Birthday party invitation #4

This February, It's Patrick's time to turn ONE!

He is our next door neighbor and the last among Neo's stroller friends to breach year one. Evo, another one from the pack just celebrated his first birthday last February 1. Wow, time is speedy! Parang kailan lang puro pa sila stroller riders converging everyday around the neighborhood for morning sunshine. Now all of them, MOTMOT, EVO, NEO and PATRICK are now walking, and soon running! Yay!

By the way, Val offered to cover Patrick's party.

Watta Weekend

I attended three affairs this weekend. Saturday afternoon, KC's first birthday party. Saturday evening, FEB IPDD get together. Sunday, the christening of Oyo (the baby of Val's brother).

First up, KC's party. The venue - Jollibee Novaliches. Haaay! Ganun pala sa Tandang Sora! Sobra traffic. I was able to hitch with my boss going there. Linda was also with us. We arrived at the venue past 4PM na. We stayed for a little while and watched some of the party program. After fast tracking out jollibee meal, we bade our goodbyes.

From Novaliches, we picked up Chris from Katipunan and then proceeded to Alabang. Buti nalang wala traffic. The call time for this party was 5PM, we arrived mga around 8PM na. Pero OK lang naman. Present in the party were Pat, Lani, Sol, Nony, Jen, Riel and Katryna. We headed for home mga 11:00 PM. This party was hosted by my and our former boss in Far East Bank.

After staying late last night, ang hirap bumagon! Val said and he have arranged to pick up Mama at 5:30 AM pero we got to Pandacan around 8AM na. And because of the delays, we were not able to witness the christening ceremony. Closing rites nalang then picture taking after. The binyag was at the church inside Fernando airbase and the reception was at Kuya's house.

At the church, we let Neo practice walking in the grass. Kaya lang natumba. Umiyak ng umiyak, But he's OK.

At the house reception, he was very irritable and he cried almost non-stop. Di pa kasi nakakatulog. I didn't enjoy my eating. The handa were lechon, lumpiang shanghai, menudo, beef mechado, roast beef, escabecheng tilapia.

We left Batangas at 2PM and reached the house at 5PM after going to the grocery for Neo's weekly supply.

Sobra nakakapagod!

A Very Long Wednesday

Morning....

is our breakfast birthday surprise for our boss at O'Boy Cafe, West Tektite

Noon ....

I am scheduled to have a haircut at Shunji Matsuo in Kapitolyo with Bebe. (Samantalahin an din ang pag blower para sa party mamaya)

Night....

is our boss' formal birthday affair at Le Souffle, The Fort

Apart from office work and duties, and some on the spot requirements, above are my activities this Wednesday. Haaay, hectic no?

I kicked off today getting up at 5:30AM. As I have still lots to before going to work , I have requested the yaya to come in early. After I finished the little boy's bottles, I prepared the things I will need for tonight's party. i.e. my dress, my shoes, make-up etc. And then off to work at 7 AM bringing with me the cake for the birthday surprise.

At the surprise venue (O'Boys, 4F West Tektite) I coordinated the sequence with Chris and Bebe. There were slight changes in our program because our celebrant was late. Anyway, overall, it was a success. Our hired musicians made nice renditions, our gifts (I can tell) were appreciated and most of all our boss was surprised with our surprise!

Around 11:30 AM, Bebe and I left the office for our scheduled haircut at SUNJI MATSUO in Kapitolyo. We were attended quickly naman by William Wong, the International Director of the hair studio. We were finished by 1:15 0r 1:30 PM. By the way, I got a bob. When we exited the parlor, we can see na medyo mahirap ang taxi. We walked towards Shaw Blvd and lo! super jam packed. We were in the middle of Kapitolyo and Shaw for almost two hours, walking here and there, hailing taxis with growling stomachs. Grabe. And because wala na talaga way kung hindi maglakad or mag tricycle, we we went nalang sa pila ng tricycle. At buti nalang pumayag yung driver to take us all the way sa gilid ng Tektite. Hay, what an experience and a tiring one at that.

Thirty minutes before we arrived, I just breezed the tiangge to get a tube. My dress for tonight has a low neck line kasi. I got one naman, black.

And then we prepared for the party. Once dressed, Chris and I headed first to Le Souffle. We will be at the reception desk for ushering functions. The party of the boss was fun, with old friends there. There was a band playing and dancing too. I went home, Val picked me up at 11:00 PM.

When we got home, Neo was deep in sleep with Ruthie watching over.

