Sunday, June 28, 2009

Richard's Birthday Weekend

Richard's birthday was on the same weekend as Father's day so it was a two-day-long celebration for my dear hubby -- er, make that a week-long celebration because the festivities started earlier pala when he went on a business trip to Manila on that same week. It all started with dinner at Kanin Club with mom, dad, my brothers and tita Lori; and dinner with mama, his brother Eric and his wife Tata at Dencio's.
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My family also prepared a small surprise for Richard when they brought him back to his hotel -- he received a load of gifts from mom, dad and my brothers :) He was so thrilled when he got them, he called me right away! But I actually knew about the surprise already because mom consulted me for gift ideas.
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Richard's loot from Manila. He didn't open them right away; he said he'll wait till he gets back so we can open them together. Isn't that sweet?
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Opening gift #1.
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A pair of Chucks from Mick.
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Perfect fit!
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Gift #2.
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Sanuk from mom and dad.
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Gift #3.
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Havaianas from Jof.
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And a sweet note from my favorite 2nd brother :)
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To dad, mom, Mick and Jof, thank you for the gifts! Richard loved all of them and they fit perfectly :) He was really touched by the gesture and you made him very happy! We love you!
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I'm ashamed to say that as of today, Aly and I still do not have a birthday gift for Richard. Heehee! We've been hunting for possible gifts weeks before his birthday, and though we've already marked a few prospects, we still haven't found something that we think my husband will really like. Asking him what kind of gift he wants is useless because he won't cooperate much. He always tells us that we (Aly and I) are his greatest gifts and he doesn't need anything else. I still try to make him pilit but with no success. Hay...but I'm not giving up! Hopefully we'll find something at the tech fair that we're going to this weekend. A new netbook, perhaps?
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Since I didn't have any gift, I tried to make bawi by preparing a special lunch. I baked him a chocolate cake.
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aI know I said before that I won't make chocolate cake anymore because the frosting always comes out wrong. Well, I decided to give it another try...and it still came out palpak. Haha!
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The taste was ok, but the consistency of the frosting was not perfect so I had to take a photo before it started melting. Sayang, I used Royce chocolates pa naman.
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I also prepared chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. Got the recipe from Yummy magazine :) I am also proud to say that I learned how to truss a chicken (thanks to Google and Expert Village Videos)! That's why the chicken still looked nice after roasting for more than an hour in the oven.
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Ofcourse, no birthday will be complete in the Valdez household without noodles (or in this case, pasta) for long life! Here, I prepared a spicy version of my Grilled Sausage Pomodoro Pasta.
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Merienda will be at Jianna's birthday party, but we also brought chocolate chip cookies and brownies, which I baked. Guests were asked to come in kiddie costume, but Richard and I didn't have any so we just decided to come in a group costume. Our inspiration: Aly's play clothes. Hehe!
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Valdez family in matching pink shirts, cut-offs and Chucks :)
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When we returned, there was a cake waiting for us courtesy of Oakwood.
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Make a wish, sweetie!
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A kiss for the birthday boy :)
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What a nice ending to a great day! Happy birthday again sweetie! May you have more years and many more blessings to come. We love you!

2 comments:

Diwata said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY RICHARD!!!

Domestic Goddess said...

Thank you, teacher Dee! :)