pretty things

I'm at Raymund's office right now. Brought my laptop with me to catch up on some work I need to do for the wedding while he does project management stuff - something I don't think I'll ever be excited about. As my boss said, he didn't do his PhD to become an accountant (referring to managerial tasks). Well, I don't have a PhD but yeah we share the same view. :p I'd like to feel passionate about what I do.

Anyhoo, we're crazy busy at the moment. Cuhrazee. And yet I still blog! :D I've been typing like a mad man trying to fill out forms and answer emails and messages in FB so I thought for a breather, I'd write about things that don't make me palpitate. Unfortunately this is what happens when I remember that it's only 2 months til the big day and that there's a lot we have to do here before we fly home, and also when we finally do get home. In aussie lingo, HEAPS!

Being busy though doesn't mean we're not having fun! In fact the past week has been pretty exciting! Got a lot of packages and stuff we bought for the wedding. For instance, I finally got my 'backup' dress which I collected from The Babushka Ballerina's Wintergarden store. It's a gorgeous store but their cosy store in the Valley will always have a special place in my heart! ;)

Window display at their Wintergarden store. Photo from The Babushka Ballerina.

On the same day I got our rings from Lora who was in Brisbane for a day! She saw me carrying my dress around Queen St Mall. I'm very happy with the rings, especially mine! It fits my engagement ring perfectly (well of course because it was molded :D). For a while I was worried about the diamonds because I don't want the ring to be 'blingy'. Seeing it now, I'm really glad that we went with the diamonds otherwise it would look too plain. :)

My engagement ring. Still putting a surprise element on our wedding rings! ;)

Other than that I received packages like my new office clothes, a couple of mails from my mom with the mock invitation, and the workout DVD I ordered from the US. It's not really for me, but I'd definitely check it out. :) Hopefully my mom would find it helpful (in spite of my fitness lectures, I still haven't convinced her that walking on a treadmill/jogging isn't gonna help much). I on the other hand would have it as a backup program in case I panic about gaining weight. I'm not too crazy about it though because I still attend spin and body pump regularly, classes that make us release happy hormones, as Raymund would say. :) And my dad also suggested that it would be nice if I gain a bit of weight when I sent him a pic of me in my backup dress. My reaction to this of course was: what! do you want me to be chubby in this dress??? Hahaha.

And then I recently ordered my shoes for the wedding! As you can see I was on a roll. :p When I went for my 2nd fitting at TBB, they also made me try on some shoes. They stock Badgley Mischka bridal shoes which are all pretty of course! My only prerequisite is that I can't wear very high heels because Raymund is not exactly that taller than me. So imagine how heartbroken I was when I was browsing BM shoes and learned that these ones are at least 4" high. :-s

 

I finally gave up browsing and ordered my shoes online. They're the same ones I tried on at TBB except in a different colour. :) Hopefully the package gets here next week. I am so psyched! :)

Now that we've settled several things that kept us googling for weeks, I'm gonna waste away time browsing Ikea furniture next. Crossing my fingers that we get the cosy apartment we applied for! Very exciting! Packing stuff, not so much!

RE Wedding #8

The dress. I have an old post about this when my friend and I decided to check out a bridal store near our work place. I didn't expect I'd come running back to that store and fit a dress 2 months before our wedding.

You're probably wondering what happened to my original dress... well it's barely started due to some confusion on the fabric, and after talking to my mom yesterday, I decided to just look for a ready-made dress, which in retrospect, should have been what I've done to save myself the trouble. But, all's not lost yet. I'm still crossing my fingers that it would end up being the dream dress I had in mind.

