Shhhhh! It’s a Surprise.

March 25, 2008 at 6:13 am | In love, my neurosis | 51 Comments

I planned a surprise for The Fella’s birthday on Saturday night. All he knew was he needed to dress up and be ready by 6pm. I like surprising people. When people try to surprise me and I get a whiff of it, my control freak comes out so unless they are really, really good at hiding things from me (re: they are liarheads*) it’s not gonna fly.

So we got all dolled up and I blindfolded him. (Kinky, I know.) As I’m driving along taking a circuitous route to confuse his sense of direction (which is, even blindfolded, better than mine), we stopped at a red light. I whipped out my camera and snapped a picture of him all decked out in his suit with my scarf tied over his eyes. Then, because the light was long and I feel compelled to photo document most moments of my life, I turned the camera on myself. As I put my finger up to my lips in a “Shhh!” sign to pose for the picture, a girl crossing the street peered into the car, took one look at us and started laughing.

I don’t blame her. We were quite a sight.

Side note: At least I did not make him wear a decorated paper bag over his head that said things like, “It’s My Birthday!” which, yes, my sister did to me once upon a time. And then she took me on a very, very windy road wherein I worried I might throw up on myself before we arrived at the surprise location. Skip to the end: I didn’t puke and managed to eat at the surprise dinner party she and all my friends threw me. Awww. Cute.

Back to Saturday, I drove around a bit confused as to where to park since I knew it was on Pike right down by the Market but when I checked my directions I realized, oh shit, I didn’t write down the actual address! Quickly, I texted our friends, Wookie and Kitten, hoping they knew since the second part of the surprise was that they were joining us for the evening’s festivities. Luckily, I have prepared friends and am a very skilled texter even while driving. (Don’t ask The Fella. It makes him nervous when I text and drive.)

So now I know the address but um, I still don’t know where the damn place is. No addresses are marked down there! Ok, just play it cool. It’ll all work out. Just. Chill. Sizz.

Breathing. Breathing.

After we parked and started walking in the right direction, I started in on The Fella.

“Do you want to know where we are going?”

“No. You don’t have to tell me.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to know?”

“Do you want to tell me or something?”

“Um well. See? The thing is I think I know where we are going but you might know if I tell you and then you can help me.” (Sheepish.)

“Ok. . .Where are we going?”

“The Can Can Club!”

“What’s that? Is it French?”

Uh oh. We’re in trouble. We keep walking and luckily we ran right into Kitten and Wookie standing out front of the club. Phew! We had arranged for VIP seats which, sadly, turned out to mean that two of us had our backs to the stage. We chose off of a pre-set menu and the food was just. . .alright. The mac & cheese Kitten and I had was runny but had good flavor, and the chocolate cake tasted like Entemann’s which was very disappointing. Despite the so-so food, the show itself was really good- awesome performers and good energy. I particularly enjoyed the end when they dragged three women on stage and then made them dance and gesticulate and sing along to the likes of “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake while the scantily clad dancer guy gyrated around them. Everyone in the audience was singing along and clapping. I loved it.

But most importantly, The Fella had a good time. And that’s really all that matters. He was the birthday after all and my most specialist person.

*Liarheads brought to you by Kaply. Thanks, friend.

51 Comments »

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That is (You are!) so awesome! I love birthdays and I love making them special for my friends (and me too!!).

Comment by Melissa — March 25, 2008 #
Sounds like a great time and a very, very, thoughtful b-day dinner! Wow, now I gotta go download that Whitesnake song. I haven’t heard that in about 10 years. Though I do think of them and Tawny Kitaen every time I see a white Jag driving by, but that’s a much different story…

Glad you all had fun Saturday.

Comment by Michael C — March 25, 2008 #
That sounds so fun! Happy Birthday to the Fella!

Comment by rosie — March 25, 2008 #
I like how he was so calm about your lack of knowing where you were going.

He must like surprises.

Comment by gorillabuns — March 25, 2008 #
I want you to take ME out for my birthday all blindfolded like that!!!

PS. I like his suit. VERY cool.

Comment by Eileen Dover — March 25, 2008 #
Ohhhh…how cute! My hubs wouldn’t even wear the blindfold! LOL! How cool was this? You two are such a great couple… already! ;)

Comment by sue — March 25, 2008 #
How fun! Happy Birthday to the Fella.

Comment by kim — March 25, 2008 #
How cute!
Oh dear, are you an Aries pair? That’s a recipe for trouble! ;)

Comment by diane — March 25, 2008 #
Sounds like had a great birthday, despite the sucktacular cake. I took my hubby to Chopstix for his birthday. They replaced Whitesnake with Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back.”

Comment by kirida — March 25, 2008 #
That is very cool! I’m glad he liked it. (Sorry the food was so-so.)

Comment by Nat — March 25, 2008 #
yay! Happy Birthday!

Comment by alissaclare — March 25, 2008 #
Wait… whats the can can club?

I would have also totally laughed if I was the girl crossing the street :)

Comment by Scotty — March 25, 2008 #
It does my heart good to hear how happy you and the Fella are :)

One of these days you need to blog about how ya’ll met.

And I too would have been cracking up had I been the girl.

Comment by TC — March 25, 2008 #
Love it! Birthday surprises kind of rock. And so does a lack of a sense of direction. :)

Comment by sandra — March 25, 2008 #
You are the coolest girlfriend ever!

