On A Wonderful Day Like Today

I've been postponing writing about THIS for quite a long time, not just because I was busy but because I wanted the news to come out first within the family. Anyway, word's finally out that the important wedding that I'm attending this May that is so close to home is actually my own Dad's wedding. Three years after losing my Mom, he has decided to plunge into married bliss once again, errr...for the second time in his life. My Dad's turning 62 this May. His bride-to-be is my baptismal godmother (she's 63). Talk about a senior citizen's wedding. :-) Anyway, to Tatay and Ninang --- stay as groovy as you both are. I'm happy if you are happy. ...now start with the DIET! LOL.

Can you feel the heat of the summer? It's so hot outside that the aircon at work seems not enough. Our solution ~~~ My wacky officemates are holding IT! Here's Sha and moi (uy, straight hair at feeling model! ^-^) ~~~Razon's Halo-halo! Yummmmmyyy!

Feeling a little richer last week, I took the liberty of treating myself and some special people for dinner & lunch out as a celebration for the bonus which I received earlier last week. First, I treated my Hunny for dinner in Friday's Serendra during our weekly date. We weren't so pleased with the food and service in this particular Friday's branch. The food arrived around 30 minutes after we ordered and it tasted rather bland for my taste. Anyway, at least I had a great time being with my dear husband. If not for that... Next was my treat for my officemates at Conti's. While we did wait for a good 30 minutes before we were seated, the food was definitely worth the wait. I really realy love Conti's (whether or not I know Angie, one of the Conti sisters). Already thinking of booking them again for Zoe's 2nd birthday party this September. We got them to cater before for Zoe's baptismal party and it was so patok. Wishing it's bonus day everyday!

After several days of fever and rashes, I was glad that Zoe was well enough to attend Nikka's 4th birthday party at Max's in Scout Tuazon last Saturday. Nikka is the daughter of my good friends Fred and Pat. Their eldest, Gerard, is my godson. The party was a fashionista party. :-) So for the party, I decided to buy Zoe a new t-shirt from Gingersnaps to have a sorta fashionista look. They gave away nice furry headbands to the little girls and pins for the boys. Here are some of Zoe's pics. Looking a little grumpy. Starting to enjoy the party now. The party had 3 puppet shows (Dora, Cars and Beauty and the Beast) and some games. Just couldn't remember now the name of the party host but overall, Zoe seemed to have enjoyed it. After the party, we were able to bring home 2 pink balloons and 1 kikay loot bag which contains candies and beauty-related toys. :-)

I've decided to cancel all our foreign trips this year and just use my profit sharing bonus to give myself a new look yesterday. LOL. Just joking. Anyway, the gay guy who did my brand new rebonded hair is still alive...well, so far. And excuse me, hindi ko lang ishinampoo yan ha. I will share pics once I get the courage to pose for the cam. Hahahah.

Just a quick post... Today's my mom's 3rd death anniversary. Asking friends who pass by this blog to say a li'l prayer for her soul. My Nanay's name is Violeta. Thanks! Thanks! Really appreciate it.

Thank God for profit-sharing! After labouring over this project for a good 2 months, I've finally finished everything (well, almost) and received my bonus today. Now, what can I buy with all that money? Hihihi! On second thought, I think I'll just save it up for a possible trip abroad (aka second honeymoon) this year. :-) Our target month is June with hopes of a second baby by May or June next year (or even earlier depending on God's plan). About Zoe naman, she's been having fever since yesterday due (I think) to a molar tooth that is erupting. Can't wait for her to grow most of her teeth so that she can learn to talk straight na. She getting bigger and bigger by the week. Plus, she's been so entertaining to watch. She mimicks me while singing during Sunday mass! She opens her mouth ala-operatic style but no voice comes out. Hugitin mo voice mo from the diaphragm anak. LOL! And her favorite word for the week: FISH! Yep, she loves feeding our fish in the mini-p...

I recently invited my friends / barkada to have lunch at home. Carla just came back from Iloilo, Lala arrived fresh from Japan while Cleo is a balikbayan from London. We've been friends for almost 11 years and counting. It was a fun day, girls. Sana we'll always be complete like this. :-) "Friends are such a treasure."

