366 days

366 days. Yes, it has been over 366 days since we officially became a couple. I don't want to sound like a sap but the past year was the best year of my life and I know that if this year is a preview of the coming years with Miguel -- then I'm sooo looking forward to our forever. It was an epic year full of boo-boos, adventures and a lot of firsts! I wouldn't have it any other way. The past year I gained a brand new brother, three awesome sisters, an extra mom and an extra dad plus Lance and Maggie. I love my extended family. I'm happy that loving Miguel means getting to love his family too. 

The past year was too awesome to put in to words. I wish I could invent a word to describe how I feel. Happy just won't do justice to the butterflies-in-my-stomach feeling that I get whenever Miguel shows me how special I am to him. I could go on and on and on about all my my-heart-skips-a-beat moment but I wouldn't want to bore you - I could ramble for hours just talking about how special Miguel is and how he completed every aspect of my life.. but I promised not be a sap, remember? Haha 

We were not able to celebrate on the day itself because work did not permit us to. It fell on a weekday so we just decided to celebrate the weekend after our actual anniversary. Of course, my boyfriend wanted to see me on our special day so despite my busy work schedule we were able to do a quick anniversary lunch near my office. Did I mention that he came from night shift and waited for my schedule to free up so we can have lunch at 230pm. EFFORT. See why I love him so much? :)

The real celebration happened last Sunday, he took me to Vivere Suites' Sky Lounge. He picked me up around 5:30pm for our 7pm reservation. The place exudes a relaxed vibe. I liked how the wind blew my hair away from face -- it was cold, it was cozy, it was romantic. I liked that he chose a Sunday night over a Saturday night because there is a relatively small number of people there so we got to enjoy the place more. The food was okay, not the I'll-go-back-there-soon kind of okay, but it was worth the  cashing cashing that the boyfriend paid for. So now I'll shut up for a bit so you can enjoy some food porn. 

Nachos : must love their sour cream-salsa combo

Clam Chowder 

I totally forgot what this is, but it's a white sauce pasta with chicken and mushroom

Chicken Wellington -- love this one!

Shrimp Thermidor-- which I devoured but was actually Miguel's order hihi

Beef Bourguignon - my favorite that night

Frozen Brazo

The surprise slice of chocolate cake -- it's like I died and went straight to chocolate heaven!

Now here is what the place looks like.. I have a fear of heights so dining in an open area on the 31st floor is no simple feat for me. I super like the infinity pool at the far end of the dining area, the sound of water plus the soft piano music is really soothing, so soothing that I totally forgot how far up we were! The view was definitely breathtaking. I would go back just to see the city skyline again. Oh, plus the service! Their staff was so polite and we felt like royalties. I am one satisfied customer. :)

Interiors : geisha-inspired? hehe

Non-smoking area

The infinity pool

Of course the night wouldn't be complete without some couple shots, right? Plus we wanted to maximize our 31-floor stay on their mirror-y elevator. Yeah, Vain. :)

my prince charming all dressed up :)

Happiest 1 year old couple :)

The Vivere Hotel Sky Lounge
5102 Bridgeway Ave., cor. Asean Drive Filinvest Corporate City
Alabang, Muntinlupa City Philippines 1781

Ryan and Celene: September 18. 2012

Since my parents had me when they were young - like undergraduate young, I belong to the older batch of cousins on both sides of the family. Being so, there are only a few people ahead of me age-wise, so when people ahead of me starts getting married, I know that the next question would be if I would be next. Poof. Pressure. Imagine bringing your boyfriend to every family event and people ask when your wedding would be. Awkwaaaardd. Now imagine bringing your boyfriend to a wedding - double the pressure. hahaha

Ate Celene is the only girl cousin who is older than me, I was surprised that she asked me to be one of her secondary sponsors and I was more than happy to accept. I like it when people ask me to be part of their happily ever afters, I feel special. I wanted to be presentable for that wedding because I represent my family in the entourage list. What I look like and how I act is a reflection of Celene's side of the family.

For my makeup I requested for a Latina look, I wanted to embrace my skincolor so I asked her to use browns, nudes and bronze on my face and I had Pols, my HMUA to exaggerate the curls that I already have. She was so easy to work with, she consults everything before putting anything on my face. I trusted her judgement to shape my eyebrow and it really worked for the look I was going for. She is pretty young for her profession ha, she is just 20 years old. I figured this girl would make a name for herself pretty soon. So if you want your hair and makeup done by Paola Estipona you can contact her at 09264891219. It won't cost you an arm and a leg to be pretty.

I vowed never to show anyone any photos of the wedding but it turned out better than I expected. I hope you enjoy the pictures, it's not everyday that a girl gets to dress up. Forgive my vanity :)

Candid shot by the boyfriend showing my fading hair color. LOL

makeup by Paola Estipona @ 09264891219

mom and tita belle

Cousins - Cyrus, Kuya Cedrick, Jayvee and Chino with miggy

mom and me

The bride

the bride's family

e sino pa ba date ko? 

Celene and Ryan 

Miguel's Birthday 2012

Warning: This is a picture heavy post.

I fell inlove with Raf's camera - so much that I waited for his pictures because my pictures look like crap next to his. hehe

I wish there were pictures of the other guests but by the time the rest of his friends came I was too busy in the kitchen playing host/first lady. hehe

I love the super candid shot of me and Miguel by the pool- two people with a connection. :)

The party made me realize that I love every person who loves and cares for Miguel. Enjoy the pics!

We enjoyed the party so much that we are already planning to hold a Matela-Blanco party real soon for our siblings.

Two baby cakes from Sugrahouse

Early Birds, from L-R: Raf, Ken, Joan, birthday boy and Doc

Ref filled with Booze - I think we had over 40 cans there

Pancit Malabon, Lechon Manok and Liempo, California Maki, BBQ, Spaghetti, pichipichi, and the cakes





From L-R: Doc, Mhos, Ken, Joan, Raf, Jeff

His Teammates plus the awesome Gae :)

Ken and Raf enjoying the pool the morning after

A candid photo of me and the birthday boy

Half-drunk Miguel hehe

Hiding my bagong gising eyes behind sunglasses

I was on  the other side of the pool when I took this shot

With Joan(Miguel's sister) and her boyfriend Ken

Therapy Bags

After my SUY BAGS experience, I was able prove that quality bags does not have to cost you an arm and a leg. The trick is to find a brand that is sturdy and stylish. For a while now, the only item on my sturdy-and-stylish list is SUY Bags -- that is until I stumbled upon Therapy Bags

I have been stalking their facebook page for a while now but being on self imposed shopping ban, I mustered all my self control to not buy from any of their collection. 

Let me tell you one thing about me, though - I have weakness for a certain four letter word that is spelled S-A-L-E, a week back I logged on the my fb account and saw that they were having a Crazy Sale, all bags from their new collection are sold for only P699. I lost all my self control and sent a text message with my order details. I got my bags a day after they shipped it to me.

At first glance I can say that their bags are not made from cheap material, the bags are made from thick faux leather and the metal closure is pretty secure. The designs are in trend and is sooo now. I love how they incorporate small details that really umphify the bag -- for the murray2 in taupe the braided handle and the studs and for the camille2 it's the animal print lining on the inside. 

I chose murray2 because a girl should have at least one roomy bag in her lifetime. I mean, with the kikay kit, the umbrella, the perfume bottle and the planner, a girl needs space - lotsa space in her bag. This is also my new generic bag, the color literally goes with anything in my wardrobe. Camille2 is another story, see the bright denim blue color? It is the less conservative of the bags. It is also the smaller bag of the two but it's still large enough to accommodate my daily essentials. If you're feeling down a blue bag is the perfect pick me upper. The animal print inside the bag is like a dirty little secret - it's like I'm hiding something beautiful in my bag. I swear when I open the bag - I smile from ear to ear. Like SUY Bags, I know that their designs are well thought of. 

Murray Shoulder bag in Taupe

Don't you just love the texture?

Camille2 in Denim Blue

Animal print lining is love

You can choose your own Therapy Bag from their facebook page or their multiply page. I swear that their online transaction is pretty efficient. Oh and did I tell you that they sell those vintage Casio watches too? Shop na :)

Behind the Surprise Party

I have been busy the past months trying to think of ways to make Miguel's birthday special and the idea of throwing him a Surprise Party keeps popping in my mind but the thing is, I was not sure if he would be here for his birthday - a party won't make any sense if the birthday boy is halfway around the world, right? Stubborn girl that I am I still pushed through with my plans. 

I started writing down the guest list - I started with his family, his office friends, his basketball friends, his friends at home then his college friends. I have to admit though that I did throw in the names of my friends, I figured since we travelled together already they count as his friends too. hihi The total? 50+ people. That's an ambitious number for the budget that I set aside for his party, so with a sad heart I had to cut some people off my list. I narrowed it down to 25 people then I started to stalk his friends and identify a point person for each group and contacted each one of them. 

With the list of people who are invited settled, I tried scouting places that would fit the two of us plus 25 guests. For that number of people I know Linden Suites is a good candidate, I also considered Antel Spa, Serenity Towers and Legend Villas. I put off reserving the place the very last minute because I was waiting for the final news if he would be here for his birthday or not. I inquired the last week of July and the 1st week of August to all the places and September 1 was free. Too bad though that the rooms I like were already unavailable once I got confirmation around the second week of August that he would be here for his birthday. When I called Antel Spa for the nth time asking if there was a miracle cancellation they offered me a 2-bedroom suite on their sister hotel, A.venue Suites. They assured me that the place is similar to Antel Spa Suites - with that in mind, I decided to book the room via Agoda. 

