It's My Birthday & Our Anniversary!

It's my 29th birthday today! Happy Birthday to me and Happy 2nd Year Anniversary to us. Hehe.

We do not have any grand plans today, not only because I am pregnant but because of budget contraints. Hehe. We just shed out 10% additional DP for the house, then we are also preparing for our baby's coming as well as her things plus the house customization, aesthetic and furnitures. Hay ang daming gastos. But it's okay hindi naman sa kung saan lng mapupunta eh. It's for our future and baby's future as well.

Hubby and I started the day hearing the 6am mass at NSDG were we exchanged vows 2 years ago. Afterwards, we had bfast at McDo then off to office. Tonight we'll be having simple dinner somewhere at Shangrila, maybe CPK or Claw Daddy. Bahal na were our taste buds will bring us.

Oh we might also have simple get together with the Dizon's & Rodriguez' at Pampanga, pag uwi nmin sa June 6. As usual, I cook for the family and they always watch out for new dishes. Hehe.

Thanks babi for the nice white gold earrings! Love you so much! Happy Anniversary!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

It's my dad 60th birthday today! Certified senior citizen ka na. Hehe.

We may not be around celebrating his birthday today but this coming long weekend (May 1-2)we'll have an out of town trip / outing at Coral View Resort at Morong, Bataan. I find it very exciting since it is our first family out of town. Imagine that!

I just do hope that everybody will have a great time. If not sisihin ko sarili ko as the head planner. Hehe.

I'll post pictures and some kwentos after the event!

Happy birthday dad! We love you!

Happy Birthday Memond!

I woke up early this morning to cook all meat spag and chix cordon bleu for hubby. He wanted something "haba-haba" on his day for long life daw. Hehehe. I also lighted 3 candles which symbolizes his 3 decades of living. Wala lng para my i-blow sya khit wla pang cake. Hehe.

Actual celebration will be on Nov 3 together with the Samonte Family :)

Cup Cake Rush

It was all about rushing when I semi-DIYed cup cakes for Tammy's 7th Birthday last Friday (Oct 17) . Two days before the party when Ate Rona finally decided to have the cup cakes as dessert and souvenir.

I only have to days (or I may say hours since I go to office 8:30AM - 7:00 PM) to scout for nearby suppliers and purchase for packaging materials. Lunch break was all I have to attend to this. I don't have any idea where to buy these stuff since I am not yet into baking. Thanks to an officemate who provided me weblinks were to find baking needs.

Wednesday (Oct 15) was for suppliers scouting. Thursday (Oct 16) was for buying the supplies, packaging materials preparation and a bit practice. Btw, the thank you labels were scrap materials from the invitations I make. Hehe. Friday (Oct 17) was for assembly. I woke up at 6AM and was able to finish whipping the cream (thanks to my blender that made me work fast-it worked!), decorating and packing the ready to eat 40 cup cakes fresh from groceries at around 7:30 AM. Fast for a first timer I guess. One more thing, I was not late at the office. *Wink*Wink*

Below are some snap shots of the semi-DIYed cup cakes that I consider as a success. Guests find them adorable and cutie :-)

I guess I'll made them better if I was given enough time.

My family and relatives were wondering how I did the cup cakes for they know that I don't yet have an oven. Hahaha. Ate Noli was even telling me that I shall make it as another business. Why not? Hehe.

Supposedly these should be arranged in a 3-tiered cake stand but they are charging us P500 corkage fee so we just ended up distributing them around the cake :-(

See Tammy's Aurora costume? I am prooud to say that it was made by my mom. Galing noh? Sayang lng they forgot to bring the peticot.

This is my family plus the 2 kids of my cousin Doan. Missing in action? Our hubbies - they are all at work.

Fully Loaded Weekend

Hubby and I had a fully loaded tummies over the weekend. For sure we gain extra extra pounds again. Hay!

Saturday with the Rodriguez Family

The celebrants (L -R: Mom, Llyod & Ronin)

It's Mommy, Lloyd (BIL) and Ronin (nephew) birthdays reason of going home to Pampanga last weekend. It's nice to be back home after a month, specially that the family is almost complete. Our home was also fully loaded with fun and laughter and of course with our high pitch tone. (Mga kapampangan eh. Hehe). Kids running all over the house and shouting at the top of their voice. Ang gulo pero masaya! Hehehe.

