Grace's Corner

My Colorful Tiger Gel Pen Art

2020-06-07T14:33:00.000-05:00

I have finished again another gel pen art but this time, this is not from my Mehndi Coloring Book. I have decided to venture out and did a Google search on some templates or coloring pages that I think I will like. For this, I have chosen this pattern because I plan to put this in a greeting card.

I think this pattern is a tiger but my husband said that it looked like a lion. When I did a Google search, I said I wanted a tiger so I'm saying this is a tiger. There were reasons why I choose the colors. I actually wanted red and (bright) yellow to be the main colors. The red symbolized being a warrior. This person had been through a lot and she's a warrior. The yellow, on the other hand, was for light. This person was my light growing up. The other colors were chosen because I like the contrasting colors. I still like the neon orange right next to (dark) green and will probably keep on using those two colors together or right next to each other.

Pattern can be found in this website, but below is the printable version I used.

My Timely Gel Pen Art

2020-06-01T01:08:00.001-05:00

I found a page in the Mehndi Coloring Book (by Marty Noble) that I thought was very timely. I called it "Corona".

This was very fun to color but it was difficult to choose colors. I guess that's always the difficult part, trying to figure out what color to use and where to put it so colors were not redundant, or having same colors so close to each other. But, I think this one turned out okay. The blue flower figure at the bottom center really catches my eyes, and so is the sun at the center.

This is the positive part of this whole pandemic for me. Because I cannot go out as much as I want to, I have tapped into my creativity to help me stay positive. It has opened me to do and see other things, including blogging again. I still miss going out and traveling, but gel pen art has given me a different outlet of relieving my stress.

Our trip to Sydney, 2019

2020-05-28T22:56:00.002-05:00

This photo was from our last family trip to Sydney, Australia. It had been a year now since we went there. This was taken from a window in a third floor room in Park Hyatt Hotel. We had a wonderful experience there and we were able to experience Vivid Sydney from both on ground and the comfort of our balcony.

Best part of the trip was getting this room for free for two nights from using our Hyatt points. This was definitely a good use of our points. It was close to the Sydney Opera House and the dock for Taronga Zoo. But staying here during Vivid was a good decision.

Looking forward to the next time we go on vacation. For now, we will be staying indoors to keep us safe and healthy.

My New Mehndi Artwork

2020-05-28T22:48:00.001-05:00

My new creation!

Mehndi Coloring Book by Marty Noble

What did I learn from coloring this:

- Neon orange goes well with dark/solid green.

- I had planned the colors much better. Similar hues were together.

- I probably need to get a color wheel handy to see complementary colors.

Color time: 3 hours

My "Low Tech" Father's Day Card

2020-05-27T00:39:00.006-05:00

Father's day is still 4 weeks away. But for a busy mom like me, I have decided to start working on my gifts and greeting cards, not just for Father's day, but for all the birthday celebrations that are coming beginning next month.

In the next few months, there will be at least five birthday celebrations just in my family. And so this weekend, since we were off for 3 days, I made my Father's day card.

I found a page in my Mehndi coloring book of a man. I colored it with my gel pens. I like patterns that have well-defined lines so I could make my artwork colorful. It took me half a day to finish it.

From Mehndi Coloring Book by Marty Noble

My laptop and printer are more than 10 years old so my scanner doesn't scan as good as I want it to and my laptop is extremely slow. My Google Pixel 3a phone, however, has great camera and has photo editing features, especially cropping, that work for me. I'm not tech savvy but if something works for my purpose, then it's good enough for me.

After 10 years, my card making software from HP no longer works, so I ended up using MS Word. Since my printer is crappy, I couldn't print directly on my card. But, I did buy the same color paper as my folding card from Kelly Paper so I printed the photo on the paper, cut the paper using my paper trimmer, and taped using double sided tape on the card.

Speaking of Kelly Paper, they usually do paper sale, kind of "last chance" deal, that you could buy paper products really cheap. I bought a 25-pack folding cards and paper, $1 each, and a box of 250 envelopes for $5. They are good quality kind too. I bought these from their Chatsworth, CA store.

Kelly Paper does sale for good quality paper. These were on sale and found at the front of the store.

I know this sounds a lot of work, but the truth is I had fun doing it. I like figuring things out and I like doing crafts. Plus, I am able to give the fathers in my life a card that I made.

My finished product

Reviving my blog and now into adult coloring

2020-05-25T12:47:00.001-05:00

More than three months ago, our family started preparing for the coronavirus pandemic. More than two months ago, I began working from home and I set up my son for remote learning as guided by his school. Fast forward to now, we had been sheltering in place since March.