What's left is the food and the cake. Yeah food and cake falls into 2 different categories for me. Since A.venue Suites' kitchen does not have a burner - just a microwave, I decided to just order the food. Amber's Pancit Malabon(good for 20), Spaghetti(good for 20), 30pcs bbq and 40pcs of pichipichi. I also added 4 orders of Andok's Lechon Manok and 4 orders of their Liempo. To add variety to the food I added a tray and a half of California Maki. All that, together with lotsa booze and chips made up the menu. 

The cake. I know a baker who bakes a real good red velvet cake with fondant frosting and that was what I wanted for Miguel's birthday - nothing but the best. I contacted this baker early August to let her know the design I want and when and where the cake would be delivered, but a week before the party, the baker contacted me and told me that she won't be able to make the cake because her daughter booked her a flight to Singapore to visit her grandkids that weekend. I had a tough time finding a baker who is willing to bake the cake in such short notice, so I decided to buy ready made cakes I checked out Conti's, Classic Confections and Sugarhouse. I know I had choices but the memory of Sugarhouse's Concorde cake overwhelmed me and right then and there I called their Glorietta branch and reserved a cake for the day of the party. 

And with that, everything is all set up and ready to go.

With everything that's happening, all Miguel knows is that we are checking in to a hotel and celebrating his birthday with our common friends - i.e our travel buddies slash my officemates. You can award me with a Grammy or an Emmy with the performance I made up to the last second when the doorbell rang and his surprise guests started coming. 

A shoutout to Gae, who put up with my OC-ness all throughout the planning. We did good, yes? :)

I don't know how I pulled it off. I really don't know how everything fell into place. I almost cried when Miguel blew his candle and I know that I did something good. I loved to hear his laughter all throughout the night. Sulit lahat, napasaya ko sya. Things might not be going his way but I wanted him to feel that despite everything that's happening he has friends and family and me to support him every step of the way. 

Mission accomplished. 

Lip girl/Eye girl

Kikay kit - every girl has one. The contents of a kikay is a reflection of who the girl is and what part of the face she wants to bring out more. If your kikay kit contains mostly eye shadows, a good pair of tweezers, mascara and the like then you are an eye-girl. On the other hand, if you have lip gloss, lipsticks, lip liners, lib balms and lip scrubs then you are a lip-girl. I am not saying a lip-girl cannot be an eye-girl or vice versa. Now, if you are curious to know what category you belong then try to remember the times when you woke up late for office or school and you have no time to do both - which part would you choose to groom? That will answer your question. 

I am a lip girl. No, I don't have gazillions of lip products but during crunch time I color my lips and then I feel good about myself. I'll share my go-to products with you.

what's in my kikay kit

Ever since Sherly introduced me to the Mary Kay Creme lipstick I never used any other lipstick brand again. The color stays on for the longest time and this does not dry your lips. It's like you're wearing a sexier version of a tinted lip balm! Since I started using this product my lips no longer crack at the end of the day. I have nothing but praises for Mary Kay.

Mary Kay's Dusty Rose on the left and Toffee Caramel on the right.

I have a thing for lip liners, I consider them as must-haves. I remember owning my first piece a year back when Leslie showed me that lip liners can be used as lipsticks! The thing with lip liners is that you don't need to be an expert to apply it as compared to lipsticks - you can control the intensity of the color and you won't go beyond your lips when coloring. Remember though that when using lip liners as lipsticks you have to put lip balm so as not to scratch your lips and cause cracks. I used to be a fan of Body Shop's Born Lippy in Rasberry but lately I switched to LipIce as my Lip balm - same effect, only cheaper. I miss the yummy Rasberry smell though.  

Lip liners. From L-R: NYX Hot Red, NYX Bloom, NYX Hot Pink and Etude Nude

NYX Lip liners are my favorite right now. To diversify, I usually choose the darker colors since I go for light colored lipsticks already but when I saw Etude's Nude lip liner I went against my personal rule and bought it -- and now together with my LipIce lip balm, I am enjoying the I-have-no-lipstick-but-I do look. 

My latest purchase is Revlon's Just bitten lipstain + balm, I am not going ga-ga about this product because  it has the same effect as LipIce. True that it stays longer but it's really not for me. The product comes in a tip to tip package -- lip stain on one end and the balm on the other. I wish Revlon can improve the packaging, it's really hard to put the cap back on the balm end without damaging the balm, maybe make it retractable next time? For Php575, I wont buy this product again -- but then again, I heard REVLON released a new version of Just Bitten.. hmm. something to think about. 

So that's it - my lip essentials. what's yours? :)