Val Villarin and Me on the Bridal Yellow Pages

Photo Credits: April Pulido's phone image sent to me via Whatsapp

Thank you so much, Mama Val Villarin for choosing me as your model for your ad at the Bridal Yellow Pages and for actually sending me a hard copy of this. I am greatly honoured to be modelling for you as YOU are one of the BEST HMUA there is in the Philippine Wedding Industry! I'll be blogging about Val soon, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, here is his website for you to check on!

Val Villarin

09063701564

www.valvillarin.com

Manny and April Photography

*Beware: This post is going to be photo heavy!

Now back to weddings.......... Ever since Jake and I started on our wedding planning, we were clear that a good portion of our budget has to go to photos! Because after your wedding, when all the lights, the food, cake, the band and the treats are gone.... one of two or three (if you count the gown) that remains, are the beautiful and honey-sweet memories of that once in a lifetime occasion that your wedding photos will forever remind you of.

Manny & April are newlyweds themselves having just celebrated their first year anniversary as husband and wife last April. I met April (now that sounds redundant!) in this awesome wedding community in the Philippines, called Weddings At Work  where she used to be an active member of. She gladly answered my questions and that of other brides-to-be too. She was one of the reasons that actually compelled me to book our church (we had the same church for our weddings, btw) because of her "architectural" insights. This talented couple are both architects by profession and it is quite amazing how they are able to squeeze in time for their love for photography. Given their very busy schedules at work, not to mention the long hours (and overtime, right guys??), they are still able to cover weddings left and right and do other errands in between.

They started doing photography not too long ago but it seems that they have already thundered the industry with their innate talent and passion. They initially started offering their services as auxiliary photographers free of charge for friends (ahem ahem...us included) and that paved the way for them to eventually start their venture into wedding photography, OFFICIALLY. And now, they are slowly but surely making themselves known as "Manny and April Photography." Aba, I recently learned my mom was spreading the word to our neighbor who just got engaged... 'Yung Manny and April magaling'. hahahaha! Now that is sikat!

I love how their style is just light and fresh and natural... full of emotions and well, it just simply takes you back to that very moment that just by looking at it, it tells you the story on what transpired that day. The memories then feels alive with each glancet that it reminds you what you have felt exactly when that photo was taken.... With a heart bursting with so much love, and immense happiness!

*Note: As of this writing, they are already accepting bookings as main photographers! Their packages are worth checking (really, really competetive rates but you are assured of GREAT QUALITY ofcourse.) It won't last long because they getting more and more sikat! They are getting booked out already even for January 2015. So strike while the iron is hot!

Here are some of their shots that I really really love!

The man behind the lens- Manuel "Manny" Pulido

Angel Locsin, este, The Misis of Manny- April :) 

Manny & April Photography

hello@mannyandaprilphotography.com

0927 537 6050

Jake's BRUNCH party

A few weeks back, we celebrated Jake's 26th birthday over brunch together with family and relatives. The party, believe it or not, was held at our tiny home. We had about 20 guests who came in for brunch and surprisingly, nagkasya sila lahat, or should I say.... pinagkasya ko silang lahat! Hehehe! I even had floor layouts and drawings to be precise. Funny how I even asked my cousin-in-law to actually bring two of their ottoman cube stools at the party for extra seating for guests. I should've renamed the theme to "Bring Your Own Chair Party" nyahahaha!

Anyway, as I am a beginner cook who just learned the basic Filipino recipes, and because we were working on a specific budget, we opted to host a brunch celebration wherein food is much easier to prepare and is proven to be a hit for all guests! As we served the usual brekkie menu, we did offer various selections from appetizers to desserts- buffet style so guests would feel the reason of them having to wake up so early for the party is indeed worth it!

As soon as Jake agreed to the theme which is BRUNCH, and with colour palette of yellow, green, and orange, I started looking for pegs right away at Pinterest. I went gaga as there were just sooo many pretty inspirations online and I was really excited to shop for props! I knew exactly  where to get things that I needed and ideas just flooded my mind... "I want this"..... "Oh this is perfect for the party".... "Guests will surely love this!" and I could just go on forever and  then I thought, we were on a budget nga pala kaya nga nag brunch party.... but.... what is a party without an element of kaartehan anyway? So I still went ahead with the plan. Hihihi!

