My Modern Day Prince

I was grinning widely when I was waiting for the lift this afternoon. One of my colleagues commented, "Oh you look really happy." I said I was really happy because I had just received a surprise from Sweetie. He mentioned a few days ago that I was going to be surprised at the least time I expected it. I thought though that since I was in Singapore and he was in Manila that he would just surprise me when I'm back home this weekend.

I was wrong.

As usual.

I have been quite busy hopping from one meeting to another (that is my life at work!) in the past week that I had totally forgotten that it's Valentine's. I even had mindlessly scheduled my check-up on Valentine's day (well they say it's "hearts" day so it's just the perfect day to have my 100% pumpin' heart).

I was in a meeting which stretched to about 2 hours and I had been chatting with Sweetie when I left my desk to meet my guest. I briefly saw this photo on G+ -

And I thought, "Awww Sweetie made a card for me!" I told myself it was something I'd look forward to seeing when I got home.

Me being dense.

As usual.

When my guest left I went back to my desk and saw the end of the bouquet -- which I thought was the bottom of a wine bottle! <my eyes fail me even with eyeglasses> I actually felt quite annoyed coz it was on my keyboard! But lo and behold! When I picked it up I was surprised to see that it was a bouquet! A bouquet of white roses! And there's only one person in this world who gives me white roses... with a copy of the home-made card. [Read the link if you're wondering why he gave me white roses, yup it was a FAQ throughout the day].

So I sat there. Stunned. Surprised. Ecstatic. But I managed to discreetly have my moment because I didn't want to disturb my seatmates (who were all not on their desk when I looked around). And then I blushed and tried to contain the warm, fuzzy feeling that was spreading all over me.

It is actually the third year Sweetie and I are not together for Valentine's. 2012 I was in Singapore stuck in a bus for 2 hours with two teenagers making moony-moony eyes with each other (ugh). 2013 I was in ICU and he already had to go home. And now, well here again in Singapore. But every single year we always surprise each other (my surprise this year though didn't work out, boo) and what's important is to make each other feel loved and important (and feel like a princess!).

So who ever said that romance was dead?

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Valentine's: What a Girl Wants

I was quite surprised to see my blog's traffic shoot up the past few weeks. Why? Because of Valentine's! Funny, but I get traffic from keyword searches about love and relationships. LOL. I'm no "Dear Abby" or "Ate Helen" (but I do have a lot of experience)! Maybe I should niche on that? Hmmm... And a post about "What to give your crush on Valentine's day" has garnered a bit of interest.

Valentine's is about 11 hours away and I'm pretty sure a lot of guys are scrambling around for last minute gift purchases and planning. Baffled on what to do? To give? Here are a few friendly tips to wow your girl:

1. Surprise her - you don't need to spend a lot of money (or anything at all) to make a surprise. I'm very lucky with Sweetie because he's very creative and he manages to create excitement even with the smallest things. Try greeting her differently this year by creating a card, a coded message (ala Da Vinci Code), wrap a small gift with a huge box, let her discover things on her own, or kidnap her and bring her somewhere special.

2. The bouquet - I am honestly going crazy over Sweetie's plans for Valentine's. I've been getting a rose every single day since the start of February and he's been dropping a lot of clues about THE V-day. I was quite tomboyish when I was a kid (I climbed trees, went over da bakod etc.) and my crush back then had his friend ask me if I wanted flowers. I said no. I was putting up a brave front then, siyempre pakipot. His loss, he should've just given them. You don't actually need to buy flowers. Be creative. Why not create a lollipop bouquet? Sketch flowers on a card. Make paper flowers. The possibilities are endless.

3. Sweets for my sweet - my parents have been married for almost 50 years now and my Dad never fails to give my Mom chocolates during Valentine's and year-in, year-out she's still very kilig about my Dad's gesture (lately I'm the one buying it since he doesn't really like going to the mall). It doesn't have to be expensive either. A pack of Chocnut costs less than PhP30, Chocolate Crunchies' less than PhP50? A chocolate basket perhaps?

Don't have a Valentine? I always had Miguel as my Valentine since he was born and my best friend who I force to give me flowers haha. There's always your Mom, your sister, a girl best friend who you could make happy this Valentine's.

I wonder what Sweetie's up to hmmm...

P.S. Check out my Valentine Revelation at the Twisted Wedding Planner.

What to Give Your Crush On Valentine's Day

My friend's been agonizing the past week about what give or do for his crush on Valentine's day. So the past week we've been brainstorming about it and we've been trying to get bits and pieces from my past experiences.

My recommendation was to simply send a Valentine's day gift. Why send it? I'll explain later. Any of the following would be great:

1. Flowers - Of course, it's a standard. I remember my officemate Leo gave each of the girls in our unit a long-stemmed red rose. And then he gave Michelle a whole bunch. There's nothing like flowers! Aside from the excitement of receiving flowers in the office, the anticipation of finding out who sent it also gives a fabulous rush. So just send it!

2. Chocolates - Everybody loves chocolates! My Kuya everytime he travels loads up on this in his hotel room (whoops! was that a secret Kuya?). My Dad would always get my Mom chocolates for Valentine's. He'd usually insist on going to the mall on Valentine's day and then disappears for a while and then comes back with a whole bagful of chocolates for my Mom. And after 47 years of marriage I'm sure he'd do the same this year.

3. Something Red - Well, I dunno. I'm back to having red as my favorite color. Even had my closet re-painted in bloody red. I just noticed that red is always in from Christmas to Valentine's Day. Something red to decorate her room would be nice - and the catchy color would surely remind her of you.

4. A Love Letter - A few weeks ago my Mom found a boxful of their old love letters and one Sunday morning my Dad read it to me and my friends. We were all so kilig! Well my friends were kilig, I was kinda fidgeting (hey parents ko yun noh!). I had to snatch the letter from my Dad coz he didn't want to read further. I was giggling while reading it. Where has the art of love letter writing gone? The last time I got a non-electronic love letter was back in college - before beeping, sending SMS, internet connection and emailing because so easy!

5. An Alternative Gift - Well sometimes the best way to "send your love" is to find out what your crush really likes. One of the best Valentine's gifts I ever received was a plastic full of little fishies - I had an aquarium-full of Oscars back then and I was so gaga over it. Instead of flowers, my ever practical boyfriend at that time gave me fish food. And that gave him super plus points.

If you're too shy or too diyahe to give it in person then just send a Valentine's gift to your crush. And then, of course, ask her out after!