I am blessed with a good home and a nice house and I am grateful for it. But there are days when I wish to go out but can't. It's a decision that my husband and I decided for health reasons.

Recently, I found my coloring book and gel pens that I bought almost two years ago. I have used the gel pens only a few times on my planner while I haven't even touched the coloring book since I bought it. Just one day in April, I started coloring. I heard that adult coloring relieves stress. Oh yes, I had been stressed since the pandemic began. Our company had been laying off and furloughing people just to get our company afloat, and it had taken an emotional toll on me hearing my colleagues lost their jobs. So anyway, I wanted to find a way for an outlet and the adult coloring book provided that for me.

I had art classes every year growing up as part of our curriculum. I hated it because I felt like our art teacher was just using us to make money. Almost every week we had to make a plate (artwork) and our teacher sold Bristol paper for two pesos. I was not bad at it but it wasn't my strength either. I still got by and was glad that art only counted .5 unit of the grading system. Anyway, I digress.

I picked up the adult coloring book and gel pens I bought in 2018 and started coloring. It felt good. I hated sketching or drawing but I was good at coloring within the lines. The gel pens were great too because it had the feel of a watercolor but a precision of a pen. At this point, I wasn't thinking about the different techniques I could use with gel pens, or coordinating the colors. I just wanted to color away my stress. And yes, it helped alleviate it.

For less than $25 ($9.99 for gel pens and less than $10 for adult coloring book that I bought on sale), I appear to have found a way to ease my tension. I have been doing this for about a month now and will share more of my work in the coming days and weeks.

These are the gel pens I bought at a Walmart store for $9.99

My coloring book

The first one I did

Finished product

Getting ready to have a baby? Know your company's short term disability plan

2017-01-05T14:36:00.001-06:00

I saw this from my Drafts folder here in my blog. I wrote this about two years ago and I thought this was important to share for expectant mothers.

A year before I had Andrew, I was already planning the financials. One of the things that I looked at was the company's short term disability plan.

The insurance company calculated my pay on my 2012 W2 rather than my 2013. Since I gave birth middle of January, the 2013 W2 did not come out until two weeks later and the the company I worked for sent my 2012 W2 which was way low

The insurance company sent me a check for about $450. If I had not reviewed the policy and did not calculate the amount I should be expecting, I would have lost that money. There were three employees before me and most likely, they did not get the correct amount due to them.

Knowing the company's short-term disability plan is very important especially when planning your financials after the baby comes out.

Coconut Gelato

2016-09-30T00:34:00.000-05:00

Written by John Slavik

Food has always been a large part of my traveling experiences. One can learn a large amount about a culture by how it eats. On a vacation to Rome, I had the good fortune of eating at a restaurant called LaPergola. That dinner was the best meal of my life and it ended with a simple and delicious dessert I have ever had: coconut gelato over diced mango and limoncello. This dessert is simple, delicious and can be made, almost completely, ahead of time.

For those who don’t know, limoncello is a lemon flavored liqueur common in Italy. While many people like to relax with a glass of limoncello at the end of a long day, I think it is even better as cooking ingredient.

Because limoncello is alcoholic, you will need to boil the alcohol out of the liqueur in advance. If you don’t cook out the alcohol, the alcohol taste will dominate the flavors and the dish will wind up being disappointing.

Boiling the alcohol out of a drink is a process that I have always found irritating. It can be hard to tell when you have cooked out enough of the alcohol and as many people will tell you, no matter how long you boil the beverage, all of the alcohol will not come out. Not only that, but when the alcohol is vaporized by the heat, it can burn your eyes if you get too close to the pot. I have found the easiest way to tell when you have cooked enough alcohol out of the drink is when the overall volume of the liquid has reduced by approximately the same percentage as the alcohol the drink originally contained. So, if your limoncello started out at 30% alcohol, stop cooking when the volume of the liquid is reduced by about 30%. After that happens, remove the pot from the heat.

As you might guess, boiling hot limoncello does not go well with gelato. Let the limoncello cool to near room temperature before putting the liquid in a container and refrigerating it. You do not want hot limoncello to melt your gelato at dessert time, so be sure to allow enough time for the limoncello to properly cool: at least six hours, though I have refrigerated the limoncello a day in advance before parties to save time.

