Ayos!

I am amazed at how tech-advanced our government agencies have become! Years ago, you'd have to fall in-line forever at NSO if you needed important documents. Now, all you have to do is log on to their website - www.ecensus.com.ph - and request for the papers you need. Pay the bill at BDO, wait about two weeks and voila! The docs will be delivered straight to your doorstep. Hanep!

NSO-certified birth certificates and CENOMAR already settled. Marriage license na lang. Now if only the Quezon City Hall also had an online service as efficient as NSO's. Why not? Hint hint to Mayor Bistek!

:)

Here comes the Bride!

In four months, I am about to begin a new and exciting chapter in my life. I shall become his wife. Mrs. Carilo. It sounds wonderful.

Yesterday, my fiance and I spent the afternoon scouting for condos and wedding reception venues. We fell in-love with this amazing place in Tandang Sora. Two reception venues are on our list, too. Both are beautiful. We have yet to sit down and study the amenities of each. The church has been pencil-booked. We're working on the entourage and guest lists.

Wow. It really is happening.

I'll tell more about it once everything is in order. Right now, I just can't contain my happiness. We were holding hands yesterday, looking at the lovely facade of Magnolia Place.

Anne: I can't believe this is happening.
Alvin: It is, baby. We're getting married.
Anne: I know!
Alvin: Do you believe now?
Anne: I believe in you.
Alvin: I believe in you, too. I believe in us.

:)

Updates..

Last Thursday on Wave 891's Talk of Fame, I guested dubber friends of mine - Clarisse Castelo and Jess Reyes (aka Jess The Blade) - to talk about the industry. Jess The Blade on my show, can you believe that? One of Philippine Radio's pillars. I remember back in high school, I used to listen to him on Magic 89.9. He was one of my favorite jocks, together with The Gaucho and Joe D'Mango.

(Jess, if you're reading this, I'm not trying to hit on your age, okay? I'm just saying you're awesome, and I can't believe you actually guested on my show. After nine years in radio, I actually still feel like a newbie sometimes.)

Anyway. I first saw The Blade in person when my mentor, Don Henry of K-Lite, brought me to the station for training. That was about eleven years ago. During my senior year in UST and Henry would bring me to K-Lite to learn the ropes while he boarded. And now, I'm actually friends with Jess The Blade. I've hosted events with him. I've worked with him, dubbing telenovelas and all. He was my leading man in many of those telenovelas, too. How cool is that? And he guested on my radio show. I am honored. Thanks, Jess! Who knows? You might be hearing more of his voice on our side of the frequency real soon. Let's all wait and see.

:)


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A lot of pesky people have been asking me these questions lately:

When do you plan to get pregnant?
When are you going to have a baby?
Are you ready to sacrifice now?
You're 31. When do you plan to have a baby?

First of all, let me just tell you that you annoy me big time. I seriously believe that people annoy you with dumb, tactless questions and brag about their babies to girls who don't have any just to cover up for something missing in their own lives.

So here is my answer. I am not yet married. Do you see a wedding ring on my finger right now? Nada. I will get pregnant AFTER I get married. My fiance and I are tying the knot before the fourth quarter of this year. After that, we want to spend a couple of months enjoying our new "husband and wife" status. I want to bask in that wonderful feeling of being his wife, taking care of my husband without having to think of a baby just yet. Then, by next year probably, we plan to get pregnant. That's how the order of things are in my world. My parents aren't keen on the idea of getting grandchildren first before getting sons-in-law. Frankly, I think that kinda zaps away the romance in the starting years of newlyweds. And besides, I want to fit into a very sexy wedding gown.

If you don't like this answer, then don't ask me tactless questions. They're rude, and you'll get slapped on the face with a hurtful reply.


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It's Mother's Day! Kudos to all the moms and moms-to-be out there. And to the most awesome mommy in the whole world - MINE! - Ma, you rock! Love you!



:)

LOL!

I don't know. Maybe it is my fault, because I keep on reading what you write. I really should stop. One of these days I will. Right now I just can't help but guffaw. You're trying to hit on someone (whoever he or she is, the poor dude) who is grammatically incorrect and slow in the thinking department. But, m'dear, you're lacking on that, too. I really believe that one must look at the mirror first before lashing out on someone else. If you're a hundred and one percent sure that you're not guilty of the same mistake, then by all means, fire away!

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to pick a fight. I have you to thank, actually, for making my day. That was a good laugh. I'm just being kind enough to tell you that you're really not in the position to poke fun or ridicule someone who can't compose a complete, error-free sentence. If you haven't realized that yet, girl, it's time you did.

Them's and you is no difference.

