I Wear Stripe Socks

Last Week

2012-02-07T21:14:00.003+08:00

1. Started sweating out.
2. Ebony and I walked for an hour.
3. Oven Toaster Brownies for snacks
4. Went to a town feast.

Couch Potato Moments

2012-02-07T20:43:00.003+08:00

Currently watching City Hunter.

We plan to watch The Vow starring Channing Tatum and Rachel Mac Adams. The movie looks romantic ♥

An interesting local movie will be released on the 15th of February starring John Lloyd Cruz and Angel Locsin.

Cute Shoes

2012-02-01T19:44:00.005+08:00

These shoes are cute ♥

Wedding in a budget: Hair and Make Up

2012-01-27T20:30:00.006+08:00

I never had a chance write on this last year but I'll try my very best to let you know how important it is to pick out the best makeup artist.

Make up is everything darling especially in weddings. Your guest expects you to transform on your big day, from hair to toe.

Most of our suppliers are within the wedding church and reception vicinity (except the couturier and flowers) because we want it to be our reach. If in case there will be troubles then we can haunt them in an instant.

We picked Edwin Cast as a makeup artist because he got a good package - imported makeup kits, near the vicinity, easy access and the first makeup artist to call my attention. His portfolio looks divine so we decided not to get a makeup trial.

My makeup trial was during our prenup photo shoot. I was in awe for I never had this much makeup in my face and I think I look good - it was clean and simple. I was partially satisfied but I don't want to hurt his feelings. I was expecting to be more like a model in Preview Magazine.

On our wedding day, the makeup is fine but the hair was done in rush. I was hoping that he will try the chignon hair style but instead the usual one side hair style. Despite the makeup brands, it came off easily. As one of guest said, they made no difference on how I look without a makeup. They made no efforts with my second look - still the same hair style.

I have checked their website today before uploading this, they have made improvement.

My sisters book another makeup artist who is more artistic than the one we hired and much cheaper. See the picture below (except the lady on your right).

We could save half of our money if we picked their makeup artist. If you wish to get his phone number, please leave a comment.

What's Up 2012?

2012-01-04T19:14:00.001+08:00

2012 and as usual I have a list of things to do for this year and I hope that I will do much better things on this list. This is just a guide.

1. Having a Baby!

This is on the top of our list and we hope (hubby and I) will be able to make our little Hannah or Reymond =). It's been months since my miscarriage and I think my trauma days are over! We will now officially giving it a shot! Please pray for us =)

2. Save! Save! $$$$$

3. Exercise!

I gained so much weight! I gained 10 lbs since my miscarriage because of EATING! Yep, this is what you do if you are;

- In traumatic situation,
- Work colleagues pig out. your colleagues are getting larger servings than you and to think that you just contributed the same amount of money as them.
- Delicious foods

Luckily pig out days is over and it’s time to hit the gym!

4. Diet

Exercise comes with diet - for better body results =)

5. Sew

Last year, I've wanted to make my own clothes so I bought this mini-sewing machine for practice however I had no time practicing.

I promise to practice this year

6. Windows 7 certification / Career

I decided to finally try this year (because my husband said so). Windows 7 certification is the start for Microsoft certification. Wish me luck.

7. Gardening (My organic garden)

After having discussion with the senior citizens group last New Year's Day party about formalin in all veggies and fruits in the market to make it look fresh, I decided to make a small organic garden in front of Reymond's house.

I'll start with the following;

1. Malunggay
2. Tomatoes
3. Pechay
4. Some herbs
5. Medicinal plants

Please see http://tinyhaus.blogspot.com website and check the category urban gardening.

8. DIY walk and travel with Hubby

9. More writing and blogging =)

10. Continue house projects in my parents’ house in Antipolo / Creative house projects in my husband's place

In the end I wanted to gain a good heart, help and serve the Lord and my brothers and sisters =)

Be creative and funnier =)

And LOVE LOVE LOVE! =*

Korean Food

2011-06-18T19:55:00.002+08:00

On a hungry night, we ate these...

Before Summer Ends

2011-06-18T19:04:00.011+08:00

It was a very nice day for a company outing.

... the place was inviting
... the ocean was so still
... a good day to play Beach Fighter (like Street Fighter)
... fly a kite, a kite that never flies
... kayak (I was so envy! I'd like to try this in the open sea someday!)
... eat
... drink (2 glasses of tequila sunrise and that's it!)
... and party!

Lighter..

2011-05-21T20:13:00.018+08:00

So little free time, so many things to post. There are so many reasons to be happy!

I'm back to work since last April 22 (yep, Good Friday, we’re following Australia and NZ Holiday). I also passed one of the exams.