I've seen hundreds of dresses from bridal websites and blogs, but rarely saw something I was completely head over heels with, although I do gravitate towards the works of certain designers like Vera Wang (a given), Elie Saab and Marchesa. Seeing is one thing, but fitting a dress is another. Whenever I watch the show Don't Tell the Bride, I always find myself hoping the groom wouldn't scrimp on the wedding dress and that the bride would like the dress that she's only gonna see a few days before the wedding. More often than not, even when the bride gets a dress with certain designs she swore she won't wear (e.g., too poofy, princessy, with train, with straps), she'd end up loving the dress once she fits it. I'm not sure though if the bride sincerely likes the dress, or if she's forced to like it because it's just how they do it in reality shows. But in the end everyone seems happy.

Anyway, this morning after church, Raymund and I went to The Babushka Ballerina to look for dresses. I knew there's something special about this store the first time I saw it. It doesn't have typical/traditional wedding gowns, and they only have one store in Australia, which happens to be in Fortitude Valley (technically we don't live in this suburb but spends more than half of our time here). I won't say more but for me the store is special in that I always find something here that makes me gush and wish I have it. So I had a chat with the lady at the store and learned that the made-to-measure dresses take four months, and from the looks of it, my task to buy a 'back up' dress seemed impossible. But then I picked this simple flowy dress and fitted it. Simply put, the feeling when I was wearing it was magical. The dress was effortlessly pretty. Raymund said it looks beautiful on me and that I look pretty in it. Luckily they still have this particular dress in stock (doesn't take 4 months to have it ready), so it might be the one after all.

While I'm a bit concerned with how simple it was and that wedding dresses seem like such a big deal especially in the Philippines, I'd definitely be happy to wear that dress on our wedding day. :) Now just have to see what my mom says... :)

RE Wedding #7

It's spring! As if the change of month/season would mean a sudden change of weather, I've already packed my thick jackets some weeks ago and now only wear a blazer to work. Which is of course something I'd regret when I walk back home at past 5pm and the cold wind still makes me shiver. I'm sure it won't be long til it gets warm again. After all, it's only 3 months til summer, a reminder I often hear from gym instructors lately. 3 months!

In 3 months, we'll be flying back home. Yay! But the thought also makes me palpitate. :-s Still, I'm pretty excited with all the progress we're making with the wedding preps.

1. Yesterday I received the yellow swatches my mom sent via airmail. The dresses' colours are pretty much finalized.

2. We also met with Tita Yolly over the weekend, who's visiting from Sydney. They're the ones who made my engagement ring and who will also be making our wedding rings. Talking to her made me change my mind about my wedding ring. It's now going to match my engagement ring (which is a bit tricky to match) so I can wear both, and I also changed the colour to rose gold! :)

3. We've also discussed the dinner menu. We're really hoping though that Splendido can do a sit-down dinner as opposed to buffet. We prefer it because it's much orderly and it saves time.

4. Last week, we also got the final design for our invitation! Which made us giddy with excitement! I still find myself randomly looking at the pdf and smiling. It may not appeal to everyone, as it doesn't look very formal. But we love it, and apparently my critic of an aunt does too ("super like the invitation, cute, simple, original, etc. etc."). And so do my parents and my friend Crazy who designed our Save The Date invite. :) I'll stop now because I don't want to get people's hopes up. :) Raymund is still doing the map in Autocad, and I'm waiting for him to finish so I can complete the inserts. :D Anyway, here's a snapshot.

Oh and this was designed by Fozzy btw, whose works I simply adore. :) We're really grateful that she managed to squeeze us in her busy schedule, and accommodated all our revision requests. She's such a gem. Check out her amazing works at thefozzybook.com. :)

Well that's all for now. It's almost time for Snog Marry Avoid. I know, Australia got us hooked on watching trashy shows. :D

RE Wedding #6

Apparently we're good at putting things off for our upcoming wedding and now we're left with only 4 months and 4 days with still a handful not finalized (or worse, started). I'm pretty sure the next few months are gonna go by in a blink, but before then I thought I'd at least share some details on the venue!

When Raymund and I got engaged in June last year, we decided on the church first, which I guess was the only non-negotiable in our list. It has to be at Caleruega. When I was younger I thought I wanted to get married at St Peter Parish at Commonwealth, especially since I had witnessed it being built and that it was patterned after St Peter's Basilica in Rome. Then eventually I decided I might get married at the Cathedral of Good Shepherd instead, which is our parish church in Fairview, and where I've received my First Communion and Confirmation.

