A weekend of surprises!

So my husband is officially 30... and I'm officially not a very good blogger.

Stefan's birthday weekend was so much fun and I couldn't be happier with being able to pull everything off without him suspecting a THING!

As we were waiting at the airport on Thursday for our flight to leave Phoenix, we were sitting at the gate and all of a sudden we hear "Happy Birthday!" We both look up and see a guy in a tie.... it took us a few seconds to put everything into context and realized it was one of Stefan's childhood friends, Rob (Robbie) Krause who happened to be on our same flight back to Seattle! They've been friends since 5th grade and Rob said that he always remembers Stefan's birthday... SO awesome. We get on the plane and guess who sits across the aisle from us? Yep, Rob. We had a few beers on the plane to get the birthday celebration started---- and of course, Rob got one of the flight attendants to announce Stefan's 30th birthday on the plane :)

My parents picked us up from the airport and we headed straight to the Ram in Lakewood for dinner and to watch the UT/Alabama college national championship game. We walked in to noisemakers and "HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEFAN!" Surprise #2! The whole Washington fam damily was at the restaurant--- Stefan's parents, his brother, sister-in-law, niece, my brother Mark, sister-in-law, nephews and niece were all there to surprise him...

After dinner we went back to my parents house (along with the rest of the family) for cake... thanks for making it, Alexi! We finished the night with Surprise #3.... the VIDEO! This was the part I was really looking forward to--- no one had seen it yet (besides me) and couldn't wait to see Stefan's reaction. It ended up being about 25 minutes long, and I couldn't have been happier with how it turned out--- I think Stefan liked it too :) After everyone left that night I told Stefan, "I'm DONE! It was so hard to keep all of that a secret for so long!" Little did he know I wasn't done quite yet....

Looking back, Friday was probably the FUNNIEST day... My goal was to get away from Stefan for a couple of hours so I could get everything set up for the surprise party that night. We went over to his parents house and thankfully his dad was able to keep him occupied for a couple hours.... his dad wanted to take him to the driving range to hit some balls..... but it was POURING down rain so I wasn't sure how that was going to work out. Either way, I told him I had some stuff to finish up for work anyway and left him with his parents.

My dad and I ran a bunch of errands, had lunch with my mom and got everything set up at Varsity Grill that day.... Meanwhile, Stefan was texting me, asking me where I was, telling me that he wanted to go see a bunch of people today, including Brandon.... and was mad when I told him I ended up meeting my mom for lunch... "Thanks for including me." Ok so he wasn't actually MAD but it was funny. After a couple hours he started making comments like "I was really hoping to stop by Remann Hall to see everyone".... It was SO hard not to just say "stop bugging me, you'll see them tonight."

When I got back, Stefan really wanted to go "surprise" his friend Brandon at work... Brandon was my partner-in-crime in getting this surprise party all worked out, so I was really nervous about having to actually SEE him and try to pretend that we had nothing up our sleeves. Brandon should seriously go to acting school because he was AWESOME when he saw Stefan. I of course prepared him and we basically had the whole thing scripted.

Brandon (as soon as he saw Stefan): WHOA! What the hell are you doing here?!?!
Stefan: Julie surprised me with a trip here this weekend.

Brandon: When did you get in? How long are you here?

Stefan: We got in last night and leave on Monday.

Brandon: That's awesome!! Wait-- isn't your birthday coming up in a couple weeks?

Stefan: Yah, well it was yesterday.

Brandon: Wow, I'm a horrible friend---- Happy Birthday man!

Brandon: What are you guys up to tonight?

Stefan: Not much.

Brandon: Let's hang out! I've been seeing this girl and we're going to this place, Varsity Grill tonight-- you guys should come!

Stefan: Sounds good to me!

Julie: Wait-- I'm not sure we'll have a car though...

Brandon (before Stefan could say that he was sure we could use his mom's car): I'll pick you guys up! How about 7:30 or so?

Stefan: Perfect.

Julie (thinking): "perfect" :)

Brandon and I couldn't stop laughing through our text messages after

Stefan and I left-- Stefan had NO clue.... it was HILARIOUS.

And Brandon did an awesome job playing the part.

