Surprise Birthday Dinner

It's nearly 11:30 as I type..... and it's been a special day...... We went out for dinner tonight at Babbo Bruno's. My husband thought we were meeting our friends K and B for a quiet dinner for the four of us, to get together with them before they leave for their month-long vacation to India. They take their vacation every year at this time, so we always celebrate Christmas with them way before Dec. 25th.

My husband didn't have a clue that I'd been planning tonight's dinner since way before Thanksgiving. I had invited some of our closest friends for a surprise birthday dinner-party for him. When we got to the restaurant, our usual table in the corner was empty and we had three tables joined together for a party of nine. My husband was totally overwhelmed and surprised.

K and B had stopped here before the restaurant, so we could open Christmas presents as well as birthday presents for K and my husband (K's birthday was just after Thanksgiving). They also gave us a homemade pecan pie, which they've baked for us every Christmas for the past three years now. This year's pie is the best ever, with twice as many pecans, half the sugar, and a couple of eggs beaten into the mixture which gave the inside of the pie a custard-y texture. (As Rachel Ray says--- Yum-O.)

Then off to the restaurant we went, K and B taking their own car so they wouldn't have to back-track here afterwards, and we followed in ours. Thankfully, they got there and into Babbo Bruno's first, and our friends J and S were already there, as well as L and S and C. As we walked towards the back of the restaurant, my husband thinking we were going to our usual corner table, he saw our friends and they all started singing Happy Birthday to him. I saw the tears in his eyes.... he was totally surprised.

Dinner was, as always, totally delicious.... we splurged with a bottle of wine and appetizers before dinner, and instead of individual desserts, they fixed up a sampler platter of three of their best dessert dishes, so each of us got to taste all three. Our friend K was there to take care of our table, and she made the dinner special with her usual extra attention. I remembered Oprah's recent show about giving money to unsuspecting people who deserve a little help..... I paid for the dinner with my credit card but I left K a whopping big cash tip.... and I saw the tears in her eyes when she thanked me for it.

It was a fantastic night.... I don't know what I'll do for his birthday next year---- I know I couldn't surprise my husband two years in a row with a birthday party. So I guess I will have to think of something totally different.