Birthday Weekend

My birthday hasn't fallen on a weekend in a while, so I took the liberty of celebrating all weekend...and that we did. Michael is ready for my birthday to be over!

I turned 28 on Saturday, February 27. I came home Friday evening to find a box of beautiful cupcakes and my present all wrapped up on the table. I was so excited...the festivities were beginning! We went to dinner Friday night with Sage and Bethany to start off the weekend.

After eating ox tongue (yes, you read that right),  too much sake, and a few White Russians,  we decided to head home. We walked in the door to find a box on the floor. An empty box. The box that WAS holding my 8 beautiful cupcakes. Dudley quickly admitted his shame and we knew right away who the culprit was.

Now, Dudley has eaten some people food in his time with us, including a whole bag of M&M's (the big one), so even though there was a chocolate cupcake in the bunch, I wasn't too worried. He was acting fine. 24 hours later though, while we should have been having my birthday dinner at La Terasse, we were here.

He is fine. He got a shot to stop vomiting, and was put on a chicken and rice diet for the next 2 days. After 3 hours at the emergency vet we were glad to get home. No more cupcakes for Dudley. Ever. 

My friend, Bethany, turned 28 on the 28th, so of course we had to plan a party! We hosted a "Birthday Boozy Brunch" on Sunday at the Verandah in Repulse Bay. The food was delicious and our closest friends joined in for the fun. 

What a fabulous weekend...thank you again for helping me feel so special with all your notes and cards. Facebook really makes you feel like a celebrity, huh? I'll be hiking tomorrow to try and burn off all the cupcakes...you know my sweet husband went out and bought a new batch! Isn't he the best? Oh, and you guessed it:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

xx,

Lauren

Thank You!

Ya'll sure do know how to make a girl feel special!

Thank you so much for the sweet messages, cards, flowers, pressies, and phone calls. You helped make my day fabulous and made me feel so loved! I truly have the best friends and family. 

The celebration continues tomorrow...more to come about all the festivities! 

Happy Birthday Weekend to me (and Dudley too! His birthday is Feb. 28!)

xx,

Lauren

oh...and this blog post is being written on my birthday present! CAN YOU GUESS?

...AND, IT'S NOT A PC!

Bad Haircut #2

This time it wasn't me, but this guy.

Poor Dudley got butchered. The last haircut was $100, so Michael told me I had to scale back. Well, we paid $47 for this one. I guess you get what you pay for.

The humidity was out in full-force today, so at least it'll help him stay cool?!?!

xx,

Lauren

Off to the Races

Simon turned 29 on Tuesday, so we celebrated last night at the horse races. Simon and Daria rented some space at "Adrenaline", the bar overlooking the racecourse. Michael wasn't able to come due to a late night call, but I had a great time hanging out with friends and enjoying the "green space"!

Somebody else has a birthday coming up.....hmmmm......

More to come on that one!

xx,

Lauren

Kung Hei Fat Choy

We got back last night from the Philippines. We had an amazing time, but the 49 degree weather in Hong Kong was a harsh reminder that vacation is over.

Boracay is not easy to get to....we flew to Manila, then took a bus to the domestic airport in Caticlan. We  took a puddle-jumper to Boracay, a bus to the boat dock, a boat to the island, and a bus to the resort. The Philippines is only a 2 hour flight from Hong Kong, but with all the transfers, it really takes all day to get there. It was well-worth the travel, as the island is just beautiful. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

After we arrived, we took a walk down to the beach. Next thing we heard was, "It's the Phipps'!" Some of our friends from Hong Kong were staying at the same resort. I immediately responded in jest,  "There goes my romantic vacation". They are great guys though, and made me feel like 'one of the guys' all weekend. We rented a sailboat one afternoon and toured around the island and did some snorkeling.

We loved the place we stayed. We ate all meals right on the beach, and I literally did not wear shoes the entire time I was there...the sunsets were breathtaking.

We are back to reality, but are hopeful this won't be the last time we visit Boracay. Wishing you great happiness and prosperity in the year of the tiger. KUNG HEI FAT CHOY!

(Happy Chinese New Year!)

xx,

Lauren

4 More Paws

It has been a bit of a circus around here the past few days. We've had a four-legged visitor since Monday.

Dudley was great around Charlotte the first day, but she's young and frisky, and our old man just wasn't having the 24 hour play-time.

Needless to say, they spent much of the time separated so I wasn't constantly breaking up doggie-fights. I know they look so happy in these pictures, but this was day 1 :)

We went out Monday night to celebrate Michael's birthday. No Harris Teeter cakes here, so I slaved away making these instead. Just kidding. My cake pans are in the POD, and you know I didn't go out and BUY one, so no baking was done by Betty Crocker this year.

One of Michael's presents was a  fancy new bathing suit to wear this weekend. We're heading here to celebrate Chinese New Year. We'll be in the Philippines from February 12-16. Chinese New Year is similar to Christmas, and is one of the most important traditional holidays in Hong Kong. During this time we'll be giving out these:

Red envelopes are passed out from married couples to the elderly, unmarried people, and children. Inside is money. We'll be handing red envelopes out to Michael's co-worker, his secretary, all of our doormen, the man who does our laundry, and our helper. The amount of money you give must be an even number, as odd numbers are associated with funerals. The number "8" is extremely lucky here, so any number with an "8" in it would be a wise choice to give. We should've come to Hong Kong before we were married....

Happy Chinese New Year (...and Valentines Day too!)

xx,

Lauren

Greenpower Hike 2010

As my father-in-law puts it...my "run, race, hike, walk" was a success! On Saturday we set out for 31 miles. We finished in 7 hours 35 minutes which we were proud of, as our goal was under 8 hours. The weather was actually perfect...about 70 degrees and a bit misty.

We scaled about 8 mountains, climbed steps that came up to our hips, dodged people along narrow trails, tripped on roots and rocks, bruised our toes and knees, popped 5 Motrin during the hike, and ate 3 Cliff Bars. That was pretty much our day. We ran bits of the straight-aways and downhills, but we walked most of it.

Sage and Michael promised to be at the finish line to capture our picture. It was the perfect finish-line shot---we were side-by-side, holding our hands up in the air, laughing, and looking right at the camera...the camera that wasn't there. The boys were in a taxi. Not at the finish line. We were not happy, but they brought us champagne and Gatorade. We thought that was nice, so we've made up.

The hike was tough. I'm not gonna lie...I hurt. My butt hurts. My knees hurt. My feet hurt. I'm walking around like a 90 year old woman, so we decided to spend the day here:

We went to the Four Seasons Spa today and it was amazing. The Spa is incredible and was a nice treat after our hard work :)

Thank you all for your support, sweet Facebook posts and congratulatory messages. We had a blast doing it, but are glad to hang up our hiking shoes for awhile. It wasn't the greatest feat in the world, but one more thing to cross off the bucket list.

xx,

Lauren

WILSON!

I've been a bit behind in posting some pictures from the Wilson Trail. We are continuing to hike on Monday's, and are currently 4 stages into the trail. I missed stage 3, as we had done our 25 miler the day before, but here are some views from stages 2 and 4.

The trail winds along Hong Kong Island and across the Harbour to Kowloon. We'll end up close to the China border, which seems crazy!

The Greenpower Hike is Saturday...50 kilometers. We're feeling good and ready to get this behind us! Michael left today for Singapore, but fly's in Saturday morning. He promised to be at the end of the hike to document our agony :) Bethany's boyfriend, Sage, will be armed with a camera the morning of.

Wish us luck!

xx,

Lauren