Yay for Ange's Baby!!!

I've been a part of the events industry for awhile now, the bu and I started out in college when I used to staff for a few events with the bu's sis-in-law.

we were all on board for the first 5 runs MYOH Manila.

After I resigned from my teaching position, I transitioned from being a part-time staff to being full on staff. 

got my co-teachers to help out in events too! With teacher KM!

My first event, these girls turned out to be awesome friends. :D

It was a lot of fun and you learn a lot of things in the process. Although let me tell you, working in events is not all party...it's a whole lot of hard work and a quick short party in the end. But if you're like me and you're into instant gratification, yes, yes laugh it out nothing wrong with that statement then working in events would be perfect because at the end of the day you get to see all your ideas and hard work come to life. In the end all that blood, sweat and tears would be worth it! :D

supporting Jenjennifermateoguiodecilli for her Khiels event! :D

I love the EM girls. :D      

So after that extensive intro, let me get to the meat of the subject. A few months back a really good childhood friend of mine told us that she was pregnant! yaaaay! You must understand, I've known this friend since we were in Kinder. Yup, kinder. So you can imagine the happiness and excitement there when someone you knew as a child is about to have a child of her own. It's...surreal. haha

just a year ago she was getting married!

So she asked a friend and myself if we could  get together and work on her baby shower with her. Her surprise baby shower! hahaha...Of course we immediately said yes! How exciting is it to plan a baby shower for someone you've known for most of your life. So after our preliminary meeting where we decided on the theme and the pegs for the shower, we went our separate lives and well, sadly work ate me up. Yes, I have been a workaholic again lately. I don't like it but it's true. :(( we all must sacrifice a little. :D

Now here's the other thing, the dates kept getting moved around and I must admit it became quite hard to keep up. I was doing too many things and juggling too many responsibilities that I lost track of the date. It's a good thing my partner Ele had my back. We planned, printed and put together an awesome baby shower. Of course we couldn't have done it without the help of everyone who pitched in! :D oh and of course all those hours I wasted on pinterest was put to good use too!

Let me share with you a few photos...

no, that is not a ball, that is a pregnant woman's belly...
and those giant blue balls are her boobs

when we decided on a theme my friend had these balls made
Ele and I strung them up one row at a time...

awesome printables are awesome. :D
Cupcakes by Ernaline's Food Haven

These cupcake toppers were so adorable we had make them!

ah pinterest, thank you for this idea.

the table cloth came from the caterer, Ange's shobe helped us with the centerpiece
We made "wishes for baby" paper for guests to write on

giveaways! :D
Ele had the hardest time mixing in those blue balls, yes I said blue balls

We had a blast, the food was plentiful enough to feed a 100 people when there were barely 30 of us...but the best part, the games. Initially Ele and I were hesitant, we weren't sure how many people would actually join. But since there were only a few of us we ended up with only 2 teams! :D Both competitive but of course the girls were at an advantage since they are girls. Which obviously means we totally rock more than the guys do. 

In the end, the party was a blast, we just kept laughing and squealing the entire time. So congratulations Ange and Dave! :D Can't wait for the little bundle of joy to come out! weeee!

couch potato...smouch potato

Have you ever been so into a show that it's literally heartbreaking when they announce it will end. It feels like a break up. When you can't get over the fact that you wont be able to watch any more new episodes of the show because they aren't making anymore. When you rewatch old episodes because they remind you of the good ol days when the episodes were brand new and there was always something to look forward to?

Why did I all of a sudden have the urge to write about this? Well, how do I even begin to explain...how about a photo.

How could you Shonda Rhimes? Fine, I will admit I was not really a Lexie fan in the beginning. But she's part of the show and she played an awesome role. Her story was barely starting. Mark had just begun to realize how much she meant to him and you take her away? Why? I could not get over. Way to twist the story and catch everyone off guard. I am not a fan of this episode. I hate this finale.

Watching your favorite show go off air sucks. Watching one of the characters you thought was awesome get killed off is just as bad.

Makes me reminisce about my favorite shows that I wish would start showing again. So I thought maybe it would be nice to list them down. But the list might go on and on and on and on. So I'm just sharing with you my top 3. :)

My 3rd show: Sex and the City. Because I am a girl and what girl did not watch that series. It was entertaining and extremely fun to watch. All my girlfriends at one time or another felt they were one of the girls be it Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte? It was one of those guilty pleasures I enjoyed. Followed up by 2 movies, Sex and the City made a statement, it made talking about sex less taboo. It was generally a fun show to watch.

I'm a Charlotte, hahaha...right.

Top 2: Friends. A mix of witty banter, love and well just plain crazy. Who did not love Friends? No matter how many times you watch an episode you still laugh out loud. How many years has it been since they drew the final curtain and yet people still talk about it, quote funny lines from it, watch it to sleep today. For me though, part of it's charm is the fact that it's fun to watch how the stars used to look. :D What makes a good show, the fact that people are attached to the characters as if they've been friends for a long time.

