A Girl...

Fool Me Twice

Forget about April Fools, I've got your May fool right here!

After spending Saturday at the Maker Faire with Emily and Dan (who were in town to wrap up some wedding business) and then killing time with the hipster hooligans in Dolores Park while we waited until it was late enough for Simon to pick up something in the Marina that had to do with my top-secret birthday event later that night, we pulled into our driveway at around 8 and, commenting on the number of cars that lined our street, I said, "Ooh, someone's having a party!"

Flash forward to three minutes later, when I open the front door and a room full of people jump up out of the dark and yell "SURPRISE" in my face. I am thrilled and embarrassed and, well, surprised. Completely. The "sneaky bastard" strikes again!

The house was full of people and food and drinks and gifts and a giant chocolate cake (on a new glass cake stand, which I have been coveting for months). Friends (I have friends!) had shown up early to cook and arrange the snacks and light the tiki torches and wrangle the cats into a bedroom, and everyone had come dressed to the "international" theme. Sara and Ron were Mexico and France. Sean was in a Panama hat. Emily (who did not have wedding-related business but had instead flown to California from Denver specifically for my party!) was in a shirt that said "Canada." Simon slapped a beret on my head and strapped himself into a kilt and we partied late into the night, drunk on champagne (or Martinelli's, or root beer) and good times.

Although I was surprised by the party itself, I continued to be surprised throughout the night as I walked around the house and realized that all of those people were there for me. Coworkers, former coworkers, old blog friends, new blog friends, friends of Simon's I've gotten to know over the last few years, and of course some of my very favorite people. (I'm looking at you, Teddy.) I'd never had a surprise party like this before (Simon threw me a smaller one at a restaurant in 2006) and although he knows I HATE surprises, he also knows I like parties--especially parties that I don't have to prepare for and completely stress out about for weeks beforehand. He, on the other hand, LOVES surprises and loves planning parties and loves coordinating complicated schemes behind my back, especially ones that result in my clapping my hands with glee, so it really was perfect for both of us.

For days he'd had presents tucked behind musical instruments, decorations hiding behind books on the library shelves, and food stashed in the Polish/Mormon fridge, and all the while I had no idea what was going on. When I said I was going downstairs for a Mexicoke that morning, he practically lept in front of me--"No, let me get it for you!" "But I am fully capable of walking down the stairs to get it myself." "No! Let me do it!"--and it's a good thing my laziness is stronger than my feminism or I'd have ruined the surprise. I was a little suspicious that he was being a tad overfamiliar with the "contractor" he was on the phone with all day, supposedly directing some off-hours work at his building (it was really our friend Patricia getting the food and house and guests ready), and I knew something was definitely up when I noticed that the window shutters by the front door--the ones that we usually kept closed but had left open that morning--were shut when we got home that day. But up until that moment I didn't have a clue what was going on, which is a surprise in itself because I am always suspicious of everything. But he tricked me and tricked me good, and this was one of my best birthdays ever. Even after everyone had gone home, I couldn't stop talking about the party--we were up until 3 a.m. in bed giggling about it--and I'll probably be talking about it for years to come.

Thank you to everyone who came and helped (or tried to come). Having you there was awesome.

And thank you to Simon, who will probably always insist that pizza a movie (or even two movies) isn't a proper celebration when one can have a party and chocolate cake instead.