Ladies' Night

Two Fridays ago, I had my first night out with friends, long after I gave birth to Sword. I recall how excited I was to be out once again, from deciding what to wear to reaching the sky with the help of a peep-toe heels. Oh to be young!

It wasn't really the party-party, dance and drink party, though. We stayed in in a hotel closest to most of the girls, like 30 minutes away from home! You know how much I love trying overnight stays in different hotels and enjoying the free breakfast and use of swimming pools that come with it, so we were glad to lay our backs on the soft and comforting beds of Luxent Hotel. Only I didn't get to try the breakfast 'coz we left very early for an event I hosted the following day--which I am also about to blog the soonest I can. :P

Although I Instagram-ed most of the photos already, allow me to share you more.

The girls and I decided to have a theme to make the night extra special. Special because our dear girl friend Anne is back from Spain/Portugal. :) So guess what our theme was? Of course, dresses and heels haha!

The night also became a baby bump shoot for Rachel, who's now 6 months pregnant, and a slumber party only in dresses, not in pyjamas!

More pictures!

When and where our next hotel escapade will be? I hope by then, Phoebe, Cheenee, Cha, Susie and Miles will get to join us! Love them girls! 

♥,

Marianne

My Best Friend's Wedding

Phoebe has finally tied the knot with his long time boyfriend, Ruffy! Yay I love weddings! It makes me fall in love over and over again! 

The beautiful bride. What is payat! <3

I love cakes!

Her wedding served as a mini reunion for us girls, too! We rarely see Miles and Cheenee is back from Macau. We still hoped Anne, who's based in Spain, was with us since she's also in the Philippines for a vacation.

iPhone photo since Cheenee's not yet uploading! Meh!!!

Mommies' day off este day out!

Congratulations and best wishes, my dear best friend!

Hmm I wonder who's next! We're getting O-L-D!

♥,

Marianne

Post Partum

It's been two months since I gave birth and I'm happy I'm already allowed to go out and see the world. You know what the old folks say? But even if I can go out and do stuff, I can't leave anytime because it's just me and my mom who's taking care of Sword. And I can only go out for a few hours because when I'm out, my heart just wants to rush back home and be with my son! 

Anyway, since I don't go out often, I make the most out of my whereabouts. Every second counts! :) This month I was able to catch up with Kim and  Cham and my teammates from TV5, thanks to my "turnover"missions and HR calls. I also got the chance to shop little things for myself because believe it or not, I think I'm suffering from post-partum depression at times which is pretty normal, I guess. Retail therapy saves me!

Mary Grace with KiMoNei :)

With team Non-Trad. Coffee and lunch dates. <3

Fun times with the kids and cousins. 

Also, glad to find out about the Wu-Tang muscle shirts Forever 21 has! Paolo is a diehard Wu-Tang fan, his music is becoming mine! So if you want beef then bring the ruckus, I'm loving this shirt:

Wu-Tang Clan!

Alright then, til my next post. Sword's about to wake up. Have a great weekend! :)

♥,

Marianne

January 2013

The first month of the year just passed by and as I enjoy my fifth month of pregnancy, I haven't gotten the chance to blog at all. My mind is so filled with many stories to tell. I am so happy to be surrounded by happy and supportive friends, teammates and family. 

Now to give my great January 2013 a wrap:

TV5 Go 5! Press and Trade Launch with one of my sponsors, Mr. Raymond Gorospe, General Manager of Sky Fitness Manila.

Jovy's kinda flop "denim" party haha!:)

Photobooth shots from Zack's 7th birthday party.

More of Zack's birthday...

...and pool party. Girlfriends with my high school super friend Ram. :)

And finally! Monthly Period friends during DLSAU's Foundation Day. I didn't stay for so long though, but I'm glad to spend an hour or so with my greatest barkada.

Everyone, I'm pleased to introduce my new teammates Tim, Jess and Paco. I bet you already know Lanz and that old gentleman (HAHAHA) Jay! Calling, calling Honey!

There you go, so that's how my days went by. Definitely full of fun! :) Now it's my favorite month, I bet this is going to be filled with L-O=V-E! Have a fab Feb! <3

♥,

Marianne

4 Months

My pregnancy is officially on its 5th month next week (I'm 19 weeks and 2 days today to be exact). It's getting faster and faster and I can say that I'm enjoying it now more than my first trimester. I went back to work as well. I want to congratulate myself for a great comeback during the week that has passed, I survived all the questions asked and answered them with pride, grace and a bump! :) I'm lucky to have a very supportive superior who understands motherhood and pregnancy, reason why my career mojos went back to the extremes. But of course there are still lazy days filled with morning sickness and headaches, good to know I'm slowly fighting it.

