Happy Sunday!

Here's a slow song that you might want to check out this morning.



I hope you're all having a great day. Have a blessed Sunday!

Our Impromptu Lunch at Gloria Maris

After our sumptuous seafoods dinner at Dampa, my newly-wed cousin wanted to meet again, so they invited us to Gloria Maris for lunch.


It was another first for me and so are my balikbayan relatives. So we were excited for this particular lunch because I knew that Gloria Maris offers good food and great ambiance.

The host ordered a lot for a party of 15 pax, that's why we were sooo full after...





Unfortunately, all I did was eat during this particular lunch so I was able to take a few photos and I wasn't able to take note of the names of the food.

But we will definitely go back one of these days. Hopefully by then, I would be able to capture everything.

But at least I was able to take a few photos of my family.



It was a indeed a great lunch to think that it was impromptu. We all had a grand time.

Thanks again for the lunch, Rachelle and Badri!

Closeout Clearance Sale in St. Paul, MN

Here's another clearance sale that I'm going to check out this weekend...


The Deluxe Carpet Company in St. Paul carries an inventory of high-quality flooring for the lowest prices so I'm definitely checkint this out! This store is highly reputable in providing wonderful colors and designs for the following types of flooring:

- Carpet
- Vinyl
- Laminate
- Hardwood
- Tile

And guess what? The team that handles these floorings not only sells but provides services in the following areas:

- Planning and layouts
- Budgets
- Design
- Warranties
- Maintenance

Based on my experience in choosing the right flooring for my home, I had a hard time choosing which one to get. It actually took me months before I was able to settle down for something I like. It's not that easy so I suggest that we consult an expert from Flooring America to help us.

I'm counting to the clearance sale in St. Paul, MN. I'm expecting that I would get something that I can use for my little girls' playroom. I haven't decided which color to get though (well, it took me months to decide for our family hall) but I'm leading towards the dark carpet most probably. I will have to see about that and maybe I can consult an expert in the Deluxe Carpet Company for St Paul flooring.

Bottomless Seafoods at Dampa, MOA

I love seafoods that's why when we were invited to a seafood dinner at Dampa a couple of weeks ago, I was ecstatic! We were with my balikbayan relatives so they were very excited too.


I haven't tried Dampa, MOA but since I've tried the other branches like Ortigas and Macapagal, I already knew what to expect.

The Titas went to the market to buy our food and then have it cooked at the restaurant.



My gosh, the food was literally overflowing! It was a very sumptuous meal that me and my balikbayan relatives can ever forget. Yum, Yum!

Thanks again for the dinner, Tito Jun & Tita Emma!

Loving our First Go Greek! Dinner

For some reason, we were at Glorietta with a couple of our relatives. It has been a while since I was there so I didn't know where to eat. Good thing I remembered that there is a food choices there were we have a whole lot of options to choose from. My Tita also liked the idea so we decided to stay there.

Since they came from LA and craved for Filipino food, they decided to have seafoods while me and my family decided to try Go Greek! for the first time. Knowing that it was our first time, the servers suggested we get the set meals. I'm glad we did because it was not only a big serving but we got to try almost all of their meals in one sitting.


I had chicken kebab, as what I usually order in Greek or Meditterenean restaurants. It was really good! I'm glad we tried it and I so look forward to their branch in Kapitolyo soon!

A Sale of Carpets is Ongoing!

This must be a good day for me because there is sale ongoing offering sales and specials. Check this out.


We've actually decided to go with the carpet flooring for the masters bedroom since Brewer Carpet One has a stain resistant options. I would love to have our floor with those comfortable and nice looking carpets. The kids would be ecstatic since they play ON the floor all the time. It will be comfortable for them as soon as the carpet is installed.

