Love is...

That's a really tough sentence to finish. I'm not going to try to define love. Sorry, if that was misleading. Instead, I am going to describe the magnificently tremendous heaping example of love that was my 30th birthday. There are a hundred ways to tell this story, to color it and make it seem more spectacular or better or more interesting than it was. But the truth is, it was absolutely perfect and spectacular just as it was and to alter it in any way would be to do a great disservice. So, here it is, the basic chronology...

5:40 PM

Rush home from work. Quick turn around, need to leave by 6:10 PM to meet friends. The house looks a little cleaner than I remember it being when I left this morning. Definitely smells like baking. Sarah tells me she was burning a vanila frosting scented candle. Her story checks out, the candle is still warm and we're running late.

I go upstairs to change and decide that, for once, I'm not going to fidget with my clothes. The people we're meeting, Mandie and Jake, are really good friends, no need to impress. We're going to have dinner at a pub and then off to some bizarre underground cabaret. Sarah convinces me to wear a new shirt, but she loses the new jeans battle. I'm saving them for my birthday party next weekend and no amount of arguing can convince me to stretch them out early.

6:3o PM

We arrive at the pub. We're always late, so I'm sure Mandie and Jake are there already. I tell the hostess we're meeting friends and ask if she minds if I poke around. "Of course not." They're not up by the bar. Not over in that corner. I come around the fireplace and I see..."OH MY HOLY RIDICULOUSNESS!!!"

Both of my sisters (from Detroit) were there!

We had dinner and a couple of drinks.

Jake and Mandie insist, we don't have to go to the cabaret thing if I don't want to. I think, "I don't really care what we do. My sisters are here and I'm happy as can be."...little did I know what they had in store.

8:00 PM

It's raining and time to head out. The cabaret started at 8:00 PM and we're late. Time to get this show on the road.

We show up at the cabaret address. "I didn't know there was a bowling alley down here," I think outloud. "Hmm, who knew?," says sneaky Sarah.

Jake and Mandie are leading the way. Followed by me, Sarah, Susan, and Jenn. As we're descending this kind of dark staircase into some unknown underground cabaret I'm thinking, "Oh crap. This might be really weird and my sisters are here. I hope I'm not getting them into anything too strange. I hope it's okay. I hope it's okay. I hope it's okay."

SURPRISE!

Did you do this?

Is that Shonda and Ryan?

Is that Brian and Jen?

Sara?! Eric?!

Lauren AND Mandie!! (I'm getting the idea now.)

The rest of the night was filled with all of my favorite things.

The beer is Fleur de Lehigh by Philadelphia Brewing Company. It's excellent and had only been on the market for 3 weeks. Rad.

Every minute from there on out was pure elation. One of my favorite people would say:

"Hey, do you want to bowl?" OK!

"Carolyn, let's have a sword fight!" OK!

"Carolyn, let's have an impromptu singing of the Michigan State fight song complete with a round of 'Go Green! Go White'!" OK!

We wore silly costumes.

Then...I fell and everyone laughed.

Then I laughed too.

We danced.

THEN, I GOT PRESENTS!!!

People came from hundreds of miles away to play and dance and bowl and give me hugs. People took days off of work to decorate and bake. People braved traffic for 5 hours. People got babysitters. Some people told elaborate lies, even though it was really hard. And altogether, I don't remember ever feeling so thoroughly loved.

The craziest part, is that Sarah did it all without me knowing. She's the best. (Even though she looks a little scared, no Sarahs were harmed in the capturing of this image. I promise)

It was the best birthday party ever... and I'll go toe to toe with anyone who dares to differ.