As always, mom and I prepared the food. I so love this part since it's a bonding moment with mom, sharing our recepies with each other at pagalingan sa pagluto. Hahaha.

The grillers: Hubby and me

The food

I did the roast beef and grilled korean bbq chciken - which was a best seller. It tastes like the chicken from teriyaki boy daw. Lola (mom's side) took home the excess, kanya na lang daw. Hehe. Mom did her famous chicharon (na hindi ko tlga magaya - she don't share the exact procedure) , ubod, asado kapampangan (one of her specialties na alam ko na rin lutuin), hinilabos na hipon and palabok. We ended having 2 palaboks, the other one is from lola they keep on comparing, which is better - mom won. Takot na lng nila sa birthday celebrant. Hahaha.

After eating we eneded the night with photo session. This was really fun, kasi kagulo kmi tlga - because we need to hurry up tapos ang dami pa nmin dahil my digicam battery is empty - too bad i forgot the charger. We had to heat the batteries with our hands or scratch them at our laps to take another picture. Hahaha.

It seems that it was lola's birthday, she's always at pictures. Pagbigyan na daw, dahil sya pinkamatanda. She even directs how our position should be. Lola tlga. Hahaha. Here are some of the shots . . .

(L-R: Dad, Mom, Lola the superstar, Tita Linda & Tito Sonny)

(The grand & great grandchildren)

Parang ang dami namin noh? Pero kulang pa kmi nyan ng 11. My tita ninang family are not around since they are US based. Dave (at work) and Bonn (at Dubai) are also missing in action.

Sunday with the Dizon family

It's Lolo Leo's (dad's side) death anniversary, Daena's 10th (niece) birthday and Kuya Jon's (cousin) & Family Despedida.

Supposedly, we will start the day with an 8 AM mass unfortunately dad's BP is still high. So Ate Noli & Lloyd attended the mass as our representatives. Come 9 AM, dad was ok and we headed at uncle Diosie's (dad's brother) house for bfast and lunch. Hay, at ang dami din food. Good thing I was able to control my self to eat a lot but not for hubby.

Party with the Frienships

It's Lance's 1st birthday. Sharlyn & Noel's son. Kainan ulit, we had super meal and I almost ate all. Hay.

Lance is the first friendships (my high school barkada) baby. Our barkada is a late bloomer kasi. Imagine we are on our late 20's and yet out of 9, 3 pa lang nag aasawa. 2 pa lang may anak na tig 1 year old. 1 is getting married on dec and the rest are still single and unattached.

Our 4 abroad based friends of course we not around but the cute thing about this is that 2 of them sent their parents as representaives at nkipag kulitan din sila sa amin. Pictures will follow.

This is how our (hubby & I) Pampanga weekend went by - ang KUMAIN ng KUMAIN!

Raymond & Rhia turns 1!

MAY 27 is one of our most awaited dates of the year because it’s not only our anniversary but it’s also my birthday! Yey!

I am already 28 y/o – I can’t imagine that I am this old already; my friends might no longer call me Yhang (my nickname). Anyway, I still feel young and look young naman eh. Hehehe.

Our first year was damn so good! I guess our relationship and investment progress is more than enough to have in a year. Though there were some tragic moments and numerous fights, I believe these are part of a blissful and perfect married life.

Let me recap how blissful our married life was :)
Jun – honeymoon; love nest furnishing
Jul – our 3rd year of togetherness
Aug – first time to be apart for 2 weeks because of hubby’s China business trip
Sep – we lost our supposedly first baby
Oct – we started gaining weight
Nov – hubby got a high paying job
Dec – our first time to celebrate Christmas together
Jan – our first time to celebrate New Year together
Feb – Valentine’s Day is all I can remember
Mar – fire incident; made our first huge investment – a house
Apr – we moved to a new place; fully paid EL
May – the splurge month (bought: cellfon, digicam, dart board, sewing machine plus the B&B treat)

Picture taking at NSDG facade after hearing mass.

The baked spag for Denise

We woke up early around 5:00 AM and started our day with a mass. We attended the 6:00 AM mass at NSDG (where we got married). After hearing mass we had a power bfast at McDo (Barangka). Then we went home to pack our things and to cook baked spag as a present for Denise (SIL) whose celebrating her 28th year too. Around 10:30 we left our place and headed to Makati (in laws place) to hand our present. Afterwards, we traveled Tagaytay.

