I admire Kristine Hermosa’s beauty from the first time I saw her on TV… and on her wedding day… she looks more beautiful and so happy, she is like a princess finally getting the wedding of her dreams! I didn’t miss to grab copies of “Star Studio” magazine where the couple are in the cover for me to get posted of this occasion, well… i’m just a silent fan. And Oyo seems a nice guy who truly love Kristine and acknowledging God to be at the center of their relationship makes the couple more lovable..

Now, I can’t help but to embed this beautiful video of Kristine’s perfect wedding to Oyo (courtesy from Bong Sare on Vimeo).

To the couple, best wishes!

Oyo Sotto and Kristine Hermosa from Bong Sare on Vimeo.

It’s one day before Christmas and I think I had everything in my checklist accomplished so I’m ready to celebrate it! Now, I’m done wrapping all the gifts that I want to share to family and friends this Christmas season. It makes me happy to spend time shopping for gifts and wrapping them with beautiful christmas wrappers and finally send them to kids and special members of the family… it brings joy to my heart and makes my christmas complete.

Aside from gifts which some of them I acquire a month before Christmas, I also make it a point to prepare and complete all the stuffs, ingredients, etc… for “noche buena” a week before Christmas. I wanted to avail of the “Mall Sales Promo” which it usually runs 2 days before Christmas but I just can’t take too much of the holiday rush that sometimes will spend almost the whole day in the malls.

Home Christmas decors are also part of my preparations… the house needs to be in a Christmas atmosphere so family members and friends who come to visit for Christmas feels the spirit of the occasion. But most of all the big preparation that is found at the last of my checklist is “myself”, did I prepare myself to be worthy of celebrating the commemoration of Christ’s birthday? How did I prepare myself?

Well, I know I’m not doing a great job in preparing myself yet… but at least I believe that this is the best I can give as my presents to the celebrant… and that is to create a ripple of generosity this Christmas.

A Happy Christmas to all!

Today, I witness how the young and lovely bride say her “I dos” not just in front of the many witnesses and to her groom but most specially in front of the Lord. It is a music to my ear when she sweetly utter the “Yes, I do” during the early part of marriage rite.

For me, this is the part where the bride needs to be 100% aware and sincere of her answer and this is the beginning of a new stepping stone of married life. A wedding of a lifetime does not only mean expensive gown, cakes, entourage, flowers, foods and venue, but the real essence for it to be a lifetime wedding is the sincerity of the couple in answering their “I do” in front of their family, friends and to the Lord.

The priest who represents God will ask the couple to join their right hand and express their intention before God and His church, the church stands for the people who witness the occasion. I remember the important questions are as follows which should be clearly answered “Yes, I do.” by the bride and groom themselves:

• Bride, do you take your groom here present, for your lawful husband according to the rite of our holy Mother, the Church?
• Do you give yourself to him as his wife?
• Do you accept him as your lawful husband?
• Groom, do you take your bride here present, for your lawful wife according to the rite of our holy Mother, the Church?
• Do you give yourself to her as her husband?
• Do you accept her as your lawful wife?

My cousin who is the groom is a very lucky man to have finally get the “I do” of a very lovely and young lady who now become his wife. As the one who bind them with the cord of married life, I wish them all the best of being together as a couple and soon raise  beautiful kids and be happy family with God at the center of their relationship.

This wedding is the featured occasion.

Christmas party which is usually held annually is one of the highlight festive activity during the holiday season. We can attend as many christmas party as we want, from simple gathering of friends at home to a big gathering such as a company’s christmas party. And this year’s party excites me because of our theme which is a black and white christmas party… it is indeed very fun! Everybody is beautiful with their black and white attire. So from decorations, attire up to the the table cloths and linens… should be all in black and white.

I observed that most of the attire are black dress with white shoes and jewelries, others wear white dress with black shoes and jewelries while others also wear a black and white dress. I just love to see all 200 of us looks stylish, elegant and beautiful.

It’s indeed a different christmas party look for me, but of course since our main theme color is very neutral, the decorations can mix with some reds and greens of christmas to look it more festive. In general, it’s a one festive, stylish and elegant christmas party I ever had!

It is so gratifying for a co-officemate to drop by your desk and greet you a Happy Holidays and hand you a christmas gift. It makes me ponder of how beautiful this people are who thinks beyond themselves and share their blessings to others. The act of generosity is very precious during this season of the year, even how simple the sharing of gifts are, the act gives a smile in one’s face and can also create a ripple, because if you receive something, you feel like you have to share something too.

The spirit of gift giving during christmas for me is to spread your blessings and make the people you love and care fo happy. The word “Christmas” itself is the essence of why we have to give during this very special occasion, because it is with Christmas that Christ himself extend his unconditional love to all of us.

