Ryan turns 30

Ryan's 30th birthday was last Monday so we celebrated the weekend before. I had been trying to think of things to do for his birthday for awhile, after all, 30 is a big one! Finally, I got it! I stole the idea from our former neighbors at Harvey Lofts and added the element of a surprise party.  I planned a surprise birthday party at our house with a bunch of Ryan's friends from college and planned a Colfax Street Scavenger Hunt.  We live a few blocks away from one of the longest streets, if not the longest continuous street, in the nation, Colfax.  It has various bars, restaurants, shops, churches, cafes, etc. for miles and miles.  I figured this would be a perfect area to have a scavenger hunt because we could walk there and walk home afterward.

Our weekend started like any other, pretty relaxed.  We hung out Saturday and watched football, went on a bike ride, made some food, nothing special.  I had been asking Ryan what he wanted to do for his birthday but I never really got a straight answer except maybe go out to eat and hang out with some friends. Weeks earlier I had gotten in touch with a bunch of his friends and asked them if they would be able to join us on Saturday night for this party.  Everyone was in so all I needed at that point was to get Ryan out of the house without him suspecting anything.  A few days earlier I had told Ryan that my girlfriends from work had invited me out to dinner on Saturday night and that I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go.  He encouraged me to go and told me his friend, Michael, had asked him to help set up for a party that was to be held on Sunday at the winery his wife worked at.  I 'decided' I'd rather go to dinner with my friends then go set up chairs at a winery so around 5:30 we both went our 'separate ways.'  Little did he know the minute he left I was turning the oven bake, whipping up his cake, making salad, fruit dip, putting out salsa and chips, decorating the house, making cape cods, and trying desperately to get it all done in an hour and a half.  Luckily Ryan P. and Summer came early to help me set up.  Joey showed up too bringing ice, which I had forgotten, and Ryan's new snowboard I bought him for his birthday.  With the help of his friends we all got it done in time, with only a little stalling on Michael and Jessica's part at the winery.

The last task I had to accomplish was to somehow try and get Jessica and Michael here before Ryan.  I asked Ryan to pick up some beer on the way home and reluctantly he said he would, even though he was sure I was closer to home than he was.  Well, he didn't end up picking any beer up and he beat Jess and Michael home.  Not knowing that when I heard who I thought was Michael and Jess come up the patio stairs I opened the door so they could quickly join us before Ryan saw them... and there was Ryan, wide eyed looking at the me like what the heck is going on.  "OH" I said, "It's Ryan! Surprise!!!" and everyone yelled surprise and Ryan walked in looking at our transformed house that had looked so normal a few hours ago.  Needless to say Michael and Jessica walked in shortly after him and explained that they kept seeing Ryan on the road and without him stopping it was impossible to beat him.  He was surprised regardless.  We had a great time sharing stories, drinking beer and cape cods, and eating food.  After awhile we divided into Blue and Pink teams and headed to Colfax with our list of pictures that needed to be taken and things that needed to be witnessed. It was a lot of fun.  After an hour and a half we all headed back home to cut the cake! It was a great night!