Mother dear and I having cocktails at the Club Lounge of Royal Plaza on Scotts.

Free afternoon cocktails at the hotel with the family. Minus my brother, because he was out shopping! =P

The night before JR’s mom and brother left, we took them to Newton Circus for dinner. JR’s dad used to mention his love for the food at Newton Circus before he passed away, so we made sure to take the family there.

With JR’s mom. :)

The Ignacio family, minus Mark.

The whole week was a whole lot of fun. It was the first time our families flew in to visit us, so we made sure they had just as much fun as well. I’m sure they did. :)

Smith’s Rosebud Salve

I wasn’t really planning on buying anything, since we’re trying to budget our spending (no splurges on clothes, makeup and other random things like pulse oximeter for now) to be able to save up for our church wedding expenses next year. However, while I was paying for my sister’s goodies, I saw the tin of miracle salve calling out to me by the cashier. I knew I had to put aside the “saving mentality” for a few minutes and allowed myself to treat myself. :)

This world-famous salve is a multi-purpose miracle wonder! It can be used as a simple lip balm, or to help relieve several skin conditions/irritations such as itches, rashes, blemishes, and rough cuticles. I even use it to moisturize my dry hands when I’m out and about. The Rosebud Salve is something that I have been lemming for a while now, so I’m glad I gave in to buying it. It was a good choice on my part, because now I just can’t leave the house without it!

The hubby (then-boyfriend) and I. :)

Hotel Istana was the official drop-off/pick-up point in KL for the bus that we took, so out of convenience we booked our two-night stay there too.

Quite a wise decision on our part, since the location was right in the middle of KL’s shopping belt. The hotel was a mere 5 minute walk to Pavilion (one of KL’s shopping malls), and about 5 minutes away by cab to the Petronas Twin Towers and the Suria KLCC mall (a shopping haven that has everything from posh brands like Gucci to department stores carrying affordable finds like Kipling)  too. Everything was conveniently within reach!

The hotel truly did not disappoint. Our room was pretty much modern and comfortable.

In fact, it was so comfortable that we spent both nights ordering room service for dinner instead of heading out to check out the city’s night spots. Well, like I said, we wanted a fuss-free weekend of just relaxing.

We didn’t even do much touristy activities. Instead, we spent most of our time doing some shopping and eating. Lots and lots of eating!

Our first meal in KL: Chicken satay from The Satay Bar @ Pavilion.

We had some Kebab too!

We even had Starbucks, because I was craving for something cold and sweet. =P

Too lazy to head out, we had room service for dinner on both evenings. I love, love, love room service! =P

And what I love most about staying in hotels is waking up in the morning to a buffet breakfast! Considering that it’s pretty much my favorite meal of the day, I get excited when a wide spread of morning food is presented in front of me. =P

First plate. I don’t remember how many I had! =P

My obligatory morning shot before digging into my Valentine’s day breakfast. :)

Since we were at the hotel during the CNY weekend, we were able to catch the Lion Dance presentation at the lobby.

It was actually my first time to watch one up close, and I gotta say that I was pretty impressed! Their acrobatic routine kept me glued to the performance from start to finish! Plus, I thought it was cute how the lions interacted with the crowd. =P

A quick couple shot while watching the performance. :)

The only real touristy thing we managed to do was pose in front of the Petronas towers. We were actually at Suria KLCC mall doing some more shopping, and since we were already there, we stopped for some snapshots before heading back to our hotel. =P

Me, in front of the Twin Towers.

An obligatory couple shot. =P

Our KL trip was our last getaway before we officially became Mr. and Mrs. Ignacio. :) It was indeed the prefect time to relax and unwind, because as soon as we arrived in Singapore, we had to go straight to the airport to pick up my sister who wanted to arrive in Singapore earlier than everyone else (so she could start shopping early! HAHA!).

Well, it’s not the church wedding yet (that’s scheduled for the first part of 2011), but our Registration of Marriage in Singapore. Similar to a Civil Wedding, the whole ceremony was quite short and simple. However, the entire family (except for JR’s younger brother) flew in, so it turned out to be quite a nice celebration nevertheless.

My sister did my makeup:

Makeup artist in action!

I sat in front of our bedroom window and placed a portable mirror so I could see the makeup application progress. =P

The venue of our solemnization at the Serangoon Community Centre allowed us to invite up to a dozen guests. Quite a small amount, but we didn’t mind because we intended on having an intimate ceremony anyway.

Our parents stood behind us as we exchanged our vows.

JR’s mom, my mom, and my dad standing behind us.

And as we exchanged rings.

Sealing our vows with an exchange of rings.

Signing our Marriage Certificate.

The whole ceremony took just a little over ten minutes. It would have actually been shorter, if only Mr. Long, our solemnizer, didn’t recite our full names every single time he had to call us. He already had a hard time pronouncing our names in the first place, he could have just called us by our first names or something. =P

With our solemnizer, and our witnesses: Kuya Vic and Carla.

