Finally it's the last day of July! :D I'm so happy (and a little sad) that it's over. So much has happened this last month to name a few:

• Mae & Ariel's wedding
• Karen & Don's wedding
• Ariel's bday party
• Davao weekend getaway
• Maui & Allan's wedding
• Mhinx bday party
• Reunions
• Parties
• Kainan

And of course, workwise:

• Closed deal w/ CLP
• Closed deal w/ GCI
• Closed deal w/ ZPI
• Closed deal w/ DIP
• Closed deal w/ PAPF

I was hoping that these closed deals would be reflected in my payslip, but unfortunately, hindi lahat naka pasok. Sigh. Sa August pa ako yayaman at babawi sa pag deplete ng account ko c/o July events. In the meantime, I am saying farewell to alot of the Dubai balikbayans who were here for the reunions. I'm gonna miss you guys. Keep in touch ha.

*Shout outs to Maeyo, Ariel, Loids, Liz, Karen, new found friendster Jinky, Dhon ni Geni (kahit di ko nakita), and Beng (kahit di nagpakita).

*Future shout outs (yung mga aalis in a couple of days) to my favorite Kuya and favorite Ate in law, Geni, Don ni Karen, Mhinx, Apple, Maui and Allan.

See you soon guys! ;) I'm so looking forward to it!

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If June was about meeting new people, July was about rekindling relationships of my past. I'm excited to see what August will bring...

Glenn, Scheela, Roy and I along with newly weds Karen and Don met up last night to watch The Simpsons Movie. Karen told me she wanted to watch Ouija (which I didn't want to, because I'm a scaredy cat, hehehe) so I was glad that the Scheela and co were really kids who wanted to see the Simpsons. It was such a hilarious movie! Perfect for a no-brainer night. Hehehe.

And even if I was really tired, we waited for the rest of the Pangilinan clan (Scheela's cousins) to watch Ratatouille. Back to back movie. Hehehe. Really tired, there was a part that I slept through it. But I liked it din.


Good way to end the day. :) Watch it guys. Much recommended. :D

While updating the look of my blog, I included the portion of wedding bookmarks, because I love reminiscing about past client/friends weddings. And I remembered Anna & Brian.

They were one of the first few non-friend clients who booked Yev ka & Jenne Events. (They were early bookers, though). It was a very memorable event, because it was beautiful and super fun, despite the heavy, heavy typhoon rain named Glenda (which happens to be my sister's name). Haay so many happy mems.

Today is their anniversary, which is why I remembered them. So here's a shoutout to them. Happy Anniversary you two! Stay in love always!

While bloghopping, came across Rene Gaviola's site who featured daring photographers. My favorite one is the Fear Factor - Extreme Shooting article. It made my jaw drop.

Now who of my photographer lover friends can do this? I double dare you! :D

Click on the image to see what's so special about this shot.

My question for the day: What is your reaction when someone close to your heart cut ties with you, for whatever reason?

Do you:
Try to sort it out with the other person?
Say "keber, bahala ka rin sa buhay mo"?
Cry?
Wonder, "what did I do wrong?"
Wish the other person wrong/harm/karma?
Think of what you could do to prevent it next time?
Say, "it's better this way at least there are no more arguments"?
Good riddance to bad rubbish?
Wish that the person apologizes eventually or make amends, but you yourself, won't do anything?
Talk negatively about the person to common friends?
Look for a kakampi?
Forgive, even if you don't understand?

My counter question: What would Love do?

Seems like a really relaxing place. Let's see if it lives up to my expectations...

I was not a coordinator at all for the Karen-Don wedding (specific instructions from the bride) so I was in the dark of what was going on during the preparation. (They also kicked me out during the debrief! Hahaha!). I still insisted that kasali ako sa traditional team pose with the couple. Hehehe. (less the other Evelyn, who was part of the team, and Jenn's team)



I must say, I enjoyed myself tremendously as a guest. :) No stress at all. Ibang iba ang feeling. I got to enjoy the day. Although, unfortunately inallergy ako after the bouquet toss. (Less pictures for me). Buti na lang it was a pretty long event, nakahabol pa ako sa mga kulitan pics after the wedding.


