5 Lessons I Learned in 2013

Year 2013 is about to end and it's the perfect time to examine how we fared during the year. I know that there are lots of wonderful moments and even hits and misses but at the end of the day (or year :p) what is important is that we learned something from these experiences. Some of you may be able to relate but I do hope that you'll find your own lessons that will help you in your journey towards 2014.

On a side note, I love making resolutions but finally, I've accepted the fact that I wasn't able to successfully accomplish any of those resolutions I swore by every year end! However, I intend to make "doable" plans for the next year. 

So here are my lessons for 2013:

... That you will always have your family, no matter what. I learned to live alone when I was 17. I learned the meaning of freedom from the parentals when I was in college. Whenever I make major decisions, I know that I could decide on my own. However, whatever happens, they will always be there even if we sometimes forget that we have parents whom we can count on and siblings who will listen to your rantings without judgments.

Considering that I will tie the knot very soon... I plan to make more memories with my family.

Take a lot of pictures. Go to church together. Travel. Eat out. Discover the metro. Watch a movie. Say wonderful things about one another. These are simple things that I failed to share with my family during my teenage years because I was always out discovering things on my own. I wish I spent more time with them, sharing my milestones. But it is not too late, I can still make wonderful memories with them and this I plan to do in 2014.

... That it is a lot better to have few friends who are true to you than a thousand ones who will leave you once you are down. As we grow older, we realize that we lose some friends but we do meet new ones who jive with the changes in our perspectives in life. Its true, people come and go in our lives but the true ones... they go with us in this roller coaster we call life. Sa pagpili ng kaibigan, hindi dapat maging batayan ang pagiging "cool". Ang tunay na kaibigan yung tinatanggap ka kahit hindi ka naka-make up o kaya naman kahit wala kang sasakyan o magarang kasuotan. Ang tunay na kaibigan yung tanggap ka kung ano ka pa man, sinasabi sayo ang totoo kahit masaktan ka dahil alam nilang makabubuti ito para sayo.

And when we find our real friends, make sure that we nurture those relationships.

... That you can always do something to help those who are in need. Our country faced unimaginable tragedies this 2013. But 2013 also witnessed the resilience of the Filipino spirit and how each one of us helped our kababayans. With every heartbreaking story is a story of hope, courage and inspiration. May magagawa tayo, may maibibigay tayo kahit simple lang. That should be our mantra for 2014.

... That traveling is good for the soul. For the past 3 years, my work brought me to different places and allowed me to meet new people. I was also fortunate enough to travel with friends and loved ones. 2013 brought me to the amazing lands of Davao City, Bantayan Islands, Sorsogon, Legazpi, Naga, Bataan and Iloilo City. Traveling teaches you about culture, local history and it heals your soul whenever you are tired from city life. Traveling gives you the opportunity to explore,to find experiences that you'll never thought you'll have and sometimes, it lets you find yourself.

I always go for the rule that I should visit a place I've never been to  before AND FOR 2014, I want to experience a new place with my family

... That you only live once, hence, you have to make the most out of it.  Life is a journey. Choose the right moments. Don't choose ANY choice in front of you. Waste your time on worthwhile activities but know that it is okay to commit mistakes. Make people count. Know that it is the experience that matters. And it matters more when shared with a love one. Take care of your health and encourage your family to do the same. Walk in the park, smell the flowers, look at the sky. Take a lot of pictures. Take pictures of the people and places that make you happy. Write love letters especially to your parents. Send letters through postal service. Build lasting relationships. Do small act of kindness everyday. Create your own time capsule. Don't go with flow. Be your own man.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone! :) Hope you find those special moments that will define you and will make you a better person. Cheers!

Grown-Up decisions & Mature choices

Preparing for a wedding, budgeting and making plans for the past few months made me realize a lot of things. 

