Wedding = High School Reunion

Last night, Hubby and I attended the wedding of my old high school friend, Arlene. It was wonderful to see familiar faces! But honestly speaking, I really missed the bond we used to have. Some of our group of friends still get together every now and then, hence they still have their bond. Since I moved back to Manila when I was 16 years old, I somewhat lost touch with them. Nevertheless, we still enjoyed the dance floor with familiar music.

Arlene was so beautiful! It was great to see her very happy with her new husband. She truly deserves to be happy. :)

I wish Arlene and her husband Paul a lifetime of love, happiness, and peace.

Cheers!

Birthday Celebration at Palookaville

On Saturday evening, we celebrated Jana's (my High School friend) 26th birthday at Palookaville in Fitzroy.

My brother Jon dropped of Hubby and I at the venue. We were the first ones there, just a few minutes before the reservation time.

It was great catching up with High School friends. As you probably already have noticed, I rarely go out except for my shopping centre visits. It was definitely great to see my old friends again, even though some of our other friends couldn't make it due to sickness and prior arrangements.

One thing that was good about Palookaville was their price. Very decent indeed. They had mains going for only $12.00 (maximum $16.00 I think). So I was very happy to order a Chicken Parmigiana (with hand cut chips) for a good price. Not only was the price good, but the meal tasted good too!

For drinks, I had a couple of lemon, lime and bitters for only $3.50 each and hubby had a few beers (Little Creatures and Pure Blonde). It was our first time to try Little Creatures. My friend Anh recommended it. It has a unique taste to it, and it was quite smooth.

It was a lovely night of eating, drinking, chatting and laughing - reminiscing about the good old High School days. Hope to see them again some time in the near future.

Tilkah for Jana

Hubby and I will be attending Jana's 26th Birthday Party this weekend. Jana is a close friend from High School - we were in the same group of friends (barkada).

Hubby and I made a quick trip to our shopping centre to buy her a present as we won't have any other time to buy one between now and the party.

We opted for the Diablo Studded Coin Purse in black from Tilkah. Something simple and something she will most likely use. The purse is leather decorated with antique gold, silver, and diamante studs.

Tilkah is one of my favourite stores, and some time during my crazy shopaholic days I became a VIP. Being a VIP, I receive 10% off any non-sale items. Thanks to my crazy hobby before, we received a discount for this one. :)

The Diary of Art's Wife - First Blog Award

I received this Blog Award from my fellow blogger Riza of Crayons n' Pencils. Thank you Mommy Riza!

Blog Awards is a fun way of connecting with other bloggers and building friendships/community.

Here’s the rules: before you put the link, you must remove the participant number 1 from the list. So that all participants up 1 level. Who was number 2 become number 1, number 3 was 2, and so on. Then insert your own links at the bottom (number 10).

1. Juragan Jengkol Menuntut Balas

2. Cilpilicious

3. Enno

4. boodee

5. Woel

6. Lyla

7. Mr. D

8. Jenny

9. Riza

10. Thea

I’m sharing this blog award to the following lovely people:

1. Jigi

2. Leah

3. Era

4. Peachy

5. Eds

6. Jan

7. Joanne

8. Anney

9. Jenjen

Nuffnang Australia

I have been converted. I saw a post from my friend, Ate Jigi's blog about Nuffnang.

Nuffnang is a blog advertising community. Their ads are seen on 100,000 blogs by 3 million people daily. For more information please visit the Nuffnang site.

Glad to be part of this growing blogger community! :)

Project in Effect

A good friend of mine, Mike, has joined a team of talented people at Project in Effect.

If you need any kind of branding, web development, design, advertising or similar services no matter what medium, do check out their profile. They have accomplished some AWESOME projects!

For further information please contact Mike Mamaril.

My Becks

In my twenty-five years of existence, friends have come and go. Some have left marks in my heart. Sadly, I have none or very little contact with them (partly my fault for always being busy with work and always feeling tired).

Nevertheless, I know things happen for a reason, so there must be some perfectly good explanations as to why my friendships turned out this way. Let us not dwell on the sad side of life as I am at a very happy state at the moment. Why?

I have a new best friend! :)

APRIL

I have known her for a few years now, since our Uni days. We were room mates back in Uni. It's funny because we have so much in common, down to the very last details. We are both God-fearing, love to eat, love to SHOP! Our love for shopping would have to be one of the ones on top, hence our "pet name" for each other,

BECKS

April derived this from Rebecca (Becky) Bloomwood of the Shopaholic series. Perfect comparison indeed! lol :P

April was my Maid of Honour at our wedding, and I'm proud and happy that she took on that role. It wouldn't fit anyone but her. She has been a big part of my life and I'm over the moon that our friendship has blossomed into something as beautiful as this.

Becks, I just want you to know that I'm always here for you, no matter where life takes us.