I first went to Caleruega in 2008 and immediately fell in love with the place. The following year I went there again with Raymund and my parents and I guess at the time we already knew where we'd want to get married if we ever do. :) Whenever we go to Tagaytay I'd always try to squeeze in a visit to the church.

With UP friends Daniel and Crazy

The reception venue was a result of the date and time that we chose for our wedding. We initially wanted to have an outdoor reception, which was why Hacienda Isabella was the top choice but then we assumed it would be hard to get there at night, and also as we later found out, it had already been booked by someone else. Splendido was a 10-15min drive from the church, and easy to locate too. We thought an indoor wedding, while it wouldn't give us the chance to have the 'string of light bulbs' kind of lighting we wanted, would give us peace of mind in case the weather doesn't cooperate. We booked the function rooms at Splendido Country Club, which was only recently opened last year (this isn't the usual venue at Splendido - that one's the golf club function hall). Here are some screenshots and links to panoramic views of the place:

http://www.virtualphilippines.net/Panoramas/Splendido/Splendido_Viewdeck_Interior.html

http://www.virtualphilippines.net/Panoramas/Splendido/Splendido_Country_Club_Elevated.html

http://www.virtualphilippines.net/Panoramas/Splendido/Splendido_Country_Club_Fountain.html

The event is quite late and is expected to end at midnight, so it would be nice to have guests stay overnight in Tagaytay. :) Raymund suggested a 'champagne breakfast' (something we had once whilst in Sydney) to convince guests to do so. :D It's nothing fancy really, just egg, bacon, toast and champagne with strawberries instead of coffee. Let's see if that pushes through or if he can get champagne at all. :p

That's it for now folks. Will try to post more about the wedding, and now that we have an event page set up in FB, will just post a link to future wedding blog entries there. Til my next post!

RE Wedding #5

After receiving some compliments for the powerpoint presentation I sent to our female entourage, I found myself suddenly looking for dress designs and ended up in Shopbop! Here are some dresses with certain design elements I liked (not necessarily the whole dress):

BCBGMAXAZRIA Matilde One Shoulder Gown

BCBGMAXAZRIA One Shoulder Dress

Marchesa Notte Strapless Gown with Embroidered Bodice

Haute Hippie Ruffle Maxi Dress

Catherine Deane Giselle Strapless Gown

Velvet Trisha Midi Dress

Girls, leave me a comment or send an email! :)

half year down

It's July! I felt like I've been in some sort of trance because to me it seems like 2012 had just begun. Or maybe my concept of 6 months is somewhat equivalent to just a few weeks. I can't really say 'where did all the time go' because I know exactly how I spent my first half of the year.

Lots had happened, and there were definitely some not so good ones that aren't too easy to forget. Just yesterday I almost bumped into a shoplifter. I had the urge to stop him because I saw him running so fast with a laptop/tablet in hand, I knew he did something wrong. But I was also scared that he'd knock me over and I wasn't sure if he's armed so I moved out of his way. That's just a very minor example of course - I've definitely had my share of downs. But there are also lots of good things that happened. As in the poem Desiderata, "With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy." So I will. :) Happy stuff lately:
1. I aced the road rules test (I never got a perfect score when answering the practice online test) and got my learner licence the other day. Still have a long way to go before I can drive by myself (because as some friends know I have this small issue with determining left and right - I have to look at my mole to verify which is which, plus I just sucked at driving which btw was almost a decade ago when I 'tried' to learn how).
2. Had a nice early dinner at Mt Coot-tha. Such a great place to pass time, gaze at the city lights and stars.
3. This morning I was tearing up in church because a couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary and renewed their vows. I felt so lucky to have witnessed this (especially when I read somewhere that in Australia, marriage lasts for an average of 8.5 years - though I'm not sure if I've read it from a trashy mag or some reliable source). I can't help smiling and wiping my eyes at the same time. :D
4. Saw lots of pretty dresses on display, plus just some random things at Fortitude Valley like bridal stores, posters, cheap food...

