Saturday Favorites 014

AAAAAAHHHHHH! This week has just been mentally tiring and stressful! I wouldn't discuss what actually happened this week because this entry is all about good vibes. After all, we need to look at the bright side of things, right? :)

1. Spent the Sunday night with my elementary friends! :)

Jonie's back from London for a vacay!!!!! :D

Damn, I missed these people!!!!! Sayang, wala si Erika and Karen! :(

Anyway, there was a lot of catching up to do. One night wasn't enough. I think I mentioned in one of my former entries about how we have matured over the years but still, the person who we were back in elementary was still in us even years later. We're still the same happy, noisy, laughing people that we were back in those days. Well, we laugh more now because of all the reminiscing we had done of the awkward moments and memories we all had of each other from back then. We saw each other growing up. We all saw the transformation of each other into better individuals. 

Comic-like edit of some of our photos courtesy of Sam

It was a fun night of reminiscing the 90s through the karaoke, of letting the girl from London experience dinner in Mang Inasal, of joking around publicly, and of trying unusual taste of food like a burger with peanut butter instead of ketchup and/or mustard. :D

2. Walked home three days this week.

Photo Credit

I think I want to do this more often. :)

3.  Got supplies from my supplier. :)

4. Started my friend's DIY cord for her wedding. :)

5. This is actually the deal breaker here.

I had been feeling shitty, annoyed and uninspired for the past few days and this made me smile. This is given to me by a patient. Amazing how little things can do a big difference. :)

With this week being over, here's to hoping for a better week ahead (of me, specifically. Sigh. Haha!)!

Saturday Favorites 013

For the past few days, I've been busy researching ideas for my friend's DIY wedding table cards, thank you cards, gift tags, and more. This is my Project No. 2 for her. She asked me to do more stuff for her wedding. My Project No. 1 was her wedding cord (that is still unfinished because I have yet to find silver plated initials of their first name), which I think I mentioned before.

Out of all the ideas I presented to her, here are her choices:

Gift Tag

Table Number

For the invite

Name card

I didn't entirely make this myself. I got a hold of free templates on Wedding Chicks (Personally, I love this site! They have tons of DIY Wedding ideas and free templates that you can make on the spot and tweak it easily later on.) I just edited it according to the font that she likes or design that she wants. Actually, the name card template above is from a name sign that says "Bride," which I believe is placed on a dressing room of the bride or on the back of her seat. The one used for the invite actually had a different phrase (the one written on top of the ribbon) on the template.

If you want to make yours for your wedding or you want to find free printables or downloadable templates  that can match your wedding theme, I suggest you look into these sites:

Intimate Weddings

Love vs Design

misscutiepiegoes80s

Just Something I Made

i-do-it-yourself

My DIY Wedding Day

One Pretty Wedding

Saturday Favorites 012

I'm back on my usual weekend routine of looking back on all the good things that had come my way in the week! :) I didn't make my Favorites entry last Saturday because it was a Black Saturday and I didn't want to go online. My little form of penance for the Holy Week, you can say. :)

Anyway, a brief story of the week that was. After we got home from the outing (see former entry), we (specifically one workmate and I only, since we don't have the privilege of "forced leave") got free pass of not going to work by Monday that week. So by Monday, after doing laundry of clothes I used from the trip, I went to the mall because my mom told me to find shoes I fancy and she'll pay for it. (When I was away, she and my brothers went shopping. This is one example of how fairness run in our family. Hehe.) By Tuesday, that workmate and I went to work for half a day. We asked permission not to go to work by Wednesday and we were allowed to so yay for the both of us. Haha! Some of my high school freinds and I were supposed to have Visita Iglesia on Friday, like we normally do for the past 3 years already, but the plan didn't push through. My family and I went to the Church for Stations of the Cross and watched the 7 Last Words at home instead. I also had my fill of excess sleeping during the Holy Week. Hehe. Basically, that's how my last week was.

Now let's move on to the highlights of this week.

1. Extended Holiday!

Photo Credit

It's Araw ng Kagitingan here in the Philippines hence, another holiday after the Holy Week. (Trust me, it was so hard to wake up the next morning that I had to psych myself. Vacation Hangover and Overload. Hahaha!)

2. Hunger Games!

Finally got my set! :) It was tough to buy this set. I had to have it reserved for me in a bookstore and have them contact me once it's available. The bookstore have stocks of the individual books. Other bookstores might probably had sets as well. But I specifically wanted it to buy at National Bookstore because they were selling it 20% off the SRP because of the store's 75th anniversary thing. The sets were sold or out of stock out most of the time because delivery of these sets were only to a minimum. Paunahan talaga. Thank God, nakakuha ako. :D

3. Errands at work, personal stuff.

Photo Credit

Bought some materials for my business, canvassed computers and parts (This part is actually annoying. Don't ask me why.), bank transactions, derma visit, seamstress visit for bridesmaid's dress measurement, went to the mall with Mom, etc. I like being busy most of the time. I like the feeling of productivity. I like crossing out things in my planner. I like being preoccupied. 