First, know what you want. Of course, all girls want a fairy tale wedding.But sometimes, we realize that our dream wedding can be costly. If you are one of the brides-on-a- budget like me, making concessions should be considered. For me, I wanted a beach or garden wedding since it falls on a summer. Unfortunately, beach wedding is quite costly since we have to consider the transportation and accommodation of our guests. We want to invite all the important people in our lives and we don't want to cut down on our guests so that we could afford destination wedding. On the other hand, I've been eyeing a top but expensive garden wedding venue but I am amenable to a different venue that could save us some thousands but could give us that garden wedding feel.

So I am making concessions but I know that I am still getting the dream wedding that I want without ruining our pockets.

Second, a lot of people will be giving a LOT of unsolicited advice. I am so grateful to those who are so excited for my preparations. However, while I do listen to them, I am very careful on what advice to heed. At the end of the day, we would make decisions that would be comfortable for me and M. 

Third, wedding preps and buying a house put a toll on our pockets. If we buy a house now, we would be selecting a small starting house that we could afford. And we think that would be a big mistake. Trying to do everything given our budget is quite ...hard. So we decided to focus first on the wedding preps then at the end of 2014, we will focus on finding our dream house.

So many grown-up decisions. So many changes. But I am happy and excited at the same time. I am excited to become Mrs. P.:) 16 months to go!

Food Tasting #1: Quido's Grill

One of our concerns regarding our upcoming wedding is our caterer. You see, we will be settling with a not so expensive venue but we want to ensure that we will serve our guests with good food and lots of booze. We want them to go home full and happy with the food served during the reception. 

For our caterer, we listed the following criteria:

• Affordability. Food must be good but friendly to the pocket. 
• Presentation and Styling. Must be classy but not too overly dramatic.
• Payment terms. We don't want a caterer that will require us to pay big chunk of the contract fee upon reservation or even a month after it. 
• Freebies. There are lots of caterers who offer freebies. That would compensate for the expensive  contract.
• Attentiveness/friendliness of the representative. This is a must. It would be hard to prepare your wedding with a caterer who cannot follow your orders or yung mas mataray pa sayo.
• Over-all. The "IT" feeling. That moment when you say that yes, I want this caterer on my wedding day.

Among the caterers that I reviewed in the Internet, I find QUIDO'S GRILL one of the most affordable. There are several brides who said that they are very satisfied with the services of this caterer so I instantly contacted them. So I emailed Ms. Gina of QG and she immediately sent the schedules of different events that she will cater and she made us choose the event where we can have our food tasting.

We chose Patio Manila with a Premium Package.

(By the way, Patio Manila rating as a wedding reception venue: 1/5.)

THE VERDICT:

Affordabilitye: 4.5/5 
Their package is indeed affordable. For 120k+, you could avail of their super premium package which gives you a salad bar, chocolate fountain bar, pasta bar, choice of viands, and a mobile bar. If you want to have a lechon during the wedding (they do not offer lechon in their menu), you just need to pay Php 700.00/lechon for service charge.

Food is just right. M likes the morcon although he noticed that the appetizer (mini sandwiches with cold cuts) was too big and were not evenly cut.

clockwise: penne in red sauce - has become soggy (3/5); morcon - tasted really good. M liked it(4.5/5); hamonado - I liked this one (4.5/5); sea food hotpot - undecided. tasted like the one they sell in 7-11; chicken bbq - very tender and tasty. winner in this plate (5/5);  mixed vegetables - kulang ng butter (3/5)

By the way, I have to commend their buko pandan and mango jelly. Ang sarap!

Appetizer: Cold cuts. The one that didn't make the cut. Literally. Medyo uneven kasi yung cut tsaka malaki.

Presentation and Styling: 3.75/5
Styling of the buffet table is just normal. I wish they have a name for ever viand. I am not sure though if I was just early that they might place card holders for every viand.

Styling of the reception venue is quite awesome considering the entire look of Patio Manila. I like their flower decorations, their backdrop for the couple, and the drapes.

