Let's save the Earth : EARTH HOUR 2012

Let us support Earth hour tonight 8:30 pm by turning off our lights for an hour.

Just an hour from us all can save Mother Earth!

Trivia: On our first date last year March 28,2011, Me and Alan observed the earth Hour in Hard Rock Cafe Sto. Domingo, Dominican Republic...

Pinoystitions: Believe it or not?

I consulted a dermatologist year 2004 for a mole removal. Yes, you read it right! I asked a derma to remove my mole. Actually it’s my grandma’s idea (dad’s side), and she even paid for it. Why? It is not that it’s really in a cancerous stage but because the mole I have is under my eyes ( on the left side of my nose to be exact)right where the tears fall and granny don’t want me to get widowed over and over again like what superstitions says. I actually planned to removed both moles since I’m already there anyway  ( I have two big moles in my face) but the Derma only removed one and let the mole  on my right cheek  stays. It is not that she can’t remove both but she just leaves that one because a superstition says a person with a mole on his/her face will be successful in business.

Funny it may seem but we Filipinos really grew up and believes in superstitious beliefs, it doesn’t matter if you are from the Metro or Provinces.

 Countless of them I must say, they have a lot to say weather  it’s about  pregnancy and childbirth, infants and children, love and marriage, money and wealth, food and dining ,house and home, illness and death, colors and numbers, animals, tell tail signs, bad luck and good luck, etc.

Have you ever realized how much our life is governed by the power of these unwritten laws?

I remember when I was a kid when my milk tooth fell out, I threw it up unto our kitchen’s roof because they said the rats will find it and when my new tooth grows in, it will be as strong and as powerful as a rat’s tooth. Duh?!! Tell me why my teeth now have jackets LOL.

Few months ago I saw myself thinking about “SUKOB” when Alan told me about her half sister’s planned wedding on October that he just learned. Our wedding will going to be in the same year  and again superstitions says it’s bad luck for two siblings to marry in the same year. How bad is that? Oh well, because Alan is Mexican and they don’t have such beliefs plus we are married onboard a ship already (civilly), we just ignored it and just focused in our wedding preps.

Superstitions sometimes may leave us in total bewilderment but if it will only lead us to a better appreciation of Filipino mystique then re-reading these folk beliefs would have served a purpose.

Since I am getting married soon and I know my  fellow brides-to-be are also curious about what superstitions says in love and marriage, I selected 20 superstitious beliefs  that is popular, appealing and unique basing on personal choice.

Ready?!

1.    Sweethearts should not exchange pointed or sharp objects as gifts, for this will lead to a broken engagement.-que??

2.    The bride and groom-to-be must avoid travelling before their wedding day to avoid accident. -we have destination wedding,how about that?

3.    The bride-to-be shouldn’t try on her wedding dress before the day of the wedding, or the wedding will not take place.

complicated I must say!

4.    The groom must arrive in the church before the bride to prevent bad luck.-you better Boo. :P

5.    Dropping the wedding ring, or the couple’s veil, or arrhae during the wedding ceremony, spells unhappiness for the couple.-Secondary sponsors beware!

6.    The groom who sits down ahead of his bride during the wedding ceremony will be a henpecked husband.-Awwww under the saya ? will I let Alan sit first?....hmmmm lemme think about it hihi

7.    If it showers during the wedding, it means prosperity and happiness for the couple.-no! por favor! we are having the party under the sky >.<

8.    During the wedding ceremony a bride must step on her husband’s foot so that both of them will agree on things that they will undertake, and so that her husband will not be cruel to her.-AHA!

9.    Whoever the couple stands first after the ceremony, will die ahead of the other.-Wanna stand first.

10.  It is a bad omen for the newlyweds when their parents cry at their wedding.-Mother!remember this....^_^

11.  A bride who cries during the wedding ceremony brings bad luck.- I will try not to..

12.  Throwing rice at the newlyweds will bring them prosperity all their life.-for sure :D isang sako kaya?haha

13.  Breaking something during the wedding reception brings good luck to the newlyweds.-how about 10 trays of egg? LOL

14.  Upon entering their new home, both bride and groom should go up the stairs side-by-side so that neither of them will be superior to the other.-i hope i'm slim then! (goodluck)

15.  It is bad luck for two siblings to marry within the same year aka Sukob. A remedy for this is to have the sibling who marries later in the year pass the backstairs of the church on the day of the wedding.-Ooops have remedy naman pala ;D

16.  Removing plates from the table while an unmarried woman is still eating will keep her single all her life.-yes! because overweight....too much eating!

