I ask for the same thing every year: a hot meal on the table I didn’t have to plan and a clean house. I haven’t gotten them yet, but the kids are young and regularly trash the house (and are forced to clean it back up, but it takes a long time). My husband also overthinks the entire thing. Still, I hold out hope every year.
My second choice would be an experience or a date night.
It is always a headache what to give my wife on her birthday. Once I got her a fairly expensive (about $300) necklace that she has worn maybe twice in ten years. What I usually do is take her to a fine restaurant, but I get as much out of it as she does. Once I made her a chocolate cake with ganache icing (I make chocolate truffles all the time, so ganache is no big deal for me). I could make a meal, but I do a moderate amount of the cooking, so that is no big deal. I have something very special planned for her next birthday, but it is costless.
Somewhere between Jewelry and Other. I like to be practical most of the time, books and electronics are great (and I love gift cards), but for me they don’t hold the same sentimental value as jewelry has for me. At least half of my jewelry was gifted, or is tied to a specific person/memory.
That said, I think I’d prefer going to a play, the symphony, or taking a weekend trip to Chicago/Seattle/New York/etc. over anything else.
Does it involve your penis? 
I voted for ‘experience’ because anything else that I want, I will most likely just go get for myself. Experiences are harder, though, as it’s harder to justify taking the time out of Mr. Tao’s day to drag him along with me. So when he DOES plan things like that, things that I’d like, it’s great. 
We started a new tradition in my family this year. Instead of presents, the birthday person picks a a family outing. My 8 year old chose a water park, so we did that in September, my husband wants to see Transiberian Orchestra and they just happen to be playing on his birthday this December, and for my birthday a local organization is doing a “Tour de Coops” to see local backyard chicken coops so we’re going to do that for the day (and go out for dim sum).
I’d prefer an eye exam, new glasses and contact lenses. Then again, I asked for (and got) dental insurance for a year (through my school) from my boyfriend for Christmas last year. The year before, he gave me an eye exam and glasses for my birthday. We also went to Disney during my birthday week but it wasn’t technically a birthday present, it was just the way the scheduling worked out.
I like practical presents.
I assume we’re talking “from an SO”?
I chose Other: unless it’s a milestone birthday (50, 60, etc.), I’d be happiest with being given a thoughtful greeting card and being taken out for dinner/drinks – someplace we both enjoy, it doesn’t have to be fancy.
I don’t ever really expect actual gifts on my birthday; that’s more of a Christmas thing, to me.
Heh. Exactly the list I came up with when I came to the end of the poll choices. My amazon wishlist closely reflects this.
I like jewelry, but half the fun is picking it out myself (I mostly wear costume jewlery, and please don’t buy me diamonds that I have to feel guilty for wearing). I am allergic to most perfumes and clothes I also prefer to pick out myself.
An outing would be nice, but most of the time it’s other - a new book, or game, or some movies.
I’ve enjoyed everything on the list at different times, except for clothing and shoes. Those I pretty much have to buy myself because I’m very picky about how they fit.
If I had to pick one, I guess it would be jewelry, but only because my husband knows my taste exactly and always picks out things that I didn’t even know I wanted.
I’d also caution against buying perfume unless it’s a scent you absolutely, positively know she already likes. Perfume can interact badly with someone’s natural scent, so it’s extremely difficult to get right without trying it out. I’ve gotten perfect perfume as a gift, but only from my mother, who has a good understanding of scents and knows which ones consistently work for me. I seriously doubt my husband could do it even after living with me for close to a decade, just because he has little knowledge of what goes into perfume and isn’t good at discriminating between subtle scents.
From whom? My SO? My Mom? A friend?
I’ll answer as if this birthday gift is coming from my SO.
Can’t go wrong with jewelry.
However, I cannot resist the tempting siren song of shoes. So, IF my SO understands my tastes and what I like/dislike about shoes, then shoes would be a great gift. Same with clothing. My exBF gave me a great dress for Christmas last year. He used to work in retail, knew my size, and chose an excellent LBD, which I loved. His only mistake was getting a dry-clean only dress, so I wear it once a year and then it hangs in the laundry room waiting for me to take it to the cleaners.
I would not like perfume as I do not wear it and choosing a scent is a very personal thingy.
I don’t think I would like an extravagant date night or anything that is consumable as a gift from an SO. Because after the date night, I have nothing to show for it. For my birthday this year, my SO gave me a bottle of vodka. However, he’s on meds that meant he couldn’t drink it with me. It was also the third bottle of vodka I received for my birthday this year. (Apparently my friends are trying to promote alcoholism. :D) So I didn’t have an experience that we shared together and after I drank the vodka, I had nothing that’s “from my BF.” He went on a road trip months and months ago and brought back for me the most beautiful bracelet. I wear it all the time and pretend in my head that that was my birthday gift. It is something from my BF, but it wasn’t my birthday gift from him. I don’t have anything tangible to remind me that my BF was thinking of me if I receive a consumable gift. That includes flowers. I love the flowers, but flowers are a gesture, not a gift.
So an experience, like a trip or concert or sporting event. That’s cool, although it does fall under the heading of “consumable.” In order for that to count as a gift I love, there must be some form of documentation of the memory, like a t-shirt, a great photo of us in front of [tourist attraction], the game flyball I caught (LOL. Would never happen.)… some tangible token that reminds me of that awesome trip we took or that great show we saw, or whatever. You had bungee jumping in the example so if that results in a video of my bungee jump, that’s golden.
I’m a total magpie who loves pretty sparkles, so it’s jewellery for me every time, especially as my husband, like Vihaga’s, always picks such lovely pieces for me.
He gave me a beautiful Tiffanys necklace for my last birthday, and I squealed so loudly (and in such an absurdly girly manner) at the mere sight of that little blue box that he was worried I’d disturb the neighbours.
Yes, I really am that shallow, judge away
I like jewelry, even though I don’t wear it often. But when I open my jewelry box and get to decide between the sapphire, diamond, or pearl earrings, I feel so spoiled and pampered and almost decadent. I would never buy such things for myself, so it’s pure extravagance for me.
An Amazon card so I can fill up my Kindle would be very nice. (I need to say it louder, since my BD is at the beginning of December…)
A snazzy date night wouldn’t be bad. I’d actually like to hit Farmer’s Market in LA again soon. That’s a fun place!
A week’s worth of foot rubs and/or back scratching (without me having to ASK!) would be absolute HEAVEN.
~VOW
Books, and practical objects. My fiance got me an ice cream maker for my last birthday (at my request).
My SO and I tend to give experiences. Last birthday, I got to go indoor sky-diving (a kick in the pants, I highly recommend it). Year before that, a 2-hour horseback ride and a night in Estes Park. I like books, too, or massages, or a yoga class punch card.
I am also a practical girl and my birthday is between Christmas and New Years. My favorite gift ever from the SO? A pricey pair of winter boots (rated to minus 40F) with an extra pair of liners and three pair of very nice wool socks.
Warm feet, all winter? Can’t get better than that!
My sister also sends me Cuddle Duds warm wear (wonderful warm underwear that I can’t afford) every year. I look forward to that package every year even though I know what’s in there.