2012 Year-ender

The year that was 2012. It was such a roller-coaster ride for me. There were some challenges and a lot of lessons learned along the way. Definitely, milestones were carved in my book of life. 

The highlights of my year were pretty awesome. I said 'I do' to my husband, Tyrone. It was a wedding that turned out just how I envisioned it to be... classy, quaint and with just the right amount of restraint in the details. 

We were able to gather, too our friends from all over in our 'big' ceremony. Most of them have set foot in Davao for the first time. Quite a feat. 

My Manila friends also gave me a really beautiful bridal shower. Nothing like the usual. Am allocating it a space on its own.

Spa party. Awesome.

In the process of getting all the preparations done, I met a wickedly creative person through a friend. Mara introduced me to Lyra. And thanks to social network, we've kept in touch. She made me this awesome box, for our wedding favors. 

My old friend Bonna realized her dream of being a florist. I did a lot of prodding. And the result was just nothing short of awesome. In my mind, she re-created how I wanted my setting to look just the way it was on my big day. 

I also met Zhorai, again through Mara. She's this calm and collected marketing gal. A young expat of Sony in Singapore. Noteworthy, for one because I don't get to meet a lot of new people and second, because she's young and she has already shown her mettle in the wold of branding.

I have been really fascinated by the blogosphere. I bookmarked my favorite writers who mostly write about lifestyle. Then, sometime last year, Mara yet again introduced me to this very young full-time internet personality, Liz Lanuzo. She's young and she's conquered cyberspace. She mostly writes about beauty products. In the net, she's projectvanity.com.

It thrilled me more than ever knowing that in this ever expanding whilst shrinking world, there is a place for everyone. I remember back in my younger days, I read and clipped, Kinny Salas' articles on Philippine Daily Inquirer. Back then, I was obsessed with make-up and beauty. Not quite these days. 

But the thing is there is a clear definitive movement of the world. And I love that I crossed over the timeline.

In the wheel of life, you know that at some point, there'll be a moment or space in time that you'd be underneath it. In what would have been a definitive travel as a newly-married couple, our Taipei adventure had to be shelved. 

A few days after I touched down in Manila from the Davao wedding, I got sick. Really sick. I was hospitalized. So, there goes our honeymoon. 

However, I feel that 2012 was an incredible year for me and my hubby. There were glitches but they didn't overshadow the beautiful events that took place. 

Buzzer beater meet up with Pong and Toto before they boarded the plane back to Vancouver. Am glad we saw each other again. They weren't able to attend our wedding but Pong has been a friend forever. Very generous, too. She gave me a lot of moolah for my wedding shoes. Aw.

So, in 2013, my identity has become a WE and we are looking forward to God's providence and faithfulness in our lives. Cheers!

P.S. I didn't write this on new year's eve because I chose to be an active participant in the real world. XX

Ladies Who Lunch

Two years in a row that we have celebrated our Christmas Party with girlfriends who work in the same office but belong to different functions. What gels us together is our usual lunch and penchant for playing board games and sharing stories during our daily one hour break. We usually congregate in my cube as it's big enough to provide elbow room for all eight or ten of us, as we eat. 

Last year, we had a grand time in Mamou Too (Rockwell Power Plant) and in Barcino (Greenbelt 2). For this year, we shared a sumptuous dinner at Stella in Bonifacio High Street Central. Some of us -- Sandra and I mostly, had a bottle of wine to go with the succulent ribs we ate. 

Me-an and Mars arrived late (work stuff). Nonetheless, the conversation just picked up as if they were already there at the onset. I think it's one of the reasons that this group just rock. 

Everyone is heard. You just have to fight your way to getting everyone's attention. All extrovert women with stories to tell, yapping away every chance we get. But no one minds because at the end of the day, we all have a grand time. 

Beautiful women. Sandra & Dawn.

Equally beautiful set -- Mei, Mara and Erica (Mrs. F!)

In their model's pose: (L-R) Sandra, Dawn, Mars & Mean

A group shot before the exchange gift

Just like last year, we continued the tradition of exchanging gifts. We exchanged views on Twitter, sent DMs for the wishlist and did the confirmation through social media. This year though, the general theme hands down is Gift Certificate. The store varied but the underlying tone is each is just too happy to walk into the store and buy an item using the gift (GC) given.

Mean & Mei

Mara & Erica

GC galore. Look at the faces! Pwede.

Wish granted. Starbucks tumbler to add to Mei's collection.

We found a new lunch buddy and friend, too. Dawn, a gifted writer but on the shy side started joining us for lunch a few months back. And we love to keep her in the group. We gained not just a companion but a friend we wish to have for life. 

I think that years down the road, we would still have our annual get-together to bookend the in-between dinners in swanky restaurants or newly-discovered hole-in-the-wall/quaint resto and the occasional wine and cheese night on Dawn's roof deck. 

2012 has marked another milestone for us. Some got promoted, got married, having a baby and traveled. We look forward to more years of stories, book swaps and travelogues.

Mr & Mrs Flores. Handsome couple, eh?

The couple needed to bid adieu early. Obviously, the preggers might pop anytime.

Here's to a more vibrant 2013 wherever we may be. Cheers! To Kat, we missed you. We know though that you are having a grand time in the big apple -- from Manila to New York, cheers!

Tradition lives on. My Christmas wish is for these lovely people to be chums for life.

XX

Sheng