Blast from the past!

I just drop an entry in a lazy Friday afternoon with my mini ME, whilst she brows the internet, I also have some quiet time to write about something. She loves YouTube by the way. But sometimes, we need to filter the videos she watch, not those violent or porn entries that needs parental guidance but those cartoons with some other language or those that only uses sign languages like Mr. Bean and teletubbies. And we only take out her laptop during weekends.

The past week was another riot one especially as Far-ouT had to travel back to the Philippines for 2 weeks. Sad that it wasn't such a good time because of the current weather condition in our country. Nevertheless, he was able to help in his own way by volunteering in search and rescue operations.

We also had a little sharing  of blessing in our office when one of our colleague spearheaded a donation campaign to World Food Program. I will try to get the details from her so I could post it here.

One of the highlights of my previous week was a birthday bash of our friend. It was always something to look forward to. He always wanted something glam. Hahaha!

This time around it was a blast from the past!





Eighties style includes neon clothings, leg warmers, polka dots, acid jeans, baggy blazers, etc. Its like people are still trying to find themselves then. Looking for ways to express creativity and individuality.

The first thing that I thought of about 80s was the neon clothings and the "let's get physical," Its funny that amidst my corporate slavery work loads I still manage to think about what to wear for the party. Its a good stress-buster. According to one quote I read from @ihatequotes: "Regularly having fun is a key factor in having a happly life; people who have fun are twenty times more likely to feel happy." So I am leading may life to it, even if there are some part of my life that I feel isn't right, make the most of out the other part of it.

Anyway, my inspiration was one of Anne Curtis' style during a party

   

It was a night of glamour, neon colored clothes, wigs, etc. (oh by the way, for those of you who doesn't know what etc means? Its End of Thinking Capacity - cool eh? I just learned that from a former colleague's son).

plus barrels of fun and loads of food

posing for the camera is the fun part of it all, something you can use for profile pictures on social networking sites. Haha

Back to the future on the next post

All the best,

Spending the night at Holiday Inn: A Birthday treat

A day before my birthday, Far-ouT and yours truly spent some quiet moments together, and celebrated the eve of my birthday at Holiday Inn. 

Prior to that , he took me to Dinner at Dome.

This is what my Far-ouT ordered. Fries, Salad and steak.

Mine is this. Although, rice was not included on the plates, we ordered it separately.

We  were already heading to Citimax, when I asked Far-ouT if he made a reservation and he said, no need as there are plenty of rooms. Wrong! there weren't plenty enough. We checked several options but most of them are fully booked.

Good thing, I was following Holiday Inn on Twitter and get familiar with their services. It was a long shot but good thing they still have availability around 11:30 PM! Yes, we almost didn't made it to my birthday eve and was already concerned that we'll be spending the midnight on the road.

The reservation officer was very accommodating and within few minutes, we are already in our room.

The room was cozy and well maintained. Our overnight spent at Holiday Inn was comfortable as if we are only sleeping in our own bed in our flat.

I especially love their bathroom. We do not have the usual free soap, toothpaste, toothbrush and requested the same from them and within minutes, it was sent to our room.

 

What I always love about spending the night in hotels, aside from the nice bed to sleep on, are the free breakfast and Holiday Inn made the morning of my birthday a treat!

I love this day. Thank you Holiday Inn. My 32nd Birthday was indeed a celebration. You deserve a Clap! Clap!

And of course, my look?

My purple off-shoulder blouse was paired with my pink Jacket.

My nude colored shoulder bag.

And my floral printed shoes.

Happy Birthday to Me, (Upps! I was born 6th January. This is a delayed post)

All the best,

McDonald's birthday venue

To wrap up my post for Bella's 2nd year birthday bash, we have chosen McDonald's as venue. The location was accessible to our guests as it is along the road, just beside Spinney's Bur Dubai. It could accommodate 50 guests and has a play area for kids. Their area was big and good for birthday parties.

