I did get the quiet birthday I had been wanting, dotted with nice surprises here and there. :) All we really had planned was dinner with the family for my birthday, so I was really surprised when I saw practically my whole family there, with cousins and my 95-year-old Abuelita in tow! :) (This after I was feeling pretty crummy when my cousins were making excuses about not being able to make it due to the rally, etc.) Before that, I got more surprises from my friends at work. A sweet friend even baked apple and mulberry crumble for me. A guy at that! And I received some of the most touching messages this year, all of which I’m still carrying around in my purse. My husband gave me the latest Paolo Coelho books (Brida and The Winner Stands Alone) and the beautiful raspberry tote I’d been eyeing for a while from The Gap. And he took me to Tagaytay to get away from the city. We stayed at THouse and had a nice massage at Nurture Spa. We had a pm snack at Yellow Cab (we’ve grown to love the thin crust rolled pizza called Dear Darla) and had a light dinner at Mano’s Greek Tavern. The gloomy rainy weather we’ve been having since last week cooperated on the day of my birthday all the way up to most of today too. So that was another nice surprise.

Thank you to everyone for making me feel extra special on my birthday! Pictures to follow. :)