Ash Valentines

Our Ash Valentine's wasn't that BIG compared to others. We don't usually celebrate it. My husband just greeted and kissed each other. It was a regular working day for him but he asked me if we could just go out in the evening and have dinner at a nearby food park.

Pre~Valentine's 2018

Royal Albert Old Country roses

I  love receiving food gifts. Those yummy Hopia buns with pastillas like fillings are given to us by one of our staff.  He bought it in Sta. Rita, Pampanga. I'm a sucker for native delicacies lalo na yung di pa gaano commercialized. 

Hello, Monday!

Waking up to a sunshiny day is my cue for a photo opportunity. Sasayangin mo ba ang natural light? 

Pink willow teacup

Less is more unless it's love. ~Ben Mittleman

new faux flowers

I had the time finally to buy some roses, well, faux ones yesterday. I promised before that I won’t buy anymore. If ever, white lang. Hayan pink ang binili ko.

melting fats

Pushed myself to go and attend zumba today. I'm so lazy the past weeks. 

no, it isn't me. 

shelfie inspo

What I like about Instagram is that I get to see lots of ideas from all over the world. The tags are very helpful. I'm sharing them with you, too.

Gifts

I think this is a horse tail succulent variety. The hand painted pot was a  no occasion gift by the husband...

Faffing

I’ve been meaning to arrange some of my home decors around the house. Wala lang. It’s a sort of therapy na for me. I like moving things around on a regular basis. I’m a frustrated interior decorator so this is my way of letting off my so called failed dream. I have my whole house as my ‘laboratory’. Experiment lang ng experiment.

all white shelfie

funny memes again

Sharing what I saw today. May point. 

22 degrees

We’ve been enjoying this kind of weather since the last two weeks of January. It is cool for our standards being in a tropical country. Our average is a 30+ degree kind of temperature. 

Sometimes when you’re too busy, you tend to not give attention to the little things, such as having a great weather like what we had today. I’m happy I got to document it. :)

Monday food blessings

 flowers bought after Sunday mass

I spent a lot of my time in the kitchen. Not just because I’m the Mommy of the house. I just love cooking for my fam and sometimes for giveaways. I made macaroni salad today so I can give some to my Mom(and siblings) who’s celebrating her wedding anniversary with my deceased Dad. It could have been their 49th.

H&M + Sarsa UP Town

I did my usual Sunday activities first~ 8:30 am mass, and shopping at the wet market before I drove off to UP Town in Katipunan. Since it’s a Sunday, husband biked his way in going there ahead of me. Mag-meet up na lang kami. 

twenty minute easy driving on a Sunday w/c on a normal day is a forty five to an hour drive

February 2018

I've been too lazy this week. No gym trips as of the moment. When I don't exercise, over eating always happen. Rheumatism creeps in too. Since I was too busy yesterday, I decided to slow down and declared today as chillax day.

Chicken curry for dinner

Hay. I want to get over this hump soonest. 

tiring super blue blood moon day

This brewed coffee kicked off this super tiring day.

went South and Conti's

Today isn't a regular Tuesday for me. I went with the husband with his business related trip South of Manila. We left at nearly 6am to avoid the rush hour's monstrous traffic.

Breakfast at 7:30 am...

Kenny Roger's

Grammy Monday

I almost forgot that it's the Grammy's today. Masyado ko kasi kinareer preparation ng BOTD (breakfast of the day) ko. Haha.

Australian Open 2018

True authority comes from God's love- today's homily in a nutshell

****

Sunday's food blessing was like a sort of a miss because I was looking for Mussels(Tahong) and Galunggong in the market this morning but I failed. Instead...

Fried Tulingan + Swam o Tinolang Halaan

Verdict: Don't settle next time. Tahong and Galunggong are the best.

ay mali! (mistaken)

This Saturday, I didn't have the urge to go to zumba class which I did the past two weeks. I was supposed to go with the hubby(business related) but there were sudden change of plans, so I just went to Shangrila Plaza.

nice lantern display for the Chinese New Year '18

words

The past few days I've been uploading pictures and videos from my phone to Facebook. I wanted to de-clutter my phone's camera roll from 2016 to present. Nakatamaran ko na gawin in the past. In the process, I happen to see some saved images with various life lessons which I save every time I come across one. Sharing it here, at least before I delete them...

chocolate chip cookies + Blueberry loaf cake

I was on a bake roll today. Initially, I had a problem. I need two more eggs so I bought at the mini store near our house.

I baked the butter(loaf) cake first.

Maisen + Tokyo Milk cheese

Today is another zumba day at 2-3 pm. I want to go early so that I could mall hop again(always actually). I was there na at 12:30, I registered for a slot and went to Trinoma again.

