Held at Umali's place. This time around, hubby and I made some
fruit salad to bring over. The weather was fine that afternoon so we went for a
quick trip to The Sanctuary at Lancaster. Charmelle had so much fun running
around, picking tiny flowers and all sorts of leaves within her reach. We, on
the other hand, enjoyed the mini playground and the spectacular view of the
greens.
Location: The Sanctuary, Lancaster
Our foods:
Sinaing na isda (by Chad); Modified Kare-kare (by Kumare);
Pansit bihon (by Chad); Fruit Salad (by Anekh)
Charmelle in her underpants after having a wee
Anekh perfectly captured this beautiful flower at the park
His real name is Gerald Benjamin Rimando but everyone calls him "Jimboy".
Yesterday he celebrated his 12th birthday with a dinner at their place,
a small gathering of family friends.
Nearly got blown over by the strong wind
For his special day, I made him a
chocolate cake coated with chocolate butter icing decorated with pastel
colored sprinkles and tiny bits of chocolate kisses.
After finishing work that Sunday afternoon, hubby and I headed to our usual venue, at Umali's
place. Prior that, I had a bit of hysteria when I found out that the
tuna pasta I made the night before got spoiled. I was so disappointed
because I put so much effort in making it just to chuck all of it in the
bin. Apparently hubby had forgotten to keep it in the fridge all
morning. It was too late to make another dish. Lucky I
got to taste some of it that morning for breakfast.
Location shoot: Albany Hartman Gardens, York Street
Inspired by Wendy's famous bacon and mushroom melt.
Got nothing that I can call productive to do at home all day, I've decided to make Hubby a smoko that he has never had in ages. I, too, suddenly felt the craving for something new to my taste buds. It's getting quite boring having the same sandwich every time, so might as well innovate.
Did a quick research over the web for some help, but was unsuccessful. Guess I'd have to do it, my way, then.
It was pretty easy to prepare. Only mushrooms and bacon required cooking; the rest of the ingredients just needed to be chopped. The buns had to be toasted lightly before assembling the burger, which I burned a bit. Putting them together one on top of another was the best part. *laughs*
And
so it was the much-anticipated event of the year. As soon as "ber"
months come in, the countdown to Christmas begins. I even downloaded a
ticker to keep me updated, but soon lost track when it was getting
closer. As much as I wanted to enjoy the season of festivity, I
couldn't because I've got a full time job that extends at home to make
cakes. Despite juggling all that tasks, I still find time to relax and
hang around with people where I draw my energy from.
This year's
Christmas is the same compared to last year, where I had work the whole
day and only had the afternoon to spend with my husband, family and
friends. That doesn't make the occasion less meaningful at all. Like
any other day, Christmas is the time to be merry because we are blessed
in abundance.
Our annual Kris Kringle tradition just got bigger and better this year.
Bigger because we've grown in number of participants. Better because
instead of preparing a gift per person , like what we did in the
previous years, we've changed it this year to per family entry. Now,
gift-giving is made easier. The cost was also raised to $100.
Not only that, we've also added color theme for each family.
*Blue - Rimando Family *Purple - Rey Family *Yellow - Umali Family *Green - Hernandez Family *Pink - Garcia Family *Red - Santos Family
All went well and everyone participated actively. We just didn't stay for long because some of us have work in the morning.
This was definitely not the first time that I've ever attempted making an egg pie. The very first was way back in my college years, when I made one for a friend's birthday. Over a decade after, I regained my passion for baking. As you may know, I had not been into cooking and all that stuff for the longest time until I got here in Albany. My way of living, daily routines, environment, practically everything, had greatly changed since I moved here. Anyway, I wouldn't tackle that topic further.
I actually have two boxes of duck eggs in the pantry which have been kept seating there since last week.
I've heard quite a lot of renditions of this classic love song from various artists, both foreign and local, yet I still feel spellbound every time I listen to it. To me, this must be the best musical arrangement for a duet of all time. I love how the melody perfectly complements the lyrics.
Over the last few days, this song has once again captured my senses, through a single post on my Facebook feeds page. It was a music video linked to YouTube of a Korean ballad singer K.Will with Charice Pempengco, singing a duet of the song "Endless love". I am no Charice fan, though I've always admired her talent, but certainly, I loved how she beautifully sung the female parts of the song. She showcased her own style and did not try to mock another artist. As for the male part, his voice sounded like that of Brian McKnight on the first few stanzas which I find impressive.
The song has been around for decades since it was first released in August 1981, as original motion picture soundtrack from the movie of the same title, which starred Brooke Shields. Diana Ross and Lionel Richie were the first to record the song.
In 1993, Mariah Carey made a remake of the song with fellow soul singer Luther Vandross, that made her the most played musician on the radio towards the end of the year and in 1994.
In the recent year, promising singer and Philippines' pride Charice Pempengco gave a whole new approach to the song. I couldn't find a suitable code to embed the video here. Just click the link and prepare to be carried away by the music.
At long last, I've finally learned the trick of putting two images side by side in my blog. For sometime, it had been puzzling me. Tried every possible tutorials I could find on Google but didn't quite help. It took me hours and a lot of trial and error attempts. Somehow I was beginning to lose my patience with the html codes. But, I didn't stop until I figured it out myself. The photos above are the cakes I made for our Baby Charmelle's birthday held on Sunday, October 17.
Our inaanak, Baby Charmelle, has recently celebrated her first birthday last Saturday, October 16. And I thought of making this presentation as my way of saying how adorable and bubbly she is, through the help of another friend who is more knowledgeable than I am on stuff like this. Quite fortunately, I had managed to complete the project ahead of time after a few revisions on some transitions.
Voila! Here's the finished product. I have posted the same video on my Facebook account for her parents and our fellow god parents to see.
My life revolves around what I call priceless treasures - my family, my job, my dreams, my passion for cakes and my penchant for photography. I get bundles of joy from petty details that each day brings. It makes a whole lot of difference when I get to learn a thing or two from matters that are often taken for granted.
