Flashback Fridays: She Made Us Proud... Again!

Remember a few months ago I told you about Micah?

Well I have (some) bragging rights because my little sister brought home 3rd Place in the National Schools Press Conference - Newswriting Category held April 10-16 in Butuan City.

I mean, I know it ain't the top spot but competing with 50 other bright young writers from the entire archipelago and bagging the bronze is definitely still worth celebrating. Especially knowing that our young lady used to be someone who couldn't care less about school, the achievement just made everyone of us overflowing with pride.

Congratulations, Micah dear. You did a fantastic job bringing honor to your school, the city of Makati and your family who was with you all the way.

Our home-made banner for our winner :)

All 6 of us wearing Micah's pasalubong shirts. Oh please, excuse my haggard stay-at-home look! :P

Of all the souvenir shirts that she got, this by far is the best. Speaks so much of her journey to nationals! :)

Stage sister and proud of it,

Flashback Fridays: The Holidays

As promised, my second post for FF today! :D

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The recent holidays had been awesome so I'm not letting go of this second chance to share it with you. I have to summarize though, and focus on the parts I loved best. Now, let's get this going.

If I have to describe Christmas 2010 in one word, it'd be FABULOUS. You know how much of a stage sister I am so just imagine how giddy I was while looking at them all dolled up! I don't know what got into their head that they decided to wear lovely dresses and kick-ass heels like real women. I heart!

2nd of 6: Minette Faye, 15. Hmmmm.. Could it be the shoes? She looks like a rock princess to me and I loved it.

3rd of 6: Meriel Louise, 13 years old. Her style: Pretty and Poised. It's sooo her! :)

4th of 6: Micah Miguela, 11. Pink and black combo never goes wrong. She looked so dainty, and the balloon skirt kept the carefree personality.

5th of 6: Mariah Junie, 9. Her statement: Young and beautiful. She carried such a simple dress so well!

How about Haley, you ask? Well she likes pants, so we got her a cute and colorful pants-and-blouse terno.

Our Bunso, Mikayla Haley, charming as ever in a Dora the Explorer ensemble.

As for me, I didn't put much effort dressing up. Christmas is for kids anyway. But I love the bold print of my shirt so it's still worth posting :D

I should always do this pose. I look kinda slimmer. Hahaha. Oh, the sandals is nice too. If you wanna them, they're here.

And since I've already showed you my siblings, why not include a family picture narin? :)

If I ever get to be asked about one thing in my life that I'm proud of, I can answer in a heartbeat. My family :)
Photo taken after the Christmas Mass at Malate Church.

Now, this post is entitled The Holidays (with an s) for a reason. New Year's Day is next! :)

I think I've mentioned in a post or two that we live with our extended family, Tita Antin and Nanay Letty. And ever since I can remember, we celebrate the New Year with them, with Tita providing everything in the table during Media Noche. But this year is different. They spent it with another aunt's family in Cavite so we had the house all to ourselves. That also means I stepped up with my cooking skills and prepared the banquet.

We had Carbonara, Graham Cake, ham, hotdogs, bacon, tuna sandwich, ube halaya, puto-kutsinta and hot chocolate. Not bad, right? :)

Twas also my first time to follow the superstition about 12 round fruits. They say it's for 12 months of good luck. Let's see :)

J brought me this from Marikina and it has become a personal favorite. If you are into kakanin, I swear you'll love this. Ooops, free advertisement right there! Haha.

And of course, the obligatory family shot.
Thanks to my ever reliable camera's self-timer :)

I enjoyed this year's celebration. It was just the 8 of us, the easy-to-cook meal, the firecrackers in the background and the hope that 2011 will be a blessed year for our family of 8 and our other loved-ones as well :D

Oooooh, speaking of loved-ones, let me end this with a picture of me and the person who completes my holidays! :)

Mind sharing with me how your holidays went? :D

A Prom Story

I'll tell you a secret: I don't have the fondest memories of my own Junior and Senior Prom. I was an honor student and the school paper EIC so I was among the popular kids in high school but those didn't change the fact that  I. AM. FULL-FIGURED. Well I undeniably have the looks but you know teens (boys, especially) have a preference for the slim and sexy. Thus, I was a wallflower when it was time to dance and par-tey. I know it's kinda embarrassing but yeah, I haven't experienced a prom dance.

That exactly is the reason I am all giddy when Faye started talking about her prom. She's beautiful and smart, not to mention the incoming Student Council president, so I want to make sure that she'll look stunning for this event. I don't want her to be like me; I want her to enjoy her first prom night and have a beautiful memory of it when she reminisces in 5 or 10 years.

Three weeks before the affair, we already bought her gown. Whenever I have free time I would google hairstyles in the quest for the one that would suit her best. I would ask her almost every day about the details -- the date and time, the venue, the food, even her classmates' dresses. And.. wait for it.. I filed a VL just to be there for her on the very day! That's how seriously I take my job as a sister! Hahaha

And so February 23 came. At half past 2, we headed to a nearby salon to have her hair done. I was skeptical at first if the stylist's suggested do would fit the shape of her face (her wide forehead, to be specific :P) Good thing it turned out great.

