Paul had organized a surprise party and damn was he sneaky! I was so shocked that they had all managed to plan such an elaborate party without me catching any wind of it whatsoever. My very logical brain immediately starting trying to figure out how they had done it. Especially my mom and Paul, who had been a very effective party planning team. Paul planned the party but, knowing his own organizational limitations, enlisted my mom to provide him with helpful nudges and reminders along the way. Paul had made a copy of our keys so my mom could set up and let everyone in. Wow!
I was grinning from ear to ear saying hi to everyone, slowly processing the shock of it all and then I froze, remembering a few things that I likely would have cleaned up had I known I was having a party, like the underwear I left in the bathroom! I ran to put it away and then happily rejoined the party.
What an amazing party it was. I was having way too much fun absorbing the experience to take out my camera, so I had to rely on friends and family to take the photos. Here are some that were taken by Mark, Jerri, Jamie and Adam.
Walking in and totally surprised
...notice that "cat that got the canary" expression on Paul's face behind me!
It didn't take long for my mom to bust out the bubbly and organize a toast to my third decade.
Mom, Me, Zoe, and Jessy (the family baby whisperer)
Mike and Sally
Baby Wants Bubbly
Sylvia knows what she wants and she knows how to get it:) Good thing Adam's arms are longer than hers.
Zoe was taking charge of Mark's glass. She can knock 'em back like no other baby.
Kidding, kidding, kidding. No babies were intoxicated at this party. However, I am encouraging an early love of yarn.
As if the room full of friends and family wasn't enough, Paul had also gathered video birthday wishes from a few friends who live in other cities. That's Beth on the screen!
Paul had ordered a white chocolate, raspberry birthday cake from The Franklin Street Bakery. As Salt 'n Pepa would say, "Whatta man, whatta man, what a mighty good man."
I haven't had a birthday party in years and I've never had a surprise party. It was an awesome thing to experience and definitely made me feel loved and happy to be here in Minneapolis.
I should also mention that I got a haircut on Friday by the same person that cuts my sister's hair. We were chatting during my haircut and discussed my upcoming birthday. He was very insistent that I was going to have a surprise party. I told him that I didn't think that Paul would be the type to arrange something like that. In fact, I was SURE that he would never plan a surprise party for me. Paul is sort of known for his casual, lack of organization, procrastinating ways, none of which are qualities that would be useful in planning a surprise party. I was so sure that there was no possibility of a surprise party that I shared the amusing story with both Paul and my mom. That, in turn, prompted my mom to call my sister to find out if she had told the hairstylist, who had told me and potentially ruined the surprise. I unknowingly created a little ripple of surprise party panic amongst the secret keepers. And, really, the joke was on me because he DID plan it and he did it quite well. There were good guests, food, cake, drinks and most of all, I had no clue about any of it until he wanted me to know!
SUCCESS!!!!!!!!
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