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Turquoise Christmas

This is my color of choice this Christmas and I can't find a wreath with my color theme. So, I made one of my own.

Just a P120 wreath adorned with balls and I have my customized wreath.

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The Cat in the Hat

Armed with my trusty sewing kit, my one and only- had it since 5th grade - I tackled the Herculean task of making a costume for the boy's book month parade.

 

It could have been a simple affair if I was content with making it out of Carolina. But no, I had to make this nice. And in my book, nice often translates to complicated.

 

So, at 4 am on a Sunday, I cut and sewed and tried to recall exactly how it is done. In my recent memory, I could only remember sewing a missing button by hand. And even that did not come out really cleanly.

 

This project was the best effort of a trying hard, DIY mom.

 

I stared long and hard at this kit trying to convince myself that I can do this.

 

 

I used felt to fashion a big red bow and a white pear shaped felt to act as the body fur.

 

Then I place malleable wire inside 2 felt cloth for the long and wiggly tail.

 

 

 

Putting the top part of the hat.

 

 

Not professional quality yet, but this will pass for me and my pre schooler.

 

 

Slowly taking shape.

 

Ah yes. After 4 hours, the costume is ready.

 

The cat....

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Manila Ocean Park Visit

It was a long overdue visit. I didn't want to go when it first opened because of the crowd, and P500-P600 seemed a little too expensive given the feedback that some areas are not ready yet.

We waited I think a good 2 years, and only went because we were able to get tickets at a very good price.

Our day started with Mcdo, our favorite meal of the day!

Happy boy Jared waiting for breakfast!

Here he is in front of a giant fish, maybe an arapaima? Jared loves the Nat Geo show where they catch fish in the wild... the really big ones.

Sharing the experience with grandma.

Starfish

"Smile for the camera, Jared". "Like this, mom?" FPJ look.

Take 2. Now, that's much better!

 

Nice shot.

 

Looking at sharks at this picture. We asked him, "how big is the shark's mouth?". This was his answer.


At the tunnel. We were fortunate to come on day with almost no schools having field trips. I can imagine this place must be hot if filled with students. That time, we took our time in going through each of the exhibit areas.

We goofed around for the camera.

Soon, we got hungry. While waiting for the next show times, we went around to check on the restaurants. Then, finally settled for Gerry's Grill. Comfort food.

 

This Gerry's outlet has a nice outdoor area. It was still too sunny during lunch time but would be perfect for early dinner. 

 

 

 

After lunch, it was time for the shows!

 

First stop, the sea lion show. Good thing it was windy so that made the heat of the noonday sun bearable.

 

 

 

And for P300, we lined up to touch the sea lion and have a picture with him. He's so hesitant to smile for the camera and kept looking at his slick, black, new friend on the side.

 

 

Next stop, the Bird show.




Giving his approval to the whole Ocean Park experience.

The scared look after the albino python was brought on stage.

We were sweaty and tired after a few hours, but still gamely posed for this shot.

 

 

 

I promised the little one we'll spend a night here and see the other attractions next time.

 

 

Behind the Scenes: Being a Wedding Ninang for the First Time

At 35, I was graciously asked by a much younger couple to stand as a principal sponsor at their wedding. They asked oh so nicely, and sweetly and I remembered among our wedding sponsors, we can relate and talk most to the younger in the batch.

I think when we got married 6 years ago, our wedding ninangs were also in the mid 30s age range.

So, a month before the wedding, the couple asked if we ninangs can come in knee length silver dresses. I thought that time that hey, that's easy. So I put it off. I was busy, and had a business trip to attend.

I was confident I can easily find a dress.

A week and a half before the wedding, I panicked and finally looked for something.

My first purchase, a glittery Ruby Woo dress.
Checklist:
Ist it silver? - half check only as only the top is silver
Is it knee length- check
Do I look like a ninang when I wear it? Nah, I actually look like somebody going to a disco (may disco pa ba???)

But I bought it anyway because I might not have the time to look for another dress.

 

 

My second purchase: a brocade silver dress at Cinderella

Checklist:
Ist it silver? - check. It is silver on silver.
Is it knee length- check
Do I look like a ninang when I wear it? More like just a wedding guest outfit

I am unlike most people. I would rather I am overdressed than under dressed. But still, I bought this anyways because I might not find an all silver dress. And this is based from experience. I found this dress in the sale rack at 70% off after almost buying dresses 10x more expensive at a boutique a few steps away.

 



I almost bought this dress, too. The two of them were on the sale rack.

So I thought I am all set. I have my shoes already, a black cocktail bag I already own, and I bought fake pearls to wear as a necklace in 2 shades of gray.

