My Little Marley's Big One

Last month my precious baby girl turned one! Time flies fast when you're having fun. So here are the photos from her Minnie Mouse birthday.

The birthday girl is awake!

Goofing around with her Aunt.

Thank you to Marley's Uncle Justin for her pretty birthday dress. 

The candy bar was ❤. Thank you to one of my aunts! 

The Guests:

Friends..

Family..

and the kids and kids at heart.

The Daddy's Girl

Happy Birthday my baby!

Marley may not remember her first party but hey, those are what the pictures are for. Someday she'll be able to see how her special day went. A day filled with love from her family. Thank you to everyone who came.

What A Chore

When I was younger I was fortunate to live in a household with househelp (parang may redundant dito.hehe). My mother was the queen of cleanliness, the OC kind. Weekdays were money-generating days. Sundays were for Church and family lunches. While the dreaded Saturdays was for her general house cleaning. Our help would wipe the whole house ceiling to floor, under her supervision of course, then minutes after everything is done she'll do it all over. My siblings and I would always tell her "Mom bakit pa tayo may katulong uulitin mo lang din ginagawa nya??" So basically I grew up not knowing what "chores" really mean (the perks of having a supermom). On weekends I was a free-spirited girl waking up an hour or two before lunch time, sitting in front of the tv watching cartoons, crosstitching and reading Archie's and Sweet Valley Kids.

During high school, my parents stopped hiring househelp as we (my sister and  brothers) were already old enough to be left in the house. Or as my mom sees it, we were already old enough to do the chores ourselves. So my Saturdays began earlier, with my mom screaming to get my a** downstairs to help clean the house. It was not something big or heavy. It was just washing the dishes and sweeping the floors.  My mom sweeps the floor of the entire house 10x a day so "sweeping the floors" is not an ordinary task. Months  later, I was forced to help prepare meals in the kitchen. Take note: forced. With a lot of moaning and complaining, I became the master of cooking instant noodles, frying fish, hotdogs, longganisa, etc. You name it I can fry it!

Buttercup says it best. Lol

After I bravely left our family home and went to live solo in the Metro, I managed on fastfood take-outs, resto's and my all-time-favorite tinapay. And yes I learned to eat comfortably in restaurants by myself. :) I stayed in a dormitory so cleaning (toilet and bath.. ewwww!) wasn't my responsibility.

Marrying J brought doing chores to a whole new level. During our first year we lived comfortably because we had yaya at home. But after we celebrated our first wedding anniversary our yaya bid farewell and J and I were left to fend for ourselves. Tsk. There was this one night I came home exhausted from the office. After dinner I started doing the laundry. While waiting for the machine to finish washing, I sat on the sofa and dozed off. I woke up two hours later alarmed that I fell asleep. Seeing me in a panic J chuckled and told me that he had already finished the laundry for me. He tucked me into bed and calmly said not to worry for Marley's clothes were already hanging in the clothespin. I am so so blessed J has stepped up to it. He is totally great with Marley so he spends most of the time playing with her while I do all the chores. Yes, you heard me right. Me. Chores. Just last week I found myself teaching J how to properly mop the floor. You know the sweep-mop-sweep drill. Strange that I can remember this specially that I was only half listening to my mom while she was telling me this back in the day. Even stranger, I realized I was becoming as OC as my mom when it came to cleaning the house. I'd see a fleck of dirt in the kitchen floor and I'll sweep the whole house. I'd squint and brush my finger on the tv stand to see if dirt is already accumulating. Haaaay..

The circle of life. I give thanks to my mom. Happy Mother's Day!

DIY Framed Picture Collage

My own Instapicframe :)

I have searched high and low for the perfect frame to showcase Marley's pictures kaya lang I haven't found "the one". I was getting tired of looking around so I took matters into my own hands and improvised a large frame.

From left: Styrofoam, old skirt, hot glue, garden wire, and sticky hooks

I used materials found lying around the house.