And to end my list...

My Top 1: Gilmore Girls. It was such a treat to catch the show again on TV the other day that right after I just had to get a hold of the entire show, good thing my OC cousin had copies. I love Gilmore Girls. I love the relationship Lorelai had with Rory. I love her love-hate relationship with her parents because it mimics reality. I love the Lorelai and Luke story. I loved watching Rory figure out her relationships. I liked Dean and I was all for the Logan and Rory tandem but I hated Jess. It was like he was out to make her worse. Meeeh.

In the end I wanted Rory to end up with Logan, how could she not say yes to him?!? But then again, she wouldn't be Rory is she had! :D Sometimes I just wish they would make a reunion show just so we can see where they are in their lives now...like the Sex and the City movies. 

Don't you think a Gilmore Girls movie would be totally awesome? I do!!!

Friends who work...

I have moved jobs quite a lot. Let's just say I started out a bit confused and not knowing what I wanted to do with my life.

I was a BS Psych major. I decided on taking that because as a child I was brainwashed into thinking I wanted to become a doctor when I grow up.

***photo from the internet

My dad would tell me on a regular basis that I would become a doctor when I grow up so that I could take care of him when he gets old. My dad has all these complicated medical problems so I really took this seriously. Sadly though, I do not like touching or being around dead things. That whole dissect a frog on your own task was a bit much for me and I realized, medicine was not for me.

Lucky enough for me, BS Psych allows you three options. :D The medical route where you go on to med school which was definitely not for me. The industrial route where you go into the HR industry which was something that would not work for me.  And the educational route which would lead to becoming a guidance counselor or a preschool teacher which I totally loved. Yes, I was once a preschool teacher but that's for another blogpost. :)

So one must be wondering, from all that how did I end up where I am right now. Sometimes I wonder the same thing too. But then I realize, maybe this is where God intended me to be since it worked out after all.

The whole reason why I wrote this post is cause in every job that I have been in I have managed to make meaningful friendships and I thought it would be awesome for them to read about how much I love them! :)

My first real job was teaching preschool at a school I don't want to name anymore. :) But it was in this school that I met these people...

saying goodbye to Ms. Ty as she heads to the US

celebrating Ivana before she was born

Fra and I were the preschool teachers. KM, Arnel, Liza (Ms. Ty) were the grade school teachers. Manang and Manang Lindy were the people who took care of us and fed us in school. Ms. Lia was our mentor so to speak. In most ways she still is. Sadly Ms. Ty and Ms. Lia left the country to see what the world has in store for them. Sadder that they have not sent us money. Hahaha

I rarely see them anymore most of the time because KM is too busy being all cheesy with Angelo but we still keep in touch. Partner Fra and I talk all the time though and we try to keep up with each others' lives. When Ms. Lia was still in the country I would text her at random times to ask about the most random things. I really love these people because they were a part of my life when I was a teacher and I honestly believe that it was the happiest time of my life! :) This only means we have to meet up soon.

After my year as a preschool teacher I went into events. Here's the background, the bu and I used to staff for events when we were still in college.

how cute does the bu look? So young and fresh. :)

Such hard workers assembling slippers.

His sister-in-law owns the company that runs the Make Your Own Havaianas event and that's where it all started. I think. It was God's timing that I was working for an event when I decided I was going to resign from my teaching job and they needed a new full time staff. So I moved to Creative Juice Communications. Nope, it's not the agency in Makati, it's a Filipino owned and operated events company. :)

It was there that I met these people! :)

With Jo. I taught her to be more like me, maarte. 

With Jayla and Micky all cooked from a day under the sun.

The new team before I left.

Guest appearances by Jay and Tita Arvick

We have a lot of shared memories of travelling, sleep overs, ingresses, egresses, staffing, laughing, running around and just being all-around. I have to admit that much of what I am now as a person has been because of the time I spent with them. I grew up and became more responsible not only for myself but for my family as well. 

I miss this group. I miss Jayla my boyfriend and Tita Arvick who have left the Philippines as well. Like my other friends they have not sent any money as well despite the fact that is was an agreement. hahaha...I miss Micky who I would carpool with to work. :) I miss the rides when we would just talk about the most random of things. I miss the beach trips, which we always plan but never get to go on. And I miss the pamper-me-Sundays that we take in place of the supposed beach trip. 

After resigning from CJ I spent a couple of months at home on a break. Then things started to get boring. From a life that used to be fast-paced I was completely relaxed. I woke up any time I wanted, I went anywhere I wanted whenever I wanted. But if you're like me and you can't stay still for longer than a minute that kind of life gets old. So I moved to another events company. One that would expose me to a whole different kind of event industry. :) I moved to Eventscape Manila. 