The 3 CELEBRATIONS!

Celebration 1: The Boutique Bed & Breakfast experience (May 27-28)
Before checking-in at The Boutique Bed and Breakfast (B & B) we had lunch at Mushroom burger it’s also along Aguinaldo Hi-way. I am an avid fun of mushrooms that’s why I was really very eager to taste the food there. I didn’t enjoy the food :-(

B & B facade

Lobby

Pamper Me
Upon check-in (2PM) we had iced tea as welcome drinks and it was really refreshing! Then we were escorted at the B&B “Pamper Me” corner where toiletries and room scent selection are lined up. We had a slice of peppermint and tee tree oil soap. Milk & honey for shampoo. Aloe Vera scent for lotion and the best of all was the bedroom scent: lavender – mint fragrance. Smells really good!

Welcome drinks

Soap selection

our toiletries kit

enjoying the giant couch at the lobby

approaching the dare . . .

I dare - After shopping for toiletries we were ushered to our room, which was the “I dare”. As the door opened, the king sized bed with various pillows caught my eyes. Very inviting to lie down. The bed’s headboard was uber amazing! The couch is nice too; it has the same concept as the bed. I also love the patio/veranda where you can almost view Taal Lake.

There’s nothing spectacular with bathroom except for the glass wall were people from the ground floor can peep on you. Hehehe. A cloth is provided to cover half of the glass. The closet were good too, it is has full mirror that serves as the door. There were some items for sale inside the closet like lingerie, boxer shorts, massage tools, etc . . .

The room entertainment was also good. It has an LCD, dvd player, subwoofer and a set of speakers. Wifi access is also in place.

Facial Massage
We had our complimentary ice facial massage at around 6pm. The 10 min massage was so damn good and very relaxing. More! More!

the king sized bed with king sized headboard

posing with the pillows

meditating at the other biggie couch. hehehe

the see through bathroom

hubby enjoying the LCD

view downstairs (from veranda)

another view from the veranda

the hawaiin bbq grill resto

our room

enjoyin' the weaved sets

enjoyin' the weaved sets

Hawaiian BBQ Grill
This is B&B resto partner. You may dine or have your food room serviced. In our case to maximize our stay at the room we all had our food room serviced and had it set up at the veranda. Hehehe.

PM Snacks – We had banana split and fries.

Dinner – The famous baby back ribs and chicken loco. So yummy and the serving was so big.

Midnight Snacks – Churos and hot choco. Which is a part of the package too . .

Breakfast – The big breakfast in bed. Ang dami and it was indeed a real power breakfast.


Box of chocolates is given upon check out as a token from B&B.

We enjoyed our stay at the B&B. The place was really very relaxing and the perfect place for your intimate moments. How I wish we could stay longer kaya lng it’s pricey.

After checking out we had lunch at the Fire Grill at the Cliffhouse. We simply enjoyed the food and the view then bought some pasalubong from Amica’s then back to reality na. Hehehe.

CELEBRATION 2: The triple treat at Pampanga (May 31)

Of course I have to celebrate my birthday, our anniversary and promotion (kaya they called it triple treat) with my family, relatives and friends at Pampanga!

Friendships, where's my name? :P

As a yearly practice (except last year) I cook food for them and as always this is done in our backyard. I make it sure that I serve something new to their taste buds - that excites them to eat. Hehehe. If I remember it right we had Kani salad as appetizer, cheesy beef canalone for pasta, main coarse were grilled gindara with lemon butter sauce, pork & mushroom surprise, buttered garlic babies (potato & corn) and ube cake from La crème as dessert courtesy of friends. Mom’s famous chicharon and pork bbq completed the table.

CELEBRATION 3: Another at Makati (June 1)

We had another round of celebration at my in laws. Not because it was my birthday or our anniversary but it was my sister-in-law Denise’s birthday. Yes, were both born on the same year and date. Hehehe. We shared one main dish as our present to Denise and as our treat na rin to them. Tipid na rin. Hehehe.

I was like a star. Had 3 celebrations. Hahaha.

May 27 @ “I dare”

I am so excited on our forthcoming 1st year anniversary and my birthday of course! Mwhihi. We’ll be having an overnight stay at “The Boutique Bed & Breakfast” in Tagaytay. I have been craving for this place since it was featured at Boy and Kris. This is it and this is the best time for it. Yahoo!

