The Holidays and Welcoming the New Year

 Happy new year, Hivers! I hope all is well with you. As of posting this, power and water has been restored in our place. I am grateful that we are blessed despite the circumstances and our struggles immediately after the typhoon. Even before the restoration, we are still able to smile through this experience and rejoice in the fact that we have our families and loved ones intact. **CHRISTMAS DAY** Joey @thejoeprocess and I welcomed Christmas with our *noche buena* in the dark. (On the 24th, we visited our families in Minglanilla and we got some takeaway food from the small get together.) So we celebrated with some spare ribs, lasagna, pasta, chicken cordon bleu, and champagne. Not bad for a house with no power. Hehe  *Our* noche buena *lighted by our ring light.* When we woke up on Christmas morning, we decided to get out of the house and look for some place to charge our devices and power banks. First, we went straight to Ayala Central Bloc because we saw from the social media of Fully Booked that their branch there was already open following the typhoon. The hubby wanted to treat me with some books and it lifted my mood immediately.    *DECISIONS, DECISIONS. It was so hard to decide but eventually, I picked the latest Sally Rooney and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. Thank you, mahal.* After buying the books, we opted to go somewhere else since Central Bloc was super crowded. We thought of Robinsons Cybergate and thankfully, it was pretty lax there. We had a very late lunch at Luncheonette where we enjoyed an American diner experience.  *Eating our lunch, diner style with a free coffee refill.*  *I ordered a Breakfast Burger with Bacon.*  *Joey ordered the Bacon Melt Sandwich.* After a hearty late lunch, we moved to the neighboring Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf hoping to charge our devices. However, when we got there, all outlets were occupied. We decided to just enjoy our orders instead. Joey played his game on his iPad while I continued reading my book. At the time, I was reading *Red, White, and Royal Blue* by Casey McQuiston. The book was so hilarious that it made me laugh out loud a few times. It also had some steamy scenes which made me paranoid reading it in public. Haha  *Reading my book.* **NEW YEAR’S EVE AND NEW YEAR’S DAY** Although usually holidays, December 24th and 31st were declared as special working days in 2021 so I had to go to work on the last day of the year. It was frustrating and heartbreaking because due to the weather, our already drenched offices suffered even more damage from the heavy rain. Each office scrambled to save documents by covering them with garbage bags or whatever materials there were that could be used. The hallways were flooding and people passing by had to use umbrellas to avoid getting wet. It’s just so depressing that I couldn’t wait to get out. When I clocked off, I felt so relieved. Hubby picked me up and we went to SM Seaside to run some last minute errands.    *We had a very late lunch at Matsunoya.*  *@thejoeprocess focusing on his phone*  *The hubby’s ramen was the first to arrive and he shared it with me while I was waiting for mine.*  *My order, pork teriyaki* It is also our tradition to wear something matching the color of the year so Joey and I searched for our outfits. I sneaked a photo of him while fitting the outfit he ended up buying.  Later that night, Joey had to work so I accompanied him and we welcomed the new year at his workplace. We prepared a small feast of spaghetti, munchkins, ube tikoy, and some white sparkling. Half of the spaghetti that we couldn’t finish, we gave to the guard on duty.  When I was younger, I used to believe that food for *media noche* should be bountiful to attract more harvests through the year but as Joey and I grow into our relationship, we have adjusted to preparing only what we can consume and therefore leave zero wastage. I believe it is our way of starting the year by living within our means.  *Pinoy recipe spaghetti for longer life and sweeter love*  *Munchkins for something lingin lingin hehe*  *Color of the year tikoy for a sticky and solid relationship of the family.*  *Sparkling (non-alcoholic) wine to spark flavor into the year.* With a grateful heart, we welcomed the year with open arms. Then I slept on a chair while Joey continued to work the rest of the night. Whatever the circumstances, the thought that Joey and I are together comforted me and lulled me to sleep. When Joey and I left his workplace at 6 a.m. we were greeted by the gloomy weather and went home at a house still without electricity and running water. We slept the morning off until it was time to go to Minglanilla again at ate @gwenfinity's place for a lunch get together and first day of the year festivities. We played BINGO and for some reason, @thejoeprocess and I won twice (two times for each of us!) It was so surprising because we don't usually win these things but we did. It was a great start to the year. After the Bingo games, we played a blindfolded game of scooping money. This round, Joey and I didn't win anything. Haha Anyway, I was only able to take videos of the fun but here are some screenshots from those videos:  *Kendra*  *Atasha*  *@kcwonders*  *@gioxide.arts*  *Pearl*  *@thejoeprocess*  *Me! It may look like I scooped that 500 peso bill, but it slipped hehe*  *@jongcl*  *@sassycebuana*  *@eeventuree*  *@morenatravels*  *@gwenfinity* We were missing @swaycanete but as of this writing she is back home with the fam ❤ The rest of the night was spent enjoying good food and good company as Papa Wilson told stories and gave advice to us. It was an unforgettable day and a sweet opener to the year.  The next day, Joey and I were able to extend the festivities by going on a date at SM Seaside. Since we still didn’t have power at the time, our main task really was charging our devices at the mall’s charging station. Before doing so, though, we were able to enjoy a good samgyeopsal in Seoul.   *Our samgyeopsal late lunch*  *@thejoeprocess busy with preparing the food*  *Ordered an additional tteokbokki for the cold weather.* After lunch and before going to the charging station, we also ordered takeaway drinks from Koomi for some guiltless goodness.   Despite the circumstances and the effects of the super typhoon, we are still so very blessed that we were able to celebrate the holidays and welcome the new year with loved ones and food on our table. Hoping and praying for the same for you, dear reader. Thanks for reading and see you on my next blog.