enJOYing the little things . . .

A Purchase With A Purpose

So last night I spent $19.99 at my local Target for a Rival 37401-W.  Yup.  A crock-pot.  Those who know me very well know that I am the anti-cook.  I admit, I am a pretty sad excuse for a Filipino.  When I was a kid my mom tried so hard to teach me how to cook all the Filipino standards.  Chicken adobo, pancit, lumpia . . . I was just not interested.  I certainly had an interest in eating, just not cooking.  I figure that crock-pot cooking is a good way for me to start learning how to cook.  Throw everything into the pot and hours later you've got dinner!  I know, I know.  Probably not as simple as it sounds, but still easier than the traditional way of cooking.  Right? I've already picked out bunches of recipes I found online that I want to try.  I've got a slow cooker recipe book sitting in my cart at Amazon.  Now I just need to hit the grocery store on Friday so I can take my crockpot out for a spin!  Wish me luck.  I think I'm going to need it.

This one's for Leah

Got tagged again, this time by the uber-talented and oh so sweet Leah.

There's a first time for everything. Fill this out and send the same questionaire to 3 bloggers. Keep this going.

First time you got kissed. How was it?
I was five, so was he.  My next-door neighbor.  My best bud.  He kissed me on the cheek while we were playing and I got butterflies in my tummy.  Ahhhh, young love.

First time you drove a car. What kind of car?
Fifteen.  Drivers Ed.  I think it was a Nissan.

First time you scrapbooked. When you look at your page do you love it?
Sometime in 2000 after I had collected supplies for almost a year, I decided to scrapbook my high school trip to Europe.  I love the album because it makes me laugh.  Hard.  In an "Oh how embarassing!" kind of way.

First time you went on a date. Where did you go and with who?
Alone with a guy?  I don't remember.

First time you fell in love. How did you know?
Refer to first kiss.  He was blonde and blue eyed.  How could I not fall in love???

First time you cooked for someone. Was it yummy? What did you make?
I don't remember the details, but I do recall that my sister and I cