TOPAZ HORIZON

Seven years married today, folks! Fifteen years madly in love. I was looking through all my previous wedding anniversary posts and blushed at how I completely adored my husband (I still do!), so I was wondering what to do this year on the blog that wouldn't make me sound like an infatuated teenage girl (to my husband's disappointment because he says he loves it when I gush over him haha).

Well, since it's Fashion Friday, I decided to do an OOTD hehe. Seven years ago, this was what I wore:

It's a Kate Torralba design, back when she was still making clothes. Now she's making music. I didn't want something bridal, since at my age (I was 30), I wanted to look sophisticated and elegant, not virginal and sweet. Vince just wanted me to look sexy. He even wanted me to expose my back.

Kate came up with this super tight mermaid dress. In the course of the making of that gown, I had it loosened twice because I kept insisting I wanted to be able to move around. A week before the wedding, however, I had the flu, and the stress just made me unable to eat! So on the eve of the wedding, the seamstress came over to the house to tighten the gown because by then it had become very loose!

My earrings are borrowed from Kate, too. Makeup by my high school friend, Jigs Mayuga. He gave me his services for free, as his wedding gift. Yey!

At the church entrance with my parents! Well, I guess that even if I hadn't wanted to look like a bride, the veil just gave me away. Vince said his favorite part of the wedding was when I ran down the aisle to him. Ya, I couldn't contain myself. I left my parents and threw myself into Vince's waiting arms. I was that excited!

And this is us. I love our wedding clothes. I loved our simple but stylish wedding. I love that we laughed all day that day. We're still laughing today, fifteen years down the road, seven of which as married people, and with two-going-on-three kids, the love we share just gets better and sweeter and deeper. Happy anniversary, Vince!

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Actually, it's been 14 years. We just made it official six years ago today. May there be a million years more of you and me, Vince. Happy anniversary!

It's the eve of our fourth wedding anniversary and Vince and I found ourselves talking about how we ended up having the wedding of not our dreams. If you know us at all, we're not the sort of people who dreamed of white gowns and designer bridesmaid dresses, tearful speeches and towering cake, first dances and gorgeous photo shoots, and all the extravaganza that weddings entail.

There's only one thing that's happening on April--the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. So Elaine, my magazine's associate features editor, who's been doing research, shared with us the video of Diana's long march down that aisle so many years ago. Confession: I've never actually watched this most famous wedding before! It took my breath away.



Did you hear the people roar? Did you hear the trill and bellow of the trumpets? I got goosebumps honestly. I imagine a saint's arrival at heaven to be greeted like that, with applause and trumpets.

In her voluminous dress, Diana still looked very elegant and beautiful, even brave. Well, every person about to get married has to be brave!

My own wedding was very simple. So was Vito's baptism. Vince and I aren't the pomp-and-pageantry type. We like to dress up and eat well, but we don't like programs or dance numbers or long speeches or giveaways and stuff like that. For a lot of people, events are a big show (and there's nothing wrong with that!) but for Vince and me, our events are very private and quiet.

But watching Diana's wedding, I can't help but feel that weddings should indeed be like that--a spectacular show! I certainly now wish my wedding march had been accompanied by such fanfare! Drums and trumpets and the thunderous roar of thousands of happy people! Hear! Hear!

KT, sweetheart, I'm sure you've seen Chanel's Resort St. Tropez Collection 2011. This particular cashmere mini dress with guipure details caught my eye:

The dress is GBP 1,652 or USD 2,600

On Clemence Poesy, ES Magazine

On Emma Roberts, Marie Claire Nov 2010 issue

On Jessica Alba, Elle Dec 2010 issue

I'm sure, Kate, you know why that dress piqued my interest. In 2007, you created the most fabulous flowergirl-and-bridesmaid dresses for my wedding. Yes, it's different and yet very very similar. Chanel's base is pink while yours is brown.

Bridesmaid Mariel (second from left) and the coolest Summit Media girls!

The flower girls and junior bridesmaid

I like what you did better. Yes, I prefer yours over Chanel!

... is I have no more friends who'll get married in the next three to five years. That means Vito won't ever get to be a ring/coin/Bible bearer. It would've been so cute to see him in a little suit or barong, walking most seriously (I imagine him to take his duties most seriously!) down that long aisle. I'd be such a proud momma!

