glittered trail: DIY

It's a Monday and a holiday (Queen Elizabeth's birthday). Since I wasn't feeling writing something yesterday, I thought of doing this today even it's not a Sunday.

R E A D I N G

phone messages, tweets of people I follow

W R I T I N G

what needs to be written for my final assessment

L I S T E N I N G

Unwind playlist in Spotify

T H I N K I N G
of what happened the past week.

It was emotionally intense. It was kinda crazy. It was overwhelming. It was draining.
I don't want to go into details because it is all very personal. But, I'm glad that I was able to think things through and I've spoken to people I needed to speak to in the past few days. It is already resolved from my end but it is still not case closed for the rest of the people involved so I'm hoping the issues will be further discussed and the people that still need to talk to each other and to patch things up will be able to do so. Maybe not now but, hopefully, soon.

S M E L L I N G

dinner

W I S H I N G

that the news about Anthony Bourdain's death was all a lie

But it wasn't.

A couple of days ago, my friends and I honoured him by eating good food and trying new dishes. Well, we already ate in SaltVine but we decided to try other dishes such as:

Lamb Kibbeh

Syrian String Cheese Cigars

And of course, we couldn't say no to their Zaatar fries!

And the Chargrilled Lamb Shoulder and Scotch Meshwi.

H O P I N G

they would figure things out and patch up

W E A R I N G

my winter gear - matchy-matchy flannel pjs.

L O V I N G

the DIY beach bag that I made

I found this rug in IKEA a few weeks ago.

I liked the stripes and the fabric as well. I thought it was too pretty to be used just as a rug... With some folding, pinning and sewing, I got myself a new beach bag. :)

N E E D I N G

to exercise

I'd been slacking off the past two weeks because winter just started and all I wanted to do is hide under the sheets. Then I had my monthly girly thing. Now, I feel so meh and guilty about it.

Speaking of monthly girly thing, last Tuesday, I almost passed out at work (Eksena as always. Hahaha!) because of cramps. I will spare you with all the gory details though. The funny thing was an hour before the incident, I was speaking to the mum of one of my patients about how lucky babies are because they can sleep anytime they want. Unlike the adults, they can't sleep anytime they want, case in point, when you are at work. Then after that, there I was, asleep on the bed of one of the doctors. Haha! Anyway, I'm just thankful that my colleagues were so sweet enough to take care of me. :)

F E E L I N G

relieved and grateful

My uncle's surgery was successful. He's not out of the woods yet but so far, so good. We will take it one day at a time. Thank you, Lord. :) And as I've mentioned earlier (refer to Thinking section above), I was able to process and discuss issues that were raised to my attention during the past week.

C L I C K I N G

YouTube videos

If I'm not watching series or movies, I'm watching vlogs, travel videos and makeup tutorials from some of my favourite YouTubers.

As for an entirely different topic, My friends and I saw Priscilla, Queen of the Desert musical last Saturday.

I liked the story, the punchlines, the humour, the songs used and the costumes. However, I find that it was lacking a bit with the stage production (Well, there's not much you can do when the setting is at the desert or in the bus, I guess.) and... feelings? I'm not sure. There's something slightly off that I can't pinpoint. I was also uncomfortable that a Filipina was portrayed in a racist and sexist stereotype (But, true to some extent, unfortunately, let's not kid ourselves here). Apart from that, it's a good musical. I'm thinking of watching the film.

Sneaking in some ootd shots before dinner

* The Sunday Currently link-up *

I know how beautiful and special weddings could be. With all the fuss and the hype during the preparation, it's not impossible for a couple to create the most perfect wedding they can ever come up with. More than that, it's all about the celebration of their love. With God's blessing, it marks the start of their journey together for eternity.

However, I had never been excited to attend a wedding until last week. Truth be told, in weddings, all I care about was what the bride was wearing, what the theme or motif was, what the sponsors were wearing, what flowers were used and all the nitty-gritty details. I never understood how overwhelming weddings could be until that day when one of my closest friends got married.

Well, of course, it is more overwhelming and the feeling is just more inexplicable if I will be the one to walk down that aisle and be wed in front of God. This isn't the first wedding that I had attended but these realizations only came to flourish recently. My excitement and happiness is a lot different compared to the other weddings I had attended. Probably, because she is my friend and I was really involved in her wedding preparations. We're almost the same age as well and the thought of wedding is just... wow, whew, big!

