Email from Lorie (sent December 3, 2005):

yup, it's really lip and cheek tint. :)

it's the only tube that looks that way in the store. the salesladies said it's the only one that's packaged like that. :)

my only complaint is that the salesladies were hounding me to buy something. really annoying.

take care!

Can you believe that I actually asked her to go to The Body Shop’s store just to find out what the damn thing is? I was that desperate.

[By the way, thank you, Andie and Jazmine, for your help in my lip-tint-or-lip-and-cheek-tint predicament, even though I read it weeks after the wedding. Heehee.]

So now, Lorie (and Ronamy), you see why I’d rather ask my friends about cosmetic brands than to go to the stores. I hate dealing with salespeople. I believe we have two kinds of salespeople. The first one thinks that every person coming into their store has oodles of cash and itching to get rid of it, thus pestering the hapless customer to buy products she probably won’t need. The second thinks that every person coming into their store has no money and is merely looking around, thus regarding her as a nuisance and ignoring her completely.

Anyway, back to the tint. I didn’t wear it for the wedding. Tita used her powder blush on me because she doesn’t know how to apply liquid blush. But make-up was the least of my worries that night. I swear, it was almost a complete fiasco.

We went to the church earlier because Tita, Tito and Tatay were part of the entourage, and Nanay was assigned to offer one of the gifts. A few minutes before the wedding was to start, I looked down on my feet and saw the strap of my beautiful gold open-toed two-and-a-half-inch heeled slip-on had come off. I was mentally kicking myself for forgetting to bring an extra pair because we were in a hurry. My walk down the (side) aisle was embarrassing: I had to drag my right foot so as not to leave the broken shoe behind. Since Tatay or Tito couldn’t drive me home, I had to ride a tricycle (we still don’t have jeepneys or taxis in our beautiful town). And riding in the open air could wreak havoc to your eyes especially of you’re wearing contacts.

The next best thing to those gold slip-ons were my leather boots with two-and-a-half-inch heels and pointy toes. But my boots were black, so the light brown leather bag I was using wouldn’t do. I had to transfer all my stuff to my black bag. By the time I returned to the church, the wedding was halfway through already.

Then the reception. Oh. My. Goodness. I was to lead the opening prayer, but I was already stressed out from the shoe strap incident, wala ako sa kondisyon. I had been hoping that the venue would have a podium so I could hide my shaking hands from the crowd, but the host was just holding the mic. I was so nervous that even my voice was trembling. And I was talking so fast that the solemnity of the moment wasn’t realized and the beauty of the prayer wasn’t appreciated. What a total embarrassment. Good thing I didn’t stumble on the steps while going back to my table.

But I did learn a lot of things that night.

Lesson 1: Ever the cynical Pau, I wasn’t too enthusiastic about this wedding from the beginning. The couple was in their late 30s and they were from different (almost at the extremes, actually) social standings. And they don’t exactly make the picture perfect couple, if you get what I mean. I thought they were just desperate to get hitched before they hit menopause/andropause (?!). But hearing their (love) story changed all these. Love indeed transcends everything.

Lesson 2: The families of both the bride and groom were very religious, so their messages to the couple (and to the guests as well) were focused on God. The recurring advice was that God should always come first. That made me realize why my past relationships failed dismally. We were missing God.

Lesson 3: As one of the godfathers said, God always listens. He may not answer right away, but He will answer, nevertheless, in His own time.

Lesson 4: What I learned in Theology was affirmed, that love is a choice and not a feeling. It is an act of will rather than a surge of emotions.

Lesson 5: I need to think positive lest I get all wrinkly and prune-faced before my 40s. For example, while on my way home to change my footwear, I was cursing the whole world for my rotten luck. I mean, of all days to have a broken shoe, right? But then again, it was good luck that I saw it before the wedding started. It could’ve been worse if it came off during the reception, and I would have to walk all the way up front hopping on one foot (or even barefoot) for the prayer. So even if it was a bad night, it could’ve been worse, and I should be thankful for that.