you & me (tag mini book)

i can't believe it! it will be december in a few days and i still have a lot to prepare for the christmas season.  i better start preparing my shopping list already.  oh my! so little time to prepare.

talk about presents, clariz had a post birthday treat for the ac barkada last saturday at tourne at the fort.  it was a fun lunch over good food and good company.  time spent with my college friends are almost always never enough. imagine non-stop chitchat and laughter for almost 4 hours!  

anyways, here's the gift i gave to clariz. this is a tag mini book which is one of my favorite creations. i like creating this minis as gifts for friends. the mini was predominantly orange, her fave color. i'm glad she loved it!

happy

i created a layout last night using one of the sketches from sketchabilities. i used this sketch and it was perfect for the photos i had on hand. i used stuff from a scarlet lime kit and added a few things also from my stash.

i noticed that i tend to go for multiple photos now as much as possible. i still like creating single photo layouts but i'm able to include more of the moments if i go for multiple photos. preferences really evolve over time and i guess it's by necessity too. with the limited time i have, more photos in a layout means less backlog too.

journal: this is one of the few times we all get to be together in an occasion. i miss being with you all. you are all one of my closest friends and i'm happy to have spent a day with you.

materials used: patterned papers - jillibean soup, crate paper, october afternoon, sassafrass lass, junkitz; chipboard - wrmk, provo craft; stickers - october afternoon, 7gypsies; rub-ons - fancy pants; buttons - autumn leaves, making memories; ink - chalkbox; ribbon

very sweet

yesterday, my bff clariz texted me saying i need to check my email immediately. good thing our office meeting just ended.

so there i was opening my email and this is what i saw...

Make a Smilebox

isn't she sweet! we've been friends since college and we've been through a lot together as friends. clariz was right when she said we don't really get to see each other as often now. still, our friendship remains ever so priceless! here's to more years of friendship with you best friend!

disconnected

that's how i am currently.

we moved offices and it took effect last monday. everyone at the office was hopeful that we'll have internet connection soon, unfortunately, it wasn't possible. apparently, a lot of the cables have yet to be re-connected and it will take a few days.

i've been disconnected from my online friends since then and i only get to check my emails in the evening at home. i can't blog hop as much nor can i go through the mails from the group's page. i do hope i get the chance to read most of the mails during the long holy week break.

for now, i have to contend with the little time i'm able to sneak in and post here in the blog. will catch with everyone soon.

that's what friends are for

my entry to week #6 at scrapperie.

two more weeks and it's finished. i couldn't believe i made it this far. i always end up submitting my layouts at 3am, sunday here.

week #6 challenge is to create a layout using a song which reminds you of that person.

this is a layout of me and my best friend, clariz. layout is inspired by dionne warwick's song of the same title.

journal (partly hidden): Dear Clariz, I just couldn't belive that 17 years have passed since we met and became the best of friends. We've been through a lot already. The ups and downs of our life are just numerous to elaborate. But what I am sure of, our friendship has undergone the test of time. We've both been there for each other and will still continue to be friends. We may not always see each other now more often than we'd want, our friendship remains. I know I can count on you no matter what. And as the song strongly suggests, that's what friends are for!

materials used: WRMK - PP and Chipboard; Prima - Flowers & Journal tags; Jenni Bowlin - journal tag; Baisc Grey - fibers; mesh; glitter glue; Cuttlebug Dies; Bards - Karen Fosr & Provo Craft

i've been tagged

by diane.

so here are my answers:

culinary guilt: i love pasta! spaghetti is my all time favorite! i also love ice cream (chocolate)!

literary guilt: harry potter books! and john grisham novels. although i haven't been able to read much of his recent works. oh, and did i say, scrapbook magazines?!

audio visual guilt: it's american idol time once more! i've been influenced on this thing by my hubby two years ago. oh, and csi and grey's anatomy. for a time, i used to watch the fantaseryes at gma 7 - enkantadia fanatic! lol! oh, and i love cartoons - lots of disney & cartoon network stuff!

musical guilt: i honestly don't have one. i'm not a "musically" inclined person. it's more like, anything goes.

celebrity guilt: brendan fraser! i so like that guy!

tagaytay weekend

last sunday was spent at tagaytay attending rachelle's wedding at chapel on the hill.

we were out of the house by 10am and dropped by loyola to "visit" raya before proceeding to tagaytay. we got there at exactly 12nn, so we decided to have lunch first since the wedding was set at 2pm. which means, the menu will be: bulalo & fried tawilis! yum! these are the specialties of the town and we really had to order it.

after lunch, it was off to the church for us. admittedly, you really had to make an effort attending the wedding coz of the venue. still, it was for a friend so no regrets. the church was at chapel on the hill and the reception was at hacienda isabella. really far, if you ask me. the ambience at hacienda isabella was so romantic. perfect for an event like this.