Brewer Carpet One is offering these stain resistant carpets at 50% OFF. It's a "spillabration savings event" as they have described! This made me feel giddy with excitement since I'm looking for a carpet to order anyway. The store in Yukon has a lot of staff who will be able to help you which one would be perfect for your home or room. I know it's hard because I've been there already. That stage where you don't know where to start nor look and you don't even know what to buy! So yes, it is pretty good news that a couple of staff are there to help us! I can't wait to start my shopping at this particular sale.

Wednesday Happy Thoughts

Happiness is...

1. Kids for Christ activity
2. CLP
3. Get together with Highschool friends
4. Starbucks' Coffee Jelly Frapuccino. I forgot how good this drink tastes!
5. Gift of friends ♥
6. Stayed at home the whole Saturday!
7. First half of Travels for 2011 PB done
8. Instagram
9. Great Songs
10. Starbucks' Salted Caramel Hot Drink

To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.

My Belated Birthday Cake

I can't believe I forgot to post my uber cute birthday cake!


This is from my favorite Estrels. A week late but I love it still. I remember I also requested this particular after I gave birth. This cake and a bunch of flowers definitely made me get well fast.

Thank you Hubby for this beautiful cake. ♥

Getting Laminate Flooring for the Playroom?

Now that we have somehow finalized a couple of decisions on which flooring to get in the family hall and our bedroom, we are contemplating on getting laminate flooring for the playroom. When I saw this photo, I can't help but think of getting a new set of flooring for the particular room.


We are now prioritizing the playroom since we are almost done with the family hall and the master's bedroom is ongoing. So we need to have a new project set for the next couple of months. I'm not sure if we will be done within the year though but who knows maybe we will.

I guess the thing that we just need to is PLAN, do a couple of research at Flooring America, decided which design and color to get and then we are good to go. Yes easier said than done because for the family hall, it took us months before we were able to decide which type of flooring to get for that area. After that, we needed to decide which color and design to get too. Now that we are currently planning the Master's Bedroom, we can't wait to start planning for the playroom too.


More Hair Trinkets from Dainty Ashley

A couple of weeks ago, Dainty Ashley launched it's holiday collection. I love their newest collection so I ordered again for my little girls...


These hair trinkets from Dainty Ashley are so nice I want to order more! Looking forward to see more uploads soon! ♥

To order, visit Dainty Ashley's Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/DaintyAshley

Happy Shopping! (*wink*)

Starting to make my Christmas List Early

I promised myself that I won't let myself get stressed out with Christmas preparations this year so I'm starting to make my Christmas list early. SO far my list is still the same from my last year's list. This early, I'm thinking of what to give for my immediate family - Hubby and my two little girls.

I saw this interesting website called MeritLine.com that caters gadgets. Perfect for the Hubby is the micro sd card that he can use for his camera. There are more items available at the site and most of these items are perfect for my very techy husband. I read about Meritline and check which countries they ship. For now they don't have Philippines yet but they have in Singapore! So I can probably order a few items then have it ship in my brother's house in SG. I'm sure my brother won't mind since we are going to see each other in December. ♥

There are also a lot of items available for my phone. So maybe I can shop for a couple of accessories too. These items can be my gifts for myself. Oh yeah, that would be a great idea!

While I'm Waiting...

How is your Sunday so far?

Since I've been posting videos every Sunday, I thought of making this a regular thing on my blog.

Every Sunday, I will be posting nice songs and videos for insipiration. Here's one song I love from the movie FIREPROOF.


Have a blessed Sunday peeps!

Thanks Sweetie!

Hubby and little girl went to the mall today to do a couple of errands and look what they got for me!! Gong Cha Classic Earl Grey Tea. Yum, yummy!!




I guess this now tops my #1 spot, next to Serenitea's Okinawa. Tastes really good, makes me want some more.

Thank you so much hon! Mwah!

Decided to Redecorate Next Year

While we as a family were relaxing this morning (it's a Saturday!), we have decided that it's been 5 years since we are staying in our home and we haven't really prioritized decorating yet. Yes, we've focused on the more important stuff like the basic kitchen, basic furniture or even the basic flooring.

