Surprise!

Saturday I received a big surprise in the form of an intimate birthday party, orchestrated by my darling husband and enacted by a group of my closest friends. I was completely surprised, and it was so fun!

Thursday was my real birthday. But Friday was the start of an eight-day work marathon that requires waking up at 5:30 a.m. daily and working through the weekends, so my birthday celebration was minimal. We went out for a nice dinner, but I didn't even have time to bake a proper birthday cake. It was less hurrah than a usual birthday, and while I was not broken up about the mellow day, I was a little bit underwhelmed.

Well... Saturday after I got off work Sam explained he had made plans for us to go out for drinks with our friends Will and Carmen downtown. The weather was beautiful and we were going to drink beers outside, after a cocktail at Liberty Bar. I dressed up and headed out. When we arrived at the Liberty Bar we headed up stairs, and as we hit the top floor the Sam grabbed my hand and firmly pulled me toward the back room, known as "The Porch."

Inside was a long table covered in balloons and seated with Jules, Roger, Casey, Jarrett, Ted, Anne, Will and Carmen, with two seats for me and Sam! Everyone said "Surprise!" and I was completely shocked and delighted and overwhelmed and so, so flattered!

And we had cake, and cocktails, and goat cheese with chili morita, and then we ate dinner. And everyone sang me happy birthday. And I received a few presents. And it was very very special. What a nice husband and nice friends I have to do such a thing for me. I am a very lucky girl.

That's my birthday cake! It's called "Virginia Green's Chocolate Cake" and those of us that ate full slices (as opposed to sharing with significant others) definitely made ourselve a bit ill with sweets. It was great.

And this is my beau Sam, who planned the whole surprise. He was very proud of himself and I felt so special thanks to his efforts. Happy birthday to me.