project 365 - day 3 - perfect fit (not)

i've always ranted at how no shoes ever fit my feet perfectly.

i tried those cute flat, ballet shoes - the ones that look so comfortable because they're just made of textile! -- FAIL!

i tried the flat, casual pig skin insole types, the ones that are supposed to be so soft at the soles and perfect for long walks. -- FAIL!

about 2 weeks ago, my mom and i found these really comfortable, black, pig skin insole shoes. it has about 1.5 inch heels and it felt very promising. she requested for a pair and i was tempted to buy one for myself. she stopped me and suggested that we buy just one pair first, i wear them for a whole day, and if it has the "it" factor, i could go back and buy my own pair. -- FAIL!

hay.

my day 3 pic, my ouchy black shoes. i love this pair. not because it's comfortable but because i like the way it looks on my feet. tiis ganda ever! see the polka dots insoles? they're from watson's and i love them! today is one of the bad days. there were no seats at the mrt this morning. stand galore for the whole 45 minute trip. same scenario this evening on my way home. by the time i reached home, i was in excruciating toe pain.

hay.

no shoes ever fit. i give up.

project 365 - day 2 - in prayer

my first experience of going to the adoration chapel was at st. andrew's church in paranaque. at first, i found it eerie to be there with the lights dim, everybody in deep prayer, nobody ever talks. but beyond the eeriness was a very solemn moment when i felt closest to my God.

here in sg, it's very ironic that we live 3 minutes away from the church and yet i seldom visit the adoration chapel. i am grateful now that my mom asks me to accompany her adoration chapel visits. we go at least once a week and it's a wonderful feeling that way - being in a sanctuary with my dear Father.

during our visit this afternoon, we found a lady in deep prayer to her God (who is also my God, and mami's too, and yours too!) natuwa ako. she seemed to be in a trance, her hands were extended, and she was whispering her prayers. i started to say my prayers but sad to say, i was distracted with the lady's loud whispers. it wasn't a good prayer time for me :(

so here she is, the lady in deep prayer. maybe someday i'll develop a better prayer habit - one that can't be distracted and destructed no matter how loud or chaotic the world around me is.

project 365 - day 1 - love is messy

i've seen several of my friends do this project in fb. let me try too?

while most of them sport wonderfully shot photos, mine will just be miskipaps shots. i don't have the photographer's magic but i sure do love to document my life.

so let me start with my day 1. this photo was taken yesterday while we were munching on garrett popcorn. since we learned of garrett's opening in city link, caramel cashew and cheese flavored popcorn have been friday night must-haves in the house. wonderful alat-tamis combo!

i posted the same photo in twitter and 2 of my friends agreed that love could indeed be messy. it used to be messy for me too but i'm glad i went through all the mess. it is only through the mess that we'll learn and it is only after the mess that we'll come out in our more glorious form.

it's so catchy the way garrett related popcorn to love. :)

THAT night part 3

stressed momma

because my coordinators were late, my mom took all the pressure of the preparations. the photographers were asking for this and that for the pictorials. i could sense my mom was super stressed but she didn't say a word. grace under pressure! that's what my mom does best.

late

amidst the chaos, my coordinators were nowhere to be found. i remember sending kat (the head coordinator) an SMS. i was asking her why her team wasn't in the hotel yet. she said her team bought the mc do meals for the suppliers and they got lost. lame.

finally, they arrived. my HMUA couldn't resist. she just had to snap: "are you the coordinators? YOU'RE LATE!" wow! si ate was like my representative! hahaha. i love her.

panghihinayang sa pics, part 1

as i said, my mom became the head coordinator while the dear team was elsewhere, maybe in dreamland. mami went ahead to do the hotel checkout so everything runs smoothly later. for this reason, we had no pics together in the hotel. i had a few shots with my brothers, but none with my mom. so sad :( we've had enough shots in the lobby and also with my girls. pero wala talaga as a family with mami and kuya and win.

some time after i've worn my gown, i broke into tears. ang makeup! hahaha! my HMUA asked, "anong sinabi nila? bakit ka napaiyak?" while frantically dabbing my tears and makeup.

after a few more shots, we're finally off to the church.

