Why I Like Weddings

If you'd ask me if there's anything in the world that I would love to do even if I wasn't paid for it, I'd say one thing...weddings. There's something about weddings that excite me. Come to think of it, I think it was because I used to do stuff for weddings that kind of lead me towards doing events as a profession. Except, the kind of events that I do now, are of the corporate nature.

I don't know what it is about weddings but whether I'm in the entourage, just a mere spectator or part of the organizing committee, I just love being witness to that moment....the moment where the bride and groom's eyes meet as the bride, whether being extraordinarily stunning or looking just too made up...makes her way slowly to the altar.

The moms, as I've observed are usually all dressed to the nines, with hair stiff from too much hairspray. I admit, I get emotional when I see them get all teary-eyed with the thought of giving away their precious son or daughter. The maid-of-honor usually second prettiest to the bride, often gives off a nervous smile. The kind of smile where their lips are smiling but their eyes are just saying "what else did I freakin' forget?!!". The best man is usually confident and dapper. He nudges the groom or whispers something into his ear as the groom looks lovingly at his bride when she makes her way slowly to the altar. Yeah yeah yeah, i'm a sappy romantic like that. But what can I say? I live for these things.

Anyway, last Saturday, was my friend's wedding. Woke up at 4am to have my hair and make up done by my sister in-law and we left at 6am to make it in time for the early ceremony. As I was a secondary sponsor, I was dressed in my light blue Disney-princess like gown with silver sash. A far cry from the dark blue and gold motif that I originally suggested. My husband and I were cracking jokes that I should have been given fairy wings and a wand to complete the princess-y ensemble.

The Nuestra Señora church in Guadalupe was quite lovely. Old, quaint with a lot of history. The ceremony was simple yet meaningful. The bride and groom said their own personal vows that was unrehearsed and felt very natural. Everyone laughed when the groom said "Nung una di ka naniwala na gusto kita pakasalan, kasi lasing ako nun...".

I appreciated the little unexpected quirks like the Mickey and Minnie mouse pillow for the arrhae, and instead of wearing the usual white shoes, the bride chose to wear dark blue stilettos. I absolutely loved the stargazer on her head that pulled together her entire look. Most especially since it matched her bouquet of light pink ecuadorian roses just perfectly. The bride has been my close personal friend since we were college. She was an officemate, my bridesmaid and my daughter's Godmother.

I helped out with the reception program. Script and all. My husband did the AVP, which the groom didn't seem to expect so it brought him a bit into tears. The reception was very very simple and it finished a little before lunch. Even if there weren't any major fireworks, the two lovebirds didn't seem to care much as they were just lost in each other's gaze. I've been to more grandiose weddings, but in my book, it shouldn't be about the size of the wedding budget. At the end of the day, it's all about making the bride and groom happy.

End of this year or early next year, I am tasked to organize an intimate wedding for 70 guests at Calaruega. What makes this wedding important is because of the bride and groom's love story. Reminiscent of the movie "A Walk to Remember", one of them is very ill. This is the first time that I will ever have to coordinate a wedding given such delicate circumstances. Which is why I am so honored to be doing it for them.

Marriage is Work

I know I haven't blogged in a while. Work has piled up on me. I'm glad I'm surviving though despite the tight deadlines and crazy schedule. I'm more confident now with my motherhood skills. Who knew I could pack a diaper bag so expertly now and finish in just 5 minutes (Compared to my-half-day-i-need-a-checklist kind of thing)?

Tala is more fun now. She loves smiling, screaming, and making tons of bubbles with her saliva---messy I know but still cute nevertheless. Can't wait till she starts talking.

Anyway, let me tell you why I was down quite recently. I felt like my relationship with my husband was changing. Since the baby entered the picture, the dynamics of our marriage just took on a major dry spell. Before it was just about us and since Tala came a long, we couldn't focus on each other anymore. In fact, it was more like we were slowly drifting apart. At some point, I was so upset that I was really throwing quite a fit at home. I was making up all these excuses so we could just get into a fight. Of course, my husband being a man and all, couldn't really understand my non-verbals.

When that didn't work, I just flat out told him that we needed to talk. And that's when I told him what was bothering me, in between sobs. He was quiet. He let me finish. He apologized. He said he never meant to make me feel neglected at all. He said from then on, things will be different. And that's what I love most about my husband. He takes action.

To illustrate, yesterday after attending a wedding, he took me out on a surprise date. We had a long and very relaxing couple's massage in a local spa. After that we had an early dinner in a nice cozy resto. He even bought me an advanced Valentine's present. Tomorrow, we're going on another date. Well this time it's on me because I got two press screening tickets to see Valentine's Day. Wait, technically it's not on me coz I got those tickets for free. hehe.

Oh well, I guess it's true what they say. Marriage is work. That saying really never meant anything to me at all, until now. So there.

