Birthday Sweets!

So after boasting about what an awesome birthday I was going to have in the wee hours of Saturday morning, I woke up in the not-so-wee hours with a miserable case of food poisoning. (Helpful Tip: I'm pretty sure the Boston Market meatloaf is *not* supposed to be pink in the middle. Ug.) That's what I get for jinxing it, right?

Fortunately I was recovered enough by the afternoon to still get out of the house for a bit, and fully recovered in time for my deeeLIGHTful Boma birthday dinner with friends:

Mmmm. Booooomaaaa.

Now I'm going to brag on John a bit.

He's been acting extraordinarily pleased with himself the past few weeks, dropping hints and collecting packages and generally being way more excited about my birthday than I was. (Which, to be fair, wasn't hard.)
 
Last week the suspense was apparently too much for him, because he surprised me with my first gift: the oh-so-elusive paperback movie adaption of Labyrinth. (WOOT!!) It's never been reprinted, so he was up 'til 5AM one morning in a bidding war on ebay to get it. (And I've already finished it. And it's awesome. I may have to write a book review to share some of the cool extra tidbits in there with you guys...)

John and I don't usually "do" birthday gifts, so please forgive me for photographing my haul like an obnoxious 12-year-old:

Toys, art, and books. Does my hubby know me, or WHAT?

The ACEO is from Jasmine Becket Griffith. The adorable mustachioed octopus was a custom order (teal & orange FTW!) from Cheek & Stitch, and I'm especially impressed because John found it all by himself - or maybe one of you readers tipped him off? (He *has* been helping me with a lot of e-mail lately...)

Sir Squibner now sits in the place of honor on my monitor stand:

"I say! What what! Tally ho! And so forth."

Of course, the big big surprise came on Saturday afternoon when John handed me his phone and instructed me to read the e-mail he had on screen.

I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say that John had been conspiring with the famous Geek a Week artist Len Peralta for nearly six weeks, all to get me this:

Me as Mr. StayPuft. 

 Awwwww YEEEEAAAHH.

Len's an insanely busy guy, but thanks to John's charm (and the fact that Len happens to be a fan) he found the time to do this drawing and surprise me with a sweet birthday e-mail. (In which he informed me what a great husband John is. Believe me, Len, I KNOW.) John even talked him into giving me the original sketch, something he normally doesn't do. I'm going to get them framed together side-by-side. And then try to find a free spot in my office to hang them. (I need more walls!)


Thank you all for the lovely get-well and birthday wishes on Saturday - they made the day that much sweeter. If I could, I would totally throw a big ol' geek party at Boma and have every single one of you there. Maybe next year? You guys don't mind coming to Orlando for that, right? :D