One thing that I noticed though is the tiffany chair. Most of the chairs need repainting. Yes, I am very particular with small details.

I also want to see how their mobile bar would be set as the waiter was preparing the shot glass in the table. Walang sariling setting. I'm not sure though.

Couple backdrop

centerpiece in the presidential table

This is how the presidential table was set

Drapes. I love it!

Payment Terms: 5/5
You just need to pay the reservation of Php 5000 to Php 10000. 50% of the package must be paid at least 2 months of the wedding day and 50% at least a week before the wedding day.

Freebies: 4/5
Your freebies depend on your package.

Attentiveness of the representative: 5/5
I must say that Ms. Gina is very friendly and accommodating. She gives this impression that she will take care of your party. She was even there in Patio Manila a few hours early making sure that everything was prepared.

Over-all: 4/5
I must say that if you are on a budget but you still want a classy reception, then get Quido's Grill. =) There are some hits and misses but I think if you can provide specific instructions to Ms. Gina, she will organize it according to your wishes.

Starbucks Planner 2014

You know that the holidays is near when Starbucks introduces its elite planner for the coming year. For 18 stickers which you get by buying 9 regular drinks and 9 holiday drinks, you'll get a free planner which to some becomes a challenge.

I've been a Starbucks planner fan since it released its very first planner. I've had the leather covered one and the wooden-cover planner. There was a time though that I find the  Yes, it may be quite expensive but if you are a coffee drinker and Starbucks is your daily fix, then getting the planner is quite a bonus for you.

For the year 2014, Starbucks once again amazes me by its premium looking planner. For this year, I chose the red planner which comes in a very cute box. Very Chrismassy :)

It comes in a cute box.

Inside is the ohh-lala planner

I like this planner because its not bulky and it means business in a chic way. Great for writing hearing schedules and meetings.

Fashionably designed metal lock.

Planner comes with a metal bookmark

I'm quite a utilitarian when it comes to a planner but I do appreciate some cuteness and class. I am also planning to buy the Rajo Laurel designed notebook which I saw in the National Bookstore the other day. These two would make my 2014 much organized. :)

Book Fest: Your Roots are Showing by Elise Chidley

This book which I consider more of a coming out-of-the-box of an empowered woman story rather than a romantic one is actually a surprising revelation to me.  Its words are simple, sweet, and made me cry for a minute. Its ending is heartwarming which makes me believe in true love and that "love surpasses all". And there's another treat, as a runner, I really love the fact that the book's main character, Lizzie, changed and had a positive disposition when she started running. You'll feel bad for her for most parts of the book and revel eventually for her new look+positive disposition. Although, she reminds me a little about Bridget Jones for that "fat" issue + the "bloody" English words + humor.  

I got this book for 25 Philippine Pesos. Quite a steal for this charming little book.

amazon.com

Excerpt from the book:

How did her happily-ever-after go so terribly wrong?

Lizzie Buckley is having doubts about her picture-perfect world. She does love her country estate, precocious three-year-old twins, and handsome husband, James. But nobody warned her about postpartum depression and the toll it would take on her marriage. Or how she'd fantasize about chucking it all out for a box of chocolates and an interrupted bath.

Lizzie vents these frustrations in an email and her life is shattered:James gets the message by mistake. Lizzie soon finds herself uprooting her children to start over in a ramshackle garden cottage. Now facing life- and the twins-alone, Lizzie struggles to reinvent herself and forget about her soon-to-be ex. But when thoughts of James still haunt her, she begins to wonder if the best part of marriage starts after the fairy tale ends...

Rating: 4/5 

#Yolanda

This post is dedicated to all Filipinos who lost a home, a loved one, or hope. I pray for strength, for courage, for acceptance. I pray for the souls of the departed who were violently taken from their loved ones. For those who are still looking for their loved ones, I wish that you'll find them safe and comforted.

