Favorites from last summer

Good day and happy first day of Fall! 

It's been so long since I last written a blog post in my page. My life had been pretty crazy which is not an excuse at all but forgive me, lovelies. I've been working ten hours a day and we have been doing so much cleaning and organizing in our small apartment. I guess I was just busy being a lazy and uninspired adult. A kind of adult who just exists, work, pay the bills and does not live her life to the fullest. Ahhh, excuses excuses....

Anyway, here are some of my favorite photos I took from April through September: more in my Instagram

Summer hike 

Snow on summer

At Eagle Trail at Lake Tahoe 

Movies:

1. What Happened To Monday

2. The Secret Garden (1993) - my favorite classic movie

Series:

1. Gypsy

2. Atypical

3. Anne With An E

Music:

1. Sarah by Memoryhouse

2. Way To Go by Empire Of The Sun

P.S.
Sorry for such a short and nonsense post
I need inspiration! </3 :'(

Sacramento, California

DAY 1 - Driving to Sacramento, California

After passing our interview last May 3rd, we decided to take a break, relax and spend my birthday and Mother's Day in Sacramento. We thought it was a great excuse to leave our small city as well. And I have been dying/craving for Filipino foods and wanted to stock up many Filipino groceries as I could. But eventually, I ended up buying more Japanese snacks and foods. Lol. I would say it's cheaper there. 

We left the house at 10 a.m. and arrived in Sacramento at 12:15 noon. We had a ten minute restroom break. From our hometown this is the shortest drive we could be to a bigger city. It was quick and fun. The first stop, of course, a lunch to a Filipino fast food chain, Jollibee. I love their burger steak and peach mango pie! It was heaven. I missed how it tasted. Tip one: Never ever convert your money wherever you are. 

Our experience driving through streets of Sacramento and the freeway was a little bit of a challenge for us because we were not familiar and we only relied to our navigator. Since we came from a small city, the volume of the cars are not so many and there are less traffic. So in Sacramento, it was the opposite but to me it wasn't horrible compared in my home country. Here is better. Way better. Tip two: Always put the most patient and reliable person in the front seat.

After having our lunch in Seafood City, we went straight to our motel. We stayed in Lexington Inn in Howe Ave. It was very accessible in our itinerary and at that time we had a pretty good deal.

Day 1 itinerary:

Seafood City - 15-20 minutes drive from Lexington Inn depending on traffic situation
Vacaville Premium Outlets - 44 mins. to 1 hour drive from Lexington Inn depending on traffic situation

Tip three: Keep in mind. Sacramento is one of the busiest cities in California plan your trip accordingly. You don't want to be stuck in freeway traffic for more than an hour and still have more places to go.

After lunch, we rested for few minutes and hit the road again. We went to Vacaville outlet. I was so thrilled to shop at stores we don't have in our city such as Cole Hann Outlet and Tumi. There's a lot of people because it was Mother's Day.

We wanted to leave early so we could still have dinner in Seafood City. We really wanted to try their grilled foods. And to our surprise, the pork barbecue was very delicious. I couldn't resist eating more of it and.... the white rice. To end our night, we just chilled under the stars while in the pool. Unfortunately though, my legs were very itchy and turned red. I think they've put too much chlorine or the water wasn't clean. Boooooo!!!!

DAY 2 - Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament and grocery shopping

For our last day, we didn't have much plan so we attended the mass in Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, it was 11 in the morning. After that we walked around the block and witnessed a cycling event/marathon. It was okay.  You can really feel the city is big and very much alive compared to our hometown. So many things to do and foods to try! There was a part of me not wanting to leave. It felt like I was just in Manila. ;'()

We had our lunch in Chowking. Goooooosh guys, I missed Chowking! I love their lauriat combos! 

Tip four: If you're a Filipino and don't have much access to Filipino foods and restaurants, just dine in and stuff yourselves with all the goodness and enjoy every bite! ;-P

Day 2 itinerary:

Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament - 20 mins. drive from Lexington Inn
Seafood City again, as usual

All in all, I really enjoyed this short trip. We will be back for sure and to my lovely readers who lives in Sacramento. I would love to hear from you! Please recommend restaurants we should try, stores/malls, parks to visit or fun attractions we should see. Thank you!

May 10th

A birthday I will never forget

I never thought I'd be celebrating this special day with my second family and three or five years from now I will look back and think of all the sacrifices, worries and lessons I encountered and ask myself, "Why did I even feel scared?".

