The Sound Of Music at RWM

You know how much I love The Sound Of Music. I've tweeted, written and told this for a thousand times already and watching the Julie Andrews film over, and over, and over again will never make me love this musical less.

A year ago, a friend told me (hi, Erica Robles!) that Resorts World Manila held an audition for The Sound Of Music. I eagerly asked her about the said casting, not that I wanted to join, but to know if it's true. Deep in my heart, I know I wanted to be a part of it and playing Maria Ranier's role not just in school will make me the happiest girl in the world. But I cannot sing. I cannot even sing the do-re-mi in tune. So let's scratch that. Watching it played by real theater actors will make me the happiest girl in the world, and last Saturday, I was the happiest girl.

Paolo and I watched the first public screening of The Sound of Music (I skipped the exclusive 20-minute preview and special gala night because of our VIP tickets) last Saturday. I know I kind of annoyed Paolo the whole performance because I was singing along with Maria, Georg and the children and the nuns. I could not help it. I was so teary-eyed but not even my teardrops could explain how happy I was, not to mention that we were THIS close to Aga Muhlach and Charlene Gonzales who supported their daughter Atasha in playing the role of Brigitta. Speechless. Everything's grandeur, magnificent, marvelous.

The entire cast is also superb, from Joanna Ampil (Maria Ranier), fellow TV5 Kapatid Audie Gemora (Captain Georg von Trapp), Pinky Amador (Baroness Elsa Schraeder), Pinky Marquez (Mother Superior) to the young ones Tanya Manalang (Leisl), Paolo Ocampo (Freidrich), Rebecca Coates (Louisa), Anton Posadas (Kurt), Atasha Muhlach (Brigitta), Alida Moberg (Marta) and the cutiepie Alexa Villaroel (Gretl). The production team is composed of Rebecca Lapus, Paul Soriano, Lyn Fabella and Francis Libiran among others. The entire crowd did not hesitate to give them a standing ovation during the curtain call, they ALL deserved it!

Now for the sake of those who haven't seen this yet, I will not spoil or give comments about the performance and the overall The Sound Of Music at Resorts World Manila experience. Coming from a diehard fan, I gave it a highly satisfactory rate with no reasons, explanations and second thoughts. And again, no! I'm not biased! Watching The Sound Of Music will prove you that the Filipino performance is a world-class performance. :)

Facebook caption: Because my Dad knows I'm a diehard fan of The Sound of Music, he took a picture of its billboard facing FEU and changed Maria's face into mine. :) 

It would be a miracle to play Maria's role because I CANNOT SING (WELL, hahahaha) so Dad thought of something to make a dream come true! Love you, Dad :)

And because cameras are not allowed inside, we had some photos taken before the show began. I didn't even think of taking some shots during the play because I watched it with all my heart--no disturbance, no wink of an eye, no extra movement! I focused and concentrated and just laughed and sang along with them in discreet.

I stood up in front of the crowd with this smile!

With the Georg Von Trapp of my life!

Black asymmetrical dress by Randy Ortiz | Black peeptoe shoes from Aldo | Bag from Longchamp

After the show at Marriott Hotel.

It was a long, but short, three-hour play and I see myself watching it again before it finally ends on December. If you plan to watch The Sound Of Music after reading this, inquire at Resorts World Manila or TicketWorld.

♥,

Girl Friends and Boyfriends

It's a long weekend last week! Spent Saturday and Sunday with my girl friends and our boyfriends. Nothing beats bonding moments plus the fact that there will be an addition to our family (K can't wait to have a playmate)! I don't want to spill haha so I'm starting my post-weekend stories now!

Happy birthday, Little Susie! :)

We had  a simple birthday dinner with my Happy Lemon girl, Susie, who turned 23 last August 18. It was a Peri-Peri, Promenade celebration with Reyneil, Kim and Mon, Rachel, Jovy and I and Paolo.

Spot Paolo doing Mon's favorite pose.

We all had a good laugh talking about some things and how excited we are in preparation of something very special. Expect to see some changes in the coming weeks and months! I am so excited to be a part of it! <3

Paolo and I came in matching colors, gray! We're such a couple with telepathic minds! Cute, simple things always count! I love it!

I love you, birthday girl!

We then transferred to Happy Lemon but it's oveeeeerrrrrrrcrowded so we stayed at Starbucks. Some bought frappuccinos but Susie, Reyniel, Paolo and I chose Happy Lemon. I finally had a taste of their bestseller, Lemon Yakult, which I always mistakenly call as Yemon Lakult!

Girls who need to diet, seriously! L-R: Me, Jovy, Susie, Kim and Rachel.

Group shot! ;p Now with the boys Paolo, Mon and Reyneil.

El pajabol: Me at the parking lot with my Happy Lemon's Lemon Yakult. 

***

Last Sunday, the same girls and I had another FIRST in our lives together. I really can't say what's that about for now and I have no right to announce it initially although I'm so itching to share even a point of this coming "event", I still don't want to! I respect the people responsible for that. :) Anyway, after this "first", Paolo and I headed straight to Timog for some Karaoke Republic moment with high school friends, thinking it was Ailyn's birthday celebration! She also turned 23 on the same day Susie did.

GMMMMM: Gian, Marianne, Maro, Mika, Monte and Mark!

Ailyn did not make it so everything turned out to be a triple date! Good thing Johnson arrived less than an hour before we left. We sang old school songs from Patti Austin to N'SYNC, A1 and The Corrs.We also didn't miss Britney Spears' hits plus my favorites The Script, Plain White T's, The Fray and Mark's and Paolo's Nickelback and Korn!

