Holiday Menu

I just wanted to post here what we have prepared for our Christmas lunch reunion with family. Had no time to think through a healthy menu this year but we vow to live and eat healthier this 2013. Happy New Year everyone!

Luigi's in Kindermusik!

My dear son has finally started to go to Kindermusik. We've been meaning to enroll him for the longest time and only found the perfect time this month. He's attending the Our Time Class every Sunday at Teacher Jeannie and Company.

Here are some picture of their year-end activity:

Trick or Treat 2012

My kids are Woody and Jessie this year. Aren't they so cute together?

Going back to Scrapbooking

If there's anything that I missed while I was super busy with work - it's blogging and doing digital scrapbooking.

I challenged myself recently to try it out again -- I knew that my photoshop skills are going a bit rusty --- by creating Zoe's school party invitation DIY.

Hmm...although this looks okay - I think I need to practice some more. :-)

Hope I find more time to sit down to create more cute stuff.

Emer & Ruby's Wedding

Our good friend Ruby finally married her boyfriend Emer at Sta. Maria della Strada Parish last May 01. It was a joyous occasion and we were very delighted to have been part of the culmination of their love story.

The wedding was solemn and well-planned. (I am quite biased since I love the church so much ~ we got married in the same church, that's why.)

Anyway, reception was held at Ayala Hillside Clubhouse.


Our barkada picture...

Best wishes R & E!

*thanks to Gra for the pics!

Lola A's Birthday

It was my mother-in-law's 79th birthday last April 10 and we all flocked to their house to celebrate the occasion.

Here are some pictures.

(L-R) - Luigi, Lola A, Zoe and Robbie

Luigi with cousin Beni:


Zoe monopolizing the videoke:

Happy Birthday Nay! We love you!

My Best Friend's Wedding

London-based Cleo, one of my dear best friends, recently got hitched to her boyfriend of 3 years in a very simple church ceremony. I'll say that in spite of the rush preparation (it's so hard to plan when you're an overseas bride), the wedding was actually nice.

We arrived just in time for the bridal procession. She was wearing the mid-length gown which I bought the night before (yes, you read it right, I bought the gown the night before). Anyway, her bridal bouquet was lovely. And of course, her bag is cute (coz it's mine!). Haha!

The priest who solemnized the wedding was a fairly new and young priest. He's been a priest for less than a year, I think. Anyway, during the homily, he associated a marriage with chopsticks. With no pun intended for Cleo's being partly Chinese, he depicted the similarities between the two. It's quite simple really. The key is really to work together to make the marriage work.

With all its simplicity, let me just note that I love a wedding like this. This is a real marriage with wedding vows done by the couple in front of Our Lord and all His Saints (well, as opposed to weddings that are officiated just by a civil authority). There is no need for grand entrances or ostentatious flowers or gowns. As long as the form and matter are present, it is a sacrament, a valid marriage.

So here is the happy couple.

After the mass, they hitched in a shiny black car going to the reception in Makati.

And here's us. Oh well, I look at myself here with a little cringe. If you notice, I haven't gotten back to my old (often dubbed as pre-pregnancy) weight yet. My tummy still has that sort of pregnancy pouch that doesn't seem to come off. If only I could, I'll fly to the States and have a plastic surgery travel and undergo a california cosmetic surgery to lose all those pounds I gained from giving birth. Do you think it's already safe to have a procedure done like a tummy tuck in Beverly Hills? Well, I'll have to ask my OB first.

Anyway, going back to the wedding, the reception was at Conti's in Greenbelt. I sort of know one of the persons who own the place so I recommended them to the couple. Well, apart from a small glitch with the reservations, the food was glorious (okay, there goes my diet again!).

My warm wishes for a lasting marriage to you guys! May you find yourselves together soon in London (as planned). Cheers to lots of cute babies in the future!

Back from a short break

Guess what? I'm again back in the office. It's supposed to be a regular working day but my mind is still having a hang-over from the Christmas celebrations...and so I'm blogging to get myself back on track. LOL (what an excuse!).

Anyway, our Christmas was great! We had our usual family get-together on Christmas day with my relatives on my mother's side and my in-laws (SILs, pamangkins and MIL) spending the whole day at our home. Of course, my Tatay and Ninang and Francis were there too. The only person we're missing is my sister who is in Iloilo.

For Christmas lunch, we served chicken mushroom spaghetti, potato-apple salad, lumpiang shanghai, kaldereta. All yummy!!!

Wish it was Christmas day again....(sigh).

Happy Birthday Bro! :-)

UP Friends - Christmas Party 2009

Our home was the venue for this year's annual Christmas Party get-together amongst my UP barkada and their families (or significant other).

We had it potluck style tapos I prepared some simple fun games and a raffle to keep us all in the mood for Christmas.

This year's hosts - V & T (uy... mukhang payat!)

Tanay couple - Baba and Gra

Crazy folks :-) Borj and Che
May 1 lovebirds - Emer and Ruby

Secretive Lala (na may date afterwards but won't divulge the details)

Zoe with Tito Eumir

Xmas foodies!

Raffle prizes c/o everyone

Christmas Charades - Che (trying to decribe Santa Claus)

Christmas Charades - Gra (trying to act out poinsettia) - cute!

Christmas Carol Relay (the boys won!)

Bring me...an office ID! :-)

Chillin'

Group pic

Hope to see you guys again soon! Merry Christmas!

*pics from Gracia's multiply site

Trick or Treat Project

Zoe's group at Kindermusik had a belated Trick or Treat-themed class a week after Halloween. In line with this, I prepared these sweet treats for her classmates.

Their loot bag contains: cotton candy, jelly ace, chocolate and a container of mini Stick-O's. *-*

Happy, Happy

My husband's niece got married last last week and we were all there to witness this happy occasion. My husband was a principal sponsor (he's still in denial, I know!) while Zoe was a flower girl.

Here are some of our pictures during the event:



Do you think Zoe looks more like her Dad or me?

Zoe the Flower Girl

Yes, Zoe will officially be a flower girl for the very first time tomorrow. Her cousin will be getting married in their historical church in the countryside and we will be flocking over there right after her Kindermusik summer class.

I wonder how we will be able to manage going to school, traveling, dressing up and going to the wedding when the time gap is so slim.

Hmmm...we'd better sleep early tonight so we'll have enough energy to be in a frenzy tomorrow.

Will post pictures of the wedding after. :-)

This is Just the Beginning...

My Tatay called me up late last Friday and told me that he will be hosting a party on Sunday lunch. So, I said, "Ok po, for how many people po?". He said "For around 30 people". I almost fainted. Hahaha.

Anyway, the party was success. My Dad's co-authors in Rex Publishing were there plus some of my parents' inaanak sa kasal (with their kids) - most of them teachers from Lourdes School. I don't how we did it but we somehow managed to prepare all the dishes in time for lunch. But I'm telling you, it was like a MAD RUSH! We made an early trip to the wet market for the meat, shrimp, veggies and fish. After that, we rushed to grocery which opens at 9 am and bought more supplies. After paying for the grocery, we realized that our rice cooker conked out the day before and so we had to wait for the appliance store to open so we can buy a new rice cooker. We also had to find a panciteria where we could order pancit bilao. There were already guests as early as 11 and we were still wrapping the lumpiang shanghai, frying the lapu-lapu and breading the chicken! Kakahiya. It was like a scene from Iron Chef America, I swear.

Here's a picture of our labor of love ~

After the party, I realized that this is just the beginning. We will be hosting more parties and family reunions at home and I better be ready or ELSE!

By the way, the food we prepared got my two thumbs up! Yummy!