3rd year Anniversary

Start:

Feb 28, '07

It totally slipped my mind that Leo and I will be celebrating our 3rd year anniversary as a couple on the 28th! Hindi na nga namin masyado pinapansin kasi abala kami in preparing for our wedding. Siguro after ng wedding, ibang date na ang ice-celebrate namin!

Food Tasting

Start:	Jul 14, '07 10:00a
Location:	The Palms Country Club

Temporary schedule for food tasting and finalization of package with Palms

Appointment with Alex Franco

Start:	Mar 1, '07 7:00p
Location:	The Palms Country Club

Meet with cake supplier

Themes and Motifs' Bridal Fair

Start:	Mar 10, '07 10:00a
End:	Mar 11, '07 8:00p
Location:	The PICC Forum, CCP Complex

Biannual showcase of the latest trends and newest styles in the biggest and most comprehensive gathering of wedding suppliers from all over the Philippines.
www.weddingexpophil.com

Wedding Fair

Leo and I went to a wedding fair last weekend at Megamall. At least it's larger than the one that we went to at 1 Esplanade a couple of weeks ago.

Anyway, we scouted around for possible wedding invitation, flowers and giveaway providers. For the flowers, we're eyeing Holland Tulips (this is for the entourage). When I spoke with my mother-in-law last weekend, she wanted imported flowers for the entourage. She also wants the reception ballroom to be filled with flowers (though they don't have to be imported) as long as there are flowers in abundance. The church already has an in-house florist so at least that's one less worry.

For the giveaways, Leo and I still haven't decided on what we should get. For the principal sponsors, we're thinking of wines for the ninongs and shawls for the ninangs. For the female entourage, bag charms. I don't know what Leo would want to give to his male entourage. As for the guests, we really want to give something practical so we're thinking of cupcakes or chocolates. We'll just see.

My OTD coordinator gave me a worklist for the wedding. We're still a long way off! I just took a look at my ticker and I have 6 months, 1 week and 3 days until our wedding! I called The Palms this morning to ask when we should meet with our AE to finalize everything. I was advised to schedule an appointment by end of April or first week of May. Our package with the Palms includes the overnight stay at Vivere, the use of the bridal car and others which I can't remember offhand. I hope to finalize those soon so I can cross them off my list.

I also found an acapella choir which we will listen to on March 11. Hopefully they will give a good rendition on the song that I want for my bridal march. We also decided that the responsorial psalm in our wedding mass will be sung. I already asked Cheryll to sing that part but she hasn't responded yet. Anyway, I already have a shortlist of people who can sing in case Cheryll does not want to do it.

There will be another bridal fair on the weekend of Mar. 9-11. It's again at the PICC and we will be going there together with my mother-in-law probably on the 10th after the measurements are done so that she can see the flowers supplier. This one will be the mother of all bridal fairs with 350++ suppliers! Weee! Chocolate fountain galore!

Mommy, Ninang and Tita Norrie, please send your preferred designs so that Cecil can work on it. I will provide the tela for your gowns although I have to discuss the color with Cecil as the color that I initially wanted has been scrapped. Leo's Ninang already had a gown made using a different color. I'm totally thinking of scrapping the one color motiff for the the principal sponsors. Bahala na. Will give feedback once I talk with Cecil. Please also have your measurements ready.

Changes

After my bout with the colds a couple of weeks ago, I'm now battling a bad case of dry cough. Yesterday, I came home early as I also had a slight fever and feeling very drowsy. I knew I just had to lie down and sleep it off. Fortunately, I felt better this morning. I had an important meeting that I didn't want to miss.

My new boss finally showed his true colours and it's not pretty. I was seated beside him in the meeting and when he said something which put one of my colleagues on the spot and started pushing his point, I just stared at him in shock. And this is in front of our CEO! Kung baga, "nanglaglag". My gosh. And worse, the boss of my colleague did not even support him!  What was my boss complaining about? Sabi niya, may pinapirma raw sa kanya na memo na hindi niya binasa. Stoopid talaga! Why did he sign the darned memo kung hindi niya binasa???!!! Kasi raw, kesyo he trusted the guy who asked him to sign the memo. Stooopid! And he was blaming my poor colleague. Knowing my colleague, he would not ask him to sign the memo without discussing it with him. Naasar ako in his behalf. I'm sorry for being racist pero ayaw ko na talaga ng boss na Pakistani or Indian! Give me a Pinoy boss any day. Mas madaling kausap!