Comment by The Diva's Thoughts — March 25, 2008 #
You have got to earn mega brownie points for that one and the Fella better not let go of a good Sizzle. =)

Comment by Ashleigh — March 25, 2008 #
What a great idea! I wish someone would surprise me sometime. That would be so fun!

Comment by 180/360 — March 25, 2008 #
If you offered me a bag and the night ended with a gyrating man I’d be ok.

I tell you this for when you surprise me.

Comment by Mocha — March 25, 2008 #
Fella looks like an Urban Ninja with the blindfold.

Comment by Tobiwan — March 25, 2008 #
Oh he is just too damn cute all suited and booted with the scarf over his eyes! I loved your shhhhh picture! It sounds like you all had a great time :o)

Comment by Penelope — March 25, 2008 #
I’m not sure why, but I kinda want to print the picture of you “shhhh”ing and put it on my fridge. Don’t worry, I won’t. ;)

Comment by kristi — March 25, 2008 #
Aww, you’re too cute with the whole surprise thing for The Fella! Sounds like a good night!

PS- Look at you with the LONG hair from way before!

Comment by brookem — March 25, 2008 #
Oh yeah! Happy Birthday to the Fella! And nice job on surprising him. Seems like it was a good time all around!

Comment by Nilsa S. — March 25, 2008 #
That sounds like a lot of fun. I love surprising people too!

I just wish someone would take the time to surprise me… :(

;)

Comment by kilax — March 25, 2008 #
The Can Can Club (because I forgot to mention it in the post) is a club/theater that serves dinner before and during the show. They put on burlesque-like acts that are very entertaining.

Comment by sizzlesays — March 25, 2008 #
I loved the Can Can players when they were in Portland, and can’t wait to see them in their native Seattle!

Comment by Dave2 — March 25, 2008 #
I’m sorry the food wasn’t all that, but it sounds as though you and the Fella had a great time anyway.

Comment by Diane Mandy — March 25, 2008 #
What a sweet birthday gift! I love being surprised…genuine surprises (that are positive) seem to be rare as adults!

Comment by Pants — March 25, 2008 #
I love that you did this for him as a surprise. What a good girlfriend.

Comment by Isabel — March 25, 2008 #
Sounds like much fun.

Comment by hotpinksox — March 25, 2008 #
The Can Can Club. Now why isn’t there one of those in every city?!

Comment by justrun — March 25, 2008 #
I’m sorry, but the paperbag photo of you was the best part.

Comment by Aimee Greeblemonkey — March 25, 2008 #
Those photos of you two are awesome – I would have cracked up if I saw you too!

Happy Birthday again to the Fella!

Comment by Angella — March 25, 2008 #
Cool Idea. I hope you somehow worked that blindfold back into the night, later on…hmm?

Comment by Krystal (and Pat) — March 25, 2008 #
You know I do what I can for you Sizz. :-) And we should make a t-shirt of you doing the SHUSH. OOOOH or a COFFEE MUG! I’d pay money for that.

Comment by Tracy Lynn — March 25, 2008 #
Woo hoo! Can cans!

Comment by Karl — March 25, 2008 #
YAY for fun birthday surprises! And I love the pics – very cute! ;)

Comment by Z — March 25, 2008 #
I wish you were one of the people dragged on stage for Whitesnake… and that there was video evidence of it… dang it.

Comment by kapgar — March 25, 2008 #
Where are we going for our birthdays? You can plan a surprise for me anytime!! Sounds like fun. :)

Comment by Lisa — March 25, 2008 #
Sounds like a lot of fun. Sometimes I miss living in Seattle like I did long ago. I miss all the nightlife. But, occassionaly I get up there to meet friends but we don’t seem to hit the hot spots like you! Can can sounds fun…maybe I’ll mention it to the ladies.

Comment by Patty — March 25, 2008 #
The way you write makes me smile. :D Yay for birthdays! Sounds like this one was super fun.

Comment by Keely — March 25, 2008 #
This was so sweet. Belated happy birthday to The Fella!

Comment by The Lisa Show — March 25, 2008 #
Congrats on pulling off quite a surprise. I keep trying to do it, but fail miserably in the end. Glad to hear that the show was fun, too bad the food wasn’t better!

Comment by andrea — March 25, 2008 #
My new goal is to find a sweet girl like you Sizz. What a beautiful thing to do. He must have loved it!

Comment by NerdGirl — March 25, 2008 #
Way to rock the birthday surprise, Sizzle! I’m glad Congrats on surprising The Fella.

Comment by SJ — March 25, 2008 #
Surprises are fun! Good for you. I’m not too good at pulling them off.

Comment by Jodi — March 25, 2008 #
Could you make it for my birthday – it’s a little far, but well ummm, the surprise would be worth it :-)

Comment by Sassy — March 26, 2008 #
My birthday’s in august, so you have plenty of time to plan.

I still can’t believe he allowed you to blindfold him. And if I had been that girl at the corner…I’d have been in tears from laughing soo hard.

Comment by Josie — March 26, 2008 #
You rock! You are an awesome party planner! Its all about building up the surprise!!!

Comment by gibsondog — March 26, 2008 #
What a good girlfriend you are! Loved the part about the girl crossing the street and seeing you and him all blindfolded. Too funny.

Comment by Black Belt Mama — March 26, 2008 #
what a sweet story! i wish i could surprise my boyfriend sometime, but he’s so sneaky – he’d surely figure it out!

Comment by Michelle and the City — March 28, 2008 #