in honor of baby rain's first birthday party...

... lemme attempt to do a food post.

okay, let me be the first to admit, i am no foodie. i do like good food, and i do know what i like, but i'm the girl who'd be crazy hungry one minute and distracted by a shoe sale the next. so i may be fat, but i know my priorities. food isn't one of them.

but, i do like intrigues and chismis and that was how i found myself one day reading the pickiest eater. 

in any case, i've trusted richie's taste in food more than any other blogger (yes, even that famous one who was the reason why i stumbled onto richie's blog) and since i was there reading his blog before the throng of fans came (he has lots), i'd like to think that entitled me to be an officer of his fans club. and with much twittering (tweeting?), facebook-ing, and blog-commenting, i one day found a DM that changed my life: would i come to baby rain's 1st birthday party?

oh yes i would. especially since baby rain's birthday party was going to be held at the zamora home which meant i would finally partake of the amazing food that he has proudly written about all these years. and you know what? every bite was a piece of heaven. if it weren't too embarrassing, i would've whipped out a microwaveable container and took home some. but, that might mean the end of invitations from richie (or jaimie might have had to deny that she came to the party with me). so i behaved myself and took home elmo and cookie monster. the cupcakes that is ☺

but wait, i said this was going to be a food post. so ...

we started with masatami shave ice. yum yum yum! i first tried the strawberry and it was yummy good. in spite of the heat, the ice didn't melt till you were ready to scoop it into your mouth and allow the flavor-infused shaved ice to cool you down. let's just put it this way - remember aloha? i was so "poor" when i was in elementary i could never afford aloha. so there's this major desire inside of me for snow cones. but my memories of aloha (and you know how memories are almost always better than reality) aren't anywhere near as good as masatami. yes. it was THAT good.

then again, everything at the birthday party was amazing. richie's mom transformed the garden and it was like pinterest came to life! the cookie monster cupcakes that i've been enamored with since forever? check! the tissue pompoms? check! (although she used plastic which was much smarted cause they didn't tear in the wind!) shoot the cookie inside cookie monster's mouth? check! candy bar? check! the party was a veritable feast for the eyes. 

and then there was the food. yes, chicken lollipop and spaghetti are standard kiddie party fare, but there is no way that what they served was standard. on top of that, there was this yummy bread with cheese, mini tacos with crispy wonton wrappers as the shell, deviled eggs, and this uber-yummy fish something. 

i wanted to stuff myself silly with everything but i had to save space for the dessert: red velvet squares! apple crumble! pineapple upside down cake! cookies! cookies! and more cookies! 

let's just say i thanked the lord that i had worn jeans with more than a little stretch to them ☺

thank YOU, the pickiest eater, for inviting me and jaimie to baby rain's 1st birthday party. and while i'm more than overjoyed to have finally met you in the flesh, can i just say that my excitement over that was eclipsed by super ka-gigil rain and the yummiest 1st birthday party spread i've ever tasted?