The Man I Trust with my Wedding Memories:

Rolando Pascua...

After much careful thought and deliberation, we chose him to be in-charge with the most important aspect of our wedding day, the Photography. If there is one thing that we should invest more for this wedding, I'd say it's the memories that we keep after, and what a best way to document everything is through the artistic and creative hands of our wedding photographer.

I may be thousand miles away from Cebu, but I managed to find one of the best talents in this field. Thanks to the power of Internet! I've lurked in a few other Cebuano photography websites but I must say Rolando's packages are worth every peso you spent. I've chosen the "With Album" package and I'm so grateful that he gave me a decent rate of discount so I need not think more, we'll be formalizing everything on Friday, April 3rd. He emailed me a copy of the contract and I'm gonna have my mom sign it on Friday on my behalf.

Here's more of Rolando Pascua's wedding photography.

Quality and comfort in ONE!

Summer is definitely getting close. It’s time to put away your closed-toe shoes and get the summer sexy sandals ready. But before you even do that, take one last look on comfortable Dansko clogs online. If you’re the type that prefers comfort than sexy fashion, clogs are perfect for you. You can wear it on the go, no matter what the weather is. Give your feet the comfort they deserve.

Wedding reception dilemma

I must admit that I was disappointed when I found out from the account executive of Casino Espanol that January 2, 2010 was no longer available if I was to hold my reception at their ballroom. How could that be? It's still 10 months from now. I mean who would have thought that aside from me, there's somebody else out there in Cebu who also plan to get married on the 2nd day of the year. I didn't choose that date for feng shui, horoscope, star signs or any goodluck reasons, which I don't see anything wrong if I did. But that seems to be the most practical date for me and Jeff considering his limited number of vacation days. We wanted to spend Christmas and New Year with my family so after the wedding day, that would leave us roughly 2 weeks for our honeymoon in Boracay and a visit to some of our favorite dining places in the city. But since we could not have it on the 2nd of January, we were forced to move it to January 9th. I was told the date is still open but I'm still waiting for a reply from the account executive as to how would I be able to reserve that date for me. Initially, I did not want to confine myself and my guests within the four corners of the venue, that's why I've always wanted it to be in a garden or at a beach. But I don't want to put the convenience of my guests at risk especially since December and January in the Philippines are known to be rainy season, and that eliminates the choice of a picturesque garden or beach venue.

If you're not careful, reception itself is gonna cost you a fortune. No matter how tempting it is to choose Waterfront, Marriott and the like, I didn't want to succumb to it because I wanted to be practical. Yes, I've been dreaming for this wedding my whole life but I don't want to go crazy with my choices and end up depleting our savings just to prove a point. I choose to have it in an elegantly simple venue, within our price range and most importantly a place that serve good food. After all, a reception is all about food and the special memories that I'm going to share with the people that I hold dear to my heart which are my family, relatives and friends. I really hope I would hear back from Casino so I can get this part out of the way. I have 90% decided on most suppliers that's going to be a part of my dream team. I believe the reception is the most expensive part of the wedding (aside from my gown =)), that's why I'm giving this my utmost attention. I hope everything will fall into place as soon as I have my church and reception set.

The Mountain Tower

The last but not the least stop we made on our Valentine's trip is Hot Springs Mountain Tower. We only spent 2 days in Hot Springs so we made use of our time while we're there. Right after our mini-photo session at the thermal waters of National Park, we headed straight to the 216-foot observatory of the city. This Mountain Tower affords a breathtaking panorama-encompassing hundreds of miles of beautiful Hot Springs, the Ouachita Mountains and the surrounding Diamond Lakes area. It was indeed a magnificent view unfolding right before our very eyes. They have a small gift shop in the ground floor of the building and I bought some little knick knacks for souvenirs. Below is the last batch of our Valentine's date photos.

The Mountain Tower

Me at the highest part of the structure

Chillin' away the time

A view of the parking lot from above, cars looking like miniatures

The city of Hot Springs

Gazebo

Looking for a Philadelphia Plastic Surgeon?

A few months back, I’ve heard that the famous doctor of the stars in the Philippines, Dra. Vicki Belo had opened a clinic in Ayala, Cebu. This goes to show that not only celebrities have the right to look pretty and confident. If you have the money and you think it will give you a different perspective about yourself, going to a professional cosmetic surgeon is a viable option. Here in the U.S., Dr. Emily Pollard is a professional name you can trust. As one of the leading Philadelphia Plastic Surgeon, she specializes in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, breast surgery, body contouring, facial rejuvenation and womenВ’s health issues. Dr. Pollard is an active member of the highly medical organizations in the U.S., American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and American College of Surgeons to name a few. What’s my point? If you’re going to venture into an expensive and critical decision about improving one self, you would want to be in the hands of the expert, wouldn’t you?

Get in touch for less

Winter is over and I look forward to springtime. For the past days, Ozark has been really warm. After a long winter, I think my body needs to adjust to the warm weather. I miss the rain, it hasn’t rained in days. I miss calling my family too. It’s been 4 days since I last called. I’ve been caught up with wedding planning, reading and eating out that I have not had the chance to give them a call. I always have phone cards ready because calling long distance is expensive. I’ve always used phone cards and I’m quite happy with it. It’s pretty cheap and easy to use. You just dial a toll free number and in seconds you’re connected. How about you? How do you get in touch with your family in another country?

I'm still here...

What’s up? It’s been a week since I last wrote something in my blog. The DST had my biological clock all messed up. For the first 3 days, I had a hard time getting up an hour early than I was used to. I went to work feeling groggy and yearning for more hours of sleep. There had been days that I was so tempted to call in sick but end up telling myself that if hubby can do it despite how hard his job is, then there’s no reason for me to be irresponsible and lazy. I love the weather lately. You can feel the hint of spring in the corner. Besides pink of course, my favorite color since I got here is Spring Green. It's like the photo below. It looks so soothing to the eyes, doesn't it? On a different note, I recently changed my Yahoo mail and chat password. I’ve been getting spam messages from supposedly people in my contact list advertising about different weight loss products. I know it’s not really from them, so just to be safe, I scanned my laptop for possible spyware and viruses and changed my passwords.

(*photo not mine)

Hot Springs National Park

As I've mentioned in my previous post, Jeff took me to a Valentine's trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas. It's a small, tourist place with lots of wonderful views, historic places to visit, cool places to shop, nice restaurants, various gift shops sprawled around the entire city. Checking out the HS National Park was not part of our itinerary but it was a blessing in disguise, because the restaurant that we went to for breakfast was situated right in front of this picturesque national park. Jeff saw the park through the glass walls and he asked me if I want to walk around the park after breakfast and without any hesitation, I said Yes!

I was awed when I actually see with my two eyes the healing thermal water that's coming out of the ground. That's what attracts people to Hot Springs. People have used the hot springs here for more than two hundred years to treat illnesses and to relax. You can actually go to the Bathhouse Row for a therapeutic bathing experience. Unfortunately, we haven't tried it on our first visit but we would definitely try it on our next trip.

The park

This is ME

Steam coming off the ground

A pool of hot spring water

The exquisite look in you

I was browsing online for my wedding accessories when I came across with this pretty pearl necklace from Bellatrue. My heart is set for a simple but elegant rhinestone necklace for my wedding but I thought this one is a perfect addition to my casual accessories. It’s a white freshwater cultured pearl necklace in 14K white gold and it’s available for an affordable price. It’s cute, isn’t it?

Just my thoughts...

I was shocked and saddened by the loss of an icon in the Philippine music industry. The master rapper Francis M.’s songs will forever remain in the hearts of the Filipinos. I am truly amazed of this guy’s strength in the midst of his health problems. His blogs, T.V. interviews and photos before he passed away, shows his hopes and positive attitude towards everything. Wherever he is, may his soul rest in eternal peace. On a lighter note, I’ve learned that my cousin and her fiancé who just moved to Colorado were planning to buy a new house. It must have been difficult to look for the perfect one, in the midst of their wedding preparations. I know there are just so many things to think about, I’m hoping they would not forget to get a good home insurance policy. After all, buying a house is a big investment, it’s important to make sure that it’s protected at all times.

The latest on online shopping

Many people like to shop online. It eliminates the hassle of having to stand in long queues for checkouts. You can also cut back with your gas spending when you shop online. I personally don’t mind shopping online especially for items that’s hard to messed up like music, books, movies, toys, electronic and computer gadgets and stuff. The internet is such a big place to shop, that’s why it can be confusing sometimes for average people like me to do online shopping. Good thing, ShopWiki is there to assist us with our shopping needs.

It revolutionizes online shopping since it finds every store on the internet. They have at least 30,000 stores online to choose from. I am not confident with the way I dress up and so I definitely could use some fashion guide at ShopWiki. Spring is almost here, it’s the perfect time to go out and start to do things outdoors but we definitely need a good pair of shoes for that. I know women love accessories as it will accentuate their looks and outfits. You can look for all them and some more at the newest shopping search engine in the web right now. Try ShopWiki now!

All About Me

One of the things I love about having mini-vacations is the photo opportunity. Hot Springs is a very pretty place and I couldn't let the chance pass to have souvenir photos of me in a very romantic and picturesque place like this. I'm grateful to my ever-dedicated hubby for taking all these photos of me. He would always tell me that I'm his favorite photo subject. (*wink) Most of these photos are taken at the Garvan garden. Please enjoy viewing them as I was having fun when I had all these shots taken. Have a very fun Sunday, everyone!

In my solitude

Getting ready for our 2nd day adventure

A little tired from hiking (my puppies are barking)

Chillin'

Hurray!!!

By the waterfall

The edge of my jeans got wet from the water splashes

By the pond

By a bridge

I had the spot all by myself