Last Hurrah at being 30...

You know how they've got "baby moon" these days wherein the couples celebrate a romantic getaway before the delivery of their baby? I will call yesterday, my birthday moon.

I had a wonderful time closing down the last day of me being thirty yesterday. Why? My loving DH invested on pulling off a grand surprise!

Days leading to this weekend, he was telling me that he will take me somewhere for my birthday. For how long - he never really said. Then, he asked if I wanted to go to the Blue Mountains, and of course I said yes. (He knew I've been wanting to go hiking or simply enjoy a good view of the valley from the mountains).


He then said I had to take some change clothes with me. Got me asking what kind of clothes... "Are we going to sleep over somewhere?". "Are we going for some fine dining?". "Are we going for another adrenalin rush?"

I was trying to suss out to the best I can. But finally he said, that he's got nothing planned out in particular but we'll just decide when we get there. He was really trying to confuse me. But he made it clear that it is important that we leave early because he wanted to get there before breakfast so we could have a lot of time for other activities.

The night before, he was googling for restaurants, some spa/Japanese bath houses. And he got me packing some change clothes and my bikini. But no sleepwear.

Morning came and we hugged and kissed the 2 boys goodbye for the day. I never knew I would never get to spend the night with them.

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Yesterday, we created beautiful memories.

We enjoyed a full breakfast at The Conservation Hut by the cliff overlooking the Jamison Valley.


We hiked down the valley not really knowing how far and how long it will take. We didn't even change our shoes. We didn't take anything except our camera and mobile phones. We didn't even have a map with us. We just relied on signs and tracks that would eventually lead us to the bottom of this valley where we got to appreciate Wentworth Falls. The bushwalking took us a good 3 hours. Our legs are still sore upto now. But it was good fun!!!



And my DH hinted that we would surely have a good sleep after hours of walking. And that was because he booked at the Palais Royalein Katoomba (Not in Paris! Geeze, I was almost in Paris again, huh!) for an overnight stay. It was a private hotel that took name after the Palais Royal in Paris, France.


And at the back of the car, was a small suitcase he pulled out that contained clothes and shoes he packed himself with a little help from my Ate the previous night. Hmmm, the clothes and shoes almost didn't match (but I coped well) and he forgot some of my kikay toiletries. But he boasted that he didn't fail to bring my tootbrush and his favourite lingerie of mine. Hahahaha!

We enjoyed a sumptous dinner at the Solitary. Highly recommended! It was a bit pricey but the food was exceptional.


I was just speechless. I was in awe. The whole time we were both happy creating something we both know we will remember years upon years.


And today is the start of moving onto the right of 30. My boys - I missed them so much and I just wanted to tell them how their father made me feel NEWER again!

Gr8 Day 2gether!

We celebrated our 8th anniversary today. Before we cap the night *wink*, let me recall how it went.

It began with a wake up kiss and a warm whisper of "Happy Anniversary" from DH. Of course it was accompanied by a tight embrace. But that's common for us to be locked up in each other's arms all night long. Aaawwww!

Anyway, we had plan for this day to be filled with simple pleasures. So long as we are together happily - this day will be as grand as any luxurious celebration.

And so, while getting ready, he first took Wiji to school and left Yoyon with me. And then he came back and surprised me with a bouquet of peach roses. My fave colour of roses.

Then after dropping off Yoyon at the child care, we caught the bus to the city. Felt like being tourists when we got to the harbour (Circular Quay)!

Made a few poses around Sydney harbour to kill time before the main activity of the day. Hahaha! (Took advantage of other "turistas" for some photo opp!)

So what was planned for the day? - Try something different for that adrenalin rush! Prior to breakfast, we booked ourselves to this 45 minute jetboat ride.

And from being sooo dry, DH and I ended up overly saturated. Our clothes never recovered even until we got home tonight. My mini was even dripping while walking up the city streets afterwards.

So before we could even sit down to grab lunch, we had to look for decent shops (READ: SALE is the operative word!) for some unexpected shopping! And because of this, we ran out of time to try the dim sums at the newly opened franchise of Din Tai Fung. So we ended up having SuperBowl across Chinatown. Hehehe! Simple pleasures, remember?

Anyway, before catching the bus home, we had a few drinks at Bar333 and took the chance to pen down my thoughts onto the anniversary card I just bought then! Slack I am... NOT! I have long bought one but it I must have misplaced it. Couldn't find it last night. And it's very important for me not to let the day pass without giving him an anniversary card since he had already given me his very heartwarming card last night.

I know this posting have gone far too long and you must love or like us at least to reach this far. But like what I said to my DH in my card, I have loved you this far and I am not yet finished loving you even further more!

My Wish List

Our 8th church wedding anniversary is coming up. My DH has sort of made suggestions how we're going to spend the day. And I'm excited already!

There's no gift in particular I want to get this year. But I know I have (an unending) list of needs/wants. But whenever I am being asked - I just get mentally blocked.

So let me get these wishes started before they escape my (100 terabyte) memory again.

1. A new perfume. I tested a perfume at Myer a few weeks ago and liked it. But I forgot the name. 'Shame!

2. A necklace. I don't own one yet. My bling blings don't count. Sorry!

3. Room filled with roses and bears and chocolates just like in the movie Good Luck Chuck. I remember getting a room filled with air pumped balloons you did at 3 o'clock in the morning.

4. A booking at Spa Chakra. Only, it had to be with you!

5. A set of hot rollers! I'm done with my curling irons.

6. A KitchenAid mixer. See this.

7. Degustation at Forty-One or Tetsuya's. But I'll have a go at Prime first. Medium rare steak is just getting popular with me nowadays.

8. Cupcakes on Pitt St. (Cause I haven't tasted them yet!)

There you go. I'm pretty sure I will be attaching more to this list. Needs and wants vary over time, don't they?

Dance with me...

Cause I will never dance with anybody else BUT YOU!

Indiana Jones meets Lara Croft

This is what happens when Indiana Jones meets the original Tomb Raider.Dressed up as our all time fave archaelogists for our dear friend's 30th birthday surprise party last Friday night.

Special screening of Hollywood movies. Had to do it or dinner will never be served. Hahaha!

Complete with all our "arte"-facts!!!

But never forgetting parenting duties.

Weekend Celebrations

	On the eve of DH's birthday, around nine o'clock in the evening he dragged me (gracefully) to the city to "experience" Lindt hot chocolate.
	We even saved queue time with the help of our friend Rey and Jules who just had dinner at Wagamama and were also going for a choco break with a group of friends! (Thanks Mommy Jules for taking the photo!)
	Another bonus was the presence of Carl Riseley - former Australian Idol finalist getting a cold drink. I tried to get a decent shot but the wait staff advised me not. Kill joy! I guess it's just photo op for the me and DH.
	To get over the fullness of the drink, we opted to walk a fair bit around Darling Harbour and found ourselves in Bungalow bar for some vodka and bourbon. It has been four years since we last stepped into this bar. This is how we capped his last night of being 30. What happened next - I leave to your great imagination!
	The morning after is Mother's Day and of course he is now officially, 31. This was my morning surprise. Breakfast in bed...
	... and a lot of (smothering) kisses from our two adorable boys. They are the reasons why I can proudly celebrate Mother's Day.
	Special mention to my DH who prepared my brekky. He was more inspired when Wiji, played "Happy Birthday" tune from his keyboard while he was in the kitchen.
	We got an impromptu lunch invitation from our good friend J & C. In the afternoon, we decided to bowl with a few friends and to let the kids experience "bowling". (I was thinking of having a bowling party for Wiji. But after last Sunday, I thought we'd just do that next year for his 7th.). Then heard the 7pm service at HillSong church. Oh, the message was perfect with the occasion (my occasion, that is!). It was entitled "Tears of a Mother".
	We had dinner at home... Practiced some "ballroom dancing" for an upcoming "costume" party. (Check this space for more details next weekend.) And you can guess that our fingers (from bowling) and toes (from dancing) were dead tired for the day.
	DH and I had a great time with our double celebration. They were simple and intimate but they were enjoyed most! As the saying goes, "Simple pleasures are life's treasures!". Happy Birthday dear hubby (DH)! You know I won't be celebrating motherhood without you!

Movie Date

I remember when dear hubby and I were younger, a week won’t pass without us seeing a movie or two. The habit was carried over even when we got married. But after having children, our movie dates have been limited unless it’s a really good movie or sequels like that of Lord of the Rings, Spiderman, etc. Finding a sitter, the time and the energy (guilty of sleeping in the movie house quite a few times in the last couple of years) have been challenging.

Anyway, last Wednesday, hubby asked me to go out on a movie date with him. He made effort to be home early and he helped me with prepping the kids for bed so I won’t have any excuse. His movie pick was “10,000 BC”. I didn’t even know what the movie was all about. All I ever wanted was to give in to his request and to keep myself awake for the next 3 hours. Geeze, the movie was starting at 9pm and we both had an early morning at work. Phew!

But you know, the movie did keep me awake! It was more than what I expected. Surely, the story didn’t run deep like other epic movies but it didn’t bore me which was the main thing! It entertained both of us.

So thank you to my dear hubby for selecting a good one and for taking me out! I think I want to go back to the movies SOON!

Loved Up

This was our post Valentine lunch at Crown Plaza Hotel right after attending HillSong Church service. (Oh, I haven't told you about us regularly attending the service for more than 3 months now... That will be blogged later on if I remember...)

This was dear hubby's gift as stated as a courtesy invite in the Valentine's card he gave me of which the excerpt says, "my hope for today and everyday, is that you'll know and feel with all your mind and heart that I love you without doubt and hesitation... I love you with all that I am and with all that I can give..."

I heart you too my Babes. I used to feel your love was just too much. But in hindsight, it was really what I loved most about you! "For whatever has been and whenever the future seems uncertain, just always remember that I was not just walking behind you, but I was and will always walk through life beside you." ... So it won't be too hard for you to find me ...

To end this entry let me just share the panacotta I had for dessert. It was just very well presented!

All done!

He made the announcement two weeks ago. A promise of "maybe". It was during his surprise party when it all began. Today he has paid for what he has said, (literally speaking)!

So in two months time we'll be country hopping in Europe.

I was thrilled that he did the legwork for the first time. It was intensive (not to mention, a little expensive than what we have assumed) cause we didn't have too much options left. So I don't want to look at the invoice cause I'm sure it's going to hurt my eye.

It's all done and the countdown begins...

His 30th - a Surprise

This is the year when hubby and I both turn t-h-i-r-t-y and our birthdays are exactly 9 weeks apart. Of course he goes first. Ahem, I was still blessed to marry an older guy. :)

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Anyway, friends and family have been asking me what were our plans - MY plans to be exact. I think they were all expecting something special from me. But honestly, not that he's not very special to me, (of course he is!) - throwing a big party is just too much work that I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to put my best effort in just this time. One, I had an assignment due on the week of his birthday. Two, I was busy preparing Luis putt putt party for the 26th of May. So I was moving back and forth from doing my programming assignments and handcrafting Luis' invitations. And I thought I wouldn't be able to take another load during the night.

But tides have changed at the last minute. Twelve days before May 11, I started picking up the phone and got in touch with a band - who could play songs from yesteryears beginning from the 70s. I just told them to hold May 11 as a tentative date. It would all depend on the venue that I didn't have yet at that time.

So I tried ringing different community halls for availabilites. It was quite impossible for any of them to be available in the next week. What was I thinking? The following day, I asked help from the council. And the lady in charge said that there was none left... but since I was only looking for a place where I could hold a cocktail party (read: no kitchen needed), she might be able to convince Castle Grand to offer me one of their smaller function rooms. And so my call was transferred to the manager and even if he had this disclaimer that they don't normally rent out the seminar room if the main hall isn't rented as well, he'd gladly give it to me since a 21st party on the main hall didn't require the seminar room. Oh, my heart leaped for joy. I knew it I would be able to pull through this party. I quickly sent an email to everyone to save the date and all details will follow.

