My Birthday Came Two Weeks Early

Happy Sunday, my few dear readers! :D

It's gonna be June tomorrow and just like that we are already halfway through 2020. June is my birthday month and also our anniversary month so it's easily my favorite time of the year. In 2 weeks I am turning 32 and dang, my age is gonna be off the calendar! >_< More on birthday musings in the next few days but for now, I'm gonna share my happiness because I got an early birthday present from my husband!

You see, since we still cannot dine out due to COVID19, I've been planning a DIY romantic lunch for our anniversary (which is 4 days from now *panic mode*). Why not dinner, you say? Well, we will celebrate with our housemates over kBBQ for dinner so we thought we'll do a more intimate one mid-day. We're just thinking of ordering steak via GrabFood but to make it a little more special, I need a pretty table setting. And where to get all the paraphernalia but my [pre-circuit breaker] favorite place to be, Ikea! I also learned from one of my former colleagues that Ikea delivers small parcels in 2 days so I immediately went to their website to do dinnerware-shopping!

I was vigorously scrolling up and down my phone when hubby saw me and asked what's keeping me busy. Nonchalantly, I told him "Online shopping" and without expecting much, I followed it up with a "Will you pay for it, please?" I almost jumped out of bed when he said he's gonna pay whatever I will add to my shopping cart! Like, seriously? I kept asking him if it's for real and he gave me that straight look and I knew right there that he's not kidding! Who am I to say no, right??? :D

photo credit

Sooooo, like a kid wandering in a candy store, I happily navigated the Ikea site while mentally crossing out all the items in my table setting list. I was palpitating, I tell you! I think it's the first time I'm shopping without worrying about the total bill, LOL! Now enough blabber and on to my loot! Do you wanna see it? Here you go!

I got carried away so the damage was a little bit over $200 >_<

Thanks, babe! Love you forevs! :-*

Note: Click the image for high-res version

I told you, most of the stuff that I bought is for table setting except for our candles, my chopping board and our wooden tray for breakfasts in bed. But, my favorite's got to be this 18-pc service because it's so simple yet so classy! I've always had a thing for square plates! :)

Now I just need to pray that the delivery is indeed 2 days to make it to our Anniv celeb. Otherwise, boo!

I'm excited! If my plan works out well, I'm gonna show you how the lunch date went.

Till then!

'Pinas Vacation Day 1 aka J's 27th

Two Fridays ago was the 27th birthday of my J and I most definitely wouldn't miss that for the world! I left SG at 2AM of July 27 and made it to PH 4 hours later.

My ticket to 3 days of bliss :-)

I so love coming home. It's a feeling like no other. Finally spending time with the people you love after 2 or 3 months of physical absence -- it's just priceless. I can still remember J's hello kiss that morning! And Haley's welcome embrace! Oh there really is no place like home :-)

I promised her I'd buy her an iPad if she takes home 30 3-stars from school in 30 days. She did it with flying colors! And can you see how happy she was when she got hold of it? It got me thinking she actually fetched the iPad from the airport and not me. Hahaha.

Apart from J and my family, it's Pinoy food that I miss most. The crispylicious goodness of Chickenjoy is something that I really look forward to so we waited no longer and grabbed a bucket for breakfast. Then we headed home to greet the rest of my relatives, distribute the pasalubongs and take a quick rest before we venture into my jampacked vacay Day 1.

 [L] Haley with her all her pasalubong.

[R] Candid shot of the two loves of my life. Looking at them like that warms my heart.

Because I've been missing a lot of our princess' nursery adventures, I made it a point to include bringing her to school in my itinerary.