ang bilis maglakad

my mind was completely blank when we (car driver) arrived at the church. i was just waiting for my cue, that was all i know and that was all that mattered.

then i got the cue, i walked around the fountain then into the church. only, i didn't realize i was walking so fast hahaha! whatever happened to all the coaching: "walk slowly, savor your moment" i wasn't aware of anything. well, i heard my good friend mae singing "two words", i saw my mom and kuya somewhere in the middle, i kissed them, we walked hand-in-hand, there was a battle of the tears (and i'm very proud to say that i won over the tears), and then there was mike. they were just memories, but when i was there i couldn't really say how i was feeling. maybe that's how you feel when you're about to get a stroke. you are disoriented. sige ikumpara ang wedding feelings sa stroke feelings hahaha!

ceremony

the ceremony went by smoothly. kwela si father. everybody was happy and laughing during the sermon. in the end, everybody was crazy over the thought that mike will choose me over angel locsin and marian rivera, and that i will choose mike over piolo pascual and some other hunks. good thing father didn't include derek in the choices. it would have made me answer differently bwahahaha!

(some time after the wedding, an spi colleague who wasn't in the ceremony told me that he heard i chose mike over all the hunks. good word spreads :) )

mock rings

we knew for certain that because a child bearer is holding the wedding rings, mock rings are used and the best man holds the real rings for safekeeping. during the giving of rings, we were surprised to see the mock rings were presented. we had no choice but to use the fake ones. hehe it was funny but hey, the fake rings fit perfectly!

vows

we initially thought of writing our own vows but that would mean more risk of crying (for me lang ang risk hehehe). you see, the more i talk, the more i cry so i always choose to shut my mouth in moments of distress - para no tears.

so we opted to use the default vows, the ones where you're only supposed to answer "i do". pero the words were so strong, sa kalagitnaan ng pagod at puyat, super na feel ko pa rin every word, every question, every thought. and there i was again, i found myself fighting back the tears. nanalo pa rin naman ako pero medyo halata lang sa boses :))

the ceremony was done so sweetly :) i love it.

panghihinayang sa pics, part 2

after the ceremony, the picture taking was cut short because 1) the wedding prior to ours ended late 2) there was another wedding following ours so they had to shoo us away for the pictorials. we wanted to continue outside but again, the coordinators were MIA! this team is kaka talaga! nobody informed the guests to stay for the pictures. hay.

in the end, we didn't have family pics :( you can never replay this moment. we also didn't have the pics with the relatives, friends, etc. sayang talaga ang pics!

reception

reception na! highlights:

• the MC was funny. she talks in a strange way, she called mike "michael", she's weird. hahaha before the reception continued, we told kat that we sort of didn't like the MC. kat knows how to host events too so she took over the hosting and gave us a refund of the MC fee. the MC asked why, "is it because of my dress?" wow! talagang hindi nya naisip yung pagsasalita nya :))
• the vocalist of the band was pumipiyok (daw). i really didn't notice this. mike's friend just told us, so the lady had to go too. ano ba yan? ang kulit! naging instrumental tuloy ang music namin.
• no dinner. is it always true that you can't eat in your own wedding? all that wonderful, hearty food before you - we couldn't eat them. i know i was hungry but i just couldn't swallow. well, the soup was nice :))
• dragging program. the program was reaaaallyyyy looong. i knew we reviewed the flow with kat and it didn't seem that dragging then. during the actual program though, it seemed so long!
• maskulada. during the single ladies' moment, the game was: i'll throw roses - one by one - and the ladies have to catch them. i couldn't forget one throw which was so forceful the rose went over the roof! hahaha maskels, teh?
• CARES - how could i forget cares?!?!?!

conclusion

finally, the night came to an end. when people asked me, "kumusta?" i answered back, "i just want to rest." hahaha! so true! i was really, really, really tired and i was just sitting in one corner.

we had a chance to talk with kat. she looked so scared! she knew she blew it but what's the point of scolding her, natapos na'ng lahat. i told her, "i'm just glad it's over." and i was. it could have gone a little better with the pictures and the program flow, but wala na rin namang magagawa. maybe i could send them a feedback pero parang mas ayaw ko. hahaha!

at the end of it all, betchabygollywow, wala pala akong pamalit na damit :)) so we went back to wawin's place in makati to get some clothes. elevator and all in my wedding gown! nakakahiya hahaha! gamit na gamit ang gown! susme. oh, dinner was mc donald's drive thru!

bed sweet bed at around 2am. :)

our wedding. bow. i thank you.