I would say I'm in the age where some people would expect me to be this and that just because they think that's the right path to take on. It's because everyone else is doing it. It's a "societal thing". To be honest, I already made one mistake I doubted myself and didn't have enough courage to pursue of becoming an IT professional and/or web designer. I knew when internet is becoming popular - there was Multiply, Friendster, Xanga and many other websites. I was very amazed and in loved with how web designers can make their home page look very nice and cute. I knew that time I wanted to become one. There was also a time when I wanted to work for a magazine company. Those were the things that made me push to become part of the web designing world. If not a baker at least become one of them. I don't want to elaborate this here though.

I have all the power and time in the world to make those dreams well at least one of them come to life. And it's just me limiting myself. Right? I'm one those people who has dreams but then has many lame excuses. :'(

Now I am here, reflecting on some decisions I made in the past and realized I should not feel terrible with myself just because I did one mistake. There were twists and turns in my life and even though I made a few mistakes. I came to a point in my life, to accept, bury and learn from it. It's not too late to make my dreams into reality. I am actually really happy and living one of my dreams. It's difficult, challenging, and everyday I learn a few things. I married the man of my life last December 17, 2016 and I'd tell you it was like a fairytale in our real world. It was a magical feeling being as one in the eyes of God. He will be with me no matter how many wrong decisions I will make in the future. He will still be there through my happiest and worst days.

And from this day forward, I promise myself to still pursue my dreams, not be scared to try new things and make mistakes. The only limit in this world is myself. I'm done what others may think of me. 

I am me. I make my own story.

Happy birthday again dearest, Karen! ;-)

Baby Foot USA review

BABY FOOT

I saw Baby Foot from TODAY show. At first I was a little skeptical to try it because I've never done anything to my feet except to apply the Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion right after taking a bath and I haven't done any foot spa services. I don't have any major problems with my feet except one time when I flew to America. It was summer, both my feet cracked and were really dry. It took quite some time to heal. I guess it was because of the sudden change of weather. 

Blondies

Hello earthlings! How are you all doing? I hope everything is going great for you and that you're enjoying spring break.

For today, I baked blondies. I've been wanting to try this recipe and I would say this is not the best recipe I tried. It tasted like "flour" like the chemical taste of baking soda and flour combined together. It didn't taste like blondies but that doesn't mean I wouldn't try baking them again. I asked my husband to bring samples at his work and most of them liked it. I guess enough to make them like blondies cos it was a free taste. Lol. 

Do you have any good recipes I can try? And what other tips can you share to me when baking blondies? I'd appreciate them, lovelies! Thank you so much! 

DIY succulent key holder

Finish product

Happy first spring of 2017 earthlings!

Sorry if I couldn't go in depth with the DIY. I'm just writing to share our little project. In stores these things cost so much while we only spent $9 for everything. We recycled our old wood frame. We bought the hooks, succulent and the paint for the wood. This is so fun doing though it takes time! Perfect for gifts I would say.

First time making chocolate crinkles and pandesal

Things had been different, stressful and quite lonely.

But anyway, to ease things up I am just very happy and excited that our oven is finally working which means I can bake now.

Most days I cook meals for my husband and I really love making something for him and seeing him get full. But last weekend, he craved for chocolate crinkles and I wanted to make pandesal since I haven't eaten one for the last three years. How depressing, right? Well, if you are a Filipino we consume pandesal almost everyday.

This time it was different I let him do the mixing and kneading. It was my first to bake pandesal too. First we made our chocolate crinkles, it's a very simple recipe. It's perfect for making with kids. They will surely enjoy! Second, was pandesal I once made them at culinary school but never had the guts to make my own until today. I'm still trying to get the breads perfect. This is my first time making without any assistance from my chef but my husband was there to help me and do most of the kneading. It turned out pretty good for a first timer. I guess the only thing that kind of went off was the texture. The taste was there but it was not soft and moist as the ones I had back home, it was fun doing it, regardless.

If any of you have any experiences with pandesal, I'd like to hear tips from you! ;-)
Thank you!

Chocolate Crinkles

Pandesal

Valentine's Date (our first ever)

Hello sweet earthlings! Happy Valentine's Day to all of you! Whether you are alone or with someone. I hope that you enjoy the time of your life and do not feel less loved just because you are not with someone. Just remember what matters the most is giving love to people around us. I know loving a person can be difficult and makes us feel like we are not enough sometimes. I'm not expert about "love" and even I fail about understanding it.

Through my own experience all I can say is that no matter the distance, circumstance, trials and everything that makes us doubt love sometimes, they are nothing. When love is pure and the person is patient, faithful, and prays to God. Love will always win. Love will always find a way to you. 