We ate the sweetest watermelon in town!

Family excursion at the biggest pool resort in town! It’s my mom’s pre-birthday celebration and we enjoyed it so much!

Food trip on holy week. It was the week that we’ve gathered and bond with food! Patatim and Buffalo Wings again!

Another, summer getaway in Batangas with my office colleagues, it was my first time to visit a resort near the lake. The place looks inviting in the pictures through their website but disappointment were seen on our faces when we reached the place. Totally uncool! Resort name is Punto Miguel Lakeshore in Balete, Batangas... But I enjoyed videoke from afternoon 'til before midnight!

A typhoon in the middle of summer. Right after my gig in Batangas, a typhoon hit Manila. My husband in the picture was waiting for a taxi.

Because of too much Korean drama, we’ve been drooling for Korean food since last week. We’ll my eldest sister has been to many Korean restaurants with her friends and I am starting to like and search for the best Korean restaurants in town so this week’s menu is Korean Hotpot =).

Lent: Visita Iglesia

2011-04-19T21:05:00.034+08:00

Visita Iglesia is a Lenten Activity, means visiting Catholic churches and pray or cite the Stations of the Cross. This is our first time joining this church activity (mother, sister, nephew and church friends) and we had a great experience and we wanted to do this again next year.

The churches in the itinerary are in Pampanga and Bulacan. They have very very old churches there; let’s say more than 500 years old. Most churches were renovated because of damages caused by the war, Mt. Pinatubo explosion, etc. especially in Pampanga.

Two churches marked my mind; the church used in a TV Series May Bukas Pa, San Guillermo Parish and Santiago Apostol Parish because of its picturesque ceiling. The ceiling has maintained its color because of the substance added to the paint – The Saliva.

San Agustin Parish

Sta. Lucia Parish

Santiago Apostol Parish

San Guillermo Parish

Santa Rita de Cascia Parish

St. Peter and Paul the Apostle Parish

St. John the Baptist Parish

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish

Divine Mercy National Shrine

The photo above is proofs of miracles do really happen.

Summer

2011-04-13T19:32:00.009+08:00

Summer is finally here! Sunsets are so pretty – it’s pink, blue and breathtaking.

It’s also time to drink and eat ice! Mother was craving for a Halo-Halo (shaved ice with lots of tropical stuff in it) earlier so we visited the nearest and cleanest Halo-Halo near our place.

You’ll know if it is summer if your local TV station has been playing their Summer Station ID. It makes me wanna jump too!

You’ll remember your past summers after watching this movie, First Love (A Little Thing Called Love). It’s a cute Thai movie which brings smile to my face. I remember my younger years, my crushes, the choir ... everything...

You’ll feel like swaying by the summer breeze while listening to this song, Lagi by Kiss Jane.

Although its summer I need to finish reading (and understanding) my work manuals. There is no summer content in it but I need to finish it before next week because I'll be back to work next Friday (Yey!)

Yeng Constantino

2011-04-05T20:52:00.000+08:00

I ♥ this song

Craving for Sweet and Fresh

2011-03-30T20:19:00.004+08:00

One day I’m craving for something sweet and fresh… My fresh green salad with my thousand island dressing and rush pineapple jam =)

Summer is in the air, I'm looking forward for summer excursion.

Supermoon

2011-03-30T19:58:00.004+08:00

It was big, bright and scary for someone who woke up in the middle of the night =)

Miscarriage Story

2011-03-29T21:33:00.004+08:00

I thought I can post my miscarriage story (which has 1387 words and consist of 4 ½ pages) easily but after reading it again, I decided not. I made a shorter version of the story.

I thought getting pregnant is easy as ABC but it took us 4 months to have it. And when it finally came it was in the wrong time. I was dealing with my career issue but we’re (hubby and I) excited having it. Starting from the first week I experienced spotting without pain. I read that it might be an implantation bleeding which is normal in the first month of pregnancy. I still had spotting after the first month and the doctor’s advice was to take Duphaston for a week and undergo transvaginal ultrasound.

It was 7 weeks, heart rate was 150 bpm and no complications found.

After a week of Duphaston, I had spotting again, the doctor’s advice to take Duphaston for another week and bed rest for 2 weeks.

After another week of Duphaston, I still had spotting. I had another transvaginal ultrasound after I completed my 2 weeks bed rest. The baby was 9 weeks, heart rate was 156 bpm and no complications found except the placenta was implanted within the edge of my cervix (marginal placenta previa). The doctor assured me that the placenta will move to its normal position on the latter weeks of pregnancy. I had another 2 weeks bed rest after that so I requested my new employer to move my first day of work for another 2 weeks.