Brandon picked us up right on time and we headed down to Varsity Grill.... As we pulled into the parking lot I started noticing familiar cars--- I thought Stefan would too, but he was way too oblivious to start picking up on things at that point. I even got so nervous that I started making up random conversation just to try and keep Stefan talking.... I blurted out something like "SO..... Stefan wants a new TV. Stefan, tell Brandon about it." Thinking back, I would never have normally ENCOURAGED a conversation about a new TV-- but I wasn't going to let ANYTHING ruin this surprise! We ended up parking right next to my dad's car and I thought for SURE Stefan would notice. Especially since my parents told us they were going out for their anniversary dinner that night :)

We walked in the back entrance and neither Brandon or I had any clue where we were headed. As we walked around aimlessly, I finally figured out where we were and tried to "casually" lead Brandon, Maggie and Stefan to where I saw everyone hiding.... I saw my dad first, and then walked to the side a little so Stefan could see his 4th and final surprise.... about 65 of his closest friends and family to celebrate his 30th birthday :)

It couldn't have worked out more perfect--- Brandon did an awesome job and I can't thank my parents enough for everything they did to help me plan everything and make sure it worked out EXACTLY as I had imagined it. Stefan was SO surprised and had a great time celebrating with everyone.....

Now.... what the heck am I going to do for his 40th?!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Stefan!!

Well today is the big day! Stefan is 30!!

Most of you know that I've been planning a few surprises for the last several months and I can't believe it's finally here!! I'm known for having lots of lists, so last night when Stefan got home I had a "To Do" list ready for him... His reaction when I told him I had a list for him was a little annoyed, but it looked something like this:

Stefan's To Do List for 1/6/10:

1) Take the garbage out to the street
2) Finish discussion questions for school, get ahead on participation for the week
3) Pack bags / let Julie help you so it doesn't take 5 hours
4) Optional: Email your team to let them know you won't be back until Tuesday (your boss already knows).
5) Give your wife a big hug for pulling off this surprise!!

His first response was "I don't have the time!" but he had a huge grin on his face and when I showed him the tickets to Seattle (I don't think he believed we were actually going anywhere) he was really excited and got a start on his packing (which thankfully only took an hour and a half, compared to the 5+ hours it took for NYC).

I'm so excited for the rest of the surprises in store for him tonight! And just in case he happens to check my blog (there would be a 1 in a million chance) I won't spoil the surprise and instead, I'll just update again tomorrow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEFAN!!!

NYC - Day 7

Our trip has finally come to an end. We spent the last day packing our stuff (thankfully we brought an extra suitcase with us) and doing a little more shopping on 5th Avenue... Cousin Dennis picked us up from our hotel and took us to the airport, where of course our flight was delayed due to the weather. We made it home around 9:30pm and then I had to pack again for Austin the next morning....

What an incredible trip--- despite the cold weather, we loved every minute of it and can't wait to go back again soon. I think next time we'll go when the weather is a little warmer though...

NYC - Day 6.... CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

Christmas morning!!

Stefan and I decided that since most restaurants would either be booked or closed on Christmas, we would just order in room service. Of course we had our favorite, eggs benedict, and it was phenomenal! The hotel had a beautiful Christmas brunch set up with filet mignon, lobster, chocolate fondue, etc.... but they were completely booked, and at $125/person, we liked our option better.

We thought it might be our morning to go ice skating so we headed down to Rockefeller Center again, stood in line for about 20 minutes and then I got too impatient and we decided against it. Instead, we got some hot chocolate, and sat downstairs near the ice rink and talked to our families to wish them a Merry Christmas.

We then walked over to catch a bus to the Newark airport, where cousins Cynthia and Mike picked us up for Christmas dinner. We had so much fun at Cynthia and Mike's house for Christmas, meeting cousins that we'd never met before on Stefan's side of the family and enjoying the WONDERFUL food!

Uncle Willie was dressed in style like usual, in a bright red suit, red shoes, a santa hat, and of course a black fur coat. Christmas is a time to be with family, and we were so thankful and appreciative that we spent it with such wonderful people. (I think my belly is still sore from laughing so hard and from all of the great food!) Cousins Chante and Cynthia brought us back to the city and we were so sad to see our trip coming to an end.

NYC - Day 5

It's Christmas Eve!

We got up relatively early today, took the train down to Ground Zero and the 9/11 Tribute Center. There was a lot of construction going on at Ground Zero, so there wasn't much to see, but the Tribute Center across the street was pretty amazing. From my understanding, it's a makeshift memorial until they complete the one that will exist at the former WTC site.

We then walked through the Financial District, saw Wall Street, and the NYSE.... Stefan wanted to see the famous bull, so we went and saw it.... not realizing what a tourist attraction it was. We tried to get a picture of the bull by itself, but people just kept running to it to get their picture with it, that we stood there for over 20 minutes and have tons of pictures of random people with the bull, none of it by itself.

We took the train to Brooklyn and had lunch at the original Grimaldi's under the Brooklyn Bridge. We waited in line outside for about 30 minutes (which we understood was a pretty short line), and it was WELL worth the wait!! We tried to find Junior's Cheesecakes (yes, even after we were stuffed from the pizza) but couldn't find it so we headed back towards the Brooklyn Bridge. The walk across the bridge was so beautiful--- I think it was one of my favorite parts of the trip. The history and architecture was incredible.

