Surprise!

On Saturday I was surprised with a birfday party! My birfday is on Thursday (July 28th). Melissa told me in the morning that we had a special date planned for the two of us that night and my parents were coming out to Rivertucky to watch the kids. We drove up to LA to eat at the Spaghetti Factory and when we walked into the Lobby, Brian, Aleasha, Shan, Josh and Paul were there to yell surprise. The Melonis and the Hoffmans got there a little later, because traffic was the devil.

So we ate dinner (I got through an entire plate of Mizithra cheese covered pasta without any...uh...repercussions...) and then we went to see The Groundlings. Being a huge SNL fan, I've always wanted to go to see the show, since a lot of my favorites (Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri, Jon Lovitz, Chris Kattan, Ana Gasteyer) are alumni. Current cast members that are alumni are Will Forte, Chris Parnell and Maya Rudolph. Phil Hartman and Julia Sweeney were also Groundlings, along with Howie Mandel, Lisa Kudrow, Kathy Griffin, Mindy Sterling, Craig T. Nelson, Paul Ruebens and Pat Morita, so you never know what future star you might see on that stage.

It was a great night with some hilarious sketches. The Groundlings still know how to end a scene, which is something that has dropped off dramatically on SNL over the past five years or so. Every sketch ended with a punchline.

After the show, Mel and the boys went to Denny's for dessert. I promised her we wouldn't talk fantasy football the ENTIRE time, and I think, for the most part, we didn't. I know it snuck in every once in a while, though.

I had a great time and it was awesome to be surprised. Everything was great except for the big-arse Dodgers balloon that Brian brought to put on my chair at dinner. =)