surprise! surprise!

my surprise party was a success!!! i am so happy and bernard was so touched and... hmmm... surprised! hehehe!

my honey's birthday was last sunday, feb 27, but since i didn't want a sunday night party, i opted to hold his surprise party on the night of the 26th instead. isa pa, i think mas dramatic to have him blow his cake at exactly 12 midnight so 26 na talaga.

although i've been planning this since last year, it was only three weeks ago when i (and my mom, syempre, the ultimate party host) finally decided to have the party. the first person i told my daddy, jojie's dad tapos yung family ni jojie and then his friends.

fast forward to feb 26... jojie and i woke up really early because we were going to the hospital for daddy's tests and checkup. because matagal ang tests niya, and pila sa doctor's clinic, and ang pila sa pharmacy, i arrived at my parents' home around 1:00 na. when i got there, i immediately set to work. the menudo was being marinated na (my mom was making the menudo) and i focused naman on the pinanyahang manok. we made sure that the ingredients for shabu shabu was already prepared. around 3pm, i went to the supermarket to buy last minute stuff. nag-order na rin ako ng cake, pancit malabon, and inihaw na bangus (we were supposed to make the inihaw na bangus but one of our helpers, yung taga-luto talaga namin, took the weekend off). after making sure that i had all the ingedients and complete ko na ang dishes, i scouted for a flower shop. i didn't have time na kasi to go to dangwa kaya ordinaryong flower shop na lang kahit mejo mahal, at least malapit lang at di na ko mag-ga-gasolina. i was able to buy gerberas. ang ganda nung gerbera pero yung stem mejo hindi na matigas. the flower shop owner, tito joey (o di ba close kami kahit na nun ko lang siya nakilala), taught me how to use wire to make sure na nakatayo yung gerberas sa vase. i also bought flower foam from him. on the way home, i passed by gazebo royale to buy silica sand (yung white na sand).

when i got home, i started preparing the roof deck. i set up the tables and the chairs (dineliver a couple of hours before). buti na nga lang yung ibang crew ng papa ko andun pa so sa kanila na lang pina-ayos ng papa ko yung tables at mejo mabigat rin yun. when my mom saw na maalikabok yung chairs, kumuha siya ng pamunas at isa-isa niyang pinunasan yung mga silya (o diba, ang bait ng mama ko!). after a while, diosa and marvin (w@wie friends) arrived. dinala ko na sila sa roofdeck para makapag-billiards muna sila habang naghihintay but diosa, ever-reliable diosa, offered to help. although i don't normally trust other people (hehe!), i knew diosa wold do a good job kasi pareho kami niyan eh, ma-OC rin (btw, she was one of my friends who coordinated our wedding and kasama ko rin siya sa business namin) so i entrusted the table centerpieces with her. pinakita ko lang sa kanya kung paano yung gusto ko tapos siya na yung gumawa. we used the vases i borrowed from balay kandila (super love ko talaga sila ronald at tisha, biruin mo pinahiram pa ako ng vases. isang tawag lang yun, walang hesitation, pinapunta nila ako kaagad para mamili ng vases na gusto ko). ang ganda ng kinalabasan nung centerpieces ko, yung classic balay kandila setup na bulaklak na nasa tubig at may sand sa baba. instead of putting paraffin oil, though, since i wasn't able to buy the wick balay kandila uses (mahal eh!), i had candles na lang put in small glass jars (the ones na natira from my gel candle favors) tapos for every table (each tables was rectangular and seats six) had the ala-BK centerpiece and two candles. ang galing ni diosa!

around 5:00, the san mig keg arrived. sobrang hassle-free talaga yun, yung delivery people pa yung nag-setup sa roofdeck so wala talaga kaming prinoblema.

around 6:00, i was already in a panic, hindi pa tapos lahat but i needed to go home na to pick up jojie (i told him that i was in shangri la for a meeting with diosa, abie, dowa, and teenee). syempre naka-uwi ako 6:30 na and akala ko galit na siya kasi ang alam niya we were having dinner with his family at cravings katipunan at 7:00. hindi naman siya galit. buti na lang i also had the presence of mind to ask his sister to tell him kunyari that they will be late.

when i got home, i took a bath na agad. and then, while jojie was making sure that all the windows were locked, etc, i told him na mauuna na ako sa kotse. when i got to the parking lot, inayos ko na yung kotse and when he got down, he was surprised to see me in the driver's seat. i motioned him to sit in the passenger's seat. nagulat siya pero he complied. pag upo niya, sabi ko, "ako na lang drive, upo ka lang jan at pikit ka." tapos i used a hanky to blindfold him. sabi niya, "naku! ano naman ito?" sabi ko, "basta surprise, wag ka alala, sandali lang ito, mga 5 minutes lang. hindi tayo male-late for the dinner." and we took off.

the whole time we were driving (around 7 minutes lang naman from our place to my parents place eh), he was trying to guess where we were going. sabi niya pa, baka raw mag di-dinner lang naman kami sa roofdeck (i did that na kasi on our 3rd month-sary). sabi ko, "eh paano na sila daddy, papunta na yun ng cravings?" "oo nga no," sagot naman niya, "hmmmm..."

the funny thing was when we were near my parents place na, may dinaanan kaming lubak na may takip na bakal. narinig niya yung tunog nung bakal at sabi niya, "ha! papunta nga tayo kina mama, hindi ko makakalimutan yung lubak na yun. un lang ang lubak na ganun!" sobra na akong tawang-tawa pero pigil na pigil.

when we got na to my parents house, i made him go down the car. sabi niya, "tignan mo, paakyat na(sa garage ito), sa inyo lang ito eh." "hon, wag kang maingay, maririnig tayo nila mama, may surprise lang ako sa iyo, hindi ko kasi pwedeng pa-deliver sa atin kaya dito ko na lang pina-deliver"

when we got to the roofdeck, everybody was there na. jojie still had his blindfold on. pinatayo ko siya sa harap ng lahat and then asked him to remove his blindfold para makita niya na yung surprise ko and he was really surprised! nagulat siya kasi andun pa yung high school friends niya (whom he seldom sees). he was so touched and happy. nakakatuwa. i was really happy because i knew that that was his first every birthday party na party talaga. :)

my husband is an introvert and he once confided to me that he's natataranta when he needs to entertain many people from different groups but that night, parang nawala yun. he was able to mingle with his guests. naging biglang party person ang aking asawa! hahaha!

the party went well, i think. :) the guests seemed to have a great time. we had lots of food. akala ko nung una kukulangin pero ang dami pang natira.

by 10:30, jojie was mejo tipsy na. it as probably the firts time i saw him tipsy. :)

around 11:50, i went to the kitchen to get the cake. by this time, yung mga pamilya namin tulog na (jojie's family already left) kaya friends na lang ang natira. jojie was seated with don paul, his bestman, and paul realized na 12 midnight na at wala raw ako. kakatuwa si paul kasi parang nanghinayang siya na wala ako sa tabi ni jojie ng midnight. eksakto naman umakyat na ako, dala ko yung cake, with candles, of course. gusto ko kasi maraming candles so aside from the numerical candles, meron pa akong blue na maliit na candles. when his friends saw me at the stairs, they stopped muna their billiards game and their singing (nagvi-videoke sila) and sang jojie happy birthday. na-surprise na naman ang asawa ko. :)

the last guests left at 3:00 a.m. ito talaga funny kasi around 2:30, jojie was telling don paul pa na umalis na. sabi niya, "pare, birthday ko, gusto kong makipag-sex." syempre hindi umaalis si don paul. tipsy na rin kasi kaya kung anu-ano na ang pinagsasabi. mga bandang alas-tres, hindi na gustong makipag-sex ni jojie, gusto niya nang matulog pero wala pa ring balak umalis si paul (inaantok na rin si percy, yung misis ni paul). sobrang funny kasi si paul at yung mga hirit niya tawang-tawa talaga ako kaya sa akin, okay lang na hindi pa sla umalis. pero si jojie talaga naman naasar na! hahaha! sabi niya sa kanyang kaibigan, "p***** i*** pare, gusto ko nang matulog umalis ka na, pwede ba!" hahaha! nakakatawa silang dalawa! :)

paul and percy left soon after and that endeth my husband's celebration of his birthday. :)