Feeling loved

Sunday, October 01, 2006

I had a great pre-birthday weekend. (My birthday is on Wednesday.) My husband Dave threw me a surprise birthday party! He’s not the planning type so, as much as I love surprises, I didn’t think he would go as large-scale as he did.

If you don’t feel like reading the painstaking sequence of events below, here’s the punchline – I was very surprised, despite many instances where the plan could have gone awry.

Last evening, I was supposed to have dinner with Yoonjin, a law school friend. She suggested Aire , a nice restaurant in Costa Mesa, and (not being especially picky) I agreed to meet her there.

Dave and I had a competely normal Saturday – slept in, ate lunch, watched TV, ran a couple errands, did some cleaning. He got a phone call during which he said “inside,” as in inside seating. I figured, he knows I’m expecting something special for my birthday, so he’s probably making restaurant reservations for Wednesday for the two of us. Just before I left for the restaurant, he got another phone call while playing a game of Topspin on the XBox 360.

“Was that [high school friend]?” I asked.

“Uh, yeah,” he replied, squinting more intently at the screen. “Should I have dinner with him?”

“Yeah, you should,” I said, feeling bad for leaving him at home on a Saturday night.

“Okay.”

Little did I know, this was actually Katy calling to confirm some detail of The Plan.

I left and drove to the restaurant in record speed. (It’s right near my work and I got to take the shortest distance route that is usually clogged with traffic on weekdays.) Since I was supposed to meet my friend at 6:00pm and it was 5:50pm, I wandered through the stores until I saw the restaurant’s sign at the end of a path. I sat down at a bench just before the restaurant and took out my camera for a few shots.

A minute later, I looked up and saw Sam walking toward me. I hadn’t seen him since my wedding.

“How random!” I exclaimed as I rose to meet him. “What are you doing here?”

“Shopping.”

“Oh yeah? There are some neat outdoor-type stores here.”

“Yeah. Man, I saw the diabolo videos you put on your blog. It makes me want to pick it up again.”

“Weren’t those videos crazy? The second one is part of a longer performance. ”

his cell phone rings

“Hello? ... I can’t; I’m in Costa Mesa … shopping … OK, bye. Oh, it was part of a longer performance?”

“Yeah. Well, I should check if my friend is here yet.”

“Do you want me to wait with you till she gets here?”

“Let me check.”

I went to the restaurant entrance, and she was there, so I ran back and said bye to Sam. I had no idea that, while we were talking, a group of party guests were heading toward the restaurant when they saw us, blocking the path. My back was turned, giving them the chance to scutter into some bushes and call Dave. Jordan thought the cover was blown and was ready to walk up to me and say “hi.” But others kept their cool and called Dave to ask if I knew about the surprise. When they were told no, they snuck into the restaurant from the service entrance! (Such great friends.)

Yoonjin and I greeted each other and headed into the restaurant. I stopped at the hostess, since she’d told me she made reservations. Instead, she guided me around the corner – upon a big table of awaiting party guests! I was in complete shock. I was speechless. I didn’t even realize Dave was the mastermind until someone told me, “Your husband planned this.” I stared around at all the people there – one of whom I had not seen since Davis, and one of whom drove all the way from Bakersfield – and just felt so loved.

Further proving my utter cluelessness:

“You know who I just saw outside? Sam Ahn!”

“That’s because he’s supposed to be here!”

looking embarrassed as everyone laughed at me

I turned to Yoonjin. “You were in on this the whole time?”

“Ever since Dave called me after he found out we were having dinner.”

“How deceptive!!!”

Poor Dave – he planned the party, but wasn’t there to see me be surprised. After I left the apartment, he sprang into action, rushing to get dressed, buy flowers, and drive to the restaurant – only, his car was blocked by another car and he decided to try his luck with the 55 Freeway (never a good idea). But it was still a sweet sight to see him come in with a dozen roses saying “happy birthday.”

The funky image that captured the moment:

It was great. We then proceeded to eat lots of food and talk and laugh and drink wine and beer and I took lots of pictures of everyone and opened presents and blew out candles shaped like “2” and “7” while trying not to admit that I am now in my “late twenties.” It felt like a combination of my bridal shower (with the present-opening) and, on a smaller scale, my wedding (with the many guests, fine food, gorgeous cake, and making rounds to talk to everyone).

Dave has sure proven his mettle in surprise-planning. He says there are more surprises to come. Can’t wait!

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