Birthday blessings

My birthday is always been a long affair once I got settled in Toronto. My life has grown to be a collage of all the people I care about and things I am passionate about. And when my birthday comes up, all of them collide, reminding me of how blessed I am with family and friends who I know I can rely on. From Facebook greetings for some of my loved ones abroad to all family and friends who is here with me in Toronto, my birthday extends to almost two weeks! Isn’t that amazing?

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It started last Saturday with a road trip to Lindsay, Ontario with my oldest friend in Toronto, Tere. We went to check out the Annual Crayola Sale bright and early meaning, it gave me an excuse to scour Lindsay Ontario of their hidden gems of brunch places and we stumbled on Durham Cafe (detour here for more). All warmed up with good coffee, we got our stash and went back to Tere’s place. I get a treat of a fashion show from my godchildren of what they intend to be for Halloween. I don’t think I would get tired of all the spontaneous hugs that I get from Tere’s kids.

The following Monday, I met up with one of my favourite dining partners, @TitaFlips a.k.a. Diona Joyce. Busy schedules makes these dining out rare these days and we got a full treat of getting a table to enjoy Thai food at trending Pai Northern Thai Kitchen. Just like all the other Thai restaurant Chef Nuit built, this is another that is after my heart. See here for what we have enjoyed at Pai. We also wanted to have ice cream from Bang Bang Ice cream for dessert but there seems to be a movie/tv shoot that night at Ossington.

Tuesday, my birthday, I decided to go to two food events with one of my oldest friends, Jojo. One I have known through my friend @pronosher, a social by Tourism Toronto at Mill St Brewery Hall and the second, the Foodee launch at Brassaii. Through both events, I have enjoyed good conversation with fellow foodies @pronosher and @eatnmingle. Sometimes seeing myself through other people reminds me of how I love what I get to do and that I get to find people who feel as passionate about it. It is definitely a blessing that I don’t take for granted.

We finished off the night passing by Bang Bang Ice cream, trying out my luck if I get to try it on my second visit. This time around, I get my ice cream sandwich (see here for the post). Sitting by the lone bench on the side, biting into my ice cream sandwich, I recollect a nice feeling of partaking in a simple pleasure. Ice cream with a very good friend.

Thursday night, I finally got to see my sister. We spent the night prepping for halloween and I sure destressed trying on gnome hats with my niece that my sister has sewn. Our reward for all the work (well actually it was my sister who did all the work, hehehe), we got ourselves more ice cream blizzards at DQ. Definitely sweetens the night to share treats with my sister and my niece.

Saturday we have our annual pumpkin carving party and my birthday normally gets squeezed into the affair.  I love the smell of pumpkin as it is carved but this year it is even better as the food came Kamayan style catered by Diona, a.k.a. TitaFlips.  So much food and we all went to a food coma after we kept on coming back to the table quite a few number of times.

Sunday which is today, I am off to see my besties from my old workplace to have a slow lunch at Cagney’s.  Each time I see them, I am thankful that our friendships endured not seeing each other on a regular basis.  We just continue where we left off and that in itself is a comfort.

I have still two more friends to see this week. I just can’t help but smile.  All my family and friends remembering me and making me a part of their lives are the best gifts bar none.