Another step that you can do in advance is dicing your mangos. When choosing and preparing your mangos be sure that they are ripe. An unripe mango will be hard and woody and will not be half as tasty as a ripe mango. At the store, I have found that mangos must be much softer than you might think before they are ready to eat. If you do end up with an unripe mango, the flavor can be improved with a sprinkling of salt to the fruit; it still won’t have the same texture as a ripe mango, but the flavor will be greatly improved.

Cut the mango in half and remove the seed. You want to dice the mango into small cubes or rectangles no bigger than a tic tac. One whole mango will produce enough diced bits for two to three servings of this dessert depending on the ripeness.

After dicing the mango, arrange the chunks into a mound or base in a bowl and add a large scoop of coconut gelato on top of the diced mangos. Coconut gelato may sound exotic, but it widely available and can be found in many grocery stores. Last, pour 2-3 ounces of the cooled limoncello into the bowl, but not so much that the mangos are completely submerged.

I have made this dessert myself at parties and it is always a hit. After a big filling delicious meal, a light dessert like this one is wonderful. The three flavors create a wonderful harmony that you and all your friends and family will enjoy.

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

2016-09-30T00:22:00.000-05:00

This article was written by my husband, John. I am a lucky wife because my amazing husband is an amazing cook. I hope you enjoy this dish.

Many Italian dishes, including those among the world’s favorites foods, can have a reputation of being difficult and time consuming to cook. Home-made lasagna or osso buco, while delicious, can take hours and try the nerves of even well-seasoned cooks. Spaghetti aglio e olio is a traditional Italian meal that breaks that mold; it is both incredibly easy and fantastically tasty.

Basic spaghetti is a food that ubiquitous almost everywhere in the world. Local variations can be found in Europe, the Americas, and East Asia. But the Italian version of spaghetti aglio e olio is not nearly as well known outside of Italy and after trying it and seeing how easy it is, it will be difficult to understand why.

Spaghetti aglio e olio is simply spaghetti coated in olive oil and toasted spices. Start by boiling your noodles – typically a quarter pound per person - just like any other spaghetti dish that you might make. While the noodles are cooking heat ¼-1/3 cup of olive oil over medium heat in a frying pan, depending on how much spaghetti you are making. You are going to use the olive oil to gently fry the spices.

The basic spices you use for this dish are ½ teaspoon each of salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and a table spoon each of crushed or minced garlic, and parsley. But, depending on your personal preferences you can improvise and include basil, oregano, tarragon, garlic or onion powder. Feel free to experiment with the different quantities of the different spices to make the dish suit your tastes.

When the pasta is 60-90 seconds from the end of its cooking time, add the spices into the olive oil and gently fry them in the olive oil of up to two minutes. The toasted spices should provide a great aroma to fill your kitchen. But, be careful not to toast the spices too long; if the spices are fried too long, they will take on a burnt taste which will not be appetizing. When the noodles are finished cooking, drain the noodles removing any excess water and add them to the oil with the spices and toss to coat the noodles with the oil and spices while gently frying the pasta. When I make this dish, I like to undercook the boiling noodles by about a minute because the heat in the frying pan will continue to cook the spaghetti while the noodles are being coated with the oil and spices. When the spaghetti is coated in oil and spices, remove from the frying pan and serve with parmesan cheese.

If you are eating with someone who does thinks that the spiciness of the red pepper flakes is too much, just add a little more Parmesan cheese. The cheese will mute the flavors of the toasted spices and make the flavors milder.

Once the water for the pasta is boiling, this great dish takes less than 15 minutes to make. I can’t think of any other foods that provides so much flavor for so little effort. I hope you will see for yourself.

Fairmont Hotel Makati Review

2015-08-22T00:48:00.000-05:00

My husband's review of the Fairmont Hotel in Makati...

Back in May 2015, my wife took our family to her home in the Philippines. While we were in Manila we stayed at the Fairmont Hotel. When we arrived in Manila we were immediately inundated with heat of the city and the chaos of the airport taxi-line. We were glad that we arranged to be transported by the hotel's BMW 7 series which was so relaxing after the flight and time and atmosphere change. When we arrived at the hotel, it was just as beautiful in person as it was in the pictures. I love the design of the hotel lobby and the rooms.

Our son loving the bed at the Fairmont Hotel in Makati (Club Level)

The Fairmont is in the upscale Makati neighborhood of Manila and while some parts of Manila can feel a bit dangerous to an American, Makati feels like the upscale parts of Honolulu. The Fairmont is across the street from the Greenbelt mall. The outdoor mall seems to get its name from its circular design which surrounds a small park and contains all the same stores that you would find on Rodeo Drive: Gucci, Louie Vuitton, and Patek Philippe. It was a nice touch that when you return from the mall, or anywhere else, with bags the hotel security guards would radio the bell hops to meet you at the doors and carry your bags.

