Saturday was Gabbi's cotillion. The day was pretty hectic with everyone running around in preparation. I could explain, but you know how we do family parties:). Everyone comes together like a fine-tuned machine and gets thangs done!
The Green Valley Country Club, where Kuya Lan runs the kitchen, was so elegant and beautifully decorated (Atch is so creative when it comes to planning every detail!)The cotillion court looked amazing - the boys in their borongs w/ turquoise undershirts, and the girls in their turquoise dresses.
There's a TON of pics, but if I post them all it'll take up this whole blog post! LoL
When I got there before the party started, I had to take a "me" moment outside overlooking the golf course. I thought about how you were gonna help coreograph the waltz, you most likely would've done the slide show, and you definately would've been there hustlin all day to get the place ready. You would've presented a rose to Gabbi, and you and I would've been on the dance floor till it was time to go home! I got my moment overwith and was ready to party.
My date showed-up shortly after my "me" moment (BFF Annah was my date). I was a horrible date, but she stuck with me throughout the night anyways, like a champ! :)
Ate Mae and Rachelle were the MC's, and they had the entire room cracking-up from the start! Gabbi made her grand entrance, David welcomed the guests, Joseph blessed the food (ONLY like Joseph could! At the end of the prayer, he invited anyone who didn't know Christ to meet him at table #8! LoL), then it was dinner time.
By this time, everything was cool. Then, guess what the DJ started playing...our DJ Opus slow jam mix. The one we listened to all the time throughout our entire relationship! The one we knew backward and forward...all 29 minutes and 51 seconds of it! So, there came "me" moment #2. I ended up serenading our table! That helped keep my emotions in tact.
Our dinners were served. Kuya Lan did a phenomenal job on the food!!! He runs the kitchen there, so of course he made sure his staff made everything perfect. After dinner was the presentation of the 18 roses. Since you couldn't make it, I presented your rose. The others danced Gabbi around a couple times, but when I got to her I handed her the rose, held her, and said "If your Uncle Mark was here he would dance you all around this dance floor telling you how beautiful you are and how proud he is of you". I tried with all my might not to cry because this was GABBI's night and I didn't want her to get all sad and stuff, but as soon as I said the word "If", I started ballin! It took me a while to get it all out, but I did...FOR YOU!:) I was ballin, Gabbi was crying, then when I sat back at my seat I composed myself and Ate Sette came to me, smacked me on the arm, and said "you made me cry!". Oops...my bad! LoL
After the roses, the cotillion court presented the waltz. All the time, planning and hard work soooooo paid off because it was perfect!
Then came the presentation of the 18 candles. Give 18 women the mic and a chance to share their hearts with someone like Gabbi, of course it was like asking for reasons to get all emotional and cry:)! GOOD tears, of course. Then my sisters and I sang Dahil Sa Iyo w/ Gabbi...followed by a song by Gabbi w/ Noah on the drum and Chona on the guitar.
Next they played the 18 Treasures video where the cotillion court got to introduce their presents to Gabbi and greet her. I had never heard of the whole 18 treasures thing before, but it was definately a nice touch and a nice keepsake for Gab's.
After Gabbi changed her dress and the guys changed from barongs to black button-up shirts, six of the cotillion court couples presented the cha-cha routine which was A-MAZING! They looked like they had practiced for months, when in reality they only had a few cha-cha rehearsals. You woulda been so proud, especially since you most likely woulda helped Kuya Dak teach it:).
The rest of the night was filled with laughter, watching my all-growed-up nephews and nieces dancing, my siblings shake what our mama gave em, and wishing you were there to laugh and dance with me. You being MIA was the only thing that made the night just shy of being PERFECT!
It was Gabbi's night, I did my very best to keep smilin. It was difficult, and I had to step away a few times throughout the night, but in the end - I was pretty happy with myself:). I'm sure I made you proud babee.
So there you go babee. I hope you feel as if you were there after that play-by-play:). 1434
