A birthday gift for a girlfriend should be focused on her personality and her special day. Gifts for birthdays include ideas such as baskets filled with goodies, a trip to a fun destination, a spa treatment or chocolates. On the first birthday with your girlfriend, avoid giving jewelry, very expensive items or items that have special significance to you. Relax and just have fun giving birthday treats.

Every woman is different in personality, but all women love accessories and surprises. Fill a gift bag full of accessories and surprise items that just say "her," to you. Fill it with items such as, a pair of sunglasses, a key chain, a bookmark, a sunhat, a scarf, an ankle bracelet, gloves, seed packets to grow flowers or tomatoes (get crazy), chocolates, cookies, lip gloss, cotton candy, a belt, bubble bath, candles and tickets to see a movie with you. You get the idea.

Women love being pampered. Give your girlfriend a birthday gift certificate to a spa for an afternoon of bliss. Women love body massages with essential oils, facials and hot-stone therapy treatments. If she isn't the facial type, a gift certificate that includes a pedicure or manicure after her massage, instead, will be a welcome treat. Place enough money on the gift certificate for her to purchase some massage oils or essential aromatic oils for her to enjoy at home with you later.

All women enjoy getting away once in awhile, especially for their birthdays. You know what she enjoys and where she would enjoy going. Think ahead and purchase tickets in advance to a conference she would enjoy, such as a Woman of Faith conference in a city near you. You can even take her and relax at the motel pool while she's at the conference center. If that is not her cup of tea, take her to an amusement park, a zoo, a museum or an antique mall, followed by a picnic in the park where she enjoys a box of chocolates.

Gift baskets are fun to give and to receive. Purchase a basket that can be kept and used later by your girlfriend. The basket can be any size and shape. They can be as small as a basket for a bedside table or as large as a wicker laundry basket. Fill the basket with items that your girlfriend will enjoy. Is she a stuffed-animal-and-candy girl or is she a wine-and-cheese girl? Other ideas to fill the basket with are ink pens, a birthday journal, a photo album, spa and bath items and trial sizes of perfumes and, of course, chocolate.