September 14 Surprise 40th Pizza Farm at Bunker Hill Forest Preserve

A little over a week ago I told my friend, K, that my brother wasn’t very good at planning surprises. She hasn’t let me forget just how wrong I was.

I turned 40 on Friday the 13th. I work a lot of weekends and I like to throw parties, so my brother, Pete, wanted to make sure that I kept Saturday the 14th free and he also wanted to make sure I didn’t try to plan something myself. So I knew something was up, but I had no idea how great it would be.

On Thursday I was informed by Pete and my sister-in-law, Alexa, that I was booked on Saturday starting at noon. I snuck in some brunch in Andersonville to make sure that I wouldn’t show up at “the location” with an empty stomach. Then I brought my own blindfold as I was led by two friends on a car ride through Chicago. I had no idea where I was going, but I talked non-stop on the drive there, guessing about where we might be headed and basically acting like a small child the night before Christmas. I was SO EXCITED.

Sara and Toni leading me blindfolded to the party.

I arrived at “the location” which turned out to be a pavilion at Bunker Hill Forest Preserve that was all set up picnic tables and decorations courtesy of my parents (especially Mom) and Pete and Alexa. One of the first gifts that I saw was a huge banner with pictures of me and my website/instagram Last Night’s Pizza Box. That was pretty special! I also walked around the food table, realizing that it was silly of me to have worried about showing up hungry. All of my favorite foods lined the table – potato chips with Helluva Good Dip, deviled eggs, Papa Naro Cookies. I even saw some of the famous Karl’s Soups that I sell at the 61st St Farmers Market in Chicago. And then after getting lost in the Forest Preserve somewhere, my sister, Maria, finally showed up with even more food, all prepared with farm fresh ingredients from the South Bend Farmers Market.

There was truly and abundance of food and drinks. As more and more people showed up, finding their way to “the location” Pete made an announcement. He thanked everyone for coming and then described that the party had two themes based on two things I love – Farmers Markets and Pizza Farms. As he was speaking, he moved over toward what looked like a large pile of blankets and like a magician, he removed the covering to reveal an Ooni wood fired pizza oven that my whole family had chipped in to buy for me. Now talk about a surprise. I could feel my jaw dropping just like in the cartoons. I went over and inspected all the parts of it and Pete and Alexa walked me through how it worked.

The next surprise was the menu! Thanks to my Dad and my sister, Maria, all the pizza options had Gina-themed names. Pete and Alexa put on their aprons and began making the delicious pizza flavors that they had concocted using a pizza dough recipe that Alexa has been perfecting for a couple years. My birthday party was an Urban Pizza Farm of my very own. One of my goals since living in Chicago has been to make this type of event happen and Pete and Alexa worked to make it achievable! Now we know it can be done.

My dad and my brother, Pete, making homemade pizza dough in the mid 1980s.

For the rest of the afternoon I was able to share pizza with friends from so many parts of my life. There were old friends that I used to eat sheet pizza from Pontillos’s with in Spencerport, NY. There were friends from college that I used to eat Papa John’s with. There were friends that I studied with in Rome, where we ate countless pieces of Italian pizza, from Sicily to Venice! There were people that made the trip from Minneapolis where we used to eat Pizza Luce on a regular basis. Pete and Alexa made sure to provide a vegan option for some of my friends from Portland. In Chicago we have shared vegan pies at places like Dimo’s and Paulie Gee’s. And of course, my family – Mom, Dad, Maria, and Pete – who I have been eating pizza with in all of the above mentioned places and more for the past 40 years!

In between eating chip and dip, pizza, Farmers Market salads, and drinking beer, there was also time for people to wear costumes, have a water balloon toss, and for me to tickle and flip upside down just about every single kid at the party. And after that we went to a karaoke bar where I signed everyone up for whatever song I wanted them to sing! It was a day full of things I love to do and people I love to be with.

Anyone who was there and saw my jaw drop when the ooni Pizza Oven was unveiled will know that I was silly to ever say that Pete, Alexa, and the rest of my family aren’t good at planning a surprise. They did an amazing job of planning a surprise.