Exclamation Point

And just like that, it is March.

I'm glad I ended February with a fun, low-key dinner with my we-do-not-need-alcohol-and-videoke-ALL-THE-TIME friends, Arvy and Graeco.

L-R: me, Graeco and Arvy

We had dinner at Portos at Escario Central then capped the night off with a cupcake (Graeco's, as I was too stuffed) from The Cupcake Theory. Of course, everyone and their mother has heard about The Cupcake Theory at one point or another. If you haven't, you should check them out, pronto. Graeco likes the classic red velvet flavor, while I am torn between the cookies and cream and minty chocolate varieties.

Anyway, we had a lot of fun rehashing the recent Oscars and just catching up. What else did we talk about? I'll tell you in hash tags. #sosyproblemsLOL #thehuffingtonpost #pistorius #sethmacfarlane #iphone5 #shoppinginthebargainsectionaccordingtograeco #arvyandtheredmoon #hathahaters #ivolunteerastributegif 

My friends are hilarious.

We're having dinner together again on Tuesday next week.

In the meantime, enjoy the first weekend of March, fiends friends! Be good.

Christened

Our little girl was christened three months after she was born. She was baptized at the Sacred Heart Church's Chapel of the Transfiguration.

The chapel was being renovated at that time.

Now, the baptistry is in an an entirely different space.

She didn't cry when the water was poured on her tiny head.

Kaelana had quite a number of godmothers 

and only one godfather, who wasn't even present, which is all right.

Her white christening eyelet and lace gown is from Rustan's.

I was wearing a halter neck Esprit striped dress because I was already mixed feeding her - part breast milk and part formula. I had gone back to work a week or two before.

The lunch reception was at Mooon Cafe. We had a buffet set up. Those are our good friends, Kaelana's godmother, Karen (and her husband, Mark) and Pam. Karen and Pam are my friends from high school in STC and were bridesmaids at my wedding.

My parents and sister are in the picture, together with our friends, 

Kaelana's godmother, Chiqui, and Coleen and Mahmet.

We love our friends! We're lucky they're always there for us.

Happy memories!

Heaven Sent

I am a godmother to exactly two boys - Lucas Matteo, my brother's son, and Justin, my dad's cousin's son- and now, six girls - Jaelyn, Ananda Celine or Andi, Atianna Xariah or Tingky, Sage Charlotte Erzulie or Charlie, Marile, and Luisa Isabel or Wyssa.

Every time a good friend or a relative asks me to be godmother to their child, I take the role seriously. My own little girl, Kaelana, is tremendously loved by her own godparents, and by loving my godchildren - even those I see rarely - I feel that all is right in the world.

Wyssa's baptism was last week, and we were happy to welcome another little one into the Christian fold.

Here's me and Mahmet, one of Wyssa's godfathers. He's The Husband's good friend and is a newlywed. He was also one of the groomsmen at our wedding.

And here's Wyssa, our darling. That's me with Wyssa's parents, our friends, Blue and Chiqui. Chiqui is Kaelana's godmother. That's Mahmet's wife, our friend, Coleen. Look at Wyssa yawning! Her christening gown is vintage, a family heirloom.

I'm wearing this year's it color: emerald.

OOTD: mini dress bought from my friend, black tights (I use Burlington) from the department store, Charles and Keith black and gray pumps #sonotfashionblogger

photos grabbed from Coleen's Facebook

Babies are truly heaven sent. Are you a godparent too? 

Christmas 2012 Shenanigans

I'm sorry, my dear readers - yes, all six of you (there were only four of you before but, yes, you are slowly but surely growing, so yay!) - that I haven't been updating that much lately. I've been catching up on sleep, on friends and on family, among other things, and not necessarily in that order.

I finished my Christmas shopping early, just to get that out of the way. I bought my godchildren their presents, and wrapped them myself. I get a real kick out of being all Martha Stewart this time of year. However, unlike Martha Stewart, I can't bake to save my life so I just ordered a dozen boxes of homemade chocolate chip cookies from my friend. This was part of my pledge to support, small local entrepreneurs. I then gave these out to colleagues - mostly The Husband's - and to friends, and neighbors. I didn't put bows on these. I just put leftover holiday postcards. My mother had more moolah to spare and wanted the stuff she gave out to be fancier, so she ordered ten boxes of cupcakes from The Cupcake Theory. The stuff there aren't exorbitantly priced but they are really special. Mom said the recipients were more than happy. (Of course, nothing but the best from my friend, Arvy, who owns and bakes for The Cupcake Theory)

There were no lavish purchases this year. We just bought stuff we needed to be replaced. We bought an LED 32-inch TV, yes, but only because our old one is well, old. We'll place that in the little girl's room as the new TV is in the living room. We'll have it mounted on the wall only after the holidays as things are still in a state of (happy) chaos.

The last working day of 2012 for me was on the 21st, and I had Christmas dinner with two of my favorite girls - Alveel and Raen. We just really click because we have so much stuff in common. For one, we're all moms and we all became moms in our twenties. I love these girls to bits and we can really just talk - in two languages - and giggle the time away. There is no dull moment. We had a buffet dinner at the new Quest Hotel's Puso Restaurant. I swear, we ate so much. Then we gave each other gifts. We capped the night off with tea at La Marea.

It's a 'me' sammich! Flanked by Raen on the left and a pregnant Alveel on the right in Puso Restaurant

photo grabbed from Raen's Facebook

Then it was my sister's 23rd birthday lunch. We went to Kotobukiya. I also had Christmas lunch with my good friends, Arvy and Graeco, at La Tegola Cucina Italia. The Husband tagged along. We had a blast catching up and exchanging presents. 

The Circle of Trust: Graeco, Arvy and me at La Tegola Cucina Italia

photo grabbed from Graeco's Facebook

I also took the little girl to see Santa Claus at Rustan's on the last day of school before her Christmas break. We waited for an hour or so because we were early, so I ended up shopping for her and her dad, even if I wasn't planning on buying anything. Oh well, it's okay. Kaelana was thrilled to be able to see Santa. I thought it was perfect because her present from 'Santa' had Rustan's gift wrapping. It would make sense for her to see the jolly bearded man there. Here she is in her school uniform. Santa looked at her and saw how skinny she was and asked, Have you been eatin'? My daughter just nodded and climbed onto his lap. Then Santa said, Oh, you're heavy. 

Ooops.

Without me really knowing it, Christmas Eve rolled around. For noche buena, we had three cheese spaghetti with mushroom, and Alveel's bakareta and mango icebox cake. My little family just relished being together. We watched movies, we laughed, we read in bed, we told stories. My little heart is happy and content. 

Christmas Day was simple and meaningful. I woke up early with Kaelana to open her present from Santa. I had to actually wake up earlier to eat some of the cookies and drink the milk she laid out for him the night before. I also ate some of the candies for the reindeer. Of course, she assumed that Santa and his hooved friends devoured the goodies, and not me.

The Husband is off to his last work shift of 2012, and we'll both be back to the office in 2013 yet. We're leaving for Iloilo tomorrow afternoon so tonight and tomorrow morning will be spent packing. My entire family is there right now at my maternal grandparents' ancestral home. The whole clan is going to Boracay for our annual reunion, and it's going to be loads of fun.

I'll try to blog, tweet and update you while I'm there... NOT. 

Let's spend the holidays focusing on our loved ones, shall we? The internetzzz can wait. Merry Christmas! Happy birthday, Jesus!

I am grateful. My cup runneth over. 

Second Christmas Party for 2012

Our company has roughly 6000 employees. There is always a huge Christmas shindig at every year's end, and everyone looks forward to it. The themes vary each year and the after parties are always epic. The Husband and I - yes, we are colleagues - attended this year's party primarily for the raffle prizes. They always give out amazing prizes. Think trips, a ton of gadgets and an assortment of appliances.

