26th Birthday

My birthday was over a month ago, and I really meant to do this post earlier, but here goes! I just turned 26. Do I feel any different? Not really. Well, I do feel signs of aging like getting tired easily. LOL! But aside from that, I feel like I'm in the best time of my life. I'll just recount the blessings I've received, so many years from now, I can backread and remember what I did and what I had for my birthday. How OC of me to document it all! :D

My Panda and I share the same birth month, and since we're part of Yabu's VIP List, they treated us both to a free katsu sets to celebrate! We both love Japanese food. :3

Cream Dory Katsu Set

Rosu Katsu Set

That was an amazing start of the month! (Thanks, Yabu!)

On the day of my birthday, my Panda surprised me early in the morning with the loveliest, most precious cake ever. He has a shot me with a "just woke up, no kilay, no makeup at all, in all pambahay glory" look holding this cake, but that one is private. Haha!

It's the first time someone ever baked me a cake, so this one is very special. He made it from scratch - cake flour and all! :o In case you're wondering, the green ones are bamboo, and the brown ones are paw prints and stones.

My birthday felt a lot like Valentine's Day. The mums were unbelievable strong - they lasted over a week inside my room! Other flowers would wilt in 3 days tops. We share the same love for anything with peppermint in it, hence the chocolates. And the cylinder you see at the back is a pretty purple yoga mat, for my ab workout at home. (Yes, I'm getting fat.)

For lunch, we drove all the way to Vikings at MOA, even if there's one at SM North. Everyone was saying it's better there, and so we went. You get to eat for free if it's your birthday! :D Initially, we were seated on a dark corner, so a mosquito feasted on my legs minutes within getting seated, but the kind manager Allan made up for it by getting us a nicer spot, and went the extra mile serving us tea, asking us how the food was, and cleared our plates (even if he didn't have to). And I didn't get dengue so all is well. Haha! The food selection was good, and we'd go back for special occasions.

Rustic Chocolate Torte by Purple Oven

For dinner, my family had dinner at Nomnomnom Happy Food at Tomas Morato. I chose this restaurant since I wanted a healthier restaurant for my Dad who had food restrictions. Wrong move though; the food wasn't bad, it was just okay but kind of pricey. The dishes didn't blow us away, and the serving size for some were small. The final thing that ticked me off was when we asked them to bring out the cakes, and the waitress told me I'll be charged P80 for corkage - even if I spent over P3,000+ to treat my family, even if it was my birthday. (No photo because I was pissed and they totally killed the mood.)

Verdict: Never going back. Ever. The owner was nice enough to invite me to a free lunch or dinner, but I don't like special treatment just because I'm a blogger. I want to experience a restaurant for what it really is.

We went home instead to slice the cakes. This one is from my friend Tope of #TopeTravelandTours. (Purple Oven FTW!)

The next photos were the other gifts I received.

Meiji chocolates from my boss

Terranova Floral Clutch from my friend, Kyra

Landmark Linens from my sister, Cindy

This one has a deep purple color; my camera went loco hence this shade of bright purple. I have yet to wash this, but I've never been this excited to change my sheets. LOL

My birthday gift for myself is a Lenovo laptop. This one's a good investment; I bought it with the main purpose of blogging. You see, my posts decreased in quantity this year since I was dealing with a faulty computer at home which would turn off mid-upload or as I'm doing my posts, which made me lose motivation. Now, I don't have to settle for a bulok computer, since I have a sleek, sexy, and precious laptop! Unboxing post soon, yes? 

At church, my small group family Tuesday Diversity surprised the August celebrants with cake, too! :3

Last but not the least are these rainbows I saw just last Friday morning as I was going to work. The brighter one is the biggest and closest I've seen in my life. So beautiful! It's like God telling me, "Everything's gonna be alright." At this moment, I was thankful for my gift of sight.

So those basically sums up my day. I have yet to reply to the greetings on my FB timeline though. Help... Haha :D Thanks to all who remembered! :3

Love,

Helen