I'm on leave for a month!!!

I'm on leave for a month! Yey! I am so excited.

************

I've been in a flurry of activities these past few days.

Monday

We had our office Christmas party last Monday. And as we usually do, we all came in costume. This year's theme was Cartoon Universe. I so wanted an excuse to wear my knee-high boots that I searched for a cartoon character that wore knee-high boots - my search led me to Sailor Moon. But since there was no glamor in being Sailor Moon (she had curly blonde hair and wore a sailor outfit in red, white and blue) I decided to dress up as Sailor Pluto. Sailor Pluto had long dark hair, wore knee high boots, a black mini-skirt and a white top with a black sailor collar. She was the perfect cartoon character for me! Since I didn't want to spend so much money, I just used my black skirt and pinned on a black cloth on my sleeveless white blouse. My officemates didn't recognize my blouse - they thought that I bought a sailor outfit. Wagi ang DIY costume!!!

Tuesday

Tuesday was my last day of work so I tried to finish all my pending work. New work came in the afternoon but I managed to leave the office in time for Sophie's birthday dinner at Big Buddha. (Sophie is my cute little niece who just turned 4.) On that same evening, I was able to get some of our CD souvenirs from Dio. Dio did a good jobe making the CD sleeves!

Wednesday

Rey and I were supposed to have another set of pre-nuptial pictures taken at the W@W Christmas party. However, I was having a bad cough so Rey and my Papa ganged up on me and demanded that I go to the doctor. Unfortunately, we missed the doctor's clinic hours so we just decided to pass by Daneche for Rey's first fitting of his barong. The first time that I saw him in his barong, I knew that there was something wrong - the barong was too long that it made him look short. It also had embroidery on the sleeves that were a bit distracting. When I asked the sewer why the barong was too long, they explained that if they cut it short, the embroidery at the back would be ruined. It was then that I realized that the barong had embroidery at the back. Not being a fan of embroidery, I was horrified! I also felt so guilty because when Rey mentioned to me that the embroidery on the cloth for his barong was too big for his taste (upon Rey's request, his mom was the one who looked for and bought the cloth), I told him that his mom probably picked the cloth with the bigger embroidery to match Rey's huge shoulders. I didn't tell Rey anything as I noticed that he wasn't too pleased with his barong either. When we got out of the shop, Rey uttered what would be the most unforgettable line in our wedding preps - "I DIDN'T SPEND SO MUCH MONEY TO LOOK LIKE A GOD-DAMNED SMURF!!!"

I found the line hlarious but since Rey was so upset, I didn't laugh. I also volunteered to bring him to Kamuning market so we can get a new cloth for him. We did go to Kamuning market and we were able to buy 3 barong fabrics. Rey didn't like the color of pina (he said that it made him look darker) so we got the pina jusi fabric (which, as the salesladies explained, is really dyed jusi.) After Kamuning market, we decided to have dinner at Chili's. Since Njork was on the same street, we decided to check on my reception gown first. To our surprise, Rey's mom and Panjee were there to fit their gowns!

While I was fitting my gown, I can hear Rey and his mom's heated discussion over Rey's barong - Rey's lines were so funny! When his mom said that he'd look pathetic if he wore a pina jusi barong while his guests are in pina, Rey said that he'd prefer to look pathetic than ugly. He argued that if he wore pina to the wedding, he'd look so dark that people would mistake him for my shadow. And when Rey's mom told him that it would be such a waste not to wear the barong since the fabric was very expensive (it was first class pina) Rey said that even if it was expensive, it still made him look like a mushroom.

The coward that I am didn't leave the fitting room until they finished their discussion.

After my fitting, Rey and I had dinner at Chili's. He was in a better mood and we got to laugh over his barong situation. I also got to call him Papa Smurf the whole evening. I dropped him off near his place on my way to the W@W Party so he can continue his discussions with his mom.

I arrived at Gazebo Royale at around 7:30. The place was beautiful! The driveway was well lit and the area was filled with healthy looking plants. The party area was a covered garden that was adorned with hundreds of Christmas lights and capiz bird lamps.

I sat with Clarise (the big winner for the night! She won pearl earrings), Bernard, Eileen and Matthew. We had lots of fun discussing our weddings and gossipping about wedding suppliers. Since I've already eaten dinner, I tasted the desserts from Aufrance and Hizon's. The buko pandan of Aufrance tasted ok - it wasn't too sweet and it didn't have the plastic balloon taste that I hated in some servings of buko pandan. On the other hand, Hizon's chocolate fondue looked really tempting! They had my favorite fondue partners, bananas and mangoes, but they also served watermelon, melon and pineapple. These latter fruits taste good by themselves but I really don't think that these fruits should be dipped in chocolate. I got some bananas, mangoes and chocolate fondue. I didn't like the chocolate that they used for the fondue.

After having dessert, I went around to chat with my college friend, Carol, who was also a w@wie. She brought with her the pictures that Eddieboy Escudero took of their wedding. The pictures were awesome! I also got to chat with Jen, Millet, Millet (nope, this is not a typo), Joanna of Rey (who won a gown from Galatea!), Kelly ni Gats, Leslie ni Jason and Abie ni Howell.

I was also pleased to see our suppliers - Ronald and Tisha of Balay Kandila, Jason Magbanua and Eddieboy Escudero! I managed to give Jason and Eddieboy final instructions for our wedding.

When the program ended, I was able to say hello to Dee and Dennis.

It was such a fun party!!!

Thursday

On Thursday, I met with Grace G and Patrick so I can get the Sissel CD which Grace bought in the US for me. The CD has Pie Jesu, the song that Rey and I wanted for the bridal march. Charlotte Church ang Sarah Brightman had their own versions but we loved that of Sissel. We shared stories over lunch at Bizu.

Right after my lunch with Grace, I rushed to the office to make my memo of pending work. I also made arrangements with our cashiering department so then can our full payment to Santiburi's account in Thailand. (I really love our office! For Honhon and Salve to send the money to Santiburi, they first had to buy dollars, deposit it in an account and apply for a wiretransfer. The could have chosen to purchase dollars from the bank but they made arrangements so they can get dollars at better rates. We also thought that the bank charges would cost less than a hundred bucks but even if it turned out to be more than P500, they just paid for it first and said that they'll just reimburse the money from me when I get back to work. Isn't that nice?)

At around 5, I went to Nice's office to get my gift certificates for diamond peels at the Blue Mountain Spa. After a brief chat with Nice, I headed to the Mandarin to pay for our reception in full. I was supposed to pay in cash but our AE suggested that I pay by credit card - they didn't charge extra and I get to earn points on my card. I was able to meet with my AE, Kate. She really is so efficient and easy to deal with.

From Mandarin, I went to Njork to fit the gown that I'll be wearing for a friend's wedding. The gown looked so nice!!!

I was so tired that I just wanted to go home and sleep but I promised my officemates that I would meet them at Footzone in Greenhills for my not-so-surprise bridal shower. I never regretted going to Footzone as they treated me to a relaxing foot reflexology with full body massage. Since we didn't have to take of our clothes for the massage, we all stayed in 1 room. We were so relaxed with the foot reflexology and the massage! We also had lots of laughs when I opened their shower gifts.It was a fitting end for a tiring day.

Friday

I was supposed to have a relaxing Friday since I would be singing in Clarise's wedding on Saturday. But my sister, Cecile and I decided to have our Diamond Peel. Unfortunately, the traffic was so bad that we didn't have any choice but to cancel or appointment. We just entertained ourselves by eating at Taco Bell and checking out the shops at the Gateway mall.

After our shopping trip, I left Cecile at home so she can play wth our new niece, Sam. I had a foot spa, manicure and pedicure at our neighborhood parlor. From there, Rey picked me up and we went to meet with his former boss, Party-list representative Kim Bernardo-Lokin and his other former officemates. We had fun exchanging stories. We also got to taste the wine that we're planning to serve during our cocktails - Chez Samantha. Everybody liked its light and fruity flavor. Yey!

More Showers!

I love the Christmas season. Everyone seems happier, I have a real excuse to shop and we have a good reason to party!!!

************

Last Friday (10 December), my friends and I had a little party at Carol's house. We had a potluck so we had lots of food. We had:

1. really yummy fried chicken (the skin was crispy, the flesh was tender and had a delicately sour taste),
2. tasty pancit (the nodoles alone tasted good, but eating it with the veggie and seafood toppings made it even better),
3. equally delicious lumpiang shanghai which was perfect with the sweet and sour sauce,
4. polly's perfect chocolate cake (sinfully creamy),
5. rosa's fruit salad which tasted like ice cream (i loved how the cream melted in the mouth as soon as I took a bite),
6. chocolate sans rival, and
7. charlie's pritson (it was perfect with garlic butter and filipino chili sauce!!!)

Laxmi gave me a delightful box of goodies from Lush as she thought that it was my bridal shower (it was originally planned as my shower but for several reasons, they had to postpone it.) Inside the box were:

1. You'll Snap the Whip Body Butters (soft butters mixed with ground pumice and charcoal) which is sure to make my skin soft,
2. Sex Bomb Ballistics (a pink jasmine-scented bath ball which promises the "sexiest bath (i've) ever had), and
3. my favorite, Shimmy shimmy, a vanilla-scented massage oil bar which gives the skin a perfect sparkle!

