Surprise, Surprise

If you’ve been following the CV Weekly over the last couple of weeks, you know that we celebrated not only our third anniversary, but also the announcement of The Finest, those chosen by CV Weekly readers as The Finest in business, as a service provider or just as a person. To celebrate these milestones, we hosted a party at Deukmejian Wilderness Park (voted The Finest Sunset View) on Friday evening to congratulate the winners. The guest list included those who have supported the CV Weekly these past three years, but the focus was The Finest winners.

I’m the first to tell you that, unfortunately, I become rather tense when planning a party. Fortunately I have an amazing staff and family that offer reassurances at every avenue. And really, when you consider that the Morellis over at Bonners Equipment Rentals were in charge of transforming Deukmejian Wilderness Park from a great place to have a picnic into a destination for a high-end affair, I should not have worried. Tim and Liza worked their magic and when I arrived a little before 5 o’clock, Deukmejian was outfitted with bistro tables decked out in fall colors, food stations and vineyard lights draped overhead.

I was so excited to welcome our guests who were surprised to discover how elegant Deukmejian could be while enjoying food provided by The Finest awardees and music from the Crescenta Valley High School jazz band.  However, the biggest surprise of the night was coming my way.

About an hour into the party, while I was talking to Dr. Mark Anthony (voted Finest Chiropractor), I got a tap on my shoulder and a “Hi, Mom.” Now, with four boys it’s sometimes hard to distinguish who’s who, but one glance over my shoulder and I was dumbfounded to see my third son, Andrew, standing at my side.

Andy has been living in North Carolina for more than nine months. After graduating from Johnson & Wales University in May, Andy has been working at two restaurants in Raleigh and recently accepted a position at the Renaissance chain owned by Marriott. We have been talking a lot lately about the change in jobs and how exciting his prospects were. So imagine my surprise when I saw him Friday night.

My husband Steve thought that a celebration of the magnitude that we were having Friday night would not be complete without all four of my boys being there so he and Andy put their heads together and flew Andy out to surprise me. What a surprise it was! It was hard to let go of him to mix and mingle and it was only after he promised to spend some time with me that I was able to tear myself away to welcome my guests.

Later, I learned that Andy had arrived at LAX on Thursday night and had spent Thursday night down the hall in his bedroom. I guess I was so preoccupied with the party that I didn’t realize that he was home.

As Mary O’Keefe quipped, not much gets by me.

Andy flew back home on Monday no doubt still grinning at the fast one that he pulled on Mom.

For pics of the party, visit page 26.

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  robin goldsworthy