And Then Jann Arden Called My House
I started to write this post last night. I took a break to hang out on Twitter for a bit, when one tweet changed the entire direction of the story.
I’m not much of a thoughtful gift giver. I mean well, I really do. It just seems that I always come up a bit short.
Today is my wife’s birthday. I used to ask her what she wanted as a gift but she’d always give me the “Oh, I don’t need anything” line. Every man knows this is simply code for “You should know what I like by now, figure it out!”
I spent hours agonizing over what to get her and think I actually did pretty well this year. Here is what the kids and I had planned for her presents:
Yep, shelled out for some nice jewelry and put together a frame with the kids. I was all done, yet something still felt incomplete.
I’ve been increasingly fascinated with this website called Twitter. You may have heard of it. Anyway, I like to go there to flex my funny bone.
It was about 2AM and I thought it would be fun to send a tweet to one of my wife’s favorite musician’s, Jann Arden. She is a notorious tweeter but I wasn’t expecting any reply. Celebrities are busy and I respect that.
Here’s a look at what happened:
That simple reply of “Maybe I should call her” set off a slew of emotions for me. Was she serious? Or was it just a joke? I replied back with a joke comment and then something weird and amazing happened.
Other totally selfless people started tweeting to Jann, saying that she should do it because it would be amazing. I agreed and before I could jump on board, Jann had already messaged me to say that we were on!
I have to admit; at this point I was a wreck. Shaking a bit with excitement. A little skeptical about what was happening (Was this even Jann?). A little hungry. You know, the usual stuff that happens when you are organizing a celebrity phone call for your wife’s birthday at 2 in the morning….
I spent the rest of the night glued to my iPhone, chatting on Twitter and Facebook with other excited fans. I still had no idea what had happened. I lost focus so much that I didn’t fill out my birthday card and almost left the other gifts at work.
Let’s cut to the next morning, we’ll call that day yesterday for the purposes of this story. I still didn’t know how this whole thing was going down. I took my son to the park to play for a bit and then I got a call from my wife.
Her birthday was the next day so I wasn’t expecting anything to happen then, but she had an exciting story for me.
“Jann Arden just called me at the house to say Happy Birthday! And said that you did that!” She didn’t pick up the phone right away so we are lucky enough to have this proof forever:
I literally couldn’t believe it; she had come through and made me look like a superhero husband. The truth is that I really don’t deserve much credit at all. It’s not like it was my idea after all. Chalk it up to right place at the right time.
The one thing I did know is that my wife had loved it and that was the most important thing to me. She is a wonderfully amazing woman and deserves every good thing that comes her way.
She runs a day care, puts up with my shift work (and Bull Sh*t) and basically makes sure that my children get all the love they need and deserve! She is amazing, I am lucky to have her and I am so glad that I was able to have a hand in making her smile for her birthday.
We both showered Jann with big Thank You’s on Twitter and hope that she understands how amazing her act truly was. In case she is reading my lowly blog right now, Thank You again Jann Arden, You Rock!!!
I guess the only problem I have now is that my wife will be expecting something big out of me every year from now on….
No worries, I’ve got my buddy Madonna on speed dial!
Happy Birthday Honey!
Cheers!
Awww! That is a pretty sweet gift
I have to say that Jann Arden does rock! Your wife is very lucky to have you for a hubby – those are very thoughtful gifts!
Thanks! I’d say she’s more lucky to have Jann as an idol but I’ll take a little credit 🙂
What an amazing gift!! I’m also a Jann Arden fan and would probably faint if she called my house. Happy Birthday to your wife!!
She says thank you! Luckily she didn’t faint because I was at the park with my boy and she had her daycare kids!!
I LOVE IT!!!! such a great story! I’m so excited for you and your wife! You did it! you go down as Husband of the year! My b-day was in Feb and I have already forgotten what my husband got me lol seriously.
Hmmm, I really didn’t think this through very well did I? I don’t want men hating me for this! On the other hand, I’ll need a trophy or certificate of some sort for the “Husband of the Year” Award you are giving me….you know, for validation.
Oh Chris that is soooooo sweet. I teared up reading your tribute to Kristine. You guys are beautiful. 🙂
Sorry about the tears….unless they were good tears, then you’re welcome! Thanks Terry!
I would focus on celebrating this years success – next year will be here soon enough. Awesome surprise for your wife’s b-day. Not only that but it sounds as if Jann Arden is a real lady.
