Around Here.

Celebrating a milestone. My first-born is now officially a teenager. I know she's ready for the leap, but I am not sure I am. Feeling anxious about how she's growing up too fast for me to catch up. Been meaning to schedule bonding dates with her but sometimes I can never find the time. Had dinner with the family at Wooden Horse in Alabang as my not-so-little girl said she wanted to eat steak! I wasn't really keen on the masculine ambience of the restaurant, haha, as I didn't think it was appropriate for a teenage girl! But, the girl wants what the girl wants. Oh well. Just letting go.

Packing the boy's overnight luggage. He couldn't wait till his sister's birthday dinner was over. Apparently, it was because he wanted to make sure that everything was ready for his 'mini' adventure this weekend.

Sending the little one off to an overnight student seminar. Will definitely miss the chatter and the clutter around the house today and tomorrow.

Enjoying quiet time with the H as my new class schedule gives me a bit more Friday morning time at home. Didn't quite look forward to an afternoon only class at first, but I guess it isn't really so bad.

Taking school work a day at a time. I've got a pile of papers to mark but I don't really look forward to marking papers. Period.

Trying to read Deborah Harkness' A Discovery of Witches. It's been on my nightstand for the longest time. Not sure why I'm stuck.

Eating Cadbury Rocky Road chocolate bar. First time to encounter the variety. Surprised to learn that I love it! Especially love the chewy sweet things inside.

Looking forward to watching The King & I at the Resorts World this weekend, and then the Phantom next. For some reason, I really, really enjoy watching plays.

Planning to cook chicken enchilada and maybe even some cheesecake this weekend. Or maybe even artisan bread. Feeling bad that I haven't really quite managed to squeeze in some kitchen time for several weeks now.

Spending a lot of time on Facebook. Hee. But... feeling mighty proud of the fact that I am not playing as much as I used to. Little steps.

Easing into the fitness habit. Meeting up with some people in my neighborhood 3X a week, for less than 30 minutes at a time, as we try to shed some unwanted pounds. Still feeling a bit bloated, but I know that I will get myself into a better shape. Soon, I hope!

Keeping up with my Project Life. I thought my main problem was editing/printing photos that I have taken. Apparently, I am also bogged down by the fact that I take quite a number of photos and it's now getting difficult to sift through them, just trying to decide which ones I'd like to slip into my album pockets. Or then again, maybe not. Maybe it's only because I am really behind schedule. Still, I am also looking forward to taking an online photography class. I just pray that I will have the patience and the time to read through the class and apply the notes/tips.

Starting to plan for Halloween. Really excited about putting things together.

Feeling really excited about our upcoming mini holiday trip. This is the first time we will be away for New Year's Eve. Looking forward to spending time with the H's family.

Living with the fact that I am somewhat 'family-less'. Feeling grateful for the people who are around me right now, who keep me sane, pre-occupied and not so bothered.

I'm glad I've decided to take on Ali's challenge to document the goings-on in my life right now.

circle of friends

My online friend, Colleen, with whom I haven't really chatted in a while :(, gave me this special award:



The terms of this particular award are: Make reference to award and publish it (simply right click on the "circle of friends" button and click on 'save picture as' and save the button to your desktop, you can then upload it just like any other photo into blogger), disclose rules, share 5 things you like to do, share with 10 blogs, inform each blogger.

5 things I like to do: stamping, scrapping, shopping (online), surfing (the www), sleeping (this last bit, not really. i just wanted to use 5 S words) :D

10 + 3 Friends, in alphabetical order (it was tough to choose just 10, hee!)
Alby
Au
Babette
Cabbie
Candy
Lee
Mia
Mitch
Nina
Nita
Suzanne
Sym
Tin

seen this yet?

a few of Prima's product picks. yummy goodness!


I especially love this page by Adrienne (she used Pearl Butterfly Swirl, Baroque Bloom, Say It In Pearl Centers)


really itching to get some of those yumminess down on paper! :D

gone too soon

wow.

so i was loitering in front of my computer early this morning when a tweet alerted me to the news.

i immediately had to google his name and still couldn't believe what i read.

no matter what he may have done towards the twilight of his life and even though he may have turned quite bizarre, i still believe that he made an influential contribution to the music arena. ok. i was never really a huge fan but Michael Jackson was a music genius. he. was. magic. his music will live on but he will be missed.

may you rest in peace, Michael.

blessed

i look at this, my favorite-turned-useless shoe, and i think: "how unlucky can i get. i make a run for the toilet earlier this evening and i end up with a ruined shoe. yep - the straps in front split into 2! did i mention this is one of my favorite pair of shoes? ah well.

