Monday, March 15, 2010

Sexy knows no waistlines

B has always been a fan of Jane Monheit. He would always check out her new albums and his mp3 player would always have at least 2 of her songs.

So when I learned that Jane would have a concert in Manila as part of the Philippine Jazz Festival, I immediately got us tickets. I thought it would be a perfect Valentine gift for B.

It was a perfect Valentine gift for me as well. It was the best organized concert I've ever attended. There were no long queues, and we were given seat numbers upon registration. The ladies at the registration table also informed us that there would be front acts and that Jane was expected to start singing at 9 PM. This gave us time to have dinner.

When we went back at the Rockwell tent, we had enough time to get a bottle of cava (Barcino's had a booth a few meters outside the entrance) before the front acts started to perform. And they didn't disappoint! It was nice to hear the raspy voice and easy rhythm of Art Manuntag again. The energetic moves of Brass Munkeys' bass player was also a delight to watch.

But of course, the star of the show was still Jane. When she entered, we were surprised at how large she was. But when she started to walk, she got us convinced that she was the sexiest woman on earth. As she started singing, it became obvious that she was in love with music. She had excellent control of her voice but this was nothing compared to the way she sang each song - she sang with her whole self. She seduced us to her world - we fell in love and felt her passion. We were convinced that we will find the rainbow connection and cross the moon river someday. She shared with us her love for her family and reminded us how love can make us fly. We were mesmerized.


We never wanted the evening to end. And it didn't, even if the concert did. Because we will always remember the music of Jane Monheit every time we close our eyes.

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Removing Pencil Marks from Clothes

I am just so happy when things work.

I was wearing a new light blue dress last Friday and after happily prancing around in it, I accidentally wrote a 5-inch line on it with a pencil.

As soon as I got home, I googled about removing pencil stains from fabrics. I came across sites that mentioned using ammonia, pre-laundry treatment products and stain spray, which I do not have. I was just happy to come across this page in a quilting website. It suggests mixing:

1 cup water;
2 tbs alcohol; and
1 drop clear dishwashing liquid

and applying these mixture with a toothbrush.

I only had green apple-scented dishwashing liquid but tried it anyway. And it worked! I'm excited to wear my dress again =)