Anything extraordinary worth blogging about today? Well I got an instant physical examination. Some woman felt my boobs for lumps, and she made me stand in a very awkard position so she can examine me down there. But alas, that's another story altogether.

Cheap Thrill

One of the things I hate about myself is my penmanship. I have very bad penmanship. Sometimes even I can't even read my own writing. I hate using pencils because I feel so scholarly (translates to estudyante palang). I love pens especially the gel pen types but when I start writing away in doodle disarray, I can't help but just sigh at the ugly page filled with my scribbles.

So low and behold I have discovered one of my cheap thrills for the start of the year. A pen that actually erases. I am loving my pilot frixion ball. When I seem unsatisfied by my ugly writing, I can simply do it all over again. LOVES IT.



I Wasn't paid for this. I just simply love it. I just wish they would do something about the packaging. It looks like a Globe Tattoo USB in pen form, if you know what I mean.

I am deeply troubled

Last night when I got home, I noticed Tala was shaking her head vigourously, and when I say vigourously I mean rubbing her scalp on the bed and turning her head from left to right so quickly, you wouldn't even know babies could do that.

I was stunned to say the least. My brother said she did that about three times yesterday while I was at work. He thought she was being possessed or something.

I inspected her head and was ex tremely shocked to find nits on her scalp. My baby has lice! I searched a bit more and found a creepy crawling insect making its way around the jungle that was her hair. I was horrified.

I spent 3 hours pulling out nits from her hair and drowning them in water. I can't believe babies can get lice infestations. If she has it, then I must have it too. So my first order of the day was to run to the drugstore to buy lice shampoo for me.

I had flashbacks on how she had possibly contracted it and remembered the number of people, including kids that slept over our house for New Year's eve. There you go.

Poor Tala. I wish I could protect her from these things but all I can do is to manually take each one out so she can sleep soundly at night. Now I'm beginning to think her head full of hair is not such a great thing after all. Sigh. I wanna cry.

New Year, New Adventures

I know everybody must have already made a new year's post so this one is quite late. So to start off, Happy New Year guys! Thanks for sticking out with me in 2009.

My new year sashayed in with a refreshing start. I'm a brand new mom so that alone is a whopper of an adventure on its own. At times I am just absolutely inlove with being a mom, especially when Tala flashes me her big toothless grin. At times I just feel like I'm on my wit's end with all the diaper changes, endless crying, feeding, lalalalalala. You get the picture.

Another thing that I found myself re-entering is my place in the kitchen. For New Year's eve, I decided to try my hand at making dessert. I managed to whip up a fruit graham cake from scratch. That's a first for me as making stuff in the kitchen really not my thing. I can't even remember the last time I prepared, not to mention cook anything. People say that once you get married, cooking is a must. It was the other way around for me. When I got married, I left the cooking to my husband.

Since my graham cake was such a hit (Unless the people around me were just being polite at the time), I'm inspired to explore more recipes. And instead of competing with my husband and subjecting myself to his criticism (he can be extremely finicky when it comes to cooking), i'll just focus on dessert, which I think is a good way to compliment him. For one, this is unchartered territory for him too. so...HA! I'll see if I can manage to whip up dessert #2 this weekend while I'm still in a Betty Crocker kinda mood.

Second, I started working on a scrabook project. I wanted to work on a labor of love for Tala to let her know that mommy thinks the world of her. I'm posting memorable photos, and other stuff like my old pregnancy test, ultrasound photos, the name tags Tala and I wore at the hospital and other stuff that I've managed to keep. Don't worry, I'm skipping the dried-up stump from her navel or little pieces of hair. I know that kinda thing freaks out some people.

Third, I cleared out a lot of closet space and gave away stuff that I bet I won't be able to fit in for the year. Even those that I really really like but just have to give up. I cleared out all of my jeans and a lot of those cutesy blouses I've worn for years. With the void that is my closet, I have no choice but to rebuild my wardrobe, one that flatters my new figure. I've accepted the fact that I'm now way bigger than I was before I got pregnant, but of course I still have every intent to lose as many pounds as I possibly can. This whole wardrobe updating business is quite exciting though. Can't wait to do some serious shopping.

So how bout you? What are your new adventures to start off the year?

Merry Christmas from Tala

Mommyhood: Back to work...Baptism blues...

Been back in the office since Dec. 15th. I'm thankful that the load isn't that bad. It was perfect timing that I made my comeback around Christmas time. Everybody's busy with Christmas parties and shopping and all that jazz.

We had Tala Christened last Dec. 19th. Everything was picture perfect even if some of the Godparents didn't make it. Picture perfect... up until I found out that there were just a few photos taken during the ceremony, and almost none at all during the reception. I haven't been this bummed about photos until now. So much for the huge preparations. The upside is, at least there were videos, and Hubby says he'll take care of the editing. Note to self, even if we're scrimping, always always see to it that we hire a professional photographer. Sigh.

Oh well...I have some last minute Christmas shopping to do. Hope I don't miss out on anyone. Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet?