Images

What Love Has Taught Me

Image ~ ~ Angela Christi

It’s all about LOVE this February.  I can feel the Feb fever getting higher.

hearts

Love…for me…is such a beautiful word that has many different meaning and that has imparted us with bittersweet experiences.

It feels wonderful to be in love. But realistically, love bites! It can without a doubt make you or break you. You’d be very lucky if you have found an ever faithful lover but that rarely happens. You know what I mean.

And speaking about love….

Love has brought me so much joy, inspiration, excitement, challenges, frustration, failures, depression, anger, heartaches and regrets. From having butterflies in my stomach to blushing cheeks and that ecstasy feeling, requited love has made me experience romance, intimacy and bliss like there is no tomorrow not to mention it has also made me hate and become resentful.

Loving someone truly and unconditionally, I value honesty, fidelity, forgiveness and self sacrifice yet love has even broken my heart bringing me crippling emotional pain, sleepless nights and anxiety that I felt rage and almost lost more than just my sanity.

Love has made me cry myself to sleep and shut myself to the rest of the world. But I gained a lot from love’s pain; that killer pain made me wiser, bolder, stronger, more appreciative and even more sensitive especially to the broken hearted. I’ve also proven that time truly heals all wounds but the scar remains and that giving second chances is a choice and a risky decision to make.

I learned that acceptance is the key to moving forward and true love exists bearing all things, enduring all things.

I realized that you got to love yourself first before loving others.

Love has messed up my life yet improved me from my past like a Phoenix that is reborn from its ashes.

Love has taught me that it’s your one great love that will cause you so much pain. And, from that emotional pain, I gain…..

Advertisement

Circus And Carnival Themed Party

Image ~ ~ Angela Christi

Celebrating birthdays, even in a simple way, is something that I and my family like to do.  We give importance to birthdays not only to celebrate a very special day but to give thanks for another year of life.

Last 21st of November, my nephew celebrated his second birthday with the circus and carnival party theme. I really like this theme because it’s colorful and fun not to mention that I love carnivals and circus; it reminds me of my fun and care-free childhood days.

fotor pic 052The night before my nephew’s birthday, I already finished setting up the candy buffet table.  I loaded the candy buffet table with cupcakes, cookies, chocolates, cake pops, wafers, bubble gum, lollipops, marshmallows and candies during the day of the celebration. We also had two chocolate fountains flowing and popcorn maker popping up corn kernels.

carnival circus partySimple snacks and main dishes were prepared for our guests since the afternoon party is sure to finish late in the evening. I also facilitated the simple games for kids such as statue dance, trip to Jerusalem, the boat is sinking, cupcake eating contest, pabitin and piñata. We started to play the games past six o’clock and the kids had a great time. They were also happy to receive some prizes and giveaways.

PhotoGrid_1416580552160

The party was simple, warm, relaxed and fun-filled.  I enjoyed it as much as the birthday boy and his guests did.

Getting Ready For Christmas

Image ~ ~ Angela Christi

I can’t deny that I love it when it’s “Ber” months. I’m a big fan of the Christmas season. Perhaps, because my birthday falls on the 25th of December – the birth of Jesus Christ.

Speaking of getting ready for Christmas… I had our Christmas set up and put up some lights on our entrance door. I’m also going to be hanging a colorful Christmas lantern outside of our home soon. It excites me!getting ready for ChristmasChristmas tree Christmas lightsChristmas decors

It took me nearly four hours to finish setting up and decorating our treasured Christmas tree along with all other preparatory measures . It’s a bit daunting but it’s worth the effort!

Christmas is the time of the year that I really enjoy most; yes,  for many reasons like Christmas parties, gift giving, family reunions, get-togethers,  days off from work and Christmas bonus (if I’ll be lucky to get one from a generous client).   Of course, as a Christian I always make sure to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas and truly, it’s not just all about the gifts under the Christmas tree, special dinners, or the lights and the stockings hanged on the windows but rather the coming of a no ordinary baby, Jesus Christ. It’s also the time to share our love and joy to others.

Setting up Christmas decorations in our Christian home had become one of my hobbies and a sacred ritual -it’s something special for our family. This beautiful time of the year deserves a beautiful attention!

 

 

 

 

 

Mom’s Sweet Sixty Birthday Party

Image ~ ~ Angela Christi

IMG_20141012_145218 IMG_20141012_143427 IMG_20141012_151945

IMG_20141012_160301Last October 10, we celebrated our mom’s 60th birthday. The weather was extremely bad! It was raining cats and dogs in our area yet, many of our relatives and friends were able to make it to my mom’s simple birthday party. Thank God!

Months before the party, I already did my research, planning, window shopping and actual shopping (which I like the most). I planned to have some sort of candy buffet or dessert bar with lots of sweet treats for the kids and the kids at heart since the theme was “Sweet Sixty”.

We loaded our dessert bar with cake, cupcakes, chocolate crinkles, chocolate chip cookies, marshmallows, food for the gods, chocolate and strawberry coated pretzels, wafer sticks, truffle, vanilla biscuits, mallow cones and some candies. We also included some almonds, pistachio and cashew nuts. It was fun to see that our guests love sweet treats on buffet.

I’m a huge fan of DIY stuff so everything was done manually from making and printing invitations, old photo scanning, editing and printing, making paper fans and party poms, banner making, balloon inflating, decorating through to table skirting and arrangement. Yes, tedious and time consuming but this is what I love doing and so as my sister and brothers who have always been helpful in setting up and running some errands for every party that we celebrate.

Hiring a caterer was one of our options but since we love to cook, we decided to do the cooking by ourselves. We served Pinoy all-time favorite dishes such as lechon, kare-kare, chicken binakol, relyenong bangus, Valencia and more. We made fruit salad for dessert and there was ube cake which was given by my aunt and cousin. Many guests loved the food that we cooked; it makes me happy.

We were fortunate to have aunts who are very helpful. They arrived early at our home and helped us in our preparation.

It feels great when you put a lot of effort into something, especially when making your loved ones happy.

The party was simple, relaxed but memorable.

I’m happy that our mom was very blissful and thankful with what we have prepared for her.