Swank Tank

Oh the joys of childhood. Birthdays are much sweeter with goody bags, sleep overs, screaming middle schoolers running around hopped up on ice cream cake, cheetos and soda. *sigh* Oh those were the days..

This weekend my boyfriend and I ventured to Cleveland for a spontaneous visit. (Or so we thought.) Amid our intellectual banter on the journey there, we had a conversation that went a little like this... (actually, this is exactly how it went.)

Me- Isn't your little sister's birthday coming up?
Him- Yeeeeeah. It's at the end of February.
Me- What day?
Him- Hmmm...the 20th?
Me- That's this weekend!
Him- Oh...oooooh.
(This is when it all clicked. It seems his mom mentioned going to the grandparents for cake and ice cream. Unfortunately two post grads visiting northern Ohio isn't occasion enough for cupcakes and neapolitan ice cream...who knew?)

Upon this discovery, I realized we did not have a gift for his little sister's 12th birthday (which if you're me, is a huge problem). So, obviously I start suggesting things that a 12 year old (and I) would like. Glittery clothes, Bieber poster, etc. Then I realized getting her a pet was an excellent idea.

Seeing as the festivities weren't until Sunday, we had plenty of time to come up with a brilliant birthday gift. Saturday my boyfriend, his mom and I headed to the pet store to get his sister her very first fish. No big deal, right? WRONG.

It's all about presentation. I'm not sure how familiar you are with the fish world these days, but it's fierce. There are salt water, fresh water, tropical, not tropical, big, little, mean, lazy...the list goes on.

 While I bounced around the pet store like a pinball in a machine, my cool and collected counter part discovered what we soon found out to be the COOLEST FISH TANK EVER. (imagine a booming voice here and it adds to the affect.)

Picture this: LED light, neon gravel and neon colored fake plants AND the best part, neon fish! (It turns out, certain tropical fish glow when exposed to an LED light.) After buying all the items needed to pimp our tank, we selected five Neon Tetra to be the lucky new inhabitants of the swank tank.

A few hours later, after meticulously arranging the gravel (black and neon flecks for affect), putting in the different orange, green and pink plants and installing the disco ball (not really, but it would've been awesome), it was time for the critters to enjoy their new home.

Keep in mind, all of this was done in secret so the little one wouldn't know until Sunday morning. I gingerly released the tetra into their new home. They darted all around and looked like they were saying things like "groovy" or "totally wicked." These fish were hippies is what I'm getting at.

We go to bed, pleased at our brilliance and anticipating the next morning when we would unveil our marvelous creation. Bright and early (more like 11 am) his sister arose and opened the gifts from the rest of the family. It was our turn and pleased with ourselves we took her to the tank to watch her reaction to the best birthday gift ever.

We all huddled around the tank and there was...one fish, two fish, three fish, four fish, five fish...dead fish. All five. Dead. Happy Birthday?