Heaven gained another angel… And a life of the party, at that! Our beloved Tita Nene Leonor, the true Party Queen, has since moved party venues and is now shining her light up in Heaven.

“A lady who transcended generations of admiration and respectability with her grace and aplomb, a countenance of composure and imperturbability. Truly a Doyen of Philippine High Society. Irreplaceable.” Truer words have never been said by Chris Badiola, a dear friend of Tita Nene Leonor.

Parties will never be the same without her. Her ability to celebrate and live life to the fullest well into her 90s is one of the things we admired most about her. She was even celebrating ’til 6 a.m.! That’s Tita Nene for you. She will celebrate with you, and for you. She hosted many parties, and I’m blessed one of them was my birthday party every year. I’ll never forget her kindness and generosity.

Now it’s our turn to host. We honored her life and paid tribute to her 40 days with two epic bashes. The first one was at our favorite Mezzanine Restaurant in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) with 115 of her family and friends. It was an evening overflowing with love, food and wine. It was a fun collaboration planned by me, with dear friends Nini Licaros, Yoli Ayson, Bobby Alvarez Jr. and Alice Samson.

The second one was at the Manila Polo Club, where we continued to fill the night with so much music, dancing and her happy memories. She definitely would have loved both parties. I hope we did you proud, Tita Nene!

Lots of mixed emotions and tears, but I know she is smiling and partying with us from Heaven. We love you, Tita Nene. I am grateful to have had you in my life. Cheers to the one and only Nene Leonor! Salamat sa ‘yo!