And that's how my week was. How was yours?
I hope it didn't end bad as mine did. I just received the most shitty news from work ever. :l

April Listography

April List! :) This post is already 7 days delayed, I apologize. Anyway, we're still in the first week so I think it's all good pa rin. :)

Let's see if I can have a productive month ahead. :)

As for my accomplishment from last month, see below: 

Free Escapade to Zambales

This entry is about my recent all-expenses-paid trip A.K.A work outing. This is another mark in my early adult years because this is my first work outing attendance. 10-12 years ago (It was that long already???), I (together with my brothers) was the one being brought to my own mother's/aunt's work outing. Now, I'm the one playing with my officemates' little kiddos. :l This will also make up for my supposedly weekly Saturday Favorites entry because obviously I was busy with my rest and relaxation days. :)

31 March 2012, Friday

Nora's Beach Resort

Pundaquit, Zambales

For this trip, I woke up at 4:30 in the morning not because I was super excited but I was afraid to be left behind or to be scolded upon for my tardiness. Hahaha! Jaja and I watched Hunger Games the night before and I accompanied her to her wedding errands, too, so I was really tired when I got home. It took me 3-4 hours to pack! I was so sleepy already. I wanted to pack before I actually leave the house but knowing me, if I do that, my chances of forgetting something necessary would be a notch higher. Haha!

I arrived at the office at 6:45 AM. Ha! I was the third one to arrive! Everyone expected me to be late. But I wasn't! It was an achievement. Oh wait, no, it was a miracle. Haha! We left the office at around 8:00 AM. If I wasn't busy munching and filling my tummy, I was sleeping during the 5-hour drive (with one stopover only!). Define butt sore and deep vein thrombosis, please. 

Some had lunch during that single stopover; the others upon arrival. Days before this 3-day, 2-night event, three of my closest people from work thought of dividing what food/beverages to bring. They included me and Jackie in the division. I belonged to the beverages category with Ate Dency. Another two people for chips. And most importantly, the one and only person for the meals -- Tita Dory. Yes, my food for the rest of the trip were taken care of. (A shoutout of thanks to Tita Dory!)

After lunch, I took a nap and woke up just in time for the sunset. In fact, I was awakened by the rain in the middle of my sleep. Mas masarap ang tulog, mas malamig! (Pumunta lang pala ng beach para matulog. Hahaha!)

By night, we had a few drinks. The kids played. Others slept early. The men stayed out until the wee hours in the morning.

01 April 2012, Saturday

Anawangin, Zambales

Jackie and I woke up around 7 or 8 in the morning, I think. We had no intention of moving out of the bed that early if we didn't hear our officemates' voices waking us up. We had an island-hopping schedule that morning. Jackie and I wanted to go to the four islands: Anawangin Cove, Capones Island, Nagsasa Cove and Camara Island. The boatride to those four islands costs only 1,500.00 Php (350.00 Php per head) but no one else wanted to join us. All of them preferred a trip only to Anawangin Cove. :l So what else were we supposed to do?

So off we went to Anawangin Cove.

Anawangin Cove was amaze-balls!

The cool, white sand...

And cool, blue waters... Relaxing sight!

I also felt like I was in a forest or lake in United States!

Low tide pa.

Aside from frolicking under the sun and dipping in the cool waters, you can also camp in here, too. If you're looking for that kind of adventure, I think this is one of the best places to go to. Not that I experienced it first hand but from observing the place and the people there at that time, you can set up your tents here. Light up a bonfire and cook or something and gaze under the stars (or go skinny dipping if it's even allowed, haha!) by night. The place is quiet, has cool weather (I'm not sure by night time though, probably cooler) and really far from civilization. If you're not very sensitive about the use of comfort rooms and can survive without phone signal or wi-fi, try Anawangin! :)

Within 30 minutes or less, nagka-water na ulit ang kaninang low tide. :)

I wore my swimsuit without the intention of dipping myself in the water because I know the sun would cast its rays upon the earth very madly by 10:00 AM. I don't want to experience his wrath, even if I had showered myself with sunblock. Still, fortunately I came prepared, the sun wasn't as mad as I expected it to be. The weather became gloomy by 10 in the morning. Yay! :)

Preoccupied with purchasing of souvenirs. :)

  

It was also a good thing that Jackie and I didn't insist in going to the rest of the three islands because it was starting to drizzle when we left Anawangin. The waves were starting to get slightly crazy, hence, the slightly bumpy boat ride on our way back. It rained minutes after we got back to our cottage.

Oh yes, you predicted it right! Jackie and I slept after lunch and woke up almost dinner time. We conquered the karaoke and played with the kids after dinner. Again, the boys were the last people standing. They didn't put the microphone down until 2 or 3 in the morning!

*****

We checked-out by 9:30 AM the next day and headed to Pure Gold Duty Free to do our grocery-slash-pasalubong shopping. Since I only spent less than 25% of the allowance given to us (Yes, my pocket money pa kami. Bonggels. :D), I had spare for shopping! YAY! :) Yet as expected, I spent more than I intended to. Thankfully, the extra money that I brought with me was enough! I was the one who almost filled the car with goodies and caused a 'para-lang-kaming-sardinas' situation. Hee. What can I say, they were sold cheaper there! Grab na, diba? (Impulse shopping -- with the exception of food that is a physiologic need, -- sometimes, is and can be very bad though, kids. Haha!)

I arrived home at 5:00 PM, headed to Mass and unpacked my things and slept the night away like a baby. Monday was a pseudo-holiday for us since it was our 'rest day' from the trip (Yes, nagbakasyon na nga, may extension pa!). We have no work today as well so another additional day to the Holy Week-slash-long weekend vacay! Ako na talaga! :D

This is how giddy I am over the free pass at work. And the long weekend. :)

And that concludes my recent weekend! How was yours? :)

(Photos without my name on it were grabbed from a friend.)