Spotting stopped in 10 weeks and had it again in 12 weeks. My doctor checked for the heart beat and it was beating fine.

On my 14 weeks, I had miscarriage. I was rushed to the hospital and stayed there for a day. We took the fetus home and gave it a proper burial (requested a priest to bless it). We named the baby Noel/Noelle.

Hot

2011-03-18T17:20:00.008+08:00

I bake oven toaster cookies whenever I’m hungry.

Kero, our kangaroo dog, I haven’t blog about him for quite a while. This time he is inside the house because of the fireworks. He is afraid of it. He needs to be in leash because he gets excited and jump over us and his hair is everywhere. He's a hard-to-catch-dog when he is outside, so he is in leash at all times and he is used to it. We love him for his human-like or kangaroo-like behavior (sometimes) =)

Almost Night

2011-03-17T17:50:00.003+08:00

No electricity last night. I spent few hours admiring the candle inside the mayonnaise jar... so cute... It's almost night time when this happened.

I went outside and the moon was so bright. I could have taken a picture but the battery needs to be charged.

I heard there will be a super moon this Saturday. The moon will appear larger and will be closest to earth. The last time it happened was in 1993.I asked my sister to bring her SLR camera so we can have great shot of the moon. I've been moon gazing this week and I took this picture last Monday.

I want to watch my mermaid DVDs and A Walk to Remember Again

Wedding-in-a-Budget-Wedding Gown: Rollie Graza

2011-03-14T20:41:00.010+08:00

I am getting great amount of traffic, comments and emails because of my Wedding Gown post in 2009. Some of them are asking for the particular stall in Divisoria who made my wonderful gown.

I wish I had my gown made in Divisoria but I didn’t for the following reasons;

- My husband does not like going to crowded Divisoria Streets (but I do because of the cheap finds.)
- The place is muddy during rainy season
- There is no dressing room to properly fit my gown

My husband’s co-worker recommended Rollie Graza, a local fashion designer and a known designer to some ABS-CBN TV Drama. If you have seen the wedding gowns in My Girl, Iisa Pa Lamang, Only You, Kung Tayo Magkakalayo, Tanging Yaman, Noah and other Wedding TV Dramas (too many to mention), it’s his creation.

He gave us huge discount for my wedding gown if I will avail our parents and entourage attires. Of course, I accepted the offer. I think it was the best offer because its three thousand plus difference with my wedding gown, hundreds difference with the entourage, we chose the best cloth for Reymond’s Barong Tagalog and the quality of his creations is known in the Philippines.

During gown fitting I’ve got to stand in a platform in front of a mirror just like Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride and swayed my gown in front of my husband.

You’ll never experience this in Divisoria. But if you are in real budget and you live near Divisoria then, Divisoria is a place for you.

I Am From the Future

2011-03-08T18:05:00.006+08:00

I was reading a 10 year old magazine which predict the trends in the future. It was funny because one prediction is they wanted to see men getting pregnant.

Predictions were:

-You can look young and pretty forever… if you have $$$$$. You can have your nose done, lose weight without getting tired and there’s a cure for thinning hair. Too bad, there is no solution yet to attain extra inches with height, wearing heels is still the solution =).

-You can connect with your loved ones abroad in an instant through internet or mobile phone. This is actually great! I can call my father in the Middle East anytime. Unlike in the past, I have to wait 2 weeks for a snail mail.

-Work is no longer 9AM to 5PM. Right after graduation, my shift schedule is from 10PM to 7PM. I never had experienced working from 9AM to 5PM.

For me, whatever the future brings, I’ll just go with the flow, be alive and enjoy every minute of it …. but I want to see a real flying house =)

Cookies Anyone?

2011-03-02T19:03:00.006+08:00

Hi there! Yes it’s been a long time. I’ve been busy with training and work and pregnancy. Yes, I was pregnant and lost it after 14 weeks. I’ll share it here someday =).

Anyway, finally I was able to make real cookies.

This is my second attempt in baking cookies. My first attempt was a failure, you may check it HERE Or check the image below;

Yes, it looks like the thing you release everyday =).

I am proud of my second attempt because my mother was able to eat it unlike the first one.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-26T19:18:00.005+08:00

This is how I celebrate my Christmas.

Christ, the reason why we have Christmas

With chicken, spaghetti, garlic bread and fruit salad – the simplest Christmas food so far. Don’t forget the hot chocolate.

And family giving gifts and exchanging cards =)

It's December

2010-12-01T18:41:00.002+08:00

Christmas is in the air. I can see it, smell it and taste it =)

Cooking

2010-11-29T12:02:00.005+08:00

It was my birthday last November 13 and as usual, I had a simple celebration at home with my family in Antipolo City.

