I am deeply saddened to hear about this sad news early this morning. Paulo Clemente, who hosted and sang for our wedding passed away the other night. I only learned about him on-line when I was doing my supplier-hunting for our wedding but because of his warm and happy attitude, me and my husband easily became comfortable with him the first time we met up. We right away decided to get him for our wedding :) Now, more than a month after our wedding, I can definitely say that I did made a good choice. He hosted our wedding very well and he made the details very personal. He even recorded a song requested by my husband for our First Dance ( I Will Always Love You by Taylor Dayne) which even made everything more perfect.

This photo was grabbed from Pau's blog.

Pau singing our First Dance song

The sampler cd (on the right) is a gift from Paulo and Ces of AWP. for our wedding which became part of our souvenirs. Love his songs! He even included the first dance song that he recorded & sang for me and hubby! :)

To Paulo, thanks again for being part of our new life together. You did a very good job for our wedding! You will always be remembered :)

I am dead tired with work this week. I need some time alone.
Excited for the long weekend.

on v-day

Valentines this year is a lot more special. For people who know me that well, I am a person who takes every occasion seriously. I don't know. I just feel that these are "one-day "events that one must look forward to and more-be treated special. Like birthdays, christmas, new years & anniversaries, I always look forward to celebrating hearts with my boyfriend (now my husband).

Ordered two bouquets of orange roses for valentines. One for my dear mom & one for my mother in law. I still like it when women are given flowers... super loved and special ang feeling!:) I hope our moms felt that way when they got the flowers :D

Initial plan was to celebrate v-day on a weekend since Jp & I are both working on weekdays.Call it lucky but my husband was scheduled for an interview somewhere in Makati and my boss asked me to go with her in a client meeting at Makati Shang that Thursday so... we went for an unplanned v-day date that night!:)

Me and husband ate in one of our favorite resto...
FRIDAYS on a Thursday! :)Superb!!! :)Our menu: strawberry chill, Caesar salad, onion rings and a valentines platter that Fridays offered that day- composed of grilled chops, baby back ribs , shrimps & oh yeah corn :P

Of course we had a little surprise for our little boy when we got home :) I spotted this uber cute stuff toys while waiting for hubby at g4. Got him his favorite: spongebob squarepants & patrick! I'm glad he loved it! Ginawang wrestlers hehehe :D

post v-dinner

Last Saturday (02/16) me and my husband celebrated valentines day with cousins & in-laws. Of course, we tried to make it extra special. Last year, we hired a friend chef to prepare an aphrodisiac dinner for us and it was a very memorable experience. Since Chef Nikki is already in Boston to pursue further studies in Culinary, the wives were tasked to prepare the dinner this year.

My labor of love. Set up in Bam's garden :) I got the breadsticks from Bellini's earlier that day and the charger is from Gourdo's. All the other decors were actually borrowed from our kitchen already.

This is me & my jp enjoying our first valentines together as husband & wife :)I am definitely loving every minute of it!!! :)


Our simple but very yummy dinner :)

The wive's labor of love :) I prepared sundried tomato & basil penne pasta Nina made the famous ceasar salad , his dad's home-made recipe (super sarappp!!!).Ate Ina prepared dory fish in garlic cream sauce.And Ria grilled perfect rib-eye steaks! Yummy too!

And yeah, the husbands helped out too! My husband took charge of the bossa music to complete out intimate dinner, Bambi helped me set up the table before everyone arrived, Ponch brought wines and kuya Jovy drove ate Ina to get our desserts from Banapple ;D

This table napkin is so cute!I bought this from Gourdo's earlier that day. Wala lang, just want to share. This is so perfect for my dear husband and his sweet tooth! :)

The married couples enjoying the night! 2 down! 2more to go!:D

Another memorable experience for all of us. Happy Hearts day again!:)

more photos here.

currently reading

relaxing weekend

I love weekends because I get to spend quality time with my family especially with dear husband and Kyle. I treat each Saturdays & Sundays as if there is an occasion to celebrate. Call it overreacting or exaggeration but that's how I value time... extra special :) Last Saturday me and hubby went back to this very good resto in Hypermart, Fontera Verde that we tried few months ago. Life, Coffee & Tea is not too attractive if you look at the place from the outside but we love their tea fusion drinks is super saaaraaaappp!