The Fairmont is also connected by an underground parking structure to a large grocery store with lots of both Filipino and western foods; it made me wish I had a kitchen in my hotel room as it had tons of beautiful fresh seafood at very cheap prices by American standards. Not having a kitchen was no problem as it turns out because the Fairmont has excellent food. We stayed at the Club level of the hotel which provided us access to the club lounge with free breakfast, non-alcoholic drinks throughout the day and complimentary evening canapés, desserts and alcohol, including champagne. Every morning the breakfast was fantastic. I enjoy having an omelet for breakfast and the omelet at the club lounge was the best I have ever had. Asian breakfasts were also available and my wife thought they were excellent as well. Everyone at the hotel was very friendly all the employees in the club lounge learned my one-year-old son's name and would say hello to him when we went to the lounge.

Upscale buffets are very popular in Manila and the nice hotels all have one. One evening, we ate at the Fairmont's buffet: Spectrum. The food at Spectrum was also excellent. Like the club lounge, it served a mixture of Asian and American cuisine and featured some of the same desserts as the lounge; the fresh cooked to order pasta was particularly good. A nice add-on to the meal was an all you can drink wine menu which was great because it allowed us to match different wines with different foods in the buffet.

Overall the Fairmont exceeded all of our expectations, I would highly recommend it to anyone staying in Manila.

Now in California!

2015-07-14T00:36:00.003-05:00

A couple of months have passed and now, I am sharing the news. My family has moved to Southern California. Yup, good-bye winters! Hello, sunshine!

Though I am missing some people in Iowa and I especially miss my son's former day care, I am happy to be back here. My side of the family is here and I don't have to shovel another snow again (I hope!). I like my job and my boss and I feel more relaxed and less stress. This is a good decision.

I am hoping this will give me more time to blog. The campus where I am working has free wifi for faculty and staff. Love it because I am able to watch Netflix during my lunch break! I also get to do my surveys which is one of my (little) money-making endeavors.

I still have not forgotten that I still have to post stories about Philippines and Hong Kong. I will try to do that soon!

Back in Iowa

2015-05-10T17:39:00.001-05:00

After a week of vacation in Philippines and Hong Kong, we are finally back. Today is Mother's Day and my whole day was spent sleeping because I am just so exhausted. Vacations are supposed to be for relaxing. I am right now sick with cold, cough and fever. Hopefully, I will feel better.

So, we are back in Iowa. Tomorrow, a life changing event will happen. Our future plans will change. I am not sharing it yet because I haven't done the thing that I am supposed to do first. Unfortunately, this event will change my plan of having another baby. I am a little bit excited and I am also a little bit sad but I am mostly nervous. I am hoping my husband and I are making a good decision.

I will try to write something about our trip to the Philippines and Hong Kong and when I have time and feel better, I will post more stories. For now, I park my fingers and focus on getting myself some sleep.

Platform 9 3/4

2015-04-13T21:08:00.003-05:00

Last year, in October, my husband and I took our little one to London. One of the places we went to was Platform 9 3/4. We found that it was inside King's Cross (this place has a stop in the Tube),

My Little Slytherin and his wonderful mom.

I am not sure if this is a tip but Londoners are very nice to people who are pregnant or who have babies. The line started from inside and went outside but since I had a baby, they let me get in the building and lined up inside, Having someone to take a photo is free but there is also a photographer there and you can buy your photo on the shop close to where they have this area. You will know exactly where to find this place inside King's Cross. Just follow the Hogwarts students and you will see it.

Anyway, one off my bucket list!

A Tip in Email Communication

2015-04-12T17:01:00.001-05:00

I had been seeing a "Career Coach" (that's what I call her), Dr. Celina Peerman. During our session yesterday, she made an interesting comment. I had a communication issue at work and she said, "Do you say 'Thank you, Grace' or do you put thank you as a sentence, like 'Thank you for your assistance'?. She said that if you put your thank you as 'Thank you, Grace', that is not really showing your appreciation to recipient because that is the closing (or signature) of the email. If you want to appreciate someone in an email, you have to make it a part of the email, in the body.

I don't know why I just realized that. She was right though. If you need to appreciate a vendor, client, or colleague in an email, please start or end of your emails with a sentence of appreciation---a good communication tip to build a good relationship.

