FASHION ADDICT DIARY (FAD)

Washington DC

2012-05-08T22:27:00.001-07:00

I miss DC!

I thinks it's the most "intellectually-stimulating" city I have visited with museums and landmarks all around!

Corporate

2012-05-08T22:17:00.000-07:00

Signed into chictopia and found this picture...

I know stockings are not advisable to be worn given the climate of Manila...

But i just had to try for one day!

Baguio

2012-05-08T22:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Found this old pic taken in Baguio!

Can't wait to go to Baguio next month!!!

I am now Mrs. Reymar De Leon

2012-01-17T03:20:00.000-08:00

Wedding is over and all the busyness has gone! It's back to reality now. The wedding, I believe, is just the start of greater things to come! Thank you Lord for all the blessings in my life. :)

Heels

2011-10-24T07:29:00.001-07:00

I just realized that heels promote better posture! When i am in heels, i slouch less!

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue

2011-10-24T02:05:00.001-07:00

Q.What is the meaning of "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue"?

A. This tradition comes from an Old English rhyme ("Something Olde, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, A Sixpence in your Shoe"), and the four objects that the bride adds to her wedding outfit or carries with her on the big day are just good luck charms. Don't stress too much about them -- they are the little tokens of love your mother, sister, other relatives, and attendants will give you at the eleventh hour (although you can give them to yourself, too). Something old represents continuity; something new offers optimism for the future; something borrowed symbolizes borrowed happiness; something blue stands for purity, love, and fidelity; and a sixpence in your shoe is a wish for good fortune and prosperity, although this remains largely a British custom.

Source: theknot.com

Bad Day

2011-10-21T22:07:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt so excited about something and then slumping your shoulders so low because of disappointment?

But there's no use of fussing about it now.

I'll probably just move forward and do whatever I can do. :(

Bridal Car inspiration

2011-10-21T00:30:00.000-07:00

My inspiration (Don Robert's bridal car):

But Don Robert's do not service the Visayas and Mindanao areas. So sad.

The wedding shoes

2011-10-19T03:38:00.001-07:00

Should I choose something classic which I could wear even after the wedding? Or should I go for something unique? Decisions. decisions. decisions.

Update: I was torn between the following two designs. Both are from the same brand so the quality is really not an issue. I am also choosing the color gold in whichever design I would choose.

I just bought my chosen pair during our lunchbreak today. Which is which? It's a secret!!!

Officiating Minister

2011-10-19T03:35:00.000-07:00

Since our wedding will be in Queen of Peace Parish, our officiating minister should be the best. It is no other than Father Noly Que. And to our surprise, he is the brother of Father Nolan Que, Reymar's favorite priest in SM Megamall church where we go frequently.

And he is very nice. I am so excited because when we met him when we went home last September, he allowed us some things which is not usually allowed in Catholic weddings. I am so excited!

The Prenup Pictorial

2011-10-19T03:26:00.000-07:00

We had two prenup pictorials! Haha.

This was not part of the plan actually. Everything just went smoothly!

Our original photographers were supposed to be my Sis, Daryl and their friends. When they attended Grapika Manila, we reckoned that was the perfect timing for a Tagaytay prenup. And luck was really on our side that day when found Estancia Hotel. It was newly renovated and the rooms were so Greek. (BTW, our wedding theme is Old Greek.)

We also had some pictures taken at the Picnic Grove and in Intramuros (btw, didn't know Intramuros' pictorial costs around 2k. So we just sneaked our way in.LOL. talk about crazy rules).

And our second pictorial was in Don salvador Benedicto and the new La Vista Highland in San Carlos. The views were such beauty!

By the way, our second pictorial is care of SKT Digital who gave us a huge discount we could never ever refuse. :) Thank you Sir Kieron!!! And thank you to the rest of the SKT team.

The reception

2011-10-19T03:07:00.001-07:00

I have always wanted a night wedding. Maybe it’s because Reymar and I are nocturnal persons. Or maybe because we don’t want our guests sweating during our wedding. Or maybe we think a night wedding is romantic. But whatever the reasons are, we have decided for a 6:00 PM wedding.

The problem with a night wedding however is that the ceremony might finish late. And if the ceremony finishes late, the dinner might start late. And late dinner means hungry guests. And I definitely do not want to starve my guests.

After months of pondering, I have finally found a solution to this problem! Thank you also to Malou of Lfisher! Yehey!

The invitation

2011-10-19T03:06:00.002-07:00

The invitation was one pretty rough work. As of the moment, it is being printed. I would like to thank Daryl Jimenea for his creativity and amazing talent which produced this invitation which I am very proud of.

We may not have the best wedding…but I am sure that we will have the best invitation. Hahaha.

I am so excited to give the invitations out!!!

