I threw a surprise party for Gary’s 55th birthday. Too bad he started to get suspicious a couple of days before the party. I really had him going though, until that time. When I sent out the invitations, I sent them out from a neighboring town, but it was on a Saturday and I put them in the outside mailbox. Well, they went all the way to Milwaukee, before coming back here. Couldn’t have worked out better if I had tried! Of course Gary (we) got a completely different invitation than all the others. I set up a fake email address for the RSVP. He was none the wiser, ‘cause he is not computer savvy AT ALL! He was a little suspicious at first, but I quickly squashed that by replying to our RSVP saying it was a party for someone I knew who was moving back to the state after many years gone.
Here’s the invitation others received:
Shhh! For Gary xxxxxxx
This is a surprise party for Date Feb. 20, 2011
Gary's 55th birthday. Time 12:30 pm
We will have an appetizer Place St. Anne's Cafeteria
style buffet and drinks. Main St. xxxx,xx
This is a Retro Party, R.S.V.P. Regrets Only
so come dressed as a xxx-xxx-xxxx
black and white TV If you don't call,
or Movie character. we'll expect you!
NO GIFTS PLEASE!
And the one we received:
For Retro Black and White Party
Date Feb. 20, 2011
Time 12:30 pm
Place St. Anne’s Cafeteria
Main St. xxxx,xx
R.S.V.P. By Feb. 13, 2011
undercoveraffair@ xxxxx.xxx
This is the response we got to our RSVP:
Hi Tru,
I'm sorry I didn't get back to you a little sooner, but I had to check a few things first.
I can give you a little information on the Retro Party.
First of all the clothing does not have to be black and white, just clothing like a black and white era TV or movie character. So, say you wanted to dress as Gilligan, you would wear a red shirt as opposed to a grey shirt. Make sense?
Secondly, we will be serving a buffet type meal.
Although; I can’t tell you who this party is for, because we want it to be a total surprise for the guest of honor as well as the guests, I can tell you a little about why you were invited.
My friend is moving back to the area after many years in another state. With the help of my friend’s family, I am throwing a party for them to reconnect with old friends. During the reminiscing, your name came up as someone who is fun loving and enjoyable to be around. I will tell you that my friend is someone you worked with back in the day.
I do hope you and your husband decide to attend. I am so looking forward to meeting you.
Ruth
So I made it all about me and that really threw him. We were trying to figure out who this person could be and I almost had myself convinced it was a party for someone else. I had the most fun trying to keep him from finding out about the party.
We had black tablecloths , black balloons and black and white streamers. You get the picture; it was an over the hill party. We had a good time!
Here are some pics from the party, plus you can click on the slide show up top for some more.
These are some of the people who dressed up in the photo op cut out I made. Not everyone dressed up; there were some party poopers, but those that did enjoyed themselves.
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| Curly from The Three Stooges | Mary Bailey from It's A Wonderful Life and Shirley Temple | Ralph and Hank Kimball from Green Acres |
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| Ginger Rogers | Jethro and Ellie May From The Beverly Hillbillies | Granny and Jed Clampett From The Beverly Hillbillies |
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| Hogan and Fraulein Helga from Hogan's Heroes | Wyatt Earp and Ma Barker |
Some more pics!
