An Almost Botched Surprise Jollibee Kiddie Party

 

At home sa Jollibee

As a kid, I've dreamed of my own birthday party with those cute party hats, clown, loot bags and yummy food. It was not that popular back then because parties are usually done at home and the economic times of the 90's are not that positive. Fast forward today and almost 2 decades later, the advent of party packages, online bookings and the emergence of Jollibee made party planning easy as 1,2,3.

Saya! Montojo Berks perfect attendance

It has been 4 months since we exchanged wedding vows in Bacolod. And like a whirlwind series of events, so many things have already happened. I can recall that in those 4 months of being together, Christmas, monthsaries, Valentine's Day and with all the goodness, understanding, support and patience my husband have shown me, I felt I have done nothing special to him yet. So I said to myself that I will make a special birthday celebration for him. It would be special enough to make up for those missed times.

Sobrang happy si Daddy

 

I've gathered many ideas and planned at first to make a surprise birthday for him in the office. And I sought out the opinion of Hazel, Jay's kababayan which instantly became our friend in the office, and she was enthusiastic to support me in the undertaking. However, after weighing in the pros and cons, with logistics, the location of his floor being a challenge also given the IT crowd and the personality of Jay of turning red every time he's embarrassed. I could not gauge the whole effort and the magnitude of the things to do. Hazel suggested that we have a surprise party in the nearby fastfood chains and all his officemates will surely be there since it was near the office. I had a eureka moment then. What if I throw out a Jollibee party instead since it is near our apartment and in case we will pursue an after party in the house it would be convenient? I immediately told Hazel on the plan and she was again very enthusiastic about it.

Good thing was booking a Jollibee party is as easy as buying things online. Here's the link of the for the party reservation: http://jollibeeparty.com/. I was grinning from ear to ear as I was trying to make the reservation. I just couldn't imagine how brilliant and timely was my discovery of the online Jollibee party reservation. And voila, I can pay instantly online, too. That was convenience at its peak. After booking and paying I called the store to make arrangements and I readily requested Hazel to start the secret invitations.

Daddy's Cake

The Jollibee store immediately called me for the details and I was asked if I could drop by that evening to finalize the contract. I was faced with a huge problem. How can I go to the store without raising suspicion from Jay's scrutinizing mind? Knowing him, the chances of fooling him is like finding a needle in the hay. I almost panicked and asked the opinion of our housemate to seek help. I guess my guardian angel was still with me as Ate Lei, one of our housemates, was very glad to help me get out from the dilemma.

That night as we went home, I texted Ate Lei to mobilize the plan of having the two of us buy something in Shopwise, a nearby grocery store. Jay was obviously not happy to hear that I needed to go outside due to the drizzle. I ignored his reactions and went ahead. It took us almost an hour to finalize the contract since the manager who got my call that afternoon wasn't around. And when we got home, I was greeted by the same stern reaction from my dear husband.

Kasabwat No. 2, Ate Lei

 

Days passed and I started secretly inviting Jay's friends, from his Dian boys mates, Electron (high school friends), college, Read to Be Smart friends, our common friends, Smart friends, and my family in Laguna. I only failed to reach out to his family since all of them are in Batangas and Davao. I also saw to it that the information will be as discreet as possible.

Erespe family with Tito Jay

Another big problem came when on the eve of his birthday, March 14, he went to my area to fetch me since I have many things to bring at home. The usual him would look over my things, my bags, my pedestal and alas, there in all its glory were the unsent Jollibee invitations! He saw his name on the top most portion but I was quick enough to grab them away. He was laughing hard and turned almost macopa red. I was nervous that he might have seen all but was hoping that he did not. When he kept asking on what was it all about I was able to relax. At least he did not knew all the details. But I felt sad because it might have given him enough idea of the supposed surprise.

Happy birthday daddy!

 

When the day of the surprise came, I was really in total chaos. Although I was on leave at work, many things came up that day that I was online most of the time due to work. The good thing was it seemed Jay did not mind what he saw the other night. He was his usual self. When I told him that we go to the grocery store he was still in his home clothes. I don't know how to manage him to change clothes. I'd rather him wear his home clothes than to spoil the entire surprise party. I wasn't able to dress properly to the occasion to also not raise more suspicion. So the haggard me and Jay in his pambahay looks stormed to Jollibee to allegedly fetch my niece and my sister. He even kept asking me when I insisted that we go upstairs. He was like already pissed.

Fun games with guests, IBT peeps in action!

 

Electron and college friends

 

When the moment of revelation came, he was very speechless and embarrassed. Obviously he was conscious of how he looked in his pambahay clothes. But the rest of the evening went smoothly with lots of fun and surprises. By the looks of it, he was very, very happy. His smile was not the usual. The presence of his friends was priceless for him. These set of friends were the exact same people who went to our wedding in Bacolod. Now in a different place and time, they were still there for Jay. It was the most beautiful part of the celebration.

I know our little baby was jumping in his/her amniotic fluid as he/she felt Daddy being happy. It was Daddy's kiddie party before officially being a father soon. And it's what make the celebration more special and heartwarming.

Read to be Smart in full force red!

Thanks to the awesome people of Jollibee PRC Makati, Mae, Bryan, Arlan, Rusty and the super bibbo Jollibee mascot, to everyone mentioned above who attended the celebration, to Jay's family, my family, our friends who were not able to attend but have extended their greetings to him on his birthday and to God almighty for making this possible. We are blessed and happy to have great people and God in our midst.

To my loving husband, I couldn't thank you enough for everything. As the song says, When God made you He must have been thinking about me. You were born to be meant for me and for our growing family. We love you very, very much Daddy!

 Mama, Daddy, Baby Bump, Princess and Jollibee