No, not me. We’ll, not yet anyway – I have a few more months. But we got an invitation to our friend’s 30th birthday party next weekend and that got me thinking. It’s a surprise party and my first thought was is a 30th surprise party ever really a surprise? I mean it’s one of those milestone birthdays that you know is going to be celebrated in a remarkable way, but surprise parties seem so, well, unremarkable.
For Joe’s 30th birthday last fall I did a lot of plotting and scheming. In fact my devious wheels started turning in February – nearly 9 months before his birthday. By April I had the plan in motion. I funneled money out of our savings account and slowly paid for a fly fishing trip in Montana complete with guide and rustic man-cabin. It was his ultimate dream vacation, but he would never plan it as one of our “family vacations” because he didn’t think I’d have any fun. So I made it happen and I smiled the whole time we were there. I got his coworkers in on it so that I could get him off of work and his parents were in on it (mostly so they didn’t try to come visit us for the weekend). And boy was he surprised. In fact, the poor man cried in public (but I think that was more from the shock of it and the timing with all of the bad stuff that had been happening for him at work which is another story entirely).
{floating the Madison and happy as a clam}
Next weekend’s surprise party will be the fourth surprise 30th birthday party we’ve been to in the last 12 months. Lame. That said I started thinking about what I would want for my 30th birthday if I was going to be surprised. A suprise vacation would have to be a ‘once in a lifetime, never would have splurged on myself for this’ trip. Frankly, I’m kind of blanking on what that trip could be.
Last night I was watching one of my 36543 DVR’d Rate My Spaces or maybe it was Find Your Style? who knows? anyway, it got to the point in the show where the designer did the big reveal and the room was so breathtaking that the owners just stood there gasping for air with tear-stained cheeks. And then it hit me. My ultimate surprise would be to come home to a completely redesigned, functional, stylish, picture perfect room. The only two rooms left in the house are our master bedroom and our living room, seeing as how the dining room is *almost* done. Besides I wouldn’t want the dining room to be my wow room anyway. We already have plans to work on the living room starting this fall, so I can wait that one out. But our bedroom – well, that’s the last room on the list. And let me tell ya, the list is long. I would love to come home to a romantic, serene, calming bedroom retreat. Something designed just for me. I’m getting all teary eyed at just the thought of it. So on that note, here are some of my favorite bedroom spaces. Now if someone could please tell my husband and Karen McAloon or Angelo Surmelis to get their butts in gear, that would be great. I mean they only have 6 more months to pull this off.
Images Courtesy of: Sarah’s House, Pottery Barn, Helen Green Design, Decor Pad, and Better Homes and Gardens