We took the train again back to the hotel and then had Christmas Eve dinner at Bobby Van's near Times Square. Before calling it a night, we went back to Rockefeller and realized that EVERYONE apparently goes to see the tree on Christmas Eve. There were so many people there, we didn't stay long. We looked at the window displays on 5th Avenue and couldn't believe the creativity and amount of work that must go into getting these set up every year. Tons of beautiful lights and decorations.... perfect for Christmas!

NYC - Day 4

After our first subway ride, we felt like we were experts, so we took a subway up to the Bronx to see Yankee Stadium. Unfortunately the tour was sold out so we weren't able to see much inside of the stadium but the outside was nice! Since there wasn't much for us to do in the Bronx, we took the train back down to Greenwich Village and did some shopping along Bleecker Street. We stopped for lunch at a mexican place called Bamboleo--- it was really good!

We went into the American Apparel store (used to be a Banana Republic on SATC) and bought more gloves and socks and then ended up in the NYU area, and spent time in SOHO, NOHO and ended up in the East Village. When we were on Bleecker, I thought we were going west towards the Meatpacking district, but we ended up going east somehow.... We went down a side street and found a coffee shop where we stopped to look at our map and see where we were. We sat in there for a while, realized we were definitely in a "local spot" because the owner knew every single person that walked through the door. She finally asked us where we were from, and we ended up talking to her for over an hour. It was such a great time and the first time I didn't feel like a tourist... I loved it!

We then walked from the East Village over to the West Village and the Meatpacking district (about 25 long blocks) and did a little shopping. We went to the Chelsea Market which is similar to Pike's Place Market in Seattle, but completely indoor, and more focused on different specialty foods instead of local vendors selling random little tourist gifts. We had dinner at Pastis and then took the train back to 5th Avenue for more shopping.

When we got back to our hotel, I logged onto the internet from the lobby (it was free) and Stefan started wandering... He came back and got me and then we wandered the halls together. He found the grand ballroom (which was absolutely incredible) and then there was a door unlocked that led to all of the fancy suites in the hotel (including the Presidential Suite). The King Louis suite was open (lights were out) and there was a north entrance and a south entrance. As soon as we tried to sneak in to look around, a guy that worked in the hotel walked out of one of the entrances so we figured it might not be the best idea... we still wanted to stay there the rest of the week. We pretended that we knew where we were going and thankfully weren't questioned.

Only two full days left of our trip.... it's been incredible, and tomorrow is Christmas Eve!!

NYC - Day 3

We were EXHAUSTED from our first full day, so we slept in late! Stefan and I NEVER sleep in, 7:30 is usually as late as we will sleep in, but after all of the walking and sight-seeing, it felt so nice!

We walked to the Empire State Building (about 20 blocks) and realized we weren't the only tourists who decided it would be a good day to see the views of the city... The lines were ridiculous but by the time we made it to the top, it was totally worth it. The views were absolutely incredible.... and we saw ANOTHER proposal take place!

After that, we walked around in the Garment District, saw the original Macy's (only lasted about 5 minutes inside because there were WAY too many people) and then had lunch at a little pizza shop on the street before walking to Grand Central Station. We took our first subway to Bloomingdales and did a little more shopping before heading back to the hotel to get ready for our first Broadway show!

Even though it was FREEZING outside, I figured it would only be appropriate to wear my Manolo Blahnik's since we were in NYC.... We walked outside to get a cab, only to realize that the line was an hour long.... and our show started in less than an hour. There was a limousine service that was offering to take us for more than a cab would cost, but we found a family from Tennessee that shared it with us so it worked out well.

Phantom of the Opera was such a great show!! I'd never seen it, let alone been to a show on Broadway and it was incredible! After the show, we meant to get a cab but then started walking.... and walking.... and then I started to get annoyed because not only was I cold, but I was walking in heels, and my heels kept getting stuck in the grates on the sidewalk. I kept picturing the SATC episode where Carrie is wearing the leopard-print dress and some guy robs her and asks for her Manolos.

We made it back to our hotel and had drinks and a late dinner at the Bull & Bear.... We started out at the bar where Stefan met (a very intoxicated) NY attorney named Oliver who wouldn't leave Stefan alone. Finally when the guy was going to get his phone from a charger in the hallway to show Stefan pictures of his family, we headed over to the restaurant and had a really great dinner (without the new friend).

NYC - Day 2

As we were getting ready for the day, Stefan turned on the Today Show to see that Giada DeLaurentis was in the crowds outside of Rockefeller. If you know Stefan, you will know that just like Jay-Z is my celebrity crush, Giada is Stefan's. The look on his face was priceless.... he looked like a little kid that was let down on Christmas.