Now, we are moving on the next step. We are checking out The Flooring Center to see upgraded flooring like carpet, tile, wood or the same as our current which is laminated. The options are endless, I tell you, but we've decided to finally do it and hopefully we get to have a budget by next year.

Re-decorating sounds like fun! And I'm so looking forward to it!

A Quick Family Dinner at Masas

Another memorable dinner we had with my Dad's brothers and their wives one weekday was at MASAS.



The last time I ate at this restaurant was a couple of years ago but I definitely remember that food here is good. Since my Titos and Titas were looking for good Filipino food, I suggested we have our dinner here.

I was too busy to take pictures though. So no photos of our food. We had Sinigang na Bangus, Pinakbet, Kangkong, Crispy Pata and Pancit Canton. Everything was delicious! As for our dessert, we had buko pandan which was ntohing special for me.

This is us after our dinner.





One BIG happy FAMILY! It was good to have dinner with my relatives. Thanks Tito Jun & Tita Emma!

Masas Filipino Cuisine is located at Unit 104 Greenbelt 2, Esperanza St. Ayala Center, Makati. For reservations call, (02) 757-4030.

In Dire Need of Design Inspiration?

That's moi!

I've been looking at these gorgeous carpets for carpet installation for months now, but I'm still in dire need of design inspiration. Yes, we've finally decided that we will get a carpet flooring for our bedroom but we haven't decided if we should get a dark one or a light one. Our bedroom theme is more on the Asian/minimalist so we don't know which one goes well with it. If we get the light colored carpets, although it offers stain resistant capability, with our kids, it would sure get dirt as soon as it is installed. So we are leaning towards the dark side.

I'm so glad I can get ideas from Flooring America in Mount Pleasant, SC. They provide ideas, colors that would best suit each theme. Perfect for my dilemma. They would also consider the current situation or the lifestyle so at least they would consider what color when you have two little girls who are in arts and crafts that would ALWAYS bring "colors" into the carpet. Thank you, thank you Flooring America for guiding me in this stage where I need to decide which color and design to get.

If ever you are within Mount Pleasant, SC, you can also check out other branches at Sullivan’s Island, Isle of Palms, Charleston, Daniel Island, Hanahan, North Charleston, Kiawah, Seabrook Island, Summerville, James Island, and JohnsIsland, South Carolina.

Loots from Singapore!

August until early September were our very blessed weeks because we got a lot of loots from relatives visiting. This time, we got more loots from my brother who came home from Singapore!


Wuhoo! Some of these loots were my orders and I've been craving for these for months now, so thank you so much Dandy, dear! (*wink*)

We miss you, already!

November Holidays!

Check it out... There are two long weekends in November...

November 1, Thursday – All Saints Day

November 2, Friday – Additional special (non-working) day

November 30, Friday – Bonifacio Day

We can plan a trip on this particular weekend. Or how about a staycation? Hmmm...We'll see!

How about you? Do you have plans?

Time for our Mid Year Air Conditioner Clean Up

Ever since we bought our air conditioner, we made sure that it is being cleaned up at least twice a year. We already have a contact on this particular task but we are of course looking for other options.

I found a couple of ac companies phoenix particularly Sexton Heating & Airconditioning where it provides services in the Valley of the Sun since 1960. Amazing that they've been in the industry for yearsssss. This is one of those companies that you can't help but trust since they've been doing good business for a couple of years now. They can provide air conditioning installation and repair. But if you want to buy a new airconditioning unit, they can probably give out details and information where to get one.

In case you are in the area and needs to have your airconditioner or heater cleaned up, check out the Sexton Heating And Air Conditioning in these Arizona cities and towns: Ahwatukee, Apache Junction, Avondale, Buckeye, Carefree, Cave Creek, Chandler, El Mirage, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Glendale, Goodyear, Laveen, Litchfield Park, Maricopa, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Peoria, Phoenix, Queen Creek, Scottsdale, Sun City, Surprise, Tempe, Wickenburg. As for me, too bad they are not yet providing services in my country and city. But who knows, maybe in a couple of years? I do certainly hope so!

