BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!! (long, but detailed)

I love surprises, but have never been completely surprised by anything or anyone...until now. Cory found out that I like surprises and went from there. He started out on this a few weeks ago and told me that he was going to have to work on my birthday. I was disappointed, but didn't want to be whinny about it, so I just figured we do something another time. There was a really small part of me that hoped that this was all a trick or something, but then I dismissed it, thinking that Cory wasn't that smooth/awesome.

When I told this to my roommate Carlee, she took it upon herself to plan something fun and awesome for my birthday. Unbeknownst to me, Carlee and Cory had been secretly planning behind my back for almost a month. Carlee said she would get a group together and we would go to dinner or something. I figured I would just let her do her thing. The pessimist in me just kept reminding me that plans had fallen threw for my last several birthdays, so I didn't want to get my hopes up.

So on Wednesday, I hung out with Cory after he was done with school, but nothing was ever said about my birthday. I figured we were just avoiding the topic so that I won't feel bad. I went home that night feeling a little sad, but figured that my birthday could be as happy as I made it. At midnight, my phone rings and Cory is singing "Happy Birthday" to me (I had to ask him about it later because I was so tired and out of it). Then the fun really started.

Birthday morning started great; when my alarm went off, the radio had on one of my favorite songs and I thought, "This is going to be a good day." We had been doing Red Ribbon week at school and each day had a fun dress theme. Thursday was Red Day, so I had gone to DI and bought red sweatpants, because who doesn't want to wear sweatpants to work on their birthday? So I get all ready to leave for school and head out to my car. I open my garage and Cory is parked in front of my driveway...with flowers. I almost started crying I was so shocked! He didn't have to get up early that morning and he would have had to get up really early to be there. So then I figure this is my birthday surprise since I won't get to see him later in the day.

I went off to school and one of those great days at work. The kids treated my birthday like a national holiday, I got TONS of chocolate/candy, I got cake, balloons, and cards. It was just a fun day at school. Around lunch time, I get a text from Carlee, saying that she's got a group of 8 people going out for my birthday, and just for fun, we are all going to dress up super fancy. And she had ever put out some of her really nice jewelry for me to borrow (she's a former beauty queen). I was supposed to be dressed and ready to go by 6 PM for dinner and then a dinner at a friend's house after. I thought this just sounded so fun; if I couldn't be with my boyfriend, at least I can have an awesome time, dressed up, with my friends.

Cory made sure I was still falling for the lies by texting my "from work", complaining about some rude customers. (He is very thorough). Around the same time, Carlee texts me that she's a little behind at work, but will be home in time to go to dinner. So I came home to an empty house and started getting ready. I pulled out by fanciest dress (too fancy even for church), did my make-up, fixed up my hair, and "frosted" myself with Carlee's fabulous jewelry. As I was getting ready, I kept thinking that I should take a picture and send it to Cory so he could see what he was missing out on. At 5:55 PM, I get another text from Carlee: the day has gone horribly, everybody is running late, she has to cover some work thing at 7 PM, so we're have to cancel the whole dinner.

I think "crushed" and/or "devastated" would best describe my mood at that moment. My first thought was to go put on PJs and be done with the day. But then I decided that I had spent all that time getting all pretty, that I just want to sit and be pretty for a minute, also hoping that maybe one person from this whole group might show up. Just as I was about to give up, the doorbell rang. Thinking that I'll have to tell whoever it is that dinner was canceled.

When I opened the door, there was Cory, in a suit, with a bouquet of roses! This time, I really did start to cry a little. And he says, "Did Carlee just flake out on you?" I think I was in shock for the next 20 or 30 minutes. All I could keep saying is "I can't believe you did this!" When we get out to his car, I see that he had spent a lot of time completely cleaning his car. He gave me my first present, a book he thought I might like. Then we went out to dinner at a nice restaurant and everyone was asking why we were all dressed up. He even joked during dinner, "No, I'm not going to propose to you tonight."

After dinner, we went to a show at the Hale Center Theater, "The Marvelous Wonderettes." Going to a show, all dressed up, on the arm of a guy, AWESOME. The show was really cute and we both really enjoyed it. After the show, it was time to head on home. When Cory dropped me off at home, Carlee was home, so we all had a good laugh about everything and she took our picture, because we looked too good not to do pictures.

And then Cory said the a book was not a birthday present, and neither was dinner or the show. He gave me a gift certificate to get an hour long massage. I think he was trying to kill me with happiness. This was two days ago and I have yet to stop smiling. :)