Surprise!

I have a friend named Julie. She is seriously fabulous. She is one of the funniest people I have ever
known (hands down) and we happen to share a birthday. And because she makes every person in the
neighborhood feel loved (or mortified) on their birthday, I decided she needed herself a surprise party.

And surprise her we did. Oh man, we pulled it off and I was pretty thrilled.

(I'm two for two now, just for the record.)

So I wanted to share some photos to remember the awesomeness of tonight.

(Side note: I truly believed that only Julie knew we shared a birthday, but apparently, Julie mentioned
that to one other person a while back and she remembered. So when I sent out the email to ask
everyone to be a part of Julie's surprise, this sweet friend (hi Jess!) and her partner in crime (hi Jana!)
sent an additional email and had others bring me a funny gift in addition. It was so incredibly kind
of them, but oh man, I was sad I didn't keep that one under wraps. I managed to keep almost all
of the focus on Julie, but still, it was so very nice of these sweet people I call my friends.)

Okay, back to the fabulous photos.

The decorations are up and food laid out. It is go time.

So many fabulous friends attended. I was pretty overwhelmed at the response.

And while I didn't get a photo of the actual moment (as I was too busy pretending to invite

Julie in for a second before we headed out to dinner together), I did get a photo of how good

these wonderful women are to me and to our kids. Jacob was out of town on a business trip, 

so the kids hung around at the party for a bit before heading to bed. Everyone is so ridiculously

 kind to our children and it means more to me than anything else. I'm just so grateful.

Time to open the humorous gifts we all brought for Julie.

Another group shop of everything enjoying the unwrapping and Julies' hilarious commentary.

And the birthday lady. The tattoo sleeves, the fake teeth, the hat...she is the best.

Happy Birthday my twin! I seriously adore you.