Trinoma, pls. fix your escalator. Palagi na lang sira kawawa naman senior citizens!

Daily Bread

There was a time that I read my daily devotion on a regular basis. I think I started during college days. Religion subject isn't my fave back in school, so this helped me a lot in understanding God's words in a layman's term. When I got married, naging irregular till nawala na yung habit. 

Yay on a Monday

Spell h-a-p-p-i-n-e-s-s on a Monday... :D

Package received!

busy on a Sunday?

I'm happy that I'm on my third week na of attending Sunday mass early in the morning...

I was five minutes late. First reading na when I arrived. Today is the feast of Sto. Niño. As His children, we are reminded to be childlike, always relying on God's presence and love in our lives.

Satur-day off

I did my laundry yesterday and I have nothing pending to do, plus the husband went to work and my son was still asleep, I decided to go to the mall and attend zumba class by noon time. I prepped my son's lunch too, re-heat na lang niya. I know I mentioned a while back that I don't go malling on weekends because I don't like mingling with too many people, so I thought I would go as early as possible. I arrived at the mall by 10: 15 am just right for the opening. I went around Landmark's Home department first. Ang sarap ng maluwag at di matao. Di nakaka-stress. :D

Friday be like...

Household chores + breakfast + surfing the internet with Spotify...

gym day + Tuna Pasta

I was able to squeeze in some 'me time' today. After my usual household chores, I told my husband that I'll go the gym for an hour of zumba. Muntik pa di matuloy. I felt lazy after lunch but willpower won. Maybe because I need to go to the bank and pay some of my online purchases. Yes, you heard it right. This early I broke one of my 2018 goals. Waaah! It was an impulsive buy but I really like the items and the rest is history. If there's any consolation, it's not that expensive naman. But I would really, really need to control myself next time.

my IG story

Guisadong Repolyo at Hipon (Sauteed Cabbage and Prawns)

Both my boys didn't go to work today. My son is on a rest day since he went to work last Sunday. My husband purposely didn't go to the south of Manila because he lacks sleep. He keeps on going to the bathroom to pee in the wee hours of the morning. Apparently, he drank too much water and tea before going to bed last night. 

Delimondo vs Palm corned beef

My sister sent us a message on our messenger group with my siblings informing us that our Mom wasn't feeling well yesterday. She had an over fatigue from last weekend's activities. I cooked Chicken Tinola for lunch and visited her. I dropped by first at the wet market to buy veggies, pitchi-pitchi and rice. Good thing she's feeling better na as in she's up and about. As always, I went home with my loot bag- she gave me organic eggs and popcorn!

Social Media hiatus

Since I promised to blog regularly, I finally turned our bay window in our bedroom into my blogging corner where I could just sit and blog away my thoughts. No excuses na talaga. Haha.

loving the natural light coming in. I would add a big make-up mirror here also...

plants update, Tortang Alamang, Cocina Peruvia

Since my husband was on his regular Sunday bike me time and my son went to work for an overtime, I decided to go to mass at 8:30 am. I find it solemn and cooler at this time of the day. Next Sunday nga uli. I proceeded to the wet market afterwards. When I got home, I cleaned my fresh produce, tucked them away in the freezer and did the laundry. I then started cooking Pork Sinigang(for dinner), Torta Alamang and Ginataang Sigarilyas for lunch. Yes, I was on a roll. I even had my breakfast at almost 11 am. Hay, sinabi ko ngang iiwasan ko na mag-multi task eh. Haha. 

Tortang Alamang(tiny shrimps) in progress...

gym at last + Ayala Vertis North

kumukutitap... I can't take my eyes off them!

I finally had the chance to go to the gym for the first time this 2018. I attended the 12 noon zumba class. I was a bit surprised that the dance floor wasn't that full. Maybe because it's a Saturday. Normally, the gym is overpopulated during week days much more it's January, when people are trying to shake off the excess poundage gained from the month long holidays. Our instructor Zin Sophia had the best props, her sparkling shoes! In the teaching world, we call it motivation.

Happily imperfect

One of social media’s advantages nowadays is a person could create a “superstar status” even one isn't a celebrity. The bad effect here is  one ends up depending their social-esteem on likes or thumbs up, no. of shares and comments on whatever they post in their accounts. For those people who have low self-esteem, it doesn't help either. What would they come up our posts that would give them a good impression on whoever their audience is even if it screams superficial. They wouldn't mind that because the adulation feeds their ego. 'Peer pressure' has transformed into something bigger in this era.

payment day + unexpected mall hop

After my boys went to work, I did my laundry chore (by machine) and prepared to go to the mall with me thinking of going to the gym for the first time this year after I settle our(my son and I) SSS and Philhealth payments. Traffic was moderately heavy but bearable. Although I have to wait out for twenty minutes with my payments, it's such a relief that I'm done with my first agenda. I went to the LTO satellite office just beside the SSS and Philhealth offices and asked if I can already get my driver's license ID which I renewed April last year.

