Surprise!

As I mentioned in my last post, last Saturday, Matt was going to take me to dinner at Medinah and a movie ("Crazy, Stupid, Love" - for the record, I still want to see that) for my birthday. I was actually pretty excited about it as meals out with Brooke can be less than relaxing and I LOVE seeing movies and don't get to nearly as much as I'd like.

Prior to dinner, we stopped at a park and took a little walk while Matt said some sweet things to me about being 30 and a cougar since I'm now married to a man in his 20's. On the way to dinner, Matt made a couple of wrong turns that I pointed out but went on talking. Then, we got to Medinah and rather than park in the lot or use the valet, Matt parked by the pool with the excuse of needing to look at a posting in the locker room. Again, didn't think anything about it. However, as we approached the dining room, Matt's hand got a little shaky and the hostess said something about "They're" being outside. I'd barely had time to process this before we got near the windows to the patio and I saw my brother's head towering over a group of people.

Surprise!


Matt had been planning my surprise 30th birthday party for months, complete with family and dear friends in from out of town. It was so wonderful and overwhelming to have so many people that I love all in the same place. I would compliment him on the amazing feat of keeping it a secret from me, but I'm incredibly gullible. I will say that the only person that I voiced any suspicions to, my friend Beth, did a great job of playing dumb, even when she saw me a few hours before.

Always awkward being the center of attention.



My friends Lindsay and Brandon came with their adorable brand new baby Evan.

I really can't say it enough, but thank you so much to my amazing and thoughtful husband for planning all this (the pressure's on for October!). Thanks so much to my great mother and father in law for all their help with the planning and coordination (and photography - all photos from this post and the last were courtesy of Debbie). And finally, thanks to all my friends and family for their love and support. I'm entering my 30's feeling very blessed.