We also watched my latest favorite Pinoy movie, Feng Shui. We had so much fun! We were laughing so hard as we made a good ad for the Stop Piracy Movement. The DVD we were using was pirated copy and it stopped on the scariest parts, garbled at least 5 minutes worth of dialogues, skipped a couple of chapters and totally refused to run 5 minutes before the ending! It ended with me telling them the ending of the movie Lola-Basyang style (I was seated in front of the TV with everyone around me.)

It was a perfect party!

************

Yesterday (11 December 2004), a few w@wies (Dio, Dowa and Kitte) and I had a little party at Clarice's house. I thought that it was going to be a surprise shower for Clarice (we originally scheduled it last Tuesday but I was informed that a lot of them couldn't make it) so I went there early, brought a gift for Clarice and brought lots of food (Holiday and Chicken Relleno Pizza with sour cream-filled edges, Spaghetti and Pepsi from Pizza Hut.) I was first to arrive.

Since we planned to camouflage the shower by saying that I needed help with our CD sleeves (see story below) I brought the raw materials for our CD sleeves. Clarice also mentioned that she needed help tying the ribbons on their souvenirs so as soon as I got to their house, I asked her where their souvenirs were.

While waiting for the others to arrive, Clarice and I started working on our souvenirs. As soon as we started, we realized that I was better at making ribbons than Clarice while she folded better than I. Naturally, we switched tasks. I tied the rafia ribbons on her souvenirs while she folded and taped our CD sleeves. In a few minutes, Dowa and Kitte arrived. Dowa's DIY wedding-stuff trained her in tying ribbons so she started to help me. Kitte claims that she didn't have the talent in tying little ribbons so she helped fold and tape the CD sleeves.

An hour later, we decided to eat. Dio and Marvin arrived at that time with 2 boxes of my favorite Becky's Kitchen brownies!!! It was then that they announced the surprise - the shower was not for Clarice, it was for me! It turns out that the shower for Clarice pushed through last Tuesday (I couldn't attend as I was having dinner with Rey's family.) We were laughing so hard (and the men were busy taking our pictures) when we opened my gifts:

1. cream bath which smelled wonderful,
2. foot spa set which is perfect for a pedicure-addict like me (Rey adores my feet so I have to take care of them!),
3. lovely lavender foam bath set (I love bubble baths!)
4. white barely there nightwear (which was so transparent that it looked like a veil!) with matching thongs,
5. and the surprise of the day, black barely there thongs for Rey!

After dinner, Clarice had to leave (her maid of honor picked her up for her surprise bridal shower) but the rest of us stayed in her house (sobrang feel-at-home!) I finished tying ribbons on her souvenirs, Kitte, Dowa and Dio worked on our CD sleeves, Kitte's hubby, Joseph entertained us by singing a few songs (he was pretty good!), and Marvin continued to take pictures. When I was done tying the ribbons, we decided to pack up. To my surprise, Kitte, Dowa and Dio offered to take home our raw materials so they can continue working on our CD sleeves. I was so touched!

When I got home, I still couldn't believe that I attended 2 perfect parties in 2 consecutive days!

************

While Clarice and I were working on our souvenirs, I mentioned to her that I can relate when she said in her e-mail that she is not stressed about the wedding as she has "let go" of all the details a week ago. I mentioned that I've also "let go" on the day our wedding announcement came out. The funny thing was that we "let go" too early as we still had DIY stuff to do! She still had to complete her place cards and her souvenirs while I still had to make the invites for Rey's siblings. I also needed to work on our souvenirs. But as we worked on our souvenirs, we continued laughing at ourselves and decided that there's still plenty of time before our weddings (she has 6 days, I have 15) for all the stuff we need to do.

When Kitte, Dowa and Dio arrived to help us with our souvenirs, I realized that I really can let go and that I really do not need to be stressed. First, they really gave us a lot of free time by making our CD sleeves. Second, having them around reminded me that if I need any help, I can always rely on my friends to be there for me. Third and more importantly, when I was telling them about my dinner with Rey's family, I realized that the most important thing about our wedding is that we will be with our family and friends. Since our family and friends are as excited about the wedding as Rey and I, I know that there's really nothing to worry about.

************

On a lighter note, I brought Porkchop to Rey's house for the first time yesterday. I was so nervous about it as Rey's house is 30 minutes away from ours and Porkchop has a bad case of motion sickness! On her last car trip, she barfed and peed all over the car.

I called up the vet and asked her if I can give Porkchop any medicine to help her with her motion sickness. She told me that I can have Porkchop drink Bonamine 30 minutes before the ride. I sent a text message to my friends and asked them to pray that the Bonamine would work! Heehee. A lot of them found the request hilarious but prayed for Porkchop anyway.

I immediately made Porkchop drink a tablet. 30 minutes later, we were on our way to Rey's house. Porkchop tried to deal with her motion sickness by sticking her head out the window which was good as we didn't have to deal with her drool. However, when we encountered some traffic on the way, a f***ing son of a b***h slapped Porkchop. Porkchop gave a little yelp and refused to look out the window the rest of the way. We dealt with her drool by holding a towel under her mouth.

When we got to Rey's house, Porkchop was still a bit dazed so I walked her around the block. Porkchop had lots of fun sniffing the new environment. When we finally got to Rey's house, she was already her usual cuddly self. After a while, she stopped drooling and showed her "talent" of obeying basic commands. (She responds to "Come", "Sit", "Down" and "Crawl.") I was so proud of her!!!

Of course, she drooled again on the way home, but I still gave her a piece of treat as soon as we arrived in our house.

A Shower of Blessings

With the thunderstorms came showers of blessings for Rey and I.

A week ago, I would have called it luck, but with the way things are going, I am really convinced that a benevolent and powerful being is helping us with our wedding and marriage preparations.

************

First, I am confident that we were able to choose good suppliers for our wedding. This does not mean that our suppliers are perfect, as they are not (I think that creative people must have a little idiosyncrasy.) But their imperfections are tolerable and it is enough for me that they do their job well and that I can communicate with them whenever I want to. Rey and I also had our own thoughts about our wedding and it really meant a lot to us that our suppliers really listened to us and actually improved on our ideas. Moreover, while we had some problems with a few suppliers, we were able to iron out all our issues with them.

************

Second, someone always volunteered to take charge of the details that we have forgotten to take care of or we have chosen not to prepare for. Take for instance our honeymoon, we were so prepared to have our honeymoon at the Manila Hotel (we didn't want to book a trip when we didn't have the money, but when we were finally able to afford the trip, we had difficulty getting a booking.) By some mysterious turn of events, we are now preparing for a 6-day vacation in Santiburi, one of Koh Samui's luxury resorts. We also get to explore Bangkok for 3 days as a friend from college, Stevie (she's a girl!), who is now a consul in Thailand, offered to share her house with us. We also wanted a new aircon for Rey's room but we didn't include that yet in our budget. Last week, Rey's mom volunteered to get us a new one! Yey! I hope she also offers to buy me a tub. Hee.

************

Third, we were so happy with how our wedding announcements came out! Initially, we thought that the people from Manila Bulletin were going to choose another picture. Apparently, they also loved the picture of our choice as it was the one that they published! And the best part of it was that we didn't have to pay for anything. I really love wedding@work!

************

Fourth, and the most important so far, we got to finally meet Rey's half brothers and sisters! As a background, Rey is part of his father's second family. A few years ago, he was adopted by his father but he was never introduced to his father's first family (Rey continued to live with his birth mother.) Last Saturday, the patriarch of Rey's family (the elder brother of Rey's dad) saw our wedding announcement and was determined to bring the family together. On Monday, we received an invitation from Rey's dad to join his first family for dinner at Gloriamaris in Greenhills. I was very apprehensive about the whole set-up. I was afraid that the first family would be hostile to us and treat us like intruders to their peaceful family. I had visions of raised eyebrows and plastered smiles from Cherrie-Gil and other kontabida-look alikes.

I was wrong. When we went inside the function room that was reserved for us, everyone excitedly greeted us. We got to meet Tita Ysay, the beautiful wife of Rey's dad, Tito Max (the patriarch) and his lovely wife, Tita Belen, and Rey's half-siblings - Kuya Al, Ate Bessy (and her husband, Kuya Mario), Ate Clarise, and Kuya Dennis, who was celebrating his birthday. Kuya Dennis was accompanied by his 4 cute sons and daughters. They were all simple and if anyone looked like a kontrabida, it would have been me with my black turtle-neck sleeveless blouse and black and white pinstripe pants.

I was seated beside Ate Bessy and we exchanged stories about our careers. We found out that we are both committed to our work and are blessed with partners who are supportive of our professions. We also discovered that we hang out in the same barbecue place, Dannylicious, where we get tender and tasty barbecues for P14. Rey's dad would occasionally go to our side to chat with us. We were so excited to learn that the family of one of my bosses, Atty. Angangco, has strong ties with Rey's family. Tito Max joined us and mentioned that he stayed with the Angangcos while he was reviewing for the medical boards.