Our first time at Mt Coot-tha which has a magnificent view of Brisbane

Posters at a sketchy alley. Would love to go to this Harvest event with Crazy.

All the while, the thought that December is coming - and coming fast - makes me have knots in my stomach. This year, I've seen more weddings of my batchmates than in the years before and it makes me smile to see them celebrate such a great milestone. And I just can't help thinking that it's gonna happen for me too, and soon. And maybe my skin still won't be flawless, but I can only hope on that day I'll look my best. And then there are the entourage's dresses, invitations, songs, programmes, guest list, etc etc that we haven't finalized. So maybe now is the time we should actually get things going. I've probably saved a hundred pictures in my folder and haven't even bothered to compile them. I should. I'm a bit tempted to create a wedding website though I'm pretty sure I won't have time to do it. Just updating this blog once a week was apparently a tall order too. So I'll just put updates here instead.

I am quite excited though that we seem close to finalizing the colours. I'm glad we have our OTD coordinator and event stylist that we can consult regarding these things. So we've decided to have our bridesmaids wear yellow. And 'dusty teal' for the flower girls. We also considered having our moms wear blue and the pink/blush element would just be in the flowers. But we also want our moms to be comfortable and happy with their dress and it looks like a blush/muted peach would do the job. After all, they are not really part of the entourage.

Left: Fabric we found at Lincraft. Too bad the menthol silk yoryu is not long enough for 2 dresses (but maybe a good thing too because it's a bit expensive - plus shipping). Next to it is a deep blush coloured chiffon.

Right: Window display at Babushka Ballerina that we passed by this morning. The dress in the middle has the colour we're looking for (or slightly more pink in hue) for our moms' dresses.

Note: The colours are paler in the pictures because I'm using my phone's camera.

I am often drawn to Elie Saab's collections . These are the photos I should be showing my mom so they can pick the right colour. Photos from Elie Saab Spring/Summer 2011.

Well that's all for now. I'm starting to get excited about our wedding preps, which is good because if you've read my older posts, you'd know that at some point I was just over it. :D I'll try to post more wedding inspirations next time, if I remember to note where the pictures come from. :)

Have a great 2nd half of 2012! :)

RE Wedding #4

Today marks the half year countdown to our wedding day. This day last year, I went to bed showing my mom the ring that Raymund gave me. Yup he just gave it without actually asking me anything. :D Some proposal, you would think. You probably wouldn't consider it as one since there was no proposal. He eventually asked the question, while he surprised (or rather ambushed?) me with the dreamiest proposal song I could ever think of, and a letter of our approved visa status in hand. But what I'm driving at really is, that is Raymund. He's not very creative, but he's a man of actions. Talk is cheap anyway. He just promised to take care of me, every little or big way possible. And he has been taking care of me, for 11 years now. And I am ecstatic to be marrying my BFF. ;)

Last night we went on a dinner date at South Bank to celebrate our 1st year of being engaged. I didn't really take note then that it was June 21 when he gave me the ring. I just found out from an email I sent to my priest-friend telling him that Raymund 'proposed' to me the other night and if he could marry us before we leave for Australia. We just wanted a simple 'secret' wedding with our families so we could go to Australia with the peace of mind of having received the sacrament. Had it pushed through, we would have just renewed our vows in December in front of our families and close friends. Receiving the blessings of marriage is of utmost importance to us, something we really look forward to having. I remember my dad being worried about people judging us for living under the same roof and not being married, and I could only assure him of the values that we're instilled in us and how having a civil wedding wouldn't change anything (because there's no blessing from God anyway). And that it doesn't really matter to me what others would think, I guess if anything, I'm just concerned that their judging us causes them to sin. But I digress. Back to the dinner date...

