a valentine birthday

Grandma and I

Born on Valentine's Day. That's me. Valentine eve was spent with my sister sleeping over and the two of us doing a Supernatural marathon -- the Winchester brothers can easily dispel real-life disappointments with real-life men.

My sister treated me to sandwich, donut, and coffee on the night before my birthday. It was part of her birthday gift. It has been a while since we spent cafe time together with just the two of us. I brought a book but did not get to read it.

Next morning was my breakfast treat at McNeighbor.

Then it was a special home-cooked lunch at my parents' house where I received the loveliest gifts. Afternoon was spent visiting my grandmother, watching more Supernatural, then a nap, then reading, then I treated the family to dinner at my dad's latest favorite chinese restaurant.

Lots of happy greetings and wishes on Facebook and by text message. Everyone who really mattered to me sent a greeting. I am joyful!

I'l post my gifts tomorrow as I need light to take photos and it is very late evening.

Nobody sent me a Valentine-related gift. No suitors or secret admirers revealing themselves.

I did get a small project though, and I will be working tomorrow afternoon which will let me pay some of this month's bills.

I am toying with an idea for a practical solution to getting more projects but I need to consider it carefully. It's on territory that I never really felt right in but it's an option. I'll see where the consideration takes me. I really want to go to England.

My three birthday wishes:
1) a happy steady source of sufficient income (something that will make me wake up eagerly in the morning so I can get to work)
2) a perfect husband (perfect for me, not perfect template)
3) a long visit to England

They say you should keep your wishes secret, but some say you should declare them to the Universe.  I choose to do the latter to stir up the energies towards their fulfillment.

Any wishes you care to share? :)

a post on books (with other bits on the side)

Early birthday gifts to myself which I hope to add to before my birthday month ends. Of course it's just another excuse to buy books. I got these on the first day of February. Already finished reading two of them, and re-reading one (Campbell). The Campbell book was also a gift from the Universe because it sharpened my focus in life and in my daily goals. I was actually on the way out when it caught my eye as if it was hollering out at me and waving a flaming torch. And when I held it in my hand I felt that old familiar shiver when a Thing Falls Into Place.

I got Alice's Adventures in Wonderland because... I have never read it in full. Or maybe I have but I can no longer remember.

Sixty-One Nails is an adult urban fantasy that is being compared to Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. By adult I mean that the main character is an adult (a divorced man, actually) instead of a teenager who has all the convenience of only going to school and not worrying about paying the bills and getting food on the table - thereby having all the luxury of time to go off on adventures and fall in love for the first time and discover one's identity. I think there should be more fantasy/other-world stories with adult characters, like the adult versions of the likes of Clockwork Angel, Hunger Games, and Divergent (I love all of these series.) Neil Gaiman does adult fantasies so well, there should be more. Or maybe I just haven't come across them so let me know if you can recommend anything. More urban fantasy type, because there is also enough of the likes of Game Of Thrones and Wheel Of Time (Yes, I'm reading them too).

The novel I'm writing (which I started during last year's NaNoWriMo) has adult characters, set in a land where magic is part of nature, and with the substantial focus on relationships like young adult fantasies but with the complexity of adult concerns and realities, and then situated in the bigger context of saving the world, or a world (aren't they all?) I read somewhere that you must write the book you want to read, so I guess I'm on the right track. I want to discover more of those kinds of books.  Sarah Addison Allen's books are pretty good -- I have read all of them and they often make me cry because they chip away at my jadedness and cynicism. Others that are along similar story-lines tend to be too chick-lit, the crafting itself lacks the pull and impact that Allen is able to put in her stories.

There, I think I have rambled on enough about books. It's just that I caught myself fantasizing this morning over my coffee, that I would love to spend the morning of my birthday browsing for hours in the bookstore, and then coming out with bagfuls of purchase, and then having a late lunch with coffee and dessert with Someone who would probably need to sneak out of the office to do so. Then I would go home and sort through my purchases and maybe paint a little, while I wait for Someone to finish work and then we would have dinner. It could even be home delivery, or I could even cook as my own token for the occasion (it's my birthday AND Valentine's Day, so there) so we could go barefoot and stretch our legs and then just step out again for coffee at McNeighbor.

Yes, that would be just perfect.

P for Valentine

Head over to my art blog and see some of the reasons I've been too busy to post here. I also had two projects approved so I will have less time for the fun stuff. On the other hand, I get to pay my bills. One day, soon, I will pay my bills with money made from the fun stuff.

P for Valentine. Because I will most likely spend that day in my Pajamas. With a Pen, Pencil, or Paintbrush making magic over Paper. Or absorbed in the Pages of a book.

P could also mean Pride, Prejudice, and Pemberley. But such things happening to me will take a bit more magic than I have on hand, even if it is going to be my birthday. Still, it would not hurt to wish.

post-birthday post

That was probably the calmest birthday ever, filled with quiet happiness and serene joy. I celebrated it in the simplest way. I started the day with no expectations.

