The Blow by Blow

     I considered giving the blow-by-blow yesterday, but I wanted to focus on the surprise party, and I didn't want to come off as too gloaty.   Also I can recall in my recent past saying "the quick version, I don't need the blow-by-blow."  If I'm instructing others to edit, perhaps I should take my own advice.  Also, I try to avoid recapping my weekends every Monday.  It would be repetitive and again, gloaty.  I bet people hate me a little bit when they ask "how was your weekend?" just to be polite and I come back with "Fantastic.  It was great.  Sooo good, seriously.  Way better than yours."
     Thursday Afternoon.  The weekend begins.  (I'll give my friends fake names, so they're not dragged into the internet for no reason.)  I left work at lunch time to go meet Blaire at the airport.  I got to the airport at almost the exact same time her plane did.  There were no metro problems, or baggage issues, or security problems.  It was practically tropical when she landed.
     The Grocery Store.  Blaire and I made a quick trip to the grocery store for cake supplies and lunch supplies.  This wouldn't be worth mentioning other than the fact the grocery store is across the street from the birthday girl's (Tootie's) apartment.  It created an extra fun factor; we were extra vigilant while picking out cake mix.
     Spring Breakdown.  I love this movie, and Blaire needed to see it.  True, it was a beautiful day outside, but it was also a beautiful day inside.  I made the cake, put it in the oven, popped some popcorn, we made sandwiches, and settled in for a hilarious 87 minutes.  I almost have the movie memorized, but I didn't ruin it for Blaire. 
     Cake Decorating.  Tootie's favorite kind of cake is white cake with white frosting.  I thought it would be hilarious to then also write on the cake with white frosting, so it was white on white on white- a Wilco cake, if you will.  This was amusing for a minute, but then it was really hard to see the message, so I outlined it.  I thought for sure I would ruin it, but it came out pretty well.

     The Waiting.  This whole time I was fielding text messages from Tootie, and lying in my responses.  Blaire and I walked down to the bar with the cake and a backpack full of T-shirts.  Yes, we had 30 matching T-shirts, because nothing says we're all here to party like matching T-shirts.  People arrived, put their T-shirts on, ordered beer, and waited.  Tootie entered and was blown away.  She had indeed been enjoying St. Patrick's Day, but when she walked in the back room of the bar and her friends were waiting, and we said "Surprise!  Happy Birthday!," well, a lesser person would poo themselves.  Hugs and beers all around.  There was a priceless double take when Tootie saw Blaire and it sunk in that a plane and serious subterfuge had been involved.
     Operation After Shock.  Friday morning was wonderfully slow going.  Blaire and I made breakfast- cinnamon rolls, eggs, bacon, and coffee, and we watched the Thursday night line up from the night before.  To borrow a phrase, it was awesome-sauce.  I mentioned this yesterday, but there were still more surprises lined up.  Tootie loves the zoo and our friend Natalie was due in with her husband, George, and their son, Clooney.  Clooney is the perfect age to enjoy the zoo, so it seemed to line up perfectly to just surprise Tootie at the zoo with Natalie, George, and Clooney.  She expected Blaire and me, but walking up with an extra three people in tow was amazing.
     Lunch on the Circle.  Post zoo, we grabbed sandwiches from a local deli and picniced on the circle. Norman Rockwell couldn't have painted it better.  He probably would have left out some of the riff raff who use the trees as their bathroom.  It's part of the ambiance though.
     Schmorgesborg.  We sat on the circle long enough to each get a little sun-burned.  We packed up and split up a little bit- I went with Natalie and crew to pick up snackies, and Blaire and Tootie went to buy shoes, including a pair of flip-flops for yours truly.  My favorite kind of shoes are the ones that just appear.  We spent the rest of the night at my place eating cheese and crackers and popcorn and cocktail wieners and wine.  Tootie's husband was eventually able to join us; one big happy framily.
     NYC.  Every time I mentioned New York City, we said it in that mooing voice from those old Pace commercials.  Haha, funny commercial, but seriously, New York City would be the least economical place ever to make salsa.  A 5 oz. jar would be $12 because of all their overhead.  Still, Saturday morning was nice.  We had coffee and a simple breakfast.  I got ready for the bus and the rest of the framily had a full day of relaxing planned.  The bus ride was fine, NYC was awesome, per uj, and the Super Moon came out. 
     Just when you think it's over.  Gosh, it seems like the weekend was already jam packed, but there's a entire extra day.  On Sunday, Tootie and I made a Zipcar trip to Trader Joes.  This is a big deal.  Then we strolled through the Farmers' Market, where she picked up a potted rosemary and I picked up some buffalo meat.  There was a lull where she read magazines on my couch while I cooked my lunches for the week.  Then we met her husband for lunch at Panera.  That was an adventure- it shouldn't have been, because it was Panera, but it was.  Then Tootie and I headed back to her place to watch the Michigan-Duke game.
     Couch Shopping.  After suffering a heart break I didn't really understand, we went couch shopping.  I know, how many hours are in the day, right?  Considering buying a giant bright red couch is hilarious.  However, Tootie hit it on the head with "I'm not sure I can afford a $4000 joke."  Good point.
     Sushi Happy Hour.  We slipped in the door of a sushi restaurant about 9 minutes before the end of their happy hour.  They're nice enough to tell us this, and we just put a line down a column on their menu to get the order in in time.  Sushi and Sam Adams for dinner.
     One More Stop.  Poor Tootie's husband, who was stuck at the office all weekend.  We picked him up some 5 Guys and Tootie got in a cab to take it to him.  I skipped home, high on life!  I received report later that he was very pleased.

Phew.  So much goodness in such a short period of time.  Maybe the short version is better.