On my left, Tito Max eagerly gave Rey a crash course on his new family - Tito Max described the people who were not able to join us for the meal and he also discussed a few family traditions.

Kuya Dennis, who was seated across the table with his children kept on offering us more food. He also kept asking his daughter to take pictures of the group with her camera-phone (I was so disappointed with myself for not bringing my digital camera.) It almost shed a tear when Rey had his picture taken with his siblings.

And Ate Clarissa gave us helpful advice in dealing with each other. She also said that Rey and I are perfect for each other - Rey a fire person, being born under the sign of Aries, needs a water person like me, a Piscean. Isn't that so cool?!

We really had a good meal together. (I just hope that Rey's siblings enjoyed their meal as much as we did.)

It was all surreal - for years, Rey was raised as an only child but due to a wedding announcement, he suddenly has 3 brothers and 3 sisters. That is definitely the best wedding gift that one can ever have!

************

P.S.

In my comment to Star's blog about the damage that the recent typhoons have caused, I mentioned that this is a tough time for our helpers. Several days ago, almost all the houses in their little town in Quezon was wiped out by a twister. A few later, the typhoon destroyed whatever was left. This morning, we got word that they finally have electricity in their town. We also got a text message from one of her townmates and we were so happy to learn that our helpers' families survived the calamities! Yey!

here's a closer view of our wedding announcement. just a disclaimer - i didn't do the write-up.

our wedding announcement is out! it was published today (04 december 04) at all about weddings (a monthly supplement of the manila bulletin).

first meeting with old friends

i got to meet pebbles and mike, tin ni roland and mai last night. we had so much fun!

a few days ago, i saw a series of tags in mike and pebbles' wedding blog - pebbles was inviting everyone to an EB while she's here in manila and it seemed like everyone was interested in going. "everyone" included me. excited to meet my blogmates, i checked pebbles' website every day. i was almost giddy when she posted that she was already in manila. i felt so happy when pebbles posted that she was available to meet everyone on tuesday, wednesday or thursday.

on tuesday, i tried to access pebbles' website from the office. i couldn't enter the site as our office server blocked our access - the site allegedly had something to do with the occult. (since when did a wedding become an occult practice? mai thinks that it is. according to her joel, their wedding has turned mai into a detail monster. on the other hand, mike's theory is that their website was blocked because his picture was in it.)

i didn't get to surf tuesday night as i'm having major problems with my unit at home. i was so happy when my unit worked yesterday morning! i saw pebbles' e-mail asking us to send her our numbers. after a few text messages, pebbles, tin, mai and i agreed to meet at 8 in uva! i was also able to contact clarice and laine. unfortunately, clarice was working on her thesis and laine had to work overtime.

while i was in the office, i was informed that we were having a department meeting at 6:30. like a good associate, i attended the meeting, which extended til 9! it was a good thing that the meeting was at gloriamaris, which was a few meters away from uva.

when i got to uva, i immediately recognized tin (she was waving at me.) i got introduced to mike, pebbles, mai, and mai's friend, berty (or was that rebecca? our wedding has made me deaf!). we spent the night drinking wine (which was pretty good) and exchanging stories. it didn't feel like we were meeting for the first time - there were no akward silences, we weren't exactly shy with each other and there was just so much stuff to talk about! we wanted to linger some more but mike and pebbles had so much to do the next day, mai and i still had to go back to work, and tin had to find her car.

i am so looking forward to the next meeting! (notice how i avoid calling it an EB?)

****************

for mai and i, the meeting had another purpose - mai was supposed to give me her share in our group purchase of gift certificates for diamond peels. (a diamond peel is at least P1T but if we purchase 26T worth of certificates, each treatment would cost only P500.) but after the stories and all the fun, she forgot to give me her share. but since i was so excited to have my cheapo power peel (and the office sent us home early because of typhoon yoyong,) i decided to bring our share to nice's office (mai will just give me her share tomorrow.)

traffic was terrible but it was fun meeting nice. she looked so much like her picture in her website and i enjoyed chatting with her about our florist, boy mahusay. i would have loved to stay and chat some more but rey has been bugging me to go home early.

***************

on my way home, i asked rey if he remembers mai (during the dinner last night, mai mentioned that she thinks she knows rey.) then he told me that i should remember mai because we were all working out at titan gym when i was reviewing for the bar in 1999. and then i remembered snippets of my conversation with mai 5 years ago where she was telling me that she knew rey because rey found her wallet.

so, i sent a message to mai asking her if she worked out at the titan gym 5 years ago. she replied that she did. she also remembers losing her wallet and rey returning it to her.

ang galing!

love my shoes!

i now have 2 pairs of shoes for the wedding that are almost the same - the first is the practical and sensible version, the other is its irresistible sexy counterpart.

i got the practical and sensible version a few weeks ago. the shoes were ok and the price was unbelievable for the quality of the shoes (less than P800!). however, since the material used isn't my favorite italian leather (as my friend, k, would say it, italian leather feels like a baby's skin!)

in that same week, i passed by my favorite local shoe store, via venetto, and my penchant for shoe shopping paid off - the owner volunteered to make me a pair of shoes in the design that i wanted. so i picked the material that i wanted (silver italian leather!!!), chose a type of heel, a strap and the shape of the foot pad. when i got them yesterday, they were so perfect! it was also nice hearing one of the sales ladies in the store tell a customer that "ay, nag-iisa lang ho 'yan. custom-made kasi, e . . . naku, sa kaniya lang pumayag yung may-ari magpa-custom-made."

since i haven't purchased my ballet flats yet (i purchased the black version which i wear to the office at least twice a week!) i'm thinking of wearing the sensible and practical version with my bridal gown and the sexy pair during the reception. (i already have a pair of black leather slippers for my dressing gown.)




footnote about via venetto - some people find their shoes too expensive considering that they're locally made. i disagree. their prices are lower than that of nine west but they use better materials and their shoes are really comfy! the quality of their shoes is also far better than most local brands.

charivari

first, recommend to me:
1. a movie
2. a book
3. a musical artist, song, or album

then ask me three questions, no more, no less.
ask me anything you want.

then go to your journal, copy and paste this same post allowing your friends to ask you anything; say that you stole it from me.

(i stole this from pazette, tin and anne!)




more wedding updates:

invites

we finally finished our invites! and when i say "we", that means that i did all the work and rey approved the finished products. we'll start distributing the invites tomorrow. we should be able to distribute them in a week.

marriage license

rey finally got our license from my friend ellen. ellen's hubby was the one who secured it for us. when i was chatting with him a few days ago and he learned that rey hasn't given me our license yet, he said that he gave me an option to back out of the wedding by putting in a different name! the funniest thing was that when rey finally gave me our license, he said that there was a mistake - he thought that he was getting married to catherine zeta-jones so why did the license reflect someone else's name?!

production meeting with mandarin and balay kandila

kate of mandarin, ronald and tish of balay kandila and i had a meeting last friday to discuss the technical requirements of the set-up for our venues. the meeting went well and i'm really so excited to see how balay kandila will dress up the place!

i also got to discuss with kate the menu for the kids table (but my niece just requested for vanilla ice cream so i'll have to e-mail kate about this again) and the menu for our cocktails. rey and i still have to decide how we'll go about our open bar.

imported flowers

a few months back, rey's friend volunteered to give my bouquet as a gift. rey got to talk to her again yesterday and she's also volunteered to take charge of the 6 peruvian roses that we need for our centerpieces!

honeymoon

we finally got a booking at santiburi resort in koh samui! we already asked 2 travel agencies to help us but they weren't able to get us a booking for january 3 to 8. i decided to contact the resort directly. after 4 e-mails and 2 overseas calls, they finally gave us a room! we are so excited!

reception earrings by matus

from pretty



to sexy!




at the time i got the dangling earrings that matus made for me, i really found them so pretty. but last week, when i was rummaging through my drawer, i found a set of jewelry that i haven't used for months. the diamonds in the ring and pendant set were sparkly and nice and it was a shame to keep them in a drawer. i decided to use these stones to add length to my reception earrings. i asked matus if they can do it for me and they agreed.

this morning, i was surprised to get a text message from matus telling me that i can already pick up my earrings. i agreed to meet them after i finish my work at the office.

when i saw my earrings, i immediately fell in love with them again. they looked so sexy!

i'm so excited to wear them!

