Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Marisol's Baby Shower

Alright, happy spring everyone! I'm not gonna lie, we did not plan a cool " spring showers, baby showers" kind of thing. It just happened. The baby shower has been postponed for so many times I can't believe it was still a success. Friends we expected to share with the new parents' joy were still able to make it and we made some new friends.

As you all know, I have 2 great girlfriends here in Boston. What makes them any different than all my other friends? Well, we have that special bond and connection where it seems impossible to have in this busy world considering how busy we all are. Our " geng" have beautiful and successful women and I love them all so dearly. Shout out to all of you my " geng". Marisol and Girlie are my best friends here, we don't compete, we encourage each other. We make each other laugh yet we can talk for hours for absolutely nothing! Like, NOTHING. Yet, nothing seems impossible when we start planning!

Enough with my misdirected mushy-ness? Is that a word? Today in this blog it is. Anyway, Sol and her equally lovable and trusted dear husband Eric have been trying to conceive for the longest time. The many years of enduring pain- emotionally and physically were both painful to see as it is disheartening to talk about. So imagine our joy when once again we found out they are expecting! It was a "controlled" joy because we know how they have been through that, only to be disappointed. I know we all prayed. Really hard. I was both happy and hopeful. I know how much both wanted this baby but I also know the pain they both had to go through. So, each day I prayed. I prayed for both their safety and strength. I just know that this baby would be so much loved! The waiting is killing all of us but finally, the time came to rejoice because the " frightful" stage is over.

Anyways, for the baby shower, I wanted to make it special and overly girly! I planned a pink and purple motif and I loved how it turned out--- if I may say so myself.  Girlie ( that's Helen Grace to you, non-regular readers of the blog), was in-charge of food and I was in charge of the decors. Ooooh, I so loved it.

Since it was already Spring ( if you are in doubt, check the snow pile outside, ha!), I changed the curtains also and kinda went from there.


Here's the rest of the decor details and as I said, I felt really happy. The colors were great, the fun of putting it all together and the kids involvement---priceless. I'll show you a lot of photos but believe me, there were more cameras as giggles and hugs the whole time.

First off, aren't  these hanging pompoms so adorable in all shades of pink? I love it!
 I also added paper fans as you can see from the picture below but notice the amazing cake me and Josh baked---topped with the daintiest decors---- fairy ballerinas! What's prettier than fairies and ballerinas? Fairy ballerinas, of course!

 But i think the best seller of the day were these pretty tutus I bought for the baby when she grows up but I incorporated it to the decor because 1. they  were so darn pretty and 2. I always want things with some meaning--not random. I am sure Sol can easily buy these in the future but it makes for better storytelling and nostalgia if it was part of the baby's life from the beginning, right? How's that for mushy-ness, ha?


I also found these hangers which I thought were soooo cute! Those little gift tags were reused for guests to write messages for the baby.

 As they say---it's in the details. So to complete the look, I tied the curtains with this cutesy ribbons. Adorable, ha?

Here's what I did as a centerpiece. I incorporated all the fundamental designs I wanted---pink, purple, E for Erikka, those cutesy ribbons and of course that American girl picture frame. Instead of the baby pictures though, we inserted some pretty cardboard papers and Josh wrote messages for Erikka.

 

 Another corner of the house was also filled with these lemon filled cupcakes topped with creamy pink icing. Oh love!

 What's a girl's party without pink balloons? We got tons and then used them as our "popping" balloons  during game time.
Daddy-to-be is excited

 Alright, that's it for now folks. Next post will be the party and all the special people who came to celebrate. Don't miss out on that! Watch out for part 2!




Monday, May 13, 2013

Philippine Election 2013 at the Llaga Household

While watching TFC, I saw some partial and unofficial results and exclaimed a sigh of disbelief.

Josh: why, who would you like to vote?
Me: ( just noticed he was paying attention) uhhhm, just that number 4 is ridiculous!
Josh: who, Bee-Nehy?
Me: ( looks at him funny)
Josh: oh, I know, I know-- Bee-Naaay--- just like you call Lola Nah-Naaaay. Am I right?
Me:yes!

See, we are so socially responsible letting our children watch elections--- lol.

On a more serious note, we do drive around the city when there is local election here in Massachusetts so they know what's going on and quite often, we talk about politics and its effect in society. Even more, I let them know why there is no school during observed holidays such as Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Thanksgiving.

Back to Philippine election, I hope no life is wasted or the voice of the people prevails this time and not another frustrating one.