We did it!!! :)

The Ignacio Family (minus Mark).

The Avanceña Family.

Our other witnesses: Tita Chippy, April, Kenn and Mel.

After the ceremony, we all headed to Triple Three at Meritus Mandarin Hotel for a sumptuous dinner buffet.

I had plate after plate of delectable goodies.

My first plate. Their Japanese spread was yum-oh! I kept going back! =P

Plate no. 2. The wagyu beef was so tender! I had a few more plates, but I don’t remember exactly how many! HAHA! I’ve had dreams of becoming a food taster. Earning a living by eating food, now wouldn’t that be the most awesome job ever?! =P

My favorite part of the meal! =D I was so stuffed that I was only able to try these sweets.

The food was delish! The service was awesome too! The restaurant manager, upon hearing about our ROM, even treated us to a glass of champagne each!

Free champagne! :)

Cheers! Thanks to Kenn’s awesome PR skills! Hehehe!

We were all stuffed and satisfied. Triple Three was definitely a great place to celebrate our night. :)

My family was happy too! :)

Mommy May, Kuya Vic, Mel and Bel.

The whole group. :)

We ended the night with more photo-taking before heading home.

The ladies.

Thanks for coming, guys! :)

It has been five days. I still can’t believe we’re married now. I don’t feel much different, except for that tinge of excitement that creeps up every time I think about our future together. The happiness just keeps on piling up! :) It makes me want to celebrate our love every single day. I can’t wait for our church wedding next year. I can’t wait to start making a family of our own.  :)

My favorite from her line of brushes is the Stippling Brush:

Made of goat hair (the black part) and synthetic hair (white part), its bristles are quite dense, without compromising its softness (it’s amazingly soft!). It’s great for achieving an “airbrushed” look when applying liquid or cream foundation. In addition, I also use it to apply mineral foundation and blush, both of which generate promising results too!

I’m not too familiar with the MAC 187 Duo Fibre Stippling Brush (since I don’t own one), but I reckon this is pretty much a great alternative. At only Php700 (around USD14),  it’s so much more affordable! If we were talking about special deals of the day, I’d say that this definitely tops all deals out there! Plus, unlike some of the other affordable brushes in the market, this brush does not bleed black dye when washing AT ALL! I no longer have to worry about staining my towels when laying them out to dry after washing. I just love it! :)

So, if any of you makeup junkies are looking for a good, yet affordable alternative to other expensive stippling brushes out there, I highly suggest that you guys try the Bedazz Stippling Brush. It won’t disappoint! :)

With my baby! <3

This new layout is right in tune with the changes that are about to happen in my life.  Like my anticipation for those wonderful changes, I’m just as ecstatic to see this design finally up and running.

All graphics and images used on this layout were designed entirely by me. Most of the images were recycled from my previous moleskine paintings, while the vector images were made using VectorDesigner.

To be honest, I actually finished the main layout design early last year (almost nine months ago, to be exact!). But I only had the time to fix everything up this week. The fiance also helped me code the layout into a working Wordpress theme and patiently addressed errors that I kept on making while editing small details. I think it’s about time that I refresh my knowledge (or maybe take an online course/online degree) on HTML and CSS. It seems that I now know very little about coding. =P

Anyway, please excuse any broken links, if there are any. All the major parts of the blog should be working fine now, but there are still a few areas that I haven’t finished tweaking.

The fiancé and I have been suffering from back aches and poor sleep for the past couple of weeks. The foam mattress that comes with our flat had already worn out its lifespan. It was sagging in all corners, and since we also have a leather bed frame, having a foam mattress made it a little too warm (even with the air-conditioner on full blast!) to sleep. It felt like we had heated mattress pads installed in our beds, it wasn’t even funny! So, we finally quit putting off buying a new mattress for our own sake.

We initially wanted the same Ikea sprung mattress we bought for JR’s old single sized bed almost three years ago. But considering that we don’t really live in our own place and that our housing is somewhat temporary, we figured it would be better to scout for a more affordable alternative.

After searching online, I found www.beds.sg, an online store that carries affordable beds and mattresses. Now, I normally wouldn’t entertain the thought of buying a mattress without seeing and trying the actual product, but seeing the number of positive feedback on the site and the numerous blogs boasting about their products and service, JR and I agreed to try it out.

The Wasaly Luxury Mattress caught our attention. With over 360+ positive reviews, we knew it was already a winner even if we hadn’t even tried the actual mattress for ourselves. For only SGD150 (about Php4,900+ or USD106), complete with free delivery, we quickly made our online order with just a few clicks. Aside from the convenient ordering process, another advantage is its payment option. Unlike most online shops, payment for beds.sg orders are not done online (yes, no credit card details needed!).  Instead, cash or check payments are more than acceptable upon delivery.

