SURPRISE party extravaganza

Now listening to: Get Yo Sh**t by Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears

So I just threw a surprise party for my boyfriend Ryan's 30th birthday. He's having quite the hard time adjusting to the new decade.  Since I have somehow taken up the second job of party-planner these days ... I went all out.  I hosted it at Mcnulty's Bier Markt, a sweet little joint in downtown Cleveland that offers some 99 beers, mostly of the Belgian variety.

I hosted just over sixty people who all came to out to show Ryan that turning 30 is far better than the alternative.  To get everyone in the spirit I did a few things:

1. I made buttons featuring ridiculous pictures of Ryan with even more ridiculous captions that everyone pinned onto their shirts prior to his arrival to show our support for him ... much like a mother wears a pin of her 10th grade student at his JV soccer game ...

2. I hand made a huge, quite crafty sign, that adorned the banister in the back of the room. Pics of my handiwork will be posted later.

3. I figured since the party was at a bar no one would really be down for cake-eating considering most people crave food of the greasy, salty variety when drinking ... but I also figured it IS a birthday and I can't have a cake-less birthday party so I went cupcake style ... mini cupcake style. I enlisted the cupcake labor of Main Street Cupcakes in Hudson, Ohio ... the quaint little shop first caught my eye

... then the adorable cupcakes and magnificent flavor sealed the deal. I went for a variety of Key Lime, Birthday, Cleveland (chocolate chunk), Cookies n'Cream, and Java Chip

Needless to say, they were a huge hit and I will definitely be asking them to bake their way to my guests hearts for the next party I have. Delish!

4. I gave everyone a drink ticket ... or drink TOOTH, to be exact (I'll explain in a moment) good for one Hoegaarden, Ryan's favorite beer ... which also happens to be a Belgian brew -- how convenient.  As for the tooth, Ryan is a dentist. So I am, actually ... so maybe I'm just partial to teeth.

5. I also made him a shirt to be worn at the party. The front read "But I don't wanna grow up ..." and was positioned underneath a photo of him in which he appears to be whining like a 3 year-old ... at age 28. The back was a picture of him doing the Cornholio a la Bevis and Butthead with his birthdate written above it. Classy.

6. Last but not least, I did get him a gift. His very own das boot. For those of you who have seen Beerfest, you know exactly what I'm talking about and you also know the secret to drinking it 'til it's gone. For those of you wondering what the hell Beerfest is, here's das boot:

Ryan drank it. 'Til it was gone. Also classy.


ANYway, he was totally shocked. Which is still amazing to me considering there were 60 people involved that could have spoiled it. So I have to thank those 60 people for making a fabulous beer-filled, button-wearing, cupcake-eating surprise 30th for the boy that will never grow up.