• Styrofoam. This came with the aircon we bought.
• Old Skirt
• Hot Glue
• Garden Wire
• Sewing Pins
• Sticky Wall Hooks
• Scissors

What I did:

1) Line up the pictures so you can see how many would fit. I had a hard time picking which pictures. Marley had so many cutesy ones I want to add them all.

2) Measure and cut the fabric according to the styro's size.

 3) Cover the entire styro with it.

Accident waiting to happen. At first I tacked the edges at the back but then the thumbtacks kept popping out. Most of the time J walks barefoot around the house and didn't want to risk tacks accidentally falling onto the floors without us seeing it so I removed the thumbtacks. Mind you, that was after I was finish tacking all the edges. Tsk.

4) Hot glue it instead of using thumbtacks. I didn't had glue gun so I used candle to melt the glue.

5) This was how my canvass looked after.
6) Hot glue the pictures.

7) Attach the garden wire at the back with a sewing pin and hot glue it.

After all the trouble I realized I didn't have to do this since the styro had wide edges and I could have just mounted it on the wall hooks directly. Tssss.















Oh well.. moving on. Here it is on our wall:

O deeeva. I love et! Marley loves it too! 

Love At First Sight

A few months back I purchased a sewing machine online. It was being sold for so so so cheap kaya oo nagpadala ako. I bought it and was really really excited to use it. Haynakow after trying it out I got the biggest disappointment in my sewing life. IT.DOESN'T.SEW. Grrr.. Okay, that was a an overstatement. But really, it doesn't sew properly. The needle does sew on the fabric but the thread just makes a straight line. I've read the manual, searched the net for troubleshooting but it still would not cooperate! It's so frustrating!! Haaay..

i hetchu. lol

So off I went to the mall in search of a true sewing machine and I found this beauty

L-O-V-E

Aaaack! It was love at first sight! Kaya ayun. Di makakain at di makatulog sa ka-iisip. ;) Then finally this afternoon napasakin din sya!

Gwapo ang tagabitbit :)

That's J carrying my new machine and my other shopping stuff. Yes that is a cloth hanger sticking out of the bag.haha! I'm walking after him with a skip on my step. I'm jumping and clicking my toes at the same time.Lol I'm sooooo excited I can't wait to go home and try it.

Peek-a-boo

Gotta try all stitches.

Isn't she a beauty.

Tomorrow my Project-Wedding-Gown starts and then maybe I'll be on my way to joining Project Runway!

Happy sewing!

Cream Dory Recipes

When the supermarket offered Cream Dory at half the price I was just so glad I was in the area that I grabbed the nearest fish.. er fishes and stashed them in our grocery cart without even thinking that I had no idea how to cook them. That was what impluse buying is ladies.lol There are only three of us in our house, that's me, J and our househelp. Soooo, J asks, what on earth are you going to do with all those fishes? Why, we eat it of course! 

For a month most of our ulam was cream dory that after the last cut was taken out of the freezer and cooked J said: I am never going to eat fish fillet for a very long time. I can't blame him. Ako din.lol

So, here's what I did to the fishes.

Pan Fried Cream Dory Fillet

This was so easy to make. For the fish breading/coating I used:

• Cream All Purpose Flour
• 1 egg
• Pepper
• Salt
• Sugar
• Oatmeal

Mix everything in a bowl except the egg. I don't have the exact measurements for these. I just poured enough flour for my fish and added a dash of pepper, salt and sugar. I also added oatmeal for that extra healthy crunch. Whisk the egg in a separate bowl.

Heat the pan then place enough oil (cooking, vegetable, olive etc. whatever oil you use for frying) to thoroughly coat the pan. Dip fish fillet in egg then place it in the flour mixture and coat it. I used spoon and fork to move the fillet from the egg to the flour mixture so I won't be washing my hands everytime. Shake off excess flour and pan fry. Cook fillets until brown then flip them over until brown, same as the first side. Repeat process for the remaining fillets.

For the sauce I used:

From left: Salt, Pepper, 1/4 cup Evaporated Milk, Mayonnaise

Mix the mayonnaise and milk in a bowl. Add a dash of salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle chopped onion leaves. Enjoy!


