I am now a proper Godmother (english accent). Yup, its officially (for a few days now actually). You might all wonder why it’s such a big deal for me. I mean, why wouldn’t it be?

Before delving more into that, I want to wish everyone a happy new year (let’s pretend that it’s still the first week of january with regards to the prior statement). What better way to do that than to post a couple of pictures from new year’s eve, I say. (We have fireworks every year and it’s amazing. I advocate safety when dealing with fireworks and being responsible.)

I just took a couple of shots since I was busy watching the fireworks, making sure that Georgia was ok and basically just having fun. I love how these shots turned out.

Back to being a Godmother – I just thought that my first ever post for this year should commemorate something meaningful and I believe that welcoming and celebrating new life is the perfect way to go about it. I unfortunately do not have pictures during the baptism ceremony since I wanted to focus more on godmother duties and just take pictures during the after part (they had a photographer on hand which is a plus – I’ll get pictures from him).

I had to take pictures of little Andi’s cakes – they were really pretty!

With the little one (Yup, this is her. Meet the little darling.)

Can I keep her? Please? (Welcome to the world, little Andi! You are Mommy Pau’s little darling. Aside from Georgia of course. Teehee.) Congrats Mommy Shaki and Daddy Nico!

“A child is the greatest gift that our lives can bestow, it brings the most exquisite joy that we will ever know.”

P.S. On an interior design-related note, here are a couple of pictures from the Hafele Presentation and the Green Architecture forum with Archt. Miguel Guerrero as one of the speakers.

Häfele Presentation

This featured the debut of their state-of-the-art kitchen systems as well as a background on the company. For those who aren’t familiar with Häfele, it was established in Germany and evolved from a local hardware business into a global company. Häfele Philippines was formally founded in 1995 and Cebu got its own sales office with a smaller warehouse in Mandaue City.

Not only do they provide architectural hardware and furniture fittings but they also have home appliances (with constant innovations).  I developed an affinity for their sophisticated coffee center – it produces creamy milk foam and can make coffee, espresso, latte and even cappuccino! (Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take a picture of the coffee center but I do have a couple of shots of the fittings – below.)

Green Architecture Forum

The forum started out with a talk from Dr. Glen Martin Green (he has a degree in petroleum engineering and a Ph. D. in Earth and Planetary Science from the United States). I especially found his talk to be one of the most comprehensive ones I have been to (to date) and it was certainly insightful. One aspect of his talk was about the Peak Oil Crisis which is still widely unknown to most of us. He basically defined it as “the point in time when a region’s oil production is at it’s maximum, when production reaches its all time high and then begins a relentless and irreversible decline as depletion progresses”.

Archt. Miguel C. Guerrero III, fuap, APEC architect, assocAIA, Green AP was also one of the guest speakers for the said forum. He is a member of  Green Architecture Advocacy Philippines, Inc. – they promote the practice of green architecture in the built environment. He discussed his ten steps to sustainability. A quick rundown – 1. Keep the sun out, 2. Let light in, 3. Catch some breeze, 4. Insulate roofing, 5. Harvest rain, 6. Recycle wastewater, 7. Efficient lighting, 8. Thermal comfort, 9. Renewable materials, 10. Alternative energy.

P.P.S. Upcoming Post Teaser

Here is to a promising 2011, Everyone! Cheers!