Random Thoughs

~It's going to be one busy weekend with parties tomorrow and on Sunday. We are pretty much clueless on what's going to happen tomorrow as it's a party hosted by our families.

~It actually has been a busy week since it's my bday week. My sister is also here visiting so we have been out practically everyday. Their goes my diet too as we have been eating out a lot!

~We have exprerienced a lot of rain this week. It has been raining the whole week and I do hope we get some sun tomorrow. We were at the mall last Wednesday and they had to close portions of the mall because of flooding. The rain was nothing like Ondoy but that goes to show how people here are so not used to rain and so not prepared for it.

~I missed my family and friends in Manila as I am so used to celebrating it with them but had a wonderful time still. Wonderful new memories on my bday. More special than loose diamonds or anything else that money could buy

~Life is good!

The Makings of a Shoeholic

I'm a flip flop girl. I'm always wearing my flip flops to just about everywhere I get the chance too. Even wearing them at times on occassions I shouldn't just because I'm not used to wearing shoes anymore.

Things are starting to change. The main reason for this change is that it's cold here and wearing flipflops will only freeze me more to death. I've only been here for a month though and in that span of time I have bought 3 pairs of shoes. Two I bought today. I wanted a few more pairs but I knew I didn't need any more than 2 pairs for today (atleast!). I don't know how I ended up buying shoes when I was suppose to be looking for mounts and not shoes.

I tried I think almost a dozen shoes. Never had that much fun trying on shoes. I ended up with this 2 pairs.

Love my shoes and my boots.
I'm Macy and I'm a shoeholic in the making.

Cathedral Gelatin

I love my mom's version of cathedral gelatin and for lack of things to do, I emailed my mom and had her email me the ingredients and procedure on how to make the cathedral gelatin. The ingredients was in our pantry cabinet for almost a week and one afternoon after reading on emergency medical assistance, I decided to try making it. It took 2 days for me to finish this since I had to make the colored gelatin first and the next day I made the white cream and then made the cathedral itself. I'm pretty proud of myself for doing a good job.

finished product

This version of the cathedral gelatine is super yummy. I would need a jello mold thought ffor better presentation as what I used for know are pyrex pans and our cups at home. If you want a recipe, send me a message.

Ruby's

I swear I would need the best weight loss supplements available in the market with all the eating I have been doing.

A few days after Christmas T and I went malling and then had snacks at Ruby's. I love their milkshake (I got chocolate and banana) and garlic fries that came with our sliders. As most restaurants, they offer a huge serving so T and I just split an order. We not only save money but we are also not tempted into eating more than what we should.

Love this diner and would surely go back!

After Christmas Sale

With the after Christmas sale ongoing everywhere a week after Christmas, we took that as our chance to buy whatever we would need for the house. We have a long list of must buys but we just had to make sure we buy the most important items first like allergy bedding and kitchen items. It was great to be able to slowly complete on the things we need for the house. Thank God also for gift cards we got! It was hard to pick from the many choices available though. I always feel like I want to buy everything nice I see but I know I won't need them all so I need to buy what we really need and not want.
And ofcourse, I did a few shopping for myself too. teehee!

Cypresslights

While looking for phila pa jobs for T's friend, we saw a write up for a house just near church and T's sister. This was after Christmas and right before New Year (such a late post I know!). The house was decorated with Christmas lights and they were broadcasting a radio station where in the music were syncrhonized with the house. When you get to the house you would just need to turn your radio to the station provided and viola, it was a Christmas lights show right before your eyes. Here is a picture of the house that I took..

And a video I took...

ADHD

I don't what's with it but in the recent years the number of ADHD cases has increased. Maybe it's because of the fact that more people are now more aware of the condition compared to before but if this should cause alarm, I don't think so. ADHD is a manageable condition and what's important is diagnosing ADHD. One can get a lot of help in the diagnosis and management of this condition. Thanks to information online, on magazines and on TV since they help a lot of people with how to deal with this condition.

Day in the Park

Spent last Friday with my SIL and the kids. We started our day out with lunch at Goldilocks then we picked up Isabela from school and then went to a nearby park to attend the birthday party of Isabela's classmate. It is very common here to hold parties in the park. Very practical and cool I think. Children's party here are very simple I must say. For that party since it was an after school affair, they just served drinks and chips and then they served the cake too. They had a few games and the piñata. If I may just add it was an over sized hello kitty piñata.

park grounds

the birthday cake

the over sized hello kitty pinata after an accident, teehee!
isabela
Sean eating his cupcake

It was a great day because it was not that cold. The weather was just right. Right after the park we went to Target as my SIL wanted to check on the best acne treatment cream for another friend. We then bought chinese food for take-out for dinner. It was a great way to start the weekend.