Supporting Jenjeniffer at her Khiels event

Drinking away the night, I was drunk after a glass

Some of my favorite people

My stay in EM was short lived,  I had personal reasons for leaving. But despite that I have still managed to build friendships with the most awesome, colorful cast of characters ever. Every time we're together it will be endless banter and laughter. I want to go on another road trip to just drink Absolut in a different setting. Although we never really got to the drinking part. I miss hanging out in the pantry after lunch talking and laughing about the stupidest things or people. hehe...

I'm not the friendliest person. In fact I'm a bit of a snob when you first meet me, you can ask my good friend Thei she'll tell you all about the first few weeks we met. But once I get to know someone I'm friends with them forever. :))

Right now I work in Nuffnang Philippines and it's quite an adventure as well. I never really saw myself as the sales type of person. But once you get the hang of it, things get simpler. It works for me. :)

Welcoming Thei's birthday with a karaoke party!

I love the Nuffies. We're a bunch of people who love going on milk tea runs. :) There's so much more to write and maybe I'll post about my life as a Nuffie soon. But for now. I miss my friends. I hope we see each other soon. :)

As the bu commented last night, this post seem to have ended abruptly. So let me try that again...

Let me share with you a few words of wisdom from my dad. When he heard about someone who moved jobs quite often, he said..."A rolling stone gathers no moss." I guess he just wanted to remind me that when you don't invest time and effort in a company then you don't really progress in your career. Makes sense.

But as they say, every dark cloud has a silver lining and I guess my silver lining is that in every job I've been in I have made friends that I can keep for life. People who have made my life better. :) So this rolling stone has lots of multicolored, high spirited, happy moss to call her friends. I love my friends. Please don't kill me for calling you moss. haha...

Cheers to friendship! :D

Explore Singapore.

Yay for me! I made two things happen from my list of things to prioritize this year! :) I got to travel and I got to watch WICKED! But I shall write about that in another post. I just know it, this year is just bound to be awesome.

My cousin Coley lives in Singapore and she was awesome enough to let us stay at her house despite the fact that there 5 of us and 3 of them. Yup, it was a full flat but it was great! :) It was my first time in Singapore and the bu's first time in AGES so it was quite daunting for me. The roads were confusing and it was quite amusing to have to remind the bu to look the other way since they drive on the right side of the road. Lucky for us, my other cousins frequent SG so they served as our guides.

My other cousin Ady was nice enough to actually walk around with us and show us good places to shop. If you know us personally then you'll know we're not the walking type of people. :P

Although I must admit, I failed on the MUST SAVE part of the to do list. I still have 11 months to do it. So I'm not losing hope. And as my dear cousin said while trying to make me feel better, "Don't feel bad about all you spent, you just have to look at your stuff and think, WOW, I HAVE SO MANY NEW THINGS. IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT." She's so young yet so wise. Sadly I don't have photos of all the things I bought, but trust me, they were A LOT!

One of the highlights of my trip was the fact that my friends actually made time to come see us while we were there. :)

That's Clauds and Miko.

And all four of us. :) The bu's face is a little creepy cause he was trying to tell us not to move right away because he programmed the shutter to close slow but that only made him move a little. Hence the freaky "The Ring" photo. Eep.

What makes my friends even awesomer, they treated us to dinner! :)

Look at all that food, and there were only 4 of us sharing. But trust me when I say, they were all awesome and they were all gone by the time we stood up! Haha

Clauds, one of my best friends from High School asked us what we wanted to eat. I said anything that wasn't weird. So she made us try Sting Ray. I was quite hesitant at first. But yum. Sting Ray good. :)

And Miko, a close friend from a previous job treated us to yummy wings! Yum yum yum!

Aside from that we had loads more food to go around. Cereal Prawn (which I have to say tastes way better when peeled and re-cerealed), fried rice, veggies and satay. Wow, just listing that all down makes me feel bloated. :P The best part of it all, we didn't have to pay for anything. Ahahahaha, I have the awesomest friends. Weeee. But seriously, thank you guys. It was a treat enough to see you, an even better treat to be fed by you.

It's just about lunch time, and looking through all my photos of food makes me hungry. So I'm off to eat and will post about the rest of our Singapore adventure...after the break! :)

I leave you with a photo of what I had for lunch at a hawker place. :)

Yum! :)

Moving to greener pastures...

Most people believe that moving to a different country will result in a better life. A brighter future. The grass is always greener on the other side...or is it really?

Since graduating from college I've seen more than my fair share of friends leave for greener pastures. I attended despididas left and right for friends who would try their luck elsewhere hoping for a better job with a better pay grade. I watched as the number of my best girl friends started dwindling as they started leaving. It was not fun! :(

And as with all long distance relationships, it has been very difficult to keep in touch with them. We constantly email to update each other but admittedly as we all start to live our own lives these grow fewer and farther apart. A sad reality.