Color Motif

2011-10-19T03:06:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted a matte gold wedding motif. Eversince I was a kid way before I met Reymar, I have envisioned this as my wedding color motif. :)

As I was researching for gold weddings inspirations , I have read Martha Stewart’s suggestions for gold weddings. She said that a good combination for color motif would consist of gold, silver and copper. These colors represent milestones in wedding relationships: gold for 50 years, silver for 25 years and copper for 7 years.

Engaged

2011-10-19T03:01:00.000-07:00

It was not a formal proposal actually. We already had some informal discussions as early as our 4th to 5th year together.

But with my mother’s death, I have realized that life is too short and that as much as possible, we must spend it with the people we love. And with my sister’s graduation, we have figured that this is already the right time.

Reymar asked for my hand from Papa (bwahahaha) while our office went to Boracay for an outing. I think that was around first week of June.

And the ring just followed months after.

Anyway, we then had six months to prepare. And now it’s been narrowed down to only around three more months. I have decided to document here the wedding preparations because I know Reymar, my sister and my friends have had enough with my constant talking about the wedding. My blog will serve as my companion. :)

My sister's graduation

2011-10-19T02:56:00.000-07:00

At last!

San Francisco

2011-10-19T02:43:00.000-07:00

It was the shortest weekend ever.

More pictures in my facebook account!

Washington

2011-10-19T02:30:00.000-07:00

It started as an almost perfect weekend with a 4-hour Friday night bus ride to DC and a half-hour ride to Virginia where we stayed. Then Saturday was a hop on-hop off tour day which also went smooth as we were able to go to various historical places and DC landmarks. Sunday was a bad one, though, because of the rain!!! The wind was very nasty that it turned my umbrella into a mere skeleton after walking two blocks. Nevertheless, it was a very visually enriching and intellectually stimulating weekend.

More pictures in my facebook account!

Connecticut

2011-10-19T02:26:00.000-07:00

We took the train from NY to Stamford Saturday night then carpooled to Woodbury the next day using Kuya Ton and Ate Vev's cars. It was a major major shopping experience!

More pictures in my facebook account!

Boston

2011-10-19T01:09:00.000-07:00

Just 4 hours north of New York is the state of Massachusetts. For the last weekend of January, we headed straight north to Jeza's place to visit the home of the Boston Celtics and the school of Mark Zuckerberg. :)

More pictures can be found in my facebook account. :)

First day in New York

2011-08-19T08:43:00.000-07:00

I arrived at the 15th floor of my apartment with two people already inside. I later learned their names to be Esther, who will be my apartment-mate and Jaspreet, a secondee from India, who stayed in the 11th floor of the same building.

I realized this was the start of my nose bleeding. Everything will be in English from now on!

We exchanged names, hi’s and hello’s, travel experiences for about an hour and then I excused my self since I was so tired and needed to sleep already. But the next day, Sunday, we planned to go eat lunch together.

_________________________________________________________________

GOOD MORNING NEW YORK!!!

I did not have a good sleep during my first night. Jet lag. Tsk. Tsk. But I was excited what the day will hold that I did not mind.

I took a bath and dressed in my first-ever winter ensemble (LOL).

Since I was so hungry, we decided that eating breakfast was the first on our list.

And we had bagel for breakfast!

And I did not like it. That bread is so hard I think one’s teeth would give up even before you could bite it down. I never really learned why New Yorkers liked that bread. LOL.

From Esther (she’s from Australia), I learned that Manhattan is divided into streets and avenues (she learned that because she has a map). From east to west is avenues and from south to north is streets. So locating addresses in New York is very easy. If you’d ask where I am, I’d just say my coordinates and you’ll know where to find me. For example, If I’d say I’m in 44th Street and 6th Avenue and you are in 32nd street and 3rd avenue, you’d know you will need to walk 12 streets up and 3 avenues to your left! Easy, right????

So on we walked. Esther and Jaspreet are really fast walkers I had a hard time catching up. Probably because they constantly exercised, going to the gym and all, while I did not!

So we were able to see Macy’s, Times Square and Central Park. We had a very long walk, I tell you. I was almost always panting! But it seemed normal to them! Good thing it was cold so I was not drenched in sweat or anything.

And yes, it was so cold. I already had two layers but it was still cold. Like it’s biting into your skin. So I said to myself that I will wear thicker and more layers next time.

After familiarizing ourselves with the streets and buying a few stuff, we decided to go home at around 4:00PM to rest because the next day, Monday, will be our first working day here in this concrete jungle. 

The Long Travel

2011-08-19T08:13:00.000-07:00

I travelled for almost 18 hours! My Manila to Hongkong flight was scheduled to depart NAIA 1 at 12:30 and we were in Hongkong at around 2:30 via Cathay Pacific Airways. My flight to JFK, New York was not until 5:30 so I was able to stroll around Hongkong airport for about three hours.

