Surprise.... you're 30!

Last week I threw a surprise party for Gregory to celebrate his 30th birthday. I did my part by reserving the space (the upstairs party room at my work) and inviting family and friends. All I had to do was ask - and everyone who loves Gregory accepted the invite! (I'm sure offering delicious Mexican appetizers and alcohol was an incentive too.)


Genevieve helped me with creating the babysitting illusion - she came over early so I could take Gregory out to the only chain restaurant we really like besides Outback. THE CHANG. We gorged ourselves at the bar with half-price appetizers. I had told him we needed to be somewhere by 7:15 for his big "surprise". So after stuffing our faces with potstickers and shrimp, we got back in the minivan.

Now there was absolutely no hiding the fact that we had to come back to our house and park in front of Azul to arrive at the surprise party. Let alone the fact that he would recognize all of the cars AND anyone arriving at the last minute. I let him go most of the car ride back knowing our direction, until we had to cross the Sewickley bridge. On goes the blindfold (risking motion sickness) and I had to make a few circles in the neighborhood to throw him off. He literally kept naming everything we passed right on cue, so that I was starting to worry that he could see. "Oh, must be passing Eat n Park, now the BP, now the doctor's office..."

Meanwhile, Eve and Matt had been scrambling to blow up balloons, decorate and make sure all of the food was ready. Other friends made cupcakes (and the lemon ones that Erin made are still being devoured two-at-a-time!) which were AMAZING.

We parked in front our house and I was leading Gregory down the sidewalk blindfolded. I saw our dog, Baxter, staring at us through the front window and he started to howl when we walked past the house. If anyone was going to ruin the surprise, it was going to be our spaz dog. I led Gregory into the side door of Azul and let him take off the blindfold. Even once we were inside the restaurant, he had no idea that we were about to go to his own surprise party. I'm not sure what he thought we were going to do!

Up the stairs and "SURPRISE!!!!", everyone is screaming at Gregory and he has to get over the shock of seeing so many unexpected faces. High school friends, family, work friends, everyone. Of course, we missed family and friends that live out of town, etc. - it's hard to coordinate a party on a Monday night that attracts interstate travel. This is what meant the most, though, is that so many people jumped at the chance to celebrate Gregory's birthday. It wasn't about my planning the event or coordinating an elaborate secret. It's about our friends & family; how kind everyone was to make it work and show my 30 year old husband what a great person he is!
Thirty is a milestone that deserves to be recognized. There should be a party and no mention of "doom and gloom" about getting older. I think I'll save that for forty, when we really should have everything figured out. :)