What It Means to Be Alive

What does it mean to be alive? For scientists, it is when a biotic factor is living and not dead. For some, it could mean waking up everyday, working, falling asleep and then waking up again. For others, it is feeling - what is good and bad, beautiful and painful.

While all these definitions of being alive are true, I have my own. For me, to be alive is simply to love and feel loved.

Allow me to share about the night I felt the most love I have ever given and received - the night I celebrated my eighteenth birthday.

My debut was held at Blue Leaf Cosmopolitan in Pasig City last March 18, 2017. It was such a fitting venue for the kind of aesthetic that my mom had in mind (yes, the whole look came from her magical imagination! <3). I loved the fact that it was just newly built and it had waiting rooms for the celebrants to rest and get ready in before their big nights. I did just that before mine! :)

Before I get into the details of the program proper, can we just take a moment to admire the lovely set up? :) Mom and Gideon never fail to surprise and outdo themselves whenever they work on events together. Check out these awesome photos of the decorations taken by Proud Rad! <3

As you can see, there was A LOT of pink, which covered the tables and everything on top of it. I'm sure that my favorite color is already pretty obvious... :P

I just want to give huge thanks to the kindest owner behind SugarPlum Lifestyle, Mrs. Jenny Tan, for allowing me to use her super cute teacups, teapots and two-layered cake tiers to complete the look of my pastel-themed centerpieces. She was so generous and easy to connect with during our first meeting. It was a pleasure to have met her and her sweet daughter, Morgan.

Don't you just wanna take this darling of a teapot home? Well, it's your lucky day because you can! SugarPlum Lifestyle has a series of tea collections, which are available for you to choose from. You may visit their shop located at 17A DPL Bldg., M. Paterno St., Pasadena, San Juan to order your very own conversation pieces. :) You definitely won't regret adding these adorable items to your vintage and floral collections! 

"SugarPlum is a lifestyle brand that carries various everyday home essentials, best known for their tea and coffee drink ware which come in pretty shabby chic designs ideal for gift giving"

The enticing dessert buffet that I didn't get to enjoy because I was too busy having fun! :")

These are the ladies I love to love! Trisha, Erica, Patti and Elise were some of the selfless girls who were part of my cotillion. Despite having classes during the week of our practices, they still sacrificed their time to stay up until 12 midnight for me! 

... and of course, we have some of the cotillion boys too! Or should I say, men? :> Cannot thank these guys enough for what they have done for me! 

And now, the program begins. I was so nervous waiting for my entrance in our holding room. I have performed many times before but this night was different. I knew all eyes were going to be on me and I kept thinking I would trip or fall and ruin it all. But thank God, that entrance was nothing but blissful for me.

It started with some videos I shot previously to prepare for the night. The crew filmed me in my different personas - a blogger, actress and student - so that while the video was playing, Power Dance performed their awesome choreo of "Rather Be". After that, it was finally my turn. I was panicking inside but once I saw everyone cheering for me, the butterflies went away. I had what I call my "5 seconds in heaven". My parents were teary-eyed and everyone was clapping their hands and smiling the whole time. That was my favorite moment and I'd do anything to have that again! <3

I got down the stage for the cake blowing ceremony followed by my little sister, Margaux's speech. She never really tells me that she loves me or shows any sign of sweetness, but that night, she told me and all the guests how much she appreciated me and it was just the best feeling. :) I love Maggie so much so that speech meant everything!

My inside and out gorgeous family <3 Everyday, I receive the biggest blessing I could ever ask for from God - a complete, healthy and happy family. I am nothing without these folks!

I want to thank my Mom for doing everything to make the debut the best that it could be. She didn't care about losing sleep, traveling to hot and far places and conquering traffic just to find the perfect everything for this evening. She is the embodiment of the words "unconditional love". 

After dinner was my second big entrance - executed the Victoria's Secret way. My dream of being a VS angel finally came true! 

Then, it was time for the man of my life to take over the dance floor. He had a little surprise dance which shook the audience for about 30 seconds. (What was the surprise, you ask? Well, we'll just keep what happened there a secret...)

Dad and I performed our Tango dance right after his quick surprise. We both had a lot of fun and laughs practicing for the dance so we were excited to show the rest what we had in store. I was really happy when Dad said that he wanted to do this with me for my debut because it isn't really his personality to dance the tango. But because he wanted to do something special, he made sure we put on a show. Thank you for the spectacular night, Dad! You're more than the best! <3

Hehe I forced him to do the lift-me-on-his-leg move because I always wanted to remake what I saw on the movie, "Enchanted". :) 

Then it was cotillion time! Nope, we didn't just do slow dancing and waltz. We had hip hop, jazz and everything in between! It was a dance fusion that resulted from our split warm ups, leg stretching and intense workouts. Yup, even the boys had to do the splits :D

Of course, I can't miss out on thanking my escort, Miguel. He was there through it all and never complained about anything. So grateful for all the happiness he's brought to my life! <3

We had the traditional 18 roses and 18 treasures follow after all the dancing however, I don't have a group photo with everyone in it. :( Might just post them separately on social media! <3

I also had 18 tributes from my special girls who know me best. <3

Here's Alex and Chiqui singing an original song they wrote just for me. I love you ladies so much! :*

The ABMers! Thank you girls for the reading the Filipino poem you wrote and dancing the energizer with emotions! I was so entertained. <3

Hello from TELON! I was so impressed with their "The Next Bea Arboleda" skit. They went all the way back to my Grade 8 campaign song and re-enacted all my craziness through the years. I couldn't stop laughing! :)

The Ateneans who had way too much fun that they forgot to call me to join this photo! :)) So cute though!

With my dream videographer, Mr. Jason Magbanua! :) His services were given as a gift from my Tita Thea who knew him from way back. Thanks Tita Thea and Tito Nin! <3

Me and my girls!

My Ariana Grande concert moment also came to life! Confidence is the key, guys! :)

The way the night turned out was just unbelievable. The grand celebration, the lovely decorations and the gowns and suits everyone wore were stunning. But as I said in my closing speech that evening, my true gifts and real treasures are the people who came to share this moment with me. They are the people who make challenges bearable, memories unforgettable and life worth living. 

Thank you to everyone who celebrated my eighteenth birthday with me. Thank you for allowing me to love and be loved, to enjoy what it means to be alive.

THE DREAM TEAM

All my gowns by Angeli Arboleda

Cotillion gowns by Angeli Arboleda

(For orders and inquiries: 09175354122)

Tea cups, saucers, cake tiers & more - Sugar Plum Lifestyle
(For orders and inquiries: 09228817588, 09175897733, sugarplumlifestyle@yahoo.com.ph)

Event Stylist - Gideon Hermosa

Videographer - Jason Magbanua

Photographer - Proud Rad