Yeah so I've been craving lamb and Turkish food in general so we went to Ahmets!

After that we took a stroll by the river to help digest our food... :D

And then for the ultimate treat, chocolate souffle at Max Brenner!

Despite recent events (known to some family and friends), I'm still happy where I am so don't worry so much dear friends. :) I guess I also need this much time in my hands to do things I would postpone doing otherwise. And yep, that includes wedding preps. Still unsure about our palette but I am certain that these colours - dusty aqua (or dusty teal), sunshine yellow (or buttercup) and salmon pink (or pearl pink) - are what I want to see on our wedding day. :) We want light, young and happy - because we are! ;)

PS: If you are wondering what Raymund's proposal song was (guitar & vocals), here it is. Loved this song since ever, especially in the movie Reality Bites. Butterflies!

RE Wedding #3

I'm going home this April, yay!! The only sad thing about it is Raymund's not coming with me, but then I'll get to spend almost 2 weeks with my family! There's so much stuff to do - everything that needs to be checked for the wedding will have to be within those 12 days, otherwise it will have to wait til December.

To show that we're making progress, here's what we have so far for the invites:

Got these from Lincraft:
Coloured cardboards, paper twine and puncher (stars of course!). Our tools aren't complete yet though.Okay, we won't be using these for the wedding but I like the design and colour combination. Might come in handy. :)

And my brilliant friend Crazy made us a save-the-date invite. Sneak peek below. :) If you're wondering about the tiny words at the side, they're lyrics/quotes that we wanted to put on the envelope and Crazy managed to include them here.
8+ months to go! ;)

pretty dresses

I've never really planned on going to bridal stores cos I kind of always knew I'd have my gown custom made (and get it at a cheaper price too). I didn't think I need to have my dress designed for me either cos I feel more comfortable having my own 'design' from a combination of dresses I find pretty, without offending anybody or worrying about being forced into something I don't exactly like.

But I also know it could be fun to try on dresses. I've tried on one wedding dress before and it was just magical, even when the dress was too poofy for my liking (I only tried it on to check what size would fit me). Even my little nephew who saw me in the dress was awestruck (note he was just 2 and probably his first time to see such a huge dress). :D With bridal stores, it's quite sad (or embarrassing even) to leave and not get anything (or find something you really like that you can't afford). So I save myself the trouble. But but but! There are just too many bridal stores around, and I guess here in Brisbane, people are still welcoming even when you're not buying (still not trying on any dresses though to not get anyone's hopes up, mine included :D).
A shop I checked out in the city. The dresses inside were really lovely, averaging at around 3 to 4 grand $$$.

This afternoon, I decided to check out a bridal store in the Valley which I've passed a couple of times now, after church. One dress caught my eye, almost out of my peripheral vision, and it looked too pretty I had to give it a second look. Yesterday it wasn't on the window display anymore, so I thought I'd really have to go in next time and check it out. I did today, luckily my friend gamely came with me, and the girl at the store was really nice too (not the snotty kind like those you see in American movies).
The shop's called The Babushka Ballerina - cute name right? :D The dresses are equally cute, and this is the particular dress I was looking for:

If you don't know yet, I'm a big Disney Princesses fan. One memorable moment in my life was seeing Disney Princesses on Ice - their final dresses were just divine (and of course quite exaggerated too) so you'd probably understand why this kind of dress appeals to me. :D

This is the ivory-coloured one on the rack which I like better.

It's a bit too 'feathery' for me though, so I guess I'm fine with the design I had in mind. I just wish when I go home next month to try my dress on, I'll be blown away. It's nothing too extravagant really, hopefully flattering. :D It actually makes me nervous, but I'm crossing my fingers that the tailors are able to execute the design I want perfectly. Here's hoping I'll have my dream wedding dress! :)

RE Wedding #2

The wedding's in less than 10 months! We're kind of occupied with designing our invitation right now (see previous post) and how to combine all the pretty elements we saw from other invitations to make them look cohesive and consistent with our motif & theme. This 'project' started one Friday when we felt the need to do a quick save the date invite for Raymund's friends. We already know that December's a popular month to get married but we didn't really expect we'd have the same wedding date as some of our friends' friends. Hence, the urgent save the date invite. :D We'll still work on an 'official' one though! :)

Yesterday we finally went to a scrapbook store in Hawthorne and here's what I got.