A few days to the party, Jake helped me set up the tables. We had one table mainly for the starters and refreshments, and the other one for the mains and desserts. I thought of dedicating a separate table for the sweets but then we were not able to find a table that was just enough to fit the corner, as well as rightly spacious to house all the treats so we resourcefully used our kitchen trolley to place the birthday cake and the brownies. The rest of the desserts were then placed on the same table as where the mains were.

Here are the foodies that we served for Jake's BRUNCH party:

STARTERS:

1. Cereal Bar (Corn Flakes and Coco Pops)
2. Mini Pancakes topped with fruit slices- strawberry, blueberry, and banana
3. Butter Croissants
4. Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots
5. Quiche
6. Hash browns

MAINS:

1. Fried Rice
2. Kranksy
3. Beef Tapa
4. IKEA meatballs
5. Baked beans
6. Scrambled Eggs

SWEETS:

1. Blueberry Cheesecake
2. Mango cake
3. Brownies
4. Fresh fruit slices in ice cream cone topped with whipped cream

DRINKS:

1. Charlie's Lemonade
2. Charlie's Orange Mango
3. Apple Mango
4. Coffee
5. English Breakfast Tea
6. Swiss Miss Hot Choco

Invite by Moki Gray, Cutleries, streamers and buntings DIYd by me

Cute little pancakes and our Starters Table without the milk and cereal scoopers yet

The kids enjoying their bowl of Coco Pops cereals

Yum! The Kransky and Tapa was everyone's favorite :)

Guests :)

See how close we are as a family?? Figuratively and literally true hehe!

with the birthday boy

Whewww!!! That alone tired me! Even most of the food we served were "ready made" (ready to be fried, ready to be baked, ready to be assembled), nakakapagod pa rin ha?! Jake was even joking me "Ginusto mo yan!"Oh well yes, but then again...nakakapagod pa rin sya. Period.

I slept at about 11Pm the night before mainly because I finished cutting up the fruits ready for assembling the next day, marinading the tapa, finalising my DIYs, cleaning the house, etc etc. Jake helped me by taking in charge of the dishes, vacuuming the carpets, and cleaning the toilet and bathroom. I set the alarm for 6AM the next day. I was a bit anxious when I went to sleep because it's going to be the first party that we will ever host in our new house. But I was excited as well.

So I woke up at 6 for a 10.30 AM party. Albeit I organised myself a timeline, I went with my instinct instead and started working chop chop! I wasn't really panicking because every time I look at the clock, I am on the dot so I knew I was doing really well. Jake was awake by 9, took a shower then headed to the mall to pick up the fried ricethat we ordered. My mother-in-law arrived at about 9.30 and helped me make the mini pancakes. Then guests started coming in at 10.45 (Filipino time forever), and I realised I haven't showered yet! In the end, late pa rin pala ako hehe! On the other hand, I think all of our guests were happy despite being canned like sardines hehe! They appreciated the styling and of course the food (which btw, was wiped out) and they were also wowed of how I was able to pull of my plans by myself.  I think also we were the first to host a brunch party for the family. It is usually always for lunch or meryenda or dinner that our family parties are set so it was nice to be able to do something different.

After the party, I went to our room just to change clothes and thought of having a small rest just before proceeding with after care. Okayyyyy in my dreams, because I was plakda right then and there the moment I I set my bum on our bed. Pagoda at its finest!

Jake hugged and kissed me thanking me for what I prepared for his birthday. He knew I was dead tired and so he voluntarily (read: with no feet dragging) tidied the place up, washed all the serving plates and cutleries, vacuumed the carpets, took care of the rubbish that when I woke up, everything is back in its place. It feels so gooood to do something special for the one you love but it feels 10000000000x  better to be appreciated.

Just before the night ended, I was busy telling him all of my plans for the next party--- and my birthday is not even until August hehehe! I already have a theme in mind and in fact, I made mood boards pronto for the props and food and even down to games. Ako na ang party planner freak!

