A Clever Plan to Celebrate Yoni’s 40th in Style.
Yoni HATES surprises—seriously, with a capital H. But that doesn’t stop him from loving to surprise (and sometimes embarrass) me on stage.
I quickly learned that surprising him in public was an absolute no-go.
But when his 40th birthday rolled around, I couldn’t resist the urge to plan something special.
I teamed up with his sisters, Sigi and Smadi, and my amazing office manager, Marina, to orchestrate a birthday surprise that would catch him off guard—without being too public, of course.
The plan was genius. His sisters and their partners somehow managed to clear their packed schedules and fly to Amsterdam.
The best part? His birthday fell on a Wednesday—March 19th—smack in the middle of the week when he’d least expect anyone to show up.
While Yoni worked from home, I ran the office. Marina was in charge of picking up one sister and her partner from the airport, while I scooped up the other sister after grabbing Thom from school.
By 6:00 PM, I knocked on our door, pretending I’d forgotten my key.
When Yoni opened it, SURPRISE! There stood his sisters, their partners, and his niece, Ori.
His face was priceless—first total shock, then a mix of embarrassment and delight.
For the first time ever, I had actually surprised him! We spent the next 48 hours laughing, reminiscing, and enjoying each other’s company.
To cap it all off, I reserved our favorite restaurant, Betty’s, just for us, our office team, and our best friends, Femke and Rudolph, for a special dinner on Friday.
I even invited our London friends, Immanuel and Caroline, who happily joined the festivities.
Yoni thought it was just a quiet dinner with his family, but when we walked into that cozy little restaurant, everyone was there, ready to shout, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”
It was the one and only time I managed to pull off a surprise like that, but wow, was it worth it. That night was pure magic, and I’ll always cherish it.