i let it pass. there are certainly plenty of things to be thankful for.
* last night, SA girls got together for the first time to scrap and chill out, and of course, to eat! :)



indulged in yummy pizzas, spicy nachos with sour cream (heaven!) a handful of scrumptious cuppy cakes by Tin and some more from Sonja's (courtesy of Mia!) and some wine to boot!

how can you not be fueled to work after that?? haha! i was able to complete a mini + several pages using the September kit and then Mia, our host for the evening, gave out some scrappy goodies :)

* today, my first-born turned 9!!! ack! can you believe that? i have a 9-year old already! how did that happen? time does fly. i'm glad that she isn't all that much of a fuss - she didn't demand for a party (despite the fact that most of her classmates and friends had one this year), and she certainly didn't demand that I be with her on her special day!

Haha!! Yes - on my daughter's birthday, I went to Rockwell to party with Scrapbukan which turned 4 this year. Bumped into some friends and met a few new ones.

* Got to alter a journal which, under ordinary circumstances, i wouldn't do! (it didn't turn out to be everybody's favorite, but I love it! hehehe!)
can you guess which one mine is? *cough* 11! *cough*

* Got to team up with Geng to work on a team challenge and we won!!!!!!!




* Got a stamp I've always wanted for a steal (half off!)


* Got a stamp which CH raffled off! YAY!!


* Received a cute tool bag as a party favor


*****

so G and I didn't throw a party for our girl, but because my mom had been invited to a kiddie party, she asked me to just bring the kids over to her house so she could take them with her to the Makati Sports Club. 5:45PM - I was done with my scrappy party and I called my mom to tell her I was on my way to pick the kids up. Unfortunately, they weren't done yet so I had to find a parking space. Just my luck, a spot was available a building across from the Makati Sports Club, exactly where G and I parked last time we were there to witness Mela's induction as Zonta President this year - but I digress. I get out of the car and try to lock it for something like 5 minutes but it wouldn't. i called G and then my mom to tell them that the car wouldn't lock and that I've decided to just wait in the car until they were done partying. anyways, somebody else seemed to be doing the same thing in the car just behind me. I got back into the car and turned the ignition only to realize that I had left the aircon on. I switched it off and decided to give my car alarm another try. Of course, I didn't see the relevance in this, but hey, I didn't really relish just waiting and stewing in the car. Wonder of wonders, it worked. I quickly got out of the car and crossed over to Makati Sports.

It was already dark and nearly 7 when we were done with the party. It was drizzling so I asked the kids to just wait for me along the driveway while I went and got the car. I was planning to just make a dash for it, but I noticed that the security guard had an umbrella in hand so I decided to borrow it.

A diplomatic car was parallel parking just in front of my car and I had half the mind to ask the girl behind the wheel if maybe she wanted to wait until after I got out of my space, but I didn't bother. Other than the girl in the car, I noticed that the street was deserted - at least, the guy waiting in the car behind me when I got there earlier was gone but there was an empty car in its stead.

After some fumbling with my car remote control (it acted up again for a split second), I got into the car, leaned over to the passenger seat to set my bag down and then to put the wet umbrella away from me. From out of the blue, I felt a guy nudging my butt with his butt, and all of a sudden there he was, sitting in the car beside me urgently saying, "tabi ka jan, tabi ka jan" (move over, move over). I felt like it was all a dream and this somebody trying to sit beside me was perhaps somebody I knew, trying to play a trick on me! I looked and realized this somebody wasn't somebody I knew and I remember myself asking him: "sino ka??? " (who are you?) and consequently, I vehemently pushed him away while saying "alis ka jan, alis ka jan!! AAAAGH!" (go away, go away!). As soon as I've let out that loud grunt, I noticed that he was holding onto a gun and wondered what I was supposed to do next, but for some reason, he upped and left! He walked very briskly towards the opposite direction and I instinctively reached for the door and locked myself in. i steeled myself as I was shaking for a few minutes and then breathed a sigh of relief and thanksgiving. YIKES! :o I never really thought somebody could get accosted that way until it happened to me.

In hindsight, I can't bear to think what might've happened had there been two of them sandwiching me into the car!! I can't even fathom where I drew the strength from to push that stranger away when I did. Truly, God's hand was at work earlier this evening.

more than that, as I recounted my experience to the kids I had in tow, I heard Nikki giving her cousins and her brother a very short doctrine class on the last things (heaven and hell, mortal and venial sins, with a bit of the 10 commandments thrown in). hearing her talk about these things just gave me a warm feeling of thanksgiving that as early as now, in her own small way, she knows how to do apostolate work.