Unlike in Manila, where you will pre-order your meal, in Dubai, your guests has the choice of getting the food they wanted during the party. However, there were no spaghetti, chicken, and others meal that you can choose from, only their burgers. (now I am missing Manila). So I told myself, Bella will not have a Mcdonald's party again in Dubai.

Before the party started, the host kept on insisting that we pre-order already because getting orders is time consuming and we only have like 2 hours for the party. What I asked them was, get the orders of the guests now and we will pre-order the others which were not present yet.

The games were for adults because we only have less than 10 kids. But our guests enjoyed the party nevertheless. But still, there's no place for parties like home.

The last of my disappointments. I was not allowed to even decorate to spruce up the place. Far-ouT and I was preparing my theme for weeks and it just ended up in the trash can. I understand that it was a Mcdonald's party but can you at least allow me to just put one pinwheel? No.

Again, I told myself, Bella will not have a Mcdonald's party in Dubai.

The Cake from Sugarbox

Cake is another frustration in Dubai. I was a little stressed about where to order the cake and luckily chance upon Sugarbox from one of my sisies from N@W, so I sent immediately the photo of the cake that I wanted but their quote to me was outrageously expensive.

But I was not surprise at all, just see how I want Bella's cake to look.

Even the cupcake photo that I sent was way beyond my budget.

I was disappointed at first for not getting the cake and cupcake designs that I wanted but then again, at the last minute, I seriously made some thinking and although the design was really nice and definitely a beauty, the practical side of it is that not everybody will be able to taste it so I chose an alternative for our guests to enjoy and at the same time save on souvenirs

We decided to visit one of their stores in Mercato Mall, Jumeirah Beach road and see what they can offer.

Aside from cakes, they also have mini cakes, simple cupcakes ranging from Dhs 12.00 to 3D design tops around Dhs 17.00 - Dhs 19.00 depending on how you wanted it to look like.

We have tasted 2 flavors, red velvet and mocha which was really yummy.

We were already set our minds to order mini cupcakes for Bella's birthday then these truffles caught my eyes.

They were yummier. I swear. Also, they have these really cute boxes.

I finally decided on ordering 100 truffles with different flavors as favors to our guests.

We also bought a cupcake stand from IKEA to placed the truffle boxes

The actual cake for Bella to blow her candles was bought separately from sugarbox, it was just on standard size, just enough for cake cutting and candle blowing to make her wishes or rather our wishes for her. I told them that a simple design will do but they were nice enough to make a cute one.

and not just the design, but the cake itself was yummy too!   

The truffles was really a treat and the cake was enough for us to enjoy for a few days. haha!

Sugarbox is highly recommended.

The Invitation

I really wanted something different for Bella's invitation as always. However, celebrating in Mc Donald's left me with no choice but use what they can offer. The usual invitation. Since I am trying to make a theme out of Mcdonald's birthday party, I tried to make the invites more lively for our guests.

Looking for the right materials in Dubai is really frustrating. Not all stuff are available in the market. These are one of the days that I miss Divisoria. We've been to every party shops and bookstore but to no avail. Good thing, we were able to find something from Magrudy's

Though it was not very ideal for pinwheels, it was way better and cheaper that any other choices that we have seen. With Far-ouT cooperation and creativeness, we were able to make the invites nicer.

The next big thing is up next.

Birthday Venue

Again, the last minute preparation in me took over once again so now, I am not in the position to choose anything at all. I am left with few options. Mcdonald's Jumeirah Beach Road and Mcdonald's Spinney's in Bur Dubai. I want to hit myself for not inquiring earlier, Friday and Saturday are fully booked already so we were left with Sunday option, which mind you is a working day in Dubai. Arrrgh! I was actually, thinking of booking Mcdonald's Jumeirah branch because it is near our office, however, since the Mcdonald's in Spinney's Bur Dubai is nearer our place, we decided to hold Bella's party there.

Awww, my Bella will be 2 years old in a few weeks.

