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.

North Park

 

Today's late lunch was at North Park.

 

 

YUM.

Retail Therapy

To be honest, the only thing Nards and I had planned for today was to go to The Reading Room (TRR) today at Cubao X to check out the antique secretary's desk that was on sale.   Then last night, Rome and I chatted and we agreed to meet before lunch so I can get the garments for the shoot.  Also, I got word from Nix that: 1) the hero shirts designer asked me to go to his shop to get the ones I got exchanged for the right size; and 2) there's a chocolate tasting at Heavenly Chocolates (but she begged off from joining us because ra-rakstar daw si Jazz).

This morning, when my alarm went off at 8AM, we had four things on our agenda: antique desk, meet Rome, exchange the shirts and go to the chocolate tasting.

 

We went to TRR, and sadly, someone beat me to the desk.  No sweat, I figured it wasn't meant for me, and that I'm sure we'll find another good deal in other antique stores.  We walked around and looked at the other stores that were open that early.  We wanted to grab brunch, but Nards refused to eat at Bellini's.  Our choice was limited to walking to KFC or Gateway.  We started walking towards KFC, realized the distance (quite far and quite disagreeable to two hungry tummies), and went back to the car.  Gateway it is.

We were about to pull out of the parking lot when we saw this.  Isn't that a lovely fabric?  Nards and I were hoping to talk to the store owner to ask where they got it.  But it was closed.  Next time.

Of course, I forgot about Rome.  After a hastily eaten brunch, Nards and I were browsing at Marks & Spencer's when I got an SMS from her, apologizing that she was still on the road.  A minute of panic there.  Luckily, she was also in Gateway when I called.  Hooray!  Nards immediately took off for Fully Booked, while Rome and I headed to Rustan's to pick up some Christmas presents for a handful of cousins on Nards' side.   We completed our purchases in half an hour, and as I was fishing for my cellphone to call Nards, Rome and I spied Beauty Bar at the same time.  Our feet were faster than our brains and we were entering the store in a blink.  Sale!  Brilliant!   Rome bought an eyeshadow palette from Smashbox (I think), and a cream blush from Bloom, while I picked up a gloss from Red Earth and a multi-purpose cream tint from Bloom. I refused to buy more no matter how tempting it was, because I still have the Urban Decay and Pixi items arriving at the end of the month. 

We met up with Nards, and left Gateway.  Rome was headed to her Tita's place near Boni Serrano, and she invited us up at the shop.  Her Tita designs and manufactures clothes for a few of the well known local boutiques, and she has an entire rack of samples that she was selling at giveaway prices.  Rome pulled me to the rack that was literally bursting with different fabrics, and asked me what style I wore.  I told her classy with a bit of boho.  She started pulling off items from the rack.  A lot of it.  Nards nearly panicked when he saw a huge pile of garments that nearly obscured me.  I tried on everything, and it kind of reminded me when my Mom and I used to go to her seamstress to get dresses fitted.  And the three of us divided the clothes into yeses, noes and unsures.   (Took this photo of Rome before we started fitting.)

Got five garments all in all: one little black dress and four tops.  All for the price of one dress in the mall.  I was amazed at how much I got for so little.

I wasn't the only one who found good deals today.  When Nards and I had the shirts exchanged, we stumbled on an outlet store that was selling sports apparel.   Nards bought three shirts from Nike for the price of one and a dry fit one from Adidas for half the price.  Not bad.  Not bad, at all.

So.  We got were able to do everything in our agenda for today, yey!  Except for the chocolate tasting.  We were so exhausted from spending money, that we just wanted to get home and unwind.  (And to do laundry.  And to get some work done for the website because Noah's coming over tomorrow.)