hello december!

Or dapat yata, Goodbye December ang title haha :) But let's pretend that December has just started so I have an excuse for that title and I won't feel so bad about not blogging for more than a month now :) I've been pretty active on Instagram though and that's where I'm usually able to post updates about all the exciting things that have been happening. Life has been both hectic and fun; hence, the lack of time to actually write a proper entry.

So many highlights - where do I start? Hmm... off the top of my head, I GOT TO MEET BEA LUCERO!

She was my idol when I was a kid, and it was those Milo commercials of hers that inspired me to enroll in rhythmic gymnastics classes when I was young. 

This was how it happened: Mike and I were having lunch at SM Aura's foodcourt, when he casually blurted, "Ano nga yung pangalan nung gymnast, Bea..." 

I swear I almost choked on the pork butabara I was eating! I swallowed in a hurry then replied, "Lucero! Asan? Asan?"

I turned my head and saw that Bea Lucero was there, indeed. Mike egged me to ask for a photo op but I was too shy! He managed to convince me though, and I gave in because I knew that there was probably never gonna be another chance like this. So we stalked Bea a little and waited for a good chance to ask for a photo. When the moment finally came, Bea was as pleasant and accommodating as the fangirl in me hoped! Awesome, awesome day! (Obvious bang excited ako, napahaba yung kwento haha)

On the work end, two stories I wrote about two of Sun Life's top bosses saw print in a couple of glossies: Metro Society for the one about our president and CEO Riza Mantaring and Working Mom for SLAMCI president Riena Pama. As both were advertorials, there was no byline. But it was still something to see my words printed on a magazine!

But it wasn't long before I did experience the thrill of seeing my name on print :) My first ever work as a contributing writer was published in the November-December issue of Mom's Today!

The piece is about cleaning out closets, and features interviews with celebrities Suzi Entrata-Abrera and Amy Perez, who were both very accommodating and nice during the interview. Man, this was such a high :) Now I can cross this off my bucket list, but I am definitely looking forward to writing more!

I also got to join my beloved ABS-CBN Corp Comm family at the Philippine Quill Awards, where one of the projects we worked on, the Media Christmas Party, was awarded. Sun Life's Sun Shorts project was also recognized, and I got to join them up the stage in receiving the award. That was a really memorable night :)

With my ABS-CBN family, as published in Manila Bulletin

With my Sun Life family

On the home end, Sloan has been having some fun as well. He dressed up as a ninja and as Spiderman for trick-or-treat at Mike's and my office, respectively. 

Then he marched as a ring bearer for Mike's cousin PJ's wedding at the lovely Fernbrook Gardens in Alabang.

Meanwhile, Mike has been pretty busy in his new role as part of Senator TG Guingona's communications team. The senator heads the Blue Ribbon Committee that investigated the Janet Napoles case among others, so Mike also had his hands pretty full.

Despite being busy though, he still pursues jiu jitsu and boxing, and trains whenever he can. It's his version of "me time" haha :)

Also, the love of my life recently turned 41! I've found that most everyone who learns how old he is are pretty surprised to know that Mike is already in his forties. Haba ng hair mo babe hahaha!

I'll write about our little birthday salubong later on because I wanna come up with a proper post about it :)

In the meantime, belated Christmas greetings to you and may you have a fantastic New Year! Ending this post with a little request that you continue to help out the survivors of Typhoon Yolanda. There are still a lot of people who need aid as they try to rebuild their lives, and every little bit helps :)