Instead of walking down to Rockefeller to try and find Giada, we walked up towards Central Park and had breakfast at Sarabeth's (and paid $6 for a glass of orange juice..... welcome to the city, I guess). Stefan swore he saw some famous political analyst from TV at the restaurant, but it wasn't Jay-Z so I wasn't paying too much attention.

I bought tickets for Stefan and I to go on the Sex and the City tour (bless him) so we met in front of the Pulitzer Fountain outside the Plaza Hotel for our GIANT tour bus. Thank goodness it was just plain white and had dark tinted windows so we didn't look like too big of tourists! The tour was SO much fun, we saw so many things from the show and the movie... My favorite part was seeing Budakahn, the place where Carrie and Big's rehearsal dinner was held in the movie. SO beautiful! We got some great ideas for restaurants and shopping and ended up at Bryant Park at the end of the tour.

We walked around the shops at Bryant Park (Stefan bought some earmuffs), and then thought about going ice skating again and decided against it, again due to the weather. :) We walked through Times Square, walked back to the 5th Avenue shops, shopped at Bergdorf Goodman (LOVE THAT STORE!!!!!!!!), then took a carraige ride through Central Park before we started walking to the Upper East Side. Our intention was to take a cab to meet some of my college friends in that neighborhood, but we just started walking.... stopping in different shops until we made it to the restaurant. We stopped at the Jimmy Choo store.... and I'm sure you can figure out what happened next. They are the most BEAUTIFUL black patent pumps.... and they have an alligator-skin texture to them.

We stopped at this awesome market called Eli's before we met up with my friends... if I lived in the city I would be there all the time. They had such an amazing selection of gourmet and healthy food. We made our way to Cascabel, a really cute little mexican place in the Upper East Side and met my college friends Tina and Becca for dinner. The food was SO good and we had a great time catching up.

Instead of walking the 30+ blocks back to our hotel, we took our first (and last) cab ride. The "and last" part really just ended up being a coincidence.... We just walked a lot and later figured out the subway system which made things much easier.

NYC - Day 1

Stefan and I have always wanted to go to New York at Christmas and this was finally our year to do it. I always told people that New York was my favorite city that I had never been to.... I knew that I would fall in love with the city as soon as we arrived.

The day before we left, New York had their first snowstorm and luckily we didn't have any delays with our flight--- we just knew it was going to be FREEZING! As we flew in, the skyline was absolutely gorgeous! As gorgeous as it was, my first thought as I looked at the skyline was September 11th..... such a surreal feeling and I'm sure I'm not the only one that's had that thought flying into the city.

Stefan's cousin Dennis owns and operates a limousine company in the New Jersey/New York area, so he picked us up from the airport and took us the "scenic route" back to our hotel. He was such a nice guy and we appreciated everything he did for us and showed us as he welcomed us to the city.

We got to our hotel and my goodness--- it was BEAUTIFUL! The bellman greeted us "Welcome to the Waldorf Astoria" (just like in the movies!) We made our way up to our room and a few minutes later our luggage arrived... Normally we would unpack right away and get everything situated, but I think we were both so excited that we took off and headed towards the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center.

There were so many people on the streets and admiring the Christmas tree.... Our original plan was to go ice skating, but we were so cold that the idea of skating just wasn't very appealing... So we watched the other ice skaters, and walked around the area, stocking up on scarves, hats and gloves. We thought we were prepared, but until the wind hit us, we realized that two people from AZ could never be prepared for that kind of weather!

After dinner at Cucina & Co. at the bottom floor of Rockefeller, we walked around the area, saw Radio City Music Hall, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and had some hot cocoa and cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery (YUM!). We saw the Today Show studios at Rockefeller and as we were walking around the tree, we saw a proposal. The girl was so excited and was on her phone telling everyone about it as her family stood there equally as happy.

We had tickets to go to the "Top of the Rock" at Rockefeller Center to see views of the city at night, so we made our way up 70 stories (via an elevator) and the views were incredible. It was really windy so we didn't stay up there for too long, but it was a great way to end our first night in the city...

Sticking with it....

So I've been a little bad with my blogging.... I think the last time I updated this was when Obama got elected into office. Since then, I've been busy finishing up my master's program (graduated in November) and getting ready for the Holidays... Now that the madness of school and the holidays are behind us, I've decided to start blogging again (and hopefully this time I'll be better at updating it).

When we were in NYC a few weeks ago for Christmas I really wanted to update my blog with all of our adventures each day, but when I saw the $18.95/day fee for internet in our hotel, I changed my mind and realized I'd rather put that money towards something more tangible (shoes).... So I blogged the old-fashioned way, in a little journal. But since no one will ever see my little journal, I decided to transfer them to my blog, adding a few pics as well.

So enjoy!!