The girls: Marianne, Maro and Mika.

The boys: Monte, Mark and Paolo.

Mika and I. Spot our Longchamp bags! ♥

Ailyn missed us for the third time!

Vaughn-ita followed!

We went home past 2:00 AM. Why do we always go out on a Sunday night? Hopefully, we'll set our next date on a Friday or Saturday night. No to time pressure! But no regrets. You know me, I hate it when I lack sleep but of course, good times are worth sleepless nights. Add Monthly Period--the best of times! I miss them! Fun, fun, fun! I really love August! Now I'm looking forward to the next looooong weekend in two days!

♥,

Wrap Up!

You have no idea how much I miss blogging so much that it hurts.. It hurts so much that I want to die.

CHOS!

Super seriously, I'm on a work-related high and I can't seem to inject blogging in my to-dos now. But not today! So here's a wrap up of the simple things happened this month. I can't believe that July is ending in a week, so fast!

But first and foremost, your Northern girl wants to say ola to you!

Last July 9, Paolo and I had dinner together. The dinner was pretty romantic but what made the night sweeter is the view from where Paolo's car was parked. We decided to stay there for a little while to fix things (since we've been to a major fight, if you remember my tweets on my way home from Baguio).

I'm so happy I looked slim in that photo! And to those asking about my top, it's a birthday gift I received from my friends Kim, Jovy and Rachel. It's from Royal Kouture! You guys should check the collections out. Topshop and Forever 21-inspired clothes!

I'm also happy that Paolo and I fixed everything that night. As quoted in the movie One More Chance, "It takes two grownups to make a relationship work." Shoo useless arguments away. Take a deep breath and talk only if you're ready to talk. And if you're ready to say things that will NOT make things worse.

July is Nutrition Month. But not for me. I got sick for days and the photos in this collage with Paolo's niece, Nevaeh, were taken when I was sick. Hehe. Baka mahawa pa si baby but she's so cute I had to cuddle and play with her. Totally adorbz, she knows how to smile in front of the camera!

When I felt better, I met with my G, Ellen! I handed her the Longchamp Curry she ordered. I am so in love with her Curry I wanted to buy for myself as well... but I'm financially handicapped now for I gave in to Longchamp Planetes in black. And by the way, Ellen is so pretty I got starstruck! Seemed like forever since the last time I saw her--college days!

After meeting up with G, I had a late dinner with Paolo's family. Here's a picture of me with Patricia and Tita Donna. :) Paolo said that if he's going to put this photo a caption, it's gonna be: "The Three Women of My Life". <3

It was the first day of SM North Edsa's The Great Northern Sale so Pachichay and I checked out the department store for some makeup (window) shopping. I found the perfect matte lipstick from PAC for only Php 500! Omg it's so great the color lasted even after eating steaks and baby back ribs! (Sorry lang because the photo doesn't justify the lipchook). Haha!

Lastly! I attended TV5 Sports Summit last Monday at the Marriott Hotel(!!!). It's the 3rd TV5 summit I attended, I'm proud that I get to hear all the plans of the station so watch out for it! After the summit, we went to Resorts World Manila's 360 Bar for a few drinks. I had a great night with my Kapatids! This one's definitely for the books, because it was totally a different setting for me and my boss and other colleagues. Not to mention the performers who broke legs to entertain us guests!

The night was also notable because I was not allowed to enter the casino. The security thought that I was a minor so I had to convince them that I am of legal age, that I am already 23 and that I am mature enough to be in the casino! Haha.! They asked about my age more than a couple of times and I kept on laughing so they thought I was kidding. I showed them my company ID but the date of birth isn't included so I stopped smiling, showed them my "serious" face until they allowed me to enter. It's so cute I think that's a compliment. Hahahahahaha aging no more! :)

Alright then I shared enough! I gotta leave. And oops before I forgot, please follow me on Instagram -- MsMarianneMarcial :)

Cheers,

Beauty Breakout 2011

My friend Kim is one of Anne Curtis's biggest fans. She adores her like yeah. So when I visited Paolo's Mom in her ad agency office a couple of weeks ago and saw Palmolive Naturals Soft Moisture promo materials, I asked them if Anne Curtis will grace the event. All of them said yes, I couldn't believe it. But when it's Pao's Mom that said it's true, I giddily informed Kim that she could possibly meet Anne in person.

Two nights before, I found this sample booth setup at the CIMC office. For real na talaga!

Robinson's Supermarket had its "Beauty Breakout" event last weekend featuring different products from Procter and Gamble, Penshoppe and Colgate-Palmolive. 

Pictures from Pose and Print. 

One of the event organizers asked us if we're willing to sing on stage to the tune of Palmolive Natural's TVC jingle. This would grant us a backstage access so we said yes. This for the love of Anne Curtis!

 Backstage. Wearing Royal Kouture snakeskin crop top, CLN snakeskin flat sandals, Dollhouse denim pants and Longchamp Bamboo tote. (My first time to use that Longchamp.) 

 Backstage with Anne Curtis Smith! Her beauty is priceless! ♥

 Kimmie + Susie + Anne

The crowd, bigtime! How... can... we... sing... in... front... of... them...?

Anne: Wow, beautiful girls with red lipsticks!

We started singing. Good thing Susie's got a good voice! :D

Experience! Haha. It's a 3-minute fame. We loved it! People are watching you, people are taking pictures of you. Afterwards, Anne went to the booth.

Don't you just love her? She's so down to earth and she greets everyone. She deserves all the blessings she's receiving now! Truly the Twitter and billboard queen! :)