The Eating Club

It's one in the morning and I've to wake up at half past five AM later. Cookie and Wenchie's posts got me all excited to make an entry right now about our Bellissimo dining escapade. Well we have the same pictures of ourselves and our food. :) You can very well see how we had a good time that Friday night.

There was a press conference at the second floor I believe. I was mistaken for a guest. I wonder why. I look like some star's PR manager maybe or a magazine writer. Haha. Glossy lifestyle magazine writer. Movie producer na lang. :D I even signed the guest book because they asked me to. I thought it was for their customers' data base. *Grin*

Anyway, how's the resto? Staff - friendly, pasta - good, serving time - fast enough, place - intimate. The owner, actor Cesar Montano - dashing and very accommodating. These are the ingredients of a nice place to hang out with with your family and friends. Three point five stars, five being the highest. That would be my opinion. The washroom could do a little more sprucing up and so is the kitchen counter which can be seen from the deli area. Oh yes by the way, I bought Hungarian sausage since it's hubby's favorite. Quite expensive compared to other delis but hubby said it tastes better.

As Cookie said, this was the night The Eating Club was officially launched sans formal ceremonies of Vision, Mission, Values blood compact. We were five that night - in order of appearance: me, Cookie, Chats, Wenchie and Julie. Six if I may say, there's Wenchie's little Pio enjoying our company too. :) Expect more gastronomic adventures and good company from The Eating Club.








I will put caption in these pictures tomorrow night. For now, I'll get some ZZZzzzzsss.

Legenda

A sunny Saturday morning at Legenda Hotel, Subic. My daughter is warming up drinking her chocolate drink.


The pool looks so inviting.


So my daughter had her early morning swimming.


And played Sadako by the pool instead of by the water well. :)


Other weekend snapshots are here. :) Have fun browsing.

GOOD MORNING

Sometimes it happens that we dread going to work the following day, or going to school or whatever routine we do everyday of our lives. Maybe there are other issues having this kind of feeling - colleagues you don't get along with, monster professors, etcetera. But think about it, it's a fresh new morning, it's a wonderful day! Go and grab it! It's all up to you really. :)

I love the opening song from Hair Spray sung by Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky), "Good Morning Baltimore!" It is so full of energy and it just sets you in a great mood.

Good morning Baltimore
Every day's like an open door
Every night is a fantasy
Every sound's like a symphony

We're not in Baltimore and maybe we can't sing, but we all can say it with great conviction, "it's a good morning!" And let's carry on this attitude throughout our day. :)

Notebooks Anonymous

Identify if you can the picture below.


At the bottom is the Starbucks planner for 2008. On top of it the Belle de Jour planner. And the brown one is from Jollibee which comes with a raffle coupon for their 30th anniversary plus discount coupons which can be availed every month. Not bad. Next is a small notebook I carry with me and jot down some things I need to remember which just suddenly pop out of my head. It's kind of messy. And then I still have an unopened pack of a small notebook where I intend to write my happy thoughts. It's still unopened but well, my happy thoughts are always with me anyway. :)

I have a strong affinity for paper, notebooks to be specific. And so is my daughter. If it's not almost midnight, I would take a picture of all her notebooks along with her doodles. Next time I will. Anyway, I understand Beauty Bar has a planner too...hmmm. Let me see if I will get it too. Maybe if they still have stock.

For about three years now I haven't been using the company issued planner. Talk about loyalty. :) I use it when taking down notes during meetings so it's not totally useless. I have been using the Starbucks planner. But this year, I will forego it. I will be using BDJ.


I find BDJ a little girly girl. It's pink and green inside. Just for a change I'm using it. I like the discount coupons too - Bayo, Celine, Havaianas, Crustasia, etcetera.

Hello, this is Lynn and I'm an addict. I wonder what psychological explanation do we have about being a notebook addict? :) I am craving for a moleskine now.

A Movie, A Yellow Wall, Jack 'n' Jill and Five Cows

Blog hopping, I stumbled upon Blue Panther's Blog Your Blessings Sunday community. Oh, why not? Especially now that I am full of positive feelings, let me share them. Let me just let them flow. Nothing big but I'm going to blog about whatever makes or made me feel light, blessed, happy for the day or the week that was.

Watching a feel good movie, Music and Lyrics, in the middle of a busy household. Yes that is a blessing. I laughed my heart out since the movie highlights the 80s music. I just put on the disc in my laptop to scan it and to check if the film is running well. But I got hooked with the introduction so I just let it play and watched. I was grinning from ear to ear whenever I see some references on the 80s. The 80s was really so much fun! My daughter will roll her eyes once she reads this. :D

Our yellow wall...Great, great, great! The painting went well. All the credits go to hubby. I wanted to repaint our room, something bright, not loud but sunshiny. I love the result. I love the color! And we decluttered. The room feels new and very pleasant to look at. :)

I am being successful at controlling my intake of junk food. I have substitutes though, meaning chips which make me feel less guilty. :) A blessing for me is the Summer Salad flavored multi-grain snack with garlic ranch dressing. It's what I am munching on as I post this.

I went out with my long time friends last Saturday and last Friday, I had dinner with some fellow mommies I met through blogging. It felt nice that four of us were able to meet up.