Loots from my Tito and Tita

We were so excited when these loots finally arrived in our doorstep a couple of weeks ago! My Tito and Tita from LA sent these as their pasalubong for us and the kids. Super nice!




The kids were so happy to receive these loots too! Thank you so much again Tito Ed and Tita Doll for these wonderful loots!

We had a Blast at Sandy's 7th Birthday Party

Last Saturday, we were invited to attend my friend's Sandy's 7th birthday party at the clubhouse. The girls of course were so looking forward to it for days!


We made sure that we were early so when we got to the party, the kids immediately went to the mini salon!


I love the setup of the party! I was taking notes because who knows, maybe we might need it for our little girl's 7th party as well!



I also love the rockstar cake which looked so glam...


And the dessert buffet which has the same setup as in the whole glamrock party!


It was definitely a fun rockstar party! Thanks again for inviting us Sandy! (*wink*)

Laminated Flooring Installation

Now that we have somehow decided which type of flooring to get (we are going for the laminated one for the family hall!), I'm looking at the process of what they are going to do with Flooring and Installation. I know this is a complicated thing to do especially if we have a current flooring installed at home. I hope I won't have to re-install the current flooring though and I hope it won't take so much time and effort to do the installation of the new flooring in some areas of the family hall. We will have to see about that.

Wednesday Happy Thoughts

Happiness is...

1. Feeling better already
2. Watched pinoy movie at home (JLC & Bea, FTW!)
3. Starbucks' Salted Caramel Drink
4. Forest Ham, White Egg with Gouda Cheese Sandwich. YUM!
5. We were able to rest last Sunday
6. Bonding with the kids
7. Munchkins!
8. Loving my new haircolor
9. Lianne Moriarty's A Hypnotist's Love Story (loving this book so far)
10. Bonding with the Hubby

To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.

Note to Self.

Good Tuesday morning everyone!

Hardwood, Tile or Laminate?

If you are being asked, which one choose, hardwood, tile or laminate? What would you choose? It is a pretty tough decision right? That's what we've been thinking for the past few months now. If not for the wonderful options of these three types of flooring, our home renovation could have been finish now. (If you want to know more about these flooring options at Flooring America, click here).

I've been browsing over Flooring America's website and I think it's been weeks now since I've been doing that. You see, with over 17,432 flooring choices at this particular website, how can I stop myself from browsing? All of those with wonderful designs, color and texture. Everyone would be confused. I guess this is the only concern that I'm facing right now. I find it hard to decide which one to get. But I found a resolution that whichever is very much alike to our current flooring, that is something that we would probably get. So we are gearing towards a laminated flooring, which is our current one.

A light colored laminated flooring that easily gets stained or a dark colored one that would darken the room. Hmmm...That was what I was talking about!

A Date with my Titos and Titas

One weekday evening, my Titos and Titas arrived from our home town and they decided to have dinner at Mesa, Greenbelt.

IMG_6817

I love Mesa so I looked forward to our dinner. I was surprised that the line was long before we went in. Good thing my Tito suggested that we check out the mall first then by the time we were done, our table was ready.

We had feast!

IMG_6819

We had pomelo salad, lumpia as appetizer, baby squid in olive oil, crispy pla-pla, kare-kare and tinapa fried rice.

Yum, yum, yum! AND all of these taste really good.

It was a great dinner and we were all so full, after!

IMG_6822


Thanks for the treat Tito Ed and Tita Dolly!

Craving for a Sumptuous Breakfast

Hello, everyone! How's your Monday morning so far?

Mine is just ok but I'm really craving for a yummy and tasty breakfast. Especially when I saw this IG post of mine a couple of months ago...


Cafe Breton's crepe of course. I forgot what it's called. It has chicken and cheese and it was oh so yummy! I wish I'm eating this for breakfast.