We just made our reservation and we will be staying at the “I dare” room. Thanks and love you sooo much Babi (kapampangan term for pig - our term of endearment. har! har!) for giving in, though it’s a bit pricey. Hehehe.

We really wanted to have a real out of town trip or out of the country anniversary celebration, but because I am trying to conceive we can’t plan. Maselan kasi ako magbuntis eh. Maybe next year or after having a baby dun na lng kmi mag out of the country.

So when we learned that I wasn’t after the second test (May 22) we started searching where to stay. After reading several good reviews about “The Boutique” we decided to stay there.

Watchout for our "The Boutique" experience. Promise I'll be posting lots of pics.

Happy weekend everybody!

Dart Set

Hubby is a dart player way back his college days, kung saan-saang sulok ng Pilipinas sya napadpad because of dart tournaments / leagues. He was even awarded daw as MVP, 3 times. Hmmm . . . I wonder gaano tlga sya kagaling mag darts. I don’t actually watch him play khit sa anong games nya – darts, basketball, billiards or bowling (hindi naman sports minded si hubby…hehehe). It’s not that I don’t support him – ayaw nya lng tlga ako manood because lalo lang daw sya naprepressure. Hehehe.

Hubby has been longing to buy a dart set noon pa, dahil “gutay gutay” na tlga dart set nya – over used na tlga. Due to super daming gastusin he sets aside buying this stuff. He does his practice at his friend’s place whenever he is invited to tournaments. Sometimes he wins, sometimes not dahil daw kulang sya sa practice tlga. So I thought of buying him as a 1st year anniversary gift.

After office last Friday (May 16) I strolled at the mall while waiting for the rain to subside. To my surprise it was mall wide sale. I hurriedly checked the sports stores good thing that the dart board and pins are 10% off. I consulted Dave (his best buddy) first on what brand and what kind of pins and weight na dpat kong bilhin. Though I find it a bit pricey (o kuripot lng tlga ako), binili ko pa rin dahil for sure hubby will love it.

As I reached home, I left the dart board sa guard dahil hindi ko na kayang iakyat pa sa unit nmin dahil mabigat. Then asked the guard to hand it to hubby pagdating nya. Ung pins na lng ang ni-wrap ko so khit paano may sense of surprise pa rin. I didn’t wait na for our anniversary to come binigay ko na kaagad ung gift ko para magamit na kaagad.

He was soooo happy having a new dart set. He never expected daw na bibigyan ko sya ng ganun. He really liked the present specially the tungsten pins-pangarap daw nya un. Kung sya daw ang bibili para sa sarili nya – ung steel lng daw. If I only knew, un na rin lng binili ko, para nkatipid. Joke. Hehehe.

Though it was already late night, nilaro pa rin nya khit dpa naset set-up. Kala mo batang excited sa laruan. Then he woke up early to set up the dartboard sa wall.

Sana sa next tournament na salihan mo manalo kna. Sana manalo ka ng 1M. Balato ha. Hehehe.

Starbucks served at Matt & Lala’s Wedding

May 11, 2008
Chapel on the Hill
Sonya’s Garden

This is the second wedding we attended this year. Four more weddings to go this year.

Matt is an officemate from SMITS, while Lala is hubby’s co-worker from Van Melle. Since we were both connected with the couple we decided to attend though church and reception is a bit far.

EL’s wiper is malfunctioning on that day – hubby is having a hard time driving because it was raining. We headed directly at the reception sayang we weren’t able to witness the ceremony.

While waiting for the program to start we had time for relaxation with the beauty of Sonya’s garden. Hindi na kmi nag pa spa, nagkukuripot eh. Hehehe. Below are some of the pictures I took. My bad wasn’t able to take some pics of the couple. I’ll be a good photographer next time, promise. (Babes, please give me a better cam or a DSLR for better quality pics. Hahaha!)

The wedding went well. The set up is simply the best. The food was ok – the salad was perfect. We love the pritchon. The most memorable thing siguro was the Starbucks. Yes you read it right Starbucks was freshly brewed and served after dessert. Astig di ba? This is the first wedding that I attended na nag serve ng Starbucks. I never thought that Starbucks caters wedding functions. Hehehe. Hubby told me that Lala is a certified Starbucks addict. Kaya pla . . .



To Matt & Lala . . . wishing you a blissful married life. Congrats & Best wishes. Thanks for inviting us over.