Looking for a Vegetarian Store

I have been on a not-so-strict no meat diet for some time now. and i have been having some trouble looking for food to eat. when we're eating out, i can opt for seafoods and veggies. sure, there are a lot of restaurants out there that offer alternatives to pork, beef and chicken, but what if i'm home? a girl can take is so much canned tuna you know... i also tried stir frying veggies then i moved on to having tofu blended with other regular viands like adobo and afritada, so that it can soak in the flavors. but time came when i felt that my food choices were very limited. i bought a Filipino vegan cookbook and called for some meat substitutes, aside from the usual tofu. i decided to take it to the next level. i will try and cook using meat substitutes! i started looking for health stores that sold veggie meat. i went to the supermarket, but all i got was tuna tocino, which was yummy by the way and has since been branded as a FAVORITE! by our family.

i surfed the net. i looked for stores that catered to the vegetarians of the Philippines, but came up with nothing. it was really frustrating! here i was, trying a lifestyle change, and yet the net universe seems against me! (drama queen!) i just felt that it was simply not possible! i'm sure there are a lot of vegetarians here in the country, where do they buy their supplies? i mean, there has got to be a vegetarian store here in manila, makati or quezon city.

one time, as hubby and i were buying our dinner from Bodhi, the vegetarian restaurant found in SM Megamall's foodcourt, i asked the one serving us whether she knew where we could buy vegan goodies. she then said that Bodhi was not only a restaurant, they also sold vegan stuff in their manila branch. yipee! hubby got the address and we promptly made plans to go.

when we did finally get to go to Banawe, we just couldn't find their store! hubby drove slowly and we looked at every store along the street but we couldn't find anything! that was until we reached Banawe corner Calamba Street and that's where we saw the Daily Veggie Cafe. It was a restaurant that sold yummy vegetarian dishes, and they also sell uncooked veggie goodies that you can cook to your heart's content.



I was so happy! they had a lot of vegan goodies in that store! and they had really reasonable prices, the sales lady even gave us a discount!

our loot: a vegetarian ham, vegetarian chicken nuggets and meat chunks!







mission accomplished! even though we didn't find our original target, Bodhi, we were able to find a vegetarian food store nonetheless.

and for those looking for a vegetarian store, here are some of their branches:

Daily Veggie Cafe
540 Banawe St. Corner Calamba St. Quezon City
711-8209 and 711-3214

Happy Veggie Health Food Store
Unit C-4A G/F Gilmore IT Center
8 Gilmore Ave. New Manila QC
723-3854

Happy Veggie Health Food Store
958 Masangkay Street
Binondo Manila
245-9257

I'm really grateful that we were able to buy some meat substitutes, because of them, i was able to survive the holidays! thanks too to hubby for fixing up my veggie ham, it tasted so good, it tasted like the real deal. during our christmas eve dinner, i didn't feel left out at all. here's a pic of our christmas feast, with my very own veggie ham (encircled). yummy!

zzzzz....

My mind is already in vacation mode. I am soooo sleepy! The boss is away, everybody is busy. I am so darn sleepy! Just when I said I’d quit coffee again! Argh! So frustrating. Droopy eyelids… want…to..snooze…can’t…fight…anymore….zzzzzzz

 

a plan for my starbucks planner

I know what I will do with my 2009 starbucks planner. Since I already have a pda and I’m not really into diaries anymore, I have decided to use my planner as a food and exercise journal. Yep, lower your raised eyebrows and let me be. It’s my way of holding myself accountable for the weight-loss and healthy lifestyle plan that I have been intending to do for the past year. I succeeded in losing a couple of pounds a few months back, but that new-found pride and bod went down the drain when FIL died and I got sidetracked.

I need to be honest with myself and be responsible enough to accept my shortcomings and pitfalls. And of course, proud enough to pat myself on the shoulders if and when I achieve my set goals.

I intend to put my goals in writing so that I may look at them from time to time to gauge my performance.