Nonetheless, the bu and I have been recently thinking about what we want to do with our lives. We think about where we want to live in the future when we have a family and how this will affect our lives.

I admit, I grew up spoiled. I am not accustomed to house work. I try to cook every once in awhile whenever I feel like it. I don't wash clothes nor do I iron them. So it's one thing to live in a foreign country, it's another thing to live there alone.

But when you grow up and you start to take on more responsibilities, not for anyone else but for yourself then you get forced to wake up to the stark reality that...life is hard living in a third world country. No, don't get me wrong I love the Philippines and everything it has to offer. But we have to accept reality that we do not have everything other countries have to offer. We would be lucky to have half. And so moving to another country seems like a good idea. To some it may even seem like the only idea.

Talking to friends and family who move abroad I get mixed reviews. You earn well that's true but is it really a better alternative to what you have here? I would break it down into point but the post is already long enough so let me just summarize things to make it simpler.

Moving abroad gives you a lot of opportunities but it also takes you away from what you're accustomed to, like having your family and friends around or little perks like having someone to help you at home.

Staying where you are means you'll have to work harder and longer to get what you want but it also means you will never be alone.

As I end let me share what I too would like to do with my life. I would love to live in London, that is my dream. To raise my children in a place where it is better to walk, breathe the fresh air, play in the park, take in the culture. I would love to be able to offer them better, brighter futures. I know that it will be hard and it will be even harder to raise a family completely on your own distant from what you call home. But in the end, it's what will make things better and sometimes, that's just what it takes.

But that's just my point of view...

Keeping me grounded...

So I guess I was overly ecstatic yesterday that I forgot that I'm still not sure about what the future holds for me. I had my second interview today and although it wasn't bad I must admit, the one I had yesterday was way better.

I felt bad, I honestly did. I was on my A game, I kept telling myself that. But I guess I really wasn't. The things that I thought were important for me when I was still working didn't seem as important to them. I won't go into detail since it really is their opinion. :)

Today was just a reminder that I have to be prepared for anything. I really felt bad, after the interview I had to call my friend and tell her all about it. It was sad really, but I guess we just have to wait and see. Talking to my brother he kept telling me that it was fine. I would get there, I just needed to keep trying and that this is all just part of the experience. :) So I will take it with a grain of salt and move on.

Sending out more resumes and a lot of positivity. :)

Inspiration

Going through some blogs of friends I found new inspiration. :) To go out and do what I want. I am jealous of the fact that they have figured out what they want to do and they're actually doing what they can to get it. I admit, I am still lost.

I have yet to figure out what I want to do with my life. But as I do that, I know that God will show me what it is He wants me to do with my life to best serve Him. :)

To get things moving, I started with a list of things that I want to be able to do by the end of this year. Some of which I have already been able to accomplish,the others are well on their way. :)

So cheers to my friends who serve as inspirations. Congratulations on your new lives. Kudos on your bravery and sense of adventure. I will get there soon! :)

Girlfriends!

Friends are confidants, companions, support systems and allies. My friends, they're family, my sisters from a different mother and I love them.

Last night was the first time I saw my girls after a month long hiatus, which felt too long, and I had soooo much fun. I spent most of the time telling them about what happened to me, what I learned recently and what I should and shouldn't do. It was a horribly painful experience. I hate hearing myself whine. I do. I apologized, I just needed to get it out, especially to friends whom I know would understand me. They think it's high time I resign too! :)

It's not about finding someone who will take your side. It's more of finding people who will listen and give you their opinion without fear that you'll hate them for it. From these girls, I'll take anything they can throw at me cause they know I'll be the same with them if I need to be. I'm just lucky that they see it the same way I do and that they think I'm doing the right thing.

So thanks girls, for the wonderful night I had last night. It was a total reprieve from everything! I love you!

My Support System

I am not a risk taker. As many who know me well enough would know, I don't like not knowing how something will turn out so it takes me awhile to actually do something. That's the main reason why it took me so long to actually get the courage to actually resign. The uncertainty of what the future has in store for me. The thought of not having constant income, of not having work...that's a pretty scary thought. But in the end, I think the need to not be in a certain situation trumps any fear.

The moment I submitted my letter I sent messages to those I was closest to and the one constant reply I got was Congratulations! It was heart warming and very encouraging. I was doing the right thing. I was finally taking that one big step for me! And whatever comes my way I am sure I will always have them.

So a big shout out to my family, my friends and most especially to my significant other without whom I would still be confused and angsty! hahaha...you guys balance me out! Thank you, for providing me with another point of view and for not always agreeing with my views but still hear me out! Yay! Love you support system!