Happy Boytday, Mah-cus!

My original baby boy, Marcus Andre just turned 7 a few days ago. Marcus is Jake's first  pamangkin and though he was born here in Australia, he was fortunate enough to come home to the Philippines about twice or thrice while he was still a baby. I babysitted him, changed his nappy, put him to sleep a few times during his vacay in Pinas and gee, he is all grown up now. Where did time go??? Ang bibilis ng lumaki ng mga bata ngayon! Oh no, signs of aging! Honestly now I understand how our titos-titas, and ninongs and ninangs felt whenever they tell us, 'Eto na ba si (insert name)? Ang laki laki na nya! Parang kelan lang!' I used to think it was just something that is automatically being said when you haven't seen someone for a long time. Actually, totoo pala talagang masasabi mo sya! Hehehhe!

Anyway, Marcus is really TALL and SMART for his age. His vocab is above average! I'm sooo proud of this boy as he has grown to be an obedient son to his parents, very respectful of his elders, and a caring and patient kuya to his two younger brothers. When people does something nice for him, he appreciates and thanks that person and in return, makes an effort to do something nice for him/her too. Now you won't find all kids like that nowadays. He was really brought up well by his parents and family.. Ahem ahem kasama ako dun! Hehehe!

So as to celebrate his actual birthday, the entire family threw him a simple pizza-KFC-cake dinner at their home last Saturday to celebrate this very special occasion. Jake and I haven't gotten him a formal 7th bday present yet but we did give him a bag containing all of his favorite treats and boy did he hug me so tight and flooded me with kisses. This boy is the sweetest!

As it is his 7th birthday (special event just as the 18th and 21st), he will be having a bigger party with 'Ninja Turtles' and 'Lego' as his theme. And it's going to be this coming Saturday! I was tasked to decorate his sweets and favours table so I'm really excited! Sinuyod ko nanaman ang Pinterest! This is going to be a challenge though because I don't quite fancy boy themes. I'm no sexist, but diba, mas nakakakilig naman talaga mag ayos for girls?? Anyway, I accepted the challenge nonetheless, and so we shall see! Wipeee if only I could go to the mall now to start shopping for decor stuff- Ok exagg, it's already 10 at night. Hehehehe!  I'm just really a sucker for parties so Im really really excited! Jake's not working on that day too so it's triple the fun! Can't wait to blog about it soon!!!

Meanwhile, here are our photos during Marcus' party#1!

Sky lanterns lovin!

It was actually part of the original plan to include the release of sky lanterns for our wedding reception. It kinda adds onto the "magical" aspect of the wedding itself. Not everyday are you given the chance to do this, hence the best way you can is during a wedding. I have not done this before either so I was really excited!
Apparently just a month before our big day, we were advised that the Mckinley admin no longer allow this. It was major heartbreak just imagine as this dream was spot on from the beginning of our wedding preps.

I thought it would be too impractical and disorganised to change venues with little time left in order to push through with the plan, and besides I realised, we had to be more flexible and choose our stressors really well so we obviously just had to  scrap the whole idea. But then again, my heart broke into pieces as I already have envisioned our wedding to have that as part of the program.

Anywayyyy, we were able to let it go. And the wedding came out fun still so no regrets. However, if given the chance of experiencing or let out sky lanterns, I'd be number one to volunteer!

New blog header and we have been approved!

Hoorayyyy for my new blog header!!! Thanks to +Moki Gray  for adding character to my lonesome looking blog page! Love you, Moki! Mwahhh!!!

Okay, so I really think this year is OUR year. So many exciting things have happened and we're still halfway of the year! We got married to our dream wedding (love your own, ofcourse!) early this year, which we believe really, really magneted all the good vibes around us. Next was we were able to finally move out of my in-law's place and find our own small house and fill it in with stuff in  no time, and now..... (drum roll, please!!!).... We have been granted our Permanent Residency! Woohooo!!! We were blessed with a very considerate and humble case officer that it only took her less than a month to approve our application. Jake and I are sooooo ecstatic, we had to do our crazy chicken dance because of so much kilig and disbelief!!! I think our case has to be written as one of the most fast visa applications to be approved ever! Record breaking at its finest! Truly, when it rains it pours! So God, please keep it comin! We don't mind the downpour of blessings at all!!!