It was so much fun! But Loida tells a much better photo story. Check it out.

Congratulations to good friends Karen and Don!

After the very tiring, exciting, emotional, extremely fun, syempre stressful din, joyful weekend wedding/reunion of Mae and Ariel, and after a day of rest and catching my breath, I'm now relishing on sitting at my desk, drinking my cup of coffee and catching up on my day job.

Pics to follow. But in the meantime, check out the blogs of Mae and Loids.

Here's a run down of my favorite happenings during the weekend (in no particular order):-

• Ang ganda talaga ng Sonya's. It was absolutely beautiful.
  
• Talap talap the food of Sonya's! :D
  
• Joreine's prayer in blessing the food;
• Reunion nga - seeing most of my Dubai friends all at one time;
• During the ceremony, when Mae and Ariel said their vows (naiyak ako sobra! sobrang touched!)
  
• Galing ng priest - most impressed;
• The onsite AVP of Buddy (the videographer);
• The best man's (Toti, brother of Ariel, na sobrang kamukha nya!) speech (winner!)
• The dinner the night before (with my brother, ate in law, the coordinating team and some friends) at a bulalohan. Talap, busog, talap.
  
• It didn't rain! Saturday, the day before, it rained heavily. Cats and dogs raining kind. The wedding day, the weather was beautiful.
  

I feel that my chosen professional life (in Marketing/Sales/Events, where there's variety and expression) is a direct opposite of the Banking world. My prejudice of bankers were that they were strict, monotonous, and follows all the rules. Don't get me wrong. I feel there's a certain discipline that is followed by bankers. But heck, it definitely is not for me.

Today I spent almost 2 hours in 6 different banks were my patience was really tested. Here is a roll call on what irked me, and pleased me na din on the different banks.

• EPCI - Irked. They do not allow for non account holders to exchange foreign currencies. I just don't get the logic on this one. I also don't like the fact that their tellers were walking around in slippers(?!). As in the pambahay kind.
  
• BDO - Pleased. For once, BDO was pretty reasonable to me today although there was a pretty long line just to have money exchanged. After experiencing EPCI, I feel that BDO was pretty easy to deal w/. Not too strict on rules, which helps a lot. Their tellers just need to smile some more.
  
• EPCI - Irked. Most Definitely Irked. Went to another branch to deposit money and after 30 mins of waiting in line (ang laki laki ng banko,- pang 9 or 10 tellers, tapos 3 lang ang utilized, kaya haba haba ng pila), they told me that they don't allow more than P50K interbranch deposit w/o a charge. I don't get it. It had worse logic than my first concern w/ them. (Pwede pala ako pumila tapos deposit na lang uli ako, para it's considered as another transaction. Weird!) They also don't allow use of celphones inside the bank (which I never did understand).
  
• BPI - Pleased. Pretty fast, no worries, no pila, thank God. Efficient. I guess the best bank I transacted w/ today. Oh and very pleasant tellers. Maybe dahil walang nag aaway sa kanila sa bagal na pila.
  
• China Bank - Irked. Not naman slow, but super sungit ng teller. When it was my turn, I went to an empty teller (kakaalis lang ng isang client), sabihan ba naman ako, "hindi mo pa turn, bumalik ka sa pila, at hintayin mo na tawagin ka". I transacted w/ another teller instead, kse mapapaaway lang ako.
  
• HSBC - More Pleased than Irked. super, dooper slow tellers although no pila. On a bright note, I like the look of the branch and they have pretty staff.
  

All I can say is, thank God my office is located along the bank row and that all the banks were walking distance to each other.

It rained pala kanina. Hard. I'm glad I was already inside HSBC (which is sa baba lang ng building namin) and not walking around the different banks.