How did we get two round trip tickets to Hawaii for $30?

2015-03-27T12:07:00.001-05:00

This week, there was a post in Penny Hoarder blog about a couple who were able to afford a trip to Hawaii by putting aside $5 whenever they could. I posted a comment on Facebook about how my husband and I fund our round trip tickets to Hawaii. I got a few likes and another positive comment about our method.

Here's what I posted if you are interested to know how we did it:

Paid 2 round trip tickets to Hawaii for $30. My husband and I opened a credit card with one of the airlines. Paid almost all our expenses using the credit card so we would get the bonus miles. We never carried a balance and always paid on time. The annual fee for the first year was free so before the first year was up, we cancelled it. We were able to get enough bones miles to go to Hawaii. In a month, we will be going to Seattle and paid only $22 for 2 round trip tickets plus an infant.

A word of caution, only do this if you know you will never abuse your credit card. Know the terms of your credit card and find ways to maximize the benefits. Usually, after you open a credit card with an airline (or hotel), you will get an offer saying bonus miles or points for referral or if you add someone in your account as an authorized card user. If you and your spouse plan on opening a credit card, consider one of you applying first, then refer the other one. That way, you get the referral miles or points and your spouse gets the bonus miles or points.

So far, you can still do this. Good luck to all who are going to try this. If you have other tips and tricks or additional notes regarding this topic, please drop me a note.

Have a great day!

Baby Talk 101: Things I learned after having a baby - How to stop pumping or breast feeding

2014-06-04T05:54:00.000-05:00

Over the past few months, my older sister who is pregnant has been asking me questions about pregnancy and life after baby. So, I have decided to write my experience. The purpose of this is not to tell you that this is the right way to do it but to write it down so I can look back and relish on this event. Also, if I decide to have another baby and I have forgotten what I did, I can just come back here and remember it.

Right now, I am in the process of halting my breast milk production. My baby is almost five months and I know some people recommend that mothers give breast milk to their babies for at least six months. This may be selfish on my part but I believe I have to take care of myself. By not pumping milk, this will give me more time to relax (getting back all my office breaks) and giving my nipples the break that they deserve. It's a catch 22 when you are pumping milk. It hurts when you pump but it is worse when you don't. But I digress. Hopefully, now that I have a few minutes back, I can at least slow down the process of hair baldness that I am experiencing. Okay, it's not really hair baldness. My hair is just falling off at a very fast rate.

I have stopped pumping for almost 24 hours and my gosh, this hurts a lot. I have compared the pain to the early stages of contraction but it just will not go away. I can only sleep on my back. I have tried sleeping on my side but I cannot take the pain and the bottom boob leaks. Yes, it leaks. After my shower last night, I did not stop leaking. Thank God for nursing pads. I need lots of them!

I have read that the first 48 to 72 hours are the worst pain. On my first 24 hours, I have been tempted to pump milk just to ease the pain. I have already done the easing part (cutting the number of pumps everyday) for the last two weeks so the last thing I have to do is really to just stop. My doctor said that was the only way to really stop milk production and she said it may take a week for all this to end... hopefully. My chest is heavy and hard and I am very annoyed but I try not to be. I am glad in a way that I have a son so he doesn't have to go through the pain of being a woman. I will, however, teach him to respect and value women.

The whole time I was experiencing this, I was asking myself, "How did my mom and sister do it?". Was there already nursing pads when my mom had my older sisters? I don't remember her leaking when my two younger sisters were pregnant. That's always my question whenever I experience something new in this event called life after baby. It is hard. The second question that always pops in my head is do they teach this in school because this will surely make teens rethink about getting pregnant. I am always happy that I didn't go through this at a very young age. I am 30 something and I still feel nothing has prepared me for this kind of event. At least now, I can afford to experience this.

I will see how long this whole event last. I am hoping I will not get tempted to pump and that the pain gets better. To all the mothers, you all have my respect. This is definitely not easy.

As I Near My Last Maternity Leave Days...

2014-03-13T10:12:00.000-05:00

I am in my final week of my maternity leave. Before my leave started, I thought I would have so much free time that I would have a few moments a day to write on my blog. Well, I was wrong. The first few weeks were the hardest and all I wanted was to catch some zzz's. Now, on this last week, I am busy making sure that my son has breast milk for the days that I will be in the office.