I am still waiting for God to answer one of my deepest wishes still. It is something that we have been praying so hard for since last year. It may be taking so long, but we can feel God working on his plan and we can almost smell and feel it coming now... I believe in God's perfect timing. I believe it would be worth the wait!

Happy Moms' Day!

My strict but awesome MOM!

Meet the most wonderful woman in my life, my mom, Mrs. Josefina "Penny" Valenzuela.

My mom was always strict ever since we were kids. We weren't spared from the nagging sessions, "luhod and squat" stints, and I would always get really scared to go home after school back then because for sure, she already had discovered that I have a boyfriend. She knows instantaneously when something's troubling my mind (could also be my very transparent self) and/or when I am being bullied at school, and she would always be on my rescue. She never allowed any of her children to be compromised in any way. She's the first to cry when we are hurt and the first one to jump for joy every time we reach a milestone. More than you could imagine, she is the numero uno imbestigador in our family. No one could ever succeed keeping secrets from her. Grabe lang ang radar, or should I say, mother's instinct ng nanay ko!

Despite the fact that she is most of the time masungit and PMS-ing (sorry mommy! hehehe), there is a kind and soft heart that lies within her being a mother. What I love most about my mom is how she is willing to sacrifice 100% of herself for her family at any given day, and at any given time..... even if that meant losing her career. She gave up her blossoming Nursing career abroad early on just to be with her growing kids. A lot of times in the past when were still little, she didn't pursue with her orders at Jollibee to accomodate for my sisters who wanted their fries uplarged or an extra order of sundae. I recall her constantly shrugging  off my dad's comments (up til this day) of her repeating the same clothes as she would rather spend the money on us rather than herself. She had to endure many, many years of being apart from my dad who worked in another country just to give us, her children proper guidance. Being the most selfless person that I know, my mom sets her needs aside and puts them last in line in order to prioritise ours.

We have had plenty of dramas together and heaps of misunderstandings but I never for once doubted my mom's love to me and my sisters. I remember so vividly how I used to be so ashamed of some of my mom's ways- collecting styropores from Jollibee and sachets of chocolates, biscuits and cleaning stuff to be used as entries for this "Lottong Bahay" game portion at Eat Bulaga many years ago. Looking back, she would attend all these seminars to learn how to make tocino, siomai, dishwashing and fabric con products and I never really understood on why she had to do all of those. We were never poor. My dad worked abroad and he was earning decent money just enough to sometimes accommodate for our little requests... But thinking about all of it now, the things that I once felt ashamed for actually explains on why we lived a much comfortable life growing up. And it made a lot more sense to me now. Mommy did it all for her love for us. There is not much logic about it, but really  how many of us can lower our pride for the betterment of our children? How many of us would painstakingly come out of our comfort zones just to secure them of  having a good future?? How many of us could easily say "I'm quitting my job because my children are most important to me."? I could not even decipher on how far I am willing to sacrifice once I become a mother myself. But my mom's love for us is just so unconditional.................. it's exceptional, beyond boundaries, like no-other.

Now that I am living my own life, I'm learning to appreciate her more and I reap from the life lessons that she  has planted on me since I was a little girl. I'm sure she is proud of me now that I have grown  to be much more mature and a responsible adult. I miss my mom everyday like a child and I wish I could be with her more often. I have so many dreams for my parents and I pray everyday that I live long to serve them as my way of gratitude to their unending and unquestioning love and support to me and my siblings.

I'm sure my mommy knows she is loved by us three and I wanted to tell her that despite the challenge and hardship of having to raise us all these years and having to put up with our differences, that she could have not done it any better, because for us, she is the BEST mother that we could ever have. We glorify and thank God everyday for blessing us with a golden hearted mom that was very much influential to helping us form to the kind of persons that we are today.