Little A is getting to be mobile! He can already flip to his side when lying down, and he can also roll when he’s on his tummy. He has reached the stage when he can’t be left alone in elevated surfaces anymore, lest he falls. He likes to play peekaboo, and smiles a lot. He’s even starting to laugh too. He’s also talking in his cute baby language, oftentimes in a loud voice. Hehehe He’s a little man with a big voice! Even when he’s alone, you can hear him babbling to himself.

Look at him grabbing the toy fish from the baby gym – great for practicing his reflexes.

Yes baby A, it’s the tiny baby gym for you now coz when you grow up, you will be using pull up bar, weights or treadmills to keep your body in good shape.

But small as he is, he’s got strong legs!  I should know, I am a regular victim of his kicks.

Many of my friends are sick with colds these days; even my family isn’t spared from it. My two kids have already caught the virus since Monday, and M has started coughing just yesterday.

Anyway, the girls planned to ambush A’s places yesterday for lunch and today, at my place. But only L made it to A’s coz the rest of the girls were down with colds! That includes F whose celebrating her birthday on Saturday. Poor girls. I was thinking maybe F wouldn’t be well enough to go out today, so yesterday I made the binignit (aka ginataan in Tagalog) she was craving for to the max.

Instead of reading apidexin reviews and other diet articles (remember, I want to go on a diet!!! hehe), I was in the kitchen experimenting with this starchy and sweet comfort food famous to Filipinos during rainy days. After more than an hour of cooking, my work was done. Then it was time to get my dear friend’s verdict; if it tastes good or not.. Since she lives quite near from our place, I thought a special delivery of her favorite food would surprise her and would make her well. M was kind enough to play the role of a delivery man (with my little Caity), bringing the warm binignit to F’s house.

The binignit… pic borrowed from F’s FB account.

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We went to a party last Friday and as usual saw the usual suspects (the same faces I see almost every week in our food trip sessions). I know A. invited her friend from Hodonin (a city in Moravia) but she didn’t come. I learned later that because of the rains, the rivers have swollen and caused flooding in some areas in northern and southern Moravia. I felt bad for her coz they’ve been planning their trip to Prague for sometime already.

On the other hand, I am experiencing a different kind of rain-flood cause and effect in my world. Not the kind that would need pails, mops, hand dryers and lots of sun to dry out the water but…it’s been raining lots of work for me, work which will bring moolah to my pocket. And yes, I’m flooded with work! I am not complaining, but I am just overwhelmed! I’m happy that I’ll be able to earn extra income but at the same time, I am a little afraid that I can’t finish all the tasks given to me. Weeee!

Who’s Candice? She’s my favorite interior designer based in Canada which I got to know from her TV show, “Divine Design” wherein she does makeover of homes. She really has the talent to turn boring, ugly and dated spaces into magical, modern and elegant interiors! It’s like everything she touches, turns into one great work of art! You should see the faces of her clients during the “magic reveal” portion of the show.  They’re in awe! They usually say “I can’t believe this is the same space!”.  And I agree.

How she incorporates textures, fabrics, colors, state of the art technology, function, etc. etc. in her design is what makes her rock. You should catch her on TV or better yet, search for Candice Olson in Youtube.Though she sometimes uses her own designed products, I still wonder where she gets her super-duper elegant fixtures and furnishings. Does she also go hunting for wholesale hot tub covers or skips it and goes to stores selling high-end stuff?  I’ve seen some episode where the clients have limited budget and yet Candice can still deliver great designs.  And for that I call her a genius.

Another pasalubong from my dear friend A, spanish style milkfish or bangus in can!

spicy bangus!

I actually asked her to buy the VMC brand, which is the product of my home province but A said she didn’t find it in the store where she shopped. Beggars can’t be choosers, so they say but I still think VMC is unbeatable in taste.  I was surprised when I opened the package from her and saw not just one, but five canned goods!

A also brought me Chizwiz sandwich spread which I have been craving for the longest time, and another canned product, the bangus in tausi beans (which wasn’t that yummy). Then I got to eat Nova, Piatos, Boy Bawang. Hehehe This month, it is Filipino food heaven for meee! Food trip to the max! Never mind if she didn’t give me some perfume or eye cream, or any beauty products for that matter, pinoy food is still the best pasalubong for us Filipinos who are far away from home!