She really is a big girl now! That's her in school with me and her teachers :-)

Then we went straight to J's Marikina home to deliver the LED TV that he bought here. If you're asking why I was the one who brought it to PH, it's because tourists are charged taxes and levies in Philippine Customs while OFWs (that's me! :P) are entitled to bring in one appliance of every kind provided that it's used. And yes, it's duty-free! How cool is that? ^^,

Happy that it worked despite the buzz that TVs bought outside the country might not be programmed for the TV system in the Philippines. Oh btw, please excuse their old TV rack. Haha! They got rid of that and mounted it on the wall instead ;-)

And finally... the most important part of the day -- Hon's Birthday Celebration! :D

I bought the shirt that he's wearing here a few hours before my flight. Considering that it's a rush purchase, I think I did a pretty good job! Perfect fit! :)

Pinoy food is just love.

The three dishes (excluding the pork barbeque) were his mom's cooking - my favorite being the one in the biggest frame. I don't know what it's called, but it's chicken with hotdog and liver spread and tomato sauce and pickles. Yummy!

We also dropped by Tita Meg's house to say hi and much to my delight, there's  more scrumptious food. And another cake for the birthday boy :-)

Oh Mango Bravo, I miss you already!

In the pursuit of making the most of my day 1, we also got ourselves a foot spa and pedicure because our feet have not been pampered for ages!

[upper left] I bought us a matching watch in Bugis Street -- Singapore's bargain shopping haven. Would you believe a piece only costs 10 SGD (330php)?

[upper right] Picture-picture while our feet are treated with TLC

[lower right] how I love that shade of blue!

[lower left] But I love this man more ♥

We were both tired as hell after all our activities so we capped the day off with a quiet just-the-two-of-us evening. We talked and cuddled and made up for all the lovin' that we missed and really, I wouldn't want to end his birthday any other way.

A Sneak Peek at Haley's Birthday

Last November 25-26, our family together with my girlfriends went to Residencia de Riego Resort in Alitagtag, Batangas as a post-celebration of Haley's Birthday. The place is beautiful and that translates to about a thousand photos! So while I'm still sorting them out and putting into words the experience, here are some of the winner pics of the weekend :-)

 Beautiful girl + lovely backdrop = the perfect photo :-)

 The tarp that I created last minute!

She's currently addicted to Hi-5, an Australian child-oriented show, that's why!

 She personally chose that swimsuit. Goes to show that Dora the Explorer still has a special spot in her heart. Haha!

Our little princess looks sooo happy in that last pic, no? I have more of those to show you so please stick around for the full post ^_^

Cheers,

Twenty-three

I had a simple celebration at home for my 23rd birthday. I had a blast. My family's with me, Jhay's there beside me, there's good food, and yes, there's a Conti's cake! Yum yum! I can't ask for anything more! Oh.. I just wish my ladies were there to make it super awesome.

This is J's lovely present. I told you, wishlists are effective. I was able to tick off two today. I know there's more in the coming weeks, right girlfriends? :)

Thank you to everyone who made me feel special today. Hugs from me to you! ^_^

Lastly, thank you Lord for the beautiful life. I give all the glory back to You.

Cheers,

Wishes (on a List) Come True

Last year, I wrote a wishlist for my 22nd birthday, and now that I'm about to create another one, I checked the list again and was more than happy that all of them except one were granted without me realizing it :)

laptop sleeve from Nhix, memo pad and wooden frame for my office desk from Jaq (visit her blog!), letter magnets for my cube from Noreen and Ipanema flip-flops from my Jhay :)

My ever reliable pink umbrella from Jejo

A friend from the States bought me this sometime in July of last year. Not exactly the pink mug that I wished for but equally nice :)

my bathroom scale and a plush cellphone holder... love 'em pink stuff! :)

Jewelry box from Simple Joys. Made for an angel? Id like to believe so :) At the bottom right is its lovely damask print. I heart!

You see, wishlists are effective! Hence, this year, since my birthday is just three days away, here's my new list :D

1. A hoodie! It gets North Pole-ish in the office so I badly need one. And if you're kind enough, throw in a pair of mittens too! LOL.