Vince's cute nephews Kevin and Zo at our 2007 wedding

Well, I did propose to Vince that we could renew our vows when Vito's 3 or 4 or 5 years old. That way, Vito gets to be a ring bearer and I get to have new wedding jewelry! Definitely a fantastic plan! Now if only I can fit into my gown again...

Nope. I didn't diet or exercise to fit into that dress. I was really just thin. Now my birthing hips are impossible!

Thank you to everyone who greeted me a happy mommy's day. That really amused me since, technically, I'm still a mom-to-be but, gee, I already am taking care of a little one in my tummy and a fat rabbit in the utility area so yup, that makes me a mom! Thanks!

Happy Mother's Day to you, too--moms of their own kids, pets, nephews and nieces--as long as you're taking care of someone, I salute you!

Anyway, I've been avoiding my darling blogging community the last few days because it was Mother's Day weekend and I just didn't want to read about how happy you are to have your moms around. Makes the emptiness in my heart just a wee bit more hollow, you know? But that didn't mean I didn't think of Mama--though I did try not to so I wouldn't be sad, but hey, maybe sadness isn't too bad. So today I finally allowed myself to wallow.

I was thinking today of this huge irony in my life: Mama had always wanted a nice house in a nice neighborhood. Our house used to be nice but decay had set in and we didn't have the money to do repairs so the house just became... well, not nice. Also, our once quiet neighborhood had become a den of thieves and peeping Toms, the kind that needed tall fences, dead bolts and driveway alarms, so Mama always talked about moving to another place.

She loved looking at the Crown Asia subdivisions in Antipolo--Maia Alta, Cottonwood--pretty little communities nestled far up in the hills. She'd say she'd buy a white car so she can visit us and she'd plant a pretty garden because Mama had an awfully green thumb and she can make dead things come to life.

So when I started working, I promised Mama I'd buy her a house in Cottonwood (it was nicer there, I thought). Vince knew this dream and agreed with me--we were going to buy Mama a house! Of course, a house and lot (and that white car) don't come cheap so I really spent the last decade just slaving away. I had a day job and then I had many other projects--PR writing here, web content there, and magazine articles, too. I seemed to be endlessly writing and never sleeping. Mama said she understood whenever I couldn't see her. I was just too damn busy, yes, but it was all for buying her that house! I hardly saw her the last few years of her life but I was getting there, getting closer to our dream.

On February 14, 2008--her 63rd birthday--I told her that with the way things are going, Vince and I would most likely buy her her own house and lot as her 65th birthday gift. She was so giddy. She died a few months later.

A few months after we buried Mama, I got a big raise. I remember looking at that piece of paper and just feeling... nothing. Just this vast emptiness that threatened to swallow me up and never spit me out. I think I went on a shopping spree for me, Vince, my sister and my nieces. I don't really remember.

Do I regret working too much when I could've spent that time with her? Sometimes I do, most times I don't. I did it for her, you see.

Sure, I may not have been able to get her her house but I was able to do this one thing for her... When I got married in 2007, and Mama walked down that aisle looking like a queen, I was so happy for her. When the wedding came out in the society pages and the people who had put her down and sneered at her all those years for being poor and unlucky began calling her up and wanted to be friends again, I was happy for her. She had a daughter who made her proud, and I was that daughter. I gave her a reason to lift her chin again. And I am never going to regret that.

Still, when Mother's Day comes rolling around, or her birthday, or mine, or the holidays, or when this whole motherhood thing crashes down on me and I get terrified at becoming a mom myself, I do wish she were still around so that I don't have to be so strong and so brave all the time. Because really, most of the time, I don't have any idea how life works and it would be so nice to have a mother around. Even for just a little while.

This past weekend was just lovely. Vince and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary and the 11th anniversary of when we fell in love! I'll update soonest with a proper post, but for now here's a look back on that very special day:

Tessa Prieto-Valdes a.k.a. The Sea Princess wrote about our wedding in her column. I totally forgot where I put the news clipping of that! But here's another from the Inquirer (click photos to enlarge):

I'll have the Wedding Essentials magazine feature and Cosmopolitan mention scanned so you can take a look, too. I wish I'd also recorded the bridal feature on Kate Torralba's wedding gowns of some TV show. I heard that we had really nice photos from our wedding shown there. Oh well! Have a nice week!

