LDR gift giving

One of the main things that I find challenging in long distance relationships is gift giving. At the start, I would send EJ gifts by having them shipped to him but this has proven to be very expensive and limiting. Not only will you not be able to send expensive items (for fear of them getting lost), you also cannot send some items due to customs restrictions. This prompted me (and him too) to get a bit more creative in sending gifts.

Well it was his birthday last Friday and the occasion allowed me to try another means of gift giving-- pizza delivery :) Pizza is one of EJ's favorite foods and for many years I've been wanting to give him pizza but I couldn't find a place in Canada that would let me buy and pay online. Well that all changed when I discovered Uber Eats.

Uber Eats Canada let me order from stores near EJ's home and an Uber driver picked it up and delivered it to his house. I ordered from Pizza Edge in Brampton, a small restaurant with tasty pizza (ask EJ!). Ordering to delivery took about 30 minutes in total which is really fast compared to pizza deliveries here in the Philippines. The food was debited from my Uber account without any hassle. It was just perfect! I was so nervous the whole time that they would have to look for the actual card used for the transaction or me to sign it or something but no, they just delivered it and the receipt was sent to my email. Mission complete!

Because birthday cakes are passe. Birthday PIZZA for my love!

Now I finally have a place to go to if I want to order food for EJ in Canada. The interesting thing is, Uber Eats is actually not available in the Philippines (hehe) so I'm really really glad I got to fool the app thinking I was in Canada :P

Since I'm already on the topic, let me share some of the websites I've used before in sending gifts to EJ online:

1. Edible Arrangements - EdibleArrangements.ca has been my go to delivery service for food items for many times in the past. I love their chocolate-covered fruit items and that you can add items to  the fruits like balloons, bears, etc. You can also schedule the delivery date so you can get this in advance and not worry about it. What I dislike however is that it can get quite expensive with the delivery fee on top of the price. Still, it's a good service provider with cool products.

2. Amazon Canada - Amazon Canada is my go to for the more expensive (and bulky) items I want to give EJ. It's reliable, safe, and accepts international payment. It has a wide selection and you can check for the best deals.

There you go! I'll leave the part about sending items to the Philippines to EJ but that's my list of go to websites for sending gifts to Canada.

Stay strong fellow LDR couples! *hug*

Sweet Red and Green

It's that time of the year again when the nininja kitchen opens up once again for my signature red velvet and green tea crinkles!

I love how these babies get a lot of attention during this time. I'm normally a lazy baker because baking is messy and time-consuming but the satisfaction I get when people eat these crinkles makes all the effort worth it :)

This is indeed the season to be jolly!-- and fat! Advance Merry Christmas to all!

Up in the sky I go

One of the biggest art projects I was fortunate enough to take on was the design for a baby boy's birthday party. His parents are currently in Bangkok and since it's his first birthday, his mom really wanted to make it special by creating a theme for it. But for some reason she says she couldn't find the type of decor she wanted for the party so she contacted me to make her the decor.

It  was a really fun project because I got to work with one of my favorite mediums: felt cloth :) I find sewing really enjoyable and relaxing. I particularly enjoyed making cute little clouds and stuffing them!

Liam's mom even had a cake customized based on my design!

What I love most about the party decor is that they're reusable and after the party, they could put it in the baby's room as decor. They're also easy to pack which made sending these to Bangkok really easy :)

Happy birthday darling baby boy!

For customized party decor orders like this, email me at thenininja.com or PM me on Instagram @nininja

Of art and more

There's nothing more satisfying for me than creating art. Lately, apart from being busy from work (sorry about the lack of updates), I have been keeping myself preoccupied with art projects. So for the next few posts, allow me  to feature some of the art projects I have been preoccupied with:

1. Cut out family tree

A few months ago, I went to Canada to visit EJ and his family and I decided I wanted to do a special gift for them. So I decided to do a cut out family tree. It was the first time I've ever done one but I do enjoy making cut outs and I tend to get excited about new projects. It was a really painstaking task, and I had to do the cut out twice because the first one just looked bad, but the final product is something I am very very proud of :)

My colleagues at work were so impressed with this they even suggested I sell it. I haven't really post it anywhere online until now but I guess they're right, so if you wanna order, I'm selling this for PHP2,000.00 with 2-3 weeks production time.

2. Glass calligraphy

In line with the whole "this is the first time I'm doing this but what the heck" mentality, I decided to do calligraphy on a glass frame for a dear friend's wedding. Again, it was the first time I tried it and it was a disaster at first because apparently you need special materials to write on glass, but I was able to pull it off and I think it is beautiful :)

I can't find the framed version of this or the final touched up one, but this one will do. I love how it looks so artsy and I really didn't think I could create something so nice. Again, if you want to get a customized one, I sell these for PHP950.00 with 1-2 weeks production time.

So there goes some of my art projects the past month! I can't believe I've actually embarked on a lot of artistic endeavors in just a few months. But it is something I do derive so much joy from and it feels great to be able to share it with the world :)

p.s. for orders, email me at thenininja@gmail.com or PM me on Instagram @nininja