My Birthday Surprise

Throughout December, my boyfriend gave me a clue every day until my birthday on December 23rd. The clues included letters that would eventually spell out “we are going to…” and gifts such as a princess tiara and a scratch map of the world.

I had no idea what he had been planning this whole time, and he eventually revealed to me he’d been planning my birthday surprise since our trip to Rome in the summer! On the morning of my birthday I woke up as excited and as nervous as ever. He gave me a box that had been sitting under our Christmas tree for days; when I opened it, I was beyond shocked. In the box was a print out of two flight tickets, with the destination and the time of the flight blacked out. I couldn’t believe it. He told me to pack a bag and that—an even bigger surprise to me—we weren’t coming back until after Christmas! He’d gone all out, and I was speechless.

The day went on and we arrived at the airport. Bad news though—our flight was delayed by four hours! It took me awhile of staring at screens and trying to work out his stubborn unwillingness to tell me where we were going but I eventually figured it out: he was taking me to Paris. It was one of the only flights left that were delayed. It made me cry, all good tears though. As we were still at the airport when I solved his 23-day long riddle, he let me open two presents.

“This one is a birthday present,” he said with a big smile, handing me over a small envelope. I opened it and instantly welled up with tears in my eyes. Inside the envelope were two tickets to go to the very top of the Eiffel Tower on Christmas Eve; it was one of the best birthday presents I could ask for. And then, knowing damn well it would make me cry more, he handed me another envelope that was my Christmas present. I have never been to France, let alone Paris, so that trip would have been enough. But with my boyfriend being the way he is, of course he had to one up himself. He was taking me to Disneyland Paris on Christmas Day! I have never been happier in all my life and I will never be able to thank him enough.

By the time we arrived in Paris, and at our Airbnb, it was two in the morning. It was a gorgeous apartment only minutes away from the Eiffel Tower, and we slept comfortably knowing he had created the best birthday surprise of all time.

Flash forward to Christmas Eve 4:00pm. We had already explored some of Paris and we both couldn’t wait to explore it from the summit of the Tower. It was cold and windy but oh my god it was beautiful. I couldn’t be more grateful for the amazing time I had up there. It was stunning, but the cold got the best of us and we decided to venture back down. Back on solid ground and the sky was dark, lit up by one thing alone: the lights of the Tower! He had managed to time our trip so we could see the sunset at the top and see the lights from the bottom, it was perfect. We spent the rest of the night dining out and having fun in the middle of Paris.

Now, for my Christmas present. I had never been more excited in my life, let me tell you that. I found it hard to sleep and I was awake by half past six so we could get an early start! It was dark and we were yawning our heads off throughout the train ride, but as soon as we had our sights on Disneyland our excitement took over. He had somehow packed our bags so that the both of us would be able to wear something Disney related for the day and I couldn’t have been happier in my yellow Mickey Mouse jumper! Once again it was a freezing cold day, but the combination of warm coats, scarves and hats we were prepared for the entire day!

The gates opened for us at 9 am and we were ready, almost at the front of the big queue. As soon as we were inside, I fell in love with Disneyland and I fell in love with my boyfriend even more. I had the most perfect time and it was the most perfect Christmas day of all time. I could write and write about what we did but I simply wouldn’t have the time because we did so much. My birthday and Christmas surprise for 2018 is one I will never forget, and I am so grateful to have a boyfriend who can do such amazing things for me.

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed my time in Paris. Come back in December 2019 and maybe I’ll have written another birthday surprise recount for you all!