DIY flower girl baskets

One of my MOH duties for my bestfriend who is getting married in January — DIY flower girl baskets!

In keeping with the fairy woodland theme of the wedding, I used wicker baskets, moss, fern leaves and butterflies - all fake of course. Fresh petals will be added on the big day for the little girls to throw along their way.

Before - the baskets were varnished for the rustic effect

After - presenting, my obra :)

All three baskets done!

This is just one of the many DIYs for the wedding. Here are the others, done by my bestfriend and her sister.

Bouquet for the entourage

Headdress for the bridesmaids

Ring and Arrhae Bed

Cord

Shot glasses

DIYs are not only cheaper but are also fun to do :)

29!

So I’m 29! It’s amazing how fast time flies by when you’re enjoying life. Amidst all the challenges and problems, I am still grateful for all the blessings that God has given me.

And since this is my last year as a twenty-something, I would like to share 29 things I think should be part of my life’s milestone for the last decade going through adulthood. Siempre not necessarily in any order.

Here you go!

1. Got a decent paying job
2. Made a promising career in finance – which of course is still a work in progress
3. Loved
4. Got my heart broken
5. Loved again
6. Got into a long term relationship with a great guy ♥
7. Made a lot of friends
8. Went to a lot of weddings – and cried everytime
9. Witnessed proposals – and cried everytime
10. Became a bridesmaid, maid of honor and a secondary sponsor - which does not necessarily mean becoming a bride is the next one
11. Bought and drove my own car
12. Hit a car and got hit by a truck
13. Made the big move from my beloved hometown of Marikina to Antipolo
14. Survived Ondoy, the “habagat” and all other typhoons
15. Been to Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao and truly appreciated the beauty of the country
16. Traveled out of the country
17. Started a blog
18. Learned how to cook
19. Grew my collection of shoes
20. Became a tita to lovely nieces and nephews
21. Changed my hair a lot of times – colors, cuts, perm and straight
22. Grew (and improved I would like to believe) my sartorial passion
23. Learned how to drink and appreciate tea (yup, I used to be an all-coffee gal)
24. Got extremely drunk
25. Breached the 90 pound mark!!! Yup, I was 93 lbs when I went on a bustrip to NG of all places (their serving is huge) and lost the 3lbs when I got back here :P
26. Learned how to play lawn tennis
27. Went on countless food trips
28. Sang in front of an audience with a live band
29. Lived on my own (though for a few months only)

Not really much for a twenty-nine yr old, but hey I love my life. It’s not an easy life, but it’s a good one and I pray it will get better by the grace of God.

down memory lane

Took advantage of the Oct 26 holiday last week for a quick getaway to Tagaytay with my girlfriends at work. It was Franz’s (who hails from Agusan) first time in Tagaytay so we were really hoping for a good weather. It was a foggy morning due to typhoon Ofel but glad we still pushed through since the sun went out in the afternoon.

We had lunch at Memory Lane which is a diner/gift shop/salon owned by Jolina Magdangal’s family. It was all our first time there. The whole place exudes a homey ambience sans the picturesque backdrop of Tagaytay since it is situated in one of the residential areas in the city far from the panoramic view of Taal.


O di ba, ready na for trick or treat!

Country style with lots of vintage items ang peg ng place.

Super like the chandelier

Jolina must be a fan of Audrey too (or ung nanay nya? :P)

There’s a gift shop inside where you can buy vintage looking items (for sure hindi un mga vintage), decors, toys etc.

There’s also a salon pero parang wala namang nagpapasalon so we just played around.

And now to the diner part.

It was jampacked inside so we just had our lunch on the front porch. Again, hindi winner ang food. I think it’s expensive for something that is not really gastronomically satisfying. Kaya tinamad na kong kumuha ng pictures. But just for fyi, we had their breakfast meals - fried tawilis, adobong batangas, corned beef.

Had a good laugh reading the signs and posters so I took pictures of some of them. Aliw lang.

After brunch, we headed to Picnic Grove so Franz could see a better view of Tagaytay. Our bunso was all giddy at the sight of Taal volcano.

We didn’t have enough time to go around the city since we had separate engagements in the afternoon but we promised Franz (na nabitin for sure) we’ll go back soon.

arabian weekend part 1: the great dubai walk

Took a side trip to UAE after our NG bustrip for a much deserved Arabian vacay. We only had two days so we tried to make the most out of it. First day - Dubai. Our hotel was in Abu Dhabi so good thing I have a friend who lives near and was eager enough to drive us to and around Dubai. :)

Our whole day was spent building hopping. As in. Malls, hotels, skyscapers -bilang walang masiadong historical landmarks sa Dubai. That was the day when I went to the most number of malls and walked the farthest in one day. Pagoda much, but I really enjoyed it since I got to spend time with my friends there.

