Bruno Mars in Paris! (part 1)

About two weeks ago, Preston's cousin Day'nah posted on her facebook that she would be in Paris for one night dancing with Natalia Kills who was opening for Bruno Mars. Day'nah is a professional dancer and was on a European tour with Natalia Kills and we were hoping that we would get to see her on one of her stops through France. Unfortunately that particular night was the night before we were to be in Germany for a previously planned weekend with other families to an amusement park. Complicating things further, Preston had to figure out how he could take the day off at the last minute and when I checked online to buy tickets to the concert, it was already sold out. Maya was especially disappointed that things were not working out because Bruno Mars is her favorite singer.

Well as it turns out, Preston was able to cancel his afternoon so that we could leave after a few morning meetings. I also talked to Day'nah privately and was able to confirm that she could get us tickets to the show. We would be able to not only visit with her before the show, but we could see her perform as well as Bruno Mars! Now I decided not to tell the kids, but to surprise them with the news since things were changing so quickly. I didn't want to set them up for disappointment if something fell through. What I did tell them was that we would leave earlier on our trip and to pack a nice outfit to go out to dinner once we arrived at our hotel. I just hoped that I could keep the surprise for the entire road trip, as I texted Day'nah back and forth and spoke in code to Preston about the meeting place and time. It really was hard work not the spill the beans!

Side note: Surprises are not my specialty. Let's just say I have a history of giving away surprises. Christmas was a dud this year because I accidentally left open an email that detailed all of the gifts for the children. Darn facebook!

After about 4 hours, Daniele noticed something that looked like the Eiffel Tower in the distance. I explained to her that Lyon had an antenna that looked like the Eiffel Tower, so maybe she saw something similar. I had to throw her off of the fact they we were in Paris indeed. Minutes later, Maya asked if we were in Paris because she noticed lots of large buildings. Daniele responded with, "you know Paris is not the only large city in France". Thanks Daniele for helping me out! But it was over when Lauren noticed the taxis that read "Parisian taxi"! And when we passed by the Louvre, it was a done deal. They all knew we were in Paris, but still had now clue that we were meeting Day'nah.

As we drove around Paris, I began to blame the GPS for taking us in the wrong direction from Germany when it told us that we had arrived at our destination. As soon as the Maya looked outside, she saw the marquee that had Natalia Kills and Bruno Mars on it and began to scream, "Day'nah is in there, we have to find her!" Well I continued to play innocent, telling them to try to send a message via facebook while I talked to the security guard at the venue. All the while I was texting Day'nah that we had finally arrived. Within minutes, Day'nah exited the venue and everyone was jumping up and down with excitement, including her. We had not seen her since her college graduation party three years ago, the same summer we moved to France. Since then her career has really taken off.

As soon as Day'nah got into the car, she told them that she had not only secured tickets to the concert, but we had an opportunity to meet Bruno Mars! SURPRISE!!!! As you can imagine, Maya was crying with joy and everyone else was pretty happy too. In fact, the meet and greet was a surprise for me. Like I said, plans were changing quickly, but not as quickly as my children changed into the "dinner" clothes I had them pack. They were ready and looking good in no time in order for us to return to the venue for the meet and greet! I think it is safe to say that I have MORE than made up for the Christmas debacle. This was the best surprise ever!