Motherhood is hard. No amount of planning, especially for first-time mothers, can really prepare you for this. I am just glad I didn't have a child when I was a teen and pleased that my husband and I waited for more than three years before we decided that it is time to have a baby. It gave us the time to really enjoy each other and strengthen our marriage. People were not kidding when they said you will have sleepless nights once you become a parent. I am lucky if I can get five hours of sleep in a day. But the satisfaction that I feel when I look at my child is immeasurable. He is just so precious. He is my ring if I were Gollum.

My son, Andrew, now is almost two months and we really enjoy him a lot. He doesn't like to be alone and he loves to play when he is not tired. His coos are so funny and sometimes he screams when he is very happy. He hates being burped and he is physically strong. I know now why they call a baby a bundle of joy.

The number one issue we have right now with Andrew is what race or ethnicity to put whenever we see this question in a form for him. Our son is half-White, half-Filipino. So right now, we check both boxes. I can't choose one race for him because his features do not show a clean cut distinction of his race. His skin is sometimes white and sometimes tan. All I know is he is the cutest baby in the whole world.

In this whole journey, I have also realized that a great partner is a must. Hats off to those single mothers/fathers because I am not sure if I would be able to do this alone. My husband is amazing and has been a tremendous help and the best teammate. He is also an incredible dad to Andrew. Our son always looks at his dad every night before going to sleep because my husband plays with him before we go to sleep. I am very happy that I married my husband.

I am glad and sad that I will be going back to work next week. Glad that I get to do something different than my routine for the last eight weeks. Sad that I have to leave my son in the care of others. If I don't have to work and can spend my whole day with my son, I will do it in a heartbeat. I am hoping that I am able to juggle being a mother, a wife and an employee. I am looking forward to the days ahead...

365grateful.com

2014-01-02T20:52:00.002-06:00

A friend of mine from grade school (and Facebook) posted this article about 365grateful.com. The lady on the video named Hailey took one photo a day of the thing she was grateful for. Watching the video made me want to do something similar.

365grateful.com from hailey bartholomew on Vimeo.

I am sharing the video just in case other people will want to do it too. I will try to see if I am able to do this soon. Hopefully my photos will be great.

Have a Prosperous 2014!

2014-01-01T13:29:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year!

First day of the year. In my culture, they say that whatever you do on the first day of the year, you will do it for the rest of the year. Hopefully, I will be blogging more in 2014. I hope everyone's celebration last night was a success. Mine was okay. It was really difficult to celebrate when you are carrying another human being inside you.

Some of you may already have New Year's resolution list. I don't have one but I know my goal is to be a good (if not great) mom to my soon-to-be born son and to be a better wife to my husband. I am hoping to be a better person this year. I also want to travel more and hopefully earn more money and find better or additional opportunities.

Wishing everyone a wonderful 2014!

Tip to avoid leg cramps (at night) during pregnancy

2013-12-29T16:21:00.002-06:00

I had been experiencing leg cramps in the middle of the night during my pregnancy. It was very painful and it did wake up my husband whenever I screamed. It was like that for several weeks until I found a way to avoid it.

Here is the secret: make sure that you flex your foot first before stretching your leg. Since I started flexing my foot, I had never experienced leg cramp. Just a tip for the pregnant women out there.

Red Lobster Biscuits

2013-12-29T16:09:00.000-06:00

It definitely tastes like the biscuits you get at Red Lobster. Very yummy and easy!

Probably the only thing I love at Red Lobster was the biscuit. So when I saw this Red Lobster biscuits mix, I immediately bought it and tried it. I was definitely not disappointed. It tasted exactly like the biscuits at the restaurant! I bought this at a Walmart (Super) store. Walmart stores here in the Midwest include the grocery section. My mom said she couldn't find this in Southern California (San Fernando Valley).

If you ever see this and you love the Red Lobster biscuit, try making this. It is really easy. Even my picky husband loves it.

2013 - A Year in Review

2013-12-29T15:59:00.001-06:00

Hello, everyone!

It has been more than six months since my last post. For the past several months, I have been getting a lot of comments about my special polvoron post. Thank you to all those who read and tried it. I hope you enjoyed it.

This year has been an amazing year for me and my husband. A lot of things happened that we are very thankful for. Around May this year, my husband and I bought a house in Charles City, IA. I would post the picture of our house but the town is so small that if I post the photo, you would probably know where I live. The house is an old house, contructed in 1880s, and it is one of the houses in historical homes tour in our town. I had done some research before we bought it... meaning, I had to check it there are any known paranormal activity or ghosts in the house. Yes, I am scared of those things. The house was not the place I would want because it wasn't my style. I don't want old houses. However, we got the house in foreclosure and it was indeed cheap. My husband and I did a lot of work in the house and we also got a lot of help from my husband's family and friends on the renovation. After a few months, I am very pleased with the results and I am very at home in this house (compared to our old apartment).