I will stick to this plan. I need to. Next year, It’s 2009 already, and I’m not getting any younger. I need to act NOW!

blessings in disguise

This year has been a roller coaster ride for our family. Lots of ups partnered with lots of downs. There have been a lot of reasons to be sad this year, but how can we stay sad for long when God keeps on sending good things our way. As they say, I just have to focus on the silver lining and be grateful. Hubby and I received several bad news that could’ve crushed our already wavering spirits but thankfully, God did not let us wallow in our misery. He showed us the good side, the bright side, He showed us that all the bumps that we encountered were blessings in disguise that we should be grateful for.

Simbang Gabi starts tomorrow!

Christmas is definitely in the air! Tomorrow we start the Filipino tradition of Simbang Gabi. It is a series of 9 dawn masses meant as a novena which will lead up to the Midnight Mass on Christmas eve. As with other novenas, It is believed that if you are able to complete the whole novena, your prayer will be granted, enough incentive to try and wake up early. Of course the yummy breakfast of bibingka, puto bumbong and other kakanin is definitely a treat for the whole family. It is a very rare occasion that the family gets together in the morning for breakfast since we often go on our own ways in a rush to go to work.  

Hubby really wants to complete the novena this year. I really hope I can get up early! We are planning to bring the little one along, but I’m not sure if  we can get ready on time. Good thing that the church is just in front of our house, we can just lug some monoblock chairs since the church will be packed for sure!

Time sure flies so fast. Christmas is just a few days away! =)

 

rainy friday

Hmmm… it’s a rainy wet Friday yet again. It was just like this last week, what is it with Fridays and rain?! Hmp.

I heard some theories like cloud seeding, because later today some concerned citizens will be staging a rally to voice out their protest against the move for charter change. Hmmm. What good will that do to us? Nada. Just more confusing and irritating traffic jams here in Makati.

I keep hoping I’m in bed, at home. Hay. I just love bed weather, but only when I am actually in bed!

Rainy Christmas… not really that appealing to me.

Diet Tips to Prevent Holiday Bingeing

Holidays are fast approaching. Many are already feeling giddy with anticipation. There is the warm feeling of having family around, and the satisfaction we feel when we finally get to sink our teeth on the home cooked goodies we’ve missed during the year. All these holiday cheer can get our stomachs growling and out of control. And so I’ve come up with some tips that can help us keep to our diets during this Christmas season.

One main point to remember is to stay conscious as we eat. Don’t let yourself go on autopilot, because if you do, you can end up shoveling food into your mouth and afterwards, you will definitely be filled with remorse.

• A few minutes before the meal, be sure that you will be taking your meal on the table by the way, never on your bed or on the couch, take in five or six deep breathes. Let yourself feel relaxed and in control. Know your battle ahead and be ready.
• One minute before the meal, contemplate on the work that went in preparing this meal. What are the ingredients, how was it cooked, are these healthy food choices or not? Think about how this will affect your body, appreciate how this food will nourish your body.
• Halfway through the meal, stop for a minute or two. Put down your spoon and fork, and take a sip of water. Sit quietly, and you might just feel that you are already full. Stop eating when you do feel you are no longer hungry.
• Ten minutes after the meal, allow yourself  a couple more minutes to relax, do another set of deep breathing. Focus of the delightful sensations the food has caused on your senses and your body. Appreciate the feeling of fullness and nourishment. Let your body feel that it has gotten the dietary requirements for the moment and restrain your eyes from hovering and dwelling on the dessert tray.

Keep these tips in mind the next time you attend that Christmas party or that family reunion. Good luck!

Happy Anniversary Hunny Bunny!

We’ve been together for half our lives, literally:

16 years

192 months

5,760 days

138,240 hours

8,294,400 minutes

248,832,000 seconds…and I have been loving every second of it!

Thanks for being the person that you are. God definitely had you in mind when he made me… for through the years we have definitely proven, that you and me, we were truly meant to be! I love you forever!

I barely escaped disaster!

Yep, that I did! And I am very thankful for it. What disaster is this? Hmmm. My laptop conked out on me! As in! I was just upload some of little one’s pics on her friendster when the laptop turned itself off. Apparently, the plug was not properly attached to the socket, so the laptop had no more power. Ok, fine. This has happened to me a dozen of times! I just rebooted the laptop, but it won’t boot. It just kept of restarting. It was really frustrating. I tried everything. I tried booting on safe mode, using the windows installer CD, everything I can think of… to no avail!

Good thing thought that when my sister had someone fix her pc, she also asked the guy to look into my laptop. The tech guy that proceeded to put a partition in my hard drive, that way he said, should my OS crash, my files will still be intact (whew).

After attempting to reboot gazillions of times, I tried to format my drive c, as a last act of desperation. Bye bye files. Bye bye programs. Good thing though that I was able to back some of my files while I was on vacation. And as if fate is playing a joke on me, the formatting just won’t go through. It reaches up to 56% then hangs. Grrr!

I wanted to blog about Manny Pacquiao’s win, but couldn’t, I wanted to express my frustration that Channel 2 was showing Judy Ann Santos’ movie KKK part 2 the same time Channel 7 was showing the boxing match. I would’ve loved to watch Juday’s movie since I watched the 1^st installment and just loved it. But I just couldn’t. I was so sad. Good thing hubby is ever sensitive about my feelings. Seeing how frustrated I was, he volunteered to drive me to SM megamall to have my laptop fixed.

I was still apprehensive though since I didn’t have any money to pay for any parts that may need to be replaced. I was also hoping against hope that the labor charges won’t be so steep. The heavens heard my prayer since as it turned out, I didn’t have to pay for anything! Labor was free, and since the problem was not in the hardware, they didn’t need to replace anything! The problem was with my OS and the installation process. The laptop must’ve been tired from all that rebooting. It got the much needed rest while we were traveling to the mall. When we tried to install the software, it ran beautifully.  Haaay (sigh of relief)

So last night, I was faced with the tedious task of installing the programs and drivers all over again. I wasn’t completely done yet, but at least I was able to try the wifi connection and was able to log on the internet. That’s enough for now. But of course, photoshop will have to be next, for my scrap stuff. =)

Whew…whew…and whew… a thousand times over!

 

Edward and Bella

Yep, finally watched it.  Watched twilight last night with hubby. What did think about it? Hmmm… it was ok. It had a lot of kilig moments. I like the guy who played Edward better in harry potter when he played cedric diggory. In this movie, he has definitely matured already and has more manly features, but sometimes I feel he is just too haggard for my taste. Although I must admit, he is effective in depicting the intensity of his feelings towards bella. Who wouldn’t be intrigued and mystified when stared at by those piercing golden brown eyes?  I didn’t like the girl who played bella so much, probably because hubby kept of commenting on how pretty she’s become. Her looks have definitely come a long way from when we first saw her as the gawky tomboy in panic room. She is pretty, but one thing that annoyed me about her is that her mouth is perpetually open! Grrr.

I’m not really into vampires, but then again, I thought I wasn’t into wizards too until harry potter came along. Maybe I’d appreciate it more when I get the chance to read the books. But I think I’m in for a long wait since bookstores have ran out of stock. Hopefully, when it becomes available, it will be worth the wait.

In the meantime, maybe I can give the movie another go, watch it one more time, maybe it will grow on me then.

ho-hum

Stuck in the office.  Sooooo bored. Pretending to be busy. Counting the hours till corporate claws set me free… listening to good ‘ole Britney on my cellphone…

I wish I can watch twilight tonight. Feel so left out. I’ve been warning hubby not to shriek when Edward comes out on screen. BIL told me people did just that when they watched the movie.

 

mmm… it has been a while since I wrote an ode to my lonely work life. =)

the smiley moon phenomenon

I was not aware there was even such a thing.

Yesterday, when we arrived home after our trip to the south, I just happened to look up and was amused at what I saw. As I was smiling at the heavens, it was smiling down back at me! Heavenly bodies all lined up just to greet me a belated happy birthday.

They said it is the so-called smiling moon phenomenon.

This is from an email my sis sent to me: Smiling Moon Phenomenon Happens Tonight

Wondering why the moon smiles at you? Tonight you might have not notice the moon is smiling. Go out and look at the moon and you might see the moon smiling back at you. The smiling moon phenomenon happens every 48 years, so don’t miss it! “Astronomers say Venus and Jupiter and a crescent moon will form a smiley face tonight, with the planets forming the eyes and the moon forming the mouth. Venus and Jupiter have appeared side by side in the evening sky over the last week or so, but tonight will be the best night to see the “face” appear, astronomers say.”