Been with Globe's Speak n Surf since first week of May 2007 pa lang. Siguro been able to use fairly okay service (not great mind you) for a total 2 weeks max before shit happens. Customer service was and still is really bad. So is the tech support. And of course the service in general. I asked for re-computation of my bill, which they eventually did (after weeks and weeks) and yet I got this. Frustrated, frustrated, frustrated.

My fault of course. I should have researched on this broadband phenomenon before signing a 1 year contract with them. I'm now stuck with bad service provider with even worse service.

Can it get any better I wonder?

- Evidence A
- Evidence B
- Evidence C

Doubt it.

You Are 40% Vain

Okay, so you're slightly vain from time to time, but you're not superficial at all.You are realistic. You know that looks matter. You just try to make them matter less.

I can't believe Loids is less vain than me. Cannot and will not.

I chanced upon my dad in chat kanina. After the basic kamustahans, I asked if he had any new pictures of my nephews. Since they were about to leave, he sent me some pics via skype. Some means 89 pictures kse wala na daw siyang time to choose which pics to show me, so he sent me all! Hehehe. Here are a few of my favorite pics.



By the way I told my favorite Ate in law about it, she said na kulit ng tatay ko and dapat gawa na lang siya multiply account. Hehehe. Actually not a bad idea... maybe I should do a Caratao family multiply account. Hmmm. Pag may time na siguro...

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Sitting in a coffee shop in Alabang with free wifi, my favorite cafe mocha and yosi. Now this is the way to work. :) Although signs that I need to leave:
- i've been here since 7pm
- it's past 9pm
- coffee shop is closing and my cafe mocha is almost empty
- my lighter just ran out haha
- and my battery in my laptop malapit na maubos
- dead batt na rin phone ko, kailangan mag charge
- di na as traffic as kanina kaya driving should be a breeze

Fine, fine, time to head home na, get some rest to recharge for the upcoming week.

It's the first day of July and officially the second half of the year has just started. June was very tiring, a bit disappointing, stressful pero kahit paano exciting. I'm looking forward to the coming month kse daming happening neto, specifically - AM wedding, KD wedding, GS arrival, closings, closings, closings, closure with boys (di pa kse sila men eh, boys pa lang).

Firstly, it's just 1 week to go before Maeyo's wedding. I have my MOH dress (isn't it so pretty?) already and my shoes (which are just as adorable and fits me perfectly!) . Thank you to Maeyo and Loids for having perfect taste! Just the shoes that I wanted to wear! Was able to do finish some tasks for the bride, the coordinating team, and also personally for me this weekend. Konti na lang ang mga left to do's so mejo excited na for the upcoming week. Oh and I got over the sniffles na, so feeling much, much better.

Stressed w/ demanding clients, last minute clients, mabagal landlords, people who owes me money, upcoming and previous weddings, wedding suppliers, my bank, my finances, and let's not forget the boys - I'm starting to feel like I'm coming down with the sniffles. Oh no.

Need for hot calamansi juice and some TLC. Overload with vitamins and throw in a secretary for free please.

We need moments of inspiration daily. Here's one I received that lifted up my spirits. Just when I'm about to take my morning coffee, I might add.

Hugs!

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A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil.

In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see." "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. "Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?"

Think of this: Which am I?

Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level?

How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

May you always have the best COFFEE to your taste!

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Personally I feel like I've been a carrot. Hmm, maybe that's why I crumble easily. Another cup of coffee please...

• Get 2nd room ready as my room while Glenn and Scheela are here (dapat may bed, basically)
• Contact Roy and ask him to come with me to buy aircon (hmm, maybe electric fan will do)
• Buy bulb for the bathroom and for the 2nd room
• Laundry and press all remaining clothes
• General Cleaning for the house
• Go grocery shopping (stock up on food)
• Have drawers fixed
• Fix up laptop area
• Extra house and car keys for Glenn/Scheela
• Have car auto detailed and interior detailed
• Friendship sticker?
• Make sure Meralco and water bills are paid

Next item is to prepare a To Do list on cleaning up/decluttering my workspace.