Chinese-Style Steamed Cream Dory with Light Soy Sauce

I followed this recipe from janiscooking.


Cream Dory with Butter and Lemon Sauce

As you can see I didn't just sprinkle dried basil leaves, binuhusan ko sya!

Galit sa basil leaves.

To prepare the fish just follow the breading/coating above for the Pan Fried Cream Dory Fillet.

For the sauce I used:

• Pineapple Tidbits
• 2 Lemons
• 2 cubes of butter
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1/2 cup Sugar

Heat the pan. When hot turn the fire to medium heat and pour the pineapple tidbits including its sauce. Add the butter and squeeze the lemon juce over it. Stir for a minute. Add the suger and a dash of salt and pepper.  Pour over the fillet and sprinkle dried basil. Serve hot. Enjoy!

Me: The Wifey

Marriage was such a huge word for me. I always thought I'd grow old single and probably live in a house by myself or with other old ladies. In fact I have never been in a serious relationship before. Sure I've had boyfriends but for some reason it never lasted. Six months was long enough already. Kids? My family and friends will tell you I was not that child-friendly either. Don't get me wrong. I don't hate kids I was just not the malapit-sa-mga-bata type. I just had no idea how to handle them.

When J and I started dating, we had no expectations about the future. We don't even know the exact date we became "us". We were just having fun and enjoying each others company. Everything just fit. Somehow I felt he was different. I have never dated someone who lets me be. He just let me do the things I want. And  he doesn't really care what dress I should or should not wear. Seldom texts or calls. At that time it was annoying because I always waited for his texts. Most of the time we don't even know where or what each other is doing. I used to play lawn tennis after office and he would just pop into the court without pasabi that he's coming. "Gale paalisin ko ba sya?" My tennis kuya would often ask me, noticing that most of my balls (ok, all) were on the roof already. Anyway that was J's way. If he wanted to see me he'll go straight away. Sumusulpot bigla. Nanggugulat lang.

When I got pregnant I thought I would pass the whole nine months breezily. I was confident because J was  always on my side. Little did I know that I was in for a ride. My pregnancy was extremely difficult. During my first trimester I was always put on bedrest. That was on top of me getting sick all the time. I was throwing up everything I eat. I had no appetite at all. Add to that my rollercoaster of emotions. Ghaaad! I was so clingy and  I cried to the simpliest of things. And I thought I was strong.

After pregnancy my pagiging emotional didn't stop. In fact, it magnified. I had a C-Section so after the operation I was unable to move and J literally has to lift me so I can sit. For the first few weeks after giving birth I was half cripple. I had difficulty moving around and for the first time in my life I was helpless. I was used to doing things on my own that asking for J's help with my personal "things" was a little bit embarrassing. Sometimes he would catch me crying in the bathroom because I was low on breastmilk or in our bedroom because I was so scared and didn't know how to carry Marley. I would lay awake at night worrying about us. From who would take care of Marley when I get back to the office to where we will live. I had so many things on my mind that I was always on edge. But J was wonderful through it all. Never once has he ever complained. When I'd have one of my fits at night, he would just reach for my hand and lull me to sleep. He would hold and hug me and tell me everything will be a-okay. It was like he was caring for two babies at home. One was a baby damulag. hehe  He was my rock. My sanity would not have made it through without him. When I look back now, I knew without a doubt I married the right man.

J and I have only been married for a year and I know most of you will think that we are like this because we still are in our honeymoon phase. But I'm writing this when someday we find ourselves growing apart or blinded by anger in a huge fight, I have something to look back on and remember one or two of the many things why I fell in love with J.

Happy Anniversary my love!

 

The 4th Philippine International Pyromusical Competition 2013

Last Saturday J and I went to see the Pyrolympics held at the SM-Mall of Asia (MOA) bayside. We got the VIP  tickets because I know, from previous experience, it would be jampacked what with the Gold tickets being sold at half the price. I hate overcrowded places so we paid extra. We were able to watch the fireworks in peace without hassle of being pushed or tripped over. It was beautiful. You should go see it!

