I Blog, Therefore I Am.

November 20, 2010, a Saturday, is one memorable day. It's actually not just November 20 but the past weekend was really a good one. (I got to rest for one). I really look forward to weekends these days because of stressful work weeks with fully-loaded projects and deliverables.

Aside from resting, here are three reasons why November 20 rocks:

CRUZ IS HERE!
After weeks of anticipation and excitement, my good friend, Charu, finally gave birth to Cruz via C-Section. Cruz Javier was born around 6:00 am with a birth weight of 8.114 lbs. (!!!). He was such a very cute baby boy whom we cannot stop looking at. We visited Charu, Baby Cruz and dad Jako at St. Luke's and we shared stories and even "planned" Baby Cruz's future lovelife. Heh! More photos of Baby Cruz and Charu's Baby Shower on my Flickr page.


Hours-old Baby Cruz Carrillo

The first kiss of the married couple was repeated several times because the "photographers" (Tita, Ate Chinky, Jako, me) cannot get it right. Here's my version:



Photos of family and friends who attended and witnessed CJ & Aileen's big day:





The post-wedding celebration was held in Italianni's Greenbelt 2, Aileen's favorite. Good thing Tin was able to catch up and join us. She even asked me and Charu to make a side trip to the mall to buy the bride a basket (sorry, private joke).





Congratulations and Best Wishes, Madamme & CJ! Cheers!



More pictures of the wedding at my Flickr site.

Jako & Charu. FINALLY! What a great way to go back to blogging by posting about the very nice and super fun wedding of my dear friends, Jako and Charu. Friends and readers of my blog are sure familiar with this duo who are very often featured and pictured here at my blog.

Jako and Charu are my friends from highschool. They first met in Kindergarten (!!!) but only got together as a couple five years ago. It really made me happy that they finally sealed the deal last December 12, Saturday, at St. Jerome Emiliani in Alabang. They've always been one of my favorite couples and I am really happy that I was part of the beginning of their happily ever after.

Here are some of the things I love about the wedding:

The Crying Sentimental Bride
Charu cried throughout her bridal march and we find it really really heart-felt. We can't help but shed a tear or two as we watch her all beautiful and regal yet crying her heart out as she walks to the love of her life.




The Crying Groom
Jako's moment came when he was reading and reciting his self-made vows to Charu.




We were part of it!
Tintin, Aileen and I were part of the entourage as Bridesmaids and Veil Sponsors. We are so happy and delighted that the couple chose us to be part of their wedding. We are honored! :)




"Swerte Ako!"
Wong & Kaloy, friends from Highschool, put a sign of "Swerte Ako!" (I'm Lucky!) on Charu's side of the chair after their Secondary Sponsors duties. Charu's mom asked the camera people and the female entourage members to put it on Jako instead. The sign kept on switching from Jako's side to Charu's side throughout the ceremony!




Blue & The Cambe Gowns
Junjun Cambe outdid himself with Charu's tube gown and its intricate bead work. Our blue bridesmaids gown were also cool! The boys also look nice with their Lumban Barongs.




The Baicapture Booth
Photo booths are all rage now and Baicapture is the most popular! We had around 10 snaps at the booth! Talk about sulit!






Cologne Fountain
This is probably one of the most unique wedding give-aways I've ever seen. There was a fountain of cologne and guests can get their share through the bottle sprays that were provided! Cool!




Jako & Charu's First Dance
The couple's first dance was slow and sweet but they shifted midway to a choreographed dance move which got collective cheers from their guests.




Elation and the After-Party!
Jako & Charu really knows how to throw a party! We had unlimited shots, cocktails and mocktails because of the Elation Mobile Bar. There were non-stop dancing and partying at the dance floor, even the parents and the godparents joined the celebration!








The Bride
Charu's one of the most elegant and beautiful brides I've ever seen. Need I say more? :)




Best Wishes, J & C! :) We love you!

Thanks to Tin for the Cologne Fountain shot and to Witt for taking most of the pictures above.