BUT... a day before the wedding, just as when I should be in the thick of preparing the dessert buffet which I volunteered to gift the couple with, I went out and looked for something else.

I know, right?

On the day itself, I ended up wearing something I feel is appropriate for this most special event.

Checklist:
Ist it silver? - half check only as only the skirt part is silver but I had a shawl was ready to cover up that lace top part.
Is it knee length- check
Do I look like a ninang when I wear it? YES!!!

So what happened to my purchases?

I had the first one changed to an all black office dress (which I am wearing today), and kept the silver
brocade one in my closet. I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunity to wear that in the future. =)

 More stories about the wedding coming up soon!

My Game Face

Year in and year out, when I hit my 30s, my yearly resolutions include: eating healthier and learning how to  apply make up.

I am still a firm believer at writing down resolutions. It's something I can look at and review before the year is over.

Like now. Just a little over a month and 2012 is finished. And I am cramming again to make sure I have achieved at at least half of what I wrote down on my resolution list.

So on a visit to ATC to buy proper make up brushes, I entered this small but nice store at the new wing while waiting for our turn at Bannaple.

I will blog about the make up class, the most basic one at 4 hours, after the actual class on the 24th.

I do hope it will enhance my everyday game face.

Here's how I look like each morning.

A little dash of lipstick, a little filling on the eyebrows, powder (which I do not retouch for the rest of the day) and mascara on some days. Plus my unruly and uncombed hair.

It doesn't help that I am almost always in a black dress--drabness.

Okay, pictures and stories after the class. Ciao!

DIY: Regrouting our Bathroom Floor

Like with most things, this one started small.

It started with a weekend trip to Wilcon where the agenda was just to look around.

But, you cannot really just look. You have to dream, imagine, put things together, compute, then demand. =)

I saw these nice and reasonably priced matwood floors. Compared every brand available there, then called a sales associate to ask for a quotation.


When she gave me the computation, I was heart-broken to hear it would cost way more than loose change. And even with reasoning, which turned to pleading , then to threatening the husband, he alas would not relent.

And reminded me that this is the year we promised not to spend on anything major and instead save.

So we went home with a heavy heart. Sad about the bathroom, he allowed me to buy a few miscellaneous items here and there.

I equipped myself with the few tools needed to regrout the bathroom floor.

something to scrape off the grout with

I had that feeling that I had to do something house-related. Anything that will be the replacement of that supposed bedroom floor renovation.

I put my whole heart to it, and several afternoons to boot.

 

Our house was built in 2008, the year our son was born. Fairly new, still. Unfortunately, the contractor did not do a good job in the bathroom. Specifically on the grout. It made our bathroom floor look dingy and old. Even with cleaning, and scrubbing.

I finally gave up on this floor after trying out all the available commercial cleaners I can find, and after formulating a dozen or so homemade cleaning recipes.

It was doomed. It looked doomed.

Until that lightbulb idea at Wilcon.

Look at this yucky, yucky floor!

 

And here's what it looked like after I slaved it in there: scraping, scrubbing and sealing the grout. Yes the grout should be sealed for protection.

 

It's not perfect, but for my investment of just less than P300.00 (plus a lot of sweat and achy arms for days), our bathroom floor now looks, well, acceptable.

 With this recent success, I am dreaming of more beautification projects:

- spray paint the cheap looking curtain rods from silver to oil-rubbed bronze
- re-upholster our orange lounge chair, or whatver you call it
- spray paint some more ornaments a bright and happy turquoise
- re-grout the other bathroom

Wish we have more long weekends so I can accomplish the above.

Our Long Weekend

It has been a pretty hectic year for this mom, work-wise. The reason why I had less posts, less outings, less arts and crafts. But the 4 day long weekend and  re-energized me (and then made me tired again) simply because we got to enjoy our little boy fot 4 straight days.

 

 

 

A toast to the great results of his 2nd quarter exams.

 

 

You might be seeing this angry bird shirt in several posts. As his current fave, this is wash and wear.

 

 

Here he is enjoying the display at SM-- then this toppled over scaring him in the process.

The race track at Festivall Mall where he gets to take his chosen car for a few spins around the area. This I think is the best bump car (if you wiill call it that) place we have tried. Only P40 per ride, which will take you 4 or 5 rounds in this well-organized and big track.

We used to take him often to MOA Bayside in the mornings, but that dwindled when I got busy, too. Look at our boy run!

Now he likes boats, ships, trains (still), airplanes, tracks and anything in the solar system. He was fascinated by all the birds hovering above this docked boat.

Carousel ride!

We ended that Friday with a long, sweet kiss.

 

Cemetery visits will be in another post.