Delivery of our mattress was scheduled between four to five in the afternoon last Friday (less than forty-eight hours after we made our online order!). The delivery crew ran a bit late, and from my own experience with deliveries in my old job in Manila I know there are a million and one unforeseen circumstances that can happen during delivery, so I wasn’t the least bit peeved at the delay. Instead, I just called customer service to find out about the tentative time of delivery. The lady I spoke to was more than gracious and helpful to call me back to let me know the delivery status, and after another call from the actual delivery crew, our mattress finally arrived.

We’re happy to report that our new mattress does not disappoint. No more back aches! It’s not too firm, nor is it too soft. Every night has definitely been a good night’s sleep for both of us. The only down side is that it’s more difficult to get out of bed every single morning! =P

Our new Wasaly Luxury Mattress was certainly worth every cent. :)

I enjoy spending more time in “the real world” but every once in a while, I do miss sitting in front of the monitor wracking my brain for hours until I came up with layouts to suit my liking.

Since my sister was planning to launch a Multiply site for her very own set of makeup brushes, Bedazz, I took the opportunity and volunteered to help her design the whole site from start to finish.

I quickly staged a late-night photo shoot, with my sister as the model. Our very own living room was turned into a makeshift studio, with one of our table lamps used as soft lighting.

My sister posing with one of her brushes.

We then had a quick product shoot the following afternoon in our garage, using the sun’s natural light.

Bedazz Stippling Brush

And with all the graphics and images ready, I spent several hours designing and fiddling with template codes.

The outcome?

A simple Black and White layout with just a few embellishments here and there.

Bedazz Header.

I took more time tweaking with codes than in designing the actual layout. My knowledge and skill in HTML and CSS has decided to fail me. Well I’m not really surprised, considering that it has in fact been years since I last fiddled around with code. =P

Anyway, do check out the multiply site. :)

Bedazz currently has three makeup brushes in its line, with several others in the testing stage. I’m not being biased, but the brushes are really nice! Mix good quality with affordable prices (only Php700 or around USD14 for a full-sized stippling brush!), it sure is a great deal!

Please excuse my double jointed fingers! =P

Him officially proposing didn’t really come as a surprise (we have been talking and planning about marriage for quite a while now), but his choice of timing was truly unexpected. Tired from a whole day of activities, I had already changed into my nighties and was ready to climb into bed when he suddenly pulled out the ring from his pocket and got down on one knee.

As a hopeless romantic, I have dreamed about the perfect proposal over a thousand times. I was convinced that the best was one that was perfectly planned and orchestrated with elaborate details involved; think flowers, fireworks and a bottle of champagne, or the beach, sunsets and messages written on sand. JR’s proposal did not have any of those, but it was at that exact moment when I realized that fancy elements weren’t necessary to make the moment extra special and memorable. The only detail I needed was him. :)

Our engagement was simple with no flashy fanfare, just as our love is effortless and straightforward. <3 I was, and still am, overwhelmed with happiness. It’s the same type of happy-giddy feeling that I felt over six years ago when we officially became a couple. :)

I’m also now one of those women who just can’t stop looking down at the pretty reminder on her finger. =P

It’s truly the best material gift (more than clothes, makeup or techy netbooks) any girl can ask for!

And because I refused to be photographed in my nightgown, we were only able to have our photo taken as a “newly engaged couple” at a friend’s wedding the following day.

Photo courtesy of Jaypee.

We’ve planned to have our ROM (Registration of Marriage) in Singapore mid next month, and our church wedding February of next year, so we definitely have a lot to look forward to. :)

I’ve had the most beautiful start of the year, but I know the best is yet to come. :)

I tend to take less photos when I’m having too much fun, but here’s a few that I did manage to take from different events:

Impromptu night out with friends, followed by an intimate pre-Christmas dinner two weeks after. :)

Eggzmas party the day after JR arrived from Singapore. We missed last year’s party, so we made sure we could make it this year. :) Photo courtesy of Jaypee.

Mass, dinner, gift-giving and our yearly family photo on the eve of Christmas. <3

Christmas day was spent at home, with the Viduya family. Another gathering full of food, gifts, money (not enough to purchase anything like car insurance, but enough for maybe a meal or two at a fancy resto. LOL!) and laughter! That’s mom with some of her brothers “playing” for their yearly exchange gifts. =P

Christmas evening: JR and Kuya Vic picked me up for dinner and coffee up in Tagaytay, just like last year.  Maybe we’ll make it a yearly tradition from now on. =P

My sister and I on the afternoon of my mom’s Birthday.
All girls day out with mom and her sisters at MoA. We were supposed to watch a movie, but we ended up just shopping and stuffing ourselves to the brim! =P

New Year’s Eve with the family and JR: mass, then dinner and drinks at home before watching pretty fireworks care of our neighbors. =P

We’ve never been into buying fireworks and firecrackers, but you could still say that we greeted the new year with a bang, because only an hour and a half into 2010, I received the most wonderful surprise ever. :)

Details to follow in my next post. =P