a tribute to a paradox of a woman

one of the strongest yet most vulnerable,
one of the strictest yet most understanding,
tough as nails yet sensitive and perceptive—
a mother yet also one of the greatest friends.

you may no longer be physically present with us, but you are with us always:
in the face that looks back at me in the mirror and the creative bursts of inspiration that hit me,in the generous spirit and heart of erika, in the kindness and thoughtfulness of kevin, and the fierce protectiveness of klarke.

you have indeed taught us well. all those years you sacrificed living and having your own life to mold ours have, i believe, have come to fruition in the people we have become. so death is not, and will never be, an obstacle to keeping you in our memories. because we see you whenever we look at each other. and as the days pass and we grow old, we look forward in hopeful anticipation until we are reunited with you.

there are no words to express the depth of how much we still miss you. but i can only hope we have done you proud.

to my beautiful, wonderful, and greatly missed mom, happy birthday.

just another day at the office

with friends goofing around during our dinner break at the office. inspired by the amayyzing photos at the free people blog (which makes us just silly with envy), we decided we couldn’t pass up on the photo op. haha. this is only one set of many that i haven’t posted here yet :p

that’s anne at the far left, our resident health buff slash yoga queen. next to her in the lovely pink and grey pullover is govinda, budding yoga princess and kick-ass graphic and web designer. then there’s me (no need to expound on that, ha!), and then karla, writer extraordinaire, poet and hippie at heart, and our favorite model in our spontaneous so-called “photo shoots.”

it was a rainy day when these photos were taken (a rarity when the summer season hits our country), and i just thought it cool how each one of us dressed up for the weather. 🙂