My friend Tet gave me this tag. Thanks sis. I AM... a wife, a mom, a sister, a daughter of my parents and of God. I WANT... a new job? I HAVE… a great great family. I WISH… for unity in the world. I HATE… sin. I FEAR… death. I SEARCH… for solutions to be debt-free! I WONDER… if we can get a US visa soon. I LOVE… God and my family. I ALWAYS… eat. LOL I AM NOT… not inlove. (wala na akong masagot) I DANCE… papaya! I SING… quite well. I CRY… when I remember sad things. I WRITE… in my blog. I WON… 2 Josh Groban concert tickets last October! T'was worth 20k each. I AM CONFUSED… about something at work. I SHOULD… exercise (sayang gym membership). THE LAST THOUGHT I GO TO SLEEP WITH IS… God.

Thanks to Jacqui and Pat for tagging me on this... You will have to tag 5 other bloggers and just keep adding on to the list. Do not replace, just keep on adding! Yes we hope it will be a long list! It’s real easy! Tag others and see your Technorati Authority increase exponentially! The benefits of Viral Linking: One· of the fastest ways to see your technorati authority explode! Increase your Google· PageRank fast Attract large volume of new· traffic to your site Build your· community· Make new friends! The Strategist Notebook Link Addiction Ardour of the Heart When Life Becomes a Book The Malaysian Life Yogatta.com What goes under the sun Roshidan’s Cyber Station Sasha says Arts of Physics And the legend lives My View, My Life A Simple Life Juliana RW The Callalily Space Petra Summer in Blue Confessions of an Army Wife Bless’ Sanctuary Happy Life http://bless519.bravejournal.com/ La Place de Cherie , Chez Francine , Le bric a brac de Cherie , Little Peanut , Pea in a...

After much reflection and prayer during the Lenten Season, one of the things we can do is to resolve to offer small acts of service and good deeds for others. Jesus has offered us His very life and we, as His followers, should try to live by His example. Doing some kind of service for the others not only benefits the one receiving the kind act but also the person himself. It doesn't have to be something big or fantastic. On the contrary, it can just be a small sacrifice or mortification. It could be giving up a material thing to help the others who would need it more, offering your time to someone who needs assistance, doing a good deed for a brother or sister without them knowing it (tidy up their beds when they are rushing to go to school or to work), smiling to a loved one to lift up their spirits, keeping your opinion to yourself and trying to understand more the others, telling your husband you love him and giving him a hug at the most unexpected moment. As I have been trying ...

After greeting everyone a happy Easter, I just realized that it's back to work again on Monday. Arrrrgh! Why did this vacation end so fast? I haven't even snagged some time to do some of my pending to-do's here at home. 1. Clean up cabinet. 2. Fix family files in respective folders. 3. Organize digital pics for developing. 4. Shine office shoes. 5. Clean up mess in the family room. 6. Make inventory of kitchen pantry. Etc. etc. etc. And to think I even brought home some paper work for the office. Feeling lang magagawa. Duh. My cousins will be coming over this afternoon to celebrate with us Easter and my Nanay's 3rd death anniversary so I guess it's next to impossible for me to still sneak in a thing or two of those chores. Anyway, on the more positive side, at least Zoe had a blast with having me around for 4 days straight. I also got to pray more and attend the services for Holy Week. Plus, I also was able to visit my mom in the cemetery. God and family first right...

Just want to write a quick note to greet everyone a happy Easter! Wishing all mommy bloggers and other blogger friends happiness, a renewed sense of hope and more opppssss! :-) LOL. God bless you all!