This year's event fell on a Sunday, and coincidentally, the little girl had her third quarterly exams the next day. We couldn't stay out late, and we were honestly very tired. The last work weeks of the year are chock full of brain-drying year-end reports, rigorous final appraisals and whatnot. Well, to cut the long story short, I didn't get to win anything when they raffled off the prizes, but the night was fun, nevertheless.

That's me, second from left, with some of my friends

Our view of the stage

We had local celebrities, Iya and Luis, as hosts

A portion of the program when they showed the kids our company has helped through our adopted communities and outreach projects ♥

There was a sing-off, some Christmas caroling, a local dj who spun for the party and just a chance to be thankful that we belong to a company that makes us feel appreciated. 

It's almost Christmas!

A Love Affair In Pictures

Can you love and miss a place so much it hurts? Can you be so connected to it that you feel intimately happy and content every time you are there? That's how I feel about the University of the Philippines-Diliman, my college alma mater and one of my ultimate happy places.

the Oblation statue which faces University Avenue

photo from philandgazel.com

Palma Hall or the College of Arts and Science

We call it AS, so those steps are the AS Steps and that's where my friends and I hang out late in the afternoon after our classes. It's a place to meet up, to take class photos at and it's a place where we wait for our boyfriends to pick us up. Ha!

photo from unibersidadngpilipinas.tumbler.com

apartment buildings on-campus at Hardin ng Rosas, 

where I lived during my freshman and sophomore years

photo from picasaweb.google.com/betoreyes100

This is SC - the Shopping Center. We went there to eat sisig at Rodic's, photocopy stuff, buy school supplies, and do some grocery shopping.

photo from hello-saigon.com

the Sunken Garden where soccer games, concerts, and other events are held

photo from en.wikipedia.org

Gonzalez Hall is the university's main library. There are smaller libraries in the different colleges in their respective buildings but this here holds the mother load.

photo from aerdna.tumblr.com

the College of Arts and Letters old building - where we rehearsed our plays and performances

This building also houses the offices of the faculty so it's sometimes called the FC for Faculty Center. It's also called Bulwagang Rizal. Our college's graduation was held on its grounds.

photo from cssprep1112.blogspot.com

the gym or officially, the College of Human Kinetics

I remember asking an upperclassman how to get to the gym during my first week in college and his reply was "Sumakay ka ng Ikot at pag may nakita kang building na parang kulungan na manok, yun na yun." (Take the Ikot jeepney and once you spot a building that looks like something that houses chickens, then that's it) Haha!

photo from aerdna.tumblr.com

the Beach House canteen - home of the best barbecue in all of Manila

I would like to take the Husband there sometime. The lines are always long but always worth it.

photo from clarissa623.wordpress.com

the beautiful tree-line Acad Oval

I heard there's a bike lane now and it's closed to motor vehicles during weekends so people can jog and bike and walk. One of my closest college friends, Mimi, who was a mountaineer, jogged the entire oval several times a day when we were in college. It was part of their daily training. I couldn't even jog half of it.

photo from cssprep1112.blogspot.com

the UP Film Institute

This place is memorable because we sponsored film screenings here to raise funds for our organization. It was also called the Film Center and they showed movies here for a fraction of how much you would pay at a cinema. The catch? You'd have to wait for several weeks or even months to catch the film you want.

photo from pinoyexchange.com

the faraway math building

I hated this place because I hated the subject with a passion. I didn't really mind that it was far. There was always the Toki. 

photo from pinoyexchange.com

the Bahay ng Alumni - it's an event space for job fairs, concerts, art exhibits and even weddings

It's home to quaint shops, art galleries, and the famous Chocolate Kiss Cafe where we celebrated one of my best friends, Kmae's, 17th birthday. I will never forget that day.

I was already able to take the Husband to the famed cafe and he loved it!

photo from everydayshutters.wordpress.com

the Palma Hall lobby

We sat on the floors too, yes. This is where student activists converge when they're staging a rally.

photo from pinoyexchange.com

Let's go back to my questions. Can you love and miss a place so much it hurts? Can you be so connected to it that you feel intimately happy and content every time you are there?

with two of my best friends in college, Maize and Kmae during our graduation

Yes.