The smiling moon phenomenon is best viewed in Western Australia. The eyes are closer to the moon! Sad to say, the effect of the phenomenon is inverted in the United States. It will appear as frown. Lucky to us here in the Philippines, we will witness the smiling moon!

As I a look at the moon tonight, I feel that the heavens are trying to send us a message. Perhaps it is a reminder for us to be happy amidst the crisis and problems that the world is suffering. Think positive. Be happy!

 

So, there is indeed a logical explanation for the skies’ happy face… whatever. I have my own explanation. I choose to think it’s my mama, looking down at me with her goofy grin. “Is it you mama? Greeting your bunso a belated happy birthday?  Thanks for remembering…”

another year older

Another year older. I have been walking this earth for more than 3 decades with not much wisdom and life experiences to show for it. Hmp.

Every year, when my birthday comes along… I turn into a b*tch. I don’t know why. I don’t really intend to. What is it with November guys and birthdays? Hmmm…I just feel like I have the license to demand sole attention from my loved ones because it is MY DAY. I must be treated special, I must be loved, I must be pampered… if not, hold on to you hats…hubby often chides me that I’m probably related to goku, gohan and the rest of the dragon ball family, because when I get mad, I transform. Blame it on PMS too… bad timing. Over the weekend, I lost my temper three times. Of course I felt so much remorse after I exploded… but still… hopefully the little one is still to young to imbibe my mood swings, and hubby is blessed with enough patience and love for me to survive it all…

Note to self: YOU ARE GETTING TOO OLD FOR THIS! BE MATURED ALREADY, OR AT LEAST TRY TO ACT LIKE IT!

=)

yippee! not late today!

Hehehe… not late! And to think we arrived home late after my advance bday / farewell to mama dinner at gerry’s marquinton. =)

We were able to wake up early today, primarily because we were supposed to take mama to the airport ( but she was not yet ready so hubby just took me to the shuttle terminal), the little one was not a very happy camper though, the late nights seems to have finally taken its toll on her. She was moody when she woke up, refusing to smile for mommy. She gave me a kiss and a hug though when I asked for it. That’s enough to make my day. =)

tardy...tardy...tardy...

I am tardy again, for the second time this week! Argh! So frustrating. I finally found out what was the root of all these evil… a new traffic scheme! Apparently, shuttle services and taxis are no longer allowed to pass on EDSA’s yellow lane. What?! Vehicles with YELLOW plates are no longer allowed on YELLOW lanes! My golly! As if the lanes for vehicles with green plates are not congested enough! Now, taxis and shuttle services have added to the volume plying that lane. Now that just doesn’t make any sense. We used to have a shuttle service with yellow plates, and I know for a fact that the registration of such vehicles are more complicated and expensive than that of green plates. Why then are they treated the same was as green plates? Why aren’t they enjoying the same benefits that their PUV counterparts are enjoying? (only buses are now allowed on the yellow lane)

I am mad about all these because I was tardy…the shuttle service I was riding had to stay out of the yellow lane, even if it was so empty! I could’ve made it on time had our driver zoomed by edsa, like he usually does…if not for the friggin new traffic scheme.

Sorry just venting. =(

early christmas rush!

Waaaahhhh! Christmas is certainly round the corner, round the corner but not yet here! Why the heck is the traffic in metro manila turned hellish all of the sudden starting this week?! I was late for work earlier. After being on leave for a week, this is certainly not a good way to impress my bosses….

Need to do better for the rest of the week. Need to rise early, act fast, leave the house at the earliest possible time…

That’s the plan, in the meantime, I’ll just keep on hitting the snooze button and ignoring hubby’s gentle nudges… zzzzzzz.