I noted that Hongkong-based flight attendants are not so nice. Or maybe I was just accustomed to the Filipinos’ hospitality? During my three-hour wait, I noted them scolding passengers for not queueing in the right line or for queueing up early when the flights were not announced yet. 

Anyway, I could be wrong.

By 5:00 PM, we were called to board the aircraft.

I was initially thrilled when I saw that the seats could be turned into beds with free wine and individual television sets and curtains for privacy! I then felt that it would be my most comfortable travel ever!!!

And then my shoulder slumped when I realized that this was for business class customers. I had economy class ticket. Well, so much for day dreaming. But someday, I’m gonna fliy first class.

For a ticket worth 3,500-US dollars, the economy class compartment was OK. We still had our own monitors with headset, free pillow and blanket. And although you could not convert your seats into beds, you could recline it up to 45 degrees to give your head a better rest.

And movies (read: Recent! Newly-released!) were for free!

And so my 16-hour flight to the US was at least not boring! I think I finished all the movies! And food was served regulary…so I think I could live there for months and not complain. 

The views were also amazing!

The first time the pilot announced that we were nearing New York, I immediately raised my window and looked for the Statue of Liberty. Don’t blame me, movies always show the Liberty when the protagonist arrives in New York! And to my dismay, there was none. I later learned that the Liberty is on the other end of New York.

Anyway, there was snow on the ground!!! Real ones! I was actually tempted to go out of the plane, play on the grounds and bathe myself with pure whiteness that is snow until I realized how silly that looked.

So I pretended that everything was normal and that I came from a place where it snows everyday. But deep inside, I was so thrilled!!!!

Despite travelling 16 hours, I arrived in New York at 10:30 PM, same day. This is because of the 12-hour time difference, and the delayed aircraft.

I was fetched by a black man, with a card that read: Christine Po, Ernst and Young! Too bad I wasn’t able to take pictures.

Our ride was a black Lincoln. And it was my first time to see a real GPS. And it was so cool! GPS servicing in the Philippines is kind of costly and Reymar claims that it is unnecessary since he is a “walking GPS”. In fairness to him, he really knows the “twists and turns” of the Metro Manila streets.

Anyway, JFK to Manhattan (where I would be staying) was like half an hour drive. But it turned out to be a 45-hour ride because of the congested traffic. YES there was TRAFFIC!!! But I noted that cars were at least a car away from each other. Unlike here in the Philippines where everything is bumper to bumper.

But the driver (I forgot his name) said that this is a very rare occurrence and then I realized that farther down, a car accident caused the traffic.

Then there was the sign, “Manhattan”.

We drove further down some roads and then arrived at Oakwood, 32nd and Park South. And then I realized, this will be my home for the next three months.

Welcome to New York!

I am going to NEW YORK!

2011-08-19T07:56:00.000-07:00

God has ways of doing things that we could not understand, but somehow, it works wonders.

After my Mother died, I was seconded to New York. Secondment is a part of my current employer’s training to its employees. I was seconded to the US for about three months. Despite what has happened, I still pushed it through because I know, Mama would want me to go on. I still have her text message congratulating me for being chosen to take part in that secondment.

That secondment was very unexpected on my part. It seemed surreal. And now I am thinking that maybe that was part of God’s plan for me to forget about happened to Mama. Sort of an “escape”. Because I do not know what could have happened to me if I stayed idle for several months after she died. I could have suffered depression. Or I could have gone insane.

Anyway, my flight to New York via Hongkong was scheduled last January 8. I will be blogging here all the details of my three-month secondment. I know this is kind of late but I just want to document here while my memory is fuh-resh.

See you soon Ma!

2011-08-19T07:50:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I last blogged and a lot of things happened in between.

First of all, Last December 7, my mother died of salivary gland cancer. The months of October to December 2010 were the darkest days of my life. But what comforts me is knowing that she is in a better place now. She was the best mother one could ever have. She was able to joggle her work and being a mother…and did not come short in either two. Whatever I have become right now, it was because of her. I couldn’t emphasize this further because all the people close to me know how close I was with Mama and the impact she had on me while growing up.

Sob. Sob.

But I know Mama is in a better place. And every now and then, I can still feel her presence. I know she is still with us.

I’m actually reading one of Licauco’s books right now, as recommended by Reymar. It's supposed to talk about the power of our minds and how "another plane" is supposed to exist. Like a fourth dimension. Or some say, the spirit world. I will let you know more once I finish reading. :)

What's up?

2011-06-04T22:42:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's been awhile. A lot of things happened in my life since I last blogged here. I know i don't have much readers (yet), but i promise to catch up in writing what i have missed in the past months.

'til then,

Pendz