Libre ang mangarap

Isn't it just like me to be daydreaming more about our house than about our wedding? Haha. I've determined the look we're going for, and it might sound kind of strange: beachy Scandinavian. Haha. It's hot meets cold! I just like the clean lines of Scand design mixed with relaxed, tropical elements to make it more earthy. Kind of like this, from Domino (RIP! Sniff):

This living room setup is the same color as our wedding! Haha. Green with black and white accents.

I might have to settle for a bamboo rug instead of a harder-to-maintain sisal one. I also wish I could have this as an accent chair:

But I think I'll be having my lolo's old butaca chair refinished instead. It's nice to have some things with a story behind them. Was thinking of buying a couple of chairs similar to the one pictured in the peg, from my tita. But the set was a gift from her mother-in-law so that's out of the question. Would love to pair the seats with a pristine white sofa, and a couple of small Bamileke stools, like the one below, but in white:

I know, I know--this African baby doesn't exactly fit my beachy Scand concept, but the look is pretty rustic (although it's a seat for kings!). And it's an eclectic look anyway!

For the dining area, I really, really wish I could get this pendant lamp:

But it's way too expensive, and I don't think I could find something exactly like it here. Must visit Dapitan one weekend.

The second floor isn't going to strictly follow the theme. The rooms are still going to be relaxed, but I'm going for a sort of casual elegance. For the master bedroom, the plan is to have a platform bed made, and just have a faux headboard painted. Sorta like this other peg from Domino, though I'm having the proportions adjusted (a little too high for my taste...even if it is fake):

I do have one thing that I could check off my wish list though. This fabulous, fabulous 3D chandelier from Urban Outfitters!

I've been salivating over this since last year, when I saw it at a house we shot. I've asked my darling brother to order it for me, and he'll have it for me when he comes home for the Big Day! Oh, joy!

This beaut is reserved for my dressing room (i.e., one of the bedrooms, which I...er, I mean, we're converting). I wanted to paint the walls in chocolate brown, but due to budget constraints (again, the Big Day), it looks like we'll have to make do with one color for all the bedrooms. I have grand plans for my dressing room, you see. I intend to have the frame of an old, French-style mirror repainted, hang it over one of our old vanities, and pair the whole girly setup with a vunderful Louis Ghost Chair.

I'm hoping Future Hubby would give me this chair as a wedding gift. I'm not even hinting anymore--I've been utterly blatant about it and outright told him that I want it! But I did explain that this designer chair is part of a bigger plan. Once we have our dream house (which I'm hoping will look a lot like this dreamboat designed by Arthur Casas, located in Iporanga, Brazil...very Cullen-like, don't you think?)...

Drooool. Look at that gorgeous light filtering through the trees! Breathtaking!

...I want a long wooden dining table surrounded by Louis Ghosts. How kick-ass is that?

And ve vill rule ze vorld!


Click on photos for links

Licensed to wed

Dizizit!

As of Monday, H and I are officially licensed to wed! We still have some church requirements to take care of but, as H said, "Pwede na sa huwes!"

What a long process though. If you're from Quezon City (or you and your fiance are from different cities but are getting married in QC, methinks), you have to go to city hall to file for a marriage license. Note: You might be tempted to do this way ahead of time, but I think it expires after 90 days. So best to do it about two or three months before the big day.

As far as I can remember, the process was:

1. Get my cedula (which was supposedly required...but no one asked to look at it anyway!) since I didn't have one.
2. Line up for and fill out the application form. A personal appearance is required so H and I had to be there. We were lucky enough to have his assistant with us so she was the one who asked around for us. We were totally clueless about where we were supposed to go.
3. Pay for the license, etc. at the cashier, in another building. All in all, P200. (H: "Mura lang pala magpakasal eh!" Me: "This is all we would have paid for if we had eloped!")
   
4. Go back to the building in step 2 and have the forms notarized. Another P50.
5. Go to the health center to sign up for a required family planning seminar. (I think you could skip this if you went on Discovery Weekend or something.)
6. Go back to the building in step 2 to submit everything. They'll give you a copy with your seminar sched. License will be ready in 10 days.

Phew! It would have been way more efficient if all of these places were just in one building, but we kept walking from one building to another, under the scorching sun.

The highlight of the entire process was, funnily enough, the family planning seminar! H and I went, expecting to have a boring few hours ahead of us. But the minute the woman conducting the seminar (or "briefing" as she called it) said the word "t*t*," we knew we weren't in for a snooze-worthy biology lecture! I never thought I would hear that word said so many times in a seminar. I couldn't even bring myself to type it here. Haha.