7th Anniversary Layout

7th Anniversary
111708
Fresh and Fun Kit by Bohemian Art

metrobank foundation's purple heart's club blood letting activity

last last week, a bankwide invitation to donate blood was posted everywhere in the bank. this is an activity we have yearly and every single year i attempt to donate blood but at the last minute i back out. i back out not because of the needles mind you, or the sight of blood, but mainly because no is there to comfort me after... =) i know, i am such a baby! there was this one year when i actually talked some friends into donating blood, but when we went there to be checked up before the actual donation, they were disqualified because there were underweight... i was then sitting in one corner hoping against hope that i'm underweight too, to no avail... hahaha... and although i was healthy as a horse, the coward that i am, i backed out.

this year though i decided things will be different. in celebration of the so many changes that is happening to my life this year, i put up a brave front and trudged on. yep, for the first time, i went ahead and donated blood. good thing that i found an officemate who donated every year and i went along with him.



first i signed all the required forms and questionnaires. had my temperature, weight and blood pressure checked. then the nurses pricked my finger to test my blood type... then i was made to lie down a bed and wait for a nurse to attend to me.

when the nurse did come to stick the needle to my arm, i warned her a couple of times that nurses often have a hard time looking for the right vein. she was confident and assuring, of course she ended up trying to stick the needle in my vein a couple of times, hurting a LOT!

in the end she managed to get the blood flowing. at first there was nothing to it at all, i was just lying down, playing with a stress ball, never mind the needle in my arm and the bag by my side which was fast getting filled with my blood. after a couple of minutes, i started feeling woosy and faint.







hmmm. this is how it feels like loosing 450 cc of blood.




anyway, after a couple more minutes, i was feeling ok again... not really 100% but manageable. i was given some stuff help me recover faster: a yummy sandwich, bottled water and balut. i was also given a purple tshirt as a token. =)

the whole thing was over in about 20 minutes, and i went out our canteen feeling better. at last i did it, i am now a proud blood donor and a purple hearts club member.

happy birthday mama...

dearest mimits,

a very happy birthday to you mimits.
not a very happy day for me though... i miss you terribly.
i have so much to say...
years have passed and yet the yearning to be with you still stays.
bouts of hoping that you're still here with me or that i'm there with you still come and go
pathetic i know. talk about letting go and moving on.
i miss having a mother, a physical mother...
most of all i miss having an ally...

you were not just a parent, but a true blue i-love-you-no-matter-how-many-times-you-goof-up-your-life-kinda-ally.

not just a willing-to-push-you-off-a-cliff-just-to-teach-you-a-lesson-so-you'll-learn-to-dust-yourself-off-and-stand-on-your-feet-tough-love-kinda-parent but a will-be-here-for-you-no-questions-asked-coz-i-see-you're-hurting-and-that's-more-important-to-me-than-what-others-have-to-say-kinda-mother.

you were my biggest fan. you were the world's most wonderful listener. you were my best-est friend. you were the only person i can count on, no ifs, no buts. you were my home.

happy birthday mama.
still wishing you were here with me...
or i'm there with you.

i love you always.

karen

photo hunt :: wild

here are pics of my little wild one when she was just a few months old. now that she's two she is literally a wild animal i have to run/shout after wherever she goes. =)

project:weight loss update week 1

hmmm....

My Conversation with God

i keep telling myself
i am a weed
unwanted and unnoticed
someone no one really needs

no dear daughter, my God tells me
in fact, you are a tree
tall and strong and worthy
of love and attention
from everybody especially Me

i keep telling myself
i am a worm
unwanted and unnoticed
icky and yucky and scorned

no dear daughter, you should be celebrating!
for to Me you are a cute caterpillar,
wait till you sprout your beautiful wings
Just believe in Me, and you'll go far

but i'm afraid, dear father
i don't know what the future is like for me...
what's in the great beyond?
all i hear is: trust! let go... let God!

you, karen, have always been a petulant child!
impatient, ungrateful and hasty
you insist on hiding in the shadows
you insist on thinking of yourself unworthy
My child, I say to you, listen carefully
in everything in your life:
trust! let go... LET ME!

Aug 29 - 31 Weekend Box Office Estimates (U.S.)

these movies are the top 3 movies of the weekend in the US:

check out the rest of the weekend's box office performance. click here.

project:weight loss now officially launched

i have come to face the truth. i am more than 40lbs overweight. i need to lose weight soon... my feet are already complaining ... varicose veins are threatening to set camp on my legs... not to mention the embarrassing bulges in embarrassing places...yep, getting too heavy for comfort.

need to do this...wish me luck!

my battle ahead:

Storytelling Outreach to Baranggay Escopa Q.C.

