Updates!

The ticker above says it's seven months before our day, and I've been telling myself that this blog also needs my attention, teehee. Okay, so here goes my updated list (and yes, I've done quite a few more cross-outs in the list at the sidebar, yey!):

Church. Still Our Lady of Consolation. Our next visit is scheduled in April, 2006.

Reception Venue. Still Gazebo Royale. I attended one wedding in the same venue, and I fell in love with the place all over again. Simply gorgeous at night!

Caterer. Hizon's. There was an unfortunate incident that we had to change our AE. Our new AE will be Ms. Maila. Yet to set a meeting in January.

My Gown, Entourage Dresses, Mothers' Dresses and Ane's attire. Still my designer. Ane and I are over ( I hope!) the fact that we have gone a bit over the budget for these.

Ninangs' Tela. I asked my designer to choose the right fabric and order for us (for the discounts of course!). I've picked the tela already, cut and in plastic, and are ready for distribution. By the way, the color is champagne gold.

Ninongs', Fathers' and Entourage Barong Tela. My mom, Ane and I went to Divi one Saturday to choose the tela for the Barongs. We chose Piña suksok and I forgot the other type, hehehehe. Huge, huge discounts because we bought a lot. Ready for distribution.

Photog. Still Richard Garcia. We have yet to see the work of his recommended second photog, Carlo. I wonder if there's a need to hire another group (someone is expressing the desire to hire someone as a gift!). And, Ane also promised we could invest and go over budget for the pictures!!! Exciting!

Video. Still Ariel Javelosa. Not that I'm hoping he will do the coverage personally, but i'm keeping my finger's crossed. Also, he transferred to another office and I haven't heard anything from them.

Wedding bands. NL Jewellery. Our schedule is to seek for the right bands come January. But yes, we already have those! And engraved as well. Why too early? Well, we are getting the owner of the shop as one of our ninangs and we don't want her to get the wrong impression so we bought the rings agad before we inform her. :) Our rings are simple yet gorgeous. There will be a dedicated post for the rings.

Living arrangements after the wedding. Ane's pad with his parents downstairs. Needs minor changes (new bed and a few appliances). Means I will have to stay in one place (I'm currently shuffling myself and my things around three houses!) until he decides whether he quits his current job or join me in managing the businesses.

Cake. Quintbelles. Met with Val during the Intramuros bridal fair. I already discussed with her the design I have in mind and our budget for the cake. I was assured that they only use designs once, which is nice. I also stressed I don't want fake cakes using styro, so they promised they'll look at the possibility of using wood instead. Yey! Still waiting for the sketch.

Make-up. Happy it's Madge Lejano. She is easily my mostest, favoritest artist (sabi niya kasi hindi daw siya supplier eh heheheheh) and it's kewl that she considers her clients her friends. I am so glad that I booked her the day after I had my TMU, otherwise, I would have lost the opportunity.

Save the date magnets. Design is my own layout. Printed by Made 4 U. Packaging is DIY. I'm thankful that I asked Marc if they offer magnet printing. They do, and they even offer the service for only p20 each (I canvassed and the others quoted p30 to p35 each!). So I was able to claim the 250 magnets last monday and then last night I did the mock-up for the packaging, which turned out nice naman. I guess that will keep me busy for the next few days (on top of my other responsibilities of course!) and I'll post another entry on the Save-the-dates once I'm totally done.


So there. Still looking for suppliers for the remaining Major needs: Flowers. Invitations. Souvenirs. Pero ika nga ni Ane, "Next year na yan..."

Madge will do my make-up!!! Photoshoot was F-U-N!!!

Last Sunday, we scheduled our Pre-nuptial Photo-shoot. As expected, it was a blast. We experienced problems during the planning stage but I'm glad we pulled it off.

A month before the schedule, I booked Madge Lejano. I was hoping she could schedule me at 9am (or earlier) so we could go straight to Caleruega, our number one option as location. But sadly, Madge can only see me at 10am. So we decided to choose another location in QC or in Manila. We chose Manila because we also wanted to see the sunset at Baywalk.

It was all set. Madge will do my make-up at 10. Ane and I will meet Richard, Mae and Flea around 11am at Shangri-la Mall. Then we will have lunch. Before leaving for Manila, we thought of sneaking around and have some shots in the mall (which is something I really really wanna do...we were able to secure a permit to have a photoshoot in Greenbelt but I'm afraid we won't have time for that anymore..how sad). Our itenerary includes: Fort Santiago, Orchidarium, Boardwalk and Baywalk then to Richard's office for the studio shots. Then dinner.

As evidenced by these pictures, we accomplished the plans naman, but with glitches of course. It's past 12midnight already and we have closed shop (meaning I have no time to rave some more!! Busy day tomorrow pa!), but since I'm excited to share that I have booked Madge Lejano already, I need the pictures to prove that I was very happy with what she and Aaron did. Madge is truly an artist.

More kwento when we get back from Palawan. :) happy long weekend everyone!!

First Trial make-up and side kwento's

I scheduled my first trial make-up (TMU) on October 15, 2005 with Al Galvez of Infiniti Salon who was referred by my designer. Because we are going to attend the wedding of Ane's cousin. Not that I wanted to upstage the bride...I just wanted to be prepared when I meet some of their relatives. The invite said 3pm so I had my schedule set a bit early at 930 (to give me ample time to clean my face in case I wouldn't like the outcome, teeeheeee).

I came in late (sheeessh) at 10am and Al went to work right away. My only request was that I wanted a really simple make-up and to please spare my nose. I know I don't have the prettiest nose ever (read: I know I am pango! :p), and I carry on with my daily life with no fuss, and putting on a nose line will make it more obvious. Being uncomfortable is last on my list.

And so I was happy with how the make-up turned out. Except that my face was itchy the moment Al finished with the foundation (I'm allergic to some products) and endured that the whole day. Thank goodness, I ended up with only three small pimples the next day. I'm schedule for my facial this week.

Another reason I was happy with the make-up: the foundation did not turn cake-like even if we had to wait outside the church parking lot for two freakin' hours. Ane and his parent's fetched me from the apartment about 15 minutes before 2pm and we were at the church at exactly 2pm...with no one else but us...just us. And then we realized that we were way toooooo early when we were told that NSDG wedding schedules are 2pm and 4pm only. We were tricked. And while we were waiting, a taxicab stopped in the church compound and I saw a couple, the girl really familiar. Si Geri!!!! That's Geri of W@W, with her H2B Raymond, I excitedly told Ane. I was excited because that's the first time I'm ever gonna meet a fellow w@wie! Nice to meet you, Geri and Raymond. Sensya na, mahiyain H2B ko eh...

So by the time we reached the reception at Cafe Villa at 6pm, we were starving (MIL2B brought yummy empanada with her for our merienda but I declined to eat earlier with the fear that I might ruin my lipstick! geeesh!). But just the same, I'm still happy with my make-up. By this time, I retouched a little already. And the make-up stayed on until it was time for me to go to bed. Wait! Can someone tell me how to properly take off make-up? I spent at least an hour to take it all off!

Anyway, I still have a couple or so TMU's to go through. This first one really went well. Thank goodness. :)

The rest of the pictures may be found here...if you would like to see how I looked like from before the make-up until before I retired that night. Comments are most welcome!!! :)

Hizon's Catering Centerpieces

Even if we've already signed up to Hizon's since August 27, Ane and I still went to the Grand Food Tasting last October 2 at Gazebo Royale. It was mainly to check out their table centerpieces. I'm glad we went coz that visit gave us ideas for our floral arrangements. I'm also glad we were allowed to take pictures so we will have reference when we set a meeting to finalize with them.

Ms. Marianne is just the coolest AE! We didn't expect to be waited upon (as there were other deals to close) but she made it a point that we are being fed and our questions answered.

The sound system used was from one of the two accredited companies in GR. I guess we'll never have problems with that during the reception. The sounds were clear and loud.

Wedding Preps Update 3

Almost two weeks ago, we have reserved both the gown designer and the caterer.

My mom and I went to her designer one friday afternoon. Next time, I'll tell you who he is. My mom have been asking this designer to do her gowns and dresses. He also did one gown for me a few months back and I really liked the dress on me. Initially we went to talk about my wedding gown, since my gown will be a gift from my sister and her husband. When we got there, the designer proposed a really nice deal to us, covering the entire entourage (except the men)...super irresistible. And since my mom and I are both impressed with his work, we decided to book him, without me asking for Ane's opinion (surely malaking gulo later on!). That friday night, yeah, I lied to Ane and told him the wrong amount. Of course he didn't believe me and come saturday morning, I knew I could not lie any longer and told him the truth (I felt bad myself, about lying). He was angry, obviously, but thankfully we are able to sort it out. I guess I'm never gonna lie again (because he said he might take drastic measure [read: calling the wedding off] if I did something like that again). By the way, our motiff's gonna be orange and yellow accentuated by moss green.

The next day, we were scheduled to have food tasting at Hizon's and we were impressed by the way the owner Ms. Baby and our AE Ms Marianne handled us. The conversations went on smoothly and it was never hard to tell them what we want and need. Some things, Ms. Marianne immediately offered us for free even if we didn't ask for it. We definitely grabbed anything she offered, free nga eh! Hehe And since their food is so delish and we didn't have a hard time with them (which is number one in our considerations list), we paid the reservation fee already. Yey! We now have a caterer! It's up to us now when to set another meeting for the nitty-gritty details. We were also invited to go to the grand food tasting on Oct 2 at Gazebo Royale so we would have an idea about their set-up. We left with Ms. Marianne giving us her direct line plus her residence phone number in case we have questions and its a sunday or after office. Galing! For the past two weeks, I would receive SMS from Ms. Marianne everytime she would be out of the office or if she's gonna be on leave. That's nice, because I'm pretty sure that she values us as her client.

Our photographer will be our dear friend Richard Garcia. He's relatively new in the business but we know he and his assistant plus second photog will do a great job in preserving our moments into pictures. Now, Ane and I will not disclose how much it would cost us for Master Rickleng (rickleng = richard magaleng) to cover the event. Ask him na lang, hehehe. Ask me for his number.

We were able to book Ariel Javelosa for our video. He's been in the business long enough to understand our video needs plus his video package is well within our budget. I initially wanted to hire someone who is an expert in on-sire video editing ot be shown in during the reception but Ariel knocked some sense into my head. He said we can show the some scenes din naman from the preps and the church, and he will sdo that for free. As for the Audio-visual presentation (AVP) we decided to get away with the usual picture presentation showing us from kids until now. Instead of that, we shall be exhibiting mosaics (I am still arguing with Ane on who should do it. Ane is insisting to stick on the budget so we probably would not get Mosaic Moments). But we will still show an AVP, probably an MTV format, which Rickleng and some of our friends will help us do.

That's about it. I guess there's no reason to panic yet. Eveything is falling right on schedule, it seems. I'm more panicky for Ditche Ophie (and Ipe), Donna (and Bebert) and Sheila (and Cousin Frenz) who will all get married before January 2006 ends!

Pre- Wedding Preps Update 3 kwento

I should have been blogging about the preps but I've been procastinating...not because I wanted to have a "news-blockage" or something. It's because there are too many things in my mind right now. Now, this blog says "9 mos and 3 weeks until we exchange I do's", and there are a lot of cross-out already at the sidebad list. Just that makes me wanna update and write details.

Anyway, as of today, the only thing missing in our list of major vendors/suppliers are the ones for: the flowers, make-up, entertainment and invites. We haven't met with possible suppliers of these because we both think we shouldn't hurry yet (except for the HMUA [hair and make-up artist] prospects, which I should start booking for THMU [trial hair and make-up] before the end of October, and before we go on a holiday.

Eddie Bruan is number one in my list. Not only did he make a perfect job on my bestfriend two years ago, he also advertise that he use my and my mom's choice of make-up. And his rates are reasonable too.

We have a florist in mind but she could be very expensive for us. We will be scouting in Dangwa late this year, probably. Three shops are already being considered. Our flowers will be simple since I just love the white ones, like roses and carnations and tulips.

For the invites, we gave up the idea of choosing the ones with pockets and inserts against the plain ones which look elegant just the same. Our dream invites cost at a range of p120 to p150 per set. Now considering our number of guests, that amount for an invite would be quite expensive, eh?

For the entertainment, Ysidro's performers will most likely take care of it at the reception. As for the church, we might request the seminarians to be our choir.

Showing my staff and our friends that this is how far I've gone with the preps (with a lot of time left), they can't help but exclaim, "Grabe, you are so organized! Ang dami mo na nagawa!" To which I smile and reply, "the real work is about to happen pa lang." Which is true since there's still a lot of contract signing to do, meetings to set, compromises to make. I'm setting myself ready when January comes , we'll probably be too busy. I'm not even sure if I'll be in the country to finalize all details. Sigh.

First major DP

The first downpayment we made was with the church. It was just a couple of thousand pesos. Minor.

On Saturday, together with our friend Daday, we let go of a big chunk of our savings to pay Gazebo Royale. Major.

Masakit sa bulsa. But we had to do it. Otherwise, the venue we want may be offered for another function.

Contract signing with Ms. Evelyn of Gazebo Royale

Choosing the venue was also a major factor in our preps. Now that the date has been blocked, we can think of others things already. With ten months to go, I really realy really need to start talking to our prospective suppliers. Must. Breathe. Still. Hayyyy...Or maybe I should wait until the Wedding Expo in NBC Tent on 3-4 September?

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Mom and I were talking about hiring a coordinator (even just an On-the-day coord or OTD [ayan Mitch, nilagay ko na din ibig sabihin...]) before the Pamanhikan. After that weekend however, Mom started to sing another tune, which made sense, I think. In the salon, I have one supervisor and 6 staff members while in the resto, I also have enough manpower. Why not utilize them instead, ask for their help, and assign responsibilities on the day of the wedding with Ms. C, the supervisor, on the top of everything? Oh well, I'm still thinking about it, maybe I'll decide much later on.

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It was posted in w@w last week that there will be a grand food tasting hosted by Hizon's sometime in October. I got interested, since Hizon's is an accredited caterer in Gazebo and told Ane about it. Hizon's is actually at the top of our caterer shortlist together with Tamayo's and Manila Catering. I inquired in one of the numbers posted, and immediately received a call from Ms. Marian. That was fast. Ane and I were a bit apprehensive about waiting for October (even for the Wedding Expo) before we decide on our caterer because we heard that Hizon's will increase prices by September. Much to my delight, we need not wait for the grand food tasting nor the expo before we could decide because Ms. Marian texted me yesterday saying that we could try their food this coming Saturday. Yey! Ane and I are still undecided but there's a big possibility that we will go. Even if we haven't chosen the package we might get, Ms. Marian said it is okay. Excited, yiheee!

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Also this Saturday, the W@W Grand EB is happening. Sadly we are not attending because we are also needed at the Baddicts! Weekly EB. It would have been nice to finally meet fellow-w@wies. Maybe next time. I'm sure there will be a next time. :)

Pamamanhikan

It happened on August 14, 2005. The time was set for lunch because FIL2B usually returns to Batangas (for work) after lunch on Sundays. That day was an exception, though, because he was scheduled to go on a business trip the next day. So we practically had the whole afternoon.

I asked Ane if we should also prepare some food because my parents invited my elders (grandparents from both sides and the second sibs with spouses of both my parents). He said, maybe we should because MIL2B prepared only some food (she also included my ever favorite buco salad!)...which later turned out to be enough. :)

My dad joked that he made an appointment at 11am and that he would miss the pamanhikan altogether. He knew I'd get pissed and that I wouldn't believe him anyway. By 11 we were all preparing and I changed into the newly purchased skirt and a blouse I bought a couple of weeks back. I even put on some make-up. Yup, I exerted effort just to be a bit girly. I thought Ane would appreciate it. Oh well, I think he did appreciate it. Dad said I was being OA, with the skirt, make-up and all, but I was quite sure he was just bugging me. :) The thing with dad's talaga.

When I went down, Tatay T and Tita E (mom's parents) already arrived. A little later Tatay T and Nanay L came. Nanay L was a bit teary-eyed when she held my hand saying, "Ano lalagay ka na ba talaga sa magulo?" I was touched of course. But I didn't know what to answer. Ane with his parents arrived shortly. I helped bring in the food they brought, introduced my parents to their balae-to-be, and settled them in the reception room. My elders were silent as FIL2B joked, "Kami ho ay kaunti lang, tatlo't kalahati lang kami, yung kalahati yung aso, naiwan sa bahay," referring to the fact that they were a bit outnumbered. That broke the ice. Tito B (dad's 2nd sib) with Tita V joined us and Mommy E (mom's 2nd sib) with Daddy M apologized for being late when they arrived.

The discussion started with my Mom and FIL2B leading the brainstorming. The date was set as well as the budget. Both sets of parents pledged to help out in the expenses. Other details were left upon us to decide, which is good. :)

Lunch was bountiful. And yummy too! But I ate a little. I dunno why.

After lunch, Ane's parents visited my salon and spa which is just next door and stayed there. All the men (except for Ane and my two brothers) from the Pamanhikan decided to start the drinking session. While the women (except Tita E and I), with nothing else to do, had treatments done. Mom had her pedicure, MIL2B and Mommy E chose hair spa, and Nanay L & Tita V had their hair colored! Mga kikay talaga!

After two 1-liter hard drinks, the men were obviously drunk while the women were relaxed. The women were waiting for the men and it was I who had to stop the men from drinking. Hangkukulet na eh!

After thirty minutes of goodbyes and kulitan, the party finally ended at 6pm. It was a blast. And i'm glad it happened. :)

Oooooppppsss... before I forget, pictures here!

Wedding Preps Update 2

Oh well, after the sudden rush of initial excitement with equivalent angst that went with it...after the preparations were put on hold...whew...

I can now freely talk about the wedding. It's quite obvious with the new layout, eh? Hihihihi...

The Pamamanhikan happened as scheduled on August 14, lunchtime. More on that later.

It was agreed upon that the wedding be postponed to a later date. It was initially set to happen on 25 March 2006. But since my side wished that my sister and her family be here on the wedding day, we tentatively scheduled it on 01 or 08 July 2006. We didn't want a later date because it could be the height of the rainy season by then.

On Monday, I made a couple of calls and was told that both the church and the reception venue we wanted are available on 01 July 2006. Of course I was ecstatic! The second choice, 08, is a good number but 01 is our monthsary. Ane and I naturally chose the first of July.

I went first to Gazebo Royale. They told me that our pencil booking was cancelled because we did not return to pay the downpayment. That meant forfeiting the money we paid (which will be my burden since I was the one who insisted on paying the blocking fee, huhu). I had no choice but to pay another blocking fee and then return before August 22 to pay the downpayment.

Next stop was the church, Our Lady of Consolation Parish. I sighed with relief when the manang lady moved our date at no extra cost. If she asked me to pay again, then that would be another cost for ME. Hehehe.

So what's next? I created a to-do list on the side bar. And definitely there are still a few cross-outs! It's just the beginning, and I don't know what to feel. Let me know if I missed out on anything, however complete the list seem to be (at least for me).

'Til next!

Marriage proposal pix

Finally, I've uploaded the pictures!!!


Click here.


Enjoy!!

Wedding preps on hold

Yes, we are pushing the breaks down. It seems like there are issues (coming from both sides) we should have considered before we reserved/blocked the church last saturday. We've been really stressed the past week we got engaged.

Ane and I both decided to wait for the formal pamamanhikan on aug 14 before we continue with the preps. We might even forfeit the reservation/blocking fee we paid.

Hhhaaaayyyy this is so sad and stressful. I feel I shouldn't be idle for the next few weeks! But I guess there's nothing I could do.

Sorry, I just need to vent.

ps. daday, hindi siguro matutuloy sa saturday po...

Wedding preps Update 1

This weekend was relatively productive. Although there was a bit of a problem whether or not to reserve both the church and the reception venue, we did it anyway. We realized time is not on our side, especially nowadays that venues get reserved as early as a year. It's sad though that we were not able to get the original date which is 08 April 06. And that my sister and her family would not be able to come home for my wedding.

Wedding Date: 25 March 06 (my gosh, just 8 months to go!)

Confirmed details:

Church: check!

Reception venue: check!

Pamamahikan schedule: check!

Photographer: check!

Calligrapher: check!

Gown designer: check!

Coordinator: check!

Souvenir ideas: check!

CHURCH. Our first choice have always been Our Lady of Consolation Parish in QC. We both fell in-love with the place when we attended a friend's wedding a couple of years back. We fell in-love again when we went there yesterday. I instantly got a lot of ideas for the floral arrangements. I have a florist in mind but I haven't talked to her yet. We paid the non-refundable reservation fee and we were asked to answer the pre-cana survey. We were instructed to answer separately and discuss afterwards the points we disagreed upon. The funny things is we didn't wanna discuss any further that we, well we, cheated! hahaha! We were making funny faces and hand signals while answering the survey, hehehe. We were also able to get a copy of the prescribed misalette and the guideline sheets. We were done before noon and we are expected to be back in January 2006.

RECEPTION VENUE. We chose Gazebo Royale along Visayas Avenue. The Hall we chose has enough space for our guests to move around. Our only wish is that there is no other function scheduled that day. We paid the non-refundable blocking fee. We are going to pay the downpayment on Saturday as the blocking fee is only good for 1 week.

PAMAMANHIKAN. The Pamanhikan is scheduled on August 14, 2005. Both set of parents have crazy schedules that we couldn't make it a bit earlier. I'm feeling both excited and scared, hahahha!

OTHER DETAILS. Since father-in-law to be (FIL2B) requests that we suspend all preparations until after the Pamanhikan, I won't discuss yet the other confirmed details. And since Ane is convinced that such is the right thing to do, I will keep my mouth shut out of respect.

Aaaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhh!!!!! That's a pretty too long a time to not talk about the wedding! Maybe I should relax a little and stop bugging and stressing Ane for the meantime. Heheheh.

The signs I missed

I've always been the mausisa type and he the one who always slips his secrets. I ask questions that would make words come out of his mouth. The RING for instance. He slipped and told me he had it already. And so I was really proud of him when he proposed and pulled it off really well. I was really surprised when he told me later on the he prepared for the proposal day for at least three weeks.

I was so surprised I actually missed the signs.

One. Like him not insisting to buy a gift for Matthew. He doesn't like giving cash gifts to kids.

Two. His frequent texting with Gilda - his conspirator. And his erasing his messages right away saying that his unit has slowed down because of too much messages.

Three. That he insisted on canvassing for a new mobile phone unit at the manila mall when we are always at greenhills every saturday. Later I found out that Gilda wasn't done yet with the set-up that he decided to stall a little.

Four. He told me to bring the camera (when I'm the one who would usually insist on bringing it), although he forgot to ask me to charge the battery, geesh.
Five. That Gilda had an extra hanky for blindfolding and the fact that in other parties they don't let the players be blindfolded in games like banana eating unless there is a partner, right?
Six. That I actually won the contest when my teeth and gums really hurt.
Seven. That I did not get it right away when I saw the words "Hunny, you are the key to my heart" and "for better or for worse". The letters were all jumbled up.
Eight. That some of the McDO crew stayed to watch the party even if it was time for them to go home. (apparently, they were soooo kilig to find out that someone was proposing that night which was something new to them)
Nine.The song playing in the background while I was looking at the "jumbled" letters was actually a marriage proposal song. Below, the lyrics of such song which I transcribed (I couldn't find in the net the correct lyrics, let me know if I got it wrong. We also don't know who composed it)

JOURNEY FOR TWO
Unknown

Verse 1
So many years, been searching for the one
Then one day I found you
Now that you're here, my life has finally begun
Oh yeah, oh yeah
Who'd have ever thought that we would meet each other
We were oceans apart
Guess it's fate and destiny that brought us together
And put my heart next to your heart, oh

Verse 2
Out of the blue, you were sent from up above
Bringing sunshine into my life
Right then I knew, I found my one true love
Oh yeah, oh yeah
You know it's not hard to see that the love I have for you
Will never go away (never go away)
So I'm now down on my knee all I wanna do
Is to say the one thing I've been wanting to say

Chorus
Will you marry me, my HUNNY TIN?
Take a lifetime journey for two
Say you'll marry me, oh HUNNY please
Cos I wanna spend my days growing older with you

Bridge
They say that marriage is a long-distance race
Will you run with me across the finish line
I swear I'll cherish you for the rest of my days
If you'll let me be with you and be forever mine

Final Chorus
Will you marry me, my HUNNY TIN?
Take a lifetime journey for two
Say you'll marry me, oh HUNNY please
You know I just can't live my life if I don't have you
Marry me, my HUNNY TIN
You know my heart will always be true
Say you'll marry me, oh HUNNY please
Cos I wanna spend my days growing older with you

See? There were so many signs! And I missed it all!!! Sometimes, it feels good to be dense. :)

The Party That Wasn't Matthew's

He said we are attending a children's party. It was to be a colleague's son's birthday -- on a friday, after office hours, in McDonald's. The birthday party was last night. I thought we could not stay long enough because of some appointment my parents made for me. I told him. He said okay and that we could just leave the party early.

I expected it to be some really casual party so I chose to wear a pair of jeans, a red shirt and a pair of old rubber shoes. I asked if I should change my shirt to something else and my pants to my denim skirt which I brought along. But he said I looked okay. Besides he was just wearing a pair of shorts and a polo shirt. Before we went to the party, he insisted we go look at some mobile phone units at the mall saying that we were too early. Weird thing though, we were at the mall but we did not buy a gift for the birthday boy. And he never reminded me to buy something. We decided to just give angpao.

We got to McDonald's PRC a little after seven pm and there were only a few guests who have arrived. So we waited a little more before the program for Matthew, the birthday boy, started. His mother, Gilda, meanwhile chatted with us and asked all sorts of questions about us. She even commented, "Magkamukha kayo!" To which I gave no reply but just smiled.

When the kids arrived, the games started. They surely were having fun. The third game was meant for the titas. The host called out four names, including mine. We were to be blindfolded. The three other titas promptly brought out their hankies. I don't use hankies so I asked him for his. But instead of lending me his, Gilda amazingly had a spare hanky for me to use. It was even neatly folded, ready to be tied on around my eyes. The game was banana eating contest. I whispered to him, saying that I might have a hard time since I just got my braces adjusted that morning. They all said it was okay. And I was ready to lose the game.

Before the game started, they had some technical problems with the sound system. And there we were, standing, holding on to dear banana, blindfolded and clueless about what was happening. We were signalled GO and I started to patiently bite and chew, little bites and slow chews. So imagine my surprise when haflway thru my banana, the host announced that I, the tita in red shirt, was on the lead. How could that be?!? I did not mind them. But then again, I was announced the winner. Before they untied my blindfold, the host told me to turn-around for we were about to "punish" the other titas who lost...and that the Special friend was already there to give me my prize. As I was un-blindfolded (is there such a word?!?), the mascot Birdie was already standing beside me, clutching what seemed like a spaghetti styro. It was a spaghetti styro! And I thought, "why would they give me spaghetti as a prize when I just finished a big piece of banana?". I was told to open it, and when I did...my world suddenly stopped. Or rather, except for my eyesight, my other senses were numbed. There inside were pictures of the two of us. There were words that I failed to read until later on. There was a song being played, the lyrics of which , I wasn't able to pay attention to.

I wanted to cry but I couldn't. I was both suprised and ashamed because we just "stole" Matthew's moments and the people around me were strangers. My first instinct was to look for him, glanced hopefully at our table. But he was not there. Then I knew, there was something else about to happen. As I turned around to face everybody, the kids were arranged in such a way that a small aisle was formed. The boys were holding on to roses while the girls blew on bubbles. There was a red "carpet" with petals. While I was watching them, trying so hard not to cry, he came out of the backroom...with that really broad smile of his, as if saying "Gotcha!". It was all real. I saw right away that he was holding on to THE RING.

I started to laugh and say between my teeth how corny all that was. And I slapped him. Yeah! I remember slapping him. It was something I didn't mean to do of course! That was my booboo...his was worse, I'd say...because he forgot to ask me THE QUESTION, and jumped right to putting the ring on my finger. Not that I would have said no. Sometimes the two of us could be nervous wrecks, hehehe.

And then they brought out a small table, with our picture and pink candles. There was a choir of kids who sang some songs. And they announced...

It wasn't Matthew's birthday after all. It was all a set-up. I knew there was a ring already. Just so I won't suspect anything, he misled me by throwing that kids' party. They recruited all the kids for the party. They made all the kids believe it was Matthew's party.

It was our party on July 15, 2005 all along. It was the day we got engaged.