Jesse says...

I’m now particularly glad that I sent $15 to MoveOn… this is damn hilarious.

So, this is a little late coming, but my birthday was a couple of weeks ago. The day of my birthday was pretty quiet — I picked up my little one from school and headed up to my mom’s for a quiet little family get-together with my mom, dad, brother, sister and Ali. The night before I had met with Robb do crank out some frames for an animated sequence of one of his short flicks, and afterwards he and I got together with a small group of my closest friends for drinking and good conversation at the Chatterbox in St Paul. That was the night of the second debate, so we had plenty to chat about, and it seemed everyone had a good time — I know that I certainly did.

Hannah had told me weeks in advance to save the weekend following my birthday for a big surprise she had planned for me. We had joked about it for a while, with her asking me “what do you think we’re going to do?” and “where do you think we’re going to go?” and me offering up ever more ridiculous locations: “I hear Des Moines is nice this time of year”; “What’s going on in Bismarck?”; “I’ve always wanted to go back to Winnipeg.” At one point, I even suggested she might take me on a staycation to St Paul, since I have a special bond with the city I attended college in, a city Hannah lovingly refers to as “East Minneapolis.”

Little did I know the adventure that was in store for me on Saturday at 2:00. She told me to pack a days worth of clothing, as well as some nicer “out on the town” clothes, and we headed eastward. At this point, I was thinking “well, maybe we’ll go to her dad’s in Afton, or we could even go as far as Madison.” When we exited in St Paul, then it hit me: We really are going to St Paul for my birthday.

Our first stop was Heimie’s Haberdashery, the finest mens’ clothing shop in the metro. I had never been in before, despite having spent a fair amount of time wandering the streets of downtown St Paul, but I had heard great things from Hannah’s dads. Upon entering, I was surprised (but not too surprised) to see Richard, Hannah’s dad there. He and Hannah informed me that we were to be picking out some fancy new clothes for me, which we then proceeded to do. I got placed in a pretty sharp pair of slacks, button down shirt, sweater, sport coat and scarf, a few of which I ended up leaving the store with, the rest staying behind to be tailored to a perfect fit (I have to admit, I look damn sexy in the whole shebang).

After the clothing adventured, we walked the edge of Rice Park to the St Paul Hotel, where Hannah had arranged a fancy suite for us, right in the heart of the city and across the street from Rice Park (the cutest little European-inspired park in the city). We unpacked our bags, watched some TV, ordered some room service, and just hung out and relaxed for a few hours before dinner.

Hannah hadn’t planned dinner (she did try to get us in at Meritage, but it was booked), so I decided on Pazzaluna, an Italian restaurant I’d heard great things about but also never checked out. We got all fancied up and walked outside and across the street for dinner. The drinks at Pazzaluna were superb, and the gnocchi was seriously to die for; it just melted in your mouth (my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it…).

After our amazing and romantic meal, we decided to take an evening stroll around the city. We wandered up and down the river, stopping to chat and kiss and explore the buildings. We eventually made our way back into the downtown, to the area I referred to as the “dimly lit part of St Paul.” Eventually we ended up passing by a little bar called Señor Wong. The bar was new, and I had never heard of it, but since the night was still young and our hotel was within stumbling distance, Hannah suggested we take a peek inside and maybe grab a drink or two.

We got inside, and Hannah seemed to be actively looking for something, but I wrote it off as her being curious. Then it hit me:

“SURPRISE!”

You know that moment when you run into someone, like a business associate or a school acquaintance, but they’re out of context, like at a grocery store or a Death Cab for Cutie concert? That was the experience that I had seeing my family in this bar I had never heard of, in a city they rarely come to, at 9:00 in the evening. When it hit me that I was actually looking at my family and friends, and yes, Hannah had indeed arranged this whole thing far in advance, and had thrown my the first surprise party in my 28 years on this earth, I was blown away. Hannah had even arranged for the bar to mix a special birthday drink for me: a sort of a caipirinha with fresh limeade. My friends and I all drank and chatted and ate and had a great time (watching Michael fail miserably at drunken pool was a particular highlight). Hannah had pulled off the perfect surprise party for me, and given me a birthday day to remember… I’m most definitely the luckiest guy ever to have managed to end up with her.

Thanks, honey… you’ve set quite a bar for me to try to hit for your birthday next month ;)