The E's get together

No such thing as a Lolarga reunion, even a small one, without food and drinks involved. The E's I refer to are the cousins Evangeline (nicknamed Beng) Valdellon, Eileen Lolarga and this blogger, all panganay (firstborn). Here we are one October morning in the Greenhills branch of Banapple. There is a telling triangle of blueberry cheesecake before me, but I swear on my late diabetic father's grave that I only had a wee slice. From left are our niece Regina May de los Reyes (daughter of another firstborn cousin, Rosemarie Romero), Eileen, Beng's good pal Christie, the third E (Elizabeth) and balikbayani Beng of Burke, Virginia, and San Pablo City, Laguna. Incidentally,  the name Elizabeth is among the three names--the others are Emily and Ashley-- considered a classic choice for babies, according to a recent Circle of Mums report. I remembered that irrelevant detail when I saw what served as background for this photo (nursery colors and shelves of children's books).

"Somewhere in Tuscany" is how I like to call this snapshot of the three cousins taken at the Ugu Bigyan Pottery Studio, Garden and Restaurant in Tiaong, Quezon. The three E's are each stylishly carrying bayong. Inside are their assorted stoneware purchases, each at 20-25 percent off. Mr. Bigyan's shop there is having its annual one-day sale tomorrow, Oct. 21. We're not in the area anymore  so we were granted the discounts on the Friday we visited. That kind of consideration tells you why it's more fun in the Philippines!