Diet Now!

I'm starting on a diet to slim down and look good for my childhood bff's wedding. I'm going to be her maid of honor. If I don't lose weight then I might just end up becoming the maid of horror!! Hahaha.

So goodbye french fries! Goodbye soda! Sob. LOL!

Using the Blogger App

With this app, I don't need to open my laptop to blog nor go thru so many sites first. I can blog now on way home! Big smile!!!

Get it in your iTunes store for free now!

My Enderun Experience

Part of my job is to promote employee wellness and one of the perks of that is that I get first-hand information on the available activities that are best-suited to my needs. This is one of them: a free culinary class c/o Chef Thomas Wenger last May at the famous Enderun Colleges. 

Let me share with you the menu during the class. For the recipes, just drop me a note if you are interested to get a copy. :-)

Menu:

·         Pan-fried red mullet , Tomato Confit, Black Olives

·         Turmeric Spiced Chicken Thighs, Ginger-glazed Pekchai and Buckwheat Noodles

·         Red Berry Soup with Mango Granita

Enderun is located at 1100 Campus Avenue McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

House Renovation?

Our house is almost 7 years old now and lately, hubby and I have been contemplating on having a renovation to construct a new room for Luigi. He has been growing up so fast and in no time, he might already need to have his own room in the house for he is turning 3 soon and would be big enough then to sleep in his own bed. And of course, another bed, couldn't fit anymore in our bedroom!

There is actually a space intended for another room upstairs but the problem is, all the hollow space has been temporarily closed off until that big renovation (and money) comes along. Anyway, hopefully, if the good Lord will provide, we can start to construct before the year ends. 

And so, to prepare for it, I've actually already started to look for good eco-friendly contractors that are able to do the renovation using green technology. We would want to utilize materials that won't hurt the environment and would last a long time. For example, there is a construction firm in Calgary whose house designs and materials are nature-friendly and at the same time practical. I'll go for that kind of construction company anytime, if you ask me. They also can help you look for the right financing to kick off your house renovation. What can you say about that? Wish they do construction jobs in my area!

Flores de Mayo 2012

It was Luigi's first time to join the Santacruzan...and he sure had a blast!

 

 

Easter Eggs

Easter is always a time for celebration. For this year, we commemorate the resurrection of Christ by coming up with some colorful Easter eggs. I was able to find the time to dye up some eggs for my kids to enjoy. Look at the finished product!

 

 

The kids loved it!

Kinder PM Class at KILA SY 2011-2012

My Daughter and Son

Just sharing a few pictures off my overloaded camera.

I love, love, love you so much!

And Then There Were None

October 8, 2011 - Luigi's 2nd official trip to the barber... this time, to have it all shaved up.

The "before" shot:

The "during" shots:

The "after" shot:


With a small black spot in the middle of his forehead - due to a bump he had because of his kalikutan - but, nevertheless, still cute!

Focus on Fitness

Have you ever experienced feeling bloated and lazy? Or are you often in an eating craze and too many drinking parties?

Do you want to get fit and lengthen your life? Do you want to live your life happy and full of energy?

Well, if your anwers if no, no and yes, yes to above questions, then why don't you start over, leave all of those bad habits behind, get into those athletic apparel and focus on your health and fitness today? At first, it may not be easy but if you think of the benefits of living healthy, then you will be encouraged to really fight for fitness.

Below are some of the unique benefits of regular exercise and getting fit:

1. Regular exercise reduces your risk of premature death. You avoid developing heart disease and different kinds of cancer, which are the main causes of premature death.
2. Your immune system is also strengthen with regular exercise.
3. You sleep better and it's what you need to feel relaxed and energetic the next day.
4. Even without a rigid diet, you tend to cut off those extra pounds.
5. You will even look younger than how you would normally would for your age!
6. Overall, you feel great and happy!

Now what could be better that all that?

I highly encourage you to take up regular exercise not as a daily chore but something that you are doing and will be doing not only for yourself but for your whole family. You may actually start off with just light exercise routines like walking or stretching. When you feel more comfortable with your body, you can do more aerobic exercise such as jumping, running, swimming. After you have managed to take control of your body and energy, you can move forward by adding some strength and muscle conditioning for your routine. With these, you can be fit in no time. Make sure you take nutritious meals and enough rest as well.

