Father's Day

We spent Father's Day at Estancia, my husband's favorite mall. I swear, he's there all the time. It's a pretty small mall, but he always finds something to do. And boy did we find something to do that day. 

He said he wanted steak, but Highlands Steak House wasn't accepting walk-ins. We ended up at Burgers and Brewskies, but I honestly can't remember what we ate, let alone take photos of our food, because we're were just talking about this coffee table we saw at Pottery Barn the whole time.

Okay. It started out as a normal conversation. We already had a coffee table in mind. In fact, we already had it quoted by our supplier. We were simply admiring that coffee table at Pottery Barn... With beautiful, beautiful cracked leather... That happened to be on sale... On Father's Day. Only on Father's Day... 

Before we knew it we were getting the bill  and running to Pottery Barn. Coffee table, check. 

Oh hey, a rug underneath the table looks pretty cool. Maybe our house needs a rug, too? But I'm not feeling the ones at Pottery Barn so maybe not. Oh look, West Elm is right across Pottery Barn... And it's on sale, too. Only on Father's Day. 

We spent a good two hours picking the perfect rug. We were running back and forth just trying to match the rug with the table. 

Finally it was time to go home. We spent half of the day at Estancia. It's a small mall, but apparently half a day isn't enough when it comes to West Elm and Pottery Barn. Kinda reminds me of the time my parents dragged us to their antique dealer, and we spent hours just looking at two identical wooden chests. I'd be screaming: "Just pick one please!" Now I understand. I understand everything.

 

Bento

I tried bento making once when Jaime started going to school, and I didn't make one again because it was so difficult. The only tool I had back then was a knife. I wondered how those moms could make such beautiful art everyday. 

It wasn't until our trip to Japan that I learned all about these little tools that help make bento-making so much easier. With that note, there was nothing left to do but hoard. Haha. 

 

So now I try my best to make Jaime's lunches "cute" and fun to eat. 

 

 

Jaime turns 1

This post is about 6 months late! If love to give a recap of the last 6 months but there's only one event that really stands out. Jaime's first birthday. 

Nic and I promised ourselves that we wouldn't throw big birthday parties for Jaime. Instead, we would use the money to travel. This year we decided to take him to Disneyland. Yes, yes he won't remember the trip, but he won't remember a big birthday party either. At least he got to spend time with some of his relatives in the US and he got eat a chocolate covered banana in Disneyland! 

We were set to leave in November so to celebrate his October 14 birthday, we took him to Mama Chits in Marikina and gave him his first huge burger.  

My brother-in-law also dropped by with a tables chocolate cake. So you can guess what we did to it...

And here are some photos from Disneyland, Chicago, Virginia and Texas:

Happy first birthday, Jaime!

Snack Shack

Cheat weekend has come! First up on the list: Snack Shack!

Been wanting to try this place since our friends, Maui and Sher, told us about it. Snack Shack is located at Maginhawa St.   in Teachers Village in QC. It's a really small place and pretty easy to miss. 

They only offer two things on the menu: quarter pound (75) and half pound (135). They however offer some add ons. I was disappointed to learn that they had no fries. No fries! Fries prevent me from having a second burger!

Anyway as the sign says, order takes 15-20 minutes. But it's worth it.

This was my burger. Really good. Mmmhmm.

The husband ordered the half-pound with bleu cheese. Kinda messy to eat but it was great!

Crap. Now I'm craving again.

Spaceteam

When everyone was playing Candy Crush, I promised myself I wouldn't download it because I knew I'd get so hooked that I might neglect Jaime. Haha. I got so hooked on PVZ before that I played it almost 24/7! So never again. Especially now that I have a baby who is getting more and more malikot by the day.

Til one barkada dinner, my friend Earnie asked us to download this app called Spaceteam. She wanted to play it while waiting for our other friends to arrive. I didn't download it because I didn't want to obsess about another damn game. Our friend Jason volunteered to play the game with her so I just observed.