I've waited for January 23 for four days - that's from January 19 to 22. Aside from the fact that it's payday, I've longed for the day simply because it's TGIF! Work was demanding and whirlwind in the last week and it was such a joy to finally reach Friday. January is always a loaded month because of all the proposals and plans we have to turn in for the new year. We've already submitted two proposals in the last week and negotiated a lot of "deals" so I think we are on the right track. I'm pretty inspired and excited for the new things and projects that we are doing and I cannot wait to launch and implement them all.

Nothing beats celebrating a Friday after a long and hardworking week. So here are some tales on how I celebrated last Friday with my colleagues; and the upcoming Chinese New Year with my friends.

FRIDAY IS ALWAYS PICTURE DAY
My officemates love posing for pictures. So here are some samples on how we usually spend Fridays: in front of the camera.







KUNG HEI FAT CHOI!
My friends and I are not Chinese but our dinner pick for Friday was at Superbowl in Glorietta 4 to somehow celebrate the Lunar New Year. We ordered a LOT since we were used to having dinners for five people. Unfortunately, Charo and Jako were not able to join us so it was only me, Tin, and Aileen who consumed all the fattening Chinese munch you can see below.


Chinese Food Fest Face-off! Hehe!


Starters: All The Free Kropek You Can Eat


Dimsum Combination Platter
(Siopao, Hakao, Pork Siomai, Deep-fried Wanton, Vegetarian Spring Roll)


Yang Chow Fried Rice


Hunan Tofu


Lechon Macau


Crispy Mandarin Chicken

We watched Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway's Bride Wars after our hearty meal. It was such a fun movie about weddings and friendship. The ending was a bit unexpected but not really surprising. I've always been a fan of Kate and Anne (more of Kate) but this movie definitely belongs to Anne. It's a lovely chick flick that helped us de-stress after a long work week.

TGIF! Until January 30!

Today, January 5, 2009, is probably the most unpopular day of the year so far. Everyone was too hung-over to work or too tired from vacation to even pretend to work. The last holiday vacation was probably the longest I can remember since I started working. I took a leave on the 24th of December so I had 12 days of non-work including those holidays declared by the government. It's common for me to have January blues so I usually extend my vacation until the 3rd working day of the year. But the vacation was too long already so it's too much to even consider on extending for that long.

The first four days of the year were uneventful ones for me. I spent most of the day sleeping, surfing random blogs and websites, resizing pictures, reading The American Wife, and watching old episodes of Project Runway and Lipstick Jungle. I was too tired from all the holiday celebrations and was preparing for the work stress thus I spent 10 to 14 hours a day just sleeping after the New Year celebrations.

Now that we covered the mundane things I did during the long vacation, let’s now take a look at the few exciting events and get-togethers I’ve been in the last weeks of 2008.

YEARLY CLAN REUNION
We spent Christmas Eve at home with the usual Noche Buena and opening of gifts. My niece, Gabbie, had the biggest loot as expected. Christmas day was spent at home resting and lounging in preparation for our annual clan reunion with my mom's sisters and their families in the evening.


One of the gifts I received! This is truly a favorite.


My nieces Nica, Gabbie, Casey and Jana on our Christmas party.


My niece Icee counting her Christmas cash

BAGUIO ONCE MORE
My good friend Tin asked us to join her in celebrating her 30th birthday at the City of Pines. It was my second time in Baguio for the year but I still had fun. We went around Session, Burnham & Wright, had Strawberry Taho, coffee at John Hay, dinner at Volante and celebration drinks at Northgate.


Tin and her birthday cake of 12 years ago


At the El Cielito lobby


Ylette at Burnham. One of my favorite shots.

POST-CHRISTMAS DINNER WITH FRIENDS
My forces girlfriends Tin, Aileen, Charo & Jako had our holiday dinner at Italianni's before the end of the year. We haven't seen each other for a while so we spent the night catching up on things and exchanging gifts.


Me, Tin, Charu, Aileen


What's with the knife?


The Mac Keeper

WELCOMING THE NEW YEAR
We spent New Year's eve at home quietly despite the loud bangs outside. We gave thanks to the Lord for all the blessings He gave us for the year. We also prayed for good health, prosperity and joys for the coming year.


Gabbie and her three trumpets


Fireworks on a school zone? How weird is our neighborhood?


More holiday photos at my Multiply photo site.