For my 29th birthday, my friends threw me a surprise party inspired by the elaborate, enchanting midnight dinners from Erin Morgenstern’s novel The Night Circus.

There were surprise letters and invitations, magic crystal goblets, scent-based memory storytelling, music, acrobats, blindfolded games, mysterious and surprising food, and more. We only took pictures of a few things. Here are a couple of those moments.

Many more pictures in this Flickr set.

It was an incredible evening, but above all, I am awed, flattered and unbelievably, blissfully grateful that I have friends who understand me so well, and who would go through all of this trouble on my behalf. And that is far and away the best gift I could ever receive.