Maligayang Pasko po!

Alden and I went to the Philippines for the holidays.  Here are a few pictures from our trip thus far...

Part of the Tagarino clan at Alden's father, Rogelio's retirement/birthday party.

 The food.  There was a LOT of food.

Nerisa (Alden's sister) and their adorable niece and nephew, Zoie and Tristan.

The local market.

The beautiful reception hall for the Philippines wedding, May 1, 2012.

View from the reception hall.

Chapel on the hill; the site for the wedding.  A wedding had just finished, which is what the tents are from.

Wedding 2012 chapel.

Bamboo Christmas tree on UP Los Banos Campus.

Scott's bahay kubo (small house).

Alden in the "moon bar", another open hut on the water.

Sunset from the moon bar.

Alden in Scott's banca.

Alden and I after diving with Scott in his front yard.

Sunrise from Scott's place.

Alden and I heading out from Scott's place.

Harbor entrance to Scott's place.

A Glimpse

With many HUGE thanks to both my bridesmaid Marin Scott and my sister Jessica Battles for their photographic expertise.  Below are a few of their shots, with many, many more to come.

Details, Details

As the time draws short, I thought I would start into the nitty gritty details,  as it takes some extra time to get everything done when you're on island time.  Hopefully y'all have received your invitations by now - and if you haven't given us your address, please send it to KelleyAnd@gmail.com  As  friendly reminder, please do RSVP, and include your meal preference in that. 

Speaking of being on island time, please bear in mind that we do live  far away (see above) on a small island (see scale in map below) and thus can't bring much back with us on our return.

So we ask those who feel moved to bring gifts to please plan on shipping it to us here in American Samoa at Alden's PO box.  In order to do this, you will need to fill out a customs form at the post office, but don't let them bully you - American Samoa, is (as it's name implies) American, and thus subject to domestic rates.  The best way to go is the US Postal Service's Priority Flat Rate Boxes - http://www.usps.com/prices/priority-mail-prices.htm and yes, the domestic weight limits apply.  If you ship things that are not priority mail, they will likely get put on a boat and arrive in 2-6 months - so no fruitcakes in those packages please.  We are starting to register, and are trying to stick with places that  ship here directly, so you don't have to deal with shipping if you prefer.  We have registered at REI and Walmart, both of which you can find online or at the stores under either of our names.  We have also registered at Leisure Pro,  but since they don't have an actual "registry" you will have to login to our account using my email, KelleyAnd@gmail.com as the user name and wedding as the password.  Then you can go to "Wish List" and see what's there.  Drop us an email if you have any questions!

*********Ship to address: *********
Alden Tagarino
PO BOX 997977
Pago Pago, AS 96799
USA
******************************
 
That's all for now, signing off from the coconut telegram.

Places to stay, things to do

New to the Sunshine State?  You won't be disappointed!  There are many, many things to do and places to stay around St. Petersburg.  I will post a few of them here in hopes of helping some that may be unfamiliar with the area.  

First things first - where is the wedding?  You can find out here!  

http://www.loewshotels.com/en/Don-CeSar-Beach-Resort/index/map

The Don CeSar

The address of the Don is 3400 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach, Florida 33706.

While there is a discount for wedding guests at the Don (mention Alden and Kelley's wedding), if you are looking for somewhere else there are plenty of options!  The Sirata on St. Pete Beach has low rates for Sundays ($101), check their site out here - http://www.sirata.com/  There are also many B&Bs scattered about, one which my roommate/travel agent found is the Sabal Palm Inn & Coconut Inn which also has low rates, check them out here - http://www.sabalpalms.com/caccommodate.html  Another option is the Beach House Suites at the Don, which offer larger spaces with kitchens as well as access to all the Don's amenities, check them out here - http://www.beachhousesuites.com/   There are many more options nearby, such as http://www.postcardinn.com/ , http://www.aldenbeachresort.com/ , http://www.tradewindsresort.com/ , http://www.beachcomberflorida.com/ , http://www.plazabeachresorts.com/bayview-plaza-resort.html , http://www.grandplazaflorida.com/ , and many more.  I am quite the fan of tripadvisor.com and you can check out their recommendations for places to stay and things to do in St. Pete at St. Pete Beach here http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g34606-Saint_Pete_Beach_Florida-Vacations.html 

Cirque du Soleil at Disney!

Things to do, things to do - there are so many!  If you are looking to catch a play, try either the Mahaffey Theater, in downtown St. Petersburg -  http://www.mahaffeytheater.com/index.cfm  or the Straz Center for the Performing Arts (formerly the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center) - http://www.strazcenter.org/  Or my favorite type of show, Cirque du Soleil - http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/lanouba/default.aspx  There are many music venues around the area, I suggest looking at Creative Loafing's website to get a good overview.  There are many museums in St. Pete (and Tampa), a few of my favorites are: the Dali Museum (which is now in a new fancy building!) check it out at http://thedali.org/ , the St. Pete Museum of Fine Arts - http://www.fine-arts.org/ , and for the kiddos there is the http://www.greatexplorations.org/ - where my hand print is still on the wall!  Of course, there are them parks galore in Florida, and Bush Gardens is right in Tampa, if roller coasters are your kind of fun!

Fort DeSoto Beach

For outdoorsy folks, you can find plenty to keep you busy.  There are more fishing spots and charters than you can name, beaches to see, islands to explore, and rivers to paddle in.  Some of my favorites are Caladesi Island - http://www.floridastateparks.org/caladesiisland/ , my favorite beach is Fort DeSoto - http://www.pinellascounty.org/park/05_ft_desoto.htm and if your a fresh water person, Myakka River is just over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Sarasota - http://www.myakkariver.org/

Caladesi Island

The wedding

What comes after a proposal but a wedding, of course!  Ours will be May 1, 2011 at the Don CeSar in St. Pete Beach, FL.  Having grown up in the area and run by countless weddings on the beach there, it was a natural choice.  It was hard to decide where to get married, so we went with Florida and will have a second ceremony on our anniversary in the Philippines.  Perfect!  With so many people flying in from all over, we thought having a website to direct people to would be easiest.  We will post information about lodging specials and other things soon.  We can't wait to have everyone together to help us celebrate!

Alden and I at the Don CeSar.

 

Cold snaps!  I forgot what those were!  Lets hope for blue skies and warm weather on May Day!

The proposal

An underwater proposal with a ring from a sunken treasure ship starts out the life adventure...  For two people brought together by their love of the ocean on a rock in the middle of the south Pacific, you couldn't ask for a better start!  Watch the proposal here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfKPcfbvyU4 Here is the plot line: Alden (in tie dye) has the ring in a clamshell locket with a note on one side of the coral archway.  I swim through (at the urging of my dear friend) and find Alden waiting, who then points out the clamshell locket, which I pick up and inspect.  I open the clamshell and find the ring and note, quickly grab both before they are swept away in the rather impressive swell which is pushing us to and fro, and Alden holds the note for me to respond to - which I do, in the affirmative.  And yes, that squealing noise is coming from me.