Wedding Gown Design --- Check!

Last week's accomplishments? Not much, really. Saturday morning, I got a text from tita Vangie (my cotourier) saying that she'll be heading for Bangkok and Indonesia tentative tuesday or wednesday. We needed to finalize the designs that weekend, at least for my gown, since she'll be looking for materials on her trip. We heard that it's a lot cheaper there so we may be able to save a few pesos. We also had to re-quote and talk about budget since there are some changes in the initial designs and materials. Yikes, we're soooo over-budget now! **sigh**

Anyway, Pupay, who is also one of my secondary sponsors, was also available that saturday morning for her "sukat-sukat" session (hehehe, don't really know how you call it). I was planning to schedule her session with Cammy, Vero's little angel. But since Pupay was already available that saturday, and knowing her really hectic sched, we went ahead and had her measurements taken. Didn't have a chance to talk to tita Vangie about the budget though since she had a prior appointment and couldn't talk long. It's just as well since I really wanted to have Leo with me when I talk to her about money (so he wouldn't complain.. ssshhhh, hehehe). So we just resched the meeting for sunday instead. It's a good thing her place is in the same subdivision as ours. It's actually walking distance from my house :)

Sunday, Leo and I went back to tita Vangie's place to talk. Before going there, I told Leo that we should be tough about the budget -- you know, incase we need to haggle or something *wink*. But it turned out to be unnecessary since tita Vangie was really very easy to talk to. Well, I guess she should be since she's been making clothes for my whole family ever since I can remember!

So everything's settled now with the designs and the quote. We need to give a big down payment tomorrow so that she can already buy the materials incase she finds them on her trip. We still went a little over the original budget, but that was expected since the designs changed and they're eating up more cloth. Atleast the price will not be moving anymore and we can focus on other things now.

I'll try to post some pics of the designs when I get some :)

199 Days Left

... and still so many things to do. We've slipped into the relax mode again, not realizing that we barely have 7 months left for the preps. I am hoping to have a 2 month prep freeze since november and december will probably be focused on the holiday events, and suppliers will also be very hectic those months since it's the wedding peak season. So that'll leave us barely 5 months! Oh no, I think I'm moving now into panic mode! Breathe... breathe...

Ok, so what are our pending items?

Balay Kandila... we still haven't finished the detailing yet. Leo already contacted Ronald and they've agreed that we will first look at their set-up at NBC Tent this July 8 before we finalize the details. We might get some more ideas from there.

Quartet... no supplier for this yet! We're trying to find a cheaper group... but also good and will be able to do medieval (or maybe just victorian) music.

Cake... still waitlisted with Alex Franco. I really hope we get this one. I've been dying to have a taste of his cake! If we can't get him, we'll probably push through with the castle cake instead.

Invitations... no specific design yet. Just some ideas that we found in the bridal fair. I think I might have to let go of my boxed invitation concept. We are leaning more towards the "Count of Monte Cristo" invitation.

Giveaways... no idea yet. Well, actually we have a few... but nothing solid.

Designer... well atleast we have a little progress here. Some of the entourage members have already been measured. Some... well, hehehe, we haven't told them yet.

*sigh* Writing all these pending things is depressing me :( Time to shift gear now and make some progress. Hopefully we'll accomplish more this week. I'll let you know how it goes.

Happy Birthday Love!

20 things I love about my baby... I love...

1. his eyes
2. his strength
3. the way he hugs me... making me feel all warm and safe and loved
4. the way he makes me laugh
5. his little boy attitude when he is having fun
6. his intelligent mind
7. the way he takes care of his family
8. the way he takes care of me
9. his patience and understanding
10. his kisses
11. his skill in chess and computer games -- how geeky, haha
12. the way he takes away all my doubts and insecurities
13. his loyalty and commitment
14. his ambition
15. his smile that melts my heart and makes me feel overwhelming love
16. his acceptance of me, with all my faults and shortcomings
17. his poetry and creativity
18. his passion
19. how he inspires me to be better
20. how we share dreams together

Originally I was supposed to do 10, but I kept going on and on... and still there's so much more... how blessed am I...

Happy Birthday Love! I love you so much!
Thank you for loving me...

On Discovery Weekend

NOTE: Some spoilers here for those who haven't attended yet.

I know this post is kinda late, considering it's already thursday and the Discovery Weekend was (obviously) last weekend. Been a little busy with work lately, plus add to that, my laptop seemed to be infected with a spyware/virus and it kept rebooting everytime I tried to connect to the internet. Haaay... you'd think the stress of the wedding preps is not enough, hehehe.

Ok, so going back to friday last week... Flashback!

As I mentioned before, we took the day off. Finished all errands for the day. Paid the bills. Went to the bank to deposit mandatory savings for the wedding. Had the car washed. Ate halo-halo at Chowking. Hehehe, so the last one is not an errand. It has become a regular thing for us though since it has been so hot the past few weeks and Leo gets "bugnot" so easily because of the heat. Anyweyz... we arrived at OMI at around 6:30pm. There were already a lot of couples there ahead of us. Didn't expect to see so many! I believe there were 26 couples all in all. We did the registration thing, got our keys to the rooms and deposited our bags. Soon enough, dinner started. Got to talk to some w@wies who were also there. Then session started. It was a light evening. Lots of laughter.