The rest of the preparations was history. I could only remember how exhausted I was on those days leading to this party.

We had a Hollywood Theme. Invitees were asked to come dressed as a famous Hollywood actor/movie character. Village People were the ultimate special guest of the night. You can see their pics here.

Although, the birthday boy had every inkling that we were up to something, he never guessed what he really was in for. He was really blown away when he arrived. He never expected something extraordinary. So during his speech, he thanked everyone for coming and for helping his "beautiful wife" (no objections please!!!). He also said, that he wouldn't be able to out-do the kind of surprise that I've just done for his 30th. And I quote, "So maybe a trip to Europe will make up for it when it's your turn to celebrate your 30th!!!". (In 9 weeks na yun kaya? Uy, wala ng bawian ah! Finally, I was able to convince him!!!! Yehey!!! Yikes - makapagbook kaya kami???)

I had "The One" for Valentine's

My hubby surprised me with a gift just before going to bed last night. It was already past 12 midnight and technically it was the start of Valentine's Day.

While waiting for him to join me in bed, I tucked myself ahead and hugged my pillow. I was starting to doze off when he came. I felt his arms around me and whispered twice something like "You're THE ONE I love. Happy Valentine's"!. I could sense that he was trying to keep it together or he'd give out a huge giggle as he placed a box-like over my huggie pillow.

When I opened my eyes, I knew it was a gift and was very happy to get a new perfume!!! I've been buying in the past few years perfumes that are citrus based scent. And to get something sweet smelling for a change is refreshing!

I have been interested in this type of scent for a while. But haven'd had the chance (and money) to research for "the one". I'm so glad that hubby did the work of shopping around. :)

"The One Perfume by Dolce & Gabbana" - consists of mandarin, peach, bergamot, lychee, jasmine, muguet, madonna lily, vanilla, amber, musk, vetiver, and plum.

This morning, we had cofee together and I gave him a card. I was scrapping last night one of our recent photo. But I wasn't able to finish it. Didn't have the right embellishments. (Excuses! Excuses! Excuses!)

2gether4ever day!

Today marks our 6th wedding anniversary. We didn't plan for anything. We just bought a land (in the process again of building a new home) and even small purchases have to be reasonable at this time including my scrapbooking expenses.

(Yesterday, instead of buying an anniversary card - I thought I'd scrap what I want to tell hubby on this day. But I didn't have enough time to finish the layout, so I just told him the words that meant to go into the journalling. Hey, I'm trying to keep up my "expenses-reasonable". Although, I felt a bit guilty that I bought the scrapbooking magazine with free tiles instead of the greeting card.)

I know hubby doesn't fail to buy me a card on every special occassion. Yet, today, I felt I wasn't even going to get one. But I did... After having breakfast, I went inside our bedroom and saw the card lying on our bed. Oh, my loving hubby didn't disappoint me. My heart melted. And as always, words he wrote made me teary-eyed. Luis saw me and I told him mom and dad are celebrating their wedding day. And he said, "but I was not there."

We drove off to North Sydney to buy a cake from Red Mango and to Ikea for the Stocktake Sale.

Tonight, we heard Saturday vigil mass. Had sinigang for dinner. And to prove Luis that mom and dad married each other, I let him watch our wedding video - a tradition every June 24. And he quickly abandoned his toys and sat on the couch. He really had fun watching the MTV edited version. He had nasty comments on my looks while I was being made up and funny observation regarding his daddy's ears. Oh, this is going to be a new posting on my Parenting blog.

In case you wonder, these are the words I will put on my anniversary greeting layout, "After all these years of togetherness, hanging out with you is still my favorite thing to do."

My Day in May

... Mother's Day.

Hubby surprised me with a "breakfast in bed". Don't think naughty!!!

He cooked some bacon. He arranged it on a platter with croissant, a few sliced tomatoes and sliced cheese. Put it on a tray with a glass of orange juice and a card on the side. (Goodness me, I forgot to take a pic of it).