Last week my friends threw a birthday party for me. I wasn’t planning on having one coz of their busy schedules and all the tiring preparation it entails. But they were sweet enough to arrange it so everyone can come and the birthday girl need not worry about food. It was agreed that each of us will bring whatever we can prepare/cook/buy and share with everyone. Actually, we can just feast over a bucket of KFC and a big pot of rice and it’s already an instant party! We’re a bunch of easy to please people you know.

So the day after my official birthday, we stormed G’s flat to party! G cooked menudo, L brought a spicy thai noodle food, F brought biko, A brought a bottle of Porto wine and M baked a blue-berry cake. As for me, I brought an uncooked whole chicken which we baked there, ingredients for pancit (which L cooked), drinks and longganisa. See, I was a queen for one day.

Here we are!

Do we look like we need the safest diet pills yet? Or we can still go on pigging out? Coz there’s another party coming up this weekend! It’s the last for the month of May but definitely not the last for this season. hehehe I’m sure we’ll come up with excuses to feast again.

And here’s moi, ready to carve the chicken.

Thank you Tuesday group!

I wanted to buy a digital frame a couple of years ago as a christmas gift for someone special but it was too pricey. I just couldn’t afford to spend so much money on a single person especially during that season when there are many others to give gifts to. Well I guess now I can afford it coz while browsing the internet earlier, I chanced upon discounted photo frames for as low as 60% off the original price. Weeee! But I still have yet to let M check the specifications and features of the item coz I am not good with electronic products. Who knows it might not even be a great choice; sometimes cheap stuff aren’t of good quality. I’m keeping my fingers crossed coz there’s an upcoming special occasion which will be a perfect time to give a digital photo frame as a gift!

Zzzzz I’m feeling very sleepy but I still have to catch up with a deadline! I hope I’d still get enough sleep tonight after working.

Hmmm… did you know that lack of sleep can affect your weight? According to ehow.com, when a person lacks sleep and is highly stressed, the body produces a chemical called cortisol which lowers testosterone production, and also contributes to weight gain. Sleep then is essential when you’re trying to lose weight my dears. I thought its the other way around, like when you don’t have enough sleep, your body becomes weak thus making a person thin.   So there you are, if you want to shed off some weight, sleep at least eight hours a day. It also is a natural testosterone booster. And don’t forget to exercise, practice proper diet, etc. We can do it! hehehe

Yehey! My friends who went home to Philippines for a vacation are back and they brought pasalubong for us!

I got a Hongkong keychain from F who went to Disneyland for two days with her mom. I got canned bagoong and 7 packs of dried danggit from G. Another friend A I heard has some goodies for us too.

Danggit!

Canned bagoong

I’ve been feasting on danggit for the past days already. Weeeee! It’s yummy, even little Caity likes it. She calls it chicken, no matter how many times I told her it’s FISH. It’s her pinoy blood showing it’s real color. hehehe BUT consuming dried fish often isn’t good! Aside from its high salt content, another bad thing about danggit is that I tend to eat plenty of rice with it, which is not good for my diet plan. hehehe I told myself I’ll lessen my carbo intake but this danggit just destroys it. I have to hide it and exercise restrain! Or else fat burner will take over. Then there are three parties to attend to in the next weeks to come which will surely blow my diet again! waaaaaaaaaaa

As promised, I am showing you some of the books I bought in the spring bazaar. I still can’t get over how dirt cheap they cost! They’re almost like give-aways!

Some of the books I bought… ( Can you see the prices?)

T got this plush teddy for 10 czk only which she gave to Caity.

We did get some items for free! Pocketbooks and a bag for T etc. etc….. Whew!

There’s another bazaar coming up this weekend.  T and I are planning to go there again hoping to hit a treasure of inexpensive-yet-still-in-superb-condition-stuff.  Ugh!  Now I’m loving shopping! Walking back and forth, here and there looking for great items can burn fats and might work like apidexin. It’s a wonderful stress-buster too.  But only when I get more for the little money I have! teehee!