It was a beautiful day in Detroit on February 11 this year, close to 40 degrees and a slight chance of rain. The Detroit Il Volo Gals met at our usual haunt about 5:30p, at Antonio’s in Dearborn Heights. Donna and Chris had all the decorations up, ready for the rest of us, when management said they had to move to another table, as they had a funeral party of 40 coming in! So, they packed everything up and moved a few tables away, but this time we were by the virtual fireplace, so it was nice and cozy. 🙂
This year, our crew consisted of Donna, Chris, Lorna, Barb, Ginny, Magdalena, Sharon, and myself.
When we walked in, they were playing the music from We Are Love and we knew we were in the right place. Since it was a few days before Valentine’s Day, several of the girls brought extra treats and sweets for all of us. Magdalena brought a beautiful bouquet of roses for all of us to share and take home.
Before dinner, we had a chance to play a few games. The first one, no one had to think hard, it was “turn over your plate to see who had Gian on it!” Well, Sharon won that one and she got a nice Murano glass bowl. The 2nd game was “how many words can you make out of Gianluca?” I don’t remember who won that one, but Ginny won the next question of who has the closest birthday to Gian’s? Hers being Feb 13! She got this beautiful vase with colored stripes. 
However, she wanted to trade it for Sharon’s bowl, which she did and then they were both happy! Donna is always so generous and brought gifts for everyone, making sure no one went home empty-handed.
We placed our dinner orders. Magdalena had the Bocelli Carbonara and a few others ordered the Il Volo Pollo. No one seemed to order any of the specialty drinks this time – Nutella Hummer or the Gianluca special.
Lorna brought the cake and balloons! Did you know you can get these huge individual letter or number balloons now from Party City? Lorna brought “22” and “GG” to celebrate the occasion.
Soon, we were all stuffed, and had our carryout boxes waiting, but were all ready for dessert!
We took lots of pictures and chatted and wondered what the new concert was going to bring. Several of the girls are going to Italy again. Ah, how we all wish we could join them. We splurged on the cake and meal and decided we still had at least a month to lose some weight!
It was time for dessert! We moved the balloons to the cake table and we cut the cake and 
took more pictures. We did not sing Tanti Auguri this time, as we were keeping it low-key due to the funeral party. The cake was as lovely as it was delicious. Of course, we are not too sure who Giovanni was, but decided he must be a friend of Gianluca’s! However, all we noticed was the picture of Gian that Lorna chose.
During dessert, since Ginny’s birthday was so close, Chris brought two special brownies, 
complete with candles for both Lorna and Ginny. Lorna’s birthday was Jan 10, so we celebrated their birthday’s also. Ginny also got a few bottles of Prosecco….
Before we knew it, it was time to go home. Magdalena passed out her roses and we took some more pictures.
As we left, the weather decided it was going to rain. As I recall, for each party for Gianluca, it rains in some fashion. I remember the first one was freezing drizzle and I think it rained last year, as well! But that never matters, as it’s always warmth, laughter, and friendship inside, sharing precious moments that only happen a few times a year!
From the Detroit Il Volo Gals, to all of you – Happy Birthday/Tanti Auguri, Gianluca!
See you soon in Detroit, at the Fox! And for us lucky ones going on to Chicago! Ciao!
Jana
Hi to my Detroit friends!! Jana, Chris, Sharon, Lorna, Ginny, You gals know how to celebrate….a lot like us Minnesota fans.
I will miss going to Detroit for a concert this year–it seems like home base to me–two concerts and two PBS specials, but the guys are coming to Minneapolis, so it will be my one and only concert this year. Good to see that you are carrying on with your celebrations.
we will miss you also!! of course, if Ginny’s daughter has her baby, she may be joining you in MN! 🙂
Ginny, if you do
come to Minneapolis, be sure to let me know.
Mary – just heard today, baby is not coming for at least a week, so she will be at Detroit concert. 🙂 Her daughter is in Morris, she said about 3 hours from Minneapolis? College town… Sure hope they make it to Detroit!
A lovely Birthday celebration for our sweetie, Gianluca!! You ladies know how to have a good time!! Sending Il Volo Love to all this beautiful Sat. morning!!
What a lovely way to celebrate and share Gianluca’s birthday! It is such a great idea and obviously lots of fun.
What a beautiful celebration!!!
Just to help you with the Italian inscription on the cake, it was not “Giovanni” (Italian for “John”) but 22 anni giovani (meaning 22 young years). I am sure that the intention was to say, in English, “22 years young” where “young” refers to the birthday boy. So, in Italian it should be singular “giovane.” The grammar Police would just like to say that this was a great idea for a party and you all seem to have had a great time together. It must be wonderful to have a group of fans living close enough each other to be able to arrange a celebration of this kind. Given how young all our guys are, you are going to have many more opportunities to repeat this event. Very well done, all of you! At least I can look forward to St Patrick’s Day! Good evening from England. XOX
Dear Bernard — thanks for the little lesson there 🙂 I was actually trying to make a little joke about the writing on the cake. We usually get it from the same store bakeries, but this person was clearly dyslexic or something (they even spelled Detroit wrong!). The lady that got the cake said she clearly had TYPED out what she wanted on the cake. The funny thing was, no one even noticed she spelled Gianluca as Giovanni, until we were looking at the pictures later. Apparently his cute little face just had us blinded and we didn’t notice anything else!
Yes, many are jealous of our little group – everyone is always welcome to come to Detroit!! Next stop – Piero -June 24!
Will be in Chicago on St. Pat’s Day. Will be crazy, I’m sure!
Ciao!
Envy you your “IL VOLO GALS” group. It is more fun to have someone to share ones thoughts pertaining to our boys. Gina
yes, everyone always seems so jealous of us. I guess we are lucky!
Really a very good idea, congratulations to all, for it had and also for how you have developed.
Gianluca also would have been flattered
maybe we should give him a few pictures? 🙂
What a special celebration for a special young man. I love
Gianluca and his lovely baritone voice. Thank you ladies
for getting together and making this a great occasion for our
IL VOLO and Gianluca.
I just saw online that Il Volo Notte Magica Concert will be on
OETA, March 15 starting at 7 pm. This would be in the
Oklahoma City area. I don’t know how many fans are in
this area but if you are out there, I know you will want to
tune in and hear Il Volo sing. They are on Channel 13.
Thanks everyone! As mentioned above, next party is Piero – June 24! You are all invited to Detroit! And it’s a Saturday this year! 🙂