I die. I swear to God, you are one funny, funny girl.

To my Carl...

We met on this day, ten years ago. And life has never been more beautiful.


I'm so glad I'm on this adventure with you.

With all my love,
Your Ellie

Reality bites.

Found this on PostSecret this week:

photo borrowed from postsecret.blogspot.com

And the song goes, "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."

Sad, but true.

I did it!

I have always, always wanted to come up with my own food review blog. Since dining out and discovering places to chow are fave hobbies of my beau and myself, I thought, why not write about my gastronomic experiences? Initially, I wanted the blog to focus not only on restos but on hotels as well, since I share a passionate affair with hotels and everything that makes them divine. But checking in just to blog is kinda expensive for this radio deejay's meager salary. So food it is! I am procrastinating no more. After years of wanting to do this, I finally made it happen.

Check out my new blog and my very first feature. I hope that, in time, it turns out to be something like Julie Powell's. Baby steps, m'dear.

Join me as I chronicle the mini-adventures of a girl who loves to EAT & TELL - yours truly.

:)

Hells wedding bells!

Filipinos are known for having extravagant weddings. Huge ceremonies held in cathedrals, with hotel ballroom receptions housing a multitude of guests. Immediate family members, relatives, distant relatives, friends, acquaintances, neighbors, government officials, strangers. True, occasions like these seem festive, happy, colorful. Personally, though, I also think it too loud, and the intimacy that a wedding ceremony should have gets lost in the crazy, busy fanfare. The wedding ceremony becomes a carnival instead of a celebration of love.

I remember my good friend Jada telling me, "A wedding ceremony is really just something you do for your family and not for yourself." If this is always the case, then I would rather become one of those couples who never get married but live together, have kids and have wonderful relationships. What is getting married for anyway? Why do we do it for other people when the sole reason for this union is because two individuals love each other and want to spend their lives together 'til death do them part?

Frankly, it doesn't make any sense to me. I've attended big, big weddings, with hundreds of guests who barely know each other and, in some unfortunate cases, barely know the bride and groom as well. Where is the intimacy in that? Why invite guests who don't truly care for you, and some don't even know you?

That's the reason why the dream wedding I have envisioned in my head is very small, very intimate and only involves my beau and myself, our immediate families, and the very select and few relatives and friends who sincerely care for us. Why do I have to invite a distant relative who can't even remember my full name, or has totally forgotten my existence in the family tree? It's not being selfish. It's being real. I want my wedding to be intimate. And intimacy only exists among people who genuinely love and care for one another. No hypocrisy. I want my wedding to be true in every sense. True to the word love. True to the word care. True to the word family. True to the word togetherness. I want my wedding to be a celebration of love, not a show staged merely to entertain a cold audience.

Two people decide to get married because, somewhere in the chaos of this mad world, they've found true love and can no longer imagine themselves living a single day apart. Isn't it absolutely sensible to celebrate this romantic union, this magical occurrence, with people closest to their hearts, people who have been witnesses to their love story, people who would shed sincere tears of joy while watching them exchange vows and kiss?

Some would probably say I'm selfish and crazy. Some would think I'm a hopeless romantic. I'd like to think I'm being real. If you can bear with the thought of inviting someone who doesn't care about you to such a momentous event in your life, then by all means go ahead. Whatever floats your boat. But I want my boat to carry only those who truly, truly love me.

My 31st Mad Hatter Birthday Lunch

Yes, folks, this girl is now thirty-one years old. Lucky enough to be blessed with looks that make me seem a few years younger. I always throw a little get-together at work each year. This year, to mark my last year on the calendar, I wanted to make things a tad different. A Mad Hatter birthday lunch. The mini-party was held yesterday at the Wave 891 office, attended by my fellow jocks, the Wave staff, my siblings and my fiance Alvin. Oh, what fun!

What made the whole event more interesting was the photobooth! My buddy Jada has a photobooth business, Litrato Juan. As a birthday present, she brought one of her booths to the station, absolutely free! Wheee! Many thanks and lotsa love to you, mare. Now I have awesome photos to show!











More photos on my Facebook account (for friends) or the Litrato Juan site.

Awesome party! I know the rest of my year will be filled with adventures and experiences as fun and colorful as these pictures. Looking forward! But first, lemme blow 'em 31 candles on my cake.

:)

Wave 891 is turning 9!

The metro's most influential R&B station has reached another milestone - 9 years, baby! And boy, are we feeling lucky this year! We're inviting you to party with us. Let's celebrate!




We're bringing 9 lucky listeners and their plus ones up to the VIP floor to party like celebrities! How to be part of that lucky 9 group? Tune in for more details.

:)