Don't get me wrong...I've pulled some off. Nothing says "Surprise!" like an iPhone 5 being dropped on your head in the morning when you're still sleeping or an iPad on a bare foot when you're kissing goodbye. (Sorry, RyGuy.) I've even pulled off some less painful ones when I kidnapped him and brought him to St. James Gate for the first time and later booked a night in Vermont for us. But Ryan's surprises are so much better than mine (not to mention, less painful.)
Of course I've already written about our first date, which is still marked on my calendar as "Adventure with Ryan" because, instead of asking me out, he asked to take me "on an adventure." It certainly has been an adventure and still is.
One day I was at the CCafe and was utterly bored without him there (this was before we were official.) I went, hung out at the end of the bar, and spent the whole time texting Ryan about his trip to Vermont. I thought he was still up there since there had been a pretty significant snowstorm and I had cancelled my trip to New England that weekend. As I was just about to walk out and as one of our favorite songs to dance to came on, Ryan walks in, grabs my hand, and pulls me out onto the dance floor before I could even register what was happening. I was so happy he was there!
Valentine's Day, which he told you about earlier, was very nice. I surprised him with a broken finger and he surprised me by wearing a red shirt to match my red dress, took me to the Straight No Chaser concert, gave me a beautiful Claddagh heart necklace and roses, and took me out for a wonderful dinner. But my favorite surprise of that night was slow dancing with him in my living room to "Lady in Red". After I had gone on for days about how "I don't care what we do on Valentine's Day, I just want a reason to wear my red dress" he made sure I was able to. "Lady in Red" has always been my song. Sure, now that I work for a blue school I wear a lot more blue but growing up and to all my college events I have always worn red. It's my favorite color, and thus it's one of my favorite songs. Since I first heard the song I dreamed of finding a guy who just knew that was my song and who would want to dance with me to it, and he made that dream come true in my living room that night.
Another surprise I received was when we were attempting a new dance, the "Travelling Cha Cha." We had almost perfected it when I spun the wrong way and his elbow moved the right way and my nose met his forearm. Ouch. That was the night Ryan saw what I looked like with a beer bottle on my face to ice it down. He felt really bad about hurting me, and I decided to capitalize on his guilt and got to tease him about the time he elbowed me in the nose for the rest of the month (he put a deadline on my nose jokes.) I'd make him kiss my nose whenever I saw him that month to help it get better (even though it really only hurt for a few days), and that reminded me of the Colbie Caillat song "Bubbly" where she says, "When you kiss my nose, the feeling shows." Well, one day this early spring he told me he was kidnapping me after work and was all concerned about the time and traffic. We had dinner at a nice brewery near Rutgers and then walked to our surprise which turned out to be a Colbie Caillat concert at the State Theater We had 3rd row seats and she was amazing! She is stunning in person and an incredible singer with such fun positive vibes in her music. 
Then there was the time he got us tickets to a Mets game. I am a San Diego Padres fan and the only time they were playing in this area this year was for the first few opening games. In San Diego that would be great because it's always 72 degrees and sunny but in Queens it is still very possible for the mercury to climb above 28 degrees in the first week of April. Luckily, I think out loud a lot when I'm around Ryan and was, in great detail, telling him what I was going to pack to bring to work that day to change into and be warm at the game. I'm not sure if it was when I got to the part about a down jacket or another pair of long johns when he finally confessed that our seats were in the Hyundai Championship Club! This club is an indoor and outdoor seating area with a private, all-you-can-eat buffet and bar! I was so happy to leave some layers at home that night and enjoy a ballgame from the luxurious surroundings of Citifield's Hyundai Club. We did try to brave an inning or two in the outside seats but, man, that wind blows cold in Flushing (which explains why the Padres lost so badly!)
One night when I was feeling particularly exhausted by a long day of phone calls at work, I was napping on my couch. I hadn't heard from Ryan in a while but I was okay with that as I was peacefully relaxing in my quiet apartment. All of a sudden my phone starting blowing up with calls and texts from a mutual friend of ours who happens to call me quite regularly. Since we had already spoken that day, I ignored the call, and the texts. In the meantime I received a simultaneous text from Ryan and knock on my door. No one knocks on my door because I have a private staircase I only share with my downstairs neighbor. People don't just show up unannounced. Well, most people, not Ryan! There he was at 10pm wearing his pajamas and a smile just to come see me. I was so freaked out at first by the late night knock but he calmed me down.
Ryan always keeps me on my toes, and I try to keep my electronic devices off of his. Just another reason why the fun times keep coming. Don't worry, I've got a surprise of my own in the works as I write this...if I can only figure which device to drop where next!
Editorial remark from Ryan about Colbie concert: Cheryl later revealed to me that she thought the surprise was that I was taking her to Medieval Times. Now trust me, I love Medieval Times as much as the next 4 year old but I assure you that my surprise for what was what we call "Mid-week Date Night" is something a little more imaginative than cheering on our knight while eating food with our hands. I promise you.
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