***********

what's with me and my wedding suppliers? yesterday, rey and i exchanged stories and ideas with ronald and tisha of balay kandila for 4 hours. now i spent 2 hours with alaine of matus! i wonder how much time i'll spend with ronald (balay kandila), elfren (sound syndrome) and kate (mandarin) tomorrow . . .

i love our centerpiece!

moving forward

we have been discussing the physical arrangements of our venue with balay kandila for months. a few months back, we already agreed on how to hide the wall treatments at the fontaine room that rey hated - we'll drape curtains on the wall treatments and adorn it with hanging paper cranes, glass bubbles and paper cranes inside glass bubbles. ronald already showed us the samples of his glass bubbles a few months back. i also had a good idea on how the stage will be decorated - we'll have hanging lanterns for our backdrop and we'll have balay kandila's pillar vases on the lower corners. for the cake table, we'll place the cakes on top of ice columns. but ronald and i were stumped on the centerpieces. we just know that he'll have to use the burgundy charger plates that i delivered to him a few months back (rey and i are tired of the mirrors.)
ronald scheduled us for a mock-up yesterday, at 10 am. despite the fact that we were out late the night before (we attended feli's wake) and that i didn't get much sleep because i had a major headache and an irritating cough, we decided to push through with the meeting.
rey and i were 2 hours late so we had to wait for ronald to finish his meeting with his other clients. we used the time to poke around his workshop - rey and i enjoyed watching his workers make and decorate metal backdrops and candles. they were so friendly and they patiently explained what they were doing. we also made a quick tour of ronald's office and we saw how organized it was - they had a huge calendar which shows the weddings and projects that they have to attend to (their december calendar is really full!) and they have labeled envelopes for each of their clients. we were impressed.
rey and i also had fun playing with the transparent fishing pole which ronald is planning to use for our cake table.
when we saw the mock-up of our centerpiece at their little showroom, we were amazed. it was so beautiful!!! it looked really elegant and it had a little christmas-feel to it because of the bed of cypress. rey and i enjoyed playing with the little glass grapes on it. it was already perfect. BUT when we got to discuss the centerpiece with ronald, we still found ways of making it more perfect - we decided to use single long-stemmed roses instead of the generic local variety that ronald used for the mock-up (they really ask their clients to provide the flowers) and we will be placing real burgundy-colored grapes on top of the glass grapes in between the silver candle and the bud vase. and when i mentioned that i had a roll of thick burgundy ribbons at home, ronald said that he can use it instead of the foil that he used for our burgundy candle.
after discussing the centerpiece, ronald also showed us the fabric that he will use to hide the wall treatments at the fontaine room. rey loved the fabric!
we also discussed ways of incorporating paper cranes inside their pillar vases. we had fun brainstorming on how we can keep the paper cranes from getting soggy as they will be floating inside huge vases with the long-stemmed burgundy roses.
tisha, ronald's wife, joined us after we finished discussing the details and showed rey some albums of their work. we gushed over some of the pictures and ronald and tisha shared stories on how they began, how ronald slept in his car during the w@w 5 and how some cramming customers and not-so-alternative-venues gave them so much stress. we also got to talk about our wedding details and how i got crazy getting 3 photographers when we only have 58 guests.
we were so engrossed that when we left, we realized that we were in balay kandila's office for almost 4 hours!
as soon as we left balay kandila, my headache and cough returned but i still went to makati as i had to finish revising a contract for one of the firm's partners. i was able to sleep in the car but i felt that all my energy evaporated with the heat. i just made myself feel better by looking at the pictures of our centerpieces.
at the end of the day, i was tired and sick and looked awful but none of that mattered. i was on a high!

******

other details of our meeting with balay kandila -

rey was so set on not spending so much on flowers for our wedding but after seeing the mock-up of the centerpieces, he volunteered to find "perfect" long-stemmed roses.

when i was telling rey that i wanted a cream puff tower for our cake table, he said that we should think about it first as it would only be an added expense. but when i told this to ronald, ronald casually mentioned that he was just about to ask us if the cream puffs can be assembled into cubes. rey immediately told him that we will be having cream puffs and that he will try to ask dulcinea to make cream puff cubes.

i was horrified when rey asked ronald if he can install a static electricity ball on our table so we have something to amuse ourselves with during the wedding dinner.


rey and our hanging paper crane inside balay kandila's showroom

farewell to ash

ash has been fatherlily's gift to me for graduating first in my high school class. we got her from the store on the day that mt. pinatubo erupted. she was so little but full of life. she would lick my hand everytime i was near her. she was our little bundle of joy.

ash was with me throughout my college and law school days. she'd cuddle next to me everytime i was sick or every time i was feeling low. she'd sit on fatherlily's lap everytime he picked me up from school. she slept at my feet when i was working on my thesis. she only stopped sleeping in my room when she decided to sleep with my mom a few years ago. at that time, motherlily's kidneys had failed and her dialysis left her weak. for the past few weeks, she had been sleeping next door with nanay lilia, who has been living alone.

i've always felt bad about leaving ash behind when rey and i get married. but ash was 13 and her eyesight had deteriorated over the past few years. we didn't think that she could handle the change. in fact, her health had already deteriorated a year ago. she only regained her energy when porkchop joined us last november.

but now, i wouldn't be leaving ash behind. she has, instead left us. earlier this afternoon, she died in her sleep.

i miss ash.

more wedding updates

lapit na ng wedding namin and we're so excited! here's a list what kept us busy these past few days:

1. scheduled meetings with our principal sponsors

we were supposed to have dinner with ninong s and his wife last thursday (november 11). unfortunately, ninong s got sick. but since our mind was already set on eating sitio's delicious crispy pata, rey and i decided to push through with the dinner. we invited kat, our best girl (let's just say that if i had an entourage, she'll be the maid of honor,) to join us. as usual, kat was able to join us even if i just gave her a call 2 hours before dinner. after dinner we went to san mig to meet with ojai, rey's best man. we were able to give them an idea of our reception program.

on saturday morning (november 13), we met with ninong l and his wife, ninang k, at the rockwell club for breakfast. rey used to be ninang k's chief political officer and so i was expecting the meeting to be a bit formal. but to my surprise (and relief!) ninang k was so kikay and so much fun to be with. we exchanged so many stories, had a lot of laughs and got a lot of chismis from ninong l. we started talking at 9:45 am and we finished at 12:15! i'm looking forward to seeing them at our wedding.

we'll be meeting with ninong a this afternoon. i hope the meeting goes well.

2. sent our pics to manila bulletin for our wedding announcement

i took advantage of another w@w freebie - wedding announcement at the wedding supplement of the manila bulletin. they called me up on thursday, asking for a pic. when i asked rey what pic he wanted me to send, he said that he loved the pic that i posted at our website. so, i sent the pic to bulletin. however, bulletin wanted a colored pic so i sent them the colored version. the announcement will be published first week of december.

3. finalized design for invites

we've finalized the design for our invites months ago. unfortunately, my computer crashed and when we retrieved my files, we found out that our pretty divider has been replaced by the letter "k". we've been searching for a file of the divider for weeks but couldn't find it. so we just searched the net for a replacement. after weeks of searching, we found a divider that we both liked. with the help of rey's cousin, rasec, we were able to change the color of the divider using adobe photoshop. we've printed all the invites for local distribution. i just need to fold 10 more paper cranes to complete them! yey!

4. start working on our cd sleeves

i've asked rey to help me on this and he appears to have no talent with d-i-y stuff. all he needed to do was stick double-sided tape on one side of each sleeve - he managed to stick the tape on the wrong side, on his hand, on his leg and on my leg. and to think that he's so strict with the quality of our invites and cd sleeves! i guess i'll just ask fatherlily to help me.

5. watched unbelievables. ay, the incredibles pala!

after how many weeks, we finally got to watch a movie at the cinemas. after our meeting with ninang a and ninong l, rey and i watched the incredibles (which rey mistakenly called the unbelievables). we enjoyed watching the movie (it was entertaining) specially since he was hugging me the whole time (i love greenbelt 3 cinemas!!!). we then had dinner at cafe bola which had cheap but decent food, then i had tea at coffee bean and tea leaf. we also passed by the new abenson's shop and let ourselves be mesmerized by the giant tvs. we plan to get ourselves a home theatre system with a giant flat-screen tv (after we pay for the wedding and a car.) hay, ang sarap mangarap!

less than 2 months to go before THE DAY!

i'm not yet in a state panic but i can see physical signs of stress - pimples on my chin, sleeping late and waking up early and a chronic pain on my right shoulder.

so like any o-c person, i made this list.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS:

marriage license - rey to pick up license from elen on monday
officiating priest/officer – care of rey
us - rey and i already had our warts removed last october. ang sakit!!! rey bikes in the morning and works out in the afternoon. i have been on a no-rice diet for 2 weeks. i have not seen any results but dowa and dio said that i look like i lost weight.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS:

reception

venue - mandarin - we had our food tasting and we will have a meeting with our ae, balay kandila and sound syndrome on november 26, at 3 pm. kate (our ae) will be sending us our final menu and a summary of what was discussed during the food tasting.
menu - kate still has to check if she can throw in the mango sago for free.
liquor - bought the red wine jacob's creek). still looking for asti and white grape sparkling wine. duty free? hmmm.
physical arrangements - balay kandila to show mock-up on november 16 at 10 am. fatherlily to supervise folding of cranes. i'm thinking of asking kat and pia to help fatherlily.
sound system - sound syndrome - waiting for the final quotation from sound syndrome.
program - done, with rey for review and comments. rey to choose songs.
hosts - renan or miscen

entertainment

musicians - will need to finalize song list with mia.
other music - buy 6 blank cds and get cds from len. get sissel cd from grace.
audio-visual presentation (avp) - still toying with the idea of flashing our pictures thru a projector during cocktails. I already started working on it using the DVD writer that rey gave me.

