Joel's Surprise 40th!

There is just one thing to say about it, I ROCK!  I had always planned to take Joel to Vegas for this 40th.  He has never been and it just seem appropriate.  I have actually been saving for it for a few years.  Well now that we are in Istanbul, THAT wasn't going to happen.  So what to do, what to do?

Joel hates birthdays.  He's really not fond of any holiday.  Not sure what is wrong with him?!  So what better way to annoy the crap out of him?  Throw a party.  Even better a surprise party.  Joel tried to throw me one for my 25th birthday.  But there was that little thing called a BLACKOUT of the whole North East US.  He has planned this great party at my favor Bowling Alley/Pizza place.  We did reschedule and it was a great night.

So I enlisted Murat (his driver) and my friend Ilknur (his wife) to help out.  I thought we could have it as a restaurant with some food and drinks.  I gave them this assignment while we were in Portugal.  I get back and Ilknur informs me that it is Ramazan!  No alcohol or music allowed.  Or it was going to cost a shit load of $$$.  So I decided we'll have it at the house.  We looked into caterers and her daughter pulled some strings at her hotel, but everyone was coming back with this super high prices and in Euros!  We spent an afternoon calling every catering company we could find.  I found one that I LOVED!  The menu was fabulous, but the quote the lady gave me was just crazy.  We finally found one that was in my price range.  We had a meeting and everything seem to be going well.

I got Joel's coworker and secretary to help with the guest list and get invitations to everyone at work.  I was so worried someone was going to give it away  Birthdays are celebrated in Istanbul like they are in the States.  Then one week out, the caterer was screwing us around.  Ilknur got pissed and said let me make some calls.  We had decided because of Ramazan that I should buy the alcohol myself.  It shouldn't be much because many of the attendees would not be drinking.  I told Ilknur to give Istanbul Gourmet a try again.  I just couldn't get past their menu.  I am glad we did call back, because they quoted me a fraction of what they did before.  In fact, they were the cheapest by far!  And it wasn't just traditional Turkish food.  There was shrimp and duck, it was just so yummy sounding.  After that, everything fell into place.  They provided a bartender, the bar and glasses, plus all the tables and serving stuff.  And we had 2 chefs, an onsite manager, and two servers!

Next we took care of gifts, the balloons and then last minute, I said I wished I'd gotten a photographer.  Ilknur jumps on the phone and we got a photographer!  He was a student so the price was half!  We got to keep all the pictures too!

So the day of the party arrived.  It was the day before his actual birthday.  Joel's boss had him come over and spend the afternoon so we could set up.  It was so funny that the catering company was waiting around the corner until he left!  Then they took over!  I love that everyone delivers here!  The balloons were delivered and even the beer!

So here is what our patio got transformed into!

Jackie was great and sent me a bunch of Joel pics

The canapés

Murat bringing in the Balloons

My kitchen became a restaurant!

Mojitos were the drink of the night.  So Yummy!

The Bar

Can you tell Nate's excitement?  Or was it the Watermelon frozen drink?

About this third

Then the girls got in on it.

Joel arriving home.  Wrong way tho.

Now the right way

Checking out his Birthday present, a 2m water pipe

Love this one of Joel and Milly

Some of the amazing food!

The best falafel ever!

The surprise was kept!  I was so happy about that.  He spent the party in disbelief.  We had a ton of people and a wonderful time.  We ate and ate and ate.  There was so much food!  I made Joel a carrot cake since my cake lady was on vacation.  It may have not looked pretty but it tasted great.  Better have since I bought Philadelphia Cream Cheese at 14TL a pop.

I have to say that I felt like a real grownup that night.  Joel is going to be hard pressed to get me to throw big parties and do all the cooking back in the States.  I didn't have to do a thing except pay them!  My kitchen was as clean as when they arrived.  The photographer was so nice.  He gave us over 500 pictures.  And it didn't cost much.  I'm going to have him work Milly's 1st bday too.  I am just so excited it turned out well.  Joel loves his gifts (he also got a really nice set of prayer beads also known as stress beads) and he got about 20 bottles of alcohol and a few other really nice gifts.  Didn't really expect anyone to bring anything.  So I hope that Joel had a memorable 40th.  He better start the planning for mine!  I'm thinking Bora Bora?