christian's birthday

Before I get started on Utah posts, I want to recount Christian's birthday which was a few weeks back. I took it upon myself to organize a little shindig for his big day. I've never thrown a surprise party before, but somehow I got it in my little head that Christian needed a surprise party. The fate of his birthday happiness depended on that surprise. A little dramatic, no?

I didn't get too many shots of Christian on his birthday, so please refer to this "stock" photo for reference.

Christian's birthday fell on a Saturday this year, so Kurt and I convinced him to come meet us at a bar to watch Auburn take on Mississippi State. We got a surprise of our own when Uel/Jack (I don't even know what to call him anymore!) showed up as well. Uel is one of the friends we went to visit in Utah and has a knack for showing up places unannounced, specifically for birthdays.

We watched the game and played a little shuffleboard at Whiskey Brooklyn in Williamsburg. The football game was at noon so we pretty much had the bar to ourselves. Once Auburn narrowly pulled out a win over Mississippi State, we dragged Christian to the next bar with promise of watching the Alabama/Penn State game.

Meanwhile, other friends were gathering at Red Star for the big surprise. I gave very limited instructions and I was so impressed by their organization. They grabbed a table by the door and kept me up to date with texts. There was a beer tower at the ready, and the group immediately broke into the happy birthday song when we walked in. I think Christian was sufficiently embarrassed. Success!

Embarrassment quickly passed as we worked through a few beer towers.

Moving on to the next bar. When you start at noon, you need several changes in scenery. 

Next, we visited the Radegast Hall and Biergarten

and ran out of glasses.

Throughout the evening, Uel perfected the "open mouth, blank stare" pose.

See what I mean?

After the beer hall, we made our way (last stop, I promise!) to K&M in Greenpoint because Christian requested a dance party. Sorry pictures are limited...and blurry. Might have been the tequila shots.

There also might have been an unfortunate walk home for the birthday boy (and his iPhone) but I hope he had a fun day! Melissa's Surprise Party Planning is at your service!