Anyhoo, happy Monday everyone! (*wink*)

We had a Great Weekend!

Just like any other weekends that we had for the past few months now, we had a great weekend and the highlight was celebrating my friend's Sandy's 7th birthday. It was last Saturday but before that we had to do a couple of errands first.

I looked for a continued my "quest" for the perfect carpet when I found this Enterprise floor store that looks really promising. Carpet One Floor & Home is one of my list of floor stores to check but I haven't really looked up all the options since we needed to prepare for the party.

Will get back to that soon. And so are the photos and details of our friend Sandy's 7th birthday party! (*wink*)

Sharing a Song this Sunday: Let's be Brighter than the Sun Today!

Shall we!?

Let us hear from Colbie Caillat's Brighter than the Sun song.


I love it!

Happy, happy Sunday everyone!

Leaving Thunderbird Rizal with a Heavy Heart for my Birthday Getaway

Yes, we were sad to leave the resort because we were having so much fun! We went to the swimming pool in the morning. Well we actually spent the whole morning in the pool after having breakfast because the kids insisted that we do this. And then after a couple of hours, it was time for me to pack up and fix our things. The kids and Hubby followed after a couple of minutes then we all prepared to go home.

If only we could stay longer! But we needed to go back because school starts again the next day.


It's ok since we knew that we will definitely go back to Thunderbird since it was just an hour away from the city. And we all look forward to that! Wuhoo!

Thank you, Thunderbird! See you again SOON!

Have you heard of a Money Puzzle?

I haven't, until today. I was amazed by these money puzzles because it looked really interesting. This is actually called a Money Maze Bank, a great combination of a challenging puzzle and an intruiguing bank. It's so cool because you can drop a coin inside the money bank. If you want to get back your coin, you have to solve the puzzle first!


I think I found the perfect gift to give away this Christmas. It's not even expensive. For $9.99 (which is the sale price), my nephews and nieces would be happy to receive this interesting gift.

Food Trip at Thunderbird Rizal for my Birthday Getaway

Another thing that got us really excited in my birthday getaway is the food trip! Here is our first ever food that we ordered as soon as we got in the resort.


The yummy and tasty pizza with tomatoes and basil. I assume that it is healthy too?

For my birthday dinner, right after my massage, we went to the only restaurant in the resort which is the Koi Restaurant.


Surprisingly, we were a little bit full by then so we just had beef sinigang and baked salmon for dinner. We wanted it light and easy on our tummies since we've been eating out for the past few days already!

Breakfast buffet, the next day, still at Koi Restaurant was part of the package. Nothing special on the buffet though. But I was surprise to see that there is an egg station where Hubby ordered omelette, while I had sunny side up together with my chicken/pork adobo, not so yummy longganiza and fruits.

We had a late lunch since we packed our stuff and checked out first before heading back to the Koi Restaurant.

We had Pasta Bolognese and Baby Back Ribs for lunch.




These are all yummy and the kids enjoyed their lunch so much!

I wish Thunderbird has more restaurants to choose from. And I wish the pool side bar also offers ala carte because it would have been nice to have lunch there on our last day. Too bad, they were only offering the mongolian buffet which we thought the kids won't really enjoy.

More about Thunderbird Rizal's Swimming Pool and How it is Maintained.

We can't really get over the swimming pool of Thunderbird, Rizal so what we did, we continue to swim for the rest of the day of my birthday.



We also ordered pizza and they provided us with nuts while we wait for our order. I love the service and the staff. Everyone was very accomodating and helpful. I was even able to have a quick chat with one of the staff there and asked about how they maintained the beautiful pool that my kids loved so much. He said they really make time for the maintenance since this is one of their major facility in the resort.