17.  An unwed girl who follows the footprints of a newlywed couple will marry soon.

like this?

18.  A married woman who wears a pearl ring will cause her husband to commit adultery.-good thing I don't have one.

19.  A person who habitually sits in the head of the table during meals will never marry.-our dining table is round haha.

20.  If you want to see before hand what your lifetime partner will look like, wake up at midnight and look at yourself in the mirror while holding a lighted candle. At first, the image in the mirror will appear to be skeleton; after five minutes you will see the full view of the person you will marry.-freaky!!Nunca!

There you go! Weather these superstitions charm or amuse or seem unbelievable today, which among us has the audacity to trifle with luck and taunt fate itself?

Chuckle if you must… but hey! don’t say I didn’t warn you if you fail to heed their advice! : P

PS. Alan’s half sister’s wedding was postponed recently for the reason I don’t bother to ask. But the good thing is that I will not think nor worry about Sukob anymore, weather its true or not!

Note: Pinoystitions is my own term for Pinoys superstitions, I don’t know if there's such word. After each superstitions I have my thoughts written -again, just my thoughts.

Source: Don’t take a bath on a Friday by Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz

Happy First Date Anniversary!

Yesterday was our first date anniversary...Yes! First date hahaha.....Well if you are a reader of our blog you'll probably knows the story of that first date and  yes it's not so good because I'm as cold as ice to Alan then.  

Well, despite of that fact, after remembering the past I have this nostalgic feeling for what happened that night in Hard Rock Cafe, Sto. Domingo, it suddenly played back and drew a grin in my face. I never knew in the long run it's going to be "US".

To cope up with the not so good attitude I have that date (way back) I'll make it up to Alan with a first date anniversary gift. :D

Since we tied the knot on board the ship last August I confessed but  we don't have any hard copy of our wedding pictures....Ooooops I'm sorry I mean me because Alan do have one in a frame..I'm kind of guilty! So as a present I bought a simple album and filled it with our wedding pictures. I suppose to spill it yesterday but due to a lot of graduating students this week and there's a long line of pictures to be develop I don’t get the chance to get it the same day.

Here it is: 

i love those cute hearts! :D

ooops Rated PG for the first leaf...

a very special day to remember

And of course if Alan have our picture in frame, me too!

There you go!

I am happy He loves it!

HAPPY 1st DATE ANNIVERSARY ALAN!

Te amo muchisimo Amorcito!

Te extrano mas.....

Anna <3

Mood Board : Mexican Beach Theme

 

Last week I shoot monogram hub an email for our monogram order. I'm quite excited how Sis Joy will mix and match the ideas in our mind for our Mexican Beach Theme. She is actually apologetic (side kwento) informing me that she might deliver it late because she will be visiting her hubby over the weekend in La Union to catch up with a couple of months not seeing each other. I am really excited to see our monogram made by her but of course I understand her specially now that me and my Alan is currently in a LDR mode too, I assured her that there is no problem, I am not in a hurry. I know being away from your better half is a big challenge for a relationship.

Okay, going  back to our monogram order, after sending her the deposit receipt of our payment She asked me to send her our mood board that she can use as inspiration in making our monogram as soon as she get back. Shameful I am but I just sent her only few pictures of our inspirations. So I decided to make our moodboard finally...For so many ideas we have I can't put them all together in the board so for the moment this collage will do (hopefully).

We basically have a combination of beach and Mexican ideas like cactuses, margaritas, nachos, papel picado, flip flops, shells, maracas, corona beers, sombreros, and chilies. I am  really looking forward to see the 3 monogram studies soon. For sure it will be difficult for me and Alan to choose.

By the way I just made it on time since Sis Joy will be back on Thursday and she even told me that in case I have some "pahabol" she will gratefully accept it, so in a new email I sent to her I have this moodboard attached and that's my pahabol! :p

Our wedding cord: update

It's finally done! Oh well, yes the heart detail with our names and wedding date engraved. A local jewelry shop made it for us for only 5 days if I'm not mistaken. We just brought them a 1970's 1 peso coin and they converted it to a golden heart. They just attached it together with the old cord of  my parents and finished. We paid them P200 for the service.:D

Our unique wedding cord

Look at that fat cute heart with our names :D

My DIY bridal bouquet using annatto flower buds

Do you want a unique bridal bouquet? Because I do!
I've got the idea of having a bridal bouquet made of atsuete flower buds way back November 2010 when me and my cousin Karla went to their farm for our mini farm photoshoot.That was the time she was trying to practice portraiture, so I acted as her model. They've got a lot of atsuete trees with  bountiful blooms that time so I took some flower buds for props. And I must say that atsuete flower is an effective one. :D So I told myself when I get married and it's possible to use it as my bouquet. I will !