The 2 stickers I don't really need for the invitation, they are just too cute not to buy. :D If I had no self control I could easily spend a hundred bucks with all the fancy things they got in there.

This is what we'll be using for our 'prototype'. Raymund and I are going to make a sample invitation to show to his friend who might be printing the invitations for us. I was so happy when I found this cos it was almost the same thing I had in mind - the colours are slightly different but we're working on a similar palette. I don't mind making a hundred of this, hopefully it wouldn't be too hard to find the tools and materials we need though.

A peak into my big black notebook. The pictures aren't too clear. But if you look carefully you could probably guess what our theme is! ;)


Well I'm gonna work on our sketch now (by that I mean drawing something in powerpoint :D), hopefully I could share more details on my next post. I might write about accommodation next time since we're hoping our guests could spend the weekend in Tagaytay too, so watch out!

PS: You may now click on the 'wedding' label to browse other wedding-related posts. :)

friday browsing

So it's March, and suddenly the air just feels colder in the morning. Summer's gone alright, though oddly enough I found myself wearing shades on my way home. Well this is probably the first time in a while that I got home before 6pm, and the sun's still high up. I just wish it'd be like this in the Philippines come December (which of course is a tall order since the days are usually shorter in December) for our wedding.

I skipped the gym today, which explains why I'm home early. Since it's Lent, our Fridays now are a bit quiet (read: no more dining out). So I decided to just spend more time browsing stuff online. My agenda today is filling up my big black notebook with invitation pegs. I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to graphic design. I don't really do the designs myself, I usually just copy things I find pretty, which is why I need pegs. But sometimes I feel like I should first browse a lot of designs before settling on one. Being in Pubcom back in college, I used to download lots of fonts, spend hours painstakingly doing layouts and deciding which font would look good for a certain article or stencil. That's why coming up with a design for our wedding invitation scares me a bit. :D

One of the cute shops I found online is Little Paper Pantry, such an eye candy! Here are some designs I like (though they're not all wedding invitations).


Now I'm really itching to go to a paper shop, one that has scrapbooking materials, cos I like adding my own touch in invitations. For my debut, Raymund and I made these invitations with dried flowers, tracing paper, gold gel pen, linen paper etc. It was pretty and I received lots of compliments for it. I like slaving away doing this kind of thing. :) I had this idea for our wedding invitation that's kinda perfect for our motif and theme (more on that later - nothing big, just cute stuff! But I don't want to reveal it just yet, I'll have to get more pegs first to really paint a good picture). I just need to find the perfect materials which at the moment only exist in my head. :D Hopefully I'll find them in paper shops too. There's a nice store in Raffles City in SG called PaperMarket, which also plays cool songs. There's a good chance they'd have what I'm looking for... Now I kinda regret not choosing a longer layover in SG when I fly back home next month. Anyway, I'll just have to make do with what's available here or in the Philippines. Tomorrow's a free Saturday for us. No appointments and not much writing to do so we'll probably go to a couple of paper shops before hanging out at a nearby beach. :D It's probably a good idea to buy new DIY wedding mags to read while I bury my feet in the sand! ;)

Well that's all for now. Have to go and browse more designs before I resume pasting cut-outs on my big black notebook. Have a nice weekend!

xoxo vera

OMG. If there's a fitting time for me to say Rachel Zoe's signature expression, it'd be now. I. Die.

Today, I received two mouthwatering emails. One from David's Bridal and another from XO, Vera Wang, both of them featuring the gowns used in Gossip Girl's 100th episode, Blair's wedding.

