Crazy-busy.

Friday was spent driving to Edmonton. Well, before that, we have to pick up B's niece and had to eat our deli sandwiches (I had plymouth rock on multigrain while B had turkey panini) on the highway. I don't like eating in the car as I feel hurried - isn't eating supposed to be a delightful event? Ahh... living in the Americas - a hurried lifestyle and always a preoccupied 24 hours... We arrived at about 8:30pm and found that B's dad an stepmom has an ongoing garage sale for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer walk slated on the 11th of August in Edmonton... their activity was a success! They got at least $1500! Yes, Albertans are generous - especially on close-to-home issues as cancer research.

Our Saturday was full packed. We left Devon at 11am to meet Reghie's family (Rico and Ira) at West Edmonton Mall by the Old Spaghetti Restaurant (in Bourbon St). We probably hooked up for a good 1.5 hours as little Ira was in a hurry to have her roller coaster ride at Galaxyland. Wandered WEM and heck, started to have blisters on my left foot courtesy of my Bass wedge sandals. Arte kasi eh.. hahaha Well, I'm a girl so I had to wear my stuff and showcase my new spa pedicured feet! :)

So, we hit Banana Republic and got a really cool skirt (button down) in khakis - yay!!! Now, I can wear my boots for the Fall!! Actually, I initially wanted to wear this for our photo shoot but the blister is the bummer so I opted to keep it for now; while B got himself a new pair of khakis too and a periwinkle golf shirt - which turned out to be very useful for our engagement shoot that day! The weather is actually very nice (warm but breezy) so for my Canuck groom-to-be, wearing a dress shirt in the park doesn't sound good so his newly acquired shirt came in very handy...

We met Brian and gave him Amanda's invite for my shower (oh, my MOH/sister really had a fantastic crafty/creative sense! Love my invites - but this is another entry altogether!!) :) B & Brian left for Canadian Tire while I proceeded to Merle Norman for my make up appointment.

I found MN in no time... but, geez - the queue is to the door! Well, FREE make up makeovers does that for sure. As I'm quite early in my appointment, I went in the store and looked for the gal. The snappish girl was the gal who will make my face - until one lady (who looked Pinay) came out from their Staff Only room and told her that I'd rather have her to do my face as basing from their convo, Michelle (the one who is supposed to make my face) was busy. Thank God I got a Pinay - I think my make up turned great! B said he loved it! haha - well, if B likes it, it must be nice! ;) {Note: B is very honest with me on these stuff - if he dislikes it, he'll let me know too!}

Our last stop in WEM was the Disney store as I don't recall having one in Calgary. We got the toys for our kid attendants and happy that we got them all now.

Drove towards Whitemud to find the Jackie Parker park. Found the place and got some of our 'props' - flowers, etc. At 15 past 7, Bruce arrived and was apologetic because he ran late for our appointment. We perfectly understand that he was coming from a different wedding that day - so, he must be dead tired too.

Jackie Parker Park reminds me of the Sunbowl at Baker Park in Calgary except that the former has nicer architectural stuff that is good for photography. We must have at least 4-5 mini locations in the park before we headed to Tim Horton's to change clothes. Bruce (our photographer) was ever so nice - he offered to get us Iced Cap while we change in the washroom...

We went to another park with ravines... this time, I'm reminded of the Sandy Beach in the SW of Calgary - off-leash dog park, lots of trees and ravines (shempre haha) and the catchy one was the bridge - ahhhhhh - we love the place... it's secluded so there's a bit of privacy and for mushy/sappy pair whose pictures are taken, this is good! haha

Next stop was at the old church near Whyte Ave (Old Strathcona). We had fun here because he made us do 'fun/goofy' stuff and hello, here are two folks (me and B) thoroughly enjoying our poses... hahaha There were 3 major backdrops - one green, one red, one silver... awesome!!!

Fourth location was the famous CP Rail train tracks. Here, we were able to put out our props. I just had to get our parasol featured! hahaha Bruce made us do climb the train one at the front and one at the back and of course, the track... We even had our flowers showcased - to break the monotony of just me and B in the pictures... lol...

We went next at the High Level Bridge... yeah - the one with the 'singing' tracks... Omg, it's a lot of fun! :) I've seen the River Valley for the first time!

More photo shoot by the Legislature grounds - not exactly on the leg grounds but thereabouts - yikes, I suck at directions... hahaha But, it was one where you can see Edmonton skyline - so, you can say, something like the Crescent Heights in NW Calgary - although, I like our skyline better. ;)

Next was that area of where the fallen Edmonton police (I forgot the name!!!) where it was almost sundown... it was a great place - this time, it reminds me of our Eau Claire Prince's Island Park...

En route to Whyte Ave for our final shot, Bruce suddenly stopped and asked us if we're okay with one more location... hey, we're enjoying every single bit of this day - so, we went - sure!!! ;) Right off that area was the Grandin Station - Edmonton's subway. We went, ooohh... fantastic, we're having a train (subway) shot!!!! :) Think MRT but of course, way down (subway nga eh... lol) and way cleaner and a bit high tech... :) We had a peep of one shot because Bruce was iffy with the first one and we're like, whoaaa - nice!!!!!!! We waited for the next train to get the kind of picture he wants and we headed to Whyte Ave.

Whyte Ave is what is 17th Ave (Red Mile) in Calgary as what is Malate in Manila. Trendy spot and definitely a date place! So, to cap the night, we had to have Bruce's signature photo - the famous Second Cup picture... and on a Saturday warm night, we are lucky to find a vacant table outside! Yay!!!!! We must have 6 shots outside and finally, the 'tree' shot by Whyte Ave at night.

So, did we grow our skin so thick to get our pictures taken there? :) No, because we were oblivious on the stares - we were just camera-crazy that night. I guess it helped that Bruce is ever so encouraging and his soft spoken stance makes us relax to the max! :)

Sunday was a very rushed day. Left Devon at 2:30 and arrived at Calgary at 5:45. B was all energetic (he had a shot of that Sobe drink) while I was feeling lethargic from lack of sleep and food. Went to Mass at St. Mary's and thank goodness for their visiting priest (who by way of his sermon revealed that he is a Jesuit and was a late vocation-er). Ahhh - no wonder he has this knack for telling stories that are always very relevant and a great sense of humour - you would sometimes forget that you are attending mass at St. Mary's haha (oohhh- my bad!!!) :)

Had a case of sneezing and colds - needed to sleep some more!

Monday. So okay, after having a lot of snuffles and still dead tired, I decided that I'd take a day off. Phoned in sick today. I guess that's what happens when I don't get any time off... days like this catches up with me and I'm better off not at work - otherwise, I'll be the grumpy biatch. Slept for 2 more hours this morning, had decent breakfast and I feel better... now, I'm finishing our week's laundry and I did manage to cook sinigang and B will grill some sirloin steaks that is marinating in the fridge.

That's it, that's all! :)