Wikipedia defines corporate social responsibility as a concept whereby organizations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and other stakeholders, as well as the environment. This obligation is seen to extend beyond the statutory obligation to comply with legislation and sees organizations voluntarily taking further steps to improve the quality of life for employees and their families as well as for the local community and society at large.

As part of our ODP training, we were required to involve ourselves in corporate social awareness. we initially chose helping out in a Gawad Kalinga project, however, due to unforseen circumstances, this did not push through. we instead assigned to do a storytelling session with the kids of Barangay Escopa in Quezon City.

We prepared for the event. we bought goodies as gifts and prizes. of course we also bought books for the storytelling itself. the day before, we were busy wrapping up the goodies.

the next day, we were supposed to meet at 7:30 am at the office lobby so we can leave at 8am. however, one of our classmates felt sick that day and woke up late, so we had to wait for her. we left the office at 9am. we took pics while waiting....

no, we're not going to a greenpeace rally. we just chose green as our class color. why? i have no idea! actually i was absent when they took a vote... hehehe...

green looks good on me anyway, don't you think?

the saturday traffic to QC from Makati was light, and we arrived at our destination in no time at all. the day before, we joked that we should be having the storytelling under a mango tree, but our coodinator said no, we will be having it under a bridge. when we arrived, we realized that she was not joking. the venue for our story telling session was under the Katipunan bridge.



the kids were already waiting for us because we were one hour late. there was a baranggay representative who took care of everything from their end. we started with a prayer, then went on with the story telling. our class was grouped in pairs, then assigned a story each. my partner was joy, and our story was Ang Alamat ng Pinya. we agreed to divide the narration duties, while i played the mother and she played Pinang, the little girl. performance level! it was of course a success! the kids seemed to enjoy it.

After the stories, we distributed art supplies to the kids. we gave them the freedom to draw whatever they liked.

there were quite a few budding artists in the group! here's one of our kids, James, proudly showing me his masterpiece.

After the art activities, we played games. one group was in charge of the games. we were happy to note that all the kids participated, and they seemed to really enjoy the prepared games. of course we prepared enough prizes so that every kid went home with something.

Everybody had fun! of course all the shouting and laughter left us hungry. good thing though that the food we ordered from McDonald's arrived just in time. we feasted in McChicken and Coke! yummy! it was touching the way some kids did not eat their food, saying that they will just bring their share home since their family didn't have any food for lunch.... poor kids.

the rest of the kids however, ate their heart out!

by 12:30 we were done. our service brought us back to the office where we changed our clothes (we all smelled!) then crammed ourselves into 2 of our classmates' vehicles and headed off to the Mall of Asia. There we ate at one of the seaside restaurants and sang our hearts out in the videoke. we stayed there until dark.

since i was in a celebratory mood, yes i did sing, i sang 3 songs! yipee! no longer a videoke virgin!



what a day! it was really tiring but definitely worth it. spending the rest of the afternoon with friends was fun! i hope the next time we see each other, we will be as happy...(when we receive the ODP results....waaahhhh! pressure!)

Happy & Sad.

A tag from Alpha.

~Start Copy~

Here are the Rules:

1. List the things that make you Happy and those that make you Sad.

2. Add your Blog to the list. Feel free to add all your other Blogs.

3. Tag other online friends you know.Toni’s Attachments, Cecile2’s-Small and Simple Things, Lara’s Pinay dot US, Lara’s My Blog Entry, Lara’s Byaheng Pinay, Living A’ La Mode, Bits and Pieces, My Life in this Wonderful World, My Online World, Ozzy’s Mom, Me,Myself+2, Kidd Designs, FunFierceFabulous, Eds Mommy Life, Just Me.. Eds, My Precious Niche, I Am Mommy, All About The Memories, Enchanted Play, Just My Scrap, My life is Peachy , Celebrating life , belly, baby and beyond, Mommy Talks, Aggie Shoots. Aggie Scraps, All Kinds of Me Stuff, The Salad Caper, Winding Creek Circle, InkBabyStudios, All Things Me, Feels Like Home, A Day of Play, Because Life is Fun, Create a Good Blog, Growing Up with Bea, My Life...My Own Piece of Heaven, YOU



What Makes Me Happy?