The dorkiness begins

But after only seconds of watching them, I knew I wanted to download the app already. I noticed they were reciting these geeky made-up words. Like controls of a space craft or something. They looked like they were part of a, wait for it, SPACETEAM! So geeky I love it!

A sample control panel

After they were done playing, I shot up my hand and excitedly said, "My turn! My turn!" 

Spaceteam is really an exciting game. The goal is to control the ship by following the instructions on your screen. Some instructions are for your own set of switches and dials and some are for your team mates. It's pretty intense. You encounter wormholes and asteroids along the way and you have to shake or flip your phone in between flipping switches and cranking up dials!! Gaaaah! I'm getting stressed already.

control panel going haywire!!! 

You also get funny awards when the game is over.

The best thing about it though is that even if you get addicted to it, you can't play it when you're alone watching your baby. You need to have 2-4 players to be able to play. As the intro says: "And remember to work together... As a Spaceteam."

Oh My Buhay Experience

I spend most of my time in front of the computer, tinkering with my phone, or flipping through my iPad. I love going online. Everybody knows that. I love reading blogs, specially funny ones. I love bloggers who have no pretensions; just share their daily activities, no big words or carefully constructed sentences, just plain candid.

I don't really remember how I stumbled upon Annie Yee's blog, Oh My Buhay (I think I was researching on a restaurant or something). But ever since I read that first entry, I was hooked. She has got to be the funniest, most adorable blogger I know. A loving wife, mom of two, and a business woman. PLUS, like me, she also wears dasters at home! I told Rach about my little obsession and she got hooked as well. We love reading about her travels, bargains, and stories about ipis and maids. Gaaah! I love her.

Imagine my excitement when she held a little contest for her readers. She wanted to give away olive oil soaps from her trip to Turkey, and all we had to do was like her page! I liked her page instantly.

Then one day, I opened my browser and found this:

I won!! I never win anything! I was jumping up and down! Sure she mispelled my name but who cares?? That's me!! She instructed us WINNERS to email her our addresses. Of course I wasn't just going to email her my address. I want to tell her so much more. I told her that Rach and I were HUUUGE fans, etc!

I wasn't sure when my prize would arrive, but I forgot all about it because I was preoccupied with my dad's condition. He was still in the hospital recovering from his stroke.

Then one day something totally unexpected happened. Nic and I had just come home from the hospital. I was watching TV and Nic was fixing the bird bath in the garden, when I looked out the window and there she was!! Oh My Buhay in the flesh! She was in her car but her window was rolled down. Her driver was walking to our house with my prize. BUT I wasn't going to let her leave without a picture. I started screaming and jumping up and down like a lunatic. I screamed, "Wait! Wait!" I got out of our house and appraoched her while muttering "OMG OMG OMG!"

She got out of her car and greeted me. We talked for a while, and I told her how much I love her and her stories. That I will probably cry the way she did when I bring my son to the airport for a 2-week vacation. Teehee. I hope she didn't find me too creepy.

Annie Yee of Oh My Buhay. So Beautiful!!!

Here's my prize!! Olive oil soap from Turkey. 

She gave Rach the same thing too. She is the sweetest!!! I hope she didn't find Rach too creepy either.

Thank you Ms. Annie! You are my cup of coffee in the morning! Never stop blogging an more power to you!

Baguio Trip Day 3

Our trip to Baguio was so short! Bitin! We had our usual breakfast buffet at the country club, then packed our stuff and attempted to have one last photo op at the Cemetery of Negativism.

Next time.

The kids weren't being cooperative so we just hit the road. We stopped at Iguana for dinner and I had a chicken enchilada. I didn't finish it. I was so stuffed from the trip. Our weighing scale was running out of battery but it managed to tell me that I gained 3 pounds before conking out. :\

My boys. Tired from the trip.

Chicken Enchilada. Who knew it was so big?

 It was a much needed break. Too short but glad we did it. Til next time! Beach naman!!