On A Wonderful Day Like Today

Our balikbayan relatives set a date for us to meet some of our Oblena relatives based in the States. We all had a fun time (minus the "nosebleed" haha) eating, talking, picture-taking, etc. etc. For dinner, we served kare-kare, lumpiang shanghai, pancit malabon, crispy pata, pata tim, humba, beef kaldereta, banana crumble, carrot cake, pudding, ice cream, ripe mangoes, bibingka, and lots, lots more! Truly a genuine Filipino dinner!

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 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. ...

Pardon if I've been posting too many pics of our holiday celebrations. Over-exposed na mukha namin sa blog na 'to. Anyway, just a few more kwento. I'm posting about my happenings as much as possible in chronological order so that there's better drift. Pasensya na, this is more for personal consumption rather than for general public viewing. :-) Last December 30, 2007, the Eggheads aand their families flocked to Gracia's QC house for a pot-luck party. Why Eggheads? It's corny eh. I especially like referring to my "brainy" college friends (from UP Economics) as The Eggheads. Ya know, like when you have a barkada and you give a name to your barkada. The original eggheads were really just Jackie, Lala, Cherry, Gracia and me. We got to know each other at the line for the registration for blocks as freshmen. As some may be familiar, the lines in UP take FOREVER. So on one of those occasions where we registered for a subject, Lala (whose my friend way back fr...

Having slept past midnight after Noche Buena, the whole family awoke to the "Merry Christmas PO!" greetings of the different kids at our doorstep. Good thing we were able to prepare early. The previous day, we wrapped around 50 pieces of Christmas lootbags containing chocolates and candies of all sorts with a piece of dalandan all to be given away to the kids who knock at our doors. I also had exchanged from the bank bags of 5-peso and 1-peso coins for those na namamasko. At lunch time, my mother-in-law, SILs and pamangkins arrived. I prepared spaghetti, garden fresh salad, buco salad and crispy pata for lunch. Tapos they brought with them kare-kare, embutido, kaldereta, etc. etc. Super sarap. It really pays to have Kapampangan in-laws. Hehe. Right after my in-laws arrived, my own cousins and tito and tita naman ang dumating. Jiji brought embutido while Randy brought ice cream. Heto itsura namin -- talagang mukhang magkakamag-anak! We had exchange gifts pala after lunch. Next...

I had a great time last Saturday during the Christmas get-together of Home Matters. Despite the delay that we had on the way to the party because Zoe felt sick in the car and vomitted, we were still able to catch the demo of the Yuletide Log (cake) plus the wonderful talk of Ms. Monina Mercado about Christmas and her book. Too bad, I missed the demo of the Callos (sooo yummy!). While the ladies were doing their thing, the ones in charge took all the kids in one of Judy's bedrooms and allowed them to jump up and down the beds. Zoe was so amused with the other kids --- I caught her shrieking one time while she and the other kids played in the bedroom. Plus, I loved Judy's unit. It was simple yet very elegant. I wish I could also use matching furnitures, linens and decorations in each of the rooms. Her traditional belen is also very well prepared. It was the center of attraction, really. Which reminds me, I need to to bring out our family belen soon. Unfortunately, I wasn't ab...

Inviting all my lady friends and fellow-mommy bloggers--- For the married, you can tag along your babies (if you have)... For the single(hearted), you can bring your nieces or nephews if you feel like it... There will be 2 talks (I think) and be ready to learn to make Madrilena Callos with bread and a Yuletide dessert --and eat it too! :-) Let me know if you can make it so we can meet. Hope to see you there!!! :-)