Yay! My Birthday!

Yay! I had a great time!

Thanks to all those who made it out!

Fugu For You!

Happy Birthday to my boopy!

For his birthday, I took him to Bond St and had some amazing food, especially their sushi. The drinks were fabulous.

And what's a birthday without some danger and excitement? For that, I ordered the infamous... fugu! That's the poisonous pufferfish. Yes, poisonous!

It makes your tongue tingle as you eat it. Yum!

Lessons Learned Planning a Surprise Party

I decided to throw my boopy a surprise birthday party... here's what I learned, for you fools out there who decide to do the same.

Plan early(ier).

I made the mistake of planning it in a week. If I had more time, it would have been easier to collect all his friends' contact info and invite them to the party. Also, it gives them enough time to plan to attend. Facebook and MySpace are great resources.

Don't have it at your unfurnished apartment.

I thought it would be a good idea to have it in my unfurnished apt because there was space (and it could possibly double as a 'pre-housewarming'). But I realized I had to rent furniture. And deal with (any) bathroom situations. And clean up afterwards. So I changed the venue to a lounge down the street and it was definitely a good move.

Choose a cool bar/lounge

The place I ended up picking had a great atmosphere. There was also a cool bartender and they played 80s music. Double plus.

Plan more than one distractions.

Your best idea for a distraction can go up in smoke; literally. Fortunately, I had some good backup options that I could pick from.

Have a good excuse for your own absence (if you want to setup the party yourself).

Preferably one that doesn't make them think, "He's cheating on me." I opted for the "dinner with family," having my sister as the accomplice.

Have party favors.

Make sure one of them is temporary tattoos. Enough said.

Bring backup cameras.

Anything can go wrong - and that's why you want to be ready to capture it forever. Unless your memory card suddenly craps out on you. And mine did - otherwise I'd be posting all those naughty places people slapped on a temporary tattoo. So definitely plan on having more than one camera (or memory card).

The party turned out great. I take back the 'fools' comment I said earlier; seeing his surprised (and shocked) face was worth all the trouble I went through.

Oh the Anticipation!

I just had a fabulous pre-birthday weekend!

It started with a wonderful lunch at Isabella's; a stroll through the MoMA; a delicious vegan Sunday brunch at teany; and finished off with a home-cooked dinner complete with home-made bacon and shallot salad dressing and home-made stracciatella ice cream (not in the same dish)!

That was just the pre-celebration! And now it is my birthday!

I can't wait to see what's coming next! Whee!

Belated

A Happy Belated Birthday to my baby, Boopy! (It was yesterday.)

Yes, I forgot to wish him a Happy Birthday, but to be fair, we did celebrate his birthday during the weekend; which included a "traditional" Chinese birthday dinner (see the chicken head?!), drinks at The Ritz, and some additional, unmentionable fun.

Heh.

But I still acknowledge the fact that I screwed up. So what to do now? Any suggestions on how I should make it up to him? I'll probably merge all your 'good' suggestions and come up with an amazing-super-hybrid idea! Let's get cracking!

Playing Catchup - Triple Ex- Style

Wow, it's been a hectic holiday season so far! Parties here, shopping there, and running into two exes at a party thrown by someone I dated. Sounds like a bad soap opera, doesn't it? Yea, that's what my coworker said too.

With all that's happened, I figure the best way to tell it all is to, well, not tell it at all. I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. And no, you won't find any pictures of said 'triple ex' party. Read more [+/-]

There was Crash's birthday. [more]

Then Famous Author Rob Byrnes' birthday. [more]

Then a volunteer recognition event. [more and even more]

Then the company holiday party. Oh lord. [more]

I can't believe I spent nearly 6 hours editing and retouching all those photos. The price of beauty!

If you're done with the visual stimulation, check out this spoof on A Christmas Carol [via wired]! It'll help you get over the fact that this year, Annie (starring Kathy Lee) is playing at the Madison Square Garden's theater instead.