On a brighter note, there will be happy news in the next few weeks. I'm just waiting for the official announcement. Hint: It shook everyone up in the office and I'm suddenly the most famous person around. Hehe :) Definitely, there will be changes. Watch out for it!

Dead Tired at Valentine's

I officially moved to my new workstation last Monday. I was looking forward to it as it was 5 floors away from my previous workstation. A refreshing start.

I came to work Monday morning really early so I can have the time to fix my stuff and catch up on work. I went home 9 am Monday night and last night, I went home at quarter to 10 (and I was here at 730 am!). When I got home I had problems falling asleep as my mind was still at work (and the unfairness of it all). I think I fell asleep at 1130 pm. I woke up this morning at a godforsaken time of 430 and I could not go back to sleep as my mind is again at work. Now, I'm dead tired and trying to figure out how to get out of my rut. It's not helping me and most of all, it's already starting to affect my relationship with Leo.

On a brighter note, Leo gave sent me 2 dozen pink roses and a box (heart-shape pa!) of Lindt chocolate. The roses were sent through courier and in a glass vase. Looks like I won't be able to bring them home with me (I commute!). As for the chocolates, I initially shared them around but when I tasted one, I hoarded what's left! They're SOOO good! We'll be having lunch later and that's the extent of our Valentine's celebration. We learned our lesson last year to not go out during Valentine's Day (we went to a concert of The CompanY last year at Sucat. The parking was horrible and the service worse! We waited for our food for an hour and when it came, it was cold!).

As my gift for him, I got him a shirt (parang ang pathetic yata. Haha!).

Sick Day Off

I went home early yesterday as I was feeling under the weather. I had a bad cold that I couldn't shake off and it was triggering my asthma. When I woke up at 3 am this morning, I knew I just couldn't make it to work today. So I called in sick and planted myself in front of the TV for a little R&R.

It's too bad I got sick. I wanted to get things done today. Moreover, I had a lot of things scheduled to do. For one, we were supposed to meet with our coordinator this lunch time and then, there's a dinner party at Magallanes for one of Leo's tita's who is going back to the US. I had to text a lot of people this morning to inform them of the cancellation of plans.

As I settled down to watch TV, I made the Lifestyle Network the channel base and moved to the left or to the right but I make sure to return to the Lifestyle Network. It's my favourite channel--more of because of the Food Network. This morning I caught Bobby Flay with his gril cooking pizzas (yumyum!) and Tyler Florence cooking shepherd's pie and pasta with mushroom and turkey (double yum!). It made me crave for pizza and pasta.

That's all for now. I have to think of a Valentine's gift for Leo. I just realized that Valentine's is next week and I don't have anything for Leo yet!

Cakes by ALEX FRANCO

http://www.alexfrancocakes.com
My cake supplier! Super sarap the cakes!

New Suppliers

Okay, I just booked my Cake supplier and On-the-Day Coordinator. For the cake, I'm getting Alex Franco. He's the same supplier of Leo's cousin on her wedding last Jan. 17. The cake is REALLY REALLY good! Best of all, all the layers are real. No fake layer at all!

For the OTD Coordinator, we're getting Queen David of Just Like Ours. From my initial meeting with her, she seems very congenial and she gave me a lot of free advice.

 

One Down

We have ticked off one item from our stuff-for-the-wedding list. My mother in law just showed me this morning our wedding rings. Again, I was impressed.

She again had stones placed on my band (5 of them, probably less than half a karat each stone) while Leo's is just a plain band. In fact, I think I like Leo's band more. It's a plain band with a matte stripe in the middle. My rings are both breath-taking. :)

The rings will now be engraved with our names and marriage date.

After mass this morning, as requested by the choirmaster of the choir I'm getting, I measured the length of time it will take me to get from the back of the church to the altar. They need the time so they know how long/fast my requested bridal march song will last. I think 5 minutes ought to do it. It took me almost 3 minutes to traverse the aisle. Of course there are other rituals once we get to the altar. So 5 minutes ought to do it. Just right for the song.

Tagaytay Pictures

Here are some pictures from our Tagaytay Day-off last Wednesday.

The first picture was the view from the restaurant where we had our lunch. I love those houses (I think they're called "lodges" or "log cabins"). It is rumoured that a former president owns a house there.

I could just imagine myself living in that cabin and stepping out in the clear, crisp mountain air. Haaaay.