Stormy Week

Looks like it's going to be a week filled with rain. Bad news for my sister who is flying in from East Coast as it's not a sunny California as she has wished. I'm wishing I won't get sick though as the week and the coming weekend is going to be a busy one. That's one reason I stocked up on vitamins for me and T. Good thing we decided to go to Costco last Saturday and I was reminded that I need to buy vitamins. I hope we get a better weather towards the weekend though. We have a full weekend planned.

Haiti

My heart goes out to the people of Haiti. What a terrible tragedy that hit a poor country like theirs. Things like this makes you realize how much more we have and how God has continually blessed us. The only rainbow during tragedies like this is it brings out the good in everyone and everyone just pulls together all the resources to help out people in need. Manpower, food, medicines and even vitamins for men, women and kids are badly needed.

I pray that we get a rest from all the calamities happening and that the people of Haiti can recover from this soon.

BEAUTIFUL

I love it when we drive up to LA since the view is always amazing!

So even if it's an hour away, it's a drive I always look forward too. This week, we are off to the outlet shops. Yey!

Breakout

I don't know if it was the sudden change in weather or because it's that time of the month or it's with all the chocolate I've been eating but for the past 2 weeks I have been experiencing skin breakout. My skin is so dry, my face feels so dry and pimples are just starting to come out of nowhere. I hope I get to resolve this soon and that I would not have to go to a dermatologist for any treatments. My sister-in-law has told me we can go to her dermatologist for a natural acne treatment. If I don't resolve my skin issues in a weeks time, I might do just that.

American Idol

American Idol is back! I super love this show and I'm happy it's back and at the same time sad no new episodes of glee is to be shown till this season of American Idol is over.

The first 2 episodes were ok episodes. For me, no one really stood out. I love Mary J Blige though! She was a really fun guest judge. I love how candid she is. The judge I'm most excited for is Ellen. Can't wait for the Hollywood week to start. Thank God for the DVR as I can just record the show and skip on the commercials. Just too many commercials for the show. The only commercial that I liked was that of the colon cleanser as it was something I need to send back home.

No favorites for me right now for AI but I'm still looking forward to watching this season.

Shakeys!

I'm not a fan of Shakey's but for the sake of trying and comparing we decided to have dinner at Shakey's one Sunday night after church.

The verdict? It was the same. Nothing special. The only difference I think is the signage and that the chicken here is bigger. Teehee. It was still a great dinner. Every time spent with T is wonderful, of course. We also got to work on the directory submission I had to complete. Thanks to the available WIFI service. Oh, I did love the mojo's though. YUM! It was really good especially with the ice cold root beer.

Christmas 2009

I was looking forward to spending my first Christmas with T as a married couple but at the same time I knew that it was going to be a different Christmas since it was my first Christmas away from my parents, sister and pasaway family.

I remember calling them on Christmas Eve Manila time missing everyone and feeling so homesick. All that changed when we drove to my Aunt's house for Christmas eve. We went to church first and then off to their house for Christmas eve dinner. Dinner was sumptuous. It was so nice to see an uncle and aunt again whom I have not seen for years! After dinner we had games, exchange gift, Christmas pictorial and then opening of gifts. It was such a joy watching the kids open their gifts.

We went to leave for home past midnight and then got home after about an hour. It was a long drive home but we were happy to have spent Christmas with family.

I missed Christmas in the Philippines but I sure had a Merry Christmas here too.

Busy Weekend!

Can't believe it's Friday already. I just have a few household chores to finish and then it's officially a weekend for me. My SIL is picking me up later so we can go to the cemetry. After which, we drive to their house and T will just pick me me up from there. That means I get to play with the kids.

Saturday, we go to downtown LA to meet up with my cousins for flower shopping and lunch. We drive back to Orange for a short meeting and then go to my lola's house for her bday celebration.

Sunday, we have lunch with T's co-worker and then look for ceramic tiles for the backyard. We can probably have time to watch a movie too.

Looking forward to spending the weekend with T!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

While printing the carinsurancelist for T to be picked up before lunch by one of his co-workers, I decided to do some baking. I have never done any baking in the recent years. I remember baking chocolate crinkles and probably the last time I did so was way back in college. I love the smell of home baked cookies/pastries!

I didn't make those cookies from scratch though. I first got a taste of the yummy cookies over at my cousins house and they told us where and what they bought. Last night, just before we went to the grocery we went to Trader Joe's first to buy the ready mix cookies and a few bottles of our favorite iced tea.

I'm trying baking again soon. Maybe make some cupcakes and cookies. I hope I ended up with good stuff too.