Surprise!!

...No, thankfully Logan will not be sporting a 'Big Sister' T just yet.  I knew what you were thinking.

Surprise!! is what I successfully pulled off for Chris's birthday last Sunday.  If you are doing the math, that's Sunday, January 2nd.  A week after Christmas.  The day after New Years.  Minutes after the holidays were officially "closed for business".  All in all, a stressful time of year to plan a surprise anything.  Thus the reason that for 8+ years, Chris's birthday has been celebrated either weeks before or weeks after the actual date. Or worse, lumped into Christmas eve or New Years eve and all of his gifts are inevitably wrapped in Christmas paper (um, okay, this didn't change).

Anyhow, this year was a bit different.  I am proud that I got my ducks in a row, strings tied, buttons buttoned, aka my shit together, several weeks in advance and was able to pull this one off.  With 12 of his closest friends, I threw a surprise Birthday dinner on the actual day.  It was fun keeping him waiting in anticipation and who am I kidding? I also loved the excuse to use my new KitchenAid (thanks Santa) and pull out all of my place settings, kitchenware, gadgets and gizmos.

After a day at the Bronco's Game, Chris came home to a house full of friends who love him as much as I do.  I even kept Logan awake (ahem, admittedly so that she had a reason to wear her party shoes).  He was officially surprised despite the fact that he saw me pull into the driveway earlier with an extra table in the car - phew.  Rosemary Pork Tenderloin and Strawberry Rissotto were a huge hit (thanks for the support JA) and the homemade cake and icing were worth the do-over.  See picture # 1 for the first attempt.  I about died when it was nearly midnight the night before as I watched (in what seemed like slow motion) the cake slide off the stove...sigh.

Happy Birthday Chris!