Thanks to Madd for the heads-up! Really sweet article about Katie’s birthday party… From: People Tom & Katie's N.Y. Birthday Party Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes greeted the season in style Thursday in New York, as they celebrated her birthday with dinner, a private trip to the FAO Schwarz toy store – where Tom entertained with handstands – and a late-night ice-skating adventure in the rain, PEOPLE reports exclusively. While Holmes spent the day shopping at such Madison Avenue boutiques as Barneys, Donna Karen, Ralph Lauren, Miu Miu and Chloe, her husband-to-be didn't come out of the hotel until dinner time, whereupon he scored high marks with the bartender at the Post House steakhouse – despite the fact that, as a Scientologist, Tom doesn't imbibe. "He seems like a regular guy," the bartender tells PEOPLE. "He was very nice." After the midtown feast with a group of about a dozen people, Holmes's pre-birthday celebration (she turns 27 on Sunday) continued at Fifth Avenue institution FAO Schwarz, which was closed to the public by the time the Cruise contingent arrived around 9:30 p.m. The toy store was ready for them, too: festooned with balloons tied to small white tiger dolls and 7'-tall stuffed giraffes. But the real show was put on by Tom and his pregnant fiancée, with both of them performing on top of the store's giant piano – jumping, bouncing, trying to tickle out a tune on the ivories. At one point, Tom did a handstand. Katie must have approved: She clapped and laughed before the couple embraced and shared a long, 30-second kiss. The emporium also had a surprise in store of the birthday girl: cupcakes with candles, which she blew out with Tom's help. The party then moved downstairs, near the videogame area, and by 11:30 p.m., the pair were ready to move on, thanks to a caravan of four SUVs. But the night wasn't over. Despite some nasty rain with some sleet thrown in, Tom and Katie took to Central Park's Wollman Rink (the same one that King Kong and Naomi Watts use onscreen in the new movie epic) and skated, in between hugging and kissing. They remained on the ice for about half an hour, after which Katie took refuge inside while Tom continued to skate a little longer. Around 12:30 a.m., the group left the park and returned to the hotel – hopefully to get the mom-to-be into some dry clothes. ========================= People.com also has available on their site a paparazzi video of Katie’s surprise party: Click Here ========================= And a photogallery… Katie's Birthday Bash! Peek inside Tom's Cruise's surprise party for Katie Holmes (she's 27!) ALL AGLOW Tom Cruise gives fiancée Katie Holmes a hand as she blows out her birthday candles at FAO Schwarz on Thursday. The New York City toy store opened after-hours for her surprise 27th-birthday party. MISSION: ACCOMPLISHED But with so many cupcakes, the pregnant Holmes (whose birthday is Sunday) needs a little extra blowing power from Cruise. BIRTHDAY KISS After sharing a smooch, the twosome, along with his mom, 12-year-old daughter Isabella and Holmes's parents, celebrated in the store's cafe, where bunches of balloons floated atop stuffed white tigers and giraffes. WILD ABOUT HER Cruise and Holmes steal a kiss and share a three-way hug with an oversized stuffed bear after checking out the store's most famous toy: a floor piano. And like Tom Hanks's Big character, Cruise ran atop the keyboard, adding his own move: a handstand. KIDS IN LOVE Holmes and Cruise make their way through the toy store holding hands. Throughout their visit the engaged couple repeatedly hugged and kissed. ICE BABY Around midnight, Cruise treats Holmes (and their baby-to-be) to another surprise: ice skating in Central Park. The couple and their entourage had the ice to themselves. A PERFECT NIGHT Holmes plants a kiss on her sweetie, and after about a half-hour, the group hangs up their skates and ends the birthday night back at their midtown hotel. Video of Katie and Tom leaving their hotel in NYC yesterday: Click on Video

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