Seasons of 2007

Christmas is that special time of year. For us this Christmas, and this entire year, is extra special as we have been blessed with our first child. So here we are sharing our year’s highlights and greeting you this Holiday Season with our little bundle of joy!

What Winter blues? Not for us! After a hectic holiday in the Philippines, where we traveled and bonded with family and friends, we got back to DC/Virginia and found out that Mara was expecting! What’s even sweeter is learning about it on her 30^th birthday! To celebrate, and to start packing in as much travel before D-day, Rex surprised Mara with a trip to Chicago to visit relatives and eat those famous deep dish pizzas. Now eating for two, Mara had her way devouring these one-slice meals (even for breakfast!). To further satisfy her cravings, we had weekend trips to New York just to eat at some of our favorite restaurants.

The rest of winter, however, was quite overwhelming with baby planning activities coupled with Mara's relatively difficult first trimester (read: morning-afternoon-evening sickness).

[Top: Visit to the Philippines, Bottom: Trips to Chicago & New York]

Spring brought both of us renewed energy. First, we moved to our new place in Reston which is in the middle of Virginia's tech corridor against a backdrop of scenic terrains. Also, Rex’s role at AOL was redefined from doing business strategy to working on mergers & acquisitions, something he’s been looking forward to doing. He is enjoying this busy, travel-filled but extremely rewarding job because each day he gets to deal with entrepreneurs, investors and the Silicon Valley startup executives that define the internet, media and communications industries. Most importantly, Mara began to feel the so-called pregnancy glow mainly because she started to show -- which meant she could shop for new clothes!

[Left: Babymoon in Aruba, Right: Mara's Baby Shower in NJ]

We kicked off the Summer season with a baby-moon in colorful and dreamy Aruba—our last twosome trip before becoming a threesome! Nothing soothes the senses better than the sun, sand and surf—oh, and the freshest seafood!

Another pregnancy event brought us back to New York/ New Jersey where our aunt and friends threw Mara a baby shower. It was great celebrating and showing off Mara’s growing bump with family and friends. Rex's colleagues also threw us another shower at their office.

A great big “THANK YOU!” to everyone for your generosity in helping us to get everything ready for our baby.

[Left: Marzan family reunion in the US, Center: Rex's parents flew in for a visit in May,
Right: Entertaining out of town friends]

This was definitely a time of welcoming (with many out-of-town visits from family & friends), learning (there's so much baby information out there), and shopping (we were surprised at the amount of baby stuff that new parents apparently 'need').

[Left to Right: Alex in September, October, November]

Although Fall arrived a little late this year, we finally turned over a new leaf in our married life when baby Alex finally made his appearance. Alexander Xavier Sebastian Marzan was born on September 20 at 4:54pm.

[Top Left: Mara's mom was with us for 2 months,
Top Right: Alex's Baptism with Rex's parents and relatives,
Bottom Left: Ateneo Alumni Ball, Bottom Right: Thanksgiving with friends]

Our parents flew in from Manila to share in the joy of welcoming a new member in our family. Mara’s mom and Rex’s parents were an invaluable help during Mara’s cesarean recovery. It was even better to have our family here to celebrate with us during Alex’s baptism in New Jersey.

Another big “THANK YOU!” to all for your gifts, prayers and well wishes.

As we marveled in all of baby Alex’s firsts, we also celebrated Thanksgiving a little differently this year. Instead of traveling to be with relatives, we joined our friends here in the metro DC area for turkey dinner followed by a weekend of chilling, shopping and virtual playing (read: Wii)! It was a fun, fun, fun holiday weekend!

We are closing this year with our annual trip home to Manila to celebrate the holidays with family & friends.

We hope your 2007 was full of wonderful surprises, colors and blessings as well. Have a Joyful Christmas and a Blessed New Year! We wish you and your loved ones peace, good health, great joy and fulfillment throughout 2008.

Keep in touch. Rex, Mara and Alex

Seasons of 2006

We are counting down the days to Christmas with giddy excitement! As we prepare for our annual trip home for this season of giving and sharing, we look forward to see family and friends and catch up on a year’s worth of life stories.

For us, this past year was a time of blessed changes. Here are a few highlights that we would like to share with you.

