantic, but it's a gimmie because we were up to our necks in cotton onesies.

Year 3: Leather. Beats me what you traditionally bought one another in the long gone past.  Boots?  Belts?  A Wallet?  Who knows.  This was a fun one to imagine a twist with.  In the end though I got Vinny a leather computer case/messenger bag and he got me a leather portfolio with my initials.

Year 4: Linen. We stuck with the past here.  We desperately needed another set of sheets...see a trend toward the more practical yet?

Year 5: Wood.  Who knows in the past what this would have been.  A desk set?  Furniture? We joke that we got one another a house for our anniversary because we just recently signed our new lease in NC.  We're planning on going out to a (hopefully) celebratory dinner this Friday once Vinny find out his exam results and we're going to a hibachi and sushi place.  So, even though I told Vinny very concretely that we were NOT buying anniversary gifts this year because of the big move, I broke down and bought a set of nice chopsticks for both of us (Actually there are 5 sets...so I guess 1 for each year of marriage). Pretty inexpensive, something we didn't have, and it fit with the theme of the traditional gift and the dinner we're going to. (Here is the link where I got them)

Vinny joked that he wanted to get me an ipad and put a wood background on it, and we tossed around the idea of a wooden hamper or new coffee tables, but in the end, my crazy budget mindedness won out.

Next year the theme is iron.  Got any suggestions?