I remember the other day I came across arizona custom pools and how they remodel or renovate a pool. I was interested because of my kids who love to swim. If my in laws still have their pool, I would definitely recommend this company to them. It seems like they've been in the pool renovation industry for years now and clients are very happy with their services. I love that you get to have estimates of your future pool renovation. At least with this, you can prepare for the amount that you need for the renovation. Maybe one day we will be checking out their website again and who knows, maybe we will be checking for our own pool renovation. Ha!


Think BIG - The Mompreneur Summit.

Hey to all the Moms out there! Let's have a day out and attend this interesting summit dedicated only for us...


On September 15, 2012, we are set to hold the very first business conference specially geared towards the needs of mom entrepreneurs. THINK BIG: The 1st MOMPRENEUR SUMMIT will feature info-packed talks by top influencers in entrepreneurship, marketing and the internet. With the support of its co-presentor, PLDT KaAsenso, THINK BIG! will be a gathering of mompreneurs and aspiring mompreneurs set to take their business to the next level through proper visioning, planning and strategy.

Registration fees are as follows:

P3,000 per person
inclusive of conference kit, lunch, morning and afternoon snacks

Looks very interesting right? who knows maybe I can start my own business after the summit! We will see.

For registration, visit this link, http://mompreneurmanila.com/2012/08/how-to-register-for-think-big-the-1st-mompreneur-summit/

See you there!

Swimming Time at Thurnderbird, Rizal for my Birthday Getaway

Well, if you are a 6 year old or a 3 year old, what would you do if there's a swimming pool out there waiting for you? Of course, the answer is, "SWIM as much as I can!". That's what we did as soon as we settled down at Thunderbird Rizal. (*grin*)



SWIMMING. The only activity that we did that weekend. Still, inspite of the bad weather, we still had a great, great time!







I would always Go for the Classic

Classic cars, that is! But who wouldn't!? Driving classic cars are something that I would love to do at least once in my life. It may be like those used cars Arlington but still, a classic is a classic.

Just check out this nice wedding car we came across when we attended a wedding at Fernbrook.


Isn't it lovely? I remember that these classic cars are so nice people would use it on special occasions like weddings, debut and birthdays. It has a vintage air conditioning that offers a different feel for the passengers. I guess the entire ride in a classic and vintage car is really something to look forward to.

But if you are one of those people who buys and collects vintage cars, you might to try and check out Old Air Products which offers systems and parts for classic cars. I know it's hard to look for parts especially for cars that are expensive and quite old already, so this is a perfect place to check if you are looking for one. They have apparel if you are a classic fanatic, model specific A/C systems, side by side atv, custom & street rod A/C units and system accessories and parts. I can see how the collectors would be jumping with joy right now if they read this. Because I dealt with used cars before and I know that it takes months before people find a certain part for their vintage car. And now that Old Air is in the market, it is great news for everyone!

Shopping in Old Air is very easy. Just make sure that you have your credit card ready. And also, make sure that it's working too! Transactions would be a breeze considering that they already a lot of transactions from their previous clients.

Wednesday Happy Thoughts

Happiness is...

1. Busy but fun weekend
2. Double Birthday celebration with Kuya Mike
3. Cake Festival! Wow!
4. Dinner with Farrah at Kogi Bulgogi
5. Coffee after :)
6. New hair color and haircut for moi!
7. Cyruss and Gail's Wedding last Sunday
8. Boodle Fight!
9. Kani and Mango salad by Your's Truly (*wink*)
10. Where we Belong by Emily Griffin

To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.

Arriving Thunderbird, Rizal for my Birthday Getaway

The day of my birthday, we had to go to my baby girl's Buwan ng Wika school activity so after that, we went straight to Thunderbird, Rizal to celebrate my birthday!

I was surprised that it only took us an hour and a half. This is the reason why I love Thunderbird. Perfect for quick getaways!


The girls were giddy when they saw what awaits them in Thunderbird...


The pool of course! And look, we have huge beds in our huge hotel room!


So this is our home for the weekend.


And we all love it! Watch out for more photos and stories tomorrow! (*wink*)