The second picture is Leo's mom with her parents and siblings. Her siblings will also be our principal sponsors. From L-R: Tita Chit (based in NJ--she lives near SIP Ave.), Tita Cristy (who's based in Seattle), Lola Remy, Uncle Bob (a doctor who is based here in Manila), Pang, Mama (Leo's mom!), and Tita Mike (who's based in Queens and is an editor at Columbia University?).

Third picture is us on the bridge outside the restaurant, although that's not all of us. The men are taking pictures--including Leo. I'm seated at the bottom. On my left is Jack and on my right is Lia, another cousin of Leo. Beside her is Leo's sister, Tricie. The other girls on the left are other cousins of Leo. L-R: Bambi, Erica, Mia (she's the one who got married last Jan. 17!), and Nicole. The first two are daughters of Tita Cristy while the others are daughters of Uncle Ken (he died in the '88 and is survived by his 7 children and his wife--Tita Gina--the one in green on the bridge).

The last picture are Leo's nephews. The two boys on both ends are the sons of his sister. They are Enzo (the one on the left, who will also be one of our bearers) and Jack (the one on the right, who will also be a bearer). Ages are 8 and 9 respectively. The one in the middle is the son of Bambi--Dylan. He's 3 and he's really talkative.

TGIF!

It's still cold out. I wear a jacket whenever I step out in the morning and in the evening. I'm not really used to this cold weather. I wake up in the morning with a cold. Last night, I wore pajamas and a thick cotton shirt. I slept with a blanket AND a comforter. I was so comfy when I woke up this morning.

I went to the spa after work this evening. My regular masseuse persuaded me to try their healing stone therapy (only for Php999!) and my golly, it felt so good! Heated stones were rolled across my body and placed on my back. The heat made me feel so drowsy and it was so comforting. It's not too hot--just right. However, I would still prefer the body scrub and massage that she gives me.

My personal trainer also resigned from the gym as she wants to pursue her career in theater/entertainment (she's a member of PETA and appeared in several of their plays. She also sings in her spare time) before she leaves for Canada sometime during the year. I persuaded her to come to the house on her free days so we could continue my PT while she's still in the country.

Okay, am getting sleepy already. Gotta go!

Love Thy Neighbor - A Prayer to God

Lord,

I never thought that this commandment of yours would be very hard to follow.

I believe that you have never and will not ever create a bad person. All of us are created in your image and therefore, we our all inherently good. But there is this person who is really hard for me to accept. I do not want to reach the point where forgiveness will no longer be an option--actually, I have already reached that point.

Though I have already moved away from him (thank you Lord for granting me that prayer), he still continues to give me grief. I don't know when it will end or if I can still move further away.

Help me Lord to accept this person for who he is and not who I perceive him to be. Shelter me from his sharp words. Help me to decide what is best for me. Help him to understand me and to help him hold his tongue. Help him to change for the better. Help me to forgive.

Most of all, help me Lord to forgive.

Tagaytay Day-Off

I took the day off today at the request of Leo's mom. It's the birthday of Leo's grandmother and there is some sort of reunion up in Tagaytay. All of Mama's siblings are here and it's the first time in ages that this has happened.

Leo picked me up at 530 am on his way home from work. I brought my laptop with me so I had the chance to surf and update my sites. His dad was ready by 8 am and we left for Tagaytay.

I sat beside the driver's seat as Leo was trying to get some shut-eye. His dad and I talked about religion and the such. It was such a nice chat. Hindi pilit.

We arrived at their house in Tagaytay at around 930 am. We waited for an hour or so for the others to arrived and left for Highlands at around 11 am/

We had lunch at Highlands China Palace (hope I got the name of the place right). Well, it's the only Chinese restaurant up in Highlands. It was a full lauriat meal and I could barely stand up afterwards. I met for the first time, so of Leo's cousins from the US. They're all very friendly.

The weather in Tagaytay is very cool and crisp. It's like being in Baguio. Not surprising as the weather here in Manila is also as cool. I remember when I woke up Tuesday morning, the temperature was at 27.3 celsius! Brrrr! No wonder I'm shivering. Once the temperature goes below 30, I wear a sweater.

I could not enjoy the day that much though I was worried over Leo. He came from his night shift and he hasn't slept yet.

On another wedding note, Leo and I had ourselves registered at Rustan's bridal registry. We got lots of nice freebies including a planner. We checked a lot of items in our list. Hope to get some of them. :)