2. A round- and pink-faced silver watch. The one I'm using now would love a reliever :P

3. Yeah, I still want a pretty pair of stud earrings (the only one I didn't get from last year's wishlist :D)

4. An Endless Love Victoria's Secret Body Mist.

5. A red bag. Not black or brown or gray. I want it RED. Haha.

6. A Revlon Liquid Eyeliner + a trusty eyelash curler.

7. I'd also love a new flip-flops!

8. A cake from Conti's to blow on my birthday :-)

9. An SLR (i fell in love with our Cebu photos, thanks to my cousin's camera)

10. More time to blog *wink*

11. More travel.

12. Love, love, and more love! ^_^

Are these too much to ask? :-)

Haley's Birthday Bash

*this has been sitting in my drafts for more than a month. i made it a point to finish it today because tomorrow would be too late (literally! hahaha)*

Whenever I'm in front of the laptop, Haley would show up beside me saying "san betdey ko Ate Em?". It's her way of telling me to play a video clip of her second birthday party for the nth time. I get pissed sometimes but when I see her scream out of happiness watching it, the irritation vanishes into thin air and is replaced by that overwhelming feeling of joy and pride that I was able to give her the celebration that she wants. Call me stage sister but I wouldn't exchange that moment for the world ^_^

Now allow me to share how it turned out :)

The original plan for her 2nd birthday is to just celebrate it at home: mom and titas would cook food, kids from the neighborhood would come over for some games and loots -- mostly DIY stuff. But since the little girl, whenever asked where her party will be, says it's gonna be at Jollibee, I made both ends meet to give it to her. And I am so glad I did! Here's why:

I'm working on a limited budget so I chose to have a small affair, with only family and close friends invited. Funny because there were more adults than kiddos! And since we're not a fan of moving birthdays to a different date and most of the guests have day jobs and her Ates have school, it was set for dinner. Not your average children's party, eh?

 

 

There were only a handful of kids, most of them between 2 and 5 years, that's why they enjoyed every single part of it! Unlike other parties where they are outnumbered by their ates and kuyas, this time they're the stars of the show. They joined the games, won a lot of prizes and had a jolly good time.

 

 Obedient little girl.

They we're asked to close their eyes while the hosts hid their shoes for the game.

Of course the adults had fun too! They even made fun of me in this game called Maximum to Minimum. It was a team game wherein members have to arrange themselves based on different criteria. For example, the host says "Maximum to minimum - arrange yourselves according to age", it's going to be oldest to youngest. My team was leading, 2-0, and during the third round the instruction is minimum to maximum according to face value. I got a big ego so yeah, I insisted I should be at the back of the line. Guess what, we lost! Meanwhile on the fourth round, it was max to min based on waist line and all of them was shouting that I should be in front! I hate them to the bones! Hahaha. But we won, so it's all good. :)

 

This is what I look like while everyone's laughing at me.

You nasty people! Hahaha.

 

Haley was having the time of her life – running around, posing for pictures, joining her little friends in the games – until her special guest came...

Yeah, she's scared of Jollibee! We asked her everyday for weeks before her big day and she consistently said she won't be afraid anymore but there she was, trembling and holding on tight to whoever carries her whenever the mascot is near. Hahahaha. But in fairness, she handled her fear pretty well because she still managed to smile for group pictures.

 

And then came the obligatory candle blowing, which she didn't enjoy much on the spot because she's still conscious about Jollibee being at her back. Good thing I had the presence of mind (despite being the busy bee) that I was able to capture it in video. Now she relives her moment every single day and she has the same excitement as the first time she saw it. Mind you, it's on repeat pa!

 

Afterwards she opened a few gifts. She actually got Nonong Jhay's presents (a Jollibee stuffed toy and a bracelet) the moment she woke up. She loved the toy so much that she carried it around the entire day and it's very thoughtful of her two friends to give her Twirlie and Hetty during her party. Now Jollibee has playmates and Haley couldn't be happier!

In a few minutes it was time for wrap up. We conveyed our birthday wishes for Haley then said our thank yous to everyone who came. It was indeed a small party but Haley's memories of it was greater than we've ever imagined.