My Niece Turned Eighteen

Two days before her birthday we had planned to surprise her or do mañanita. Mañanita is a simple celebration of a birthday that is done after midnight or at dawn by singing a song to the celebrant.

We went to their house the day before her birthday, we arrived in the afternoon and began to blow up the balloons and prepare the decorations.

We planned to have a movie marathon that night, so my nephew and his friend went out to get some food, but it was just an excuse to get the flowers for later use. My niece began looking for them as we were about to begin the movie, but they ran into trouble because practically all of the flower shops nearby were already closed, but they were able to purchase one and keep it at his friend's house.

Tic toc, Ring! When our alarms went off at 4:30 a.m., we woke up and began preparing for the surprise. We were still weary from sleeping at 2 a.m. to ensure she didn't suspect anything about our plan.

We prepared everything outside, especially the flower and music and when it was 5 a.m. already, we went to her room and started serenading her with the music. She awoke still tired, and she couldn't believe it, so she walked to my daughter and held her saying, "Oh, am I dreaming?" She immediately hugged her older brother who was holding the rose bouquet, and we escorted her outside. We, her family, and friends did it for her because she couldn't have her 18 roses and 18 candles because we weren't yet allowed to be surrounded by so many people in one spot and to follow the protocols, we decided to celebrate the occasion by hosting a dinner party for family and close friends. Despite the fact that there were only 14 of us present, we danced for her, gave her a yellow flower, and gave her a speech. She was about to cry, but she stopped herself from crying since she didn't want to ruin the mood.

After all of the dancing and speeches, we went outside to decorate. The first thing we did was decorate the parking lot with balloons. Because my niece adores the color pink, we chose pink light and dark, gold, white, and transparent. We intended to build a standee balloon, but we changed our minds and opted to finish it from left to top right.

My daughter and her friend made this while everyone else was occupied. The styrofoam was carved into letters for the word 'Ricci @ eighteen' and then dusted it with gold silver dust.

After the balloon design and the carved letters in styrofoam were completed, they searched for a plain white cloth to use as a backdrop and pinned the letters to it. We did not use the number 18 because everyone else does, so we used the word eighteen instead.

And here's how it looked after that, we also added some metallic strips on the right side to make it look less empty, as well as the table where the foods will be displayed later.

The table was then covered with red, pink, and white tablecloths to make it appear more presentable. Because she knows how to do it, my daughter assisted with the table skirting.

We completed decorating at 2 p.m. and this is the result. We took a break, while others bathed and ate. At 5 p.m., we started getting ready and family and friends began to arrive.

I shot a photo with her earlier because I assumed she'd be quite busy entertaining her guests later. Then my sister and I also snapped a photo together with her. My niece looks dashing in her attire, she's no longer a baby and she's even taller than we are.

Look at how lovely our debutante is, her outfit is perfect for her and her smile conveys her happiness. This shot of her with the bouquet was taken by my daughter.

I was so preoccupied with prepping and entertaining the guests that I completely forgot it was already 7 p.m. When the party started, it looked like this and it looked much better with the lights on.

Here's the debutante's cake, by the way. It's pink and white, much like her party's theme. The word eighteen was written in gold and blue and pink little balls on top.

I invited her to stand in front with her cake and although she was exhausted from entertaining the guests, she was overjoyed when she saw the cake, saying it was very heavy and looked so good that it must be really sweet when eaten.

Here's a video of her blowing the candle.

And this was when she sliced the cake.

I wasn't able to take many shots because I became preoccupied as the party began. We had a talk with some friends and relatives and then they went home after eating because we couldn't stay in such a crowded area for too long. After the celebration, we all cleaned the entire place and then my daughter and her cousins went for a short drive around the neighborhood.

When I think back on how they were back then and compare them to how they are now as adults, it makes me both sad and happy. Sad that they will be living on their own without me in the near future, but happy that they grew up well.

That's exactly what happened at my niece's debut. It was not my birthday, but I think I was the most emotional person there.

That's all for this blog. Thank you for sparing your time visiting my blog. Adios!