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

Haul: Birthday Gifts ♥

It's now time to unwrap the presents I got for my 24th birthday!

Nah, I've actually unwrapped and ate most of them a few weeks ago, but they're worth sharing so here goes! ;)

A portrait, letter, and The Body Shop Colour Crush Eyeshadow from Dawn

This one's probably one of the most priceless and sweetest present I received! My friend actually drew me! Haha! :D I'll be putting this in a frame, that's for sure! Dawn and I both love The Body Shop, as you can see. Don't forget to join our giveaway! :D

Cara Mia Brazo Gelato cake from my colleagues

Christer, Jeffery, Kurt, Bailey, Ness, and Anne

My teammates/lunch buddies surprised me with this during the weekend before my birthday. They're as sweet as this gelato cake. :D

A birthday card also from my colleagues

The card design is so me, don't you agree?

Figaro Devil's Mocha Cake from my boss, Achi V

I've already told you before, I've got cool boss. :D

Cosmopolitan dress from my sister, Melissa

Since we like the same clothes, she has another dress like this, only in a different color. Don't worry, we won't wear it both at the same time!

Starbucks tea tumbler from my sister, Vivian

My sister hates the ancient water bottle I use at the office, so she gave me this! She was planning to give me a regular coffee tumbler, but then she remembered that I'm more of a tea person, hence this one! I love that it has a leaf design where I can fasten the string of the tea bag.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inspiration for Writers from my sister, Cindy

She got me this because she knows that I want this, but I won't be buying this for myself anytime soon. (Hey, I was waiting for National Book Store to go on sale so I could get this at 20% off!)

OMG Nail Colors by Klik in Tiara from my sister, Ann

This was a half-hearted present from my sister! I just know. Haha! She got this for herself, but then she remembered it was my birthday that day, and handed it to me instead, and borrowed it right after a few minutes. (I said no! No using until I've taken a picture of it.) But still, thank you!

Krispy Kreme doughnuts from my friend, Pan

I love Krispy Kreme. You've witnessed it all in my blog. If you're curious, my favorite doughnut from them would be Original Glazed.

Frostings cupcakes from my friend, Lala

She's as sweet as these cupcakes! ;) This came as a surprise during our dinner at A Veneto, where the crew couldn't even sing a decent birthday song. My friends sang instead.

The Body Shop Vitamin E Skin Essentials also from my friend, Lala

Because she know that I love The Body Shop! I'm excited to try this new skincare set. And it's pink - what's not to love?

Beauty Bar's Lavender Luxury Hand Cream from my friend, Jeanne

My friend was thinking if she would give me another lippie, but figured that I already had lots. (Good thing!) She gave me a fancy hand cream instead. Much appreciated! :D

Green Tea Kit Kats from my friends

Because they know what my all-time favorite chocolate is. :D

Uji Matcha Green Tea Kit Kat from my friend, Jat

He found this in a Japanese store. Now, I want to go there and hoard!

Matcha Green Tea Kit Kat + Ghirardelli chocolates from my friend, Tope

This pack is similar to the one I received from Hong Kong, only this one he got from Japan.

Birthday cake from HEAT

Last but not the least is this birthday cake from HEAT, where my family and I celebrated my birthday dinner.

That's all for now! This one's probably my favorite haul posts, since everything here are special and from my loved ones.♥

Love,

Helen

23: Food | Gifts | Haul

Exactly one month after my birthday, I will finally get to share with you some of the stuff that I ate, got, and bought for my birthday! (This is such an overdue post.)

My family and I had dinner at Mesa in Tomas Morato for some delicious Filipino dishes. We fell in love with this restaurant at the first try, so we went back!

My team ate out for lunch since it was my teammate's despedida. We went to Ral's in UP Technohub for a lunch buffet. Look at how I eat during buffets. I had to stuff my plate with rice or else my meal would be incomplete! A few more plates followed after, but I wasn't able to take pictures anymore since I was so busy eating. Haha!

Before we headed back to work, my colleague surprised me with this cute little cake from Starbucks!

My college friends had a reunion/sleepover a week after my birthday. We had home-cooked fried chicken and hotdog. These kind of food remind me of children's parties, but I liked it a lot! Fried chicken is actually my favorite thing in the world. Haha!

Then they surprised me with a hate cake! :O Haha!

My mom gave me an SM gift card so I could choose whatever I wanted. I got a nude-colored bag from Parisian (just because I love neutral-colored bags), and a gray-colored slippers with butterfly detail from Toeberries. I bought a new pair of slippers because it was flood season then, and I could wear it on my way to work (if ever it gets too rainy for my shoes to function). Gray goes with everything!

My dad got these cute Frostings cupcakes for me and my sisters.

This has to be one of my favorite presents - a Forever 21 makeup bag from my sister! I wanted this but couldn't get myself to buy it since it was too pricey, but my sister gave it to me! Yey! My makeup now has a new home. This one is soooo roomy, which means that I can get more makeup to fill it up. :D

The following gifts I received from my officemates came in pink. Oh they knew me quite well! A pink kikay kit, a pink Michaela umbrella, and pink-and-purple flats from Tomato!

This one is my gift to my darling baby niece - she turned 2 last August. The colors remind me of the Tomato flats above!

This one I also consider as a birthday gift, since I won it on my birth month! I got a P3,000 GC from Melissa shoes from Maven magazine. But I have yet to pick my perfect pair!

The last 2 kikay stuff, I got for myself! I repurchased the Snoe Magic Apple Whitening S-rub from my favorite Snoe counter in Landmark Trinoma. This stuff works like magic. It instantly brightens my skin!

I also bought this new book, Seventeen Ultimate Guide to Beauty! It's my favorite beauty book since it has a lot of makeup and hair pegs. It's very inspiring! (Will share what's inside soon!)

Hope you enjoyed my birthday haul post! ♥

Love,
Helen