Larawan

We didn't watch any MMFF movie during the holidays because we didn't feel the need to. The last one that my husband and son watched was the latest Star Wars installment. Upon knowing that Larawan is a must see movie, we headed to the mall to catch its theater run last night. We saw it at 7:30 pm after a quick dinner at Tokyo Tokyo. I had Tempura as usual, while my husband had Chicken Teriyaki. We just found it weird that on a Monday night, there was a long line at the cinema and the resto was jampacked, too. Overpopulated na talaga ang Manila. 

First Sunday 2018

Like what I’ve said, one my goals this year is to go to mass regularly. Today, I woke up by around 8:30 and was up by 9:00 am. I hurriedly prepared and was there just on time for the 9:30 mass. It’s a good thing that the church is just a five minute walk from our house. 

2018 goals

I always say I'm not into resolutions but more on setting goals for the new year. We all have 12 new chapters and 365 chances to look forward to. So why not put it into good use, right?

Here are mine...

getting fat

convo earlier with the husband...

H: Ma, tumaba ka na nga! (You’re getting fat)

Me: Talaga? Pangit ba? (Really? Do I look bad?)

H: Hindi. Mas maganda nga eh.  (Nope. You look better) 😩

Apparently, he likes my version with a five pound excess poundage from my ideal weight. 😄

Cheers to 2018

Hello, blog! I miss blogging! There are days that I would say I think I should blog about this or that but IG,Twitter or FB or offline life would always get in the way until I forgot about it already. 

Well, 2017 has been generally a good year. Here’s why:

new 2018 hair color

I was torn if I'll have a haircut or a new hair color at first. March this year I had my below shoulder length hair cut changed to a pixie cut. My favorite hair stylist Mr. D of David's salon was stunned when I asked him what I wanted for my hair, "Sigurado ka?! Although, bagay sa iyo kasi maliit mukha mo." Those were the exact words that he stated. Hindi naman ako depressed but I was unhappy with a few hair loss plus I'm just bored with it. And I have a good excuse, summer or hot days were coming na. Haha. Yup, I'm really experimental when it comes to my hair ever since. I'm not afraid to have it cut short or grow it long. Siguro nga kasi maliit mukha ko. Kahit ano daw bagay.

Pixie hair  March, 2017 Canyon Cove

Butter cake

Still on a Yuletide high and savouring the last pieces of this butter cake I baked last week. 

Ilocos Norte 2017

Day 1

We left home at 8: 30 am. Passed by NLEX and TPLEX. Sun was out, no weather disturbances. It was a good day for a roadtrip.

took a pic and tweeted this at 9:45 am somewhere along Tarlac TPLEX 

Balikbayan dine out

Because I was assuming that I'll be devouring yummy food later, I went to the gym first today.

Our friend is based in San Francisco, California. She's on a short visit because it is her Mom's birthday. We decided to eat at Bagoong club which specializes in Filipino food.

Ampalaya salad for appetizer. Yummy not bitter at all...

Seafood Kare-kare

Crispy Dinuguan

We planned to visit a sick friend(lung cancer) but he was unfortunately scheduled for a check up so we didn't pursue. Instead, we had our dessert at nearby Cafe Breton.

La Pinay

Cafe Latte

Sarsa at UP Town

My husband and I agreed to meet up at UP Town today. I drove there while he went earlier by bike. Every Sunday is his biking day aka "me time". Normally, I'm home.

Ginataang Tilapia

No frills Ginataang Tilapia{in coco milk} for today's lunchie. I usually put Pechay leaves for my veggies but eggplant is what's available in the fridge atm. 🐟

Bruno Mars' 24k Magic tour

I totally forgot that tickets will be on sale by the 7th of Sept. After thirty minutes of selling the tickets, it was sold out. I prayed for a day 2 and alas, it was granted!

This I miss

One of the things that's consuming my 'Me time' besides exercise is Instagram. I have 2 accounts, one is personal and private while the other one is for my hobby/interest.

Fitness inspiration

This outfit{not a sponsored advertisement} has been with me for a couple of years already but it''s only now that I got to notice

~ it could be a great inspo for my next lazy day. Wait, can I add also this comment from a Mom of my former student slash zumbamate, "ang sexy mo!" Haha!

Tuesday ganap

Early morning read. 

source: The Best Half of Life

A quick{long} update

How's your Monday? After a very active weekend, I chose to slow down today. I had a hard time sleeping last night because of that Vietnamese coffee I drank yesterday afternoon, but still, I was up early today and spent it doing my usual morning chores- cooking and doing the laundry in between taking my breakfast.