• my family
• dates with my hunny
• watching movies
• bookstores (and books!)
• little girl's laughter
• being with my barkada
• shopping sprees
• magnolia mango iced tea
• john lloyd movies (hehehe)
• broadband internet
• out of town trips
• blogging
• scrapping
• daydreaming
• chocolates
• comments on my blog =)

What Makes Me Sad?

• when someone in the family is sick
• little girl's feeding problem
• cancer
• weight issues
• fighting with hubby
• having no money
• work
• slow traffic in my blogs
• no opps
• zero PR (hmp!)

Tagging Apple, Arlene, Julie, Anna and Liza

Torn Paper Alpha

here's a freebie from mommy scraps. click the pic to go to her blog.

Ready for school?

is the little girl ready for school? look how well she holds her pen. i gave her a piece of paper and a pen, to keep her occupied while waiting for our order. i was successful in keeping her busy for a full....10 seconds! oh well...

photo hunt :: colorful

this is my entry for this week's photo hunters' theme, colorful. i was having some trouble choosing a pic for this theme because it was too late when i realized that the pic i posted last week is more appropriate for this week. hehehe...

anyway, i'm still lucky that i found this pic taken last summer. this is intriguing for me because a single bunch of flowers has both pink and white litte flowers. nature is so full of surprises huh?

happy weekend everyone!

A Visit at St. Pio Chapel

some time ago, i posted a story about our visit to the St. Pio Chapel in Libis. Guess what? a few weeks ago, i was contacted by their travel editor and asked if it's ok with me, they will run my article in the Pinoy Moms Network site. of course i agreed!

after some weeks of waiting eagerly for any word from the editor, i finally received an email saying that my article is up. here it is: A Visit at St. Pio Chapel . please check it out!

photo hunt :: dark

this picture was taken when we had our visita inglesia last holy week. we just came out of the Malate Church when we saw this fountain not far from the church. the colors and the water proved to be wonderful photo subjects against the dark night.

check out my other blog's entry here.

guess who?

who is this? click here to find out.

my love affair with pinoy movies and john lloyd cruz

hubby and i have a lot of things in common, probably because we practically grew up together. we have been together since we were 16, yep, that's half of our lifetimes already... =)

one of the things we have in common is our love for movies. back when watching movies was way cheaper, we'd watch movies at least once a week, sometimes even 3x a week. Wednesday was our favorite day because this was the day they'd change the movie schedules and show the latest movies.

but no matter how we loved to watch movies, we didn't really like to watcn pinoy movies. there were exceptions though, there was a time when we had our tita shawie phase, where we'd watch only tagalog movies with sharon cuneta, we also had our kris aquino phase, i had my iza calzado phase and i had to drag hubby along to watch sigaw, moments of love and quija (this came in consonant with my juday phase).

as to actors, we have only two favorites: aga muhlach and john lloyd cruz. i've loved john lloyd since tabing ilog, where he played Rovic, but when we watched Dubai, a movie where aga, john lloyd and claudine barretto played title roles, that sealed our fate... we, yep even hubby, became official john lloyd cruz fans! he is definitely one of the best dramatic actors around, and the cutest too... a young aga muhlach!

last weekend, having already watched the mummy III, we watched a special love starring john lloyd cruz and sarah geronimo. we loved it! read my thoughts about the movie here.

yep... jologs! =)

i hate these chores meme

A tag from Alpha.