Then, Luis hopped on our bed staring at my food tray. I know he was very curious what was it for. Anyway, his dad cued him to greet me a "Happy Mother's Day". I asked him if he wanted to share my breakfast. He said yes and I happily obliged.

Scrapping Valentine's Day

It's almost Valentine's Day and really hubby and I never celebrated it even before when we were still going out (it's been ages since we first started dating back in our college days). It was a little bit tacky for us and we often fight on this date. Once he bought me red roses and brought it to school and felt a little bit embarassed. I just don't like people giving me a teasing look that, yeah, I have a Valentine.

Anyway, when we got married, we still didn't find much excitement in celebrating it. Although, I must admit, I started to find interest. But sometimes, you run out of ideas, and creative ideas at that, on how to spend the day or what gift to buy.

So, I came back to one of my favorite past time and that is scrapbooking - a past time that really eats a lot of my time.


My "Love Workshop" class helped me create a Valentine's gift for my loving hubby. It's an accordion album with a theme of "I Love You Because". It took me almost half a day to finish it.


So let the photos speak for itself of what hubby is about to expect on February 14.

Ten Years Later - still 2gether4ever

June 24, 1994 - The first day that Louie came to visit me at what-used-to-be-my home in Manila. The first day he met my family. The day he asked me the question, "Do you love me?". Okay enough of the kabaduyan cause I'm sure it has been read over and over again from our wedsite. But to tell you the truth - these "kabaduyans" were all recounted, ten years later - TODAY, that is! - Also, nicely written (oh yeah, my hubby has a very nice penmanship) - in his Anniversary Card for me, were 10 reasons why he enjoys life with me:

1. because you understand my weaknesses.
2. because you cook delicious food.
3. because you encourage me to be a better person.
4. because you give me a massage every once in a while.
5. because you take care of planning our holidays.
6. because you drive for us when I had too much to drink.
7. because you are able to tease me so badly that I'd burst into anger and yet still manage to laugh hard at me.
8. because you are so good in bed.
9. because you inspire me to be creative.
10. because you love me despite of my shortcomings.

Oh and in case you knew that he gave me Hershey's kisses 10 years ago... He has never given me one since then. (Cause in Australia you can only get them in SOME Filipino stores. You're lucky if they have it in stock too). But today, he did. *sweet, totally*

Nothing fancy of some sort has been planned for tonight. But tomorrow, Friday, I'm taking a day off to take Luigi to Gymbaroo. Then Mum and Bub will be city bound to check-in at Mariott Hotel (overlooking the Sydney Harbour) while waiting for Louie to finish his training so we can all watch Shrek 2 and spend the evening cuddling in the hotel suite... This is how we're celebrating the day after our 4th wedding anniversary!

I thank God today for the gift of spouse - Louie. Nothing in this world would mean anything without him.

Luvsyah,
Maan

New Wedding Bands

One of the main purpose why we travelled to Singapore last March was to get our platinum wedding bands.

It's been more than a year since for Louie and two years for me since we stopped wearing our original rings. Why? Because they don't fit anymore especially when I was on the last trimester of my pregnancy with Luigi. :( I don't like to resize them cause there's a diamond stud on both. We'd rather preserve it. Anyway, my eternity ring is white gold so might as well buy something that goes with it. Ever since we've been discussing what we like our new wedding bands to look like. It was a long discussion that entails another question, "Do we have the budget???".

A year ago, the hopeful me started browsing through Lee Hwa's website for new designs that will match our old ones. We thought we've found the one among the John Rainier's collection until we saw the rings in person. It wasn't our type. Our quest for new bands was doomed. So we tried another branch in SunTec City just before meeting up with Singapore N@Wie friends for dinner - and here we found the one we like.

We're both very happy with our platinum rings - still the same design - with a diamond stud (only for the wife this time) - and it matches the thickness of my eternity ring - Louie's gift to me on our first Christmas as husband and wife.

Maan