How To Pull Off A Surprise Party

My good friend Jamie turned 30 the other day and Traci thought it would be a good idea to throw a surprise party for her at my home.  Well, I suggested to have it at my house.  It's been a few years since I've had a get together here since I've been traveling most of the year in my tent while the house is rented to vacationers.

We started planning this party about a month in advance and I don't know how she pulled it off.  Each time I would see Jamie, I wanted to talk about the party or tell her who was coming.  There were several moments where I almost blew it or freaked out that someone might blow it by accident in her presence.  Each time someone would bring it up around me I would say, "shhhhhhhh!!!!!"  People looked around and thought I was crazy.  That's not unusual but I just didn't want to talk about it out loud just in case Jamie was standing near by.

Durning the last few days of coordinating, I seriously don't know how Traci was able to pull it off.  Jamie would call when we were setting up or the taco man would call while Jamie was in the room and panic would settle in on whether or not Traci should pick up the call.  Then it was time to get her to the house.  That was another roll play on why I would want to bother them before dinner to drive all the way to my house when the restaurant they were supposed to eat at was in the opposite direction.

Everyone got to the house, Jamie walked in thinking I was going to give her a gift and as she walked in the door..."SURPRISE!!!!!" She was surprised...and very touched I might add.  Seeing her expression that moment was worth the month of stress and lies.

No slip ups. No, "I'll see you at your party" mistakes.  As soon as she was surprised and I snapped some photographs, it was time to relax.

This was Max's first party and he stayed put under the taco man all night and then coming in the house to beg for cup cakes for a while.

So, how do you pull off a surprise party?  A little mix of luck, faith and hope.

A Maine Pizza Party

There is something about the state of Maine.  From the moment you arrive, you know you're somewhere special.  The houses, the fresh air, the ocean, the people...all of it.

I was invited by Adam and Susan (more on them in an upcoming blog) to go to the annual pizza party hosted by Jane and Paul (shown here cooking) on an island in Maine.  The moment I arrived, I felt as if I walked into the pages of a magazine.  They live the Maine lifestyle as you see in the pages of Martha Stewart Living, Sunset, or any other fine entertaining, food or design magazine.  I was smitten.

They built a pizza oven in their yard from scratch and it got plenty of use over the course of the evening when Jane hand made over 50 pizzas while Paul cooked them in their perfect pizza oven.  I have to say that these pizza's were the best I've ever had.  The crust was thin and crispy and each pie was a masterpiece!  I couldn't name all that came out but some of my favorites were the shrimp pizza, pear, caramelized onion and to top it all off, it ended with the best s'more dessert pizza.

As I am writing this, the flavors are coming back to me and I want more!  I was in awe of how seemingly easy they made it look.  From the setting, people, food and drinks...I took a trip and lived the Maine lifestyle, if only for a moment.

Thank you to Paul and Jane for hosting such a lovely party and for all of the people I met throughout the course of the night.  I tried to put my camera down every now and then to socialize, but the setting was to die for so I couldn't help but snap away at what I saw.  Because of this evening, pizza will never be the same for me again.

It's In The Details

I have been lagging on my blog the past few days and perhaps it's because I haven't taken any pictures lately or the fact that I sucked up 5GB of my monthly allowance of data for my wireless service within the first two weeks of my cycle. So, I am "forced" to go to coffee shops to "steal" their internet.

I know...BORING!

Another reason is because I have been getting ready for my first art show. Three weeks ago when I brought up the idea to the Wine Crush, I didn't think much about it. I would throw some pictures together and voila! Art Show!

Lesson learned. It's not so simple. Besides the fact that I have to choose a few pictures from about 10,000 of Long Beach (ok, maybe 5,000), I need to frame them, choose the right matte, get custom mattes for pictures outside of the "normal" dimensions, make fancy labels, write a bio, put together easels, put the easels together, price pictures, choose limited edition prints, and lastly...pray that a little piece of dust doesn't fly out of nowhere to get trapped in the glass. Oh don't get me wrong, I am so thankful of the opportunity!

Now it's the waiting that can drive one crazy. When I say "one," I mean me.

I feel like this guy when I have to wait. Not that I know how he is really feeling, but something tells me he is a little out of his mind.

In seventh grade, I threw a birthday party for myself and handed a bunch of invitations out to all of my "friends" at school and was excited to have people come over for a pizza and slumber party. The time came...nobody showed up.

It's not like I will remember that for the rest of my life or anything.

Waiting is not my strong suit. I am not what you would call a patient person. So, I did about everything I need to do for the show opening...I think. I'm sure I will forget something and scramble to get it done. In fact, I am thinking of showing an additional 4 photographs to display outside on easels. I have two in mind, but will have to sort through 24,941 (yes, this is the exact number - I checked) pictures to find two. Imagine a crazed kid at Christmas ripping through a present to get to it....that would be me looking for a picture to use.

So, that's what I've been up to. Above is a sneak peek of what I will be showing. I took it at the beginning stage of deciding on which images to use. I hope you stop by this Saturday to say hello! Click HERE for details.

Maybe I should go bake a cake or something and work on another one of those 39 goals I have listed on the right side of the blog.