Delicious pasta and cakes from Five Cows topped with spontaneous, unaffected conversation equals great time. It was the first time I met Cookie - a pretty, young-looking mom of two who gamely shared her mommyisms among other things. That was the second time I met Julie and Chats. Julie's sharing of stories and her animated way of telling them makes me all the more engrossed to listen to her and give a hearty laugh. Chats is still her friendly self and looks really energetic, a success in her weight-loss program.

Life's little blessings which are greatly appreciated - a feel good movie, a relaxing room, great tasting, healthy chips and meeting up with online buddies. :)

Delicious

The theme for the week in Photo Hunt is "delicious". I am preparing myself for all the food which I assume the majority of the photo hunters will be posting specially the holidays was just recently over. All those food, I can just imagine these delicious posts. :)

My sharing would be my family's favorite delicious food in one of the popular restaurants here, Pancake House. We often eat here when we are still out at dinner time. Weird thing is even if it's dinner, I still order something one would normally eat for breakfast.

My favorite is their Classic Country Medley, three pieces of sausage, two pieces of pancake, a choice of coffee or juice. I order coffee and sometimes additional sausage. It is really filling. See here their delicious pancake and my favorite tv series, Prison Break. :) I also like their spaghetti with meatballs. I actually order the kiddie set for this. That is just enough for me. They have a generous serving of sauce.
Hubby's favorite is the ham and cheese omelette. But any Pancake customer would probably agree with me. Their taco is the best especially with this combination of roast chicken and macaroni salad.
Last but not the least is my daughter's favorite, salisbury steak with bacon bits and creamy mushroom gravy. She can gobble up the whole serving all by herself.

I hope you had a feast. For more delicious posts, click this link. :)

Kitchen Buddies

The holidays is over, the new year is four days old now. I have never been so hands on with the preparation for Media Noche than the year that just past. From listing the menu to doing the groceries up to actually preparing them.

This was also the first time we I decided not to buy a cake. I baked our chocolate cake. Thanks to Yummy magazine for all the inspiration in my cooking and baking escapades. Who or what helped me a great deal in doing most chores during the holidays though it was supposed to be my vacation are my little kitchen buddies. My little helps in the kitchen as I call them.

There are still a lot of left-over foods up to this time. Oh they are still edible. They are the foods which goes up to a week as long as they are properly stored and propely managed. Meaning use the two-spoon method when getting from their containers. One as a serving spoon and one spoon to eat your food. Oh yes, sometimes this has to be spelled out to some members of the family. :)

We still have halaya (purple jam), leche flan, my chocolate cake and macaroni salad. After 12 midnight struck last December 31, I already set up my mind that I will be the one to keep all the food in their proper storage. Thank goodness for all these. It was a quick and a very organized way of storing all the food. The refrigerator looked good with all the stackables. Some food were vacuum packed so they did not made my ref smell.


Not only me but I heard my colleague back then that the next best thing since sliced bread is the paper towel. This is very true. I have stocks of these. One wipe on the table and it is all clean. Just choose a brand which is really absorbent and will not break out easily even when dripping with water.

I am not a fan of home TV shopping but this one proved to be a good buy. I was in search of a good can opener. Yes, can opener. A can opener in our house usually lasts for only two to three months. It's either they get rusty or they fall apart. There is a good brand but it costs too much, around P15,000 (about 365USD) at the time I scouted for one. And it is more for industrial use.

So one day watching home TV shopping, hubby spotted this can opener and asked me if I wanted one. Of course. It was delivered a week after we ordered. It's One Touch Can Opener. I can just leave it there doing its thing - it stops as soon as it opened the whole cover of the can. I love this little piece of kitchen help.


For a year now I have not been shunning away from domestic chores. I love them more than ever, well at least those I find easy to do. :) I am grateful for being able to give time to them. They are fulfilling in a different kind of way. And no, this is not a sponsored post. I just love these products.

Big Hello, Warm Welcome

The year that passed was good. I need not enumerate publicly the things that transpired in my life but it was a year of realization for me, good realizations.
Count your blessings they say and that is what I always do. I thank God for the guidance, for telling me that life is great and is a gift from Him. That alone tells me He is a good and loving God that whatever I ask, I should believe, I shall receive.

Pay it forward. Have an attitude of gratitude. Thank You for all the wonderful blessings in my life, as well as in my family's. :)

I have always made a list of my resolutions every year and during my birthday. I always want to have a fresh state of mind, finer perspective with the good, old learnings neatly in place. It motivates me. I love planning, I love highlighting the major events I want to embark on. And I love doing them with a passion and taking very well note of how much progress I am doing in my every goal. And whenever a goal is reached, I am thankful and move on. Whatever they are, the result I want is a better me. A better me not just for myself but for my family.

A better relationship with my family, with my friends. I want to be a better leader and inspire my colleagues, the younger generation in our church and in my office. I want to reach out to new friends, both on line and in real life.

Some people inside and outside of my family circle have inspired me and continue to do so. Thinking about it, everyday I tend to meet people whose lives and actions inspire me. Nothing dramatic but simple things that just put real smile on my face. As such, I want to give more.

One of the greatest learnings I had last year is to always go back to my values for major decisions. This I will carry on. It always prove to be a wise path to take. I know what I truly value.

As I post this, my heart is overflowing with excitement, gratefulness, love and abundance. Pure positivity. It is not always like me to open up like this but it just feels so good to acknowledge blessings and make it a commitment without feeling obligated to pay it forward. It is a wonderful feeling.

God bless and keep the faith - ask, believe, receive. :)