The Holy Father yearly meets with young people during the UNIV Congress which is held during Holy Week in Rome. Taken from the UNIV website - "UNIV is an international gathering of university students, which since 1968 the Institute for University Cooperation (ICU) sponsors in Rome. Each year, several thousand students spend Holy Week in Rome, profiting from the cultural and historical riches that the Eternal City has to offer. Throughout the week, ICU provides students with various cultural encounters, conferences, roundtables, showrooms and concerts. all of these activities are occasions to delve more deeply into important matters relevant to the university, highlighting particularly the spirit of service towards those who are most in need." This year, the UNIV 2008 (Rome,15-23 March 2008) has the theme - "Being, Appearing, and Communicating: Entertainment and Happiness in a Multi-Medial Society." I am proud to say that I was part of this UNIV Congress 11 years...

When one speaks of personal beauty, one would think either of inner beauty or outer beauty. Inner beauty is one that we cannot see but can feel. It is about the beauty or amiability of spirit. Outer beauty, on the other hand, is usually connected with pleasing facial and bodily features. Outer beauty is rather a complicated issue. Across different cultures, the meaning of outer beauty usually varies. In some places, being fair-skinned and slim is the standard for beauty. On the contrary, in other countries, having olive-colored skin and a voluptuous body are depicted as more attractive compared to those who do not possess those qualities. As humans, the initial thing that people look at is the outer appearance. Thus, trying to live up to that external standard of physical beauty is very hard for some and can take a toll on individuals. Although daily personal hygiene and cleansing can lead to a respectable appearance, sometimes, these are not enough. On top of that, there are many fact...

Feeling very united with the Pope especially this Holy Week...

As many of you may not know, I have a cousin, Francis, who is living with us since he was 3 years old. We already consider him as our true brother since he was raised by my parents as their own. He's now 14 years old and in just 2 years, he is going to college. He asked me the other day which type of course is good for him when he graduates from high school. I told him that he could get a technical course that consists of it training since that is very much in demand these days. At present, information technology plays a very important role in most people's lives. We rely on the help of the computer to do our daily activities. Thus, more and more jobs and careers are available that are IT-related because of the big impact of information technology. Those people who are interested to learn how to develop new software for different purposes can study in tech schools for a future career in IT. In a good technical school , you can learn the ropes in IT and be one of the best IT p...

It's summer time! Hope I can bring Zoe again to any nice pool for a wonderful dip in the cool water. Her Chicco bathing suit would already fit just right this time. Taken during our family summer outing last year: Planning..planning... Any suggestions?

I love to cook. My love for cooking started from my early days when my mom would teach me a thing or two in the kitchen. Later on, during my high school days, I was very interested in our home economics class that I almost enrolled myself in a culinary school and take up a Home Economics degree. However, it was not meant to be. Instead of home economics, I ended up taking up Economics which is a totally different course. But even though I was not bound to be chef, my interest for cooking has never faded. If you are inclined on seriously studying the art of cooking, I would suggest you look for the best chef school available. There are a number of really good culinary schools which offer the best training and hands-on experience which can develop your skills in cooking. After studying, you may never know, you just might be the next Wolfgang Puck or something.

Yahoo!!! Got new awards from Nol . Thanks sis! Tips naman about HK. I've been aching to go there. Passing these awards to some new online friends - Marvy , Andrea and Tracy . Hope to see you here more often. Cheers! :-)

Hubby simply knows how to make me feel better --- what else but by treating me out to dinner! Dinner was just in Teriyaki Boy. Nothing fancy really but any place is okay when I'm with my hubby. Here's some pics of our food we had during our dinner date last week. I won't be posting pics of myself coz after 15 hours of working straight, I don't think I can manage to look good for the cam. LOL Hot Miso Soup: Some tuna sashimi: Yummy Cali Maki: Tonkatsu for Moi: Teriyaki Chicken Don for Him: Aside from the good and fast service, another great thing about Teriyaki Boy in Makati Ave is that it's still open even at 10:30 p.m. I'm looking forward to our next date, Hun. It's gonna be my treat next time. :-)

Many famous fashion designers are not an overnight success. They don't just rely on pure luck or genius to make it big in the fashion industry. Just like in any career, one needs to study and develop the art and craft of the business. In the fashion and design business, an aspirant should be able to enhance his skills with proper training and knowledge. To accomplish this, I recommend that one does the right research on which school can develop your talent and make your dream to be a stylist or designer come true. There are several fashion schools in california which offer the best training for students who want to study art and design. In particular, some fashion schools in los angeles offer good programs and associate degrees that can immediately land you a job in the fashion industry. So take your chance now and enroll in any fashion school in california and make your dreams a reality.