For the first time I cooked Buffalo wings! Everyone liked it so my sister requested to do it again next week =).

The white sauce is heavenly...

Also, I made Bacon and Ham carbonara for it’s my husband’s favorite pasta and I made him Tuna carbonara on our 3rd monthsary.

Touchdown in Mindanao 1

2010-11-21T13:24:00.013+08:00

This post should have been here two months ago but since I’ve been busy with stuffs and waiting for the time when I can put everything together before it made it here.

This is all about my first touchdown in Mindanao. They say Mindanao is a very dangerous place in the Philippines but there are places that are safe to stay for longer time, like Cagayan de Oro, Camiguin, Bukidnon and Davao City.

On our way to Cebu, I’ve seen Mt. Mayon’s peak from above. It felt like a reunion between Mt. Mayon and me. I never seen Mt. Mayon for more than 7years.

Then there’s Mactan-Cebu International Airport and the famous bridge in Cebu.

We’ve been to Cebu for few hours. Reymond accidentally booked a connecting flight from Manila to Cebu then to Cagayan de Oro City. It was really tiring but at least I stepped foot in Cebu just for a little while. I wonder when I’ll be coming back to explore the island.

It took us 30 minutes to get to Cagayan de Oro from Cebu through a small plane. We managed to capture the Chocolate Hills from above. It’s really pretty. I want to visit Bohol too.

This is above Cagayan de Oro City. I love this picture from above; it’s like telling me that I’ll be having a good time in Mindanao.

Me, in Cagayan de Oro City Airport. It's a small airport same as some small airports around Philippines, like the airport in Iloilo

And this plane made me nervous throughout the flight because it’s so small and I can feel the wind bumping on it, I can’t even take a nap because its bothering me. We landed safe in Mindanao.

Next, will be Bukidnon =)

Recipe for Good and Happy Marriage

2010-11-01T18:02:00.007+08:00

Found these pictures last weekend. These advices were given to me by the girls close to my heart before my wedding day.

Our Big Day!

2010-10-13T19:26:00.036+08:00

It took me so long to post this blissful event for I have a hard time thinking of the magical words to describe it. All I can think of is HAPPINESS.

Before marriage, Reymond and I shared 5 years of being in a relationship that includes courtship, dating, 2 years of engagement and 1 year of wedding planning. We met in our old work place in Eastwood City, Libis, Quezon City, Philippines.

Reymond and I wanted a simple and in a budget wedding. As early as January 2009 we look for places where we can held the event. At first we wanted a garden reception in Antipolo City and the ceremony will be in Antipolo Cathedral but since Antipolo is so far away (for most of our guests), we decided to look for another church. We booked Our Lady of the Abadoned Shrine, where I was baptized and took Bulwagan ng mga Bayani, an old spanish house turned restaurant across the church. Then, booked the rest of the suppliers.

Everything happened so blissfully fast.

To start with, we booked a not expensive hotel in Antipolo where you can see the whole city. God gave us a wonderful weather, it didn't rain the whole day! It didn't rain in the middle of the rainy season! Lucky! Lucky! Lucky!

3:00 AM - Woke up, took a bath, find something to munch so I can release whatever inside my stomach.
4:00AM - Groom, groom's family, my pal Mabel and Jo Ana woke up
4:30 AM - Wedding coordinators/Make up Artist arrived and started my preparation
5:30 AM - Videographers and Photographers arrived. Groom offered them breakfast. Everyone are eating breakfast except me and the make up artist.
6:15 AM - Finally, I can eat but only few spoons of rice and veggies.
6:30 AM - Preparation shoot...

7:45 AM - Going down the mountain
8:30 AM - We're in church but the aisle flowers has not yet arrived. Geez
8:45 AM - Flowers arrived Thank God.
9:00 AM - I can't go out of the car to greet guests. I envy Reymond because he's there shaking hands with the guests.

9:10 AM - Parked in front of the church doors. Entourage are in places. Photo and video shoot again but still I can't go out of the car.

9:20 AM - March! March! March! we're 10 minutes early! I had a big smile on my face.

9:25 AM - Celebration began...
9:45 AM - Yes father and I do!
10:15 AM - "I pronounce you husband and wife... kiss the bride"

10:30 AM - Photo and video shoot again! I guess guests were enjoying nuts and chips =)

11:00 AM - Celebration began

1:30 PM - Celebration finished
3:00 PM - Back in the hotel
4:30 PM - Reymond and I were so hungry.
5:30 PM - Enjoying watching the sunset.
7:00 PM - First drink together.
9:00 PM - Lights out! We're so tired!

This event will be remembered for the rest of our lives. Whenever we watched the video we can't help laughing.