Here are some of her shots that inspires me :

Today, Mom went with my Aunt (her sister) to visit their farm because they are currently harvesting. I was cooking lunch when I remember the DIY atsuete (annatto) bouquet I was planning before , so I sent her sms asking her to bring me some atsuete flower buds. Mom came home late, like 7-ish already but I am glad she got me some of those cute reddish thing I’ve asked her to bring. I am really eager to do the DIY right then while the buds are still fresh, so I dragged my sister with me to buy two stems of white mums to add in the bouquet. Good thing the flower shop in front of the Church is still open (actually it’s about to close). As soon as we reached our house I saw myself started grabbing all materials I can use and started doing the bouquet excitedly.

My DIY atsuete flower buds bridal bouquet

Here are the materials I’ve used:

Atsuete flower buds

Shells

Sinamay

Plastic straw

Glue gun

2 stems of white mums

Colored Jute string

Some succulent plant 

Total cost: P50.00 all materials Ive got for free except for the mums that cost me P25 per stem.

I let my sister hold it for me.

How I do it:

While watching MMK (LOL) I am also busy trying to create a simple bouquet out of it. I inserted the white  mums in the middle of the atsuete flower buds. I put enough amount of the buds around the mums and tied it  with plastic straw. I wrapped the stem with sinamay and put some shells just to put a little beach-y feel on it (since we are having Mexican Beach Theme).

I glued some shells just to put something beach-y.

Of course a bouquet is not complete without a partner. So I also made a simple but cute boutonniere for the groom. I took a succulent plant and 3 pieces (in a branch) of the atsuete buds, tied it together, wrapped the end with some sinamay and put some little shells and I’m done.

This boutonniere made me think of Rambutan fruit. hehe

Hey! For me it's cute

To be honest, I am still undecided if we will get a florist or not for our wedding. I am having hard time finding the right florist for us. It’s either the one we like is already booked or it’s too pricey. I don’t wanna splurge too much in flowers since we’ll be using it only for a day and it’s not edible (LOL). I am still waiting for some quotations from my newly discovered florists so I’m  not sure yet if I will pursue this DIY atsuete bouquet  but I am not closing the idea of having it since I found this one very affordable and unique.

Note: This DIY is just a prototype, tangerine tango is our main color motif so in case i'll be having atsuete bouquet I will used orange flowers or some fillers that can match with our motif and theme.

9 months to go : Timeline check

Omgosh!Time passes like heaps and bounds.... I can't believe it's down to 9 months already! I know we are still in the tip of the iceberg but I am just loving the preps to bits!

Alright! let's see how's the timeline so far......

Timeline

December 2011:

·         research

·         determine budget

·         choose date

·         compose a guest list

January 2012 :

·         select people to complete entourage

·         book church

·         church and venue ocular

·         book venue

·         book caterer

·         book Photographer

·         book Videographer

·         book Coordinator

·         choose and order official monogram/logo

·         choose and order Save the date

February:

·         obtain floral and music estimates

·         search for gown designer

·         search for entourage dresses/vest designer

·         search for florist/gown designer

·         search for HMUA

·         search for cake supplier

·         search for photobooth supplier

·         search for fireworks/sky lantern supplier

·         search for lights and sounds supplier

·         search for band

·         search for host

·         pick honeymoon destination (choices)

·         DIY planner (favor) layout

March:

·         start diet (losing weight)

·         enroll in the gym

·         inform members of the entourage

·         send WYB cards

·         look for guest favors

·         look for PS favors

April:

·         DIY STD card/magnet

·         DIY ring holder

·         Ask painter to do the pens (favor) calligraphy

·         Re-new the wedding cord’s detail (something old)

·         Ask jewelry shop to resize e-ring and wedding ring

·         DIY planner mass production

·         DIY front of misallete

·         Send outs save the date for overseas guests

·         Ask Alan to buy the Mexican Arrhae

·         Order for corsage/buttonieres for entourage

·         order invitations

·         order personal stationery and thank you notes

·         book florist

·         Go to Mexican Embassy for visa requirements (inquiry)

May:

