Sofia the First turns 6

Sofia turned 6 last Saturday.

We had a few of her friends, and her godparents over for merienda to celebrate her birthday in Princess Sofia the First style. I absolutely put my foot down about throwing her a full-blown party, which in the Philippines is normally done when kids celebrate either their first or their seventh birthdays, until she turns 7.

Even for our simple merienda celebration, Sofia and I have been planning for months! My trip to the party favors store in Hong Kong made things easy because we were able to buy Princess party stuff. We were excited to plan the the giveaways and the activities so we did this around two months in advance.

Sof normally starts celebrating her birthday the night before as we wait for midnight.

I prepared what I could for the party before she went home.
She was so excited, and with typhoon Santi in the vicinity,
we were both praying for good weather.

I also allowed her to open my gift the night before.
The trampoline was so big, yaya wrapped it
in a bedsheet.

Sof loved her trampoline so much, she used it for everything.
It came in handy as party entertainment too.

Sof also opened lola Celita's gift,
and got lolo to teach her how to play pool.

Lola yaya gave Fi the bowling set she asked for.

Sofia was so excited,  I don't even remember how we got her to sleep.

The next day, Fi was opening more presents as she was
 getting her nails done. Thanks fat ninong for the disney
protective head gear to go with her skateboard.

Thanks Ninang Ads for the Mike costume.

After playing some more with her new toys, Sof barely had time to get into her full princess gear before her ICA/Kindex friends started to arrive.

The ICAn Princesses

The girls wore their tiaras, picked out their jewels and nail polish, and waited for their turn to get their nails done.

Kailyn had Nail Art Pedi.

Andie had Nail Art Mani.
She was so careful while her nails were drying.

Jillie was so cute. She was initially shy to play with the older kids,
but she lined up to get nail art mani and pedi,
And she had it retouched when some nails got damaged from playing,

The kids were happy enough to entertain themselves jumping on the trampoline, playing with Sofia's toys and watching Sofia the first videos.

Posh Lilypots is so cute. She's the carbon copy of Achi Mia.

Jillie was playing and jumping once she warmed up.

The kids had popcorn as they watched "Once Upon a Princess".

The princesses coloring their Sofia the First coloring books.

Princess Sofia and Princess Andie,
friends from birth, making tea.

Ninong Jacob with the ICAn Princesses. 

All the other guests were busy eating (and watching the basketball game).

Sofia asked her gammy to cook her favorites for her party.

Sof also asked gammy to make all her favorite desserts,
including Sofia-sized apple dumplings

The ICA parents arrived and started eating first.

The basketball watching guests.

Mostly the extended family.

The Oct 12 twins, Sofia with Auntie Chipsy.

I was able to get a picture with Lilypots.

I was also able to get a picture with the handsome
Prince Yonso! Look at that rare smile! 

When it was time to blow the cake, Sofia's friends all gathered around to sing Happy Birthday.

I ordered Sof a caramel cake from Estrel's with purple flowers.

The birthday princess. 

Sofia and friends.

Making a wish...

Mom and Princess Sofia the First

Sofia with Gammy and Lolo

The princess cutting her cake.

Her favorite part of the program was asking her friends to say "Haaa----ppy Birthday Sofiaaaaaaaaaa" before she gave out the loot bags.

Sofia's best friend Viele had to leave early so she just whispered
her birthday greeting.

Sofia's other friends greeting her.

Sofia with the Aunts who spoil her the most.

The return of the two princesses and the "snotty" boy
(According to these two little girls).

Our last group of guests.

Thank you so much to everyone who came
and thank you very much for all the presents.

Thanks for the twist car Ninang Jem and Yayo.

Public service announcement: if you have no odea what to get Sofia for Christmas,  what she really needs is a parking lot. Hahaha. just saying.

This little princess really had a jumping good time turning 6.

I love you little girl. You'll always be First in mommy's heart, Princess Sofia. just saying.


Special Thanks to:
Tita Trish and Tito Niko for the gown of Princess Sofia
Tita Anna for providing the STF birthday banner
Gammy and Lola Yaya for preparing the food
Uncle Marky and Auntie Alay for picking up the cake
Hope we didn't forget anyone

Ria's Bridal Shower at Cafe 1771

My cousin Ria, who I loved to bully when we were kids, is finally marrying her super duper long-time boyfriend, Miggy the Doc this Sunday.

Auntie Stell and Alay arranged her bridal shower which we had at Cafe 1771 (used to be Chateau) in El Pueblo. We were all supposed to come with a clue to describe a famous romantic couple, and Ria could only get her gift if she guessed the answer correctly.

I was so disorganized yesterday,  it wasn't funny.  I couldn't find my camera when I got home, so I only have pictures from the tab, then Sofia played with our props the night before, so our costume was lacking, and I also arrived late because I was stuck in a mtg, and then in traffic. So needless to say, I arrived quite harassed.

Sof sharing the couch of honor with Ninang Ri.

Auntie Stell prepared a lot of clues and she framed the answers.
Ria's lovely earrings were one of her many gifts. 

Sof and I made an entrance as Shrek & Fiona,
with I'm a Believer soundtrack.
Mejo fail lang because we left Fiona's ears at home.

We gave Ria a Piggy Bank, so they can start
saving for their future together.

Alay prepared a lot of pictures that Ria had to guess so she could get her gifts, but our favorite gift was the naughtier one.

My daughter had a blast posing with Ninang Ria's undies.
You can really see how much she's enjoying the shower.

Because I didn't have a real camera I sort of stopped taking photos with my tab when the food arrived. So here's a quick narration instead. My mom didn't prepare any clue because she found all the lines she googled too cheesy and she wanted to go with "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." but thought it was inappropriate,  so she bribed Sofia with a BIG bag of Cheetos, to sing A Whole New World with actions instead. Auntie Judy had a quote from Jerry MaGuire, but we all couldn't remember who Renee Zellweger was playing. Ninang Angeli had pictures from her mobile of Grandma and Angkong, but separately with Sofia. The classic ones were the magninang-tandem of Auntie Ma (MOTB) and Ady, they didn't have to think of any clues because they arrived with no gift. Hahaha. Though MOTB's undoubted contribution is the gift of life (and the prayer). How's that for a complete narration?

Since I hadn't been to Chateau in ages, I was quite surprised that the Cafe had good food. The only thing I remember from before was that they had really good Coffee Pie, which was the first thing I asked if it was still available.

Auntie Stell ordered a lot of stuff to share, among which, the Chicken Walnut Salad and Eggplant Rolls were good.

Ninang and I shared the Eggs Ben and it went really well
with the schublig Ma and Ady ordered.

For dessert, Auntie Stell ordered macarons and the coffee pie I was so eager to try again. 

These two pretended to have their own Tea Party.

The Coffee Pie was as good as I remembered.
Melt in your mouth creamy coffee goodness,
in pie form.

Cafe 1771 is now on my list of possible weekend brunch options. Thanks Auntie Stell for treating and organizing it together with Alay.

We're so excited for your big day Ria, wishing you and Miggy all the best. We can't wait for little Ria to come along so Fifi and Zizi (aka Lukey) can make history repeat itself. just saying. 

Cafe 1771
El Pueblo Real de Manila
Dona Julio Vargas Avenue
Ugong, Pasig
+63 2 6317340