The Manila String Machine.



My brother, a cellist, is part of this quartet, and they were the ones who played at my wedding. They also played at Issa Litton's wedding. And they will perform soon at my friend Mariel's wedding.

I noticed as I was blog-hopping that there are so many bride-to-be's out there, all furiously/dreamily/feverishly planning their wedding. Well, might I make a suggestion? If you're the type of bride and groom who care about the details, then a string quartet definitely makes your wedding more elegant and more beautiful.

My wedding was just lovely--intimate, quiet and glamorous. Well, my parents would have preferred a large and noisy event (I'm from a large and ridiculously noisy family) but for Vince and me, the only sound we wanted to hear that day was that of well wishes and laughter and the music of strings.

My uncle, Papa's brother, did decide to stir things up and campaign for a senator (to my horror, the uncle even showed up in jeans and a campaign shirt)... and that is a story for another day!

Aside from that annoying snafu, my wedding was elegant. And while I have my friends and sisters-in-law to thank for that, I also know that the beautiful music my brother and his friends played was the thread that held it all together. Never underestimate the power of music. In this case, on perhaps the happiest day of your life, the Manila String Machine will be the perfect accompaniment to start your journey to happily ever after!

Bad things don't have to be the end of the world. For me, one bad storm was the beginning of a whole new world.

As regular readers of this blog know, Vince and I have been together since 1999. You also know that I never wanted to get married. While I loved Vince, I was quite averse to the idea of marriage, even if it was to Vince. But on September 28, 2006, that all changed when Typhoon Milenyo blew into town.

We were in Vince's 23rd-floor apartment that stormy morning and as I was waiting for him to dress up for work, I heard the sound of wind whistling fiercely and of water dripping... fast. I looked at the kitchen sink—nope, faucet was off. I looked under the sink—nope, no leaks. I looked for the source of the sound, which was getting faster and louder, and to my horror discovered that water was pouring in through the windows! The wind was so strong, it was literally pushing in water through the air holes of the glass windows (the air holes regulate air pressure). The good news was the glass didn't break; the bad news was the entire apartment was surrounded by windows!

I immediately alerted Vince and we tried plugging the holes. Didn't work. The wind was so strong, the water was actually jetting through! Vince hollered at me to save his precious books, which were shelved under the windows. He didn't need to tell me twice. He was busy unplugging his entertainment system. The water rose higher and higher, spreading throughout the parquet floors. It was so surreal because here we were 23 floors up and we were flooded in!

To make a long story short, Vince and I moved furniture and mopped up water the entire day, throwing buckets of it in the sink and the shower, still unbelieving that we were in a flood. But I liked how we handled the situation: Vince was entirely in control and I didn't lose my head either. We were a team, calm and methodical, not needing to tell each other what to do (although we were deeply upset inside!). In the evening, as we sank our tired asses onto the sofa, I remember looking at Vince and thinking, "I'm marrying this man."

Nope, it wasn't a romantic moment. I didn't feel warm and fuzzy inside. I was tired and cold and wet and hungry, and Vince was the same. We weren't even talking to each other, so exhausted were we! Not exactly a scene out of a movie. But there I was, looking at him coldly assessing the damage, and I knew then that when I go through the worst storms life can unleash, there is only one person I want to be with. The decision to marry him wasn't borne of a romantic or passionate emotion, it was born out of simple logic and it is perhaps the most intelligent decision I've ever made.

Three months after Typhoon Milenyo hit, I proposed marriage with a Sony Playstation 3 and Vince accepted and presented me with a diamond ring. Not a bad exchange, I say! We married in April 2007, just seven months after Milenyo. So, incredibly, Milenyo led to marriage!

What wonderful changes do you think Ondoy will bring?

This photo from my wedding was supposed to be in the Father's Day post but, with all the photos I was putting up, I forgot to post this one.

I was admiring my bridal self in front of the mirror when Papa joined me. He looked at me appreciatively then said, "I look good!" I stuck out my tongue at him before I giggled.

It's one of my favorite photos.

P.S. If you're wondering why my blog title is in that weird color, it's because of the poll program I'm using for my Choose the Shoes post.

Turning 32 tomorrow! Here's a look back at some of the most amazing times of my life!