Gift ideas for girlfriends birthday (details inside)

Look on craigslist for a used art or drafting table.

You might be able to get a desk top easel at a fairly good price.If not,there are so many other options for art supplies.
I think you should take her to an art museum and lunch for a date,then yep,give her some art supplies or a nice book on her favorite artist.
There are also beautiful things in museum gift shops.See what catches her eye and suprise her with it over lunch.
She’s a lucky girl! :)

How about some hand made jewelry or a indoor herb garden with gardening tools for your new aprtment.

Buy her a package of hanging tomatoes.

What are hanging tomatoes?

Give her an IOU for a house gift that she can pick out; add one perfect rose, a kiss and a small sable brush.

What about taking her away for a night at either a b&b or a nice hotel and a nice restaurant for dinner. Make a reservation for a night that you are both free and after the move, and make her a little certificate to put in a card letting her know your intentions.

A girl always likes some jewlery, other than that I can’t really tell you since I don’t know her, but spashing out would be a good way to go.

You could get her a membership to your local (or closest big town) art museum.

If she has a favorite artist, you could get a nice art book.

Do you have any wineries or microwbreweries in or near your town? If so, you could have a dinner and tasting experience.

Take her on a picnic to the mountains or the countryside. Pack a lunch of semi-gourmet foods from a place like Whole Foods or Bristol Farms.

An overnight stay in a bed and breakfast in your town, where you know the food is great.

If she likes to cook, maybe a coupon for her to pick out a new set of cookware for you new apartment. Let her pick it out. Or you could get her a new cuisinart food processor. They just remodeled it to make it even easier to use (bigger feed tube and bread hooks etc.)

Find out what the critics think is the most romantic place to have dinner in your town and take her there. Or find the place that has the prettiest view. Or if she has one specific dish that she loves, find the best place in town that serves it.

Or do a breakfast lunch and dinner thing. Plan the whole day, to eat, and sightsee, and eat and sightsee and eat.

Jewelry is always a good choice, especially from an art museum shop or something handmade.

If you’re by chance in NYC, there’s a guy that sells incredible pinhole camera photos, Michel Bayard.

Thank you for all the good suggestions. I ended up finding a really nice second hand art table (specially imported from Egypt!) on craigslist. Im sure it will make her really happy. Wasn’t even that expensive :)

Good deal! It sounds neat. I think she’ll love it. Maybe she can paint a portrait of you.