We are in the detox and eating healthy mode last Saturday so we were on a no-rice meal for that night. I ordered Asian Chicken Salad & Jp ordered Ceasar Salad plus his favorite calamares. Our meal was perfect with LCT's famous tea au lait. I ordered the Strawberry Tea Au Lait and hubby ordered the peach tea au lait. These are very refreshing drinks. Overall, we were satisfied with what we had for dinner but not the bloated type. Just enough for our massage appointment that night.

We used last year's valentines gift last Saturday. I'm glad hubby enjoyed it as much as I did. I even heard him snore a little hahahaha! :) I know he needs it more than I do. Driving from Manila to Lipa almost everyday and working on a graveyard shift is definitely hard. I appreciate him sacrificing so much for me and more for for Kyle.

Like what I mentioned, Saturdays & Sundays are the best days of our weeks. No work, no stress.. and most of all, quality time is spent together :)

My husband handed me a gift before the night ended... SURPRISE AGAIN!!! Look at what I got??? :D My wishlist was granted really really fast! Very sweet :) Thanks sweetheart... you never fail to make my heart melt ...

al dente friday

Surprise! Surprise! dear husband surprised me last Friday, NO WORK :) yahoo! I am loving every minute spent with him.. and I mean this from the heart..

Last Friday was an unplanned gimik for us. Ate Ina, my cousin in law invited us for dinner/"inuman" at Al Dente in Silvercity. Had some wifey talks with ninang Gaye (of course) while the boys enjoyed the Johnny Walker open bar.

the crazy n lovely wives :)
(l-r) me, ninang gaye, ria and ina-boo

TAJ OF TAGAYTAY

Late Post
01/13

My relatives from Canada came home for vacation just in time for our wedding. Our time was very limited because there were family gatherings & invitations left and right.Apart from my wedding preparations, me and fiance (now my husband) had to entertain visitors from the US who were all home for our special day.
I wanted to make their visit a memorable one but since I don't have that much time to do so, I made the most out of what I can offer them best :) I asked them to spend one night at the Cuna resthouse in Tagaytay. I felt bad I couldn't stay with them at that time because that was actually 2 days prior to my wedding date. It could've been a very great time for us to bond.

My husband & I planned to treat them for an early dinner some place in Tagaytay. While my aunts and uncles went to visit a friend in Lian, Batangas.. we went to try out this very intriguing restaurant situated at the boundary of Tagaytay & Alfonso.

This is TAJ OF TAGAYTAY. If you are coming from Tagaytay proper, you'll see it on your left before reaching Batangas exit. Oh, you'll see banners along the highway so i'm sure you won't miss it :P

The place is so perfect. It's overlooking taal lake.
An ambiance that completed our sunset dinner :) The menu is not so complicated.Price is affordable:)

All of us tried their huge shawarma, refreshing melon shake,
and my favorite .. samosa -average,I still prefer Arya's :D

I so love the interiors of the place! Very cozy!:)


1st row(l-r): karen, jp, mico
2nd row (l-r): ate chris, me,nichole

Taj of Tagaytay
Indian. Mediterranean. Asian Fusion
Tel# +63 916 936 4219, +63 927 711 4247

watched Alvin and the Chipmunks with our little boy last night while waiting for dear husband to be home from work. The movie is really funny. Me & Kyle really enjoyed watching! Yes babe, you read it right, I finished the film in one seating hehe! didn't fell asleep :D

wishlist

I'd love a warm shower with this :) mother in law gave me this grapefruit scented candle that I placed in our bathroom and I so love the smell. I usually light it when I am at the shower or when I am doing my 'before bedtime rituals'. I love the fruity smell :) this bath essentials is a perfect pair for my sweet scented candle!

for the love of food and dining out, this is really perfect :)

checked at National Bookstore it costs Php2,000...quite pricey!!!

