jako everywhere

Jako the pug always being at the center of attention.

my first thanksgiving

I thought that the closest I would ever get to celebrating Thanksgiving was through a television, and that all "celebrations" would include the Underdog and Brad Pitt (Friends, hah!). But this year I had my first ever Thanksgiving dinner. It was nice. And there really was a Turkey!

A photo of the delicious salad and a (blurry) photo of my (first) plate.

The Francisco family invited us to spend Thanksgiving with them at their house this year. Honestly, I've always wanted to experience it because the shows and movies make it seem like such a happy holiday, with happy people and happy tummies. And yesterday, when I finally did, I was a happy person with a happy tummy. I had (and i'm quite embarrassed to say) my first ever Turkey encounter. I've never eaten Turkey before. Ever. So you can imagine my curiosity every time movies and shows celebrate Thanksgiving. But yesterday I finally had my first Turkey experience, and I liked it! I had my Turkey with some sauce (not so sure what kind of sauce, but it was good) and Cranberry (the jelly looking thing beside the salad). I don't know if it's because I was a newb at Turkey eating, but I wasn't really a fan of the Cranberry. Or maybe I just didn't expect it to taste that way. So I just stuck to plain Turkey and sauce! 

Delicious dinner was followed by delicious dessert. We had Andrea's yummy Red Velvet cupcakes and other goodies, so my tummy was even happier than it already was after  the delicious dinner. 

Thank you Tito Ton, Tita Chatty and the family for having us! I will now forever bug my mom and dad for a Thanksgiving dinner.

ps. Andrea has a stand in Soderno @ Molito every weekend. Pass by and have a taste of her Red Velvet and other homemade goodies!

pps. Yesterday was also my first ever CB6 at Chic Boy. Ang sarap!

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thesis

A photo that somewhat describes an all-nighter with my thesis groupmates Kaye and Lee.

For the past few days we've been (trying) to juggle this, MSMEDIA (Mass Media and Society) major work, and others (others referring to the supposedly light but slightly demanding floating subjects that we never fail to complain about). The last few weeks of this term have arrived, and although we feel like celebrating because we're only a few weeks away from Christmas break, it seems as if our view of freedom, rest and celebration has been blocked by a ginormous wall. The closer we are to the break, the harder it is to actually see it because of all the work piled up for us to finish and submit. How frustrating. Years from now I would probably be begging for this kind of work over real work, but right now I'm just going to be a college girl and complain because I need to let it out of my system. Petty problems, really, but to some extent it gets tiring and frustrating still, and we just all need room to feel that way--no matter what the deal is. So right now I'm taking a little break before I start working on several things again, although these little breaks are sneaky because they're not so little and eventually lead to procrastinating and cramming. But sometimes it's just really necessary in order to put the busy little people going crazy in our brains back in order.

D

leisure time

I told myself upon waking this morning that I wouldn't do anything school related to give myself a little rest. Last night/early morning was spent working on thesis with two of my crazy group mates, Kaye and Lee, so today I wanted to do something I liked. I thought of cleaning my room again, but I felt too tired to move things around. So I decided to bead and re-watch Sex and the City.

Here are the sets of bracelets I made. I've been dying to get my hands on the pretty Accessorize and Love Diva ones because I really love the way they put together assorted beads and combinations in one bundle. Unfortunately I don't have the money to buy bracelets now, so I tried to think of a way to improvise.

It's a good thing my mom went gaga over Divisoria beads before and bought a lot of it, since my sisters and I were crazy about making and selling dangling earrings in school during that time. I never thought that years after the dangling earring phase I would go back to those beads and actually use them again. But i'm glad I did!

What I made was really simple actually; the combination of the colors just make the simple beading look more appealing. It's also nice because I can just easily combine the ones I made with the other bracelets I have to make it look different. I know it's still no Accessorize or Love Diva bracelet, but for me, I think it'll do! At least by making them at home I don't have to spend so much, plus I get to make them according to the size of my tiny wrists!


D

wednesday breaks

Even though I'm not really a fan of the new format La Salle gave us for school (no school Wednesdays instead of no school Fridays), I am still quite thankful that at least we're given one free day during the week. It tends to serve as a little rest day or work day at home in order to be able to catch up with the pace of the professors. This week's rest day evening was spent with a good friend, some white wine, Emmental cheese, olives and my favorite Jamon Serrano.

