BIRTHDAY CARD 2010

May 19, 2010

My everdearest Karen,

I want to celebrate you on your birthday and all the days that follow.

I want to hold you and kiss you and whisper all the sweet and tender feelings my heart holds for you.

I want to see your smile, hear your laughter, and see happiness in your eyes.

I want you to feel loved and appreciated on your birthday and all throughout the year.

I may not be there on the day of your birthday, love, but know that I'll miss hugging you on your very special day.

Let's be together soon, mahal ko. I'm sorry for keeping you waiting for such a long time.

I want to hold you all throughout the year (and throughout our lives together).

Happy Birthday !!! I love you.

Vince

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Legend:

Blue and italicized texts are Vince's
Red texts are American Greetings'

♥ I love you very much, Vince ♥

LIFE IS LIKE WINE, THE OLDER YOU GET, THE SWEETER YOU GET

May 19, 2010 fell on a weekday; Wednesday to be exact. Unfortunately, Vince was on-call that day, so we decided to celebrate it on the weekend before the actual date. Since I would be entering the third decade of my life, plus it would be our 17th month together as a couple, and the recent promotion I got at work, we thought of doing something fancy. We decided to go fine dining and made a reservation for two at Studio Cafe - Four Seasons Hotel. I was very much excited about it. It would be our first time together to try something like this. I was totally hyped up, and so was he.

Friday night came, I was all giddy and excited. I couldn't wait to get out of work that day especially when Vince told me he would be arriving in Toronto earlier than expected. For long distance lovers, every reunion is sweet. Post 24-hour call, he drove his way up from Harrisburg to Toronto. Luckily, I was able to pull myself out of work in time to tidy my apartment and at least get a shower before he got here. I took him to dinner at Asian Legend, where the Magic Onions hang out every Friday after volleyball games. The food was as usual great, and Vince loved it :)

The next day, Saturday, Vince cooked adobo for me while I vegetated in the morning and chatted with Mcdo and Pakoykoy online. Lunch time, we headed to Scarborough to watch Iron Man 2. After the movie, we went to Wal-Mart to do some grocery shopping, but changed our mind when we saw the long cashier queues. It was already past 4pm and our reservation at Four Seasons was for 6pm. We still needed to freshen up and change, so we decided to just head home.

My original wardrobe plan consisted of black pants and blouse top, but when he told me earlier in the week what he was going to wear, I had to mentally frisk my closet for an outfit that would match his. Suddenly, I remembered this little brown dress I bought on sale at Suzy Shier, that had been sitting there for a long time now, waiting for her chance to be fashioned. Voila, the perfect time for her to shine. I put on the dress, applied make-up, and wore my pair of Aldo killer heels. Needless to say, Vince looked dashing in his dress shirt, tie and dress pants ♥

Prix fixe at the restaurant was classy. However, it was the moment of being together with my very special someone that made the dinner wonderful. We ordered two glasses of wine. He had white; I had white and red. At some point in the three-meal course before we had our desserts, he left to go to the washroom. I was kind of getting worried how he was as it took him a while to come back. I was just surprised when he kissed me on my cheek, handed me a blue-ribboned gift, and greeted me, "Happy birthday, love." I eagerly opened his present for me and was stoked to see he got me a fancy bracelet watch.

The waiter then served dessert, poured a glass of red wine, and asked if we wanted anything. My body was not reacting well with the wine. I was already palpitating and even Vince could tell that I was flushed. I asked for tea thinking that it would somehow clear my system. I mixed it with milk and sugar and had two cups of it. I could feel the wine's effect on me, yet I was holding it in my system well.

Sad to say, not for very long though. Just when Vince got the bill, my head started to pound, my heart felt like it would jump out of my chest, and I began to feel really sick. I asked Vince if he could bring me to the washroom. The waiters saw me stood up, so they came over thinking we're already leaving, and one of them even tried to put on my jacket to me. I walked briskly trying to head out; Vince was trying to explain to the waiters that we're not leaving yet, and that we're just going to the bathroom, that I was nauseated... and then the next thing I knew, I was so lightheaded, the room was spinning, it blacked out, voices going faint on the background, and then Vince had to sit me down.

The subsequent event was mortifying! I was trying to psyche myself, mind over matter, convincing myself I would not throw up, but there are times when you're body won't be defeated by your mind. The short of it, since I was very lightheaded and almost fainted, I couldn't even get up to go to the bathroom, that I threw up the three-course dinner I had right there inside the busy restaurant of a classy four-star hotel. I was the biggest mess ever. There was vomitus on my hair, on my little brown dress, on my to-die for heels, on my leather jacket, all over me. As if one humiliation was not enough, after a brief moment of peace, I erupted again and threw up the second time. What a way to punctuate the night! I heard Vince explained to the restaurant staff who had been inquiring for their records purposes, "She's my girlfriend. It's actually her birthday. I'm visiting from the States. We're celebrating... It's the wine." Please blame it on the wine.

I finally had the courage to get up and leave the place. Vince accompanied me to the bathroom so at least I can wash my hair. I stunk so sourly bad, Manang Housekeeper would not stop spraying her bottle of freshener inside the bathroom. Uggghhh !! I wish I had Harry Potter's Cloak of Invisibility during that time. I wanted to go back to my mother's womb. If only I could vanish at the snap of my fingers. Too bad, I am a muggle, so I had to walk to the parking lot with whatever dignity that is left of me, all wet and stinky, feeling cold inside and out, morbidly embarassed, and sad that I ruined our supposedly Eric-Clapton-WONDERFUL-TONIGHT-evening. Yes, that would have been the perfect music, only if I did not ruin it! Inside the car, I asked Vince to turn the heater on. He reclined my seat and wrapped his jacket around me. I was still in a daze during our ride back home.

The following day, while Vince and I were having a Sunday brunch at Cora's, I apologized once again for what happened at Studio Cafe the night before. He was totally cool with it. He told me not to worry about it anymore, as things like that really do happen. He drove me to church afterwards and then off he went to Pennsylvania.

Later that night, while having our Skype conversation, he sent me the pictures taken from his Iphone. Vince complimented how lovely our photos are. As I haven't gotten over my embarassment yet, my reply to him was, "Yes, because those pictures were taken before I turned into a disaster." And then for the nth time, he said, "Okay lang yun, love... Wag mo ng isipin yun," and then he added, "Ang naalala ko lang dyan eh yung mga ngiti mo..." His final remark made getting over it a whole lot easier for me.

I bet you already guessed what my 30th birthday resolution was. You're right, NO WINE ever for me. That is a no-brainer. If you'd ask me what my 30th birthday wish was, hmmmm... In the future, if for some reason, there comes a time or a situation in that I would not be able to hold myself well, I wish for Vince to comfort me the same way he did and hear him say to me again, "Ang naalala ko lang dyan eh yung mga ngiti mo."

I love you, Vince. I pray that we'll get sweeter and sweeter together as the days go by... and forever soon ♥