Monday, February 21, 2005

...start your engines


violet
Originally uploaded by geWi.
last saturday morning, i went to paenaan with dad to practice my driving skills (ate pretz' driving "skills", and i do mean in quotes, inspired me! lol).. it was relatively a smooth ride, no mishaps (in short, hindi ako namatayan, hehe) and i was able to practice my maneuvering skills too..dad wanted to drop by BPI at Gate 2/Cogeo Labas and i had to enter this very skinny entrance and back up and go out to another skinny exit.. sabi nga ni ate pretz..Trial na naman! but i was able to do it without looking like a student driver, TG.. i took a photo of this flower 'cause it was growing all over our farm and it was so beautiful... that day too, pangs and i accompanied ate Pretz to Dangwa so she could canvass prices for the flowers for her brother's wedding on April.. we had to go with her 'cause she's bringing her brand new Revo and she's still a bit scared to drive on her own.. anyway, we asked around and basically, the entourage's bouquets will cost around 6700-7000 bucks.. (not including my bouquet,..but mine's just cheap 'cause all i want are yellow calla lilies which cost just 1k).. i want a big arch which he estimated to be around 6k.. then the reception flowers which is about 10k..(i don't want to add up the numbers.. i'm too scared! lol) i'm so excited! we talked to 4 vendors and we specifically liked Joel of Bulaklak.. he sounded really concerned about the outcome of his flowers so you really know he's gonna take good care of it for you..

ate ging's in singapore again so i have the room all by myself! too bad i don't actually sleep on it on weekdays, huhuhu.. it's so busy here in pramerica, that i haven't found the time to finish Clive's site and i'm just scared shitless 'cause they keep calling on my cellphone and i'm not answering 'cause i basically haven't done ANY update on their site.. huhuhu.. i really, really am so embarassed but it's just so daaamn tiring to go home and face the computer again to do my sidelines.. *sighs* hope i find the time to do it tonight..

i'll see you guys around..bye for now!

Friday, February 18, 2005

...exciting times

i found a super great software called "My Wedding Organizer". It's your electronic wedding planner and has functions like "Guest List", "To-Do List", "Budget" and every activity a bride could think of. I could create adhoc reports from it, such as "All Female Guests" (for the tossing of the bouquet) or "Things To Do This Month" just so you won't forget anything in your To-Do List. I couldn't open it (the program) during office hours because it starts up with a big name of "Bride" and "Groom" (we have enough "wedding jokes" and teases to last us a lifetime) We're currently inputting stuff on the Guest List Tab and the Budget Tab..here's a screen shot of the program...

weddingorganizer
budget

cool dibuh!? it's so exciting..i love it! it's user-friendly and easily customizable..(you can change the fields (i mean, who needs an entry for Cartage Fees) and add your own)..

pangs also was finally able to set the time on his gift for me, a "Wedding Countdown Clock".. (the name's self explanatory, right?) there's just a MILLION products out there that really make Weddings commercialized, but, you know what, who gives a sh*t!! I'M getting married! Coca-Cola could sponsor our wedding and give bottle openers for souvenir, for all i care, lol! last saturday, we went to Guadalupe Viejo and gave the downpayment for the Church and Garden reception site...at last, we had something accomplished! pangs took this lovely picture of the church too..it's such a beautiful old church, see for yourself..

guadalupe viejo


in the meantime, we've opened our very first joint account at BPI (whose bank employees are extremely amiable unlike Metrobank where you have to name-drop just for them to entertain you.. ano sila, gobyerno!? lol!) and i just feel like everything's in order.. i don't want to rush and cram 'cause we all know that when you do that, prices just start doubling.. the longer the preparation, the better!

happy post-valentines to everyone! pangs surprised me with a loooovely bouquet of yellow calla lilies.. i firmly believed that i'm the only girl who was carrying that particular kind of flower in the entire Enterprise building! bwahahahaha.
calla lilies

bye for now! gotta work, since i'm actually getting paid just by blogging this post, hehe. bye!

p.s.
decided to put some 'semblance of life in my template.. that's the enterprise bldg(where i work, photo c/o pangs) and the "proposal site".. also added a flickr zeitgeist which i saw at reich's blog, pagaya uh, cute eh, hehe!

Thursday, February 10, 2005

i want to be like Kris


AR1-Kris2
Originally uploaded by geWi.
System Time: 7:58 AM
no, not Kris Aquino, heaven forbid..Kris and Jon of the Amazing Race 6..

i was able to watch the final episode last night. Too bad my faves, Jon and Kris didn't win (Freddy and Kendra did) but they remain my favorite couple for ALL seasons of amazing race that i've watched so far.. i absolutely love Kris.. she's always upbeat and perky..she never whines even when they were experiencing bad luck on the race and i've never heard her scream or get angry at Jon.. jon's the same, and i also love the way they see the good things in every country they visited.. the other couples tend to focus on the negative but jon and Kris always, aaalways find something good to say no matter how awful or poor the country looks like... when i find myself bickering with pangs or whining or being petty.. i try to think of Kris and how i want to be more Kris-like in our relationship.. i wanna always be supportive of him and be optimistic (waah but it's sooo difficult! lol).. i don't want to bitch him around when things are not going our way.. i just want him to see my love emanating for him through every action that i do and every word that i say 'cause that's exactly how i see his love for me.. 'cause he deserves all that and much, much more.. i love you so, sooo much my pangs! i can't wait to be your wife..happy 5th my pangs mwaaaaaah >:D<

Sunday, February 06, 2005

...a greeaaat weekend

last saturday, pangs and i met with our first prospective caterer, Mrs. Wilma of Karwaje Catering Services.. we really like her!! proud na proud siya sa food nila, sa pagsasalita nya, parang sure na sure siya na hindi siya mapapahiya sa amin. we discussed the menu with her (secret muna kung anu) and we're so excited about it 'cause we got everything that we want that is still within our budget. kwento pa siya about sa weddings na pinagcater na nya at isa lang masasabi ko , magaling siya sa marketing hehe. bentang benta siya samen.. sabi nga ni pangs, 180 turnaround siya sa karwaje,.. kasi nga mahal siya nung unang tingin namin pero after meeting ms. wilma, nilagay nya yung gusto naming menu sa pinakamura nilang package bwahaha. we'll still meet other caterers, particularly Blue Petals Catering, pero so far, we are impressed. nagsuggest din si mrs. wilma ng ibang venues, ('cause we were thinking of doing it sa Renaissance Bramante, Poolside) and she suggested Kapitan Moy sa Marikina which has a big church (Our Lady of Abandoned, San Roque) in front of it.. so punta kami dun, meh kinakasal nga eh, ako nagustuhan ko yung itsura ng flowers, (si pangs hindi hehe) tas tanong kami kung how much and everything.. (8,000 bucks yung flower arrangement na nakita namin, with matching lilies sa floor) PERO hindi na available yung date na december 10 (can you believe it!? i can't! grabe magpareserve mga tao uh, shado excited. lol) pero we still went at Kapitan Moy (just across the church) and looked inside. It's like an old house with a big hall.. hindi kami nagandahan eh (the floors were chipped and faded, panget ng ceiling) so i told pangs, punta tayu renaissance! so we went there (wala kaming planong pumunta, eh, i needed something positive to end the day hehe) tas after asking for directions INSIDE the renaissance centre for like 10 times, we finally found the poolside. it wasn't anything spectacular, pero pwede na rin. tas si pangs biglang nagyaya din na pumuntang guadalupe viejo.. so punta kami dun, and nagandahan din si pangs sa church. it's a small, old church that's really perfect for weddings. bad news is hindi na rin available yung dec. 10.. every 4 pm slot on weekends from november up to january 2006 were already reserved! my gosh, kakabuwsit. siguro it's the december thing, peak season talaga siya. sabi nga, mas maraming kinakasal sa december keysa sa june. anyways, meh isang weekend ng january ang available (meh nakaERASE lang na pencil dun, lol) so dun na kami ikakasal. meh pros din sa change of date. first of all, aapprove si mommy kasi sabi nya, next year na lang daw kami ikasal. OHA next year yun uh! (never mind na 1 month lang ang nadagdag haha) second, hindi na maulan sa january so pwede yung garden wedding na gusto ni pangs! tiningnan din namin yung garden nila, it's very simple but pretty. courtyard talaga ang dating nya, and it has so much potential, madali siyang pagandahin, so pinareserve din namin yun.

