Last week you organized a birthday party for your friend. You are telling your acquaintance how it went:
This year we wanted to throw a surprise birthday party for one of my best friends. I was appointed the head party planner. My original plan was to decorate my apartment with balloons and colourful tapes, buy some snacks and some liquor and bake a birthday cake. It was supposed to be a quiet party that wouldn't disturb the neighbours and would involve only a dozen people. Unfortunately, everything went wrong. First I spoiled the cake completely, but that was not a huge problem because I could always buy one at the local confectioner's. After that, however, it turned out that the person who was in charge of providing the decorations had to stay at work late. Just when I was leaving my apartment to fix the mess by visiting some nearby stores and buying all the necessary provisions, there was a knock on the door. I opened it hastily and the man standing in front of me said that they were doing a routine check of the gas pipes and that I wasn't to leave the house for the next hour. I panicked completely and called my friend, asking for advice. He told me not to worry and simply book a table in a bar and throw the surprise party there. In the end, that was exactly what I did and it turned out to be a fantastic idea, for we all had a really great time.