Around Town: Surprise! The birthday celebration continues

When I walked into The Parlor on Pierce Street in Kingston last week, I was super excited to get a sneak peek of the new cocktail lounge and gathering space.

I’ve been following the social media updates, and have been excited reading about the refined mocktails, crafty cocktails, and charcuterie the venue is expected to serve.

I knew it was several weeks from opening, but when owner Amy Shovlin sent me an invitation to a soft opening and ribbon cutting, I immediately put it on my calendar. This happened in May.

Fast forward to a few weeks later, and Oscar and I were on our way to attend the invite-only ribbon cutting after Mass on Sunday. We almost always go to brunch after Sunday services, so it was perfect timing since we’d naturally be venturing somewhere anyway.

When we pulled in, there were no cars in the parking lot, so I told Oscar to keep driving since we were clearly early.

He didn’t and insisted we go in anyway.

I reluctantly obliged and thought to myself: there has to be a first person to start every party, right?

Once I opened the door, though, I saw a plethora of people with their phones pointing at me, recording my reaction. I assumed these were guests trying to capture expressions as others walked in.

I saw a few friends — Jill McGlynn, Colleen Doyle, Caila Klaiss — and imagined they might have been invited, too. Then, I saw my mother and sister to the side. Even then, I thought perhaps they were crashing the ribbon cutting I had told them about? Could they be simply waiting to walk in with me, knowing I was invited to this special occasion?

Only when I saw a few other faces that I would not expect to see at a Kingston wine bar opening did I realize this was a surprise birthday party for me.

My 40th birthday had come and gone while I was traveling for work. I celebrated with colleagues, Oscar sent me a present to my room, and it was over. Or so I thought.

I never envisioned Oscar was planning a small surprise gathering for me just a few days after my birthday.

Since I’d been traveling the week before, it took my mind off any party thoughts. And really, I was just trying to catch up on sleep and get back on East Coast time.

I was truly shocked when I realized the party was for me, and I had to give a big thank you to Amy and Mark Shovlin from The Parlor for helping with the surprise, as well as Jeff Woytowich from The Café on Route 315 for catering, and our friend Gino Ginocchetti for helping Oscar with setup.

The Parlor isn’t even open yet, but Amy and Mark were so gracious letting us use their space.

Our friends had an absolute ball getting a preview of the soon-to-open, classy spot, which I intend to write more about in the future.

For now, though, I am extremely grateful to my close friends who showed up to surprise me on a Sunday, nonetheless. I had absolutely no suspicions, and no one even hinted at anything prior (or not that I knew, anyway).

It was such a special way to celebrate, and while I don’t love surprises, I absolutely loved this one. What a great way to ring in 40.

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