Highlight of the evening? We had this exercise on empathy, and after reflection, the chaplain asked who among us was able to empathize. The girl he called on (gosh, hope she doesn't get offended if she reads this!) said she wasn't actually able to empathize since it was so late and she couldn't think anymore. She then proceeded to tell the chaplain that, even though we were not allowed watches in the sessions, she knew that it was already 11pm and that everybody was tired. It was a really funny scene, the way she delivered it -- all honesty and frankness. The class laughed, but I guess a lot of them were also feeling sleepy and tired at that point. Anyway, that added to the lightness of mood of the evening.

Saturday was a day of sessions. Presentation, Reflection, then Dialogues. That was the rythm of the sessions. A lot of singing too. I must say, I found the sessions informative and helpful. There were things that Leo and I got to talk about that we usually just took for granted or assumed about each other. It was also nice being there with each other without having to think of anything else except us. No work. No family influence. No friends or barkada (atleast the old ones). Just us. Well, technically there were also other couples. But during dialogues, it was just you and your partner, so that's cool. And anyway, everyone seemed to have this mutual goal of making each of our relationships stronger in preparation for marriage, and there's a feeling of love everywhere... nax! Hehehe. Highlight of the evening was the reconcilation in the evening. Made me feel really closer to Leo then. Felt cleansed, happy, and more ready for our marriage. Felt lighter somehow.

Sunday was almost the same as Saturday, except shorter. More sessions. Some sharing was done. Some cleansing tears for some. Then the mass and graduation. I really liked the homily of the priest. Leo and I are even considering if he can do the ceremony for our wedding.

All in all, I highly recommend the DW for soon-to-wed couples. I especially recommend it for those who haven't been together long and hasn't really talked and planned much about their life after the wedding. But even long-term couples like us will definitely benefit from it. I know we have. Marriage is not always a bed of roses afterall, and any help we can get in making ours stronger is always welcome. That's commitment. And that's love.

Discovering Us

Tomorrow, and for the whole weekend, Leo and I are attending the Discovery Weekend Seminar at OMI retreat house in Mapayapa Village, QC. "It's a program intended to enrich and deepen a couple's relationship to better prepare them for marriage"... if I may quote the description from the weddingsatwork website. From the reviews that I read from fellow w@wies, this seminar seems highly recommended. Even my previous officemate Thirdie, who is also getting married this coming november, and who has attended the seminar already, said that it's a must attend program. Plus, it's an alternative to the PRE CANA seminar required by the church, so it's really not a question for us whether to attend or not. Hopefully though, after the seminar, Leo and I will be more closer and committed to each other than ever. A lot are saying that it's a make or break thing - that things could go either way after the seminar. Some soon-to-wed couples ended up not getting married because of what they have discovered from it. Hmmm, sounds scary? Nah, I'm not worried.

At this point in our relationship, I'm pretty sure Leo and I are meant to be together for the rest of our lives. Now, that doesn't mean that we are so compatible and that we are not prone to arguments and quarrels. On the contrary, we still get those sometimes. Who doesn't, right? But throughout the six years (almost seven) that we've been together, we've learned to accept and be more tolerant and understanding of each other's differences. Oh, you should have seen us during our first 2 years! It was like a rollercoaster ride then. Fights every other day. Me walking out all the time. Leo following and wooing for the first few walk-outs, then finally just letting me walk away. Then me feeling indignant that he didn't follow me. And then the tables were turned and I had to follow and woo him instead! Hehehe, it's funny now looking back at those moments. We were both a little immature then. Atleast I know I was. One time I even dropped all my things on the ground -- take note, while crossing the streets! -- then running away from Leo (acting ba of totally giving up, hehehe). Leo had to pick up all my things and run after me. Yikes, I'm such a drama queen, hahaha! Oh well, that was then. But we still get some of those fights once in a while. We are very different from each other afterall. It's true. We try to learn to compliment each other though, and be understanding.

Hmmmm, I didn't intend to write so much about us, but I guess I got carried away, hehe. Now where was I? Ah yes, the Discovery Weekend. So yup, we are going tomorrow at 5:30pm. We've decided to take the day off since we will not be able to make it at 5:30pm coming from Makati. Seminar rules say that there should be no watches, phones and beepers. Sounds like a typical retreat. That's fine with me. Leo, on the other hand, says he might not survive without his gadgets, hahaha. And he's also having a problem accepting the fact that he has to share a room with someone he doesn't know. I can almost hear what he's thinking in his head. "What am I going to say to him?", "Should I make small talks?", "I am not good at talking to friends, let alone strangers!"... Haay, my anti-social baby, hahaha. Well, he doesn't have a choice, so... I'll let you know what happens :)