I still remember back in college seeing my batch mates receiving chocolates, flowers or being asked on a date and while I stand on the side and think about when my time was - when mon amour and I will have the chance to go on a date. He lives in America and I was in the Philippines that time. So it was too impossible, physically. So we Skype, idd call or FaceTime when we have the time.

It was only last February 14, 2017 was our first date ever. We were able to celebrate Valentine's Day last 2015 when I was on an internship but it was not on the 14th and last year 2016 he messaged my close friend and asked her to surprise me and they were successful. I will never forget that.

I really enjoyed our date, that morning mon amour told me he was not going to work I was little upset and guilty because he skipped work just to celebrate Valentine's Day with me. We can do it on the weekend but I just went on and told him to never do it again unless it is really important. Mon amour gave me presents like tools for the kitchen, furniture for our bedroom and a little make-up stuffs. We spent our whole morning looking for things to set up with our room since we just moved to a bigger room. After that at 5p.m., I got ready and felt really happy and quite nervous I would say.

We had a reservation at 8, we had the full course meal and I loved the lobster and the bruschetta. It was a simple dinner date. After our date we went to the movies and watched Fifty Shades Darker. It was my first time to watch Fifty Shades in a movie theatre. I'm not a fan of it actually but it was the last movie that night so we had no choice. Funny thing happened after the movie, we went to the parking lot already and mon amour got something at the trunk and to my surprise he got me a box filled with make-ups. I'm not good at putting make-up nor very knowledgable about it but I use a little of it and he knows what I need and love. He told me, a lady with his boyfriend saw him getting me the gift and she said,

"How sweet! Where is mine?! (asking her boyfriend)",

It was cute. Lol.

I can't wait to spend more dates with mon amour. It was indeed a very memorable date! I kept telling him the next day that we should do it again. Hehe ;-)

Here is the list of my February favorites:
Music - Waking Up On A Picnic Blanket by Lullatone
Lipstick - Smoked Almond Lip Intensity by Mac (I usually pair this with Spice lip liner)
TV series - Good Morning Call in Netflix
Movie - Moana ;-)

Welcoming 2017!

Happy New Year everyone!!! I hope you guys had a fun-filled holidays and that you finally have enough energy and positivity to welcome 2017. 

For me it went very great in fact I never thought I can get my family and his altogether for holidays knowing we both are long distance ever since and I cannot wait to spend holidays and special gatherings with him for a life time. Yes, you just read it. Mon amour asked me to marry him last December and I might write a short blog about it in the future. We also plan to go back home and have a wedding so our whole family can attend. 

I would say 2016 made me a better and stronger individual and partner. There were a lot of challenges and good times but I made it through that is why I'm here writing this short blog. Lols. 

Anyway, if you have read from my previous blog my family came here for holidays and my wedding. It was intimate which I love because we both know having a big wedding in America was quite impossible for us at that time. Before that, we had no plans to get married we once talked about it but we both know we were not ready and we had our personal plans/goals for 2017. We wanted to focus with our careers and by the time we are ready we will have our dream wedding someday but I guess plans changed and sometimes we have better ones. At first I was scared because in my mind I was here for a grand holiday after all my hard work and money earned from my internship. I deserve a break and enjoy my savings before I work. But here I am sitting and sharing this to you which I'm totally happy with and I'm really enjoying my life right now. I have more exciting plans ahead and adventures to share with mon amour. 

S t a y  t u n e d! 

So our family met and we were able to spend a lot of time - I really miss being with them. Sooo much! Even before this, my sister have met his parents when she visited me during my internship and last 2015 my family met his mom. So this was like my family meeting his dad and elder sister. So much fun and I felt a little nervous you know? Has anyone felt that?

I was a little disappointed because the weather didn't comply with us. Most days it was either raining or snowing which made driving unsafe so we just spent driving around Lake Tahoe, Virginia, Olympic Valley and many other places. But it still better than not having them here, right? :-)

We went to food buffets, did sight seeings, ate sushi, more shopping, movie marathons, playing games and more eating and drinking. Hahaha. I wish we can do it again.

Sadly all holidays has to end. Last January 14th they left and I tell you the first two nights I was crying in bed but mon amour was there to cheer up :')


For 2017 I hope our plans will turn out as planned. We have many goals to achieve like going back to school, start saving up for our wedding in the Philippines, house, new car and hopefully having one baby soon.


Here are some of the pictures I took:

The first snowman we made :-P

P.S.

Sorry I sound weird or plain.