THAT night part 2

holland tulips

the first supplier to arrive at the hotel was holland tulips. i loved the simplicity of my bouquet - pink tulips. the bouquet was small but the size (and more importantly, the weight... and most importantly, the appeal) was perfect for me. the other bouquets were just as lovely. i wish i took pics of the flowers but i wasn't at the right state of mind then.

i loved dealing with holland tulips. the transaction was quick and simple and they delivered ok. i say ok because there was a misunderstanding with the offertory flowers. i'm 100% sure that i followed up for 2 bouquets a week before the wedding. something went wrong somewhere because the offertory bouquets did not make it and i wasn't too alert to check when the flowers were delivered at the hotel. but it's ok, i love this supplier and i'm pretty sure that it was purely a misunderstanding.

flowers - check!

aling nita

next supplier who arrived was aling nita, the old school parlorista from a humble parlor in sto. nino. aling nita is our trusted HMUA since i was a kid. we love how you won't look like badingerzi because her makeup is just light and just right. she's not some bagito makeup artist. her advantage over the modern HMUAs is she's been an artist for so long that she knows her craft so well. you won't go wrong with her. pero dahil nakikiuso ako, :p i wanted to try airbrush #masabilangnaairbrush. so i still got aling nita's services for the entourage members. as early as 10am, she started the HMUA of my girls. she never let us down :)

i feel that somehow, aling nita felt bad for not doing my HMUA. it was very awkward to tell her that she'll only do my girls (ang pangit pakinggan) and not me. she was very gracious and machika as ever and i will forever recommend her services to others.

entourage makeup - check!

chelle serrano

at around 1pm, my HMUA arrived. she's chelle and she was recommended by my gown maker, mishel. i was a bit worried, thinking that we're running a bit late. chelle did my + 2 moms' HMUA as well. i loved chelle's airbrush makeup. i loved my hair. i loved how the whole thing lasted until midnight without trace of oiliness on my t zone. i loved how the makeup appeared and felt very light.

jimmy reyes

jimmy and les were my spi officemates. they were so kind to have offered to do backup photography for the wedding - for free :) they arrived at the hotel and started taking snapshots of the events. super thanks to jimmy and les for this. les also acted as a backup coordinator in the absence of my coordinator.

niceprint

then the primary photographers arrived. so it all started to sink in - this is really is it! hehehe! they started taking photos and videos. i felt that they had a hard time making me smile during the preparations shoot. first, i was really, really tired. next i was really, really tensed. also, i was really, really nervous. they were a lovely bunch of people though. very professional and they made the mood light. i love them.

ate emy

ate emy is mishel's assistant. she helped me to get myself into my gown. yahoo!

chaos

then the chaos began. the bridal suite started to be full of busy people. at this point:

• the bed was still in disarray. i haven't thought of calling housekeeping to tidy up the bed. i was totally disoriented.
• the entourage girls plus their plus ones plus my family were all there. it was a suite alright, but it was a bit too small if a crowd starts to gather.
• my coordinator team was late.

hays. of all the suppliers that could go wrong, why, why, why, why did my coordinators fail me? they were supposed to be the first to arrive. the opposite happened.

to be continued...

THAT night part 1

and the day came :)

i woke up feeling lightheaded because of the alcohol i took the night before (asus, makadaing kala mo ang dami. 1 glass lang naman). and yes, i think i'm just using the alcohol as an excuse to feel lightheaded. in reality, i was thinking, this is the day that the Lord has made :) kinakabahan na ako sa day na ginawa ni Lord!

there were complimentary breakfast sets for 2. i didn't think i could afford to swallow food at this stage. that was the secondary reason. the primary was: i didn't have presentable clothes to wear for a breakfast buffet hahaha. i was wearing my oldest pair of shorts (take note, sa kalumaan, hindi na kumakagat ang velcro at ribbon na lang ang naghohold sa baywang ko) and some old shirt. what a glamorous bride i was! so i passed on the buffet to kuya and april. the rest of the people in the room (mami, erwin, erika, and me) ordered for jollibee breakfast meals.

