Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Back to Scrapping

I haven't scrapped in months - but since I was home this weekend and I've already promised my friends to create the invites for their kids, I looked through my materials and started scrapping.

I've forgotten how time-consuming it was to finish a lay-out but since my friends are happy with the designs that I made for my godchildren, I feel that I've spent my weekend wisely (even if I didn't get to see Kimura Takuya the whole time!)

Here's the invite for Jia - her baptism had to be pushed a few weeks later and the reception venue had to be changed because I'll be out of the country.


Her mom wanted the invite to be colorful (in pastel shades) with lots of digi-scrap layers. I also needed to include a Precious Moments element as this will be the theme for the reception. Clarice and I both got so excited that we're thinking of using a variation for a second page with the names of the godparents and a smaller version for the photo magnets. But before that, we have to insert the venue for the reception! Ok, back to Photoshop.

Speaking of Jia, before she was born, I helped organize a couple of maternity shoots for Clarice. We viewed hundreds of maternity photos online to get ideas and to see what types of clothes she needs to wear. The day before the shoot, we went shopping for clothes - we had very limited time, the clothes that matched our requirements (no prints, empress cut and in happy colors, didn't make Clarice look like the Marshmallow Man) were limited, but we still were able to get a couple of sets. As we munched on tacos and quesadillas, her husband bought matching polos for the dresses that we bought. There was a typhoon the next day so the shoot got cancelled, but Clarice still got to wear her clothes a few days later. Here are a couple of shots from Metrophoto:




Clarice, being Clarice, planned to have 3 maternity portrait sessions. The second was held at our house as we wanted the i'm-pregnant-and-i'm-proud-of-my-tummy phots. Mimi Abesamis and Karl de Leon took the shots. Here are a couple of my favorites (I actually liked the other shots better but my friendship with Clarice will end if I post them here.)




The third shoot didn't happen as Clarice was already in labor at that time. And that was supposed to be done in the studio.

Hindi rin siya addict sa picture, 'no?

Monday, September 22, 2008

Move over Jumong

Kimura Takuya is now king of my time.

[Picture obviously not taken by me]


He's sweet in Beautiful Life, adorable and charismatic in Change, lovable in Engine and absolutely hot in Pride. I can't wait to watch his other dramas. Sigh.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Usapang Lashing

It's 2 AM and I survived Thursday. I'm alive!!!

I'm admittedly tipsy after having drank several glasses of screwdriver. Nope, not the tool, but the drink. I can't sleep until I lose the buzz, because if I do, I'd have a massive hangover in the morning. I could not afford a hangover because the Boss nicely told me exactly an hour ago that he would be touring the foreign visitors to our floor tomorrow afternoon.

So why did I have survive to Thursday and why am I drunk before Friday?

First, I had to sing at a wedding. No, we're not just talking about 2 or 3 songs. I sang the bridal march, the songs for the offertory, communion, the Ama Namin and all the songs during the picture taking. I used to sing with the Ateneo Glee Club and I've sang for weddings before - but never on my own. And so, I was a nervous wreck the whole morning. I couldn't even finish my favorite hotdog sandwich that I was served for lunch. I had to file a leave as I coudn't complete any task. I arrived at the church early (despite the fact that St. James is actually a whole province away from the gate of Ayala Alabang.) Unfortunately, my accompanist (cousin of the groom) arrived late - just 20 minutes before the wedding. I still got to practice, though.

I suppose that it went well except for 1 song - "You" by the Carpenters. Yeah, it was a cop out because it was too easy. But I needed to rest my voice after singing the more emotional songs. I gave the signal for the coda except that the pianist and I had different ideas about what the coda was (we practiced the song Wednesday, but I guess we forgot.)

I felt good after the mass and it was nice to hear that the groom cried and claimed that it was because my voice. Of course, I knew that what he said was crap because he started tearing up when I started testing the mic and I couldn't find anything touching about singing half of a song, stopping in the middle and saying, "Manong, paki-dagdagan po ng mid."

Anyway, during the reception, one of the groom's relatives approached me and thanked me for singing during the mass. I said that he was welcome and managed to smile, but inside my head, I was thinking that I wouldn't do it again unless I get paid (and yes, if the bride or the groom was a really close friend.)

After the reception, we proceeded to Strumm's to celebrate the birthday of the Boss. We had guests from Chicago and Europe (I knew that we had a guest from Indonesia, I'm guessing that he flew out of Manila this afternoon.) It was fun dancing to 70's music as performed by Route 70, and 60's and 80s music as performed by the Authority. Having experienced a challenging day, I decided to indulge in a few drinks (or was that several? I suppose I lost count!)

And this is why I'm buzzed. So why am I blogging at this state? For one, I really need to get rid of the buzz before I go to sleep. But more importantly, I think that it would be fun to read this blog entry when I'm sober.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Diet is "Die" with a "T"


My office friends and I are starting our diet tomorrow, but I already started mine today.

Dieting has always been torture for me - I love food. I feel so happy when I'm eating good food that I sometimes wiggle my butt the way Porkchop wiggles hers every time I get home. I get cranky when I'm hungry. Eating good food can make a bad day turn golden. I can be bribed with food.

But since I'm cheap and I refuse to spend on a new wardrobe due to my weight gain, I'll have to stop pigging out. Still, I'm not willing to go on diets that I can't keep up with. So, when we were talking about our diet goals last Friday, they asked me what my goal was - I said that I will now start eating for one. Now the challenge is finding out what a normal person would eat for meals.

Two meals and I already feel like half my brain cells died. Sigh.

Monday, September 01, 2008

Twisted!


Mix 1 part soju with 4 parts Zesto Twist.


It's perfect with Jack & Jill's Tostillas with homemade salsa, which is really just a mix of a can of Hunt's Diced Tomatoes, 2 small green peppers, 1 medium white onion, 1 chili, some cilantro leaves, the juice of half a lemon and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

I never imagined that I will be posting recipes on this blog but all these TV dramas are making me spend so much time at home!