My 1st Surprise Party

I'm still coming off my high that was my birthday. What was supposed to be a quiet night out with just Joel, turned into quite the opposite.

 I worked from home and was able to sneak in a manicure at lunch time, which felt like a nice treat.

Once 5 hit, I anxiously awaited for Joel to get home from work so our celebrations could start.

Joel walked in with a big Lululemon bag, which is always a welcome sight, and two strips of macaroons that were ordered from my best friends back in Chicago.

After a glass of Champagne, Joel took me to the unknown restaurant where we would be having dinner. I had a feeling he was going to take me to the restaurant I had been wanting to try, The Lobster, in Santa Monica - but as we were driving down Santa Monica Blvd. he turned left and threw me off my trail.

However, after 10 minutes of going in the wrong direction ,we pulled into The Lobster!

We went up to the hostess stand and Joel asked for us to be taken to the table. When the waitress asked what the reservation was under, Joel didn't say his last name - he said, "tucker" (surprise party error #1), one of our friends last names.  I started to quiz him with questions as we walked up the stairs to the restaurant, when all of a sudden I got my answer:

12 friends (all 12 people that I know in California) were yelling SURPRISE from the bar at The Lobster. I was so surprised that I barely gave a good reaction. Before I knew it, I had a margarita in my hand and was showered with love and presents.

We ate and drank ourselves silly (well, at least I did) and finally fell into bed at midnight - on a Tuesday night, no less.

Joel knows that being away from my family and friends is really tough for me, and so the fact that he planned for me to be surrounded by lots of new friends (and even my cousins) was the sweetest gesture of all. He's a good catch.