Good job kuya... err... ate.. err... whatever! Basta, good job! ^_^

Afterwards we hurried to Rustan's Makati for the Paul and Joe Make-up Makeover that I have won. Karen, the nice P&J promodizer-cum-makeup artist, attended to us at once, asked what color she'll be wearing and started her work. It took more or less 1 hour but I loved the result. The make-up was chic and young and oh-so-natural. If I were to rate it, it's a 9. It could have been a 10 had the lipstick been a wee bit brighter but nonetheless, it's another good job! :)

Before and after. I love the glowing effect! :)

We went back home to dress up then off to the venue just in time for the 6PM assembly. It was funny because when we got there, her female classmates shouted her name in unison as if they're seeing a celebrity (LOL!) while the guys were whispering to each other how pretty she is, waiting for perfect timing to make a move. So high school. Hahaha.

So friends, without further ado, here is my pretty little sister on her Junior Prom:

She looked like a princess daw according to her classmates. I couldn't agree more but I may be biased. What do you think? :)

A closer look.

I left the venue with pride and happiness. Looking at her I  am certain that she won't be like me. She'll remember her prom as one great night of socializing and celebrating her youth. Good job, Ate Em :D

It's a Happy Monday!

I stayed up late last Friday mainly to make up to this blog site but as I was trying to put my thoughts together, I blog-hopped and landed at Ms. Nikki Tiu's beauty blog, AskMeWhats. I saw that she's hosting another contest:

Screencap from her site.

I thought it was very timely because Faye will be having her JS prom this coming Wednesday. Being the stage sister that I am, I typed my entry right away and submitted it with high hopes. When I checked back after a few minutes, my heart was crushed when I saw that a lot of other readers have already joined and there is no way I'll make it to the first 5. Thus, I convinced myself that the prize isn't meant for me. Better luck next time, Em.

And then today, I checked my mail and almost jumped for joy when I saw this:

I went to her site again to know how I won and it turned out that Paul&Joe gave another 5 GCs and I'm part of the second batch. It was, after all, meant for me!!! :D

With this, I'm sure Faye would look stunning on her prom night. A huge thanks to Ms. Nikki for the giveaway! ^_^

Oh let me say it again... Happy Monday everyone! :-)

Haley's Birthday Bash

*this has been sitting in my drafts for more than a month. i made it a point to finish it today because tomorrow would be too late (literally! hahaha)*

Whenever I'm in front of the laptop, Haley would show up beside me saying "san betdey ko Ate Em?". It's her way of telling me to play a video clip of her second birthday party for the nth time. I get pissed sometimes but when I see her scream out of happiness watching it, the irritation vanishes into thin air and is replaced by that overwhelming feeling of joy and pride that I was able to give her the celebration that she wants. Call me stage sister but I wouldn't exchange that moment for the world ^_^

Now allow me to share how it turned out :)

The original plan for her 2nd birthday is to just celebrate it at home: mom and titas would cook food, kids from the neighborhood would come over for some games and loots -- mostly DIY stuff. But since the little girl, whenever asked where her party will be, says it's gonna be at Jollibee, I made both ends meet to give it to her. And I am so glad I did! Here's why:

I'm working on a limited budget so I chose to have a small affair, with only family and close friends invited. Funny because there were more adults than kiddos! And since we're not a fan of moving birthdays to a different date and most of the guests have day jobs and her Ates have school, it was set for dinner. Not your average children's party, eh?

 

 

There were only a handful of kids, most of them between 2 and 5 years, that's why they enjoyed every single part of it! Unlike other parties where they are outnumbered by their ates and kuyas, this time they're the stars of the show. They joined the games, won a lot of prizes and had a jolly good time.

 

 Obedient little girl.

They we're asked to close their eyes while the hosts hid their shoes for the game.

Of course the adults had fun too! They even made fun of me in this game called Maximum to Minimum. It was a team game wherein members have to arrange themselves based on different criteria. For example, the host says "Maximum to minimum - arrange yourselves according to age", it's going to be oldest to youngest. My team was leading, 2-0, and during the third round the instruction is minimum to maximum according to face value. I got a big ego so yeah, I insisted I should be at the back of the line. Guess what, we lost! Meanwhile on the fourth round, it was max to min based on waist line and all of them was shouting that I should be in front! I hate them to the bones! Hahaha. But we won, so it's all good. :)

 

This is what I look like while everyone's laughing at me.

You nasty people! Hahaha.

 

Haley was having the time of her life – running around, posing for pictures, joining her little friends in the games – until her special guest came...

Yeah, she's scared of Jollibee! We asked her everyday for weeks before her big day and she consistently said she won't be afraid anymore but there she was, trembling and holding on tight to whoever carries her whenever the mascot is near. Hahahaha. But in fairness, she handled her fear pretty well because she still managed to smile for group pictures.

 

And then came the obligatory candle blowing, which she didn't enjoy much on the spot because she's still conscious about Jollibee being at her back. Good thing I had the presence of mind (despite being the busy bee) that I was able to capture it in video. Now she relives her moment every single day and she has the same excitement as the first time she saw it. Mind you, it's on repeat pa!

 

Afterwards she opened a few gifts. She actually got Nonong Jhay's presents (a Jollibee stuffed toy and a bracelet) the moment she woke up. She loved the toy so much that she carried it around the entire day and it's very thoughtful of her two friends to give her Twirlie and Hetty during her party. Now Jollibee has playmates and Haley couldn't be happier!

In a few minutes it was time for wrap up. We conveyed our birthday wishes for Haley then said our thank yous to everyone who came. It was indeed a small party but Haley's memories of it was greater than we've ever imagined.