I had such an awesome time organizing a surprise 40th birthday for my husband Mark. I kept wishing I could share the excitement with my kids, but was careful not to mention anything to Kira, who was bound to slip out the news without even realizing it. Last winter (shortly before Christmas), after returning from a "grocery shopping" trip with her daddy, she blurted out: "Daddy, did you hide the surprise for Mommy? Where's the surprise for Mommy?" to which Daddy couldn't help but laugh.
So, much of the organization was done through email, or during Kira's preschool hours. The party was set to coincide with our 5th wedding anniversary weekend (a month before Mark's actual birthday, so he wouldn't suspect anything!). And, as a perk I was able to milk our anniversary weekend and plan stuff for the 2 of us! On Friday night we went out for a romantic dinner in Vieux La Prairie. On Saturday we went to the spa for an hour-long Swedish massage. And on Sunday, I took him out for lunch, where I informed him that I had reserved the entire restaurant for just us 2. Of course, that's when he started to suspect something was up...
We drove up to Sushi Yasu restaurant in Brossard. The parking lot was empty (Mark knows the cars of all of his friends and family, so this was key to the surprise being effective). After 15 minutes of trying to keep a straight face in the restaurant with Mark, the guests started to pour in. We packed the restaurant with 45 family and friends, including our prize-winning guests Doug & Licia Baylis, who drove up from New Jersey just to wish Mark a happy 40th.
More well-wishers joined us afterwards at our home. Success!
No birthday party would be complete without cake! I ordered this gorgeous cake (coconut on top tier; chocolate bottom tier) from Les Sucres Antonietta (ask me if you want a referral!). Nothing went to waste, not even the stars, as you can see. :)
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