it all started here, on jordan ferney's blog. she explains it like this:
First I spray painted a box gold. (It looks like a regular ol' box here but trust me its sparkly and shiny.) I taped her name on it so she would know it was for her. Then I filled it with lots of balloons, snuck into her building, set up a camera on a tripod, and doorbell ditched her. It's a party in a box.
how hard could that be? i thought it was going to be so easy.
but i'm here to tell you how those charming, clever ideas we see on super mom blogs really go down.
i wanted to think i was an above average capable crafty gift giver/surprise puller-offer, but....
i started planning this birthday-in-a-box idea a month and a half ago when i figured out i'd be out of town for jen's birthday. above all, i wanted the balloons-coming-out-of-the-box moment captured on camera. my original plan was to have brooke drop it off to jen's office downtown in the middle of the work day. i've never been inside jen's office, but i have a mental image made up in my mind of what it looks like, and was sure there was a place for this scene to go down.
first task: find a big box.
i had options. i could either dumpster dive for one or buy one. i wracked my brain for places who sold big things - and then threw away their boxes. a refrigerator box was too big. i needed, like, a toilet box. or a dishwasher box. but i quickly realized that that was the kind of adventure fit for a bestie duo... and i couldn't do it on my own. so, i went to the paper supply store and bought a box. standing there in the aisle, i calculated difference between each of the boxes pinned up against the wall. 30"x18"18" looks bigger, but 24"x24"x24" is waaaay bigger inside. i needed a box that would fit the max number of balloons inside.
a new, flattened 24"x24"x24" cardboard box costs $15.
and it's just barely too big to fit in my car.
{panic}
second task: paint the box.
this was the easiest part. and the only remotely creative/crafty bit. thankfully, we had an afternoon of good weather. i set up shop in the garage and painted the box. jen was due to stop by the house some time that day.... so i caaaasually had to be painting that box for no good reason.
third task: coordinate the drop-off.
in true aubry style, i wanted to be as self sufficient as possible. i didn't want to bother brooke with such a chore in the middle of her work day. so, i tried emailing/facebooking her co-worker a day or so in advance of her birthday. she works with computer nerds - seems like they're always working late. in my head, i would drop it off at jen's office on monday night, after she left for the day. i'd beg her co-workers as she opened the box and discovered the treats inside. but - my emails went unanswered. c'mon computer nerds! check your social networks!
turns out, he was sick that day.
i had a meeting until 6:00 on monday night. and had no back up plan for where to take the box. all i knew was i had to be up by 4:30 a.m. the next day to drive to st. george. i didn't have any balloons yet, aaaaand - snow started to fall like never before. it was one of those storms the weatherman tells you to stay put, go home, and avoid unnecessary travel.
i checked in with ed parker who said they were planning on stay home that night. our parting words were "let me know if i can help you. i'll keep my phone on me."
brooke was still willing to help. the only problem was, she lives on the steepest, snowiest hill in all the state and there was NO WAY either of us were going to get up or down that hill to make the mighty box transfer.
i sent an SOS message to ed to let him know i needed his help. but, my cry for help fell on deaf ears. ed parker did not have his phone on him at all. but i moved forward, hoping he'd find my message before too long. after all, i needed to be up really early the next morning to drive 4 hours to st. george and i still hadn't packed or done laundry.
fourth task: fill the box with balloons.
on the snowiest day of the year, i packed up the box and all of the prizes i scrounged up to gift jen for her birthday and drove the corporate minivan {thankfully. a 24"x24"x24" box would not have fit in the back seat of my car. nor brooke's. nor ed parker's audi tt.} to the local grocery store. before walking in with a life size box, i went in - solo - and told the grocery store clerk about my plan.
did i mention it was really, really snowy?
i'm sure i was a spectacle. somehow, i had to transfer a flat box of a dozen sugar cookies into the box without letting it jiggle or wiggle and keep it pretty level... but the box couldn't touch the ground for fear it would melt in the snow. all around, it was awkward. awkward size, awkward fit in the van, awkward walk into the grocery store. i lugged the box into the store and i swear i had to explain myself 143534 times before they understood what i wanted from them.
blown up balloons {do you want hi-float in that? do you want strings?}
as many as will fit in the box {how will we know how many that will take?}
then i'll close the box {how will they stay inside?}
and i even brought my own tape to tape it closed {okay, do you want hi-float in that? it costs 20 cents a balloon...}
10 balloons later, and only one casualty. i had every grocery store employee watching my balloon-in-a-box trick. it was definitely the coolest thing they've ever seen. simple minds, those grocery people.
the box went back to the car. still no word from ed parker.
fifth task: deliver the box.
i drove to jen's house. since every piece of this plan had failed me - and it was nothing i wanted or tried for - i had no other option than to leave it on her front porch and tell her there was a surprise waiting for her.
booooooo. that is so lame.
no photographer. no trickery.
just a soggy box sitting on her wet doorstep... with fingers crossed that the freezing temps wouldn't pop the balloons before she got to it.
no pun intended, but i was completely deflated about the 384336 bits of effort i had put into a grand plan that was turning out to be an complete failure.
the van got stuck in the snow heading into jen's neighborhood. there i was in the corporate minivan {probably a little illegal}, sticking half way out into a 45 mph road - backing up, pulling forward, backing up, pulling forward.... until, by some miracle push, the van made it through the, like, 18" pile of un-plowed snow on jen's street.
for fear that jen would see the massive company logo in her driveway, i pulled my car down the street a little and started to walk to her door to scope the scene.
aaaaaand then, angels swooped in to rescue my failed project: the neighbors came home.
as random as ever, but completely desperate, i ran to their driveway and introduced myself bestie aubry.
thankfully, they knew just who i was. that didn't make the "hey, can i leave you with this giant box of balloons" request any more normal. i had no plan. all i knew was those balloons needed somewhere warm to sleep for the night.
we exchanged phone numbers. i told the neighbor that as soon as i had time to defrost and think clearly, i'd make a plan... and find a way to get that box over to jen's house. even though i was going to be in st. george.... i was going to find a way.
i drove home, feeling half defeated, half successful, and updated my facebook status:
"hell or high water - if i want it, i make it happen"
jen commented: "word."
silly girl.... she had NO IDEA what i had just devoted the last three hours of my life to....
and then.... i got a text from ed parker:
"sorry. didn't have my phone with me. do you still need my help?""
%#@!^&$!
somehow, the box made its way to jen's living room floor by 7:30 a.m. the next morning.
i was too exhausted to learn how.... but grateful that it did.
it was a great surprise. jen loved it all. took pictures and everything.
BUT.
it was 3453924 times harder than that silly two paragraph + three photo blog post made it out to be.
lesson learned.
i'm going to quit out-doing myself. next time i'm buying her a mani/pedi gift certificate and a birthday cake from the grocery store bakery.
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