The Big Four-Oh

This past Thursday, June 19, my Todd-e-o turned 40 years old. This is especially fun for me, since I am still in my 30s. My early 30s. :)

We celebrated the occasion with Todd's parents, his sister Jill, her boyfriend Tom and my dad. We had a feast of a dinner, topped off by a specially made cake by me -- in the shape of a coffin. I joked that we were mourning the passing of Todd's youth.

It was a fun evening, but I wasn't about to let his momentous occasion slip by without doing something special for my husband.

A few weeks ago, I booked a room for us at the Omni La Mansion del Rio Hotel and set us up with reservations at one of the fine dining establishments on the river.

But I didn't just want to take Todd to a hotel and to dinner -- I wanted to make it a production full of surprises and unexpected twists. As my sister ZZ always says, "I love a good caper!"

So I kept all of this, except the dinner, a secret from Todd.

My dad came into town under the guise that he was just here for a visit. After Todd returned from a Saturday morning church meeting, I told him that I was going to visit a friend of mine who I hadn't seen in forever (thanks for the excuse, Polly!). Instead, though, I took a pre-packed bag down to the hotel, checked in and set up our room with chocolates and champagne.

I returned home from "visiting with my friend" and my dad said to us, "I'm here, so why don't you all just go down to the river to hang out? There's no reason to have to wait until your 6:30 reservation!"

So we decided to go ahead and head downtown to the river.

During the drive down there, though, I told Todd the story my dad, sister and I had concocted the night before.

A little background information: When I was a kid, my dad commuted from Houston to San Antonio every week so that our family wouldn't have to be uprooted. Subsequently, he became very familiar with San Antonio. That helped aid in the story I told Todd to get him to the hotel without any suspicion.

I told my unsuspecting hubby that when my dad was working in San Antonio, he used to take his clients to a little-known, private bar at the La Mansion Hotel. I told him that it was a converted hospitality suite that was open to the public, but that you had to know it existed and that you had to ask for a key from the front desk, the concierge or the bar tender. The bar, I explained, was simply known as "Room 430."

I explained that my dad had gotten us a key and that there was a bottle of champagne waiting for us there.

The whole ride down there, Todd talked about how cool it was that we were going to get to be a part of this exclusive club and that he couldn't believe we'd never heard about it. He bought the story hook, line and sinker.

So we got to the hotel and I pretended to not really know where I was going (the hotel is 150 years old and has been built in stages, lending itself very well to my story). We finally made our way to "Room 430" and I said, "Well, I guess this is it." I took out the "special" key and we both leaned into the door to see if we could hear any voices from inside.

We heard nothing (of course), so Todd said, "Well...try the key. See if it works."

It did, of course, and I opened the door into our beautiful riverview suite, replete with a private balcony.

Todd stepped into the room, looked around and said, "This isn't a bar."

I was standing behind him and as he turned to me, he saw the smile on my face and realized that he'd been duped.

"We're staying here tonight?"

"Happy 40th birthday!"

We popped open the champagne and stepped out onto our balcony to people watch (a place like the San Antonio Riverwalk is a great place for people watching). We relaxed for awhile and enjoyed the quiet and solitude of our private room.

We then hopped a River taxi to the Fig Tree Restaurant and sat down for what was one of the best dining experiences of my life. White linen table cloths, waiters who attended very need, an extensive wine list and award-winning entrees. It was fantastic.

After dinner, we walked back to our hotel, where I suggested we stop by the hotel bar (the real one) for a drink.

We made our way through the lobby and into the quiet bar, where about a dozen of Todd's closest friends, including his sister, were waiting to celebrate with us.

This is the point where Todd cried. So many people were there to wish him a happy birthday and celebrate with him. It was just magical.

We had a great couple of drinks and enjoyed our friends and finally retired to our room around 11:30. We had another glass of champagne and ate the cake that the hotel had placed in our room for Todd's birthday.

We fell asleep around midnight and didn't get up until 10:00 this morning. I don't recall the last time I slept until 10:00. It must have been high school.

It felt so good.

We ordered room service and ate our Eggs Benedict out on the balcony, as we watched the Riverwalk awaken for another busy day of tourism and fun.

We headed home around 11:30 and here I sit, quietly typing as my family takes a rest. It was a wonderful weekend and I am so happy to have been able to celebrate Todd's birthday in style. Thanks to my dad and my sister for helping set everything up and for everyone who came to the bar to celebrate with us.

Happy 40th birthday, Todd. You are loved beyond measure.