celebrating life and friendship

Last night I had an early birthday celebration thanks to my fabulous friend, fellow crazy cook, and event-planner extraordinaire. It started off with a 9 am yoga class at this studio, followed by a trip to my beloved market to reunite with my favorite food places. Then I re-connected with this friend and kindred spirit over scones and refreshing iced jasmine green tea at my favorite tea place.

In the evening, our group of friends gathered for an awesome vegetarian-friendly Filipino dinner and an abundance of dessert. In our culture, we eat noodles on our birthdays for longevity. Traditionally, this is made with bits of pork and shrimp, but my friend made a veggie version for me! (and the other vegetarians in our group)

 Doesn't that look amazing?

(Thank you, my Cincinnati sister!)

My friend who hosted the party made a Filipino dessert called "halo-halo" which literally means "mix-mix" -- a mixture of native fruits (jackfruit and plantains) in syrup, jellied coconut, crushed ice, milk, and ice cream. Our non-Filipino friends have now named it "mix-mix". One friend nicknamed it the "ha-ha". In addition to that, a friend brought a homemade dark chocolate cake, this friend brought homemade tiramisu, and another friend brought assorted gelato from a local gelateria (did I not say an "abundance" of dessert?). 

We sampled and savored (ok, maybe "devoured and conquered" is more accurate, as the food was wiped out), and enjoyed each other's company long into the evening.

I was unable to take more photos of the other amazing dishes we had, as I wanted to catch up with all my Cincinnati friends whom I have not seen in months since I moved away. But I trust that my other photographer friend documented the evening. :)

 Photo by EyesOpenWide

Thank you everyone for being present and making my day! Much love and many hugs all around.