Birthday Dinner – Smurfs, Crepes, and a Surprise

My birthday is this Sunday, but Liz had plans for us to go out and celebrate tonight. For the past few days I knew we were heading out… but didn’t know where. I only knew we were going out. I got home, was told to put on some nice clothes, and proceeded to wait around for a cab.


I killed some time by opening up a UPS package that arrived for me, earlier in the day. Inside, I saw that it was from my sister, brother in law, and my niece and newphew: a copy of the Smurfs (and the very first season, to boot). This I knew, was my sister’s doing. We’ve gotten in the habit of sending one another old shows/movies from our childhood, and this one was a biggie.

The big reason this is a great gift? This show used to come on on Saturday mornings. But like most Saturdays, my sister and I never got to watch the cartoons. We were in a car by about 8 AM, heading out for an hour and a half violin lesson (two lessons, one for her and one for me, 45 minutes each).

For a long while there, we simply missed out on Saturday morning cartoons. We eventually got a VCR so that we could watch them later, but it had an impact. Even now, some days, I’m tempted to crawl out of bed early on Saturdays… just to get a little cartoon time in.


A cab ride later, Liz and I were sipping drinks at La Creperie. I had only ever really had crepes once before, and tonight’s meal was even better than what I remembered.

After we finished up our meal (and dessert), I swear to you… I don’t know how Liz did this. I was somehow the one who suggested we leave the restaurant, and Liz mentioned wanting to walk to a nearby Borders. Sure, I figured, why not – thinking that she had some book or movie she wanted to buy.

As we walked a few blocks down the street, the wind was hitting us pretty hard. I wasn’t really paying attention to where we were headed; I just had my head down from the cold.

We walked by one building, and Liz sort of hip-checks me hard, to my right. I find myself turning and opening a door… and then walking through.


Inside, I look around and see a ton of wires and tubes dangling from the ceiling. Other folks seem to be milling around in the lobby area. It took me a few seconds, as I was a little confused. Then… it dawned on me: I was at the Briar Street Theatre, and we were going to see Blue Man Group.

In my eight years in Chicago… I had yet to go. And I forgot when I mentioned this, but apparently Liz remembered, and decided it was something I needed to do.

Sadly, I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures inside the theatre. Lots of amazing stuff, and I really wish I could have shown you some snippet of the show. All I can say is – I finally got to see for myself what the show was all about, and can’t recommend it enough. The final act with the rolls of paper was phenomenal, and so so so much fun.

The one thing that I kept noticing, overall, was how much the group seemed to pull from old silent comedy films. They pulled off the “straight man” routine perfectly, and the slight nuances (slowly turning the head to express puzzlement) were all done to great effect.


Though we couldn’t take photos inside the theatre, there were a few Blue Men posing with folks in the lobby, afterwards. Of course, I had to ask for a quick photo.

In looking back, I guess my evening was sort of bookended with blue. It started off with tiny-sized blue folks (three apples high), and ended with regular-sized blue folks. And me, walking around like a big kid with a huge smile on his face the whole time. :)

This Post Has 1 Comment

  1. Looks like they use a slightly more shiny paint for Blue Man Group in Chicago than they do in New York unless that’s a camera flash i’m seeing.That sounds like an awesome birthday gift.

    Yreka Reply


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