I can party all night, eat and drink all night during this holiday but I wish not to forget that to be generous especially to this very appropriate occasion makes my holiday complete and meaningful.

A happy christmas to everyone.

Christmas is in the air once again and the thought of it makes me festive and everyday starting the first week of December seems like a busy day always… preparing things for the upcoming parties, scheduling lunch and dinner with friends, shopping for christmas decors, and foods to serve during the occasion and most of all the gift giving.

All these activities are very popular once a year and that is during the Christmas season. Decorations will never be complete without the christmas tree at the corner of the living room where the whole family will gather and exchange each others gifts.

I dream of a 7 ft christmas tree full of christmas balls and different colors and sizes of decorations all over it.  But I think it’s not yet time for me to have it yet, so I settled with our old 4 ft christmas tree which the family used for over 5 years. I know my christmas tree is still beautiful especially with lots of gifts underneath that we can share to everybody.

Hhhmm… Maybe I can also try a live christmas tree someday. Merry Christmas!

But barely two weeks before the occasion, I started to panic because I find it difficult to choose and look for the best black and white attire that I think will fit me best… I shop from one mall to the other… and rummaged almost all the boutiques for almost the whole day and to my surprise, I can’t find any! Until it took me almost 3 days before the party to find the black dress I like, finally. So, it’s not easy after all…

Here are the tips I carried with me while shopping for the best attire that I can think of for a black and white party theme:

• Choose from the option of having a plain black dress or plain white dress, or combination of the two colors – I settled with a black dress for me to look petite.
• Look for a modest dress yet elegant
• Match the fashion jewelry with the dress – if I chose black, so my jewelry should be pearl, or white.
• Match my bag and shoes
• Finally, exercise and have fun by hopping from as many fashion boutique destination as possible so you can have lots of options and can even compare prices.

Looking forward for a fun-filled Christmas party!

Who would expect that a sunny and fair morning up to the mid afternoon will turn the clouds cumulus and pour big rain? And exactly the time that the kiddie party starts, the rain also starts to pour. I start to get panic because the party that I planned for almost a month will not turn exactly how I wanted to have it for the kids. Why? it is because the venue is at our rooftop with only a half portion of it got shaded… and because of the rain the kids are forced to gather only in the shade. But I gradually got calm and composed myself when I found out that despite of the unpredictable weather, the kids are enjoying and participating the games and the programme… thanks to the two clown host that I hired.

I learned a very important lesson from this occasion – and that is to have a Plan B in every event planning. I could have plan it that when it rains, the kids can be transferred indoor immediately or could have set up the whole area with shades.

It turned out to be a successful birthday party after all, because from the look of the kids bringing with them the prizes and abundant goodies and foods, I can say they enjoyed the party. And most of all, the birthday celebrant enjoyed it.

he is already happy to have the simple cake and and blow his 3 candles

It’s easy to make little kids happy on their birthday, a 3 year old can already recognize that someone is making him special. They hug you and kiss you when they are happy… such a nice feeling indeed.

And for my only one nephew, I tried my best to make him happy on his 3rd birthday by dropping off my sister’s place after my work even if it takes an hour travel. Toys will make Gab happy so I pick a big toy train for him and of course our presence.

Everytime we celebrate my nephew’s birthday, it also reminds me that my Claire’s birthday is fast approaching and the next couple of weeks will be exciting to me as I love planning and preparing for her birthday. I just can’t help to have all the best for these kids.

Happy Birthday Gab!

busy setting up his toy train...

for Lunch - Blue Elephant The Walk IT Park

for Lunch - Blue Elephant The Walk IT Park - his favorite

for Dinner - Giligan at Ayala Terraces

I got lots of options in mind how to make him happy on his special day. I will share some of them to you:

• Go out of town together in the place where we both haven’t gone to
• Buy him a new gadget, his favorite (psp, itouch)
• Throw a party at home exclusive for his friends only
• Treat him to a spa
• Dinner in the best restaurant in the city

Well, I have to pick only one though since I’m not a millionaire to have them all in just one day. I realized that aside from all these gifts and treats just to make hubby happy, one important thing that cannot be bought and too expensive but I know I can afford is “Time”. So even both of us are busy in our respective career, I make it a point to meet him for lunch near his office. So we have lunch in “Blue Elephant” at the “The Walk, IT Park”. I chose the place because it’s new and we haven’t tried it yet. The food is good and affordable, and the place is cozy.

I did not choose to throw him a party or go out of town but one thing I realize is that having a simple and sweetest time together even in the middle of your hectic schedule already means a lot to the man you love. A dinner in “Giligan” in Ayala terraces completes the occasion. So just finding time together will make a husband happy on their birthday.