This meme idea started out of the blue while I was staring blankly at the 2 weeks worth of washed clothes that I have to fold. I instantly want to resign on my household duties and just laze around. I miss my mom and yaya chona so bad!

~~~START COPY~~~This meme is pretty simple.Here are the rules:1.) List down the household chores you hate and why. Do you think you can survive without helpers and nannies?2.) Copy the image.3.) Tag as many girlfriends you want, the daddies and hubbies can also join.4.) Add your blog’s link in the domesticated divas linky love. You can add all your blogs.5.) Leave ME a comment and I’ll add you up in the masterlist.

DOMESTICATED DIVAS: Living the Healthy Life / Sripe&Yellow / Vanity Kit / Mind Bubbles / Something Purple / Em’s Detour / Me,Myself+2 / Kidd Designs / FunFierceFabulous / Ozzy’s Mom / Insights from the Grocery Cart / Living A’ La Mode / God’s Best Gift / MommyAllehs Up-Close And Personal / My Precious Niche / Just Me.. Eds / Eds Mommy Life / Mommy Talks Aggie Shoots. Aggie Scraps All Kinds of Me Stuff The Salad Caper Winding Creek Circle InkBabyStudios My Happy Place Iam Dzoi Suburban Sass To the Moon and Back Raising Sandy All Things Me Because Life Is Fun Feels Like Home , Growing up with Bea, My life... my own piece of heaven YOUR BLOG HERE~~~END COPY~~~

My List: I hate going to the wet market. it's not the smell nor the mud that i hate, it's the haggling, i feel pressured to ask for a discount, and when i am not given any, i feel like i'm being robbed. (pathetic i know) . i also hate the cleaning because i am allergic to dust. soon after starting with the chore, i'd get all teary and sneezy. one more thing i hate is the tidying up of the mess bea and i made. this is really a CHORE for me because i am not the most organized person in the world... hehehe...

Tagging: Arlene, Rachel, Apple, Liza, Julie, Wenchie

photohunt :: clouds

hmmm... what can you see in the clouds? well i can see a little rabbit, looking at a carrot!

=)

is your make up expired?

one thing that is common to most women is our love for make up. let's admit it, we are concerned with aesthetics. we all love to look good... for our men and for ourselves. look into every woman's purse and you'll surely find a small arsenal of powders and lipsticks. but did you know that no matter how expensive your make up is, it does not last forever. yes, even make up has its expiration dates. make up can be breeding ground to bacteria that can harm skin or eyes, so that instead making you pretty, old make up are actually health hazards. so how will you know if your loot is still good or not?

here is a guide:

Eye makeup: Replace liquid products every six months; toss powder shadows and pencils after a year. If you get an eye infection, trash everything and start from scratch.

Mascara: Replace every three months.

Powder blush: Replace every year, or if you see flaking or clumping.

Loose powder: Replace every year.

Foundation and concealer: Replace every six months, or if the liquid separates or begins to smell funny.

Lipstick: Replace every two years, or if the color or smell changes, or you see oil beads on the sides of the lipstick bullet.

Nail polish: Throw away any polishes that have separated. (Keeping polish in the fridge doesn't prolong its life.)

source: by Lisa Kovalovich

http://www.lhj.com/lhj/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/lhj/story/data/OldMakeup_03082002.xml

Photohunt :: hanging

this week's theme is hanging. these are my cross stitch masterpieces that my mom had framed and now hang in our living room. =)

i miss doing cross stitch. my sis introduced me to it. it gave hope for eternally artistic nincompoops like me. all you have to do is follow the instructions, stitch on the marked boxes and tada! you'll come up with a beautiful work of art... =)

happiness is a decision

i need to drill this in my stubborn mind...

why is no one taking me seriously?

i keep telling everyone i am not happy at work. i hate it in fact. i am not cut out for accounting work. it just so happened that it was the path chosen for me.

i am now training for the job i hate, hoping to be promoted in a job i dislike, just because of the money, but then again, what isn't about the money these days, huh?

i am being pressured to take out a housing loan, i have been trying to explain that if i had any other choice i'd rather take that than to take out a loan from the office because then, i would still like to have the option of leaving it before it sucks the life out of me. taking out a housing loan from our office is like putting another nail in my coffin. being stuck in the office for another 20 years.... argh!

it's so frustrating.

am i supposed to just grin and bear it, for that is what life has laid out for me... life sentence in corporate hell? or do i still have an option? but what is that option???

hello? universe... i need a little help here...

photo hunt :: what is that?

what is that? while looking at a pond of kois, this rare sight caught my eye, it was a golden fish! yeah, not like a gold fish which is actually reddish-orange, but this fish was actually gold in color. it amazed me! =) not really familiar with fishes, i don't know what kind it was or from what species it belonged to, i just knew it was pretty to look at... =)