The woman who conducted it was probably in her 40s, and she was so deadpan that it made what she was saying even more comical. Some gems:

Woman: Ang IUD po ay nilalagay sa matres ng babae. Ayaw po ito gamitin ng karamihan ng lalake kasi 'yung iba, natatakot daw na matusok ang t*t* nila. Sir, kita niyo naman kung nasaan ang IUD. Sa tingin niyo ba matutusok kayo diyan? Kung matusok pa kayo, matakot na kayo, hindi na kayo tao.

~*~*~*~

Woman: Nakikita niyo naman ang cervical canal. Ang t*t* umaabot lang hanggang sa pang-apat na level. Pero Sir, kung hanggang sa pangatlo lang kayo, OK lang 'yan. Nasa performance naman 'yan.

~*~*~*~

Woman: Meron tayong limang flavor ng condom. Ano-ano iyon? Banana, mint, chocolate...ano pa?
Guy 1: Black forest!
Guy 2: Four seasons!

~*~*~*~

Woman: Paano ba magsuot ng condom? (Holding up a photo of a penis) Nakita niyo naman ang t*t*, galit na galit! Pag sinuot po ang condom at medyo malago ang bulbol ni Sir, hawiin lang natin ang buhok para tuck out. Alalahanin natin: Tuck out po lamang at hindi tuck in. At hindi po kasama ang itlog.

~*~*~*~

Hilarious! We've got another three-hour family planning seminar on Saturday, this time at the church. Somehow I get the feeling that it isn't going to be quite this entertaining.

...and this made me cry

I think the critics hated this movie, but I don't give an f.

There's this misconception that I love chick flicks and romance novels. But really, I don't pay to see chick flicks--I just watch them on cable. (And I don't think I've ever read a romance novel in my whole life.) But this movie is something I would've spent good money on.

Suffice it to say that I was crying--a really ugly kind of crying--practically throughout the whole movie. And even the next day, as I was telling H about a scene, I started tearing up. He chuckled as I swore about "that damn movie."

What can I say? Some things just resonated with me.

Catch it if you can.

Stuff that made me laugh this week...

Been majorly stressed, but these made shake off the ho-hums for a bit...

Miguel (seeing Hamil's email address): That's not Hamil's last name!
Me: Yes it is! What did you think it was?
Miguel: I dunno...Reyes? Iverson?

~*~*~*~

Pam: Galliano or Gaultier was a pattern maker for Cardin. Wait, was it Galliano or Gaultier? Anyway, they're both equally fabulous!

~*~*~*~

(While talking about working out)
Me: How much cardio do you do?
Miguel: Twenty minutes.
Me: What do you do?
Miguel: I just walk on the treadmill. I can't jog.
Me: Twenty minutes of walking?
Miguel: But I do inclines.
Me: I do interval runs for 20 minutes.
Miguel: What's that?
Me: I alternate between jogs and sprints. Two-minute jog, one-minute sprint.
Miguel: What speed?
Me: On average about 8.5...
Miguel: Ah.
Me: ...to max 15.
Miguel: Oh...8.5 is the jog?

Ahluvet! Haha.

One last cry

It's tradition. My mother and I would have our photo taken on these stairs every few years. It's been about 10 years since the last one (but thankfully, neither of us has aged much!). Time for a new photo! Digital naman!

Between talking about checking accounts and Big Moves (my own and theirs), Mumsy suddenly blurted out, “Ang lapit na! Two months na lang!” I just kind of brushed it off with a little laugh and changed the subject.

I used to be a big sentimental mess—last days of school, graduations, last days in another country…these were things that easily made me cry. I wondered how other people managed to deal with goodbyes without so much as a tear. Eventually, I learned to keep my emotions in check. I knew my heart was breaking—even just a little—whenever I would leave behind a part of my life, but I learned not to dwell on it, and to look towards the future instead.

And that’s why I changed the subject. Because if I hadn’t, I would’ve totally lost it (and so would she) at that little bakery where we were having a snack. How could I not feel my heart break, thinking about saying goodbye to my home for over two decades? The name I’ve had all my life? The woman I laughed with and cried with and fought with, day in and day out; my “partner in prayer and sanity” during my family’s turbulent, soap opera years?