And when I said 'involved in her wedding preparations,' I mean, really involved. Her wedding was supposed to be held in July but her fiance, now husband, wasn't allowed to take a leave since he was new at his work. They had to move their wedding to December. So I had enough, if not all, the time to do these, along with a few more choices she can choose with:

Save the date

The layout design for one of their cakes. (Cake was of course, by our favorite, Sophie's Mom.) Same was used for the front cover of their invitation.

Giveaway tags

Welcome sign

Wedding cord, candles, lighter

Flower boxes

Bridal garter

Layout fot thank you card and table number (on the other side of the bottle).

Layout for table cards

Wedding veil for the ceremony

Here comes the bride sign

Signboard made of blackboard!

(For the layouts, yes, I did tweaked them a bit but I'm not taking the whole credit for them. I got them from this awesome wedding website: Wedding Chicks)

And that doesn't end there! I went shopping with her for fabrics and outfits for her prenuptial photoshoot. I accompanied her to her seamstress visits. I scanned photos of her and her husband for an AVP presentation. She even asked me to be her 'stylist' on her prenup! And yes, I tagged along with them all the way to Pampanga!

For their prenup, we went to The Lakeshore in Pampanga. I haven't met his husband, until the day of the photoshoot. She also brought along another friend of hers, a make-up artist and a driver. They picked me up at 5 in the morning on that day. Goodness, I had to wake up at 3.30 in the morning for that and I am totally not a morning person. I love you that much, girl! Haha!

The location the couple chose was very peaceful and relaxing. It was my first time to go in Pampanga and that place. The view was breathtaking and really good for photos.

However, it was excruciatingly hot! With that weather, 4 outfit changes and 5 hours worth of shoot, the couple almost melted themselves under the sun. Haha. Nevertheless, they had tons of good shots!

While they were doing the shoot, her friend (and also my newly found friend!), Melvin, and I were also taking our own shots of them.

As the time was nearing to noon, we stopped taking photos and just sat, exchanged stories and waited instead. The sun and heat was too much to bear!

But of course, we didn't fail to have someone take our photo, too! As a keepsake for being first-timers at The Lakeshore. :D

With my newly found friend! :)

"I'm more of a casino where only the lucky ones hit the jackpot."

Then, three days after that prenup photoshoot, their most awaited day had finally arrived. THE day!

Mini-Cooper bridal car!

The ceremony-slash-reception set-up

Our day started at 11 am. We had our make-up done, changed into our dresses and had a photoshoot with the bride. We headed to Paco Park and waited for the arrival of the groom, his family, the bride's family and of course, the bride!

The product of the photoshoot that was. Their own coffee table book! :)

I was among the secondary sponsors on her wedding. Together with her older brother, we placed the veil on the couple during the ceremony. Upon the arrival of the bride, everyone was excited, for sure. I know I was. Hee. :)

The wish-on-a-butterfly tradition. I'm not sure if it's really called that way. Haha.

I have no intention na maki-moment literally but my tears couldn't help but fall when I saw the bride's brothers crying the moment she walked down the aisle.

Couples galore! The newly weds and their parents.

The ceremony was sealed with God's blessing and of course, with a kiss! The set-up was rearranged a bit for the reception. The caterer they chose, which was Tamayo's, was undoubtedly superb! Good food on a good night? How can that go wrong?

And to even add a good kind of fun to cap the night off? Best way to celebrate a blessed day for the couple!

Removing the bridal garter off.

Beer drinking through an infant's feeding bottle!

It was such a beautiful and intimate affair with the couple's family and closest friends! :) As magical as love and a wedding could be, relationship and marriage are reality. After hearing wonderful messages from the couple's parents and relatives, I realized that marriage isn't for me. Just yet. That's too much for me at this point. Haha. But as for love and relationship, I vowed to myself on that night that I will be with someone deserving. I know my worth and I will never, ever settle for less. Again. I will not let myself be put in a crappy spot for nothing, for a senseless and worthless reason. Again. I will only fight for something and for someone that is worth fighting for. And this time, I really do meant it. Even more than the last time I said it. :) Note to self, Jana.

Touching father-daughter dance :D

"I promise to love you everyday and to love you even more on days na nakakainis, nakaka-frustrate..." - Jaja

Girrrrrlllllll, married ka naaaaaaaaa!!! You looked stunning that night! Achieve na achieve ang dream wedding! :D

Congratulations and Best Wishes to the both of you! :)

Anyway, more photos from the event (Some of the group photos below, that group photo slightly above from this and my photo with the bride were from Jaja's friend, Gail):