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pasko nanaman

Here in the Philippines, we can often tell the time of the year by the kind of weather we're having. The extreme heat signifies summer, the cold breeze signifies the coming of the BER months, and the frequent pouring of rain signifies the rainy season. But for the past few weeks, i've been experiencing a mixture of all three--rain, heat, and a little breeze. The weather nowadays is just really so unpredictable, it makes it so difficult to schedule things and plan outfits. It's already November and the cold, comforting breeze we often have this time of the year doesn't come as often as it used to.

But the presence of Christmas decors at home never fails to bring up my spirit and signify the coming of the best, most comforting time of the year. The other day, I got home to Christmas decors all over the house and this made me extremely excited. Unfortunately, January hasn't come; hence no Christmas tree. As I've mentioned in my Tumblr a year back, January is the name of the woman who puts up our Christmas tree every year (yeah, so ironic!). And when January comes, we all get excited to finally see the beautiful, well-lit tree. Unlike the previous years, January is a little busier this December, so we're expecting the tree to be up sometime mid November.  

Here are some photos of the Christmas decors we have at home.

I really do love seeing houses so dressed for the upcoming holidays. I don't know if it's just extra special to me because I was born only two days before Christmas, but the red and gold and green and other shiny things just really never fail to get me so excited and happy. It really is a different kind of comforting feeling and I'm so glad that it has finally arrived!

D

misssua

To one of my girls I'm really really missing..

Happy happy Birthday! I hope you enjoy your birthday trip to London! I really wish I could spend this day with you but since I can't, drink for me while you're there okay? Have lots of fun and take loads of pictures, then we'll go all out kwento when you get back. I miss you a lot and I hope you have the best birthday! :)

blal is back

My friend Alec is back from... everywhere! After taking an internship at Newport Beach, LA, he chose to spend the money he earned on a three week Euro trip--Madrid, Pamplona, Athens, Santorini, Paris, Milan and Rome (I hope I got the list right). If you're a friend of his on Facebook, you've probably seen all the beautiful pictures he took during this three week vacay, and are extremely jealous of all the fun he was having along with his other Pinoy friends either living or taking a JTA in Europe (I know I am!). After seeing all his uploads and eventually hearing all the stories behind the photos, I couldn't help but feel so jealous, yet extremely happy for the opportunity and experience he was able to have. So much fortunate AND unfortunate events during the trip left him with stories and memories that just made it all the more exciting and memorable. 

Initially, Alec was planning on backing out from going on the trip, but a little convincing from the parents lead him to take it, which in turn lead him to one of the best trips he has ever had. But Alec is not Alec if he would just think of his own happiness and enjoyment. One way or another, he'd find a way to somewhat share it with the people around him--may it be through his photos, company, or a simple treat. So when he got back, he brought along with him some goodies.. for me! 

A cute Paris notebook that's just as handy as the Moleskine I always bring around. But since I do not have the guts to write on the Paris notebook yet, I will leave it for display in my room at the moment.

Macarons!! Finally, finally able to taste Macarons straight from France, and I'm glad to say that they did not disappoint! It was yum-ee but slightly sweeter than I thought it would be, so after eating one I was already good. (Of course I went for the chocolate one first to stay safe, so I'm hoping the other flavors are just as good) 

Thank you mister Alec for the awesome pasalubongs! 

D

jako the pug

Been going through my old Tumblr posts trying to search for the photos of my dogs I posted long ago, but I ended up finding this photo of Jako I took for my FOTOCOM class in my second year of college. This was taken about a year ago and I feel that Jako has (physically) aged quite a bit from that time. He's much fatter now (because of his surgery, he had to take some vitamins to make him strong and it got him fat), and his face a bit more crumpled with his nostrils size slightly reduced, which makes it a bit harder for him to breathe. He has become more sleepy and lazy actually, especially during the afternoons. But even though Jako is slowly aging (and is already 6 or 7 years old, half the life span of a regular pug), he still is and will always be the most obedient, malambing dog ever.

