I mentioned briefly the other day that for Andy’s 30th birthday, I sent him on a scavenger hunt that culminated with a surprise party.

Since that time, I have gotten no less than a million emails asking me to elaborate on how I pulled it off, and just what the day entailed, so I thought I would share it with you now.

You know, so that Andy can see all the work I put into it, thus forcing him to one-up me on the epic event scale for my birthday.

This is how marriage works.

So, first, keep his expectations low.  This can take years to solidify, but if you constantly underwhelm at every birthday and holiday, when you finally do step up to the plate, it will blow his mind.

Second, I had to figure out what a perfect day for Andy would consist of.  Golf, remote control airplanes, nerdy stuff, sex…but, this was his birthday, not Hanukkah or the opening day of Nascar, so let’s be realistic.

I bought some small blank note cards, and on each card, I put the street address of where I wanted him to go, and a few corny clues.

I had Andy’s brother come in from Detroit, and armed him with the first clue and a GPS.

Jason waited for Andy in the parking lot of his work, surprising him when he walked out, handing him the first clue…

Blah, Blah Address
Time sure flies when you’re turning 30.

That clue took him to the mega RC Car & Airplane Show that was (thankfully) in town for the weekend that he normally drags me to every year, where I spend 3 hours following behind him in a giant expo center full of men that smell like armpit and their mother’s basements while I look for a rafter strong enough to hang myself from.

I had their tickets waiting at the will call window, and when they picked them up, the ticket lady also handed Andy the next clue to open when he was finished at the show…

Blah, Blah Address
Slow down and enjoy the drive.

Off to the indoor driving range they went, where I had pre-purchased buckets of balls for them, as well as snacks (red bull, candy, chips, other random boy things).  I had already stocked Andy’s brother’s trunk with their golf clubs, and when they went to the counter, the woman at the desk also gave Andy his 3rd clue to open when he was finished…

Blah, Blah Address
It’s present time, no peeking!

Here’s where the hard work came in.  The 3rd clue would take him to Best Buy where, the day before, I had gone ahead and purchased him a new Droid.  I had the kids with me, and a paper sign that read “Happy Birthday Daddy.” The kids held the sign as I took a picture of them with his new phone, and then set it as his background.  Best Buy then re-boxed the phone, and let me wrap it up all pretty.  They kept it for him at the service desk, and I gave Jason the receipt so they could pick it up without issue.  The final card attached to the gift read…

Now hurry home and get ready for a romantic dinner for two!

Andy came home thinking we were going to have a date night, but what he didn’t know was that I had arraigned for his brother and all his friends to meet us at his favorite Indian restaurant at 7pm, we would arrive at 7:10pm.

Sidenote:  This Indian restaurant was BYOB.  Which, in my opinion, is the most genius idea ever.  The meal is cheaper without the overhead of a liquor license, and you can bring in exactly what you want to drink.  Which I did.  A lot.

When we walked in the candlelit restaurant… he didn’t notice anything.  I was all, Oh hey let’s find a seat it’s so busy here, but he didn’t even hear me because he was too distracted by the fact that they had candy at the entrance, so I was like AHEM, ANDY, it’s super busy, maybe you could find a seat for us, since that’s the man’s responsibility.

It took him about 3 minutes to process the giant table waiting for him in the back full of everyone who loved him.

He was completely shocked, I earned a million wife points, and I am pretty sure I won’t have to rub his feet, crack his toes, or give a blow job for at least a year.

What I learned?  Businesses, even nation wide corporations, were really excited to get involved.  I was nervous about asking them to participate, but they couldn’t have been more accommodating and psyched to help pull it off.

But, just to ensure your day goes off without a hitch, make sure you have the receipts on you at all times for each of the pre-purchased stops, just in case.

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