From David's Bridal

Well I'm still streaming the video but let me guess, Blair's gonna be a runaway bride? Back to the gowns. I'm so in love with these dresses (not that I haven't seen some of the featured ones before) as I've always had been with gowns by Vera Wang. I'm not a fan of intricate beadings, but structure and texture are both huge to me when it comes to dresses, that's why I adore most of Vera's works. Hopefully my wedding gown would look as exquisite. Here's the video from the Vera Wang bridal newsletter. Feast your eyes! 8)



PS: I like what she said about design integrity (re White by Vera Wang). I'm a fan (if that's not obvious yet)! :D

lazy saturday

It's another lazy Saturday for us. Hopefully that's gonna change soon when we get our car on Monday and we can finally go somewhere more happening on weekends. Like Ikea! Haha. Oh how I miss those Swedish meatballs and almondy cake. I'm also itching to buy small tables and cabinets maybe to make our apartment look more liveable. :D

Wonder when we'll have a dining room like this! Ikea at Tampines, Singapore

Photo source: www.almondy.com

I really should be doing wedding preps, research or whatnot but I just can't get myself to because I find it a bit too overwhelming. The thought of this wedding kind of gives me knots in my stomach, like I suddenly palpitate. I blame it on haunting dreams I had recently. Even Raymund had a dream that our wedding was a disaster. I guess it's hard to get things done when I'm not in the Philippines at the moment, but then again I haven't really tried. Maybe it shouldn't be too hard cos Raymund and I don't really aspire for a grand wedding or the best suppliers. At some point I felt that wedding gimmicks have become too overrated. We really just want a lovely low-key wedding to share with our families and friends, hopefully people who are more interested in us than in our wedding. I find it kind of weird when someone just starts showing interest in me because of this one-day event. I feel lucky though that I'm surrounded with people who've constantly kept in touch (doesn't really matter how often), even on my mundane days. :)

On another note, we really need to save up! I've been saving up ever since I started working. Friends close to me know that I'm a cheapskate but I do have my reasons (well, there's MS, my cousins, and now our wedding). I do splurge every now and then, especially when I'm back in the Philippines where everything is so much cheaper! So it just makes my heart ache a little that I'd have to wait a few months before I can finally not feel guilty about buying this (and figure out how I could have it delivered to Australia).

Photo source: www.linksoflondon.com

Style + cause = this bracelet has my name written all over it.

Well, back to my accounting spreadsheet then (to remind myself that I should stop buying too much stuff). Hope your weekend's more exciting!

RE Wedding #1

I came home early today cos I wasn't feeling too well. Now I got all this time with nothing to cook, bake or watch... oh I should do some reading - I got a pile of newspapers (lifestyle section!) I haven't browsed yet but refuse to throw away. Then I remembered I've started this little project whilst in Sydney. Ate Rheane gave me a big black notebook, sort of a portfolio where I can paste pictures of my pegs. I'm probably the bride-to-be who's not too crazy about wedding preps, as explained by my lack of progress in collecting pegs for our wedding. But that's probably just because I already know what I want and I don't want to confuse myself with thousands of other options out there... that, and the fact that we still have 300+ days til the wedding. But then, I had this dream the other day where it was our actual wedding day and I somehow wasn't aware that it was and we didn't have a wedding coordinator, it was chaos. Probably my subconscious' little reminder to start looking for a reliable wedding coordinator.

Anyway, once I print out the other pegs I saved in multiple excel files (I use excel in everything!) I'd be totally pumped up on this project. Here's a peek:

Wedding dresses. My peg's not there. I really dunno why I cut these at all. :D

Still no definite idea for invites or giveaways. Help fiance! :p

Can I just say, I'm a fan of double-sided tapes (no sticky glues or wrinkled papers!).

Though I may not be too crazy with details at this point, I'm sure I'll be so OC (term for anal in Phils, but really, I'm clinically OC) when I go home in April and finally sort everything out. Have to buy plane tickets first! :D