Jann is the coolest!
what a great gift! funny how stuff like that just happens out of the blue 🙂 I bet you will be hearing about “the time my husband got Jann Arden to call…” every year around her birthday. you may not be able to “top” it, but she will always remember. nice one!
I hope she would remember it! I can always 1 up myself, the bar is never at it’s highest!
Bonus points for you! Gosh, though, what will you do for her birthday next year?
You’ll have to come back and check it out!! 😉
Chris of all the stories I have read and loved this one is truly my favorite, Kristine is after all my daughter and I couldn’t be happier that you are in her life. You are right she is amazing!
Nothing to add there, she is amazing!
Wow. I mean what more can a girl say?
“My husband is amazing”?? LOL, j/k hunny! Happy Birthday!!!
Amazing, so happy for her!! and Happy Birthday to her!!
Awww this post is awesome!!! Totally made me tear up. You earned serious brownie points with this gift!
Jan! You are fabulous!!!
Mmmmm brownies….. Thanks!
Jann Arden is a Canadian rock godess and one of my Twitter heroes. She’s knowns for her down-to-earth love for her fans. She’s got a special place in my heart!
Her tweets are amazing, I’ve been following her for a bit now and she’s one of the funnier ones out there.
Far OUT! People can be so nice! Happy Birthday to the Mrs.!
OMG so awesome! How cool is Jann Arden to do that for your wife!
Jann Arden is amazing I feel bad though about all the negative press she got with via rail fiasco love her
It always passes. You can’t stay mad at Jann.
BIG brownie points 🙂 That GIFT ROCKS!
Set the bar high my friend, you & Jann Arden rock!
The higher the better!!!
awesome! completely awesome!
Thanks Ash!
Well done Chris but unfortunately I will be demanding your assistance to get my wife’s attention now which happens to be Kristine’s mother so get your creative hat on again, but really, good job Chris
Gord, you just tell me what you need and I’ll make it happen!
I said it before and I’ll say it again.. Kudos to you for coordinating such an amazing birthday present for your wife. I’m sure she loves it beyond words!!
How you going to one up this gift next year? Haha!
I don’t want to ruin the surprise but I will say that I am currently in talks with Maroon 5 to play her party next year. Oh, well I guess I did ruin it there….ah well.
So awesome Chris…..what a great birthday surprise!
Yeah, she rocks! So do you for tweeting her out, you never know if you don’t try…right?!?
Your wife must have been on cloud 9 all day! What a birthday!!
I haven’t tired of hearing about it yet, she was so happy!
Can I be your second wife? LOL! Seriously, my birthday is in May. 😉
Totally completely awesome!
Love the cool things that happen because of Twitter!
Well I suppose I should say a few words here… I am really not the writter in the family. It has been an absolutely wonderful birthday and I feel like the luckies woman alive (this week anyway…lol). It was the most exciting gift I have ever had! (after my kids of course). Thank you so much Chris and Jann!! It is hard for me to believe that I deserve all this … but I’m trying 😉 Love you!! And thanks to all of you guys that read this and wished me a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
What a beautiful story. It certainly made my day and thanks so much for sharing. It really qualifies for… “just ask and you shall receive”. It’s a nice reminder that there are still a lot of honestly good people out there.
Reading this in the UK. Such a lovely story. Jann Arden is a Canadian treasure. You are very lucky to have her.
Awwwww I soooo LOVE U GUYS!!!!!!………and yup Andrews reading this one tonight 😀
Love it! That is so great that Jann followed through! And I love the part “You should know what to get me by now” b/c it is so true!
Very creative!
Wow, good job Chris!! What an amazing birthday present:)
Thanks Leslie Ann, it was a lot of fun!
What an amazing story…I could only hope for a call like that on my birthday!
Oh crap if my husband reds ths I am gonna have to do the same damn thing… Great gift by the way! Very cool!
That is such an awesome birthday present and she is such an amazing lady. It will be hard to top this one! lol
Nice! Jann is awesome! Had the pleasure of meeting her so very briefly during the tapings of Canada Sings.
OMG – this is amazing!
And from the small world files… My daughter and I were in line with your wife and her friend Rachel at the Costco book signing, I’m sure of it!
Sorry for this 1-year later (almost) reply… just saw this – I’m not twitter queen.
But this does give me a great idea for my kids to work-on since I’ll be 50 in June 2014!
YAY, Chris!
Hi Cathy! There is no timeline for commenting. I get just as excited about one from a year ago, haha. Congrats on the big 5-0!
That is the sweetest, most amazing thing ever!