Of course, in honor of Nikki's birthday, my small family went shopping for a gift and then had dinner at Brazil! Happy Birthday, baby doll! May you continue to grow in wisdom and in grace.

we love you and always remember how your brother Ian adores you so - he just had to announce to everyone he met today that it was your birthday and that you were 9! :D

to scrapbook or not to scrapbook?

that is the question.

hmmm.

i busied myself rearranging and yes, purging! (finally!) some of my scrapbook supplies and storage systems, and then my son, Ian, popped into my scrap area (a.k.a. his room) and exclaimed how messy i was being.



out of the blue, i jokingly told him that i was going to throw out all of my scrapbook supplies to rid myself of the mess. to this he answered: "huh? why???"

i told him that i have had enough of the mess and that i was going to stop doing any more scrapbook pages. with a sad note in his voice, he said he didn't want me to stop. of course i had to ask him why.

very matter-of-fact, he said: "if you do, then i won't have new pages in my scrapbook anymore"

ladies, i'm guessing, whether our kids say it out loud or not, our pages are appreciated :)

keep scrapping!

happy weekend :)

for the love of the game

yea.

8.8.08 i signed up for Scrapperie's latest round of challenges aptly called Scrap-a-lympics!

Naturally, participants got divided into teams and I was assigned to Team Pink! Since the white team came up with a team blinkie, i decided to make one for my team as well. HAHAHA!! the problem was, I didn't know where to begin. I turned to my most valuable resource (the WWW! ha!) and found what i was looking for! thank goodness for that bit of info, i was able to come up with this

not bad for a 1st attempt, huh? please say yes! lol!

the plan is to rack up as many points as possible, beginning with being gabby and upping our post counts! other ways to earn more points are through the usual LO challenges, the daily photography/weekly organizational challenges, and the trivia questions (Olympics-themed, of course!), among others.

let the games begin! (uhm, they've actually started, i just felt it was a fun way to end this post! heh!)

too much of a good thing

is a dangerous thing! :o

i am seriously beginning to think so.

these past few days, i received several kits in the mail... and yesterday, i decided to swing by the PO to pick up a package. and yep, it was yet another batch of kits! yikes!!

oh, it's fun to have these goodies at my disposal. it's just that, with life happening around me, i hardly find the time to actually sit down and do more than admire these kits! methinks it's time to scrap more than i shop! :o

on the street where i lived

spent the weekend in our family home, about 25 miles south of manila.

since my family moved and went separate ways ages ago, this house has been abandoned and was pretty much left to its on devices. time and weather conditions have taken their toll, but it's great that my mother has gone to some length to give the house a face lift of sorts. now it feels like home again.

it's probably been about 23 years since i last spent the night here =) but it was good to be back.

kids had a great time playing in the yet dusty attic


more of the kids


The kids have taken to the house as well, and they seemed to have enjoyed their stay that they are asking to go back again.

It would be nice to go for a visit as often as we can =) hmmm... might be fun to bring the scrappy stuff and while away the time here... it's definitely less humid compared to Manila =)

60 pages

yep. that's how behind i am on my scrapping!! decided to get back into gear somehow and here's what i ended up with several days ago; I only managed to find the time to add titles and journaling this weekend:
haha. several months ago, i had the mind to have these photos printed but soon after, i had a 'what-was-i-thinking-having-these-photos-printed' moment! LOL!!! well obviously, i finally decided to scrap them - gotta use up the photo stash! there's more where that came from! *groan*

thing is, i can't really say if discovering photoshop was a good or a bad thing. now, before i can even scrap a page, I get to thinking if I should be editing my photos before printing them out! and this just slows down the whole process, KWIM? instead of scrapping, i tend to sit in front of the computer tinkering with my photos (which aren't all that great, so I spend much time with them) and then I see all my recent photos and I get overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the task ahead. then i get distracted. No photos edited. No photos printed. Ergo, NO LOs DONE.

so then i decide to just scrap my previously printed out, unadulterated photos (which we know aren't all that great either) and then I'm not happy =( oh the headache of it all! how do you girls do it? how do you find the time to edit those photos into 'awesomeness' and never seem to run out of time to scrap them?

should i just stop taking photos? oh but I don't think I'd have the heart to do that.

ah well. maybe i'll try to maintain the status quo for now and just use up my 'bad' photos to get those pages done.