We started 2006 by celebrating the New Year and our first year anniversary with a relaxing trip to enchanting Hawai’i. What better way to energize the body and soul than with the warm kiss of the sun, the touch of the cool blue water, and the smiles of happy people all around you. [L-R: Near the North Shore in Hawai'i; Waikiki Beach]

It was a milestone Winter as Rex finished his last coursework at NYU to earn his second Masters! Rex’s dad came to visit that February, and we spent Rex’s birthday weekend in quaint Newport (Rhode Island). Then we went on a wonderful New York road trip – wine tasting in the Hudson Valley and snow sports in Hunter Mountain.

With Spring came new achievements. Rex accepted a strategy position at media giant Time Warner’s Internet division, AOL. It was exactly the role Rex wanted to put his multi-year, post-graduate, double-degree investment to good use! His first several weeks found him constantly jetting between their offices in New York and Virginia.

Mara tried something new by running with her Ogilvy colleagues in the 3-mile JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge in Central Park. [L-R: Part of AOL's HQ campus in Virginia; Mara with officemates in Central Park, NY]

Summer was a whirlwind of life-changing decisions and bittersweet changes. We started a new and exciting chapter in our married life as we left the bright lights of New York City and moved down to the Washington DC area (Arlington, Virginia to be exact), close to AOL’s headquarters.

It was a difficult decision because Mara had to give up her role at Ogilvy – a job she thoroughly loved. The Ogilvy folks were sad that Mara had to leave but they offered to welcome her back anytime. She traveled once a week between DC and New York for 2 months, before she finally started her life of leisure in October.

Fall brought a much needed relaxed vibe, following the hectic move down south. We started to enjoy our new home, new car, new routine and new life with some old friends from New York and Boston who moved to the DC area as well – we are truly blessed! [L-R: Our old apartment in New York's Upper West Side near Lincoln Center; Our new neighborhood in Arlingon, near the Iwo Jima Memorial]

Rex’s dad made another visit, which gave us a good reason to explore the surrounding area, including the Naval Academy in Annapolis (Maryland) and Luray Caverns (Virginia).

While making new friends in the DC and Virginia areas, we also caught up with old ones during the lovely weddings of our friends in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Boston (Mass.) and historic Charlottesville (Virginia).

Thanksgiving weekend was spent with family in New Jersey and just enjoying the city that will always have a special place in our hearts – We love New York!

To cap off this fall season, we recently went on a hot air balloon ride over the Shenandoah Valley – something Mara wanted to do before her 30th birthday in January. Thank you to Rex for this wonderful gift.

We hope your 2006 was full of wonderful blessings as well. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We wish you and your loved ones peace, good health, great joy and fulfillment throughout 2007. [Below: In Rockefeller Center in NY]

Keep in touch. Rex and Mara

Our Next Move (June 2006)

Winter turned to spring, and now summer is here. From snow-sports watching at Hunter Mountain in upstate New York to welcoming spring in Newport , Rhode Island , we've seen the seasons fly by so fast. So we thought it's about time to send you another update.

We have big news!

Rex and I are about to open a new and exciting chapter in our married life. We are leaving the bright lights of New York City to move to the US capital, Washington D.C.

After weeks of deliberating between great job offers, Rex has finally accepted a strategy position at a technology & media giant. He'll be working on strategy, new initiatives, international projects, etc. It is exactly the role Rex wants after business school -- it builds on his passion for technology & new ventures, it suits his experience perfectly, and it will contribute hugely to his ultimate goal of working in Venture Capital. We are extremely happy that he will finally get to put his multi-year, post-graduate, double-degree investment to good use ;-)

It was a difficult decision for us to make because moving to D.C. also meant that I had to give up my Global Knowledge Manager position since the job requires a NY-based person. Although they are sad I am leaving, they are happy that Rex has a job, and they have offered to welcome me back anytime. I will be working through August, though, until they find my replacement. After that, I'll have the luxury of time to think about my next move. Getting a graduate degree in the US sounds like a good idea we'll see. Very exciting indeed!

Rex and I will truly miss the Big Apple. It will always have a special place in our hearts because it's where we became truly independent, where we got engaged, and where we spent the first year of our married life. We love New York!

