A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Anthony Laflen concocted an extensive scavenger hunt, using The Times classifieds section, as an anniversary gift for his wife Tami. The family, with son Connor, lives in Tualatin.
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Last week, amid notices of lost cats, kung fu classes and dining room sets, there appeared in The Times classifieds section a note of some mystery.
“This rose is red. And bought just for you,” it read. “On your work computer, please see what to do. Open your browser, and favorites select, the surprise has been planned, you will never suspect. Click on ‘my love,’ that’s what you will always be, and follow the clues, they will lead you to me.”
No name was attached to the note, though clearly, love was afoot.
Upon investigation, the ad was discovered to be part of an elaborate wedding anniversary gift from Anthony Laflen, a Tualatin resident, to his wife of 14 years, Tami.
It seems Anthony had developed a scavenger hunt, written in poems, that led his wife from the couple’s home, to a friend’s house, to a Starbucks to grab a newspaper and a rose, to her work computer, to an airplane bound for Seattle, to a massage at a hotel, a screening of the campy movie musical “Xanadu” and, finally, to a romantic meeting at a Pig ‘N’ Whistle Pub. (The couple had first met at a Pig ‘N’ Whistle some years earlier in Houston.)
“I don’t really know,” Anthony says of his coming up with his plan. “I was just trying to think of something romantic, and everything else had been done that I could see.”
He says that his extensive plan was an offshoot of a “botched” proposal, that, in his memory, just wasn’t that great.
“He kind of just said, “There’s a ring up there up on the shelf if you’d like it,’” Tami says. “But I was still so happy.”
Tami says she was elated with her special anniversary gift, which started with a simple note on Christmas that read, “Wait for Jan. 23.” After it was all over, and the quick trip to Seattle, Tami says she’s now trying to think of a way to surprise Anthony.
“All I know is that I owe him,” she says. “I need to have someone creative help me with a plan.”
Tami also says that this sort of thing is something that her husband does often. He apparently has a penchant for successful surprise parties.
“I just don’t know how he manages to get it all done without me knowing,” she says.
Both of the Laflens say that Anthony’s very public display of affection has garnered much attention from friends and co-workers. Some of his male friends weren’t too happy about it. Now they will be expected to do something as crazy romantic as this.
“Most of my guy friends are pretty upset with me, because I set the bar pretty high,” he says. “It was well worth it.”
Tami says that her friends have all commented that they wish their husbands would do something like this.
“I actually had someone stop me in the office the other day. They said, ‘He really loves you.’ Everyone seems to know.”
As for advice for other aspiring Romeos? Anthony says the key is nailing down the particulars of the plan, and making sure you take your time.
“I think that she liked that she a didn’t have to plan,” he says. “It went flawlessly, but it took a lot of time.”
The other important thing?
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