On the way to Dubai from Abu Dhabi - ganda lang ng road, walang lubak. Kung pde lang akong magdrive to experience.

So sozy their train station.

Our first stop - Mall of Emirates. Ang mall na may indoor ski.

Had lunch at the famous NY burger joint - Shake Shack Burger. Also inside the Mall of Emirates. Super love ko ung burger!

Around Jumeirah

Atlantis, The Palm

Burj Al Arab - the world famous seven star hotel

Downtown Dubai - this is where you can find the traditional market called souk. Siempre para mas feel namin ang experience, we rode the abra (boat) to cross to the other side.

Burj Khalifa - the tallest building in the world

And our last stop - Dubai Mall - where we had dinner and watched the musical fountain. Kung ang Mall of Emirates may indoor ski, Dubai Mall naman has a giant aquarium - ceiling to floor ng mall. O di ba, bongga!

Ended the day with photo op by the wall haha. Kahit lagkitan-lagkitan na, may energy pa rin magpose.

i came. i saw. i conquered… nigeria!

When it comes to business trips, I must say I am a little unlucky. Back in Citibank, I was all ready to fly to Korea and in the same week, P&G called to offer me a job. BT or P&G? Well, that time, it wasn’t a hard decision as I really wanted to work in P&G. Bye Korea, Hello P&G. I wasn’t able to use my Korean Visa at all. Sayang. When I was in P&G, I was assigned another migration for a new market, this time mas bongga because it was in Europe! Oh well papel, I will not dwell into details na - basta short story - di na naman natuloy. And after more than 3 years in the company, akalain mo na sa lahat ng markets ng P&G, sa Nigeria pa natuloy ang aking first ever bustrip. Akalain mo. Di ko inakala.

So un natuloy nga. Went there for more than a week with my boss. Stayed the whole time in Lagos City. The whole experience was not as bad as I expected it would be. Motto ko non: Expect the unexpected! It was indeed a milestone in my life - I survived NG! I wouldn’t really mind at all not going back there. OK na un. :p

We were not able to go around the city for security reasons. So basically it was hotel-office-hotel and a couple of days na hotel-office-mall-hotel.

Here goes my photodiary.

Our home for more than a week- Protea Hotel. Naloka ako ng walang bidet (or tabo though this is expected) sa toilet! #alamna

With the tax manager. O di ba parang si Eddie Murphy lang ang kasama ko. Choz.

Us three - Me, TM and Caloy, my boss.

O eto na ang mga foodang! Buti na lang hindi ako maselan sa food so I was willing to try the local dishes.

Jollof rice - mas common dito ang jollof rice vs the plain rice. Parang java rice but with curry and tomatoes. Usually spicy din. Nagustuhan ko naman sya. I even bought a jar of spices for jollof rice which I used to make my own version paguwi ko sa Pinas.

Pepper soup - Nigerians are fond of spicy food. Tumagaktak ng bongga ang pawis ko dito. Like ko sya since I love pepper.

Pounded yam with veggie soup (ang soup na hindi soup). I don’t know why they call the side dish soup. Di rin knows ng contact namin. Ung veggie soup, parang laing lang. Spicy din ito.

One of their local beers. Their regular bottle is actually bigger than ours here in the Phils.

And here are the pictures ng aming pag-laffang!

First dinner out. I forgot the name of the restobar pero ang di ko makakalimutan, soooooobrang tagal magserve ng food. Actually, napansin talaga namin na in most of the restos we ate in, minimum 20 mins bago iserve ang food. Kaya siguro marami lagi nakakain ng mga tao, sobrang gutom sa kakahintay. Hahaha.

At Yellow Chili - this is a popular resto in NG serving local dishes. We had to google this one. OK ang food dito.

At Bar Campione. Brazilian-Italian restobar. Oh look at tiny milkshake - considering how big their servings are.

At Jade Palace. Chinese naman. The manager here is Pinoy. Akala nya Chinese kami ni Caloy but when I asked for spoon, he knew we are Kabayans.

See? Hindi uso ang spoon.

Around the city

And that’s it folks. If anyone asks about my life, my NG experience is def one of the milestones. I came, I saw, I conquered. :D

p&g year-end party

Been busy with work lately. But like many of my friends, I work hard, but party harder. Haha. Here are some pics from my company year-end party. Wow, 4th year-end party ko na pla to! Bilis rin ng panahon.

Wala akong solo pic for my outfit post - group na lang haha. Peg ko for the night - animalistic.

With my old group - AP (accts payable)

with the lovely (naks) people of CEEMEA MDO

With my new team - TCO (tax)

And of course, the after party at Skye