The start of my 4th month also marked the end of my lonesome, bedridden days. I got to see my friends more often, play with my nieces and nephews and walk around our place or shop a little for my growing body. Pregnancy is about happiness, positivity! 

Now, my bump in weeks:

16 weeks

17 weeks

18 weeks

And this is how my bump grew in three weeks:

Left - December 15, 2012 | Right - January 8, 2013

It was also last Tuesday I first felt a kick from my baby! It was very relieving and fulfilling. I get more and more excited each day, I swear. Since then, I never stopped singing songs for my little one (especially in the shower) and playing classical songs. Oh gosh, 21 more weeks. I'm halfway through it!

I also love how I started the year with my lovely friends! They really cure the morning sickness and all the other pregnancy symptoms I abhor. 

Neinei with her ninangs.

Reunited with Iya and Minna at da.u.de! Wish Monica's here. <3

Jovy's 24th birthday bash with the gang!

Jovy asked us to wear denim top but there were only 3 girls who followed her request. Hahaha naglasing tuloy. :))

Can't wait to start my 5th month right! Four short months, baby! You'll soon gonna be in mommy and daddy's loving arms. <3

♥,

Marianne

Video of the Year

Repost! xx

Happy New Year!  XO

Multiply Days

Susie has been uploading old photos of us in Facebook and me being the number one photo lover and camera user back in college, I still have all the files with me and archived them in my Multiply site. A month ago I heard that Multiply will no longer be a social networking site but an e-commerce, online market. They also posted a notice encouraging all its users to backup the uploaded files before December 1.

I'm dealing with it seriously because I have more than a thousand albums there, both in MarianneMarcial and Greensoda accounts. Can someone help me find that "download all" button so I can get all my photos in an instant? 

I initially tried saving some of my favorites and I want to share them all with you! I'm using my photos' Multiply URLs though. Hehe.

Random photos during college, our trips abroad and one after college --

Sorry, it's one photo bombed post once again. I think a separate Throwback Thursday fits an entry like this so I'll try to squeeze it in my busy weekdays. :)

Have a blessed Sunday and enjoy the rest of the week!

 ♥,

Marianne

Bon Voyage, Sushiya!

If you're wondering why I haven't posted in two weeks, go on with your wondering skills. I myself cannot also answer myself why. And it's sad.

Oh, okay! Now I know why, and it's simply because I'm sad! I'm sad because one of my closest friends flew to Canada last Friday. :(

My dear Sushiya left for Canada to find her dreams, to bring to life all her plans, and to start saving up for her future. Alright, hindi na ako sad. Happy ako for her, but still, I am missing her.

A week before her flight came in two different occasions for us to celebrate our friendship and prepared ourselves to this thing called long distance relationship. 

We had our special dinner at Mann Hann--everyone's favorite Chinese resto to go to. We took endless photos, with pop-up questions like "Are these gonna be our last photos together for 2012?" 

We They ate a lot, and our photos are proof how much food we ordered that night. My ulcer attacked I had to eat wanton soup but I ended up eating small portions of Yangchow rice because you know I can't say no to Yangchow. :p Sorry, Monics! Konti lang, promise!

All our other photos during that night, most are from Instagram:

Two kids joined us: Nei Nei and Zack. :)

I love this photo! 

With the only thorn among the roses, Doms! 

The other kind of get-together we had was during Tito Bobbie's, Kim's dad, 40th day of passing. We went to their place in Katipunan (kebs all our schedules!) for a simple dinner. It was the night before Susie's flight so she dropped by for a few minutes to bid goodbye. 

I looked like harassing my godson and Zack looked like I just really did! 

Susie, mahangin ba sa labas?

It's been days since she left and left us missing her so much but I'm trying my best not to feel bad about it because I know that in the next couple of years we will see each other again. Plus, Skype, Facetime, Facebook and the ever-so-reliable Twitter are here to ease the "miss" away.

Don't worry, girl, we will always keep you updated and in-the-know of the latest chicas! Take care of yourself and don't forget to take pictures of you, of your food and of everything yoou do for us to see! :)

 ♥,

Marianne