She is learning to talk now, thank God!

Anyway, when I inquired on both branches, one thing I noticed is that, the crew in the Jumeirah Beach road branch are more accommodating than the ones in the Spinney's Bur Dubai branch. I was already on the verge of backing out because they have a lot of dont's. One, I can only bring cake. Two, I cannot have a theme of my own except Mcdonald's which I understand but don't intend to follow. Sorry, but I have plans and lots of pinwheels! I don't think it will affect Mr Mcdonald's at all. Three, they only have Hamburglar as their mascot! Excuse me, but he is not so pretty at all! Four, I cannot bring extra balloons. They said, they will prepare everything for us. But I want to bring extra balloons to spruce up the place! I cannot even design my centertable. I was getting frustrating but then again, I have to look at the bright side of things.

This branch can accommodate maximum of 50 pax, unlike the other one which is limited to 40 pax.

They also have play area for the kids, party venue is located on the 2nd floor though but it really doesn't matter.

It much cheaper to hold party in Mcdonald's. I do not have to prepare the invitations, souvenirs, host, party hats. They have games, music, treats and entertainment. So I have to put aside my ideas just for this one, but not all. Mcdonald's in Dubai have limited foods as well, they do not have what we have in the Philippines like spaghetti, Rice and Chicken with Gravy and other foods that kids will surely enjoy and unfortunately, were also not allowed to bring. Its not what I wanted but this is what we have right now so make the most out of it again.

All we did was to pay Dhs 100.00 as reservation fee and just show up on the day of the party. This is the first time that I will have a Mcdonald's party and the first time that I am not the hands-on on party planning but I hope that Bella will enjoy her party. Its hers anyway.

Their party package includes

• Celebrant's gift
• Goody bags for kids
• Party Games: 3-4 games and Prizes for the winners
• Mcdonaldland Character appearance (hamburglar)
• free party favors (Invitation cards, party hats, balloons, decorations)

Should you wish to hold your kids party in Mcdonald's Spinneys in Bur Dubai, you may contact them at telephone number 04-3592213.

Hope that Mcdonald's will make my Bella's party a hit! Just like her first.

 

2nd birthday Preparations

I know! I know! I have lots of backlogs from my posts. I have recent food trippings these past few days but I want to reserve those for some other time and make way for what's more important event coming my way. I am awaiting the arrival of my dearest Bella. At last! After 7 months of absence I can't wait to see and hug my daughter again.

But then again, due to excitement, I forgot to prepare that she will also be celebrating her 2nd birthday on June 4! Omigosh! It totally slip my mind! Good thing, Far-ouT was the one who reminded me on where to celebrate it.

Honestly, its difficult to prepare parties in Dubai, aside from the fact that you have limited options, sad that we will not be able to celebrate the occasion with your family and friends but still, we have to be thankful with what we have at the moment and make the most out of it.

To start of, to make it easier for me, I always use 2 guidelines. First, as I have mentioned during my recent event preparation, every time I am start my preps, I always think of my theme, always my guide to incorporate all my ideas at the end of the day. Secondly, I scout for possible suppliers, this is where my ever reliable N@W comes in for the inspiration.

Bella's first birthday party was a hit! I love all the details of it. Honestly, I am not fond of the usual theme for girls, Disney princess, Dora, etc. I want something unique but cost effective. After a few options, I finally decided on my theme. I had to consider that Bella's birthday falls on summer in Dubai which is definitely hot already. Not very ideal for outdoor party.  But I wanted something summery. So Whimsical summer party came up! and everything about pinwheel!

I love this table set-up, fun-loving mood for the summer table.

These thank you cards are simply fabulous.

and so is this.

What about this party favors?

I am still in the process of deciding which from these 4 beautiful cakes I'd choose

A

B

C

D

From the above 4 designs, which one would you choose?

I am loving pinwheels!

Pinwheels makes me happy, indeed.

More to come.