life's simple pleasures. ♥

in the middle of our chaotic, stressful days, there are little pleasant surprises that come our way that really make us feel nothing beats life's simple pleasures!

1. my happy food, float and fries!



i call it happy food because its a no fail pick-me-upper! amazing how driving thru for float and fries instantly makes me giddy! i usually have a coke float with the fries, but since mcdonald's has a whole new set of berry desserts, like there's a sundae and a mcflurry, i decided to try the rockin' ruby float with fries, and mmm, mmm, mmm! sooo yummy! its really the mix of the sweet and salty that i love. you should try it!



2. getting freebies!



i am an extremely proud member of the avon family, for their line called avon mix. they're really cute and trendy start up pieces for any girl starting a collection of accessories! because of the nature of my work, i asked my avon bosses if it'd be okay to ask for pieces from avon fashions, the more grown up and sophisticated line. a week after, a whole box comes in from the mail, full of accessories! i loooove avon!



3. random appreciative tweets.



oh, the power of twitter! how you can connect to people around the world and even strangers, and how they can connect to you. after a long, exhausting day of work, reading tweets that show appreciation for the person that you are or the work that you do means so, so much. just like this sweet girl mhaiissa who said she appreciates my daily stories from my ktxt.. aaw, thank you so, so much.



4. finding money in your pocket!



you open your wallet and you have just a few 20 or 50 peso bills and a bunch of receipts. there is no atm anywhere near and you're hungry. you reach into the pocket of your jeans hoping to find something.. and you do! hallelujah! hahaa, i love it when a pair of jeans comes back from the laundry and you unexpectedly find a washed up 100 peso bill folded neatly in the back pocket!



5. being greeted on the radio!



i get beyoooond kilig when i'm greeted on radio! super kilig! the other day, my friend ange and i were stuck in rush hour traffic, listening to the hilarious boys of 'boys night out'. i decided to text sam yg, one of the djs, to greet us. to ange's surprise, a few minutes later we hear, "saying what's up to ange alarcon and bianca gonzalez stuck in traffic now." yiiiiiiii! nakakatuwa talaga to be greeted on air!

what are your simple pleasures? ♥

the inauguration of president noynoy aquino.

it was surreal to get this personalized invite with the seal of the office of the president of the philippines on it. it is beyond any of my wildest dreams to ever be a part of such a historic event! i am very, very thankful to the aquino siblings for inviting me and for always being so nice to me!



the newspapers the next day read that there were around half a million people who were at the quirino grandstand that morning. there was an undeniable spirit of hopefulness in the air! such a proud day to be filipino!



there were performances by charice, ogie alcasid, regine velasquez, noel cabangon, apo hiking society, gary valenciano.. my favorite song of this campaign would definitely have to be noel cabangon's "pagka't ako'y isang mabuting pilipino!" so fitting for this whole journey! he sang it at the liberal party rally in qc circle before elections, and sang it again at the inauguration, its just the perfect song that fights for what we all believe in.



people from different walks of life came together that day, and so did different networks. we were seated right beside our talk unit family in abs, a few rows above us were our bosses ma'am charo santos, tita cory vidanes, tita linggit tan, and our other business unit heads. also present were presidential team liz uy, juan sarte, jc buendia, and stars kim chiu, ai ai de las alas, pokwang, marian rivera, and dingdong dantes to name a few.



true to tradition, a few minutes before noon, vice president jejomar binay, followed by president noynoy aquino were sworn in. right after was a loud collective chant.. "noynoy! noynoy!"



GoD was definitely present that day because despite the rain the days prior to this and even the rain that very morning, the sun was shining brightly for the whole duration of the ceremony! it was definitely a day of renewed hope!



president noynoy addresses the nation for the first time! i chose my top five favorite lines from his speech..

..Ang layunin ko sa buhay ay simple lang: maging tapat sa aking mga magulang at sa bayan bilang isang marangal na anak, mabait na kuya, at mabuting mamamayan.

..Kami ay narito para magsilbi at hindi para maghari.

..Sa mga nang-api sa akin, kaya ko kayong patawarin, at pinapatawad ko na kayo. Sa mga nang-api sa sambayanan, wala akong karapatan na limutin ang inyong mga kasalanan.

..Sa tamang pamamahala gaganda ang buhay ng lahat, at sa buhay na maganda, sino pa ang gugustuhing bumalik sa panahon ng pang-aapi?

..Layunin ko na sa pagbaba ko sa katungkulan, masasabi ng lahat na malayo na ang narating natin sa pagtahak ng tuwid na landas at mas maganda na ang kinabukasang ipapamana natin sa susunod na henerasyon.



right after the speech, two helicopters flew over the grandstand to shower yellow confetti! and it has begun! the next six years that the whole nation is looking forward to! mabuhay ang pilipinas!



it was my honor to share this amazing moment in history with my dearest sister and friend mariel! before we got to the grandstand, we actually brisk walked the whole kalaw street in our five inch heels and stuck together to make it! i love you ma! mariel's terno is by avel bacudio, make up by ting duque, hair by john valle.



this is actually the very first terno i've had made in my life, and its by the genius that is joey samson! he stuck to his famous cage design, but this time made it more filipino with the barong-like material he used and the floral lace appliques he added! thank you for waking up so, so early jigs mayuga to do my make up and ney guese for my hair! the best team for this once-in-a-lifetime historic occasion!