I went to attend the anticipated mass today and a pastoral letter from Archbishop Rosales was read during the homily. While the priest was reading through the letter, I suddenly remembered how painful my past Holy Week was 3 years ago. My mom was sick and after several days of confinement, the doctor decided to bring her in the ICU. We, including my mom, were so so scared. Aside from the fact that we felt we were left in the dark about her true condition by her doctor (that's why I never returned to Medical City), I was so afraid of losing my mom. It was Palm Sunday when she was brought in. She kept saying to us --"Don't leave me -- I might not wake up anymore." Her condition grew worse as the Holy Week passed by one day at a time. On Good Friday, at 3pm, while I was praying since that was the time of Our Lord's death on the cross, there was a call from the doctors for us to enter my mom's room. The hard part was, I was only with my Tita Jo at that time. My da...

Have you seen Anne C's new billboard in Edsa near Makati? Hubby even called me up to tell me about it. It seems that I won't be happy daw when I do see it. Fired up, fired up, fired up... I'm now thinking if we can pass some other route on our way to the office so I won't be so critical every single day... Maybe that'll work.

On a lighter note, let me just make mention of the awards I received last week from Em . Thank you so much girl. I just wish the card can really be used for shopping! :-) Here are the rest of the awards: Passing this on to more online friends Nikki , Pat , Agnes and Vannie .

My patience is really being put to the test these days. Have you ever experienced that level of bickering before which makes you just want to cry and shout? HAAAYYYYYY. Hoping that it'll stop soon. After all, it'll be Easter soon.

I have a friend from the office who recently gave birth. When she returned to work after her maternity leave, I was pretty amazed on how she didn't look any different from when she was still single. Her tummy was as flat as ever and her body slim and attractive. I thought for a moment that it was because her genes that made her come back to her old size even after giving birth even without trying. But I later found out that right after she gave birth through CS operation, she also arranged for a los angeles tummy tuck . Wow, I didn't know that was possible. I must admit that I used to be very ignorant of the latest technological and medical procedures when it comes to plastic or cosmetic surgery. My only source of first-hand information was from the stories of my doctor-friend who took her specialization in head and neck surgery. At first, she only had a clinic in PGH. After a while, she landed on a course in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. When she came back to the...

I've been feeling like a contradiction the whole week long. I love my job, I hate my job. I want to look good, I hate to put on make up, comb my hair, etc. etc. I want to lose weight, I love to eat (errr... I love to eat a lot). I want to be patient, I flare up with the slightest sight of *secret*. I want to be to go shopping, I have no money for it. I want to go home early, I stay till past 10pm in the office everyday this week...ggrrrr. I love bonuses, I hate bonuses. I love salary increase, I hate taxes. I love to wake up in the morning, I hate to leave for work. I want to go home (hmmm....did I say that already?)...but I need to finish my work. Hubby's been waiting downstairs for some time already while I finish my work and this post. So I've finally decided to do what I want. Now I'm going home...no more work and no more blogging for today. Time check: 9:15 p.m. wo-hooo early...LOL.

My Dad, ever since, has been into writing and publishing books. He has authored several school text books on Filipino (language and literature) for immediate and secondary levels. Actually, he is now in the process of finishing another set of books. I've seen how satisfying it is to write and at the same time, get paid for doing what you love. Deep inside, I also want to explore that side of business and follow the steps of my Dad. But with my line of work, there seems to be no opportunity for me to write for a publisher, lest get paid big bucks for doing so. However, this year, things have changed a bit. I've discovered a new hobby and I'm now very happy to be writing too, like my Dad, but this time for the world wide web on my personal blog. It's a sort of dream come true, really. One of the better sites to get into blog advertising is Smorty . I've heard very good feedback from friends about Smorty. Many of them blog for money and have been compensated handsomel...

...and then some teeth marks... Zoe has learned the art of book-biting. LOL. Notice the bite marks on the upper right hand of the book. Undeniably this is Zoe's favorite book to eat...errr...to read. :-) Good thing I still have an extra copy of this book inside the hard-bound Harper Collins' Treasury of Picture Book Classics which was given to me by my friend Lala. I think I'll hide this one in the cabinet first before she starts to be book-hungry again. :-)

Thought I'd distract myself for a minute after working in the office for 11 long hours... Here's my new lunch box which I bought from Duty Free last Saturday. It's so cute -- looks like a vanity kit... Makes me look forward more to my home-made baon daily. Wala lang...

My childhood friends and I trooped to Serendra on Sunday evening for some bonding moments since Cleo just came back from abroad. These girls have been my friends for the longest time. Being neighbors, we all grew up together. They were the ones who were always present during my childhood birthdays (even up to now actually). I even have proof that Cristy (outer left) was in my 1st birthday party! :-) That's how long we've been friends. :-) Having grown up together, we understand each other pretty well. When you look at us, it may seem that we really don't have much in common now. But what's common to us really are our friendship and childhood memories. We talked about anything under the sun -- the latest chika in the neighborhood, old boyfriends, the games we used to play, our past cat-fights, our families, daily struggles, fashion finds. etc. etc. Thus, dinner together would mean a lot of fun, a lot of laughs and a lot of reminiscing of our good ol' childhood days. ...

Really really stressed out at work. I thought this might help ease the stress. Thanks Nikki! How long did you date? as friends - 1 year, as bf/gf - 7 years How old is he? 35 (Kuya!) Who eats more? Him. More rice than me but less ulam than me. Who said “I love you” first? Sya, of course. Who is taller? Him, by 4 inches. Who sings better? Meeh! Definitely! :-) Who is smarter? We're both smart! LOL. But he's more street smart than me. Whose temper is worse? I think him. That's why we didn't marry right away. Nag-anger management course muna sya. Hahaha! Who does the laundry? the labandera Who does the dishes? Ate Nilda, our ever trusted help at home. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Meeh coz Zoe's crib is at the right side too. Who pays the bills? My Dad? LOL. We share the bills at home. Who mows the lawn? Francis, my brother. Who cooks dinner? Ate Nilda again. Who drives when you are together? Him. I don't like driving anymore since I bumped a car in Megam...

As the adage goes, "Beauty is skin-deep". And alas, many do prefer to go deep through their skins to look beautiful. By getting some plastic surgeries, that is. In Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery, there are high caliber doctors like founding plastic surgeon Dr. Lloyd Krieger who can aid people who are interested and qualified to go under the knife for purposes of improving and enhancing their physical beauties. They offer various procedures in their famous clinics in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles. For those who have ugly fat tissues near the stomach area due to pregnancy, weight gain or aging, a tummy tuck can be done to remove that. For those whose arm muscles are loose, sagging and flabby, maybe a liposuction is the answer. And for those who want to improve the size of their chest area, breast augmentation may be performed. But of course, going through surgery is serious business. So if ever you decide to undergo plastic surgery, you have to be sure, determined and qualified...

My Dad (kahit short notice lang) asked us to accompany him to a short trip to Paete. He just wanted to see how the wooden cross that he ordered for our village chapel looks like na. So on Saturday morning, we drove to Paete. It was a wonderful ride going there. The sky was overcast and the weather great! We were there by 12:30 pm and decided to have lunch first at the famous EXOTIK restaurant. Here's what we ordered. Take note that we didn't order anything exotic really (compared to frogs, sawa, stingrays and the like). But the food tastes good naman. We just had ampalaya con karne, bulalo, fried maliputo, plus mais con yelo (in a bao) for dessert! After lunch, we headed to the Paete town proper and then straight to the shop of the wood carver that was commissioned by my Dad to do the altar piece for our chapel. Love this red paper-mache horse: A statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe that's bigger than life! Talk about Marian devotions... Marilyn Monroe with all those Mama Mary s...