Christmas

This post is long overdue. Nonetheless, I want to share to you my perfect holiday 2007 ...

with my family on Christmas Day! with my brothers

gift giving after noche buena
our gift to our ninong butch

with my super gwapo inaanak


festive!!! as always tita mona served the best noche buena for everyone!

A MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! :)

4 SHOWERS

One of the most exciting and fun part of getting married is this! I am so lucky to have met thoughtful friends and loving in laws who went out of their way to prepare and surprise me with these bridal showers.

1) My college friend Marielle and Naomi, a friend from highschool in Ilocos surprised me with a spa bridal shower last January 6-a Sunday. I've chosen this 2 ladies to be a part of our wedding entourage because both of them happen to play important roles in my life's journey... I feel so special, this two ladies actually are from 2 different barkadas that I have and surprisingly, the two ended up doing this together for me. That's probably in between law books & work shifts :) I love you both!

This is us after our very relaxing swedish massage.

Hmmm, another surprise gift????

Whatta!!!!!!! Its a fondant cake of a woman sitting in a pxxxs! That's me daw! accdg to Naomi hehehe! That was really funny & crazy! Especially coming from 2 o the most conservative friends that I have! hahahaha!

This is us at PASTO, Eastwood Citywalk after the surprise shower party. Thanks so much guys! You just don't know how much I appreciate all the effort and the love. I will surely have to thibk of better surprises when time comes that I have to prepare a shower for the both of you!!! :) More? click this, this, and this.

2) A shower from Jp's mom, cousins, aunts, lolas etc etc last Jan 5! love. love.love. Nobody can beat the warmth of the CunaS. I must say that I am pretty lucky to be a part of this family. Words can't express how thankful and blessed I feel. This women are the most excited for our wedding. I guess, this is one of the reasons why our wedding turned out very happy and grand. Our guests/relatives blissfully celebrated with us.

This is everyone after the very generous & special shower :)
More photos here :)

3)Girlfriends from the office where I used to work prepared a shower dinner for me at Marios Tiendesitas.... which I unintentionally almost missed. My uber busy schedule both with wedding preps n office tasks really got into me that night. Good thing, I was told earlier that day that I am not allowed to RAINCHECK :). It's good that I showed up for this was actually planned especially for me! If not, Aj would've have ended up wearing the white lingerie, Smile could've taken home the "cream" thing and Hazel could've used the frenzy hahaha!

These are the crazy friends that I met @ Traffic Power in 2005.
L( Me & Smile) R (Aj & Hazel)
More about this here.

4) I love my in-laws. For one, I get along with them so well. We enjoy doing things together-- shopping and eating to name a few hehehe. They were the very first to host a shower for me. December palang tapos na!!! Ate Ina & Nina gave me this black pair of lingerie from MNG. I love it. Simple and daring :P Kara, on the other hand, gave me a more conservative gift. a MNG razorback which I just love wearing to sleep.

This is us in Cibo, Shangri-la last December 06. More photos here.

Thanks friends and family for all of this! You made my wedding event more perfect :) More than the generous gifts, I am thankful for the presence,time & effort given. Update:) the lotions, shower gels, I started using some of them already. I love all the scents :) For the lingeries- not yet coz of this not so cooperative & not so funny monthly event. The T- backs, I am still trying to begin to love it hehehe. For the creams and c-nd-ms, its safely kept ( I don't need it yet hehe). The cake is divided into 2. We ate the cake at home and the p---s topper was fondly eaten by Ms Mabel of Cest'ca. She was the only person who had the guts to swallow it hehe! and for the shower money, it's saved for future needs!:) Thanks! Thanks! I am sincerely grateful and very happy.

i'm back

I know I haven't posted in a while. I miss blogging and I miss reading entries from friends' blogs too.

Breath...

I want to get the groove back... the girl is too excited and overwhelmed at the same time..I don't know what to blog first.

Holidays? Wedding preps? New Year? D-Day? Honeymoon? Wedding gifts? Relatives home from the US! After wedding parties? new home?! Waaahhhhhh!

Looks like I will have to work overtime for this haha! Need to go grab my coffee for now... I'll be back :)

BLOG BREAK




See you next year! =)

28 days to go! uber excited! can't wait!=)