Project DEAN

A baby boy is brewing!

Last August 18 (Saturday), we gave Ba a surprise baby shower at my house. Surprise because she didn't know all about it until she arrived and we unveiled the streamer (which took almost a week to be delivered, but that's another story). It was a stormy week after all and nobody would dare hold a party with that kind of weather.

For a month or so, Kuya and I have been busily and silently preparing for this event. We have been texting and emailing each other almost everyday, updating my other sisters every now and then. We texted and emailed Ba's sisters, high school friends, badminton mates and kumares. Personally, I appreciated the confirmations and enthusiasm from these people whom I don't know.

For the theme, I had two options: a coffee-inspired party (owing to their addiction to Starbucks) and a rubber duckie one (it was easy to think of give-aways, rubber duckies tied with blue ribbon). I asked Azalea to choose and she went for the Starbucks theme. “Mahilig naman sila sa kape, eh,” she reasoned out. Cae also liked the idea of giving away small mugs with my makeshift Dean’s Coffee logo. I hope Starbucks won’t mind. I wanted the small transparent mug-lets, which restaurants use to contain syrup for pancakes. But I couldn’t find any. I settled for the white espresso cups in Robinson’s. I pasted the Dean’s Coffee stickers I printed out in the office on the cups and on the 3-in-1 coffee sachets, put a plastic stirrer in each cup and wrapped them in clear cellophane, tied with a metallic silver wire.

I also ordered blue balloons, and asked for blue cloths for the tables we rented (along with the videoke and chairs). We ordered bulk from Jollibee – palabok with chicken, spaghetti with chicken, and regular Yum with cheese. I texted Ba weeks before and told her I needed her inputs for a survey. She chose Jollibee among the other fast food options.

Our press release was it was a surprise advance birthday party for Alex. Kuya suggested a Tupperware party so Ba would come but I said, maybe she could not say no to Alex. Later on, she told us she braved the rains to buy a gift for him.

The morning was spent buying tube ice (which I almost forgot to buy, ang galing, even if it was written on top of my list), chips, drinks and other party stuff. All the other materials arrived on time, thank God, including the food.

 

Initially, I thought only a handful of guests would make it. It was already past 4pm (party time). Kuya and Ba arrived around 430pm. At 5pm, we started the Program with a prayer led by Cae. Then some Welcome Remarks and Acknowledgment of Guests. There’s the walang kamatayang Guess the Waistline. Ate and Azalea came close, with 38 and 40 as their guesses. Ba’s waistline was 39. We also had “By the Book” where the guests gave books for Dean’s Library. Cae and Caehl gave “The Shoemaker & The Elves” and “The Gingerbread Man”, books I love when we were children that I wish to pass on to my nephew. Two weeks before the party, I lost my phone and if my hunch is correct, it must have been lost when I was browsing through the books on sale at Festival Mall. Anyways… Next was Messages in a Bottle where guests were provided with a piece of blue paper so they could write a note for Dean. The notes were rolled into a scroll and placed inside a baby bottle.

Then we asked everyone to say a message for Darlie. Even Papa and Mama said some inspiring words. Kuya made us laugh by saying he’ll be the first one to faint come delivery time. We ended the Program with a Birthday Song for Alex, as requested by Cae, since it was “supposed” to be her Dad’s birthday party.

Funny but the guests arrived just after the Program. I wasn’t able to attend to all of them but I hope they had fun. It was almost 10pm when we called it a day, but before that, all four of us had to render a song. Kuya sang One in A Million (Score 100). Azalea took the challenge with Don’t Cha (100). I wasn’t able to resist it, either with Don’t Cry Out Loud (yes, 100 too). Last to sing was Ate with Next in Line (99). She tried again with Till They Take My Heart Away, and got 100 finally.

Again, thanks to all our guests, to my siblings and parents for a successful baby shower (ehem ehem). We’re all excited with Dean’s arrival. We’ve waited long enough.