In January I decided that we needed to do something special to celebrate the Tomato Whisperer's 60th birthday. A surprise party for him. We'll invite everyone here to Reno and really surprise him. I "stole" the list of email addresses from his computer and contacted everyone I could regarding this party. We planned and planned. We told the Tomato Whisperer we wanted to take him out to dinner for his birthday as a way of getting him into town for the weekend.
The party would be catered by his favorite Mexican restaurant in town. He likes yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Check. We purchased enough alcohol for approximately 300 people despite the fact that there would only be 1/10 that number of people at the party - we just wanted to be on the safe side.
We told him we would have to leave for dinner around 5pm. He called that afternoon to ask if he could come down early to take a hike up in the hills behind our house.
"NO. You can't. It's, um, it's...raining here!" The Tomato Whisperer's house is only 20 miles from ours but thankfully the weather can be tricky and it can indeed be raining in one part of town but not in another. And "luckily" the forecast was for rain. Yes, rain. In the desert. On the weekend I'm trying to throw a party.
So the Tomato Whisperer agreed that a hike in the rain would be a bad idea. "OK," he says, "we'll come by around 4pm and then head to dinner."
The guests are scheduled to come at 4pm.
"NO!" I tell him, "Um, well, um, can you just come at 5pm instead?" See, I told you I'm no good at lying.
Over 30 people from all over the country - Arizona, California, Washington, DC, North Carolina, Ohio, Georgia - arrived by 4pm. The rain started so instead of being outside in our dirt backyard (now perhaps you better understand our mad dash to try and get grass into our yard), we were all packed into the house.
We told him we would have to leave for dinner around 5pm. He called that afternoon to ask if he could come down early to take a hike up in the hills behind our house.
"NO. You can't. It's, um, it's...raining here!" The Tomato Whisperer's house is only 20 miles from ours but thankfully the weather can be tricky and it can indeed be raining in one part of town but not in another. And "luckily" the forecast was for rain. Yes, rain. In the desert. On the weekend I'm trying to throw a party.
So the Tomato Whisperer agreed that a hike in the rain would be a bad idea. "OK," he says, "we'll come by around 4pm and then head to dinner."
The guests are scheduled to come at 4pm.
"NO!" I tell him, "Um, well, um, can you just come at 5pm instead?" See, I told you I'm no good at lying.
Over 30 people from all over the country - Arizona, California, Washington, DC, North Carolina, Ohio, Georgia - arrived by 4pm. The rain started so instead of being outside in our dirt backyard (now perhaps you better understand our mad dash to try and get grass into our yard), we were all packed into the house.
The Tomato Whisperer, arrived at 5pm and - SURPRISE! I have never seen him speechless before. He couldn't have faked that kind of shock - it was great!
It was one of my most favorite weekends ever. Several people stayed an extra night and we all got together on Saturday for hikes, eating, reminiscing,
and even some beer pong!
(And now, Colette, the entire Internet knows the truth about your love of drinking games. There's no denying it!)
Doug and I would like to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who helped make this weekend so memorable for my dad. It truly was something special.
18 comments:
How very cool! I just had a surprise party for Joe and I know it was not easy keeping the secret, or lying!!
Happy Birthday, Tomato Whisperer!
Somebody really loves you:)
That is so sweet. You're a good daughter. Good job keeping it a secret, it really is hard. Andrew's parents came to surprise him for his birthday in November and it was so hard not to tell him they were coming to town.
aw how awesome! I have tried many times to host a surprise party but lo and behold I am a crappy liar and the surprisee usually finds out! Good job, looks like the tomato whisperer was genuinely surprised!!
That looks like such a great time!!!! Good for you - those things are so hard to pull off!
Happy Birthday Dad! Sounds like an awesome party!
What a great party for the Tomato Whisperer! (I laugh every time I read that)
...it's great to feel so loved. Thank you daughter o'mine, and Papi Chulo, for a weekend never to be forgotten!
How wonderful is that! Way to go!!!!
Congrats on the organizing and keeping a secret!
And congrats to giving your dad a birthday he'll never forget :)
Thanks for sharing this, Annie. It's very well done and will help all of us retain fond memories of a truly wonderful weekend. Good job!!
oh, great job! Happy Birthday to your dad! Sounds like you all had a great time!
Good job. Happy Birthday to your Dad. Your house and surrounding area where you live is gorgeous. Margie
that is so awesome, sorry it had to be inside and not on your lawn due to the lack of. Also hope the knee is doing good!
That's so awesome! Surprise parties are the BEST! Especially when they are truly a surprise.
It looks like just about the best time ever. Makes me wish I were there.
Wow that must have been a great time...and why am I having mists in my eyes after reading your post? Sheez... Sorry I'm being silly but I get emotional at times when I think about my father -I'm just so fond of him.
ah this post made me all teary eyed. What a lovely thing to do. Glad it went so well.
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