28 June 2012

A Surprise Party for Jurg!!!

It's Jurgen's birthday today!... 28th birthday to be exact!

{old man.}

It's hard to believe we met when he was just 23 years old and I was a little baby at 20.  So much has happened between then and now and I'm so grateful to be celebrating yet another wonderful year of this boy's life.  With each and every year that passes we continue to grow and learn and experience life together, and I must say that it's been one exciting, exhilarating, and {sometimes} challenging journey so far.  I can't wait to see what the next year holds, I have a hunch that it's going to be one of the best yet :)

To commemorate his birthday this year I decided to throw a surprise party of sorts!

The Venue

Since moving to Jo'burg we had heard a lot of great things about Die Blou Hond {Afrikaans for The Blue Dog}, but hadn't had a chance to attend one of their events in the two and a half years that we've been living here.  Die Blou Hond books local Afrikaans artists from around South Africa to come and play at the venue and provides guests with a casual and cozy dining experience and serves a three course home-cooked meal throughout the show.  Sticking with their "dog" theme, they serve meals out of dog bowls and ask guests to "woof" when they like something instead of applaud.  Sounds like fun, right!?  Definitely something different from the ordinary. 


 On a whim I decided to check out their website and see who would be playing around the end of June.  As I scanned the list of artists and musicians, the name of Koos Kombuis immediately jumped out at me.  He would be playing on the 23rd of June.

Bingo.  Birthday dilemma solved.

{Note: Koos Kombuis is somewhat of a legend in Afrikaans music and we were fortunate to see him play back in 2009 when we were still living and studying in Stellenbosch.  We went with a big group of friends and ended up having one of the best nights in Stellenbosch history {which is saying a lot!}.  Jurgen still talks about that evening all. the. time.}

Surprise!

Combine awesome music, dinner, wine, and six good friends {two of which flew all the way up from Cape Town}, and you have yourself one great birthday surprise!  

And I can honestly say, he was really surprised.  He was already over the moon when he came back from the gym to find two of his best friends from Cape Town waiting for him, and he was even more surprised when we arrived at the venue and he figured out who was playing.  Then two of his other best friends joined the party and the result was one big happy reunion / celebration.  

Birthdays should always be celebrated with good friends :)


The evening ended up being a huge success.  The venue was amazing {we will definitely be going back for many more shows}, the food was good, and the conversation even better.  We are so blessed to have great friends who are willing to make such an effort {and even hop on a plane} to celebrate important life events with us.  

Great company
Starters served in dog bowls
Koos Kombuis!
Suzanne & Ryno
Koos in costume ;)
We were even able to meet him after the show!
Happy Birthday Jurg!

After the show we all went out together for a few drinks before calling it a night, and I think it's safe to say that this birthday will also go down in the books as one of the best ever.  We had such a wonderful time with such wonderful people.  On the rare occasion that we all get to meet up, I always wish that there was some way we could live close to each other again.  A two and a half hour plane flight is too far!

- - - - -

Happy Birthday Jurg!

Love you to the moon and back - here's to another incredible year!

Can't wait to celebrate over dinner and a nice bottle of red wine tonight :)

- - - - -

Die Blou Hond hosts musicians every weekend as well as on selected week days.  Shows start at 6:30pm and last until approximately 10:00pm.  Tickets start at R275.00 p.p. and include the show as well as a delicious three-course meal.  For more information on upcoming dates and artists see here!

26 comments:

  1. you guys are so so cute! and golleee. so hilarious that they use dog bowls! :)

    xo

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  2. Wow - you plan a good birthday celebration Jenna!

    (And Happy Birthday Jurgen!)

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  3. Looks so fantastic!
    Happy birthday to Jurg!

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  4. Wow this looks like such a fun evening, what a sweet wifey you are to put that all together! And that restaurant looks really interesting...happy birthday to your hubby! xoxo

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  5. This sounds like such a sweet birthday! Happy Birthday to him! And this place looks too great, served out of dog bowls? Awesome.

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  6. What a fun looking restaurant! And what a sweet gf you are - that Jurgen is one lucky man!

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  7. You looked gorgeous! And ou Koos, ag I would love to see him live someday!

    Happy birthday Jurgen :)

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  8. Alles Gut, Jurg! That place looks really fun, but I'm not sure I could get passed the eating out of a dog bowl, lol. Have fun tonight!

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  9. Happy birthday jurgen!!!
    i'm no good at surprising people

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  10. You guys are a very good looking couple! And nice save with finding out a good performer on the day of his birthday. I'm pretty sure he knows just how lucky he is to have you!


    -Milynn
    Love-And-Whimsy Blog

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  11. awww this is awesome! what a great girlfriend you are to do this. And dang, you guys have been together a long time!! happy birhtday to jurgen!!

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  12. Very very very cool! You are such an awesome girlfriend ;) and Happy b-day Jurg!

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  13. happy birthday to Jurg! it sounds like the best bday ever! he is one lucky guy to have you!
    this place looks amazing! love that you are eating your starters out of dog bowls. so funny!

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  14. first off yall are too cute :) secondly, i hope i can do something half this nice as my boyfriend turns THIRTY later this year!!! im so bad at planning things. maybe i can fly you up here to help?? ;)

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  15. Looks like a fun night! Though I don't know that I could bring myself to eat out of dog bowls haha

    Happy birthday to your honey :)

    xoxo,
    Joelle

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  16. 28 on the 28th? It's his golden birthday! Happy birthday to Jurg!

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  17. just found your blog! looks like you guys had a great time :):) please come check out my blog some time!

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  18. Oh wow- How fun! Glad you guys had a great time!

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  19. Looks awesome! Wish i couldve eaten out of a dog bowl :P

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  20. Happy b day jurg! What a great surprise party! And the dog bowls are ridiculous, I hope they didn't give you silverware!

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  21. what a great birthday celebration! I just found your blog and am excited to follow along!
    Nicole

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  22. oh yay, this whole birthday looks like the perfect celebration!! all great images, girl!
    xo TJ

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  23. Happy Birthday Jurg! :)

    That was such a nice thing to do for his birthday! Who doesn't love surprise parties? And it looks like you had a great time too.

    Hope you're having an awesome weekend!

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  24. You seem like such a sweet couple, and this birthday celebration looks awesome! How nice of you to plan all of it, Jurg is a lucky guy :)

    xo L

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  25. happy birthday!!

    i love hearing about bday surprises! i through a surprise party for my bestie last year and it was so stressful to coordinate (we threw it IN our apartment) but she was totally surprised and said it was her best bday ever!! yay! so worth it! :)

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  26. Oh what a fun surprise party...that place looks super awesome too!

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Thanks for the love!