Monday errands

I took a lunch trip to Megamall to accomplish the following:

1. Pick-up album from PICTURE BOOK. I submitted this for lay-out and printing last Friday.
2. Bought frame 13' by 18'
3. Got black tights
4. Bought black sling back heels
5. Hello Kitty pink dress

SIDE NOTES :
- #1 is a gift to our boss for her 50th birthday. #2 is for her blow-up picture, another gift.
- #3 &4 are to complete my get up for the boss' formal birthday party on Dec 17 at Le Souffle
- #5 is for KC's 1st birthday on December 20. (see invitation and details from my older posts)
- only jamaican patty for lunch

Our weekend

OUR SATURDAY

Laundry...
which we didn't finish because we had to prepare going to the pedia.

Pedia schedule...
where we were number 14 on the patient's list.

Everything is A OK for us and the little boy. Dra. Gomez administered the Hepa A vaccine on this visit. Neo cried, pero sandali lang. No concerns to discuss, only the usual update on Neo's developments. The dra empasized toothbrushing. Next schedule is on February for the mumps shots. Yey! we are doing so far so good!

And it went on again. Neo is afraid of elevators. I noticed this when he was about 10 months. He is restless during rides. On his 11th month visit, he cried. In November, he cried. This time, he didn't cry but he hugged me and laid his head on my chest, obviously afraid. I hope he will outgrow this soon.

Since it was already lunch time and Ritzie, our ride back, is not yet done with her thing, we went down to the food court for lunch. Ner had tapa and apple C2 and I got hungry hippo burger with fries and iced tea. Neo liked the french fries, he nibbled three sticks.

We were finally picked up by Val who excused himself from work because of a bad knee. Ner had another bad stomach attack. Sent her home shortly after we arrived at the house.

At past 4:00 PM Ritzie, Val, myself and Neo boy arrived at the venue of Renzo's 1st birthday party Marikina. The party host and Renzo's mom, Lisa, welcomed us at the gate. And because we are early, we were given advanced servings of mini turon! yum, yum! The food was so masarap (spaghetti, lechon kawali, fish fillet, embutido, fried chicken, bbq, lumpia, fruit salad and buko pandan) and the party was fun. SUMATRA nga lang heading there and going back. Val played photog again. Neo was awake throughout.

OUR SUNDAY

Because we had a long day yesterday, Neo and I can't seem to drag ourselves up early. I wasn't able to prepare anything for lunch so Ruthie just brought home chicken inasal. After lunch, I continued on what was left with the laundry.

We left the apartment around 3PM to go Ritzie's condo. She had to attend to something and while waiting, Neo got engaged with the kids and teenagers playing in the patio. He went after the kid's basketbal which was still too heavy for him to lift, but he tried and did anyway.

From the condo, we made a short stop at Chowking for halo-halo.

Before heading home, we stopped by Layers and Layers cake shop to place the order of my boss' birthday cake. At so short a notice, I was relieved that they still took my request. Cake to be picked up on Tuesday (around 7PM) just in time for the blowing on Wednesday morning.

Coming from a photo event, Val rounded us from the cake shop and proceeded to Pioneer Centre for our weekend groceries.

SIDE NOTES: Gravity Games was where Val went. It is a skateboarding event held at Meralco Ortigas. He won a pair of Tribu shoes by raffle.

Birthday party invitation #3

We received another birthday party invitation! And this is the third for Neo. The celebrant, Renzo is the baby of Ritzie's officemate and friend Lisa.

Birthday party invitation # 2

This is the second birthday party invitation for Neo. It's KC's first birthday! Caitlyn Claire is the daughter of my officemate Jen and husband Noel. They were present during Neo's birthday party too. Cutey baby, noh?

The birthday, the preparation, the details

Early on, I mentioned that I might detail our preparations for Neo's first birthday party. I did it! Here goes and read on....

Val and I initially planned to celebrate Neo’s first birthday with just a quiet lunch or dinner with immediate family. And then we realized, what are we thinking! First birthday parties are grand occasions and we don't want our son to miss having one. And so, plan we did. Contrary to the usual fun fare of kiddie parties with clowns, mascots and games, we wanted ours to be fun and simple, special and personal, attended by family and the closest of friends. Much of a thanksgiving party for a wonderful year and a simple kick-off to the next.

The theme

Like every party, there should be a theme. Neo’s birthday party should have a theme! We have toyed and considered several character themes like Baby Einstein, Barnyard, the Matrix, Finding Nemo (to be changed to Finding NEO), etc. but nothing among them we liked. We wanted Neo’s to be original, no movie or cartoon characters for him yet. Eventually, I conceived the idea of NEO is ONE , O – N – E scrambled to N – E – O. We asked a special favor from Tina Dominguez, a graphic artist from Ritzie's office, to design on what will be the "birthday ID". And then I chose the blue-green color combination.

The venue

CLUB CAFÉ, Makati Sports Club, L.P. Leviste cor. Gallardo Sts., Salcedo Village, Makati City

In August, when my sisters and I watched the play “Cinderella” at the CCP, we had lunch at Harbour Square. I liked the place because of the view and saw that there was an Iceberg restaurant branch in the complex. At that point I said to myself that Neo’s first birthday will be done there. I have inquired on the rates and even initially requested the blocking off of the date. I related our trip to Val and laid my preliminary plans to him. He said that he has yet to see the place before he agrees. But, when we went to Harbour Square two weeks after he did not like it. So back to square one and onwards to our next search.

I have inquired with several restaurants and venues e.g. Fazoli’s (Eastwood), The Old Spaghetti House (Libis), Pizza Hut Bistro (Libis), Heaven and Eggs (Libis) , the Palladium function room (Pasig), ATV resort (Novaliches) but none satisfied our qualifications.

And then Val inquired rates from Makati Sports Club, Inc. (MSCI). We got a good deal that fitted our budget and the location is neutral to most of our intended guests. So when Val took me to the place for the oculars we have decided to set the venue there. The place is small but appropriate since we only planned to host around 50 to 60 guests.

The invitation

Again, we wanted a different kind of invitation. Something cute, not like the usual square or rectangular-shaped, flip-open versions. Following the NEO is ONE theme and the color combination, Tina laid-out and completed the whole invite with the detailed party information. The invitations, shaped as the #1 showed NEO is ONE on the front cover, the birthday date, and a cute drawing of a birthday cup cake. The back carried the line “JOIN US FOR SOME BIRTHDAY FUN”, the address of MSCI and the time of the lunch party. The back was also decorated with balloons and a single -candled birthday cake. Please note that each invitation was painstakingly cut to the shape of the number! We liked the outcome very much! For the envelopes, I bought blue ones (only light blue and scented available) from National Bookstore. When I ran short, I bought white nalang from Pioneer Center grocery. We started distributing the invites around two weeks before November 8.

The cake, the cupcakes and the cookies

The cake, the mini cake, 15 cupcakes and 15 #1 -shaped cookies were all done by Layers and Layers Cakes by Arlene (11C West Capitol Drive, Pasig City). We placed our orders on as early as October 05 c/o Cherry.

The carrot flavored cake was set in fondant icing with stars and balloon accents. The topper was the NEO is ONE birthday ID and beside it is a baby figure (we have actually instructed for a little boy in jumpers to match the cupcakes). The colors followed the blue and green motif with some touches of yellow.The mini cake was also carrot flavored in fondant. A supposed replica of the main cake.

The cupcakes were chocolate with kid smiling faces toppers.

The cookies were made and shaped as the #1 birthday ID. I ordered a styro stand for good presentation.

the guests

We really wanted a small group of 50. Our very selected list went over 80. The actual attendees reached more than 60.

The birthday poem

I made a poem specially for Neo's birthday. Several versions were drafted and below was the final:
__________________

NEO is ONE
by mommy

years ago I didn’t know you were coming
but in my heart you’re the one I have been yearning
twelve months ago on this same day you came
“papa’s look-alike” was all I can hear them exclaim
in december you were a handful to have
but I never complained because you’re my true love
the new year brought out new things from you
in february taking care of you was all I wanted to do
march came and april too, the days breezed fast,
you were 5 months at last!
we started in may with your first solids and cerelac
june and july with your added “likot”, I still couldn't relax
it was august when I first heard you say “ma- mmie!”
and then in september, we were delighted to play with our one- toothed baby!
and just last month I noticed you have grown so big
with cute little steps and a really strange speech

the months flew fast and it was all so fun
HAPPY BIRTHDAY my baby, my NEO is ONE!
_______________

We printed the copies of the poem in hard paper sheets and placed it in the tables for guest reading.

the get-up

We have personalized two birthday t-shirts for the birthday boy. Tina designed the “Birthday ko Ngayon” shirt and was custom made by Golden Fabric together and the “#1 /NEO jersey” shirt. Val also donned a #1/VAL jersey to match Neo's. Denim pants and socks from the Tektite tiangge and pelican crocs given by Ninang Chris completed Neo's get- up for the day.

the balloons and venue set-up

The metallic blue-green-silver balloon table arrangements, floating balloons for the ceiling, clusters for the stairway and loose balloons with ribbons are works of Jacque Tan - Party Boosters.

We have accentuated the table arrangements with the NEO is ONE cut-outs and clipped it in star wood stands. MSCI dressed up the tables with dark green and royal blue table cloths. The wall trimmings were also in blue and green.

the pinata

We ordered the pinata from LOBO, REGALO, ATBP. A party shop located at Sta. Rosa St., in Kapitolyo. Again, it's design was patterned from the central theme. We filled it with candies and some old simple toys that we seldom see anymore e.g. paper balls, whistles, tops, duratsa, flyingT, slide puzzles, magic cards, jackstones! I collected punched papers from my office and shreded an old magazine to complete the effect when we let lose the pinata.

the favours for kids

teddy bears
I was bargaining teddy bears from a seller in ebay but she won't give it to me at the price I wanted. It was such luck that the same "breed" of bears were being sold in the Tektite tiangge! I bought my required lot at a price much lower! goody good ! I attached NEO is ONE small cut-outs on the tags.

the candy boxes
The boxes were from NOVO store in Cavite. We filled it up with candies bought by Ruthie from the grocery.

the favours for grown-ups

Originally intended as loot bags. But I thought further. The "katsa" totes can be put to practical use by the adults so we made it the give-away for everyone. We inserted a "thank you for coming" card inside. To give a personal touch and added effect, I traced Neo's hand on each card and then Val and I signed too.

The bags were made thru the kind coordination of Tata Ritzie (again) with Chateau Marketing.

the tarpaulin banner

This was a disappointment. First, a friend of Val's volunteered to make it for us. A week before Nov 08, we were advised that it cannot be delivered. Second, Val made a version himself and sent it to a shop in Pioneer Center for rush printing. When we picked it up on the eve of the birthday, we were dismayed that his instructions were not carried out the way he wanted. There was no choice and no time so we settled with this design....

the buffet

Val selected the food combination. On the buffet spread were ......

Appetizer - Mojos with Zesty Garlic Dip
Fish - Fish Foldover (rolled fish with ham and cheese with white sauce)
Chicken - Roast Garlic Chicken with gravy
Pork - Lechon de Leche (Ping-Ping's, a gift from Val's Auntie Lydia)
Pasta - Baked Spaghetti
Vegetables - Sauteed Vegetables with oyster sauce
Dessert - Fresh fruit bowl and a chocolate fountain set-up
Drinks - Only one round of iced tea .We brought in bottles of various flavored C2

The table was set on the terrace of the Club Cafe with a good view of the large swimming pool.

the MTV

Timeline productions was so kind to arrange for us (or Ritzie) an edited compilation of Neo's pictures as he went through his first months. The presentation came complete with music and background works.

But we have a main AVP. Presentation done by Val. Sequence, captions and wordings by me.

Whew! Well, that's about it.Anything I forgot, I will edit and add later.

I would like to thank my sisters who have been very helpful and supportive in the preparations.

Neo is One

Neo waking up on the day of his birthday.

For me and Val, more sensational than any newspaper headlines on November 8, 2008 and far more important than the most confidential mission in the world is Neo's first birthday party. The celebration came about as we have planned and envisioned it to be. Although there were some invited guests who have failed to come, the special day was well attended by family and closest friends.

We started the celebration with a brief prayer.
-----------------------
Lord Jesus and Mama Mary
As we celebrate this special day, we would also like to remember Neo's twin sister who is also celebrating her first birthday with you in heaven
We thank you for the beautiful weather
We thank you for the food we are to partake
We thank you for the fun we are going to have
and most especially, we thank you for all the special people here present
We pray that you will continue to bless us today and always
------------------------
(I became emotional that I almost cried and led the prayers with jitters.)

The guests proceeded with lunch.

Neo was in a happy mode that day as if he really knew that he was the "bida".

Halfway thru lunch, we have presented the video that we have prepared. It showed Neo's first months and our credits to the special people who have been part of Neo's first year.

I have distributed little number 1 cut-outs for the guests to write their special wishes and notes to the celebrant. I am meaning to lay these wishes in a scapbook and give it as a gift to Neo when he is old enough to read and understand the short letters and also so that he will know who were the people present during his first birthday.

Shortly after, we prepared for the blowing of the cake. We have asked the few kids present to put on the party hats and gather around the cake table to sing "happy birthday".

After the cake, we pulled the strings of the pinata. The kids scavaged for the little treats that were littered on the floor.

It was a fun celebration , if I may blog.

Happy Birthday Neo and many many more to come!