Sweet Surprise

Being completely honest here:  I am not much of a romantic person.  All that mushy stuff and sweet surprises --I'm just not designed to plan those kinds of things.  I'm more of the world domination planner type.  *sigh* 

In contrast, my hubby Jing is all that and more!  He loves cooking up complex schemes to surprise me on Valentine's' Day, Mothers' Day, and every birthday.  Each one had been a wonderful success!

Well, this April was his birthday and I figured I'd take baby steps into this strange world of mushiness and unexpectedness.

I had planned a swim trip for the family (and, before I could stop myself, had classless-ly told him that it was my birthday present for him...ayayay.) to the Village Sports Club.  It wasn't anything special, really, since this was our third time to VSC.  So when we got there, that was when I decided to push this birthday thing up a notch.

While the boys played, I snuck out of sight --actually, I made some lame excuse about looking for a friend who works there, ugh!-- and made it to the sports club pool deck.  There, I've coerced the lifeguards and dining attendants to help me out with a birthday cake.  After a lot of dodging (Jing has a tendency to always look for me because I have a tendency to always get lost), I finally found the perfect cake at the sports club's main resto.

I had wanted to be mushy and unexpected, right?  So here it is --a heart cake!  How surprisingly sweet is that!  (read:  I am not a hearts person either. *sigh*)

The VSC attendants were so accommodating and so forgiving of my lack of birthday surprise expertise.  We talked about the exact time when the cake would be rolled out, where exactly the cake would be sent (it was a huge place with a lot of pools and my boys were just about everywhere), and when the candle would be lighted.  OHMYGOD!  THE CANDLE!  There's a cute story about that.  Of course, if I had planned this better, I would have brought my own birthday cake candle, right?  But, being a newbie, I didn't.  And a birthday cake without a birthday candle was just insane.  Thank goodness one of the waiters happen to be a part time sculptor (I kid you not!).  He got a chapel altar candle and effortlessly chiseled it to be a tiny candle with a lovely red ribbon tied around it, too!  Excellent!

But, rounding up the boys for the surprise was just as difficult as the cake drama.  Finally, Jing had to ask, "You're planning something, aren't you?"  I was SO obvious!  I pace a lot when I plan.  Duh.

It was all worth it when the VSC staff finally came out with the cake though.  Jing's classic surprised reaction sealed the deal.  It's like a mixed happy + embarrassed kind of reaction.  Lol!  Love it!

Blowing out that fine, handcrafted candle.

Happy shot.

Digging in!

Ok, so it wasn't a big surprise.  Nor was it the best.  But it was a good start in a brand new career in sweetness and unexpectedness... and my husband was actually impressed.  Yep, I'm pretty proud of myself. :)
Thanks for helping me pull it off, VSC!