In times like these, we, who are not much affected by the super typhoon can do so much for them. Akala natin wala tayong maitutulong, pero meron pala. That could be a simple prayer, a bottle of water, used clothes, or even a spare from our allowance. We could volunteer our time by packing relief goods of the different government agencies and NGOs.

So please, I beg you, please extend a helping hand to our brothers in Visayas!

pattylaurel.com

Facebook and twitter are buzzing with relief operations. Every person counts. Every minute that you could spare for them is worth more than a gold.

Babangon tayo mga kababayan!

Where to Wed in Manila?

Warning, this post is cheesy.

My dear friends, M popped the question last September and this wonderful feelin' keeps rolling on. :)

We set that special day on May 1, 2015. As early as now, we are searching for that awesome church and awesome reception venue for that awesome wedding I've been dreaming about! See, I feel so awesome already! hahaha. Just kidding. :) Just the thought of tying the knot with the love of my life makes me really giddy. Seriously, for all heartaches and pains I've been through, I thought I wouldn't get married. I never dream of walking down the aisle wearing that pristine dress until we became a couple. But now, things changed. I find myself daydreaming about that special day, about starting a family, having that house with a garden where our kids could play. My perspective in life changed.

We want to have a simple wedding that would be memorable and enjoyable for us, our family and close friends. We believe that we don't need to spend a fortune to have a beautiful wedding and we don't want to be broke after that. We know that marriage actually starts after the wedding so we don't need to blow our savings in a one-day event. Preparation is really important to us, we like to enjoy every moment of the preparation as much as we will enjoy on that wedding day. We hope that this event could make us closer to our families. 

So, the first thing that comes into our minds is where are we going to get married? 

Here is a rundown of the churches we've visited and considered:

Our Lady of Remedies Parish

 Malate, Manila

In the different wedding photos I saw via Internet, I fell in love with  photos showing the hanging lights inside Malate church. Very picturesque. When we visited the church, we found out that it is being renovated so you could see the green net over the construction on the left side. The guard said that the renovation would be for another four to five years.

Pros: Church has history. It has character. Perfect for big weddings. It's beautiful. 

Cons: You can hear the vehicles passing through the street in front of it. You can't control the entry of passersby. Personal vows and music with lyrics not allowed. (Deal breaker for me)

oneyearafter.wordpress.com

Abbey of our Lady of Montserrat

 San Beda Chapel, Mendiola

This is our church... if only the abbot and the archbishop would allow us, the chances of which is nil like 1%. This church had been a witness to our love story unfolding before the walls of San Beda College. Important events in our law school life happened here. Haaay. Why the rigid rules? I really feel bad that this beautiful church cannot be used for weddings anymore.But we will try, we will write a letter to the abbot, we will even write to the pope if necessary. Not kidding. 

Pros: Beautiful inside. Holds a lot of memories for us and for our families. Church is just the right size for all of our guests.

uapmakati.wordpress.com

San Agustin Church

Intramuros, Manila

M and I worked in Intramuros and we always look by at this church but never entered or attended a mass. Not once. The church looks beautiful, wedding pictures in the net looks amazing.

Pros: Intramuros is beautiful and we want to show it to our guests. One of the reception venues that we are considering is in Intramuros, going to the reception venue from the church is like a walk in the park, literally.

Cons: Expensive. Very strict rules.

lyndy005.blogspot.com

St. Pancratius Chapel

Paco Park, Manila

This church is surrounded by tombs. Its beautiful, perfect for intimate wedding. I like the fact that it is very quiet inside and you have the option to control the people who will enter the park.

Pros: Less expensive compared to the other churches. Very intimate. Exclusive.
Cons: Maybe too small for 150-200 guests. Some might find the place a little creepy.

Before the end of this year, we want to place a reservation to our chosen church. I'll keep you posted.

To end this post, let me share with you my favorite quote from the bible:

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 - Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.