While we were doing some work in the house, I also got pregnant. My husband and I are expecting our first child, a boy. I am due in about 3 weeks. I am happy that we are having a baby soon but I was not happy with the whole pregnancy process. I probably experienced all the bad side effects of pregnancy. I am so blessed with a very loving and supportive family, both my side and my husband's. This baby will be the first grandchild and great grandchild on my husband's side (my husband was the first grandchild and an only child). This will be my parents' third grandchild and second grandson (still, they are excited). I am ready to have this baby and I want my body back soon. If any of you have parenting advice, feel free to post it on the comments section.

In August, I was also promoted as a manager at work. I was so happy. I got an increase in pay which was very helpful since it helped us saved up more money for the weeks that I would be in maternity leave and for the expenses in home improvement. I also had the opportunity of working from home after my doctor's appointments. The downside of being promoted was I had to work more hours and I had more responsibilities. I am still happy that I was blessed with this opportunity.

These are the reasons why I had to go on hiatus for some months. It had been difficult keeping this blog and doing all the other things I just mentioned. I am hoping that next year, I will be doing more blogging (especially during my 8-week maternity leave) and less time playing Candy Crush Saga. I also pray that my family (and yours) will continue to blessed with great opportunities.

Wishing everyone a prosperous and amazing 2014!

Don't Starve Computer Game

2013-03-17T00:34:00.000-05:00

For the past two days, my husband and I had been addicted to this new game that my husband found called Don't Starve. When I first saw it, it kind of scared me. The video game reminded me of Corpse Bride. I like that movie but the art was a little bit dark; so was this game.

My husband heard of this game from one of the websites he usually watches (sorry, don't know the name of the website but the website is about video games and cheats). He went to the site for Don't Starve and played the demo. Demo was free but I think it would only play for 10 minutes. After that, you had an option to play it again from the start or purchase. We paid $11.99 for two keys/codes since it was buy one and get an extra copy. So far, it was fun.

How addicting was this game? I was supposed to do laundry today. I decided to do it tomorrow because I couldn't stop. My husband had been playing this game for hours... and I really mean HOURS. Probably more than 10 hours. He had already changed difficulty, settings, and characters.

Try the demo first and see if you like it. Right now, you can only play this online. I am not sure if they will have a game that you can download so you don't have to be online. I will keep you posted.

Vail Food Places

2013-02-23T12:11:00.001-06:00

We have been to a few restaurants during our stay in Vail. I am going to give my opinions on on these places...

Blu's Restaurant in Vail Racquet Club

Since we were staying at Vail Racquet Club, we decided to try this restaurant. The place looked nice and a little fancy but we were just wearing jeans when we dined here. We got here and our server was very nice and new a lot about the menu. On our first dinner here, I had Calamari (shared with other family members) and Pork Green Chili Soup. Both were delicious. On our second time, I had Grilled Vegetable Lasagna. Well, let's just say I didn't miss the meat at all. It was very good. My husband had a sandwich which is not on the online menu. Anyway, most of the food here were good or we wouldn't have come here twice.

To get in this restaurant, you have to go in the Vail Racquet Club lobby, then restaurant entrance is on the left side. No reservations needed during slow times. If you are staying at the Vail Racquet Club, you may want to try this. If you are in Vail Village or Lionshead, you may still want to try this but this is definitely out of your way. You can take a bus or drive here. If you decide to eat here, ask to be seated next to the fireplace. It looks lovely to dine next or close to it. Prices are within budget. If you can afford Olive Garden or Red Lobster, you can afford this. Serving portions are average so don't expect it to be big.

The George Restaurant and Pub

(I cannot find the website or webpage of this restaurant so the link goes to Yelp.com)

This was the restaurant and pub right next to the covered wooden bridge in Vail Village. We had a difficult time looking for the entrance and we found out that you had to go to the basement and at the end of the hallway, there would be a big door to your right and that would be the entrance. The place was a little bit dark and very informal. There were booths, bar and couches. No host to help you be seated so grab any table or chair you could see if you want to eat here.

