Wedding Non-Planning

We've been watching a lot of reality TV content over this lockdown, and things have sort of culminated with Netflix's Say I Do series where the discount Queer Eye trio put together a wedding in a week. I say this is a culmination mainly because a number of shows, mainly cooking competitions, have inevitably wandered into the whole "cater a wedding as a challenge" scenario, and this always gets me stating aloud that we will never agree to make our wedding the subject of a reality television experience. So it's kind of ironic that we're now watching a reality show that is all about weddings alone, but hey it makes for fun sappy entertainment despite the stress of our current reality.

While we have no idea how our actual wedding might go as I doubt we'll make an actual plan until it becomes legal to get married in this country or we move to a country where it's legal instead. But there are a few things that we're generally figuring out.

First, I insist that we need to figure out ahead of time what aspects of our story are worth sharing. Some editing is needed to focus on the happier parts and avoid some of the more complicated bits like the fact that I wasn't single when Tobie and I started falling in love.

Second, we agree we don't want a complicated theme wedding. This Netflix show has had everything from a carnival wedding to a Christmas-themed winter wonderland. And we're pretty sure we don't want to do anything like that. No costume requirements. No decor that could belong at a department store display. 

No idea where we'd want to get married. It's unlikely to be a religious structure like a church and there are no major travel destinations that are particularly memorable to us that we'd want to tie the knot there. So as long as we find a pretty indoor location with sufficient air conditioning that I don't sweat like crazy, it'll probably be an okay option.

The after-party is definitely going to be at O Bar, or something like that. I guess the bachelor's party will be there too, but that would mean we'd still be together for it since I can't imagine being at O Bar without Tobie at my side.

We can't figure out what the food at the event will be like. Tobie says it depends on what restaurants we become friendly with. I figure that I'd still want low carb options even if they're not necessarily full keto options - but admittedly I'd be happier to make sure at least my plate is keto and everyone else gets normal stuff LOL.

I need to check with Tobie, but I think I'd be happier to get married in a Barong Tagalog versus a suit, more for comfort more than anything else. Of course, it would have to be customized somehow in a manner that's tasteful and not necessarily too niche that we wouldn't be able to re-use it for other events. 

It's easy to banter about this mainly because it's still not a legal option in the Philippines for us to get married. This may change in the future, and we look forward to that. But for now, wedding plans are part of the conversations we continue to joke about before going to bed without seriously committing to anything. 

Random Photo Journey!

July 2020

My weight loss journey and this whole quarantine situation has me sporadically digging through past photos more than usual. When I look at myself in the mirror every day, it's hard to tell if I'm making any real progress. So there's nothing quite like jumping back a few years to shock myself with how big I used to be and thus stressing how far I've come. Plus it's a nice way to remember what it was like when we all had the freedom to travel freely and meet up with friends in non-socially-distant settings.

And with me trying to celebrate happier days through this blog, I thought it might be fun to do a year-by-year photo review of our couple photos. Prepare yourself for fluctuating weight and changing hairstyles!

That Time We Tried to Vlog

Last year, Tobie and I recorded a nearly one-hour commentary on the Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. It was essentially a stream-of-consciousness live stream that we recorded and uploaded raw as a way to sort of re-experience the fun we had when we used to record the web show Fandom Live! together, which was one of the hallmarks of our first year together.
With everyone and their dog experimenting with content creation while in quarantine, I wonder if Tobie and I should revive the idea of putting up some sort of a web show together. It could just be a geek-centric thing, but really I figured it would ultimately be anther couple project, similar to what this Baduy Pride blog is. 
What that be something anyone out there would be into? Or would we just be adding to the noise of the internet as it is? What would you expect/hope for should we decide to do another recorded-as-live web show?

Quarantine Gifting and Other Updates

Last-minute surprise birthday dedication right there

Wow, I haven't posted an update on this blog since our anniversary last November. Sorry about that, it has been a weird time.

For those who might have been wondering, Tobie and I have remained safe and sound under lockdown. We've significantly limited our time outdoors in line with quarantine protocols and have mostly stayed busy with work. Luckily, we are both in companies that have supported 100% work from home.

We're still baduy and proud of it, but of course, it often feels like there's not as much to write about because of this pandemic. Obviously, we're not traveling nor are we doing crazy things with friends or attending memorable events or similar experiences. Instead, we're doing our best to get through this pandemic without going crazy. But at least we have each other's company to get through these crazy times. I know of many friends who have been separated from their loved ones over the course of this quarantine.

Today, Tobie still managed to surprise me with a ridiculously early birthday gift. Longtime readers of this blog or my (now-protected) personal blog might remember how gift-giving is a bit of a competitive sport between us but also frustrating since we are unable to really surprise one another. But I guess my surprise senses are getting rusty during this pandemic since I was not expecting Tobie to not only find another fun board game to add to our collection (we've added over a dozen despite quarantine) but he secured the good number of card sleeves of the type that we specifically use for our Legendary card games. I needed 900 sleeves to catch up with recent acquisitions and we still have a good thousand more sleeves leftover for future purchases.

Normally I'd pick up these sleeves at our favorite geek store in Singapore, but naturally, I haven't been traveling since the pandemic broke up. We had built up a sizeable supply of sleeves, but over time they've run out. So I'm honestly happy that Tobie somehow found some despite my own efforts falling short of ordering from the US - which we also did, not that I think about it.

So yes, the baduy life continues with Tobie still finding ways of making me smile despite the world seemingly descending into a dystopia. I love this man so much.