This event deserves an entry because it made me so happy! Let’s start from the beginning so I can share how this day unraveled into something I didn’t expect at all.

As far as I knew, I was going to go to my third fitting with my good friend, Ashley. I was supposed to go to my fitting with Pocholo but since he had work, Ashley had agreed to accompany me. We were running a bit late, so I texted my designer to inform him of our delay. As I hopped into the car and started to give instructions to the driver, Ashley interrupted me and apologized saying that we had to do a last minute errand prior to heading to the fitting. Since it was on the way, I didn’t see it as a problem. We went down at Molito and started walking towards 25 Mushrooms Kitchen to meet Ashley’s tita. As soon as we entered, …. SURPRISE!!!! The room was filled with some of my longest and closest girl friends, and I saw a sign that said “Micki’s Bridal Cookout”.  I was so overwhelmed by the revelation of what I had just walked into that I cried! So apparently, there was no fitting scheduled that day, and Pocholo didn’t have work. Congratulations to everyone in on the planning because I really had no idea.

The idea of a cookout for my bridal shower was actually perfect precisely because I can’t cook and it’s the one thing about married life that I’m most apprehensive about. Pocholo loves to eat and I’m afraid anything I make will not be edible, haha! So thank you, my girls, I needed this!

After greeting everyone and a little chat with each group, the cookout started. We split into three small groups and were greeted by the chef. We soon found out that we were going to learn three dishes namely, Cibo’s Spinach Dip, Cibo’s Penne Al Telefono, and Army Navy’s steak burrito. I was beyond excited because I LOVE all three dishes and the idea of being able to recreate them felt as though I skipped Cooking 101 and immediately moved to Advance Elective 305: Restaurant Specialties–or something like that, haha!

Throughout the class, we were guided every step of the way. We also learned some cooking hacks and other details that were interesting. For example, only Filipinos toss in garlic first before onions. The common practice is to place onions in the pan before garlic so as not to burn the garlic. But Filipinos like burnt garlic, hence, the switch in steps. Another example is that adding a little cane vinegar helps in bringing out the flavor of cheese. I didn’t know these things, did you?

We had a lot of fun cooking and plating! Yes, plating. Inspired by Master Chef, we all made sure our finished products looked presentable. We ate everything we cooked–all of which were so yummy, btw!

Towards the end of the session, I opened my gifts–let’s skip the details of that, the photo is self-explanatory. Then we closed the cookout session with a toast to my fast-approaching new life as Mrs. P!

Thank you, first of all, to Cielo, for coming up with this brilliant and unique bridal shower. Thank you as well to all those who helped in planning and executing this super fun cookout. And finally, thank you to everyone who came! Special mention for my blockmates Sasa and Kei, who live way up North. Thank you for the time and effort to drive down South. You all made my day and I look forward to celebrating my Big Day with all of you!