Yesterday was my husband’s birthday and I surprised him with a very special present. Originally, I had it all planned out, we would arrive at Disneyland in the late morning and while my husband was on Star Tours with our older son, my little guy and I would go over to Fortuosity (formerly known as New Century Time Pieces) on Main Street to let them know we would be coming in to pick up the custom artwork watch and piece of art I commissioned back in early December. Then, after the big unveiling we would walk over to our reserved table for four at the Blue Bayou. I had played the entire day over in my mind time over time.

Well, nothing ever seems to go how I plan it, especially when it comes to birthdays. Ever. And in keeping with tradition my plans were foiled by the powers-that-be that my husband works for over at a big television network. He has been working about 16 hours per day, seven days per week with Sunday being his only day off until January 22. He is beyond exhaustion, which means he was not in the best of spirits to celebrate his birthday and certainly not up for a trip to Disneyland. Can you blame him?! They were even further foiled when he came home from work with a quarter of a sheet cake leftover from his little celebration with his colleagues, making the stuff I had bought to make his favorite German chocolate cake and the items I had purchased at the cake decorating store to make it look great really not necessary. I seriously can’t win.

Anyway, after going to breakfast in the morning, we gave Daddy his gifts. Aidan had picked out a pen that “passes gas” he saw on clearance at Target. It was a huge hit. After a couple of other gifts, my big gift was up. I gave him the artwork first. He read the card on top. In the card I told him that I had commissioned this special piece of art for him to represent our many adventures with our boys, our partnership in raising our amazing kids (the slate says “Will and Lisa Productions,” and most importantly the hard work and hours he puts into his career in order to provide us with a really great life. Will is really driven in his career and has found a way to perfectly balance his drive and determination with being a great dad and husband. And with that, he opened the framed artwork…and here it is.

I have wanted to be able to buy a piece of original Disney art and watch since this service opened at New Century Time Pieces back in the 1990s and I can’t tell you how pleased I am that I was able to commission these two beautiful pieces for my wonderful husband. He deserves it. When I was first shown the art piece…I cried. It was far more fantastic than I could have ever imagined. What makes it even better is that the artist, put so much heart into creating the piece. It’s not often that you find someone who puts so much passion into their work, and that is exactly what Charles did. I can never thank him enough for putting so much into this beautiful, one-of-a-kind piece that is now hanging in our hallway. It will forever be part of our lives.

If you would like to splurge on a lifetime Disney memento the next time you are at Disneyland, custom art watches and their accompanying pieces of art range in prices depending on the amount of colors selected and if it is an original piece or part of a small series. My piece cost $300, plus an additional $70 for the framing. Annual passport and Cast Member discounts cannot be applied to the $300 cost of the original art but can be applied to framing cost. Oh, and ask for Charles. He’s amazing!