D

march 2011

reserve

Friday night was spent at Reserve to celebrate the birthdays of my friends Kars and Jules. It was actually my first time to visit the place, and it turned out better than I expected. Initially I thought Reserve was similar to the usual north bars I've been to where everyone's all dressed and extremely made up. But it's actually more chill and casual, plus the place is huge!

L-R: Miguel, Kars, Anton, Dan, Thea, JR, Rico

pictures taken from Kars' Facebook

After being surrounded by all the familiar faces I spent 11 years of my life going to school with, I couldn't help but feel nostalgic for my Woodrose days. In less than a year, some of us will be done with college (already!), and it might even be harder for us to see one another as we'll be spending more time at work, with officemates, or even abroad. Just the idea of this got me thinking of how fast time flies and how dependent I am on others to get us all together for a reunion. I guess I often get too preoccupied with the thought of the future and what I can do to make life more exciting, fun, and worth living. But sometimes I just need to go back to the simple things and wonderful people that did play a big part in my life, and enjoy their company like I did before. Hopefully in the future (or sometime soon) I'll be able to do my part in keeping this kind of friendship going, because it's not all the time that they'll be around to make that effort for me.


D

sunday treats

Instead of eating out and spending almost 5k for the family to have delicious restaurant food every Sunday, my parents try to find a way to make eating at home a treat. 

Angus burger from SnR. If i'm not mistaken, I think 18 patties cost less than P1,500. Probably P1,800 at the most. 

This red velvet treat is from my sister Mara. My siblings and I are all suckers for red velvet so she got us the little treat on her way home from work.

The only downside of having this kind of meal is the weight you'll gain after consuming all that oil and sweets. But as long as I keep consistent with my exercise, never in my life will I deprive myself of delicious food. 

D

wedding shower

Friday was spent doing school work + this. My tita who's about 40+ years old is finally getting married! Instead of having just a bridal shower, she and her fiance decided to make it a joint bridal/stag party. My mom helped in organizing it, so she let me help wrap up some of the prizes for the party.

The theme color was purple; hence the purple crepe paper. But since I didn't want the color from the crepe leaving marks on the table (especially when wet), I used a dirty white waterproof-Jap kind of paper (I really don't know what it's made of) for the outer covering to keep it clean. 

This is probably one of the easiest ways to present anything that needs rush wrapping. So simple yet pretty and presentable. 

The ribbon box. It really is so fun to work with things that are organized. Mess them up and fix them again! 

I actually wrapped more later on, but since I was trying my best to get the wrapping done asap, I didn't take photos of the others anymore. 

ps. I love wrapping. So if your mommies (or you) are too busy to wrap Christmas gifts, just let me know and I would love to get paid and wrap them for her! 

D

a friendly reminder

To anyone who's stressing over school, love, friends, life.

halloween '11

The 31st this year was no different than the previous ones. The costume was last minute AGAIN, but luckily it turned out alright on the day itself. Anton insisted on being a Jedi Knight, and he suggested that I be Queen Amidala. My first thought was where the f am I going to get a Queen Amidala outfit? by tomorrow? It was Sunday night and I had nothing close to the clothes of the woman I looked up on Google. So I first thought of the most important part of the outift: the hair + head gear. The hair was a big problem, so I decided to stop dreaming and let go of the hair, and just work on the head thing. After that, I searched for a red something for the outfit itself, but I couldn't find any so I settled for a short red dress I had in my closet. I had to have a big collar and the front tail with gold prints on it, so I made a collar using brown paper and just painted it red, attached it to a strip of red painted brown paper and just worked on improvising a simpler gold print myself.

on the upper left hand area of the photo are the "ears" for the head gear. I wasn't able to take a photo of just the head thing. 

my collar. I just cut out the round thing first then attached the turtle neck later on.

the front tail.

Tada! Here's a photo of the full outfit. I just used face paint for the white on my face, eyeliner, and my sister's dark lipgloss for the lips and dots. For Anton's Jedi costume, he wore black pants, boots, his brother's toga, a cape on top, and a belt to hold everything down at the waist.

So that's it for Halloween '11! Despite the last minute stress, I think I am quite satisfied with the costume outcome of this year. The last time I actually worked on an outfit was 2 years ago when I had to make my Jessie from Toy Story outfit. This one might've been harder, but it was worth it!

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