Our 6th Anniversary Gifts to Each Other

Welcome to all our new followers! If you’re just joining us, we’d like to invite you to check out our previous gift posts as well as our interpretations of the traditional and modern anniversary gifts! Also, depending on what anniversary you’ll be celebrating next, be sure to check out your year for some amazing anniversary gift recommendations. We are always adding new gifts and are taking suggestions in our email and DMs!

So far we’ve covered our 1st, 3rd, 7th, 9th, 12th, 14th anniversary gifts to each other. With this post on our 6th anniversary, we are officially halfway through our gifting history together! Almost time to start shopping for our 15th anniversary coming up next month! But for now, this anniversary is celebrated with Iron/Candy for the traditional gifts and Wood in the modern category.

Jay to Annie

Iron

Perhaps this wasn’t the most romantic gift, but it sure was practical! We were experimenting with new recipes and ideas in the kitchen, but the one piece we were missing was a really nice cast iron skillet. There were so many dishes that we just couldn’t make without one. So I took the leap and bought it for Annie, but not before clearly knowing that she would love to add a skillet to our kitchen. It was a risky gift but it paid off in the end! We’ve since added a few different sizes and types, but this 10” skillet was the perfect entry into cast iron.

Candy

If you’ve ever been to Dylan’s Candy Bar then you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. There was a location near my office in NYC at the time that I’d frequently walk past, but never had the proper “excuse” to go inside and shop. Thankfully our 6th anniversary was coming up and it’s exactly what the traditional gift called for! I first filled up a large bag with a variety of hard and chewy candies that I knew Annie enjoyed. Then for good measure, I bought a few oversized chocolate bars to add to the gift. Who wouldn’t want a 3 lb. KitKat bar?! Of course this was nine years ago so we don’t have a picture of the gift, but just imagine what a massive bag of loose candy and several pounds of chocolate would look like!

Wood

Next up in my NYC shopping spree was a wooden framed quote about family that I bought at a holiday shop in Bryant Park near my office. We had just recently started our family and were planning to have more children, and the quote really described how we wanted to shape our lives and home together. It’s been hanging in our home ever since and is a positive reminder of what’s important to us. We want our kids to be themselves, be loud (sometimes!), make mistakes, and give everyone grace. Most importantly, we do family and we do love!

Annie to Jay

Iron

With young kids and a commute to the city there was never enough time for Jay to hit the gym. So I bought him two pairs of dumbbells to pump some iron at home! (Seemed like the perfect interpretation of the anniversary gift meaning to me!) They were only 12 and 15 pounds, so it wasn’t exactly a full workout for him. But it was still good to get the body moving with some quick exercises around the house. We later upgraded to the BowFlex 552s to give him a much wider range of weights and exercise possibilities. And yes, I’ve been known to use the anniversary gift from time to time as well!

Candy

I suppose there weren’t many options for candy, and Jay and I often feel like we share a brain. I couldn’t get to a Dylan’s but that didn’t stop me from buying several (ok, dozens of) candy bars and bags that I knew Jay liked. I’d love to know what was going through the mind of the cashier when I laid out my purchases on the counter. The best part of this gift, and I suppose Jay’s to me, was that we had SO. MUCH. candy that seemed to last forever and we got to share and exchange our favorite pieces. Although with a late December anniversary, this gift didn’t do us any favors with our New Years’ Resolutions…

Wood

I’ve mentioned this before in our 9th anniversary post, but Jay has the tendency to “keep things.” And usually in all corners of the house with not a clue where any of it is! He needed a place to store small items like gift cards, cufflinks, and collar stays away in his closet. So for the wood gift this year, I bought a small box with his initials engraved on the top and a message under the lid. “The future doesn’t lie ahead of you, waiting to happen. It lies deep inside of you, waiting to be discovered. I love you always.” It looks great on a shelf in his closet and helps keep him (and our house!) organized.

Thank you again to all our followers! Whether you’ve been with us since the beginning or just recently found us, we couldn’t be happier that you’ve chosen to follow along on Our Present Journey. We hope that our gifting traditions have inspired you to celebrate your anniversaries with some traditional and modern gifts. Please send us an email or Instagram DM if you want to share your anniversary stories or gift recommendations. If you’re an Etsy store or small business, we’d love to hear from you and support your products! We are always searching for new gift ideas for the site (and for ourselves!).