·         Plan reception

·         Do seat plan

·         DIY decors

·         Search for guest transportation

·         Book bridal car

·         Book designer

·         Gown first fitting

·         Book flight for Xmas Bohol family trip

·         Solo boudoir shoot

·         Process Mexican visa

·         Search for guest transportation

·         Book bridal car

June:

·         pay 75% of reception/caterer

·         book ento designer

·         entou fittings

·         buy neckties and bow ties

·         book granny’s designer/buy their dresses

·         distribution of STD

·         Plan reception

·         Make final layout for invitation

July:

·         Finalize guest list

·         Have a list of latin songs for reception

·         Make a program for reception

·         Make OTD time line (groom and bride)

·         Make prenup board

·         Make couple boudoir board

·         Make a list of props for shoot

·         Order or DIY entou fascinator

·         DIY FG baskets

·         Update Chichi about the corsage, buttonieres and invitations

·         DIY Thank you cards

·         DIY table names

·         DIY misalette cover

·         DIY couple chair sign

·         DIY bible holder/matches

August:

·         Complete Church requirements

·         Check all services

·         Select gifts for PS Sponsor/order

·         Prenup settings finalize

·         Start beauty treatments/sessions

·         Book hotel for Bohol trip

·         Book honeymoon

·         Apply for visa

September:

·         Mail invitations (overseas)

·         Make Bohol Itinerary

·         Make honeymoon itinerary

·         Check with Bro Leo if He could officiate the ceremony

·         Buy wedding accessories

·         Buy Groom’s suit

October:

·         Finish all un-accomplish stuffs from previous months

·         DIY prenup shoot (Mexico)

·         Hoard Mexican decors

·         Buy Mexican candies

·         Ask Joed if can be the host

·         Remind Chichi about the invitations

·         Buy shoes (Groom and Bride)

·         Buy parasols

November:

·         Visit Ariane (HMUA) for trial make up

·         Prenup/concept shoot (TL&SWF)

·         Couple Mexican Pin up Boudoir shoot (She&Him)

·         Food tasting/ocular with AEM

·         Tour Alan/bring him in Divisoria (he wanna go :D)

·         Christmas shopping (gifts)

·         Meeting with all suppliers

·         Finalize and book guests transpo

·         Visit all the PS and personally give the invitations (PH base)

·         Check entou HMUA if available

·         Accompany Alan for the interview (for Clearance)

·         Go with Alan for his requirements (Mexican Embassy)

·         Go to Civil Registry in case we don’t got the chance to validate our first wedding

·         Meeting with Argie (taramindu) for detailing (reception)

·         Pay all balances

·         Send all invitations

·         Visit Leo

·         2^nd gown fitting

·         Check all ento dresses if all done

·         Attend Seminars (Pre Cana, etc.)

·         Visit Daddy

·         Ask Alan to DIY the wedding pinata

·         Check if all church requirements are all done

·         Check floating lantern supplier

·         Check fireworks supplier

·         Meet church’s choir for song choices (ceremony)

·         Wrap gifts

·         Buy party poppers

December: (First 2 weeks)

·         Organize Stag/bridal Party

·         Final check for bridal party clothing

·         Final check for grannies clothing

·         Arrange for Name and address change

·         Go over final details of ceremony and reception with all parties involve

·         Remind wedding party and guests of exact time and pick up/meeting place

·         Start packing for vacay/Xmas in Bohol

·         Check with Argie (Taramindu) for last minute changes

·         Fetch in-Laws (arrival)

·         Pick up Wedding Gown

·         Send out all entou clothing

·         Draft wedding vows

·         First Dance practice

·         Draft thank you speech

·         Finalize program flow offertories

·         Print misalettes (let the church check it first before mass production)

Day before the wedding

·         Relax

·         Have body massage, mani and pedi

·         pre-wedding dinner with family (both sides)

·         Check wedding dress (pressing/steaming)

·         Check the flowers

·         Remind all the suppliers

·         Beauty rest

Wedding Day

·         Eat

·         Hair and Make up/preps

·         Photo shoot

·         Check your OTD timeline

·         Breath and enjoy your day!

·         Smile at your best and let God take care of the rest!


Whew! kinda long huh? It doesn't matter we will finish it together... :D
Yeah  it's 9 months to go and Alan I'm missing you MUCHO! :(

Don't you think it's obvious Mahal? :D

I told you!I'll die without you in my life... ^_^  yiiih cheesy! 

Let go and let GOD!