Week 12: A Debut at Pechanga
- elenalilamartin
- Mar 25, 2023
- 3 min read
Week 12: March 19-25th, 2023
There is something so special about sister relationships. I am proud to be a little sister. I'm good at it, too. Not everyone is lucky enough to be the younger sibling, or have any siblings at all, so I cherish sisterhood a lot.
Victoria is one of my closest friends from college. I think of her as a sister, too. We lived on the same floor in freshman year and through the trials of the college and dorm experience, she soon became family. On top of having Victoria as a great friend forever, I am lucky to also be a part of her younger sister Gabriella's life.
I always joked that Gabriella and I were eerily similar, in our tendencies for sassiness and how good we were at balancing being annoying and charming. As Victoria and I have grown up through college and post-grad life, I have also been able to see Gabriella grow up. When I first met her, she was a scrawny kid with nut allergies who spent all her time at dance competitions. Over the years, I've witnessed her evolve through different phases and interests, finding herself and her place in the world.
This past weekend was Gabriella's 18th birthday party. In Filipino culture, when a young woman turns 18, she has a coming of age ceremony called a debut. Lemme tell you, Victoria's family knows how to throw a party.
It was a wonderful event, complete with professional photographers, appetizers & dinner, desserts, birthday cake, and an open bar! The venue was Journey's End at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula.
You know me, I love any chance to dress up, so I was thrilled that the attire was cocktail dress. It felt like a mini-wedding, fit with a seating chart, a DJ and floral centerpieces.
There was a golf course out back, and if it wasn't so cold and windy, Amanda, Sam and I would have filmed a rendition of Troy Bolton's "Bet On It" from High School Musical 2.
On top of celebrating a monumental birthday, we also got to celebrate ourselves a little with a one-night stay-cation. It was so fun to have a suite a very bougie hotel (at a very big casino!!!). They even had weird security robo-cops roaming the lobby.
My friends and I stayed up until like 2am playing blackjack with Victoria's dad and her cousins. Gabriella, on the other hand, was out for the night by 11pm. I don't blame her, she couldn't legally gamble and probably had a very long day. I can tell you, while being the center of attention is a top 10 favorite activity for us little sisters, I'm sure she was exhausted.
While I am an emotional person, I'm not an overly simpy one, and rarely express my love in mushy-gushy ways. That being said, I was absolutely bawling during the candle speeches and the father-daughter dance. I was so proud of Gabriella for growing into the young woman she is today, and so proud of Victoria for being a stellar older sister to her. I felt so lucky to be invited and to see how many people were there to celebrate Gabriella's birthday and Victoria's family. It definitely was a night to remember. I made sure to sign Gabriella's birthday card, "Love, your other big sis."
See you next week.
P.S. Check out my update on Pinch Pottery at the bottom of my post from Week 7!
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