Here's another completed page using a couple of photos from my seemingly 'never-diminishing' pile.


another random thought. last night, as i was going through my art of doing nothing routine, i got to thinking: here i am, trying to rid myself of my photo stash and what do i end up with? even bigger piles of paper to showcase my photos on. now how do i find the storage for all of those pages and albums? hmmm... maybe i should just scrap more photos on a page like i originally set out to do (just so there'd be less pages to store) but then again, how do i get to use up my stash? aaaargh. i am in deep sh*t, i know! please just ignore me! =)

bad girls

Bad girls, bad girls
Whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do
When they come for you

HEHE. I just received the latest Bad Girls newsletter and saw myself in there! *wink!*

This month we are heading far, far away (well, to most of us :p) and looking to Philippines saying hello to our May Bad Girl Christine Villacarlos! Christine is 38 and lives with her husband of nine years, Gerard, and their two children Nikki (8) and Ian (5). She claims she's a true Bad Girl because she "subs to the 'best-est', 'bad-est' kit club in town =)" - oh yeah - and her nick should be a testament to Bad Girl as well, being pink_lemonade and we all know what the deal is with pink and Bad Girls eh? :p

Alright - let's start with the most pressing question for the moment being: Why call yourself pink_lemonade??
Nothing really special to that name - I just love how it sounds.. and of course, I love drinking pink lemonade =)

Okay, so what do you do?
I am a Dietitian by profession but for some reason, I ended up working in the hotel industry. I was in the hotel food and beverage department for about 12 years but because I wanted to be closer to home and have more time with the kids, I switched gears and decided to try out the education sector. I got quite a surprise - I found out (too late!) that teaching could be just as demanding as being a hotelier! But I do enjoy what I do. I have been teaching Restaurant Operations to college students who are in the Hotel and Restaurant program for 4 years now.

That sounds very interesting and it's nice that you do something you enjoy :) So what about the other thing you obviously enjoy to do - scrapbooking - how did you find this hobby?
In high school, I fell in love with my classmates' scrapbooks and resolved to make my own. We would just glue down photos and all sorts of ephemera, mostly non-archival, I think. This was at a time when kraft albums were all the rage among high school girls in Manila. I took a break when I started preparing for my wedding (in the late 90s) and then decided to take it up again when my kids' photos started piling up sometime in 2006, especially after I saw gorgeous archival-safe products in the market.

So cool! And Bad Girls? How did you find us?
I chanced upon Bad Girls when Iris Babao-Uy announced she made the Design Team and then I signed up for the Bad Girls Academy. I couldn't stay away from Wendy's gorgeous kits so I took a sub not long after that.

Neat - I am glad you found us!! And Iris and Wendy are such enablers!! :D So what sizes do you scrap and what do you do with your pages?
I do mostly 12x12s. I used to be so anal about slipping them into page protectors and putting them in albums right away, but since I now tend to get more pages done in one sitting, I end up letting my pages gather dust before I do anything else with them, LOL! I am now loving the MM post-bound album for its space-saving feature but I do have my fair share of D-ring album types which I also love.

Teehee. Sounds like excellent album choices by the way :) So how do you start a page - what do you do?
I try to match the moods of my photos with my papers or vice versa. Sometimes, I use a sketch as a guide or I start working with a challenge in mind.

And describe your perfect day of scrapping..
I'd say it would be perfect if I didn't have to go to work!! HAHA! Of course, it would even be more ideal if I had lots of inspiration and all the supplies I'd need to work with.

Hehe the latter is so true - wouldn't be lovely to know exactly what you want to do and have everything you need to do it all the time?? So..do you have other hobbies?
Uhm, does scrap shopping count???

Maybe...
I also love stamping and making cards.

So tell us - how is scrapbooking in the Philippines??
Judging by the size of scrapbooking in the US, the community of scrapbookers in the Philippines is still relatively small, but it is gradually increasing. When I started scrapping, there were only a couple of stores offering scrap materials for sale, but now I am happy to announce that we have several stores to get goodies and scrap fixes from! I actually get more done when I scrap on my own, but I try to attend mini crops from time to time.

Neat! So - anything you want to tell the Bad Girls out there?
Be yourself, play by your own rules - but be respectful of others. And don't be afraid to cut up those papers! HAHA!! I used to be so scared to do anything with my pretty papers until I realized they look so much better with photos and in albums!