am so happy to see rachelle & rupert finally tying the knot. they've been together for almost 7 years already, i think. they practically started out as friends/barkadas and somewhere along the way, they just realized that they are meant to be partners.

the wedding was also a chance for old friends to catch up on each other's lives. i was happy to see our entire ac barkada together (minus ella & nikki who are both based abroad already; and also eliza who just recently gave birth to their 2nd baby). cherry was able to attend the wedding. good thing she had a flight to manila from work (she's a flight attendant).

here's a photo of the newlyweds and some of our own pictorials.

saisaki (again)

we had lunch at saisaki today with xylex & ayet. we haven't seen these guys for months already, i think the last was during nelo's birthday party last year.

it was a little get together thing and a nice way to catch up on the latest happenings in our families. myla & family were also there with us.

actually, the last time we were at saisaki was in november last year. we just really wanted to eat japanese food again so we decided on this as our venue once more for this get together.

aside from the japanese buffet, we got again the stuffed toys that comes with the iced tea. this is turning to be a habit for us. hahaha! we got the santa bears last november. this time, it was colored giraffe toys. cute!



anyway, aside from the full stomach, we were able to share a lot of stories including about our recent vacation. i was actually telling ayet to do try going there coz it was fun. but apparently, travelling abroad needs to atke a back seat for now since xylex is quite busy with work.


we ended lunch at 3pm already. it was an enjoyable lunch. we do hope we can meet up with them again soon.

mini eb

my scrapping friends started off this year with another mini-eb last january 3.

two of our overseas scrapper friends, cata & sahrie are in town. cata spent the holidays here in the philippines with her family. sahrie on the other hand, aside from spending the new year here with her family as well, will be hosting a scrapbook event on january 13.

it was a fun afternoon chit-chatting with the girls. it was also a time to catch up on some of the holiday stories. ria, as always, hosted the mini-eb. we all had a chance to see her new layouts too.

we even capped off the evening with some brainstorming for ideas on our next "me" album for 2007.

looking forward to seeing more of these friends soon!

another mini-album

actually, this mini-album was already finished in september and i did post about it when i shared highlights in clariz's bridal shower.

i was able to borrow this from her and now i've scanned it and am posting it here to share some of the pages and the link to the album.

i created a template for this layout so it has a unified look. i also used papers from teh same line so that it's coordinated. for the album cover, i placed a wood die-cut as accent.

bride-to-be

my best friend is getting married in 2 days time. after almost 3 years of being together, they have finally decided to tie the knot. and i am very happy with their decision.

clariz and i have been best friends since college and we've been through a lot. like any friendship, there were good times and bad times. still, our friendship remained strong. it is not a perfect friendship still, we survived.

i only wish her & emer the best that married life has to offer. and, that they place god in the center of their relationship. i am quite certain that she has found th eperson who will love her unconditionally forever.

side kwento:

we had a bridal shower for her last sunday night at cpk. it was supposed to be just us girls but one of our friends decided to bring along her fiancee and clariz was bringing emer along as well. so, we just decided to hold go on with the dinner despite the "unexpected" company. besides, not all of our barkadas were able to attend. it was just me, rachelle, joanna and of course, clariz.

i made a mini scrapbook for her in time for the dinner. i asked our barkada to send their messages for clariz and i compiled it. i was glad that she liked it.

a friend i miss

i had dinner last night with mylene, one of my dearest friends from iloilo. it's been a while since we've last seen each other. well, actually, we saw each other last may after almost 3 years. i truly missed her and it was heartwarming seeing her again.

you see, either she's in iloilo staying with her kids for a few months or, she's in the u.s working her butt off for her kids here. and it's very rare that she's in manila for a long time. good thing that this year, her eldest daughter, timee, is going off to college already. she's studying in ateneo and mylene accompanied her here to get settled in the dorm.

when i stayed in iloilo in 2000, we were officemates in one of the malls there. we both started off i that area after uprooting ourselves from our previous locations, she from cebu, and me from manila. we quickly formed a bond of friendship which was very important for me. you see, i was away from my family at that time and i only relied on friends for the companionship i was longing for. mylene and i have been through a lot in our work and personal struggles. we had fun times then but we also had our share of trials. but through it all, our friendship helped us through. even when the decision for me to leave iloilo came, we still stayed in touch. and the same went on when her decision to leave for the u.s came.

we promised to see each other again before she leaves for the u.s for the nth time. and so, last night we had dinner along with timee and nelo at super bowl. i was actually surprised to hear that she's leaving again. i know that it's hard for her leaving her kids but i know she has no other choice. she has to provide for their future and unfortunately, it means she has to be away from them for quite some time.

i'll miss the chance of seeing her again, and yet i am also happy for her coz i know that despite the struggles, she is now in a happier state. so for now, it's back to emails again for us and i pray for her safety there.