I am a chronic overthinker, and even more so when it comes to birthdays. I had been mentally cycling through options for weeks—a Hyrox class? Group pilates? A spin class? A spa day with the girls? The problem is I have so many pregnant friends right now, and any fitness event would need OB-GYN clearance. And even setting the activity aside, finding a common schedule felt impossible. We’re all mostly millennials — with kids, with calendars that fill up weeks in advance, with the particular exhaustion of trying to coordinate anything that involves more than two people and a group chat.

By the time I’d talked myself out of the fitness ideas, it was already almost the end of the month. My birth month was basically ending. There wasn’t enough time to plan something intimate for one friend group, let alone figure out how to bring all of them together without it feeling like I was running separate events. So the smaller, more curated birthday gatherings I envisioned kept getting pushed, until I gave up the ideas altogether.

So I just didn’t plan anything at all anymore, until my dad stepped in, though not intentionally, at first.

He wanted to support his long-time buddy, Charlemagne Lim, who owns the newly opened Bistro Charlemagne restaurant in Sct. Gandia Quezon City, and had already organized a small dinner to catch up with his good friend Daiana Menezes and a few others. He asked if I’d planned anything for my birthday yet. When I said no, he told me to just invite my friends and he’ll handle everything.

Since the whole occasion was short notice, with no formal announcement, and no theme, I felt so much gratitude when almost everyone showed up. What started as a catch-up turned into a full evening with over 70 people. We took up almost the entire restaurant, as though it was closed for our private event!

The Bistro Charlemagne in Quezon City is unlike any of his previous branches, which are mostly located in various Ayala malls. This one had a soaring ceiling with beautiful woven rattan pendant lights, warm wood beams, lush indoor greenery and an open bar wall that helped provide a relaxed atmosphere overall.

The real surprise came courtesy of my best friend Diane Yap, who owns Petalier and Flairfetti. She had coordinated with Charlemagne to transform a section of the restaurant by draping it in white fabric and filling it with the most gorgeous floral arrangements in peach, white, and orange, anchored by a glowing neon sign that spelled out “Let’s Party!” She only told me it would be white, so I wore orange to stand out. Walking into that setup, surrounded by friends I hadn’t managed to gather in months, warmed my heart very much.

Diane also gifted me a custom Petalier arrangement — an acrylic box with a heart of preserved dusty pink roses inside, personalized with my name on the front. It actually has a built-in musical box and speaker, and was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever received.

Then came the custom cake gifted by my husband Jacob, which caught me off guard completely and really made me feel shy. It was designed around me finishing a marathon — which I haven’t yet, by the way — featuring a fondant figurine of me breaking through a finish line ribbon that read “Marathon Finisher” while holding up my phone for a selfie. The finish arch above even displayed the timestamp 04:26:13, which as a runner, I clocked immediately! For the record, that is not the time I am aiming for. I’m training for my first full marathon in October 2026, and my goal is simply to finish under five hours. That finish time is both so oddly specific and completely made up that it made me literally laugh out loud!

The food was also exquisite! Charlemagne personally prepared the evening’s Asian fusion menu, and it was one of the best meals I’ve eaten in a restaurant in a long time. The spread was generous and quite cohesive for a group our size! The set included pumpkin and carrot soup to open, Korean beef stew, lengua in white mushroom sauce — my personal favorite of the night — honey walnut shrimp, Vietnamese spring rolls, chow mein, Little Asia’s chicken, salted egg squid, and yang chow fried rice. Managing a large group dinner where people arrive and leave at different times is usually a logistical headache, but Charlemagne handled it effortlessly which really made the evening stress-free for me and my dad! He was actively moving through the restaurant, attending to us and his other guests — truly a hands-on owner who’s as good with people as he is with food. The bistro also serves coffee and cocktails, and it was very much appreciated for a night that stretched as long as ours did!

My good friend and professional photographer Edward “Ted” Mikus was also there and graciously took photos all evening. Having him there was such a relief, because I was able to be present without worrying about documenting everything on my already full-memory iPhone.

There was a bonus special guest, too! DJ Big Boy Cheng happened to be dining at the VIP room right next to us. He’s a long-time friend of my dad’s, and apparently, a lot of my guy friends are big fans. He accommodated so many photos, which really made the night so much more fun and memorable for everyone!

This was truly the best birthday gift this year — not having to think, but still ending up exactly where I feel most happy — surrounded by people I love, eating food I look forward to coming back for, in a room that looked like a party even before anyone arrived.

The best birthday I almost didn’t have.