"Are you still planning on buying that remote control airplane as an end-of-the-semester reward?"
"I am not sure, but probably not," my husband replied. "We don't really have the money and I need to earn it."
"Oh, okay then," was my response as the gears in my mind began turning.
This was the sort of conversation we had a couple of months ago as his birthday on April 11th drew near. I really wanted to do something special for his big day, but I wanted it to be a surprise. Knowing that we really shouldn't spend the $160 on a remote control airplane set up right now, I asked our parents and my sisters if they were interested in pitching in for his birthday. I was blown away by their generosity, and at the beginning of April was able to purchase the plane and controller on Amazon. Luckily I knew which one he wanted because he had saved it on his Amazon wish list...so I logged on while he was away running errands and emailed the links to myself. Sneaky sneaky.
The batteries and remote control arrived the week before his birthday, and they came when he wasn't even home--the timing was just perfect. But as the 11th loomed nearer, the plane still hadn't come. I finally checked the tracker online and it said it would arrive on Friday the 10th, the day we were going to be celebrating. All day long I waited. I expected it to arrive via USPS like the other parts, but when I went to go check the mail, nothing was there. I was sorely disappointed because he was going to be home soon and I didn't want it to come while he was there.
Finally at around 5:00 PM on Friday, I could wait no longer so I just went outside to do yoga. I couldn't stay inside on such a beautiful day any more. If it came while I was gone, then it would just have to do. Upon returning home, it still wasn't there, so I got changed and we began preparing his birthday dinner. While he was crushing peppercorns in the mortar and I was searing the duck legs on the stove, the doorbell rang and I let out a distinct "YES!" With a confused look on his face, I rushed to the door, signed the device, told the UPS man thank you, and then poked my head inside the house and told Marshall to just keep crushing peppercorns. He knew something was up at this point, but that's because I am an awful liar and couldn't play it cool.
I quickly whisked a three-foot-tall box into the office, opened it and pulled out the actual airplane box, put the tickets for the play we were going to see that night into the large box, and wrapped the plane box. Then, I carried the box with the tickets in it down the hallway into the dinning room, as though it were a very heavy box. I fooled him too! Sweet. I asked him if he wanted to open it then. He just busted up laughing when he saw the tickets (he already knew we were going) and he didn't know whether or not to believe that that was all he was getting (we had discussed earlier about not getting him anything besides a fancy dinner). So we basically went back to cooking and for about 10 or 15 minutes I played it cool and acted like that was the end of the surprise.
After 15 minutes or so I said, "I am going to go check my phone," (which would be super lame if that was the truth since we were spending time together on his birthday!) and headed into the office to grab the real plane. As I set it down on the table, he just got all giddy with laughter and exclaimed, "Wait, you actually got me something?!" His face upon opening it tells all:
He got all cute when he realized what I gave him!
Then I brought it the rest of the wrapped gifts, and while he already expected what they were, he was still blown away.
A super excited husband:
There was a ton of adrenalin and excitement that evening.
For his dinner, he requested three courses:
1. Olive tapenade & sourdough crusty bread
Surprises are the best. Especially for someone you care about. And it doesn't even have to cost money.
"I am not sure, but probably not," my husband replied. "We don't really have the money and I need to earn it."
"Oh, okay then," was my response as the gears in my mind began turning.
This was the sort of conversation we had a couple of months ago as his birthday on April 11th drew near. I really wanted to do something special for his big day, but I wanted it to be a surprise. Knowing that we really shouldn't spend the $160 on a remote control airplane set up right now, I asked our parents and my sisters if they were interested in pitching in for his birthday. I was blown away by their generosity, and at the beginning of April was able to purchase the plane and controller on Amazon. Luckily I knew which one he wanted because he had saved it on his Amazon wish list...so I logged on while he was away running errands and emailed the links to myself. Sneaky sneaky.
The batteries and remote control arrived the week before his birthday, and they came when he wasn't even home--the timing was just perfect. But as the 11th loomed nearer, the plane still hadn't come. I finally checked the tracker online and it said it would arrive on Friday the 10th, the day we were going to be celebrating. All day long I waited. I expected it to arrive via USPS like the other parts, but when I went to go check the mail, nothing was there. I was sorely disappointed because he was going to be home soon and I didn't want it to come while he was there.
Finally at around 5:00 PM on Friday, I could wait no longer so I just went outside to do yoga. I couldn't stay inside on such a beautiful day any more. If it came while I was gone, then it would just have to do. Upon returning home, it still wasn't there, so I got changed and we began preparing his birthday dinner. While he was crushing peppercorns in the mortar and I was searing the duck legs on the stove, the doorbell rang and I let out a distinct "YES!" With a confused look on his face, I rushed to the door, signed the device, told the UPS man thank you, and then poked my head inside the house and told Marshall to just keep crushing peppercorns. He knew something was up at this point, but that's because I am an awful liar and couldn't play it cool.
I quickly whisked a three-foot-tall box into the office, opened it and pulled out the actual airplane box, put the tickets for the play we were going to see that night into the large box, and wrapped the plane box. Then, I carried the box with the tickets in it down the hallway into the dinning room, as though it were a very heavy box. I fooled him too! Sweet. I asked him if he wanted to open it then. He just busted up laughing when he saw the tickets (he already knew we were going) and he didn't know whether or not to believe that that was all he was getting (we had discussed earlier about not getting him anything besides a fancy dinner). So we basically went back to cooking and for about 10 or 15 minutes I played it cool and acted like that was the end of the surprise.
After 15 minutes or so I said, "I am going to go check my phone," (which would be super lame if that was the truth since we were spending time together on his birthday!) and headed into the office to grab the real plane. As I set it down on the table, he just got all giddy with laughter and exclaimed, "Wait, you actually got me something?!" His face upon opening it tells all:
 |
| (Why are my pictures blurry?!) |
He got all cute when he realized what I gave him!
Then I brought it the rest of the wrapped gifts, and while he already expected what they were, he was still blown away.
A super excited husband:
There was a ton of adrenalin and excitement that evening.
For his dinner, he requested three courses:
1. Olive tapenade & sourdough crusty bread
Marshall approved:
2. Roasted duck & green peppercorn cream sauce & rosemary riced cauliflower
There was a story behind trying to find duck. Last month I saw duck breasts at both the Merc and the European store downtown. I didn't buy it then, which was my first mistake. Then when I was shopping for ingredients for his dinner, both stores were out and I didn't have the energy to thaw and de-bone an entire duck. So I bought the only thing I could find: duck leg confit. It was different than the recipe called for, but nonetheless DELICIOUS. We made do, and it was beautiful .
After dinner we headed out to a KU play and had a great time being together, minus the fact that it was past 10 PM when we returned home. But I managed. Barely.
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| My favorite part of this picture is the cherry blossoms climbing up the trunk behind us! |
The final course was a proud wife-moment. He requested a cheese platter instead of your typical American dessert. But when do we do anything typical around here? hehe.
3. A Havarti, Brie, and Gouda cheese platter with seasonal fruit compote, oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, and reduced caramelized balsamic.
I made up the star anise and strawberry-apple compote recipe and he really loved it. That made me happy.
At the end of the evening, though I was completely spent, I was happy. It was so much fun to surprise him with something he has been wanting for so long! He even awoke at 6:30 the next morning to play with it. It was just like a kid on Christmas morning.
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