Celebrating love: Oana and Carlo

I have always been a sucker for weddings. In fact, I love the idea of weddings so much that I always frequent Jason Magbanua's website (the best wedding videographer around), as well as Oly Ruiz' blog (wedding photographer). My favorite part in wedding videos or photos is the groom's reaction when he sees his beautiful bride walking towards him, every single time. I don't care if I know the couple or not, what matters is I see the love emanating from two people who are about to become one. That's why when one of my college best friends, Oana, got married last Saturday (October 19th), I cried like a baby. I was more than happy for her, but I was very sad that I missed one of the most important days in her life.

I remember a few conversations we had when we were on our third year in college about our 'dream wedding'. It was so funny that at that time,we already thought of all the details for our respective weddings, down to the motif and wedding march, well everything except for the groom. At that point in our lives, our dream wedding was just that - part of our imagination. We knew what kind of celebration we wanted, but we had no idea who the lucky guys would be. Oana insisted (for years) that she would be the last to get married. Fast forward to 7 years later... She turned out to be the first in our college barkada to tie the knot! And for that, you deserve a prize! (Joke lang)

I talked to Oana through FaceTime while she was getting dolled up for the wedding, and she couldn't stop crying! Nevertheless, she was a radiant and glowing bride! You could tell that she was really happy and excited to marry the love of her life. All of our college friends were present, which made me miss them even more. I really wish I were there :( It's a good thing my parents were there as principal sponsors, they were able to represent me somehow. My mom and Inna kept sending me pictures and videos of the ceremony and reception, and I could tell that the whole day was definitely a celebration of love.

Photo c/o Inna

The newlyweds and Oana's parents, Tita Lui and Tito Boy aka Popsy

Emotional moment 

My beautiful parents <3

Inna, Mama, and Abbie

As much as I was sad that I missed it, knowing that my college best friend finally settled down made me very happy. She has found her forever, and I will miss calling her Oana Mendoza. :)) Congratulations Mrs. Carlo Navarro! Wishing you and Carlo all the love and happiness that you both deserve! Love you both! Make babies soon, because I can't wait to be Ninang Din!

The newlyweds

xoxo

Paulinian Achiever: Celine Montalla

So proud of my little sister! In my recent post, I mentioned that Celine graduated from the Fordham Gabelli School of Business with latin honors (Summa Cum Laude). It's just fitting that our alma mater, St. Paul College, Pasig, recognized her achievement by posting it on their website!

screenshot from SPCP's website

Celine deserves all this recognition. She worked so hard the past four years - I was her witness! She doesn't get enough sleep whenever it's midterms or finals season, all because she's studying. After Mass on Sundays, we bond over our textbooks and notes at the study lounge at Fordham LC. I'm telling you, her studiousness is infectious! This might not be her most flattering photo, but I'm just one proud big sister who wants to show off her baby sister to the whole world. I remember when this photo was taken, I almost fought with the security guy during her graduation because I wanted to get close to the stage to get a good shot. It doesn't help that I'm so tiny too, so all I got were blurry photos.

Back to job search!

xoxo