It's a good thing D.C. is just a few hours away and we can always the spend the weekend eating at our favorite digs, picnicking at Central Park, cooking in or playing mahjong with friends, and enjoying the many things New York has to offer for frequent visitors like us.

We hope that your half-year has been filled with many blessings, and we hope that the next months will bring you even more!

Seasons of 2005

As we light the fireworks and usher in a new year, we are also celebrating our first year together as a married couple. And we thought it would be a good time to start a tradition every January to let our loved ones and close friends know how we spent our previous year.

2005 was a very blessed and meaningful year for us! We tied the knot on January 3 at Santuario de San Antonio at Forbes Park in the Philippines. It was a festive several weeks that started even before Christmas day – with family and friends traveling from afar to celebrate with us. After spending a short “family-moon” in the Philippines, we planed straight back to the US for work and business school.

It was a hectic Winter as Mara completed several projects for her client Unilever in New Jersey and Connecticut, and Xavier plowed through school while toggling between North Carolina and New York. In February though, we caught a good break and tried skiing for the first time, with trips to the Poconos and Lake Placid (site of the ’32 and ’80 Winter Olympics as well as the famous 1980 “Miracle on Ice” hockey game). We did some bobsledding & dog sledding too!



Spring showered us with more blessings. In May, Xavier graduated with an MBA from Duke University’s The Fuqua School of Business. For those who have always wondered but hesitated to ask, the correct pronunciation is [few-kwa] and NOT [foo-kwa]or [foo-ku-wa]. Fuqua is the youngest of the top-tier US business schools and is named for famed industrialist, philanthropist and statesman J.B. Fuqua of Atlanta, Georgia. He presently continues to study in pursuit of a second Master’s degree. In late May, we took our dad, mom & sister Abbie – who flew in for Xavier’s graduation ceremonies – to an enjoyable ride around the East Coast.



Also during this time, Mara was promoted to Partner & Global Knowledge Manager at Ogilvy Worldwide. This meant a shift from her previous client-facing work to a more internal role serving the firm’s top brass. This also entailed late nights (and some very early mornings) conferencing with people from multiple time zones away. Dinners were not a problem though because Xavier has taken the reins of cook – one of the skills that he has learned while doing business school – and has now even added gourmet dishes to his repertoire. Watch out iron chefs! By June, however, we were both working as Xavier was also offered a summer internship at a marketing strategy consulting firm based in Manhattan.

Summer brought us even closer to our friends in the New York area – with things like opera-watching-slash-wine-and-cheese-picnics at Central Park,white water rafting on the Delaware River, midsummer-night-swings at Lincoln Center, and BBQ-and-king-crab-nights at friends’ homes, and beach escapades in The Hamptons. On Labor Day weekend, we concucted what was literally a last minute trip to Atlanta to visit (Xavier’s) cousins Chris & Maddie and friends Hana & Sam, and had a wonderful time to close out the summer.



Fall was a time of stepping back and revisiting our other passions. A number of our good Filipino friends in the US have returned to Asia during this time, which poses the question for us as well: when are we coming back? All is still up in the air, although we will certainly see a change this year – perhaps move to a new apartment in New York or something else. Down the road, the objective is still the same: for Mara to be able to help her family’s hardwood farm venture, which after 15 years, will see its first harvest in a year’s time and for Xavier to get involved with the technology and Venture Capital industries. We will continue to pursue our passion of “giving back” through our various lifeworks. On another note, Xavier also started playing the acoustic guitar again after a 3-year hiatus.

We finished 2005 with a bang. Mara organized a global conference in Toronto, Canada which was a resounding success. She is hosting another one this year in France. Xavier was offered a post to head a new office in Asia for a VC-backed technology start-up (although he is presently looking at other opportunities).

We also had the chance to catch up with family & friends with a surprise Thanksgiving week visit to Manila. During the Holidays, we had a blast in Hawai’i – lounging around Waikiki beach, visiting volcano parks on the Big Island, and swimming with the dolphins on Oahu’s West side.

Now we are back in the Big Apple looking forward to the next seasons! So again, a very Happy New Year (or Chinese New Year) to everyone and thank you for keeping in touch! We wish you all and your loved ones good health, peace of mind, fulfillment, great joy and success throughout 2006!