Day One. Surprise!
March 15, 2011 § 2 Comments
Day one was my 29th birthday. It started off normally, with a 7am work shift, and me mentally debating the day away about whether or not I should write this blog.
First of all, this project is not an original idea (from me), but rather a copycat attempt from my friend Stephanie. Project 29 to 30 is the original and you should definitely check it out. She turned 30 last September and, while still finishing up the writing portion, successfully completed 365 new activities.
I am doing this as a sort of kick-in-the-pants. The last couple years seemed to be very routine-filled (go to work, come home, etc), and I kind of miss the adventures I had in my early twenties. I’m not afraid of turning thirty; frankly, I don’t think it is a big deal. I just want a little more excitement.
On the day of my birthday, I didn’t know what plans Patrick had in store for me that evening, only that we were going to eat at Rathbun’s and then some sort of secret plans. I fleetingly thought there might be some sort of party, but not in the way it enfolded.
After dinner (where I had a rabbit bolognese…something new in itself), he told me we were going for dessert. I suggested the Sound Table; we had eaten a delicious chocolate cake with the warm gooey center and salted caramel ice cream a few weeks before and I had been thinking about it a lot. Confectionary dreams.
We walked in and the host asked if we wanted upstairs or down. I was glad Patrick chose the former as we had eaten at bar on our last visit. I like a change of scenery.
I rounded the corner to see thirty of my closest friends waiting. A somewhat tentative “Surprise!” erupted. Apparently there had been a minor false call a few minutes earlier.
It. Was. Awesome. As a kid I always wanted a surprise birthday party. I would tell my mom I didn’t want any sort of gathering hoping she would use her secret mom-sense to pick up on the fact that I was blatantly lying and wanted a big screaming “Surprise!” to greet me at every corner. I would tentatively walk into the house from school, after my birthday dinner at Ryan’s Steakhouse, or just cause, with a look of expectation playing across my face. I even practiced my surprise look.
Well, I didn’t need to practice on March 9, 2011. I was definitely surprised. I think the only thing keeping me from tearing up was seeing the little bit of water in Patrick’s eyes. One of us has to be the responsible one.
But really, he was responsible for arranging it all, and it was an awesome gift. So thank you to (in no particular order) Kristin, Steven, Jeremiah, Erin, Tyler, Dre, Aimee, Joe, Kristi, Josh, Sam, Jason, Byrd, Kummer, Chris X, Amanda, Tak, Farzad, Heike, Greg, Nick, Michelle, Cooper, Matt, Maita, Melanie, Stephanie, John, and most of all, Patrick. Ya’ll are the best!
in no particular order eh?
[...] started off with some fancy cocktails. I had the Dolores, and not since the Soundtable have I had such a lovely liquor drink. The food was also delicious, from the various “In [...]