Love you! :*

My Top 3s Meme

My good sister Jigi suggested I take part in this to keep me occupied - to stop thinking about my husband's visa-in-the-making. :)

Thanks sis, love you lots already. Mwah! :)


My Top 3 Meme


Three Names that Friends Call You:
Thea - Theii - Al

Three Most Important Dates in your Life:
08 May - 29 March - 06 November

Three Things You've Done in the Last 30 Minutes:
Checked emails - Drank honey & lemon tea - ate Savoy crackers

Three Ways to be Happy Even when you're at Home:
Skyping with my husband - Watching telly with the family - Catching up with friends on Facebook

Three Gifts You Would Like to Receive:
Trip around the world - Lifetime shopping sprees - Leave anytime you want pass from work

Three of Your Favorite Hobbies:

Blogging - Shopping - Food trips


Three Places You Want to go for a Vacation:

United States - United Kingdom - Philippines

Three Favorite Drinks:
Water - Iced Tea - Fruit shakes

Three Things Found in Your Bag:
Mobile phone - Wallet - Keys

Three Favorite Colors:
Purple - Pink - White

Top Three Hangouts:
Home - Work - Shopping centre

Top Three You Love so Much:
God - My Husband - My Family

Top Three Who Do You Think Will Answer this Survey:
Leah - Eds - April

Top Three Things Special To You:
Relationship with God - Relationship with my husband - Relationship with my family

Top Three Reasons Why You Answered This Survey:
To keep busy - To reflect - Love my sis Jigi

Bittersweet Reunion [long post]

Last night after work, I went to the wake of Alvz' Mum. I came in and it was silence, except for the very familiar voice I hadn't heard in almost a year - it was Alvz, reciting the prayers for his Mum. I stared at him, noticing how well he carried himself. Such courage. His voice would occasionally shake, but he would compose himself and get back on track. I understand how he feels the the need to be that way, as he is the eldest son and he has a Father and younger sister to look out for.


I was close with Alvz back in Highschool, even before our schools were amalgamated. He was easy to get along with and great to talk to. Sadly, we drifted when I left for the Philippines in 1999. Eventhough, Alvz will always have a special place in my heart.


As the prayers ended, Alvz' dad thanked everyone for attending and welcomed everyone to take a last look at his wife. I made my way towards the front but stopped to greet Tito Fred (a HS friend's Dad) and made "mano". I continued my journey towards the front, then bumped in to Zaldy, and old Highschool friend (two batches ahead) whom I haven't seen in nearly 10 years. A hug and a kiss on the cheek, and we got talking for the first few minutes briefly catching up. We then realised that he had to get back to work (Alvz assigned him to take some photos for relatives in the Phils) and I had to continue my walk up the altar.



So I continued my walk, got half way and stopped when I saw Karen (also a Highschool friend, part of our "barkada"). I also hadn't seen her for nearly 10 years. A kiss on the cheek and a huge hug, whispering that it was sad we had to see each other under these circumstances. We would have loved to have seen each other at a lighter environment. We walked towards the altar together, with me reaching Alvz first. We stared at each other before a kiss and a hug. I was totally speechless. I stood by him and looked at his Mum from where we stood (first/second row).

I left Alvz after a bit to allow other family and friends to gather around him. I settled for a small piece of space just behind the last row of seats, standing.

Not long after, I came across Zaldy again and we chatted some more about the happenings in our lives. Surprisingly, not much has changed between the two of us (only that I was married).


Karen found me again and dragged me to meet some of her (and Alvz') dance friends. I also caught up with another Highschool friend, Patricia, who was a batch lower than us (with a kiss and a hug). Moments later, another friend from our barkada arrived, Jayson (with a kiss and a hug). Jay was also close to me back in Highscool, with him calling me "Ate" eventhough we were less than a month apart. He didn't stay with us long as he headed for Alvz up near the altar.


Before heading home, I said my goodbye to Alvz. We stared at each other momentarily (me temporarily unable to speak), me hoping that I got the message across to him - that I was still there for him. With that, my last words to him were, "Take care of yourself, okay?", wishing that I had left an order instead of a question. Nevertheless, he understood me and replied with, "I will".

Thinking of the many topics we talked about last night, one particular conversation stuck with me (although they may not be the exact words). Karen told me:

"Life is short. You have to do as many things as you can. Have fun."

Life is short indeed. And from today onwards, I hope on playing those words in my head - To help me overcome all the fears and worries I carry in my heart and head, to help me make the most of the blessings that God has given me.

Missing Friend

My heart is aching.

For some reason, I decided to check my Friendster account this evening.  I normally don't check it anymore, but for some reason I did.

I was browsing through my friends and one thing saddened me the most - my once best friend has deleted me from her list of friends.  She has cut off my only access to her world.

Everything was fine between us just a year ago.  But our friendship became rocky when her relationship with my brother-in-law became rocky.  She was supposed to be my Maid of Honour at our wedding, but she backed out just as we were having our wedding invitations printed.  It was sad to think that her problems with my brother-in-law also affected our friendship.

She was the bestest friend I had (aside from my hubby).  She was the only girl I could connect with, with nothing false whatsoever.

Until today, we have no contact.  I sometimes leave messages for her at Friendster but no replies.  I text her on special occasions and when I think of her but no replies.

I don't want to give up on our friendship because she really was the bestest girl friend I ever had.  Although I have a terrible feeling that she has let go of our friendship.  I try to keep that thought at the back of my mind and I still hope that one day she will put aside what happened between her and my brother-in-law, and decide that our friendship is worth keeping.  What are the chances that she will think this?  I have no idea.  But I'm still hoping.

I miss you Chix.