If there’s anything that could make me come out of my relatively successful emotional repression, it’s my mother. This woman—who supported me, provided for me, put up with my sungit mode, who taught me the meaning of “unconditional love”—deserves a bawlfest of epic proportions.

Twenty-oh-nine seems to be moving at warp speed. So quickly, in fact, that I've got less than two months before The Big Day! Eep!

Breathe in, breathe out.

To keep me from again going into panic mode over stuff I haven't done (so much for Bridechilla, eh?), let's just focus on the little events that made my June.

Getting measured! I got measured for The Gown of All Gowns, and so did the rest (or most) of my entourage. I wish I had taken pics of when Marga was getting measured. Enan loved how my butterball of a niece arrived wearing a tube top and matching shorts. And normally suplada Marga went nuts over Enan's "baby," his shih tzu Fiona!

My girls are going to look fabulous! Slightly worried that they'll look hotter than me. Hahaha. But it's all good. I'm not out to put them in pouffy peach monstrosities!

Seeing Maan again after seven years. Wow. It was weird hearing Ryden--big boy that he is--calling Maan "mommy"! She was gone for that long! It was cool getting together with my high school friends, and seeing how far everyone has come. Four of them have kids already, and I'm about to tip the scales and join the marrieds in a bit.

Together again. MIA: Chris

Our Independence Day date. It was the start of something special for me and H--our unusual monthly dates. Have yet to figure out what to do this month, considering we're neck deep in preps!

The start of the Bonnie and Clyde league (aka Malakas at Maganda). I am not a big fan of all-girl leagues, because there's too much estrogen on the field. And this particular league isn't something I'm so eager to be playing in because I'm worried about the pesky midday sun wreaking havoc on my skin. Ordinarily, I wouldn't mind getting all bronze. But I've really gotta start getting some semblance of my real color back. I want to be a blushing bride, not a burnt one.

Photo c/o Mico. When I'm not wearing a dress or a skirt on the field, I look like a boy!

Nonetheless, it's a good league because we've merged with a few other teams, which means I've met some awesome new people--the Weng Weng girls are so open and all heart on the field, the BC girls are able handlers, and the USC girls have solid fundamentals. And all of them are incredibly easy to get along with! And, as it is with every league, it's a constant learning experience. I ain't co-captain anymore, but the new kapitanas have still asked me to help out. Rotation still proves to be a bit of a problem for us. But we're learning, we're trying, and that's pretty much the point now.

My favorite quotes from the first league day:

(During the boys' game)
Pat: Time out.
Greg: Tap mo 'yung disc.
Pat: Ha?
Greg: Tap mo.
(Pat drops the disc)
Greg (stomping towards Pat): T*NGINA, "TAP"! BINGI!
Pat: Akala ko "drop"...

~*~*~*~

(Saturday)
Me: When you pull, where do you get the power from?
D: Arms and legs.
Me: OK thanks.
(So there I was on Saturday, practicing my hucks, trying to make sense of D's tip. Next day...)
D: Why were you asking about pulling?
Me: Coz I have to pull today.
D: Oh, pull! I thought you meant "pull" as in tug of war!
Me: Pucha, saan naman ako mag-tu-tug of war?!

~*~*~*~

Mike: Burger! Burger! P*$@NGINA!!!!!! (with matching frustrated vigorous rubbing of the head and stomping away. Hahaha!)

Dinner with Chingy. It had been a while since I spent one-on-one time with BFF Ching, so we decided to have dinner one night. We ended up just talking for hours. I totally missed her, and it was just so awesome catching up.

Book launch and gimmick night. We launched our fourth book (yay!), and we had some really yummy food by Chef Him Uy de Baron (I am still dreaming about the turon with this Chocnut sauce that he served at an event before). Afterwards, H and I headed to Members Only for a SoFA/Marangoni event, where two of my favorite girls were muses. I was wearing a lovely maxi dress made by (who else?) Madhuri Hemandas.

With Marangoni muses: designer (and my BFF) Mads and one of Preview's best dressed for 2009, Pam Q

Mads's masi (aunt): Does Tisha ask you to make a lot of clothes for her?
Mads: Oh yes!

This particular number was made in, like, a day. What a demanding customer I am! I needed a colorful dress for the launch, and I couldn't find anything that I loved. I decided it was about time I asked Mads to make me the boho dress of my dreams. Such a purty, purty fabric!

I foresee July to be a month packed with wedding preps and work, work, work. Gotta get some stuff done before I go on extended leave.

Let's hope every Sunday is a rainy day though. I can't take any more sun!