One of the things that hooked us to this place was their happy hour; it was from 3 to 9 p.m. Food was either $9 or $20 except for the meal with King Crab which was $25. I wasn't sure exactly what kind of restaurant this was since they had nachos, seafood and (crab) mac and cheese on their menu. Anyway, my mother-in-law didn't like it at first because we had to sit on their couches since we couldn't find a booth. In the end though, she was glad that we ate here and that we chose the couch because it was the most comfortable place to be after committing gluttony.

We ordered a bunch of stuff. I had crab mac and cheese and we ordered nachos and buffalo wings for everyone to share. I liked the crab mac and cheese but if you don't want crab, then don't get this because you could really taste it. The nachos was very big and I liked that there were some burnt cheddar cheese because it tasted so good. The buffalo wings were also a hit. I don't remember what my husband and his parents ordered but I remembered that at the end of the dinner, we were so happy to have tried this place. The food was definitely worth it.

Vendetta's

We decided to go to an affordable Italian restaurant (we went to Sweet Basil last year; it wasn't cheap but it was very good). My husband and I found this place and so we went here with his folks. We didn't know that there were two entrances: the bar entrance and the restaurant. The restaurant part was downstairs. The ambiance was nice. We were seated and we looked at the menu. I thought the prices were a bit expensive. $19 for a spaghetti and meatballs and the bread (usually you get it while waiting for food) was not free. You had to order and pay for it. I was surprised about it but I was also thinking that probably the food here was great. We ordered our foods. We ordered Calamari for appetizer so we could compare this to Blu's Restaurant (see section above for the review). We decided that the it was comparable to Blu's. I got a Salsiccia con Pomodoro since I wanted to try something that I had never ordered before. We got our food and I was so surprised that at $22 for my plate, the food was mediocre. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great. I remember thinking, "at $9, I could get a crab mac and cheese that I want at The George; twice that price, I could get a pasta at Vendetta's that I didn't really think was amazing". My husband said something similar to that after he ate his Pollo Parmigiana (Chicken Parmigiana). We wanted to eat a dessert but we decided not to order it here because it was expensive. The dessert we wanted was $7 but for that price, we could get two pints of ice cream in Safeway, which we did. Consensus in our table: taste was mediocre, price was not worth it for the quality of food you get. Go to The George instead.

Los Amigos

We wanted to eat Mexican food so we picked Los Amigos. If you were just going to Vail Village to eat, this was probably the least accessible restaurant because you had to walk all the way to Gondola area since this was right next to the Gondola One. But, this would be the most convenient restaurant after skiing/snowboarding. There were a lot of people when we cam here and we had to wait for 30 minutes to be seated. Quick note: we came here on a Friday during the Winter Mountain Games so there were a LOT of people in Vail. The place was loud so you would have to talk loudly when making a conversation. Anyway, food here was good and like other Mexican restaurants, food portion was big. I had a Steak Burrito Grande and it was good and big. It seemed they put a steak sauce in it because it tasted different from the other steak burritos I had tried before. My husband said his Chimichanga was fine. There was nothing too special about the food but if you would like to go to a Mexican restaurant, food here was decent. You might think the prices were expensive but since the restaurant was in Vail and the food portion was big, I would say the prices were just about right.

And that's all, folks!

After the Vail vacation

2013-02-23T10:35:00.000-06:00

Two weeks after vacation, I am back to blogging. I was very tired when I got back from Vail and was pretty busy at work. So, I am ready to share my stories again!

I want to share my video skiing in a blue run. I am very proud of this and myself because it looks like I am getting better at skiing. Hopefully, a few more tries and I will be ready for black.

Summary of the trip... I went three days in ski school. Vail had a promo of buy 2 days get one free. Total cost was $300 (ski school was $150/day for adults) just for the lesson, lift ticket was sold separately. I could do green runs with ease but I also did a few (easy) blue runs: Avanti, Hunky Dory, Lodgepole, and Mid-Vail Express (the run on the video). My husband took me to Avanti black run and it took us 30 to 45 minutes just to go down because I wasn't ready. My husband said I could tell people that I had done black but I wasn't really proud of how I went "down" on that run. It was pretty embarrassing.

Vail also has a pretty good season this year so if you have the money and time, there is still time to catch the good ski/snowboard season in Vail. Burton US Open is next week from February 25th to March 2nd and that may be a good time to go if you are having enjoy other people's company but a bad time to go if you want to ski/snowboard.

Next winter season, I don't know where we are going or if my husband's family is going for another ski trip. This seems to be every year so probably we are going somewhere next year. I don't have a say of where we are going since I don't know where the good ski resorts are. I will keep you posted.