Haha excellent advices!! Thank you so much for being with us today Christine!! And thank you for sharing these two lovely layouts featuring previous Bad Girl kits!!

it's a tag! (again)

In answer to Marian's tag, here are some trivia about me:
1. apparently, i grind my teeth in my sleep
2. i need to wear a mouth brace for about 3 months to re-align my teeth (refer to #1 above)
3. I haven't scrapped a 12x12 LO in 8 days!
4. I've been telling DH that I curbed my scrap shopping, but just this past week, I spent $*toot*!
5. I sort out and file my credit card receipts based on my credit card statements
6. I arrange my DVDs and CDs alphabetically :o

Please consider yourself TAGGED after reading this post, in case you are so inclined to document trivia about yourself :)

Here are the rules:
1) Link back to the person who tagged you.
2) Post these rules on yout blog.
3) Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4) Tag 6 other people :p

quite a surprise

because i don't usually venture out to the north, my dear friend Babette graciously offered to pick up a few things for me from mitch's store. after several months of vacillating between buying AC D-ring albums and not buying, I eventually caved! who could resist such names as raspberry and blueberry? so i got me a couple of those! thanks for picking these up for me, Babette!

so, the both of us tried to arrange a pick up point and i decided to just drop by her studio on a monday afternoon. leave it to Babette to lovingly wrap up my goodies =) what a welcome treat! and yes, a surprise was waiting for me. really very unexpected! Babette's migrating to Canada by the end of this month and she gifted me with this lovely page:

Thanks for taking the time to make this for me. I know we've discussed your impending departure for about a year now, but I still can't believe that it's finally happening! I will definitely miss having a scrapping, shopping, chat buddy like you! :( I really hope you change your mind about visiting!

BRB.

enjoying some more time off with family in beautiful Cebu. will try to catch up soon!

please excuse the bad photography =) still learning...

TAGGED, again

by Jeanette. This is how it works: You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name. After you've been tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and answers. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details).

Well, my middle name is actually the name I go by but that is quite lengthy, haha. So, I'll just go with my maiden name, which is shorter by a couple of letters!

V - Versatile. at least i try to be. Hmm... I'd like to think that I am very adaptable right now when it comes to scrapping. I tend to love a certain kind of style, but I am not averse to trying out others that strike my fancy.

E - Eager - to learn new things and to meet new friends.

L - Loyal. If you are friend or family, you have my constant support and allegiance.

A - Aquarian. Uhm, I don't actually believe in Astrology all that much anymore, but some traits attributed to Aquarians uncannily pertain to my personality.

Z - Zany. Oh yes. I can be so eccentric at times. Aren't all Aquarians? =)

C - Charming. Not! - hahahahaha!!!! No. I am definitely not a charmer by my mom's standards! :o

O - Obsessive Compulsive. yes. i can be obsessive compulsive. yikes! and OH! oh yes. I can be quite opinionated as well (unfortunately, I tend to be tactless at times... luckily, T is not part of my middle name, so I'll drop it! haha!)

I don't really want to impose on anybody, but if you'd like to play this game, please consider yourself tagged!

late bloomer

who would've thought that after all this time, and with my long-standing love affair with photos, it is only now I have considered investing in and playing with a much-touted photo editing software? haha! actually, i ordered this several months ago but I asked for a replacement (which never happened!!) because I ordered version 5.0 and the supplier gave me version 4.0. i was eventually informed that Adobe has yet to release a v5.0 for a mac so i simply asked for a refund. supplier and i exchanged several text messages and e-mails but apparently, they reneged on their commitment. so all these months, i've been twiddling my fingers, waiting.... waiting. to. no. avail. i am never ordering from them again. in the meantime, i'll just content myself with a lemon (as this version has oft been referred to) and maybe try to work wonders with my blah photos.

pleasant surprises

WOW! I came home to find a box of goodies sitting on my counter! This almost never happens! A box of scrap supplies delivered straight to my doorstep! Hmmm... I must've done something good for me to not have to go to the PO to pick this up!! heehee!

And look! i got a set of lovely handmade cards and a keychain together with a Thinking of You card from Babette. Thanks, Babette! (and thanks for picking up a sheet of paper from Vivian for me! really appreciate it!) =)

need for speed

chanced upon this at Babette's site and decided to give it a test drive

72 words

Speed test

that was fun! but i think i'm so out of practice! haha!

it is that time of the month again

well, I'm kinda posting this late :) as this month's Scrapbytes issue actually went up several days ago. I was asked to write about using up one's brad stash. uhm, don't keep your hopes up, it's quite a straightforward article only, as I couldn't rack my brain for any more ideas! hahaha! Please do let me know if you discover more ways to use up your own stash! *wink!*

Also featured in this month's issue is the Round Robin (a.k.a. LO Tag) Challenge which I, uh, kinda initiated sometime in October. Yup, it has taken this long for us to have the Reveal as there were quite a number of girls who joined! It's fun to see and read about the transition of the pages! Definitely something worth doing over!

Here's the simple page I came up with:


and it ended up looking fabulous! :) check out Ria's page here. Who would've imagined, huh? Only a bunch of talented ladies, that's who! *wink!*