The Birthday That Almost Wasn't...

By the looks of this picture you would have no idea what was going on just a few hours earlier! It started off as the perfect plan. Matt decided to throw me a birthday party and in typical Matt fashion wanted to go all out and make sure everyone had a great time. He selected a brand new venue - the Martini Lounge on the beach at the Westin - invited 30 of our closest friends and arranged for plenty of food and a private bar. People were talking about it for a few weeks and everybody was excited to see what he had in store. Then we woke up Thursday and the weather report looked like this:If there is one thing I can say for Dubai weather, it is consistent. If they are calling for rain. It's going to rain. We were all shocked as what little rain we get is only Nov. - Jan. So the weather report caused a tizzy. The Martini Lounge is an all outdoor venue. Should we move the party? Wait out the weather? Where can we go with 30 people at the last minute? At last the manager called and put on the pressure, he was going to close the bar down for the night and we needed to make a new plan.

Just as Matt is running around trying to come up with a plan B with just 2 hours to spare, I arrive home to a unpleasant surprise. We have no running water or power. Apparently, our utility bill has not been successfully deduced from Matt's paycheck for 6 MONTHS, and with no warning the company shut us down! I, of course, am feeling a rising panic at this point. How is a gal supposed to get ready for her party with out the necessary amenities? It seems like the whole night is just going down the tubes!

Poor Matt who is now running around looking for a new party venue and trying to secure some helium balloons realizes that he has 30 minutes to get across town to the utilities company and pay our back bills in cash, or we won't have power for the whole weekend! As darkness starts to close in on the apartment I start pulling out candles and flashlights and consider my options. Lucky for me we have a gym in the building, and with the final minutes of daylight I throw everything in my beach bag, and head downstairs just like walking to the showers freshman year at college.

When I came back upstairs I was expecting to get dressed in darkness, but was surprised to find light coming from the apartment. While I was gone Matt managed to light over a 100 little tea lights around the apartment so I could get ready. The effect was actually pretty stunning, and I wondered if maybe he planned this romantic interlude! Matt had made it to the office to pay the bills, picked up balloons and candles, had secured a private room for our party and managed to alert everyone on the guest list. SuperMatt.

So at long last we made it to my birthday party and I had an amazing night. A wonderful fiance, good friends, great food and drink, and lots of fun. Before we knew it the madness of the previous hours were forgotten and we were celebrating my birthday in high style. It just goes to show you, that you don't need to follow the perfect plan for things to turn out perfect

It was great to have my sister there!

Our friend Fiona helped Matt with all the plans.

The boys came out in style!

Matt nearly died when this cake came out! I don't like fruit for dessert and he ordered chocolate...such is Dubai! Watch for an upcoming blog post where he atones for this mishap...