guests

guest list - done. but rey has been revising the supposedly final guest list every week!
entourage list - done.
principal sponsors - we will have dinner with sp and annette on november 11, afv probably on november 16 (after lunch). rey has yet to schedule a meeting with cong. lokin.
seating arrangements - discuss with rey

attire

gowns - first fitting done. i just have to remind my designer that i do not want any embroidery on my gown. i have to bug my sister, suzanne, who recently gave birth to have her measurements taken and to have ding design her gown. i also have to ask ding the cost of the 3 additional gowns.
accessories - done . thinking of having reception earrings extended.
rings - done. we still need to decide on the engraving, though. need to find a nice box! bazaars?
hair and make-up - eddie bruan - paid downpayment.
shoes - still have to buy those ballet flats! slippers and reception shoes already with me.
groom's attire - rey does not want to have his measurements taken until december.
father of the bride's attire - got the fabric! papa will have it sewn by his favorite tailor by december.

stationery

invites - still have to find a nice horizontal divider. should be ready by november 15! i still need to fold about 30 cranes! decide on packaging of cocktail invites
envelopes - done.
table numbers - still thinking if we want this.
guest sheets - December 15?
menu and program cards - wait for final menu. decide if we want program cards.

extras

photographer and videographer - eddieboy escudero, john aguas, carlo villonco, jaso nmagbanua - i just need to give them final instructions sometime in november.
cake - bizu and chocolate cake from polly's. ronald has to draw the design.
flowers - boy mahusay.
souvenirs - just gave mervin the go signal to mass produce the cds. we'll have to assemble the cd sleeves before the end of november and have them all wrapped in rey's house.
gifts for parents - still looking!
hotel accommodations - decide on getting junior suite or club suite.
honeymoon - c/o rey

celebrating 10 years in 4 days

our anniversary is our yearly reason to be extravagant. it's the time when we go to 5-star hotels and dine at their best restaurants. but since we're paying for everything for our december wedding, spending thousands of money was not in our itinerary. and so, we decided to have an inexpensive 3-day celebration of our anniversary.




day 1 - 05 november 2004

we wanted to schedule our food tasting on november 7, the exact date of anniversary. but if we insisted on it, our ae would have been forced to work over the weekend. since we didn't want to get bad karma, we decided to schedule our food tasting at 6:30 pm on november 5, the friday right before our anniversary.

since our food tasting was scheduled a few months ago, i already informed everyone in our office that i would be working only until 2 pm on november 5. on the last few working days of october, a client requested me to attend a meeting on which was supposed to end at 2. at 6 pm, rey called to inform me that he was already in mandarin. at 6:15 pm, i was still at the meeting and there was no sign that the meeting would end in the next few minutes. desperate, i requested the partner-in-charge to let me off the hook. since he knew of our food tasting, he let me go (and did all the work himself! i love V&A!!!) i was already in trafalgar, which is just a street away from mandarin. BUT, i needed to go back to the office to return the office laptop and to get cash from the vault. when i got out of trafalgar, i knew i needed to walk if i needed to reach mandarin on time - i couldn't see the end of the line of cars. and so with a lap top and a folder of documents, i walked to our office in perea street. it took me 15 minutes to get there.

i brought the laptop and my files up to my room and got some cash. i met carlo villonco at world topps (which was just in front of my office) to give him our downpayment and to sign our contract. our meeting didn't last 5 minutes (but he had to wait for me for an hour!)

at 6:40, i was on my way back to mandarin. traffic along paseo was bad as usual so i decided to walk again. i thought it would be easier since i was no longer carrying the laptop. i was mistaken. when i got to the underpass at the corner of ayala and paseo, i learned that it was temporarily closed. so, i used the underpass near makati ave. as usual, my sense of direction failed me and instead of just going straight to makati avenue, i walked back towards paseo. feeling intelligent, i took a short cut through the park.

and then it rained. it only rained for 3 minutes but it was enough for me to get drenched. in the middle of the rain, rey gave me a call. i couldn't understand what he was saying so i just told him that i'd see him in a few minutes. i continued walking. when i got to mandarin, i wanted to kiss the doorman! but i'm sure he didn't want a kiss from a drowned pig with hair plastered all over her face.

after attempting to look presentable ("attempt" being the operative word), i finally got to meet rey at 7 pm. at that time, he was already with our ae, kate. on the table was our first dish, the suckling pig combination. it looked and tasted so good! after we took our first bite, the waiters served our dishes one by one. everything was delicious (except for the prawn balls and milk rolls which rey loved. he so loved them that he even ate our ae's portion!) but i guess all the cholesterol on the peking duck attacked my brain cells and made me stupid - i remember giving cryptic answers when our ae was asking about the physical arrangements for the wedding and i totally forgot to take down notes!

it's a good thing that our ae promised to send us a copy of the notes that she made. she also requested a meeting with balay kandila and sound sydrome.

after the meal, rey and i kept on talking about how good tin hau food is. he said that the only dish that he didn't like was the chinese style tenderloin which i really liked! the solution was simple - we'll treat the tenderloin and the prawn balls the way we treated the suckling pig and the peking duck. he gets to eat my portion of the suckling pig and the prawn balls and i get to eat his portion of the deking duck and the tenderloin!

we laughed our way to merk's greenbelt where rey ordered his favorite mushroom and garlic. the band, forte, wasn't at their best so after their first set, we decided to go home.

it was a good start.




day 2 - 06 november 2004

we got to taste our remaining wine bottles on saturday night when we celebrated the birthday of pia, rey's former officemate. rey loved the terra vega 2003 cabernet sauvignon which tasted bolder than the sol de chile 2003 cabernet sauvignon. i didn't like both wines. i found them to coarse.

at 12 pm, we decided to leave pia's party so we can celebrate our anniversary. we got to kiss at the stroke of midnight.




day 3 - 07 november 2004

on the day of our anniversary, it was difficult for us to decide where to eat. we ended up eating breakfast in rey's house (i loved the rolls that rey bought from bizu! it was perfect with spam.) for lunch, we decided to try the new roastbeef pizza of pizzahut. after our meal, we decided to treat ourselves to some cheap thrills and went to quiapo to buy some dvds!

going to quiapo on a sunday was a crazy idea. there were people everywhere! and for each 3 persons, there was 1 vendor. quiapo also gave a new definition for street market - people literally sold vegetables on the street. it was a challenge going to hidalgo street but we managed it. after getting the information that i needed, we walked towards the place where we got our dvds.

on the way to the otherside of quiapo, we passed by the handicraft stalls and saw lovely bags being sold at unbelievably low prices! we wiped out their inventory (hey, they only had 4.) we also passed by a small grocery where we bought drinks.

then we got to the place where rey gets his dvds. there were as much dvds in that place as there are people in quiapo! and everything was so cheap that we ended up buying 20 dvds.

happy with our purchases we decided to have dinner.

we wanted to have dinner at a place where we frequented when we were a new couple. we didn't want to eat in dencio's libis (where we had our first date) as we don;t like the food there. we couldn't go to season's (where we had our first date as a couple) as it was already closed. we then thought of eating at tong yang where i ate a whole specie of shrimps several years ago. the last time we ate there was a couple of days before aya and cindy left for new zealand. (aya will be standing with rey when i march down the aisle in december.) i was still in law school then.

tong yang is a hot pot restaurant. customers get to pick ingredients from a long table and cook them in a hot pot and a grill in the middle of the table. rey was in charge of the soup and the meat while i took care of the seafood. there were no shrimps (they probably hid all their shrimp when they saw us coming) but there were prawns. we cooked everything by ourselves. the prawns turned out raw and all the nutrition was boiled out from the veggies but we still enjoyed our meal. we went home really happy. rey dropped me off at my house at 10:30 pm.

it was a good end for our weeklong celebration.

however, i, who never had any problems sleeping, was still awake at 2am. i decided to wake up rey and bug him to come over the house. it was not a good decision as we had a little fight.




day 4 - 08 november 2004

the next day, i woke up with a huge headache and major back pains. i called in sick and stayed at home. rey came over to play nurse and brought some of the dvds that we bought. we watched the flying daggers which featured beautiful actors but a lousy storyline. we loved the cinematography, though.

for dinner, we ordered pizza from shakey's. this time, we decided to get our favorite - garlic and cheese with anchovies, mushrooms, onions, italian sausage and extra cheese. it was delicious!

while having dinner, we watched reruns of will and grace and queer eye for a straight guy on etc. we laughed so hard on the former and critized everyone and everything on the latter. we had so much fun!

we really enjoyed the unplanned 4th day that we were both sad when rey had to leave. and so we reminded ourselves that in less than 2 months, we would be living together.

as rey walked out of our house, i realized that our 4-day celebration was a little window to our 10 years together - lots of laughter and fun, a few tears, some adventure and loads of good food leading to some quiet time at home with a dvd player and a tv.

we have a wedding website!!!

yup. rey and i now have a wedding website.

it's not much (as your talking to an html ignoramus) but just the thought of being able to create one makes me giddy! never in my life have i imagined that i can someday create a website (of course, i haven't heard of freeweb's idiot-free website maker then.)

parenthetically, why is it called "idiot-free" when i'm quite certain that their site is full of webpages made by html-idiots like me?

wedding updates

Njork requested me to drop by their shop so I can fit my reception gown before they start sewing the crystals on it. They requested me to bring the shoes that I will be wearing so we can decide on the length of the gown.

