The Birthday Sleepover


This weekend was my sister's birthday!

My sister came over to my place for the weekend and my bbf also came over so we could celebrate with nabe at home. I always say this but this is the ultimate healthy and delicious meal to have with friends and family in the wintertime. So so good.



And what is a birthday celebration without cake?

This year I went by Giotto, a pastry shop in Odakyu Shinjuku, and chose their citrus fruit cheesecake tart. I should have taken a picture before I stabbed all the candles in it because it was very pretty, but you'll just have to take my word for it. 



It's become something of a tradition to use the exact number of candles to celebrate my sister's birthday. Last year's cake almost ended up being a ball of fire so this year I got three different lengths of candles to diversify the flame. I think it was a good plan, nothing caught on fire. But the candles were a bit too skinny and some of them started doing yoga moves while we were taking pictures! :D



Don't you love that my sister claps her hands after blowing out her candles? (She's a kindergarten teacher...it comes with the occupation. So cute.)

And the cake was delicious!



We spent the night just chatting away. And when I say night, I meant way into the night. We went to sleep around 4:30am...but I think that's what a sleepover is all about. Especially when you're celebrating a birthday!

Happy birthday, Yoko! May your year be filled with happiness and joy!!! x



PS:  Isn't it interesting how you congratulate someone's birthday by saying, "Hope you have a great day!" in English, but you say something like, "Hope you have a wonderful year!" in Japanese? I noticed the difference when someone mentioned it to me. I'd written "素敵な一日でありますように!(Have a wonderful day!)" on a Japanese friend's facebook page. When I went to see what other people had written, many were wishing her a wonderful year. Now I usually wish Japanese friends a full year of happiness but still stick to a day for my state-side friends (not that I'm wishing them any less of their happiness!). Which do you use often?

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