Dinner and a Movie Become Danger and Mayhem

It’s easy to get lazy and plan a default date.

I wanted more than dinner and a movie.

Birthdays are a wonderful opportunity to show your spouse how special they are.  Go out of your way to make their day extraordinary!

I’ve been planning unique celebrations for Erv’s birthday for twenty years.  I tend to go all out, sometimes making it difficult for me to top it the next time.

This year, I was stumped.  I kept coming back to the standard dinner and a movie.

When you’re trying to create  a unique experience, you have to start somewhere.  Somewhere basic.  Dinner and a movie is where I started. You can too.

A few days ago, our good friends suggested the four of us go see “Argo” together.  I did a little research on the movie and decided to plan an entire day around the plot.  Once I started to plan a few key elements, it all came together quite quickly. Operation Erv’s Argo  Birthday (EAB) was born!

I wrote a clue about the movie on a poster board and cut it up into 14 puzzle pieces.  I put these into large envelopes marked “top secret” and distributed them to my students and co-workers the day before Erv’s birthday.

Starting at 9am yesterday (the big day), various “spies” delivered the top secret envelopes to my husband’s office dressed in sunglasses.

Some got really creative and taped the envelopes under his desk and on the back of his door while he was out in the hall.  Then they called him on the phone and gave him instructions in a deep voice to look under the desk and behind the door.

One of my coworkers dressed in all black and hid in the back of his classroom, totally catching him off-guard.

Once he received all of the puzzle pieces, he quickly deciphered my code and asked if we could invite our friends to join us at the movie.  I deflected the question.

Next, Erv was supposed to be “extracted” from his office by a few operatives dressed in suits and sunglasses to be whisked off to the airport.

Unfortunately, Erv decided to leave work a bit early (being his birthday and all).  I tried to stall him but was unsuccessful.  After a few moments of panic at my foiled plan, my operatives quickly implemented plan B!

They kidnapped him from our home instead.  Fortunately, one of them actually works at the airport where he brought Erv and printed out boarding passes for them both.  At this point, Erv panicked thinking he was really being taken to Washington DC for the night!

Just before entering security, Erv received a call  from a fake “mob boss” who threatened his life.   Our fake CIA took him away from the airport, blind folded him, questioned him in the woods, and then brought him to the “safe house” for his own protection.

The “safe house” was our house, where I had planned a lovely steak dinner for two on our garage roof.  (Something I always wanted to do!)

After dinner we headed out to the movies.  Erv tried to talk me out of seeing Argo so we could wait and see it later with our friends.  Little did he know, our friends were waiting for us at the movie theater in their black suits and fake mustaches!

They got in line right behind us at the ticket counter and stood uncomfortably close.  Erv ignored them until them grabbed him from behind.  It was perfect!

Our dinner and a movie became an all day birthday extravaganza! 

What twist can you put on “dinner and a movie?”