When I was putting on the gown, I noticed that they lowered the neckline and made the gown deeper at the back. At first, I was hesitant to have a low neckline but they were explaining to me that a lower neckline would give the illusion of a thinner frame. (Emphasis on the illusion as my frame is far from thin.) When I looked at the mirror, I was happy with the result! The gown made me look 15 lbs thinner! yippee!

Francis and I also got to discuss the length of the gown - the lining will be cut mid-thigh but all the outer layers will be kept long. So the gown will be floor-length but it will show a lot of leg when I walk. That will somehow meet my friends' demands for me to wear a mini-skirt for the wedding.

************

I put on a counter on my blogsite to help me panic. We've got less than 2 months to go and we're so excited!!!

************

Rey's going to faint when he hears about this. I got a 3rd photographer to cover our wedding. We now have 3 photographers for our 58 guests. (I don't have to clear photo-related wedding preps with Rey since he's not into pictures. If it's up to him, we'll have our officiating officer taking the shots.)

Why get a 3rd photographer? Because I couldn't stop myself from getting the services of Carlo Villonco. He is such a nice person and we feel so comfortable with him. We are also very happy with our pre-nup shots and we just love the free PhotoDVD that he gave us. And Rey thinks that I look really pretty in Carlo's pictures (need I say more?).

this little pig went to market

while rey's in tagaytay attending a seminar on how to make money, i was at divisoria and tutuban helping the businessmen earn money. i went shopping!

it started with me telling an officemate, rosa, that it's probably a good idea to go to divisoria. that was last night at around 9 pm. earlier today, at 8 am, rosa picked me up for our divisoria-tutuban shopping spree!

first, i had to take care of wedding stuff. so our first stop was at morning glory so i can buy more ribbons for our invites. after getting that done, we started scouring the shops for bargains. and we found a lot of them!

we were able to buy cheap but good quality children's clothes (P80 to P150) wallets (P80) and bags (P250 to P350) at the new divisoria mall. (the new divisoria mall is a 4-level mall in the middle of divisoria. that explains why it's called divisoria mall. i just don't know why it's called "new" when it is so obvious that it isn't. it was probably new 20 years ago.) we also got cheap wrapping material at the paper store across the street. (i got plain gold wrappers at P3.50 each, gift tags at P10 for each 100 pieces and small rolls of transparent tape at P40 a dozen.) we went to gody's to check out their candles but i didn't like the quality of the products being sold there (i got so confused as i couldn't understand why a lot of w@wies were gushing about the store.) but i did get to buy vigil candles for my mom in time for all soul's day.

we went back to tutuban mall, left our purchases in the car and ate lunch in max's. we got spring chicken (my favorite!), lumpiang ubod (deliciously fresh and nutricious) and lots of iced tea (i think i had 5 glasses).

after having lunch, we went around tutuban center to do more shopping. we got affordable christmas decors for an officemate (different sizes of hot pink christmas balls at P100 to P180 per 16 pieces and leaves with hot pink decors at P256 per dozen. i also found the transparent stones that i needed for my centerpieces at the decor store. i got them at only P20 per bag! i was so happy when i found them that i almost hugged the store owner. of course he couldn't understand why i'm so ecstatic.) there were also really nice shirts for as low as P50! we also got nice children's clothes (all below P200). (i hope my godchildren or their parents aren't reading this.)

that whole area is really a shopper's paradise!!! when we left the area at 5 pm , we were exhausted and i only had P135 left in my pocket. there was a bit of a traffic but we couldn't care less. we were happy.

************



when i got home, i excitedly unpacked my purchases while waiting for my tub to fill up. seeing all those nice but affordable items made me giddy again!
after locking up everything in my suitcase (so that my nosey family will not see what i got them) i made lots of bubbles (i just love lander's raspberry sorbet bubble bath, it makes lots of fruity smelling bubbles and it costs less than P100 for a 1-liter bottle!!!) played my "zzzzz . . ." cd (the cd i compiled for our wedding souvenirs. it has all the songs that porkchop and i listen to when we sleep. rey's cd has all the songs that we like listening to when we eat. it's called "burp!") grabbed a hard-bound, plastic covered bobo book (which i got for P99 at a sale in national bookstore) and sank into the tub for my baboy bath.
it was heaven all over again!

************

oh yeah, i almost forgot. rey and i went shopping in duty free yesterday. he bought me my favorite lindt chocolates! i was so happy with my chocolates that i almost skipped my way to the cashier.

so why didn't i skip my way to the cashier? it's because i found my jacob's creek shiraz cabernet right before the cashier's booth. since duty free had this peso power promo, we were able to buy a case (12 bottles) at a little less than P4,800! we were also able to grab a bottle of moet et chandon for around P1,900. yey! we no longer have to worry about the first round of wine for the wedding!!!

************

after 2 days of shopping, this not-so-little pig will stay home tomorrow. but rey will come over so we can finally taste the chilean wine that we got! i hope rey has money for pizza.

what a pick-up line!

ikakasal na talaga ako!

while crawling inside a cu chi tunnel in vietnam, i chanced upon one good looking foreigner. and all i can say was: "can you take my picture?"

and after he took it, i wished that i met someone else instead of him. he had shaky hands! ang labo ng picture ko!!!

more vietnam pics are posted at:

http://community.webshots.com/album/203384545GfYbsS

inertia

it's been a while since my last blog - i had to take a 4-day trip to vietnam from thursday to sunday (october 14-17) so i had to finish a lot of work AND a few wedding preps before wednesday last week (october 13).

*************

we didn't get to have our wine tasting last tuesday as i had a 6 pm meeting at the office. but i did get to meet ronald of balay kandila at 5 pm. the funny thing about it is that before i went to 6750 where i was supposed to meet ronald, i passed buy photoline to meet dowa, another w@wie. it turns out that she also needed to speak with ronald so i invited her to join us (i was only supposed to give ronald my paper cranes.) when ronald and tisha arrived, tisha had a meeting with another couple while ronald met with us. it turned out that the bride at the other table was also a w@wie!

************

on wednesday morning, rey and i went to MG CD printing. when they opened the door for us, mervin's staff excitedly greeted rey. it turns out that rey was there 3 times the week before! and when we reached mervin, i was surprised! rey and mervin acted like they were friends. before we got to talk about our CDs, mervin showed rey the games that he bought during the weekend and upon rey's request, gave us a sneak preview of doom 3. they then talked about upgrading computers and scheduling a night of network gaming. after about 45 minutes of computer talk, we got to see the CDs. the samples were really nice! and since we preferred to have our CD's in matte silver, we didn't need to have them laminated. we saved P2,400! all we had to do was listen to the sample CD that mervin prepared for us before we can give him the go signal to mass produce the CDs. we finally agreed on the price and rey gave mervin our downpayment. yey!

************

after mg cd, i went to my designer (fidel marquez) for my first fitting of my wedding gown. the gown was still rough-looking but it looked really nice. the fabric is not like most bridal fabrics - instead of having a subtle sheen, my gown sparkles! my designer and i were laughing about my choice of fabrics - i was telling them that i need a fabric so dazzling that upon seeing me, my guests would be confused and not notice my curves which are concave rather than convex. my designer already warned me that it would be difficult to have an understated gown using shiny fabrics but when i saw the gown, the shine didn't look vulgar to me. and the best part of it was that the dress managed to hide my bulges. cool!

i was also surprised that the dress that i'm supposed to wear while i'm dressing up is almost done! at first, i thought that the designer would just make a sarong out of the indonesian malong that i gave them. but when i saw the dress, i found it so pretty! i can actually wear it for other formal affairs. cool! i finally found use for a piece of cloth which i've kept for 10 years.

************

we were on a wedding preps roll! i just need to start working on our preps again so we wouldn't lose our inertia.

hmm. maybe we should re-schedule the wine tasting soon . . .

and taba ko!

that's me in my dressing gown (the dress i'm going to wear while preparing for the wedding). i'm going to be sitting most of the time when i'm wearing this dress so my designer wanted to see the effect of the gown when i'm seated. we still haven't decided on the draping (in the pic, it's just pinned to one side) but the designer said that he'll find ways so that the burgundy design will be highlighted.


that's my sparkly wedding gown. i really have a problem with my bulging tummy (nope, i'm not preggy, i just look preggy) so my designer wanted to have a shot taken from the side to check if the corset that they've sewn into the gown works. apparently, it does. i still look big though. can't wait to see the gown with the draping, the bustle and the swarovski details! and i have to remember to tell ronald that there should be a lot of candles to maximize the effect of the gown.

more wine tasting and other preps

after all our wine tasting parties (we had 2) and the endless debates about which wine to serve for our wedding, we recently found out that the wine we finally agreed to serve (jacob's creek shiraz 1998 and windham estate bin 444 2001) can no longer be bought at wholesale price. it turns out that the sole distributor of our preferred wines just sold all of their inventory to a grocery chain! the grocery chain is selling the wine bottles with a mark-up of P80!!!

so, we now begin our search for alternatives. we already got 3 bottles of cabernet sauvignon (sol de chile 2003, terra vega 2003 and gato negro 2003), all of which cost at least 50% less than our original choices. (we're planning to serve jacob's creek shiraz 2001 or 2002 first then when's everyone's tipsy, we'll switch to a more affordable chilean wine. we needed to adjust our budget so we can serve food for the cocktails.)

we wanted to have our wine tasting while watching will and grace early this evening. but rey had to drive home so we decided to postpone it til tuesday. (i'll have to remember to buy cheese, crackers and pizza!)

can't wait 'til tuesday!!!

