There is Good News Here

Today was my first time to visit the Manila Bulletin offices.  Nards and I drove there today to visit Deepa and hopefully Marbee to give them our long over due holiday presents - sets of personalized note cards that we ordered from Femme Fafel.  Deepa was tickled at the shag art version of herself.  Sadly, Marbee was out on a shoot in Tagaytay, so we left hers with her colleague.

Deepa said we should get the latest version of WE.

Wedding Essentials January to June 2010

 So we got a copy, read it and saw this:

 

Thanks Jessie, Deepa and Marbee! :)

Blame it on Twitter. And Plurk.

Thanks to these two platforms, I've completely lost my ability to blog.  They make it so darn easy to let me post stuff (text, photos and videos) online both from my computer and my phone.  They are the most reliable chat platforms on my mobile.   And it's connected to FB, so commenting, liking and disliking posts is easy whether I'm at home, stuck in traffic, at a shoot or any place where my phone gets a signal.  It's annoyingly addictive and convenient.

After Nards and I watched Julie and Julia, I realized I missed blogging.  I have always been a journal-writing-girl.  I started writing in journals when I was nine and moved it to documents saved on floppies (a la Doogie Howser - I even got the same blue screen and white text format) when my parents gave me a desktop computer in high school. When I was teaching in UP, I moved to blogging when I got invited to livejournal.   I was delighted that my cousins and friends abroad are updated with just this one medium.  It sure saved me from writing the same news over and over in letters for a handful of people.  (Claire was a testament to this!  We used to write each other every three days!)   I do enjoy writing and posting, and it's easy to exchange news with family and friends. 

I want to go back to blogging regularly.  Nards encourages me to do so.  (He noticed the folder in my hard drive that has a load of photos that I was planning to blog about.)  This means I have to re-learn to write down my thoughts beyond the 140 character limit that I'm used to.   And to organize the photos in my blog folder.  Good luck to me. :P

Avenue Q

There's going to be another run!  Can't wait! 

We watched the previous run with Beng and Rizal.  Nards and I are excited to see it again; already reserved tickets for March.  I must ring Rizal and ask if he wants to watch again.

Wicked

Nards and I have called it a day, and we're in bed reading.  I was reading a trashy romance novel that Nards' previous roommate left behind.  (I find reading them dreadfully boring which means they are highly successful in putting me to sleep.)

I've read half a paragraph and was about to nod off, when Nards said, "wawa naman si Elphaba." 

Earlier that day, Beng lent us Wicked.  I was still in the midst of a novel we picked up earlier, so Nards read it first.

"Why? What happened?  I love Elphaba!"


"Do you really want to know?" he asked.

"No," I sighed. "I'll wait til you're done."

"There, there," he replied with a smile.

I know she's the wicked witch of the west.  And she died in the most undignified manner.  But I love the way they portrayed her in the book and in the musical.   Idina Menzel was the perfect Elphaba.

Sisters

I grew up with them.   As a family, we went to their convent every week to hear Sunday mass.  Nards and I are unable to join them now because it's too far, but we try to go as much as we can.  They're a very important part of my life, and I know that they are always keeping us in their prayers.

When my parents said that the sisters needed to get photos of themselves for some documents, Nards and I eagerly volunteered and we decided to make a full-blown shoot out of it.  We dropped by the convent pretty early and though we missed their early morning mass, we were able to join them for breakfast.  Breakfast at the convent is always a delicious meal.    I felt like I was back in high school at a three day retreat.

The shoot took an hour at the most, as the sisters had to do their adoration.  We worked fast, and even had time to snap some candids.  Here are a few of the photos we took.

December Haul

I can't believe it myself.  But here I am, with a traincase that my Mom gave me for Christmas, and filling it slowly with goodies.  Here's what I got last December.

My new traincase. :)  Thanks Mom!

Nards' Christmas present: Urban Decay Book of Shadows 2. I love it!

A little care package from Steph that she got from Sephora. She got me something from Benefit that works wonders especially when I need to put on make up on the fly.

A couple of Nyx stuff. More to come at the end of the month.

Pixi items plus a Pop freebie.

The ultimate lip palette.

Everything I need is in this little box from Pixi. Pixi rocks!

Green Christmas

Last December, I was determined to make it a green Christmas.  I was mindful of the amount of trash presents always generated.   So, I decided to use paper that was already in the house that we dispose eventually: pages from the directory provided by the local phone company. 

Instead of a ribbon, I folded origami flowers to replace the usual scads of ribbons that I use on presents; and, instead of using tape for the other gifts, I used reusable foil ties that I got from Saizen.

I think they looked cute.  And very cheap too.  My Mom and Mother-in-Law liked it and are both eager to do the same thing. 

Photos by Nards

Cyma

My sister treated us to Cyma on her birthday.  It was tough choosing from the menu because everything looked soooo good.

Lamb Gyros (Paolo and Nards)

Vegetable Moussaka (Beng)

Lamb Chops (Daddy)

Grilled Pork Chops (Mama - she couldn't finish it so the boys helped. That big fat pepper is stuffed with rice.)

(Some wood maybe Cedar) Grilled Salmon (Mine)

Busog.

But wait there's more. Mama and Daddy were friends with the parents of the owner of Cyma, and we were given complimentary dessert.

Can't remember what this is called but it's delicious.

Baklava. Yummmm.

Skolatina. It's the best dessert they have. It's freshly baked chocolate cake oozing with chocolate syrup and served with scoops of vanilla ice cream. Everyone's favorite (especially Nards).  Must be ordered along with the main course as they time baking it so that you get it fresh from the oven.

We'll definitely be back.

Happy New Year!

To quote Neil Gaiman:

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.


...I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you'll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind.

 Photo by PhotoBot Manila

Recent Portraits

Enjoying Bloom

Repost from a previous entry.

This is his politiko look. Or his good student face in class. *snicker, snicker*

I LOVE that smile.

I like the vintage colors.  I might be using this treatment more often.