after the stress overload on the day before the wedding... "but wait, there's more!" the wines haven't been packed yet. dear me. my ex-future-mother-in-law (EFMIL) was kind enough to buy the ribbons and lend me her most treasured pair of scissors (later in the story, we will learn that the little b*tch devil [that's me] will misplace lose the most precious scissors). i started to pack the wines and the chocolates. God sends angels all the time. magically, hands (erika's, wawin's, mami's) appeared out of nowhere and completed the task. wines, super done!

but wait, there's more! i wasn't too fond of the pillows that i got from my gown maker (wag umangal, libre lang yun). so another pair of angelic hands came to the rescue sa katauhan ni april. she adorned the pillows with more lace. more than the lace, she adorned it with love. may ganyan talaga?! :p pillows, super done!

and then i took my well deserved semi-long bath...

to be continued...

omg

i'm doing that wedding stuff post. i'm not yet done. and i'm sleepy.

before THAT night

hola! this blog has been neglected for more than 2 months! well, here i am again! the wedding hype has died down but the married life is just starting (actually, it will start on may because we still have this long distance drama thing).

who knows, i'll have amnesia some day. allow me to "briefly" journalize what transpired for the past two months and the wedding day itself (on a later post). it was far from a perfect wedding (it wasn't even near perfect) but as mike said, we'll forever treasure the happiest day of our lives. echos keso :)

dec 3

flight to manila

i had a quick lunch with tita marie that day. she was the only representative of the camacho clan from US but ironically, her flight back to US was on the 10th of dec! one day before the wedding day. hekhekhek. ok, so this is all i have of that meeting: a photo of the superb sentro lunch. that's sinigang na corned beef, bulaklak ng kalabasa, and galunggong. sarap. there's also a beef dish that wasn't so sarap.

gowns, gowns, gowns

that day, i also went for the final fitting of my gown. up to that day, i still can't believe i was getting married in a week. there were still so many things that had to be done then. so i didn't achieve my dream of just relaxing during the last week before the wedding. argh. we took all the other gowns home with us while my gown had to be dry cleaned and picked up on the 8th.

dec 3 to 5

discovery weekend

we were so stressed on the 3rd due to so many errands that we decided to give up our slot for the discovery weekend. we definitely couldn't make it on the 530pm call time so we called the organizers and asked if they would still accept us even if we're late. they were super understanding and said that even if we arrived at 8pm, that's fine! after all, the first session starts at 8.

we were and we are still so glad that we made it. we were warned that there are 3 possible outcomes for this "retreat". a) you will push through with the marriage, b) you will postpone the wedding for a later date, c) you will part as friends. b or c was not our option, but i was partly scared - "what if?"

the people there would probably remember us for having having the closest wedding date to the discovery weekend (just more than a week! there was no time to back out! hehe) i wouldn't call it discovering-if-we-are-meant-for-each-other thing. it was rather a discovery of the following things that i'll probably remember for as long as i could remember:

1) discovering mike's most endearing qualities

2) discovering genuine forgiveness - no looking back at the bad things, i promise!

3) discovering how to say how you feel

4) discovering our differences and how we will continuously strive to settle them

it will forever be a work in progress, though. don't say you haven't been warned! hekhekhek.

PS: my roommate, shiela, was the best!

PS2: if there's one thing i disliked, it's the fact that they have no water heaters in the bathrooms. we're talking about december here and i'm one who can't take cold baths. ako'y lamigin mana sa lola ko. you have to bring your own water heater. i have no water heater. bow.

here's that picture of us (and our bulging tummies, ok ok).

dec 6 to 8

stress na bonggang bongga

the following days were crazy. with the help of wawin, the ever reliable brother, i unbelievably achieved the following:

