I love surprises.

I’m not talking about the Lexus-with-a-bow-on-it-in-the-driveway kind of surprise (although as a deluded teenager I kind of thought I might get one on my 16th birthday even though I didn’t even have a driver’s license yet): I’m talking about the little surprises in life.

Surprises like finding a dollar in your winter coat pocket when you finally bring it out of storage, or having the barista at the coffee shop comp your daily coffee, or a peanut M&M that doesn’t have a peanut in it! 

Surprises like not knowing whether it’s a boy or a girl until you’re in the delivery room (I don’t speak from experience here but it seems like the kind of surprise I’d be in to).

Surprises like a teenage boy who holds a door open for you and calls you “miss,” or a friend who e-mails you a long-lost picture of yourself to let you know she’s thinking of you and validating your choice to get bangs.

Surprises like turning on the TV right when Empire Records is starting or not telling your parents that your brother is coming into town for their anniversary party.

More than I love being surprised, I love surprising people. As a child, that mainly meant jumping out of hiding places to make my brother scream like a girl. But because I am now a grown-up who is too big for most hiding places and I can’t buy everyone I love a Lexus with a giant bow on it, I find happiness in sharing little surprises:

(1) Hand-written letters in the mail. Because nobody expects anything but catalogues and credit card offers. And a letter is so much better than that.

(2) Encouraging Post-Its. Because your co-workers deserve a little love note on their computer monitors.

(3) Pre-paid coffee. Because if your boyfriend is late to bed and late to rise, finding out that his coffee was paid for an hour before he even got to the coffee shop is surprising, romantic and confusing. The best combination possible!

(4) “I’m listening” gifts. Not because someone asked for it, but because you heard them. It doesn’t have to be a Lexus with a bow, it can be as simple as concert tickets.

(5) Compliments. But only when you mean it. Because people really don’t hear enough nice things about themselves on a daily basis.

(6) Hiding places. Because I’ll never outgrow it, and nothing says “date me! I’m normal! I like you!” like jumping out of a guy’s stairwell at him like an axe murderer the first time he invites you to his home. Seriously, it works. He’s my boyfriend now and he totally thinks I’m normal.

As a surprise lover, I’m also kind of hard to surprise. Where do you fall on the surprise spectrum? After reading this, does the word surprise look weird to you, too?