Rayvin + Louanne, The Perfect Blend

Over the weekend, my whole family drove to Dumaguete to see my cousin Louanne marry her longtime sweetheart, Rayvin Pinero.

It was a lovely morning full of love, joy, and tears, as the eldest daughter of a brood of four officially tied the knot. Yes, I said morning! They had a beautiful ceremony at 7 AM at the grounds of the South Sea Resort in Dumaguete. The weather was perfect, windy, and not too warm nor humid. A yummy brunch followed, held at the hotel as well. (I loved that we could eat lechon at 9 in the morning!)

As you can see from the photos, Louanne and Rayvin chose the cheerful colors of yellow, orange and brown as their wedding motif and coffee as the emblem of their wedding as they got to know each other over many cups of coffee.

Here are some photos from that beautiful day.

My mother's magic. From this...

To this!

With the maid of honor, my cousin Issa

My parents getting to ready to march as Principal Sponsors

The beautiful bride being escorted down the aisle by her mom and uncle. And while she was walking, her groom was singing "Bless the Broken Road." I couldn't help but shed a few tears!


Welcome to the Family!


Issa, maid of honor, got picked for the garter!

Beautiful shot taken by one of the groomsmen, Meltoy Ferrero. How do you like the dresses I designed? The secondary sponsors dresses were orange and brown as well! I love how the colors came out!

Congratulations to the newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. Rayvin Pinero! So happy for you guys! It was a beautiful wedding!

Anya of Anthill Fabric Gallery

I don't know what it is, maybe it's growing older, maybe it's cause I live in a small city, or maybe it's because I went to a small school. But in the few years that I've lived back home, I've found meeting new people to only be an occasional occurrence.

Which is why, I'm always happy when I meet and make new friends like Anya Lim of Anthill Fabric Gallery.

Photos courtesy of Stylecebu.com

I started coming to Anthill to buy yummy fabric for my dresses of course, and a friendship struck up between me and Anya, the owner and proprietress of the wonderful store. It's not every day that you meet someone as bright, smart, and funny as Anya. She's got this awesome, happy personality, and being around her is like being in a room with a bright ray of sunshine bouncing around.

Not to mention that she's giving! She used to work (and still does consulting) for World Vision, an organization that works to find sponsors for children in poverty all around the world. Then she founded Anthill with her mom, Annie Lim.

I love that Anthill is not just a fabric store, it's a socially responsible enterprise wherein not only do they sell fabric, but they also support new and upcoming local designers and indigenous weaving communities by making their products available to the public. And Anya is the perfect person to run it. She's super nice to everyone!

So Anya, if you're reading this, please know that I'm so glad we met and became friends! I know we didn't get to spend a lot of time together, but I know that we'll see each other again :) May you continue the wonderful work you do with World Vision, Anthill, and I know that you'll do great things wherever you go.

I'll see when I see you! Come visit me!

You can view Anthill's website here.

We voted! Did you?

And so we Filipinos wait, glued to our TVs for news, as our election day comes to a close.

As of 7:30 this evening, we still had friends waiting for their turns to be responsible citizens and cast their votes. And we watch the tallies and polls, wondering about the future of our nation.

Voting today, was not easy, difficult for many, and even deadly for some, as the new automated system is run for the first time and violence breaks out in some provinces. People literally had to wait for hours for their turn to shade the circles, cast their ballots, and get their fingers inked.

Let us pray for a safe and honest election and deserving, honest leaders who will be capable of leading our nation.

Sulong Pilipinas!

Wonderful Wedding Photographers

I, the queen of promptness, is being told that she was late for her own wedding.

I had wonderful wedding photographers, and I couldn't have been happier with them.

Let me introduce you to the men, Joey Reyna and his partner, Nelson Petilla.

Joey Reyna was referred to me by a friend and since I felt I hadn't quite found the right photographer in Cebu, I decided to check his work out and see how I felt about it. With all the stress and everything, I just decided to go with my gut, hired Joey and Nelson, and hoped I'd made the best decision.

When it came to our wedding photos, I knew that a good wedding photographer was on my top 5 list of non negotiables. That was one thing that I was willing to really budget for. You have your dress, cake, flowers, and everything else, but long after your wedding, you'll still have your wedding photos.

One month after our wedding, I've received 5 DVDs of raw files, and I feel that I could not have hired a better tandem.

One of the things I love about their style is their ability to capture emotion, and "moments" if you must. Sure you'll still have posed photos. But so many of Joey's and Nelson's photos are unexpected surprises which I really love.

So, thank you, Joey and Nelson, for all the wonderful moments that you captured for us! Thank you a million times!

You can view Joey's blog entry about our wedding here.

On Tying the Knot

So I've dropped off Gerard at the airport already, not quite knowing when I'll see him again. But that's ok! We're married! (Well sort of. Before our families, friends, and God, but not yet before the government.)

And now, I take a step back and think about how wonderful the last two weeks were.

Getting married (albeit non-legally as we'll do that in the USA) was an overwhelming experience, one that I thought I was prepared for, yet it totally caught me off guard.

Starting from the Despedida de Soltera wherein our guests from out of town started arriving. To leaving for Casino Espanol (and having to turn back!) walking down the aisle, being pronounced man and wife, and the awesome party afterward!

I think what hits me the most (aside from the fact that Gerard and I are now married) was all the love that surrounded us. It was so amazing, having so many people that we loved, all at the same place, all in the same room! That's one of the things I'll never really forget.

And even though there were people missing, most especially one, we held you closely in our hearts, and you were thought off, missed, and never forgotten.

I won't make this long. I'll save the longer entry for the next time.

But from the bottom of our hearts, Gerard and I are so grateful to everyone, for all good wishes, for your presence on our wedding day, for all the love, for EVERYTHING.

For my Japanese Fixes

I love Japanese food.

So when Red Kimono opened sometime late last year, my family had Sunday lunch there. And said to ourselves that we were never coming back. (Yes, it was that bad.)

But, with many restaurants that open at the Ayala Terraces, they usually need at least a month or two to get a hold of their footing and become the place that they are meant to be.

I had been hearing that the food in Red Kimono was actually quite good, in fact, some friends of mine claimed that it was their favorite Japanese restaurant (and these were people who really loved good food!) So one afternoon, I decided to have my usual early dinner and give Red Kimono another shot. (I like to have dinner early, around 5 or 6 PM preferably.)

I ordered their crunchy tuna maki roll which was supposed to be their best seller as well as my staple teriyaki chicken.

Here's a photo of the interior.

Here's a photo of the tuna roll.

I don't have a photo of the teriyaki chicken.

Why? Because I was too busy eating and enjoying what I know consider to be the best teriyaki chicken in Cebu! It was the perfect combination of sweet and crunchy skin on the outside and juicy chicken on the inside, drizzled with teriyaki sauce and served with shoe stringed potatoes.

It was so good that I took my friend Connie for dinner there a few nights later and we devoured the chicken within 5 minutes of it arriving at our table. Yes. I like it THAT much.

Not to snob the tuna maki roll which was actually very good itself. It was one of their " signature makis rolled in crispy tempura flakes and topped with tuna." The roll itself was meaty, not skinny like some maki rolls I've seen and the crispy tempura flakes added a satisfying crunch to the whole experience.

I took photos of the menu to convince Gerard that we should eat there while he's here.

That settles it. Red Kimono is now my second favorite Japanese restaurant in Cebu City (especially if you just want regular Japanese fair.) Kanyoen of course holds first place in my list (not because that's where Gerard took me the night he proposed but because I actually do love the food.) I believe Red Kimono will now be my go to place for the Japanese fix as Kanyoen is a special occasion kind of place. (Like my birthday this year!)

Can't wait to convince my family to give Red Kimono another shot. *Dreaming of chicken teriyaki.* Until the next time!

De-Stressing Strawberry Cake

It's been ages since I've written. Mainly because almost everything going on in my life now is wedding related and I don't want to spoil any surprises.

But one day, I felt like doing something non-wedding related so I got the itch to bake a cake. Not just any cake, but a strawberry cake with jam and cream cheese frosting, Gerard style. Like the birthday cake he made for me last year!

So one night, after having a yummy Japanese dinner with Connie at Red Kimono, we dropped by the supermarket to get all the ingredients.

Ok. I admit. This was the first time in a dozen years or so that I decided to bake a cake all by myself. (Usually Gerard does most of the hard work and I just taste test haha.) My specialty in the kitchen is baking chocolate chip cookies.

Here are photos of my de-stressing strawberry cake.

A middle layer of strawberry jam

A middle layer of cream cheese frosting

Attacked cake

It felt very relaxing to just whip the batter, bake, and ice the cake without a care in the world, just to enjoy the smell of it. Just the simple pleasure of creating something with your own hands. (That you can eat after!)

I served it to my family after lunch and it was a hit! (Mostly because I think for once, it was not something chocolate-flavored for once.)

I really should try to slow down and enjoy doing things more. And go back to writing! (Hahaha ambitious with the wedding in two weeks and all.)