• wrapped the gifts for the sponsors and entourage - we had crab tree and evelyn travel kits for the SS, ikea chocolates for the kids, and rachebeli wines for the PS. rachebeli was a pain with a capital P-A-I-N! first, they delivered late. in my opinion, they deceived us that the package we took included chocolate bars that would nicely go with the wine. apparently, not. "ginipit" is the perfect term for it. they delivered last minute and they shocked us that there were no chocolates with the package so we had no choice but to pay for additional order. the gimmick was so cheap but we had no choice.
• created candleholders for the tables - can i just share how lovely the candleholders were? my brother painstakingly glued the ribbons and i bundled the flowers. thank God for wawin. we bought the stuff from SM and carolina's and the candles from ikea. later at the reception, we would learn that the candleholders were a wasted bunch as the candles were not lighted at all. how silly :)) i'm not sure if i want to blame our contact for the reception but i think i will. hey lady, my brother did all the hard work and you didn't give justice to this work of art! (hey lady talaga?!?)

• printed and stapled the missalette - again, thanks to wawin for helping us to print and staple the booklets. this boy has a system and it always works beautifully. prior to the final printing, we had to ironically go to hell and back just to have the missalette approved and finally printed.
• bought the biscuits as sort of appetizers - i originally wanted ikea biscuits and cookies but due to time (and baggage weight) constraints, i ended up buying these butter cookies and pretzels from cash and carry. they served their purpose well. :) and they were pretty yummy too, i think.
• last minute shopping for the other necessities - so many necessities that weren't really easy to find.
• visited the church for the final payment. could you believe that there was a misunderstanding with the church about the parish priest? all the while, they thought that we'll ask their local priest to officiate. this was our fault though. up to the last week, we still didn't have our priest! the church admin was very understanding :)
• fetched my gown - ah have i mentioned i love my gown? :) there were a few mishaps for the entourage gowns but i think my gown was perfect :) mishel executed well.
• welcomed that little girl - kuya, april, and keyla arrived on the 8th. one big, happy, bonggang family! yahoo!

dec 9

tagaytay and father gerbert

we originally wanted fr. albert (sto. nino dear ex parish priest) to officiate the ceremony. we learned though that he had to attend to family matters and so mike looked for another priest. fr. gerbert is mike's friend's friend. he wanted to meet us prior to the wedding so we visited him in tagaytay where he was holding a retreat for HS kids. fr. gerbert was so endearing. he took time to get to know us so he could give the ceremony a more personal touch. we love him :)

after the meeting, we visited the pink sisters. so serene :)

dec 10

hotel checkin and mikey's birthday

the day before the big day! diamond hotel checkin time was 2pm. our coordinator (oh do i have a lot of rants about them!) was supposed to meet us at 2 to get the wedding paraphernalia and also for our last meeting. i didn't want to be late for the meeting so i rushed to the hotel (with mom) and left everything behind in makati where my brother is staying. i thought that i'll just go back for my stuff (read: gown! and other important stuff) since the meeting won't probably take long. well, the coordinator was late. so late that i was starting to panic as all my necessities were still in makati at 9pm. and i was supposed to be taking my beauty rest! and i haven't had my mani/pedi yet.

we waited for the traffic to relax a bit and then we rushed to makati to get the stuff. i'm so thankful to this mani/pedi home service team that i found online. while we were getting my stuff, the other girls had their mani/pedi at the hotel. after all the traffic hassles, i finally got myself at the hotel in one piece at 1am. take note that i still haven't done my nails then :p hay stress and pagod galore.

it was my mikey's birthday too! how could he ever forget our anniversary? it comes a day after his birthday. i visited him in his room (he shared it with his men) and gave him my birthday present. before i went back to my room, tagay muna :p hehehe ay sus.

it took me a while to finally have that sleep i so badly needed and wanted.

sheesh. it was not the final week that i imagined. our preparations started more than a year before the wedding and yet there we were, stressed as hell on the last week :)) i'm not complaining. i couldn't even write a "lessons learned" list as i'll only get married once (i hope). where will i use the list anyway? as i look back, there were a lot of hassles, yes. murphy's law at its finest once again. but it was all worth it. :)

i joined weddings at work and there i had good reads of almost all brides saying, "i'm an OC bride." hahaha. why do i laugh? because i don't have a drop of OCness in my blood. see what happened on our last week? :)) but it was fun! one of the best weeks of my life :)