Birthday, part 2

On his birthday I told Spouse that the 2nd part of his gift was a surprise and would take place on Sat and that we'd be away for the day.  He asked if we needed someone to let the dogs out and feed them, but I told him we'd be back in time.

So Sat morning we got into the car and drove north with him still unable to figure out where we were going or what we were doing.  About 2 hours later we arrived at QVC studios in West Chester PA and I told him we were going on a studio tour.  I'm sure I've written before about how much Spouse loves to watch home shopping on TV.  He watches all of them too:  QVC, HSN, HSN2, and evine Live.  He was excited about the tour.

Unfortunately I left my phone at home so I couldn't take any photos, but we did get to watch as the live broadcast was going on with David Venable.  Although known for his "In the Kitchen with David" segment, he was actually selling a collapsable rolling cart while we were there.  It was neat to see all the sets, lighting, cameras, and control booth used for the 100% live broadcasts.  I was surprised that most of the camera work is done by robots being maneuvered by the director with a joy stick in the control room.  We learned about how the volume of calls is tracked and matched with what the hosts and guests are saying in order to improve future selling.  We also learned that QVC has live broadcasts in China, Japan, Germany, UK, France, and Australia too.

After the tour we drove into the little historic town of West Chester and walked down the main street until we found a good looking place to eat lunch.  We had a delicious meal at Landmark Americana.  On our way south we stopped at Trader Joe's.  I'd managed to sneak a cooler with freezer blocks into the back of the car without Spouse knowing, so we were able to buy frozen food on this trip.  Typically we stock up at Trader Joe's near Spouse's family's house but can't get frozen foods because we never have a cooler.

Once back home we made plans to have dinner with Steven & Thad, which is typical for a Sat night.  But then 7 more of our friends walked in and we had a surprise birthday dinner for 11 at El Azteca Mexican restaurant.

Rick & Nick.  Spouse trains with Rick twice a week.

Joe & Glenn

Thad & Steven

Joe P and Harvey

Jim and me

Unfortunately I don't have a pic of Spouse!  I took one but he protested because he was chewing and thought the pic would look bad, so I deleted it.  I was going to take another pic later but, um... well, there were margaritas.  Delicious margaritas, and I got distracted.  But we had a great time and he was totally surprised.