Instead I focused on gratitude --- for being alive, for being healthy, for having my family close by, for having kept a handful of friends who equal the worth of a thousand, for having a home of my own, for having enough to live by, for being continuously inspired, for being always helped at the exact moment of need, for all the clues and way-signs placed along the path of my creative journey, and for all the other beautiful things, both big and small, that make this life just a little bit easier and happier.

At around 1AM of February 14, before going to bed, I opened my grandma's gift which turned out to be a boxful of dolls for using in my creative crafts. She knew I've been wanting these ever since I saw her use the dolls for her own projects.

I woke up hours later with a light and cheerful heart. And for the first time I actually took time and care to dress up (in previous years I was fussy about being fussy about my birthday)-- and wore a heart-shaped ring and my heart-designed shoes, and a bright pink mini-dress.

There were a few snags, like my baking oven suddenly breaking down so I was not able to make my family-famous old-fashioned strawberry pie. After a moment I thought, maybe today what I am meant to do is to receive. I have been thinking so much of what I could give and share with others on my birthday that I was probably unconsciously fussing about it. Maybe I was supposed to just sit back and let things unfold without me always trying to have my input.

The plan was to visit my grandma so she could give her birthday blessing. She prepared a simple lunch of home-cooked adobo and my cousin Jennie also showed up with delicious spicy sausage pasta. Lunch was heartwarming and stomach-filling! And unlike a real party where I had to entertain and socialize, we all settled into our own little corners in my grandma's house to do our own thing. My sister, cousin Jennie, and I found our coffee corner in the kitchen while my Grandma crafted and my mom played with our niece and my aunt washed the dishes.

grandma with her great-granddaughter

my mom with my niece

mine are the ones with heart. the big and small matching pairs belong to my cousin Jennie and her daughter Jaine -- yes, she hand-designed them too. it runs in the family.

One of the things I have stopped expecting are surprise (especially wrapped) gifts -- and suddenly they were there!

these had two pairs of pretty shorts and a beautifully patterned shower curtain that perfectly matched my home

this is a brand-new LP from a friend who knew i had a stash of vintage ones that are all old and scratchy

and this may strike you as funny but i LOVE these shoes from our very own shop so my mom decided to buy it from the shop and give it to me so that i get to have it and also make money from it :D

We got home at around 4PM and I wanted a nap. My sister and I planned to step out during the evening to grab some dessert.

While relaxing at home, someone dropped by unexpectedly with:

Three Red Long-Stemmed Roses! Believe it or not, the first ever three red roses in my entire life. (No, I am not counting the roses I received from my high school students when I was a high school teacher.)

The roses came with a big scrapbook kit. Did you notice that my gifts are beginning to have a theme of being creativity-inspired?

I had dinner at my parents' home during which we shared leftovers from my kitchen and theirs, and then my sister and I stepped out for dessert and coffee. We ran into a lot of dating couples and women with huge bouquets in their arms but I was ever so happy to be finally beyond getting envious or jealous.

We stayed out until almost midnight, and then I was home. My birthday was filled with simple joys and surprises, and I didn't have to spend anything. No rushing, no fussing, no wishful thinking, no expectations.

Hello, New Year of My Life.

unexpected turns of the day

The plan was:

Go to the market to buy fabrics and plain shoes. Then go to my parents' house to do Other Business work and finish it by 5PM -- I wanted a no-distraction environment and not have to prepare my meals so I could finish everything early.

What actually happened:

I was not feeling too well when I woke up. I think my brain was trying to slowly get into work mode and so much of me was resisting it. We got to the market at least half an hour later than planned. Since I did not get to eat breakfast (because I was feeling sick-ish) I suggested brunch before the buying. So we got a very cheap but very delicious meal for two for only Php120.00. As we were polishing off our plates, a woman walked by selling freshly swirled ice cream in cups for Php10.00.

Then we got the plain shoes and the fabrics for the next batch of projects. On the way home we made a side trip to my grandma's (unplanned - we thought since we were passing by the same street we might as well drop by). 

As to be expected, my grandmother has transformed her home in time for Valentine's Day.

She has also handcrafted items for selling and gifting. Little dolls adorn recycled plastic bottles that have been redesigned to be container bowls.

She kept a few pieces for her own home. This is her favorite.

She was also excited to give me her birthday gift. Yay!

And she gave me my own dolled decor as an extra Valentine gift. :)

Then I had to rush home because the cable guy was in the lobby to check my cable box which has not been working for three days. I ended up going home, having the cable fixed, and then falling into a tired nap. It was mid-afternoon when I finally got back to my parents' house.

My sister and I had rice cakes and coffee for afternoon snack.

I tried getting started at work while my sister started on redesigning the shoes. Oh, how I envied her!

And then I found out that my dad had been to the post office and picked up a package for me -- my other Etsy order of knitting needles! Well, at least that's one bright spot as I struggled to concentrate on getting a report done.

My mom called us to dinner at around 7PM and as we ate the TV was on and we all ended up watching The Accidental Husband. 

I decided to head for home and try finishing the work before going to bed. It was already 9PM. My sister was stil working on another pair of shoes when I left.

And now I am blogging as I take a break from the work that has been pushed away in so many ways for so many times. *sigh* I must get this done then I can schedule some serious crafting time with my sister.

How did your day turn out?