kanina naman, pumunta kaming manila seedling bank sa meh QC.. tas i looked for potted flower plants kasi yun ang balak naming souvenir ni pangs.. ang saya! ang saya talaga dun! ang mura kasi bwahahah. mga 3 for 100 lang yung potted mums, pero i bought yung Celosia na plant (dark yellow and dark orange) para mapakita ko keh pangs at baka sakaling maipopragate ko eh lalo kaming makakatipid..instead of hiring a florist, bibili na lang ako ng magagandang plants, papagandahin ko tlga yung garden sa guadalupe! happy rin ako kasi open na yung family ko to the idea of my wedding.. binilan pa ako ng bridal magazine ni mommy.. i showed them the ring for the first time tas nagandahan silang lahat lalo na si ate chary.. (pero pangs, parang nahulaan nya yung secret naten eh hahaha pero i still didn't tell) si ate ging, so-so parin, pero she'll come around. i have faith naman. LOL.

salamat sa lahat ng nagcomment!! thanks so much, lalo ako natutuwa tsaka naeexcite. babay muna, gusto ko ng basahin yung magazine eh hehe. and to my pangs... i'm THE luckiest girl in the world. i love you!!

the title says it all. but i have a good feeling there will be greater weekends to come..

Friday, February 04, 2005

...fax fax pakasing nalalaman

ohmigod i just did a big booboo. last night (spent the night at Pramerica again), i was emailing some caterers to send me an attachment or fax me at the office their wedding packages, with the thought that i'll be able to check the fax machine every so often. i emailed that around this time too, but then forgot all about it until the next morning. pangs and i left the office to take a bath, but as soon as we got back at the office, sir Gerald, asked me "Espinosa ka ba, Geri?" while holding a couple of A4 papers.

i was "uh-oh"ing on my mind as soon as he said that, already realizing what i have gotten myself into. "Yes, sir" sabi ko.

he then handed me the fax with a cover letter of "TO SIR GERI ESPINOSA. WEDDING PACKAGES. FROM HIZON'S CATERING"

BWAhahahaha. i wanted to hit my head on the wall. what a way to announce that you're getting married. so because we had to report to Ms. Beth about the program we're doing (she's our tester, and she sits around the same area as sir Gerald), it was like feeding fresh meat to the chismis lions.. while we were in their area, after the discussion, ms. Beth goes "SO, ANO YUNG nabalitaan ko. ikakasal ka ba? at SIR ka na ngayon!" (hahaha bwiset na caterer, hindi ako kukuha sa kanila! lol!!!) so we were like slowly backing out of their area while ms. Beth, ms. Reina and ms.Marivic (not our boss, another Marivic) kept asking us about it. back at OUR area, i realized that we had to submit a report to ms. Beth and pangs said to me: "Sure ka, gusto mong bumalik dun?" (lol) i bravely went back, and it was a riot after that. to make a long story short, they were very excited for me (with matching kilig squeals especially when i showed the ring) and they were like "si raymond? yung raymond naten?!" (ni hindi man lng nila alam ata na KAMI eh hahaha) well i think, ms. Beth got less mataray around Raymond after that so that's good, right?

anyway, thanks so much for all your well wishes.. teka davis, ano blog url mo? tinanong ko na dati sila pasqui, reich, etc. alang meh alam.. i know you gave it to me last time, i just can't remember.. pabasa naman! hoy reich. LOL. katawa blog mo haha. and ate cha.. UMUWI KA UH langya ka.

'til then. i'll tell you all about the exciting and wonderful world of caterers next time. bwahahahaa.

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

...it's official

System Time: 7:33 PM

i'm officially engaged!!!!!! we were just sitting at a bench at the yosihan when pangs just pulled this beaauuuuutiful box out of his pocket and told me to hold it with my right hand. he then opened the box and pulled out a ribbon and proceeded to tie this around my ring finger..he then pulled out the rest of the ribbon from the box and at the end was the ring.. MY ring! of course, it didn't work the way he planned (it was supposed to slide directly to my finger, LOL) but still, you just don't mind the little stuff in a big moment like this..

/me happy sigh.

so pangs is not my bf anymore. he's my fiancee. wow. what a word. just typing it gives me butterflies in my stomach. now i know what "nervous and excited" feels like.. pangs told me to search "ann gretchen espinosa" on google and click the i'm feeling lucky button.. i got a big laugh out of that.. hehe.. which reminds me.. i have to update that blog.. we've been talking about marrying for quite some time now, since last year, but it's just this 31st of january did he formally propose to me..i keep looking at my left hand.. and everytime i see my ring, i feel so excited that all i wanna do is go to food tastings of every single caterer here in manila, LOL! i'm excited about THE wedding but also with the thought that next year, i'll be spending my lifetime with my pangs..

ilysssssm!

ps. just read erlyn and reich's comments on my last blog. galing nyo LOL!!!!