Now if you are like me who needs a little bit more boost than the rest, you can allow yourself to be enthused by buying some new clothes for your exercise activities. What I did for myself was to browse and buy through an online clothing store. I was able pick several polo shirts and other women's clothing that fit my body and boost my morale. Now, I am ready to start my exercise routines because I feel good about the way I look and I know in my heart that this is the best thing I can actually do for myself.

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.

Revisiting Ongpin Street

My new officemates and I went on a mini-field trip to Chinatown last July. It was more of a food trip actually, but nevertheless very culturally enriching.

Let the pictures speak for themselves.

Posing with the group:


Poong Nazareno found inside Binondo Church:

Kalesa ride, anyone?

What is a Binondo trip without stopping by at Tasty?

Siomai to perfection:

Siopao which I couldn't resist:

Colorful version of the siopao infront of Eng Bee Tin:

Saying a little prayer thru incense:

Fruits at a very low price:

Luvet! I'm definitely coming back!

Shopping Alternative

We were gifted with this colorful picture frame a couple of years ago and it's only now that I was able to take it out from its "hiding place" and be able to put the kids' pictures inside.

How lovely it turned out to be! This one now sits on the glass table in the living room. :-)

Now I realize how we can easily forget gifts received through the years. When Christmas or birthdays pass, we sometimes forget to immediately put the gifts to use. In some instances even, we forget them altogether and they rust away or get spoilt, making them useless stuff.

I know that I have a lot more "good stuff" which I have on storage and not used. I still have a ton of bags, lotions, perfumes, etc. etc. in the cabinet!!! Don't you think this is enough reason for me to skip going around the mall for now and stop buying stuff here and there? As an alternative, what I just gotta do is really bring out those gifts in storage and make use of them. It's like buying new stuff without spending a single cent.

How cool is that?

Funny Find: Lunch Bugs

The page says: Sick of sharing your sandwich with your co-workers? This is one way to be totally sure that no one will ever want to touch your lunch again.

Eww and LOL!

Vacation's Over

Vacation is over. Well, at least for me, of course. I was on quite a busy but memorable vacation for the past days with my family but inevitably had to go back to my corporate life, this time with a new company. Hopefully, I will find my stay in this company so worthwhile.

Speaking of work, one of the first emails I got in my inbox is an email from HR informing everyone about the annual vaccination program for the employees. Unlike in my previous job where you get one free vaccine for yourself, all of the vaccines to be availed here are to be charged to the employee, albeit at a lesser price. Nurses and doctors wearing hospital scrubs uniforms will come in at a given day to administer to the employees the vaccines which they've ordered. I'm actually thinking if I should also order at least a flu vaccine for my kids. Hmm. They are both due for that same vaccine anyway. Oh, by the way, this reminds me that I still need to do some research for a nurse-friend of mine looking for scrubs. I will tell her that she can actually find cheap but nice nursing or medical scrubs in this link http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/Scrubs-for-Women/Original-Scrubs/. I am quite sure she will find what she needs there.

Ta-ta for now!

Our St. Nick

St. Nicholas of Bari is a popular saint often associated with asking for financial assistance, protection of children, and of course, Christmas gift-giving.

Because my husband and I have been praying to him to keep our finances sound and our kids and house safe for the longest time, we've always wanted to get a St. Nicholas statue for the house. It is also to replace/complement our already-dilapidated St. Nicholas novena prayer card that is posted on our cork board near the telephone in the living room. :-)

Happily last March, I was able to find a lovely wooden figure of him from Deinar. Fina of Deinar handed St. Nicholas to us with the reminder that we can truly pray to him to give us money, a lot of money, but just enough.

So, here he is.

The figure fits perfectly at the wall adjacent to our main door. And as we had the figure blessed and then hung on the wall, we pray that he continues to be one of the guardians of the kids, the house and our wallets. :-)

For more info and stories on this saint, click here.

So, House Everything?

This blog has been an utterly neglected space in the world wide web. Huhu. But I think I'm about to do something about it now.

Find more interesting articles in the next minutes or so. I'm definitely back in the grind! Ha!

Love,
Vina

Zoe with Zoe, Luigi with Luigi

Just a quick post...

As a young lady, I was never really the one to think ahead of the names of my future children. In fact, we only thought of the names of our kids just a few months before I gave birth to them. Sometimes, I, myself, feel amused on how my kids ended up with their respective names. :-)

Anyway, speaking of names, it was quite cute that my kids incidentally both have cartoon characters named like them.

Here's Zoe with Zoe (of Sesame Street):



And here's Luigi with Luigi (of Mario Bros.)

So cute, right?