I'm Feelin' 22 + How I Got My Birthday Dinner Completely Free!

Thursday, May 5, 2016

My 22nd birthday was on Tuesday, May 3rd and it was so far, the best birthday yet!
I owe all of that to my husband for seriously exceeding my expectations.
The first year we were married, my birthday didn't quite go as I had hoped haha... so he has made sure to step up his game since then ;)



I slept in because somehow, sweet Oaklyn knew it was a special day for mommy and slept in too!
When I woke up, I went to go make her a bottle to find the kitchen completely decorated!
I got nervous when I heard a weird beep and called out for Hunter.
He had said he had to go to work so I wasn't shocked when he didn't respond... but also still worried!
Then I saw the t.v turn on and got really confused... when my current favorite song came on, Hunter jumped up from behind the kitchen counter and I couldn't help but start laughing so hard haha!
He said that he had been waiting for me to wake up for several hours in that exact spot. 
He didn't want to move because he didn't want to give it away haha!
He did end up having to go in to work that day, but made sure to make me breakfast first and take care of Oaklyn so I could get ready for the day. 



When we dropped Hunter off at work, we went to Sodalicious (who does a birthday discount) and then went for a walk with my bestie. 
When we got home I put Oaklyn down for a nap and spent some time doing blog stuff before heading out to get dinner!
I love going out to eat, but decided against it this year because I saw all the different emails coming in about free birthday meals.
At first, I just wanted to go to Red Robin, but then realized, why not get everything??
I stored up all these different emails in one folder so I would have them ready to go when it came time to pick up all the food.



I made sure to only store the emails that had zero rules and definitely stayed away from all the "BOGO" emails.
I'll type out the list of all the places I went to down below, but before that I want to talk about the strategy!
I love being alone in the car because I can play whatever music I want, however loud, and just have time to myself so driving to get the food was actually super fun for me!
Since getting married and having a baby, I have come to really appreciate my alone time!
I figured out everything I was getting from every restaurant and wrote it down so I would be prepared when ordering. 
I then mapped the whole thing out from start to finish so I wouldn't be driving back and forth constantly. 
Before going to said restaurant I would also call ahead and place my order as "To Go" so that it would be ready when I got there. 
I had zero issues with the coupons and everything was literally, completely, free!



Once I had gathered all of the food, I picked up Hunter and Oaks and we headed to my favorite park to have a picnic!
We placed all of the food in the middle and dug in to everything!
It was like a buffet! Haha.
We got to eat a bit of everything and we were completely stuffed by the end.
We even had leftovers!
Afterwards we just played at the park and had fun as a family.
I loved watching Hunter and Oaklyn play together and got teary eyed thinking about how different my birthdays are now. 
I used to care about a big birthday party and spending my birthday doing something big and extravagant.
I am now completely happy doing something very low maintenance and fun for the whole family.
I love being a mother, and I love how much birthdays have changed for me!
Once we got home, we had cake and ice cream that Hunter made!
I was very impressed with him ;)
He then gave me my presents which happened to be my favorite presents everrrrr and we called it a night after watching an episode of Shark Tank.
I had a wonderful day and I'm so thankful to all of you that wished me a happy birthday!
It definitely was, very happy :)



Alright, now on to the reason you probably came... the free birthday food!
Most of these places give you free food for signing up for their email list. 
So yes, you do receive other emails from them year round... but clicking delete a few times throughout the year to get an awesome free meal on your birthday, is completely worth it to me!

Here's the list!

*Red Robin - Email list - Get a free burger and fries on your birthday!
*Rubios - Email List - Free entree of choice on your birthday!
*Firehouse Subs - Get their app and fill out info - Free medium sub for your birthday!
*Del Taco - Email List - Free milkshake on birthday, 2 tacos for signing up
*IHOP - Email list - Free stack of pancakes on your birthday! Get the cinnastack!
*PF Changs - Email List - Get a free appetizer on your birthday! The lettuce wraps are SO good!
*Denny's - Present your ID - Get a free grand slam on your birthday!
*Baskin Robbins - Email List - Get a free scoop on your birthday!
*Krispy Kreme - Email List - Get a free donut on your birthday!
*Rita's Italian ice - Email List - Get a free ice on your birthday!

So there ya have it!
That's how I got the best birthday dinner completely free!
It was so fun to have a picnic with so much delicious food!
I'm sure there are several other places that do free stuff for your birthday as well... if you know of any, let me know!
I ignored all the BOGO stuff because I wanted to keep it free but there's several of those, along with free desserts or appetizers if you buy an entree.

I hope you enjoyed this list!
This is now going to be a tradition for us :)

All my love,
Aleigh Joy

1 comment

  1. This is seriously such a good idea!! I should subscribe to restaurant emails I guess!

    ReplyDelete