Ticket prices are Php1,500 (Platinum) / Php500 (VIP) / Php300 (Gold) / Php100 (Silver)

Platinum tickets include a buffet dinner. You can check their menu here. We got our tickets at a discount through Metrodeal. If you're planning to buy the Platinum or VIP tickets Metrodeal has the best options. But if want Gold tickets, just buy it at MOA which are sold at 50%  discount. Or you can buy two 150ml Close-Up and get a Gold ticket for free! :) The Close-Up redemption booth is located at the Supermarket entrance near McDonalds.

The show is until March 23 only so hurry! You can still make habol.

Here's the Pyromusical Competition 2013 schedule for the remaining Saturdays of March:
March 9 - Italy and The Netherlands
March 16 - China and Australia
March 23 - Canada and Philippines

  

Ace Water Spa

I have been hearing a lot about Ace Water Spa that when it was offered in Metrodeal I was ecstatic! My good friend, Melissa, and I immediately planned to go there and last Saturday we finally redeemed our voucher in their Pasig branch. It was fantastic!

According to their website Ace Water Spa uses Hydrotherapy massage. "It is a kind of therapeutic massage that utilizes Ultrasonic Jet System that massages specific areas of the body with its aquatic jets strategically located to relax and soothe tired and aching muscles." 

Cameras are not allowed once you get inside the locker room for obvious reasons. You wouldn’t want to be accidentally in a photo background while in your undies, do you? If you brought your swimwear collection, don’t fret. They have a spacious locker room and you can wear the keys as bracelet. Beside the lockers were the changing and shower rooms. You have to shower first before entering the spa area. Their shower has a soap and shampoo dispenser so you also don’t have to worry about that. Blow dryers are available if you don’t want to leave with wet hair after your spa.

The entrance to the pool/spa and just below it are the cabinets for your towels. 

Behind those fountains are the spa areas.

You just have to press a button and viola! a jet of water instantly massages your body. The water runs for 2-3 minutes and automatically stops after. If you want to be massaged longer you just have to press it again. There are placards posted in every massage area so you know what everything is for. If it’s your first time you might want to read first before pressing anything. The ones labeled “hard” were really hard. My skin got reddish after the hard massages but it was well worth it. There is a poster above the sauna area that recommends what activities you do first. Lucky me Melissa has already been to Ace lots of times before so I had my personal tour guide. :))

The lap pool. Unlimited swimming here.

Tickets are good for 4 hours. Sulit na sulit. They provide swim caps. Fitted swimwear is required preferably spandex material. Trunks for the boys/men. T-shirts and beach shorts are not allowed in the spa area. The only thing you get to bring when you leave the locker room is your towel. For the ladies don’t worry if you have a large tummy or small bumpers, you can wear a two-piece if you like. Read: Nobody cares. Everybody in there is busy massaging themselves.

How To Get There: Ride a taxi. :)) For those who are “taxi-allergic” we asked the hotel guard how to ride a jeepney back to Megamall. He then pointed the way to a Jollibee intersection (Pioneer St.). He says it was there were the jeepneys pass by. But after a few steps we realized we wouldn’t make it that far. It was so hot that afternoon we decided to ride a cab instead. Sorry guys. Anyway Megamall isn’t that far. We only paid around Php60 for the cab. See?

By the way, bring your own towel. In case you forgot, they have towels and fitted swimwear for rent. Oh and if you want the whole spa to yourself I suggest going there in the morning. The place gets crowded during afternoons.

Hope you enjoy Ace as much as Melissa and I did!

Ace Water Spa

www.acewaterspa.com.ph

United St., corner Brixton St., Pasig City

(02)367-8040 to 41

(02)367-8061 to 62

(02) 415-0164

Business Hours:

Sundays to Thursdays – 6AM to 10PM

Fridays to Saturdays – 6AM to 11PM

They are open during Holidays!