***************************

rey just told me that we'll get our sample cds (for our wedding souvenir) from mervin tomorrow. i hope that they pass rey's standards and that he'd give the go signal to mervin soon so i can finally put the cds in the d-i-y covers which i simply adore! (siempre, love your own.)

***************************

we're supposed to get our marriage license in 2 weeks! i can't believe that we'd be so lucky to have a friend handle this irritating but essential part of our marriage preps. because of my friend, we didn't have to line up for the forms, submit countless of documents and go through all the seminars! and the best thing about it? my friend offered to pay for all the fees. she said that it's the least she can do for my help in her adoption case. yehey!!!

***************************

via venetto called me up to say that they ran out of the material that i wanted them to use for my custom-made shoes. when i visited their shop, they asked me if i wanted to wait until they get the new materials that they ordered from italy (this is probably why their shoes are pricey - they get most of their leather from italy) or to pick out another material. i chose to have my shoes done in a different color which was only slightly darker than my first choice.

in the meantime, when rey and i bought dog food in galleria, we made quick visits to several shoe stores. there was one store that was selling the shoes that were similar to what i'm having made in via venetto. the pair was 60% cheaper but when i tried them on, the material felt too rough. rey said that he loved my feet and he'd rather pay for expensive shoes than to see them red and blistered. i immediately made a silent vow to have a weekly foot spa!

************************

when we were at the grocery, rey and i were discussing about buying a car and getting a driver after the wedding. (i've been using fatherlily's car and i'm not planning to use that car when i'm out of fatherlily's house.) when we were doing our computations, we realized that we cannot afford to have a new car AND still employ a driver. and so i volunteered to learn how to drive so we wouldn't need a driver. but while we were talking (and shopping), rey had to continuously steer me out of danger. after saving me from at least 4 collisions with other shoppers or other grocery items, we realized that it would be more expensive for me to drive - with my low alertness level, i would probably meet an accident every week! and so rey had to volunteer to be my driver (of course he said this through his nose!!!) i had no choice but to accept his offer. (siempre, kunwari, napilitan ako.)

************************
the bonus for those who read this far:

rey and i had a tift last night about a careless remark uttered by one of his friends. my first reaction was to strike his friend out of our guest list and i didn't hesitate in telling rey what i thought! rey was smart enough not to make a big issue out of it.

but it bothered me so much that i just had to tell rey how bad i felt about his friend's remark. he explained that i misunderstood the remark. when i continued to pout and look as if i lost my precious kikay kit, he uttered to himself something that sounded like "oh no, it's the time of the month!". of course that made me cry.

when i woke up this morning, i found out that it IS the time of the month.

thoughts on intimate weddings

posted in weddings@work on 06 october 2004

hi, mik, meleen and clarice!

we're having an intimate wedding, too! we have 58 guests. 60 kasi kung kasama kaming 2.
i can understand couples who would want to invite everyone who had a part (no matter how small) in their lives. i can also understand parents who would want to invite their friends to their children's weddings (i can just hear the "she saw you when you were still in diapers" or "she prayed for you when you were taking the bar" dialogues.)

but for rey and i, we'd rather have a quiet meal with our family and really close friends for our first dinner together. (actually, we'd rather eat than go around and have pictures taken with all our guests.) we have lots of friends that we'd want to invite but we don't think we'd be able to entertain all of them properly if we have a ballroom full of people. (hmmm. tamad at matakaw lang talaga yata kami.)

with our 58 guests, we got to invite our immediate family and really close friends whom we see or communicate with on a personal level at least 3 times a week. (naku clarice, baka kailangan na kitang invite. buti na lang di ka pwede kasi nasa honeymoon ka. ang sama! hahaha!)

with a small wedding, we were able to make the invites that we wanted (i can't imagine how i can fold all those miniature cranes if i had 300 guests!) we were also able to request mandarin to serve the food that we wanted (they only agreed to serve the peking duck to a maximum of 60 people) and rey got his wish of giving out double cd's for our souvenirs (it would have been too expensive if we had more guests).

uninvited friends who are already married (or are preparing for their wedding) fully understood our decision. they too, experienced the difficulty of limiting the number of guests. but some friends (most of whom we haven't seen in years) would really come up and say, "o, i heard you were getting married, don't forget to invite me, ha". in these instances, our intimate wedding provides a ready excuse. 'yung iba naman, kung medyo hindi sensitive, sinasabihan talaga ng, "sorry, di ka invited."

i am just so thankful that my fatherlily is very supportive of our decision. since he's also helping us with our d-i-y stuff, he also appreciates the fact that we only have a few guests. ('yun nga lang, i think he's planning to host a little party for his own friends. is he celebrating the fact that after 29 years, he'd no longer have to support me and my dogs?)

sa akin talaga, the wedding is really our party so we should have the wedding that would make us happy. the wedding preps would be so much fun that way. (unless of course, your parents are paying for the wedding - that's another story.)

abie ni rey
mandarin/27 dec 04

dangling earrings by matus

i got my earrings from matus today and i love them!

for the price i paid, i believe i got a really good bargain. matus used brilliant stones and the workmanship was excellent! the earrings were exactly what i envisioned them to be and to think that i didn't give them a picture of the design that i wanted. i just told them that i wanted a pair of earrings, each of which is made of a row of diamonds on white gold. i also told them that i didn't want the earrings to be stiff - i wanted the earrings to move with me.

when i first saw the earrings on their display case, i immediately felt giddy! they were so beautiful. i was so happy with matus that i couldn't stop myself from gushing.

i am so glad i chose to get a pair of earrings in lieu of the expensive bridal gown that i wanted!

pics by carlo villonco

i love our pics by carlo villongco!

We got him for our pre-nups. However, instead of going to some scenic place and posing for pics, we (actually ako lang) decided to have our"pre-nups" during the salubong for the people who took the bar last Sunday. Despite the absence of all the elements usually seen in great pre-nup shots (sunset or clear blue skies, bodies of water, plants, thin models, nice make-up for the female model, etc., etc.) I think that the shots he took of us were awesome! Ang hirap nga mamili. I think I'll go on a diet so I can save money and have all our pictures printed.

He was also very nice. Pre-nups usually take around 3 hours but he was with us from 4 to 9 pm(to think that he had to drive through all that traffic near Taft Avenue and had to walk several blocks to where we were supposed to meet!) And when I apologized, he said that I didn't have to.

Sobra siyang aliw kasama. Nag-vote pa nga siya sa wine tasting namin. He's also cool, so much so that Rey's friends felt comfortable with him. It was easy to forget that he's a photographer. He's like a friend who just happened to have a camera. He's also perfect for people like me with really low EQ - he took the shots last Sunday, and I was able to view the pics today.

And the best part of it? HE MADE ME LOOK THIN!!! (Actually, this is the main reason why I'm raving about him.)

If I were to rate him - he'd be a perfect 10!

things are not what they seem to be

remember my last fitting with njork? when the dress that looked good on a hanger looked like a pillow case on me?

i had a second fitting at njork earlier today. when i saw my dress on the hanger, i almost cried. it looked awful! it looked as if 4 different crudely-cut cloths were pinned together with a safety pin on a purple dress. it was bad enough that it looked like some child made the whole thing but literally seeing purple was depressing since they promised me a fuschia dress!

but the minute i put on the dress i almost cried again. but this time, because the dress was so pretty! it turns out that the purple cloth was just a lining, so that the colors of the draped cloths would look deeper. and it worked! the pink and fuschia colors looked so alive.

and the dress totally kept my treasured fat well hidden. i felt like kissing francis for making me a nice dress.

but when he saw me, he started tugging on some parts of the dress. i didn't understand it at first but when i looked back at the mirror, i was surprised to see the dress even prettier. i love my reception gown! i'm so excited to wear it with my shoes and my new earrings!

**************

since i was busy preparing for rey's i-survived-the-car-exams party, i thought that we would not be able to do anything for our wedding these last few days of september. but it seems that we were able to accomplish a lot of things - rey was able to get new glasses (he lost his old glasses during the party so he had to get new ones), we were able to have our pre-nups photos taken, i was able to design and order my bridal shoes from via venetto (i was only supposed to accompany an officemate to buy food when we passed by their shop), i got to fit my reception gown, we were able to watch our wedding singer (mia) perform and picked a few more songs for her to sing, i was able to get in touch with our stylist regarding our mock-up this october (actually, ronald was the one who called me up to follow-up my cranes) and now, it seems that we have our AVP (it's part of the pre-nups package.) cool!

moving forward

rey suggested that we cut our cocktail invites such that the background will be just enough to frame the printed portion of the invite. i think it's a good idea. (but more work for me and fatherlily!)

the wreck

things look better in the morning. it appears that one of the windows survived the crash. but the dashboard, the wipers and the windshield are totally destroyed. still glad that i wasn't in the car when the accident happened.

more of the wreck

surprisingly thankful

my car's a wreck.

my driver usually parks in my tita's house while i'm at the office. (i have parking in the office but i can't imagine what the driver will do at the basement if he has to wait for me there.) and i just call him up when i need him to pick me up.

that's what i did today. i called him up at 8 to tell him that i was planning to go home at 9. while i was having dinner at the nearby mall at around 8:45, i got a text message from the guard telling me that my car figured in an accident near the office.

i finished my dinner, paid the bill and walked back. as i was nearing the office, the guard immediately walked up to me and told me that the right side of my car was a wreck - all the windows as well as the windshield were shattered and both doors were totally destroyed. the gas cover was folded like an ordinary sheet of paper. the driver decided not to wait for me - he decided to bring the car home. (i still don't know how he drove that wreck from makati to quezon city.)

i called up my sister and fatherlily to tell them what happened and to expect the driver. i called up rey to tell him that the driver will notbe able to deliver the shrimps he ordered from my officemate because of the accident. i then proceeded to discuss with my officemates what happened and what work needed to be done by tomorrow. and i remembered to take the 3 kilos of shrimps home.

everyone expected me to be fuming mad (everyone knows that i have a very short temper.) on the contrary, i was uncharacteristically calm.

all i can think about is how thankful i am that i wasn't in the car when it collided with the cement mixer. otherwise, my face would have been ruined and not even the most skilled make-up artist can hide the wounds on our wedding day (i usually seat at the front seat.) i'm also thankful that i am so obsessed with our wedding that i couldn't get myself to get mad at the driver who collided with a parked cement mixer.

i hope i'll still be in this thankful mood when i learn how much i need to spend to have the car fixed.

move over, prince charming, my new favorite hero is here!

My Ideal Mate

Ever since I was in high school, I envisioned my ideal man to be someone who is intelligent, charming, speaks well and plays the saxophone. Being romantic was also a requirement.

I met that man. When we first met, I couldn't take my eyes off him because he was cute but still looked really masculine - he personified the word "macho". We got to talk and in a few minutes he got me laughing with his wit and he made me ponder on his ideas. Two hours later, we were still talking. But since it was getting dark and we were getting hungry, we decided to grab a bite. Unfortunately (or fortunately, as it would turn out), the nearest fast food place (we were still in college so that was what we can afford) was full so we just decided to take out the food. On a whim, we decided to have a picnic in the middle of the field. While I got the picnic mat from my locker (it was actually a banner from a seminar that I organized for my college org), he went to his car to get some stuff. In just a few minutes, he came back with a black case.

On that night, on a picnic in the middle of a field, under the moon and the stars, he serenaded me with his sax.

But there were no sparks.

There were still no sparks the day after when he called me up first thing in the morning. Still nothing when we met again for lunch. We lost touch after a few weeks but I didn't feel any loss.

And so I've met my ideal man but now, as I write, I couldn't even remember his name!

And then there was Rey. He was intelligent, spoke well but he didn't know the difference between a cello and an oboe. He smiled only to the people he knew and liked. His idea of courting me was getting drunk in a nipa hut in Antipolo that served "Cole's Low" (which was why I never knew that he was courting me until he actually told me).

But there was something in him that made me feel warm. He made me feel so secure that I only allowed myself to get drunk when he was around.

Eleven years later, Rey has learned to smile at people he knew but didn't like. He still couldn't tell a cello from an oboe and his idea of a love letter is a hotel stationery with the words, "Leave Tip." But he still makes me feel so secure, warm and truly loved. He doesn't fit my requirements for an ideal mate but I have no doubt that he's the one for me. And after meeting him, I wouldn't settle for any other man.

Our CD Sleeves

Here's a sample of our cd sleeves! As you may notice, Mazinger z's pic is different from the pic I posted a few days ago. Rey requested me to take new pictures of Mazinger-z (yes, nag-reshoot kami) because the first pic wasn't consistent with Rey's image of the megabot. 'Di raw bagay kay Mazinger-z ang nakaluhod. It's a good thing that Mazinger-z poses for free.

Our Menu Card

this wedding really forced me to learn new skills. rey loved the poster on the left but hated the huge crane in the middle and wanted a smaller second crane. by experimenting with photoshop, i was able to create the perfect graphic for our menu!

take these rings . . .

here's what mazinger z did on our date (more truthfully, what i made him do.)

my date with mazinger z

i have rey's most-treasured mazinger-z model. why? because rey wants a pic of mazinger-z on the back cover of our cd souvenirs. the front cover kasi has pics of porkchop, my chowchow (who's turning one next week!)

when i asked rey how he plans to integrate the picture of mazinger-z into our wedding cd cover, he told me that among the mega-bots, mazinger-z is the only one who has a girlfriend and that his girlfriend is pretty useful with her killer boobs. (the boobs are some sort of rockets. or missiles. whatever.) so does that mean that the killer boobs should also appear on our cd cover?

the reject

this is the cocktail-invite design which rey rejected. rey said that it looked like an ad for an abs-cbn event.

Time and Money - Literally

Rey's mildy disappointed with me. He was asking me why I needed more money when he just gave me money last month. My reason - I placed the whole amount that he gave me last month on time deposit. for 90 days. which was really stupid because I wanted to take advantage of the bridal fair on the 4th. (And we're only earning P1,000 pesos from it!) So now he's giving me more money. And he's reminding me again and again that I shouldn't put it on time deposit. I should spend it daw for the wedding.

Hmmmm. That's not too bad - don't save, spend. I can't argue with that. I've been doing that my whole working life.

And now for the remaining question: does a pair of earrings count as "spending for the wedding"? I'm planning to wear it for our wedding reception, anyway. I think it does. I hope Rey doesn't read this.

Busy bee

Hay. Dami work! I've got to take care of a million things here in the office and I feel like I have to do another million things for the wedding.

I have to make major revisions on a 36-paged contract, review 4 5-paged contracts, draft a memorandum on 3 Supreme Court cases that are at least 50 pages each, come up with a corporate structure for our client and draft 2 more letters.

For the wedding, I just finished printing our cocktail invites but I have to design our Menu and Drink Cards, as well as the dorsal page of our CD front cover. I also have to do our CD front cover all over again because the file just mysteriously disappeared! And I have to go to Rey's house so he can give me more money. Yehey!

I have so much stuff to do that I decided to go to the parlor and have my eyebrows waxed. When I got there, I decided to have my underarms waxed (for the first time!) too. I think having braces increased my tolerance level for pain so having hair waxed isn't too painful for me. What is more painful to bear is the amount of time and money that I spend on vanity. But now that I am recharged, I feel that aside from the 2 million tasks that I need to do, I can still do another million! So I guess, going to the parlor isn't really a waste of time and money after all.

hmph!

At last, it's for real!: grooms! hmph!

At last, it's for real!: grooms! hmph!


this post really made me laugh.

rey and i had somewhat similar conversations. once, when we were discussing songs that we'd include in our souvenir CDs he told me that he already had an idea what song to use for our first dance. a few weeks later, he asked me:

r: do we need to get a choreographer for our first dance
a: do you really want to have a first dance?

and his answer? "bakit ko naman gugustuhing mag-first dance?!"

grooms!!!

obsession

i'm obsessed.

there's hardly a day when i think about the wedding. when i get home from work, i work on lining our envelopes. during my breaks at the office, i would make a call to my suppliers. i eagerly await messages from my egroups for more wedding ideas and wedding stories. everytime i wake up, i pray that our wedding (and marriage) turns out okay or that if something goes wrong, i can handle it with grace and not make a big fuss out of it.

i'm not in a panic. i don't think i've turned into a bridezilla. but i do not understand the frantic pace in which i am handling our wedding details.

is this a classic case of wedding stress? if so, why am i not losing weight?

marriage preps

i love being with rey.

this morning, we watched a couple of tv shows together. afterwards, we had lunch at alex III, had dessert at ice monster and did a little shopping in greenhills. as usual, rey and i bought a bunch of DVDs and he purchased several books for me. when we spent an amount that would have been sufficient to pay for our wedding souvenirs, we decided to leave the shopping center. it was just too difficult not to succumb to temptation!

we then went to the fort to get donuts for rey's mom. on a whim, we decided to buy a box of donuts for the 2 of us. and since we already got donuts, we decided to stop by starbucks to get coffee. (obviously, we weren't concerned about losing weight for the wedding even if we really need to.) rey ordered his usual cafe americano and i ordered mint tea. we stayed there, ate a couple of donuts (ok, fine, we finished half the box!) and went home.

there was nothing special in what we did but i immensely enjoyed myself. i loved the way he held my hands when we were in the car or the way he looked at me when i wanted to make another useless purchase.

for some reason, we didn't get to talk about the details of the wedding. instead, we dreamed and joked of how we'd be when we're already married.

i actually felt sad when he dropped me of at my house.

but when he got home, he called me up and told me that in a few months, he will no longer have to drop me off. that was enough to make me smile.

i can't wait til december!