an Aby birthday

the blessings just came pouring in.

i swear, i have never been so overwhelmed the week of my birthday.

It's An Explosion! (yuck, baduy! hehe)

it all began with a text message from robert (rareimages) last monday, just two days shy of my bday. he told me to check the FPC site and discussion thread because - take this - I JUST WON FIRST PRIZE IN OUR FIREWORKS FUN PHOTO CONTEST! as i mentioned in my previous post, i never expected to win. so my initial reaction was total disbelief.

"Ows?? Talaga?" were the first two words in my text reply.

i had a feeling robert isn't the type to joke about these things but i still couldn't believe the good news. i think his reply to my questions went sort of like this - "Oo. No Kidding. :)"

wow...WOW!

i never won first prize at anything!

i did win a different online photo contest but there were a lot of winners that time so this most recent one is different.

a few hours later, i was able to check the discussion thread. and sure enough, i won 1st place! :)

the winning photo

and thanks to the generosity of celina_d and joel, i got a GC from Ceragem Philippines and a 1-year Flickr Pro Account respectively! thanks again, guys! i've always wanted a Pro account but my current finances can't support it (plus the fact that i don't have a credit card ^_^.)

the next few days, i was finally able to update my photo sets. :)

the Flickr meet was included in the FPC blog, along with the results of the contest. pat (Hocchuan) even linked to my blog post. aand speaking of blogs, the guys (robert and pat) invited me to be a contributor to the FPC blog. what an honor! :)

i still pinch myself until now.

RRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG!

the morning of my bday (Oct 18), my family surprised me with a brand new Nokia 6020! i couldn't believe it! (again!)

my old phone, a beat-up Nokia 6510, has been begging to be replaced for a looooong time. again, because of my current financial state (i sound like a broken record), a new cellphone is just out of the budget.

i think my family felt my (and my phone's) pain and chipped in for the new phone.

wow, first prize, a Flickr Pro account, Ceragem GC, a new cellphone....i must be dreaming!

thankfully, i wasn't :D

i felt like a kid in a candy store. better yet, i felt like a kid opening her Christmas gifts and getting everything she ever wished for. sniff.

Magnifico!

since tonet was still in Pampanga last wednesday, i decided to move my family celebration to sunday and spent the rest of my day with the SOLV sisters.

flor, my cellgroup leader, gathered the other members and a few sisters for our dinner get-together in A Veneto, Glorietta. perfect because i love Italian food. (next to chocolate, of course. hehe.)

i thought it would just be our cellgroup, so imagine my surprise when ate marla, an "institution" in the community (as i joked her), irene, and ems joined us for dinner. i was honored that they were there to celebrate my bday.

ate marla, flor, and irene

we still had a hang-over from our recent sisterhood (my next post!), an obvious observation from the general discussion that night. we talked about the games, the sharings, our love languages, and other anecdotes that made us burst out laughing.

ems, ross, and leah

we had a great time and the food was terrific!

we had seafood pasta in tomato sauce, assorted pizzas, and another tomato pasta dish with chicken cutlets. mm-mm-mmmm!

ang takaw ko no? :)

ang paglamon ni ross (hehe)

when we were almost done eating, the sisters gave an honoring. it has been a while since i was the receiptient to our community tradition and it really felt encouraging and humbling to know how much i touched the lives of my sisters, particularly during those moments that i've taken for granted.

group peeectuuuure!

we closed the night with the restaurant's Decadent Cake garnished with the words, "Happy Birthday" in sweet caramel icing.

happy birthday to meeh!

Tayo na sa Tiendesitas...

i capped off my week-long bday celebration with my family at Tiendesitas last sunday.

mama and i went ahead (since we attended an anticipated mass the day before, separately) to Tiendesitas. while waiting for papa and my sisters (they went to mass at Christ the King), we went around the tiangges (me, searching for new cellphone accessories) and spent the rest of the time watching the awarding ceremonies in the cat show (didn't catch the title of the event, though).

right after the show, mama and i met up with the rest of the family and headed for the food court for dinner. the menu? grilled liempo, sinigang, and tuna belly!


while eating our sumptuous dinner, we watched the live band sing songs from yesteryears. oldies but goodies, indeed.

we spent the rest of the night checking out the other stores, particularly the pet shops. if you're a pet lover, you better check out these rows of shops. they have everything, from pet accessories, clothes, grooming, toys, gadgets, food, and even photography! the only thing they don't have is an inhouse vet.

adorable doggie booties ^_^

it's doggie retail heaven!

Tiendesitas is also a pet-friendly area. my sisters and i actually look forward to seeing the dogs visitors bring with them, rather than checking out the celebrities (you'll always spot one when you're there.)

pet avenue

cuuuuutttteeee! :)

a favorite pet shop of ours has a big display window with different animals featured everyday. that time, there were two adorable poodles.

i had a grand time watching them play with each other. they looked so cute in their outfits that a lot of people were taking their photos (me included).


we went to another pet store that had Chow-Chows and Bulldogs (tonet's favorite breed.) they even had my favorite - the Siberian Husky. the staff allowed us to carry two of the dogs. i was seriously thinking of dognapping the Chow-Chow. i mean, who can resist that face??? :D


Whew!

what a week! it was definitely an Aby birthday for me! ^_~