Operation Déjà Vu

Whenever Southwest has their $49 fares, I always try and rationalize a reason to buy tickets and, as they say, “get away.” So in June when they had their sale, it was for travel during Sept. and Oct., the time Steph and I usually try and do our weekend away. So I thought, “perfect!”

I bought 2 tickets to Las Vegas, but before I did I had to formulate a plan because I wanted it to be a surprise, so I set the hook by telling Steph that I had to go to a work conference in San Diego. This cleared the way to buy the tickets without her questioning it when she saw the charge on the credit card statement. This set into motion, Operation: déjà vu. Why déjà vu? Because the original thought was to surprise her the night before the trip with three sealed envelopes and having her pick one; a plan that I used for a vacation weekend before we were married.  However, that plan eventually changed, but the name stayed.

So over the summer I watched hotel prices in Vegas and eventually settled on the MGM. I pulled Steve into the plan so he could help book the hotel, because they required a deposit and I needed to keep the paper trail clear. So I got that done.

Our suite on the 23rd Floor of the MGM

Then I got reservations at CraftSteak. As a fan of Top Chef I thought she’d enjoy going to Tom Colicchio’s restaurant. The next big thing to work out was how I could get Steph off work, without her knowing. So I talked to her boss and we worked out a plan to have her boss send her to a “conference” on those two days. This was key, because I needed Steph to still think she was working, but also not to schedule any meetings or things for those days. So this was tricky. Thankfully Steph was so focused on other projects she didn’t try and research the conference or ask too many questions about it.

Next, made the call to grandma and papa to make sure they were available to come take care of the kids, take them to school, get them to soccer, etc. They were and did, so that was taken care of.

So the main points were finished, now the details. So I pulled in my friend Marisa. Also, had to pull my friend Jerry in as he agreed to be the chauffeur to and from the airport.

The logistics of this grew and grew. The initial plan was to have a note on her desk when she got into work that morning, however, after doing the drive from her office in the morning, the traffic was too much. And with a tight window to get home, packed and to the airport I had to nix the office as the starting point. So I kicked around a couple other ideas, including hiding in the parking lot of Lukas’ school and putting the note in the car. But again, the timing was tough, because I needed to set up some things at home before she got home, so that was nixed. Thankfully after brainstorming some ideas with Marisa she offered to be the dropoff person for the first note.

On Thursday morning, the morning Steph thought I was leaving for San Diego and she had to take the kids to school, things went into motion. After she dropped off Lukas, Marisa was waiting in the parking lot and handed Steph this note:

"Special Delivery!!

Your day just got CRAZY!

I hope you were able to fill up with a good cup of coffee this morning, if not, here’s one for you – A non-fat vanilla latte with an extra shot. I have a feeling you’re going to need it.

Now about that conference in Oakland you were supposed to go to today with Sue…that’s cancelled. Actually, more accurately, it never existed.

This is Operation Déjà vu.

You have a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in……Your plane leaves in LESS THAN 3 hours.

My first suggestion, have a sip of coffee then head home…fast. Your boarding pass and a suggested packing list is sitting on the printer.

I hope you don’t have any urgent questions, because I’m unavailable. FAA regulations require me to turn off my cell phone upon take off. You can try and text, but I can’t be sure it will work. So you better channel your inner Jack Bauer.

Keep your phone close and the ringer turned up. You never know when another clue will be coming your way.

Love you!"

Lucky for me she followed directions and went home to pack. To sell the idea she was going to San Diego I left this for her on the printer. Pretty good looking if I do say so myself.

Fake boarding pass that I created in Photoshop, but take a look, it looks pretty close.

Then, on her way to the airport I sent her a text that said "Danny has a question for you" along with this video:

So everything had been put in place and everything, thanks to Steve, Marisa, Jerry and others, came off awesome. We had a great weekend in Las Vegas. Watched the Niners on Thursday Night in the Sportsbook, went to a few casinos, played craps and roulette, dinner at CraftSteak was AWESOME, and overall just had a really good time. The covertness of the operation may have raised the stakes on surprises but it was fun.

So this pretty much means the balls in her court for the next surprise right?