I did it, I did it, I did it!! I totally pulled off a surprise party for Nathan's 29th birthday. Thanks to months of planning, lots of help, and a few good neighbors, he was completely shocked when he walked through the door last night to see a bunch of friends and family in his living room. Success!
The idea to throw him a surprise party came to me this past February. Nathan has always complained about having to share his birthday with myself and our sister-in-law, Laura, since our special day is the day before his. I usually respond to his complaints with something along the lines of "Cry me a river, you big baby," but truth be told, I do get his point. Part of the joy of your birthday is having a celebration that is all about you. So last spring, I started thinking about throwing him his very own party and while I considered waiting until his 30th birthday, I figured he'd be less likely to expect something if I did it this year on his 29th.
Of course, he is much less likely to figure it out when you don't leave an invitation lying around for him to find. Oops. Luckily, the one he saw was only half printed, so he didn't know the details, such as the date, location, and time. He wormed that out of me a couple weeks later when he suddenly decided he wanted to go on a camping trip this weekend. When I wouldn't commit to that idea, he actually had the nerve to get mad at me, knowing full well why I wouldn't agree to go! His sole purpose in suggesting that we get away for the weekend was to get me to squirm and admit that I was throwing him a party. He can be such a brat sometimes!
Well, it worked. I caved and finally said, "Look, you know why we can't leave that weekend. So just drop the subject and act surprised Saturday night when you come home, okay?" I said this while crossing my fingers behind my back, praying that he didn't know that the party was actually planned for Friday evening, not Saturday. I was determined to surprise him, since catching him off guard can rarely can be done! He seemed to believe me, as he spent the rest of the evening gloating that he just couldn't be surprised. Yeah, right.
It actually worked in my favor that he knew I was throwing him a party here at the house. I was able to do all of the prep work ahead of time without having to be discreet. So it wasn't a big deal when he came home one day to see party lights strung up on the back patio and cases of beer and soda in the fridge. He fully expected me to morph into crazy cleaning lady two days before the party, but I do think he was mildly surprised that it was all done by Friday, since he was anticipating the big bash on Saturday. I'm not usually so efficient, you see. I just claimed that I would be cooking all day Saturday, so I wanted to get the cleaning done ahead of time. Hee hee hee. (Imagine me rubbing my hands together as I cackle.)
Now on to the decoy. This is my favorite part of the story. I have been racking my brain for months on how I was going to get Nathan out of the house during the period that guests would be arriving. I had contemplated several scenarios, but nothing seemed plausible or doable, including the suggestion by several people that I take him out to dinner while someone else greeted our guests as they arrived at our home. I just laughed at that idea. Obviously, these well-meaning friends don't know me well enough to realize that surrendering control and hostess duties in my own home, if only for a short time, is NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN. EVER.
So two days before the party I finally came up with the perfect idea. I had some good friends of ours, who happen to be our neighbors as well, concoct a story that they decided to remodel their bathroom and wanted to hire Nathan to do it. This is totally believable since Nathan is currently in the same process for a different client and he had just done this neighbor's backyard this past summer. The Hamilton's asked him to come take his initial look at the project on Friday after Harry get off work at 5:30. I convinced Nathan to take Benjamin with him to play with their little girl while I took a bath to unwind from my week of party preparation. I even filled the bathtub while he was getting ready to go! I reminded him to be back by 6:30 so we would make it to our other neighbor's party on time. Yep, that faux-party was part of the plan too! Kevin and Mandy had invited us to their house that night to supposedly celebrate Mandy's birthday, complete with an invitation that I had made. I needed a reason for Nathan to be home that evening and a plausible reason for several cars to be parked in their front yard since I had directed all of our guests to park there. So I invented a party at their house to attend. Sometimes I even surprise myself with my level of planning!
So after he left, I raced around the house like the tazmanian devil to complete the final touches. Banner up? Check. Appetizers in the oven? Check. Drinks on ice? Check. Music playing? Check. I was sweeping all of Nathans papers, tools, and other doo-dads that he leaves on the counter into a basket (to give the allusion that we are neat and tidy people) when the first guests arrived. (Boy, did people have a fit when they saw my standing on the counter and a barstool hanging the banner! Something about pregnant woman and heights puts people in a tizzy, I guess.) By 6:30, most everyone was there and all that was left to do was wait. I finally got the phone call that he was headed home, so we killed the lights and waited for him to walk through the door. As soon as he did 40 some people yelled "Surprise!" and boy, was he ever! I was thrilled!
The rest of the night was filled with food, drinks, all of Nathan's favorite desserts made just for him (mint brownies, carmel brownies, and lemon cookies), a bonfire, and good friends. The evening went just as I had planned and I think everyone had a good time celebrating my husband's special day, just for him.
Happy 29th Birthday Nathan. I love you.
The idea to throw him a surprise party came to me this past February. Nathan has always complained about having to share his birthday with myself and our sister-in-law, Laura, since our special day is the day before his. I usually respond to his complaints with something along the lines of "Cry me a river, you big baby," but truth be told, I do get his point. Part of the joy of your birthday is having a celebration that is all about you. So last spring, I started thinking about throwing him his very own party and while I considered waiting until his 30th birthday, I figured he'd be less likely to expect something if I did it this year on his 29th.
Of course, he is much less likely to figure it out when you don't leave an invitation lying around for him to find. Oops. Luckily, the one he saw was only half printed, so he didn't know the details, such as the date, location, and time. He wormed that out of me a couple weeks later when he suddenly decided he wanted to go on a camping trip this weekend. When I wouldn't commit to that idea, he actually had the nerve to get mad at me, knowing full well why I wouldn't agree to go! His sole purpose in suggesting that we get away for the weekend was to get me to squirm and admit that I was throwing him a party. He can be such a brat sometimes!
Well, it worked. I caved and finally said, "Look, you know why we can't leave that weekend. So just drop the subject and act surprised Saturday night when you come home, okay?" I said this while crossing my fingers behind my back, praying that he didn't know that the party was actually planned for Friday evening, not Saturday. I was determined to surprise him, since catching him off guard can rarely can be done! He seemed to believe me, as he spent the rest of the evening gloating that he just couldn't be surprised. Yeah, right.
It actually worked in my favor that he knew I was throwing him a party here at the house. I was able to do all of the prep work ahead of time without having to be discreet. So it wasn't a big deal when he came home one day to see party lights strung up on the back patio and cases of beer and soda in the fridge. He fully expected me to morph into crazy cleaning lady two days before the party, but I do think he was mildly surprised that it was all done by Friday, since he was anticipating the big bash on Saturday. I'm not usually so efficient, you see. I just claimed that I would be cooking all day Saturday, so I wanted to get the cleaning done ahead of time. Hee hee hee. (Imagine me rubbing my hands together as I cackle.)
Now on to the decoy. This is my favorite part of the story. I have been racking my brain for months on how I was going to get Nathan out of the house during the period that guests would be arriving. I had contemplated several scenarios, but nothing seemed plausible or doable, including the suggestion by several people that I take him out to dinner while someone else greeted our guests as they arrived at our home. I just laughed at that idea. Obviously, these well-meaning friends don't know me well enough to realize that surrendering control and hostess duties in my own home, if only for a short time, is NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN. EVER.
So two days before the party I finally came up with the perfect idea. I had some good friends of ours, who happen to be our neighbors as well, concoct a story that they decided to remodel their bathroom and wanted to hire Nathan to do it. This is totally believable since Nathan is currently in the same process for a different client and he had just done this neighbor's backyard this past summer. The Hamilton's asked him to come take his initial look at the project on Friday after Harry get off work at 5:30. I convinced Nathan to take Benjamin with him to play with their little girl while I took a bath to unwind from my week of party preparation. I even filled the bathtub while he was getting ready to go! I reminded him to be back by 6:30 so we would make it to our other neighbor's party on time. Yep, that faux-party was part of the plan too! Kevin and Mandy had invited us to their house that night to supposedly celebrate Mandy's birthday, complete with an invitation that I had made. I needed a reason for Nathan to be home that evening and a plausible reason for several cars to be parked in their front yard since I had directed all of our guests to park there. So I invented a party at their house to attend. Sometimes I even surprise myself with my level of planning!
So after he left, I raced around the house like the tazmanian devil to complete the final touches. Banner up? Check. Appetizers in the oven? Check. Drinks on ice? Check. Music playing? Check. I was sweeping all of Nathans papers, tools, and other doo-dads that he leaves on the counter into a basket (to give the allusion that we are neat and tidy people) when the first guests arrived. (Boy, did people have a fit when they saw my standing on the counter and a barstool hanging the banner! Something about pregnant woman and heights puts people in a tizzy, I guess.) By 6:30, most everyone was there and all that was left to do was wait. I finally got the phone call that he was headed home, so we killed the lights and waited for him to walk through the door. As soon as he did 40 some people yelled "Surprise!" and boy, was he ever! I was thrilled!
The rest of the night was filled with food, drinks, all of Nathan's favorite desserts made just for him (mint brownies, carmel brownies, and lemon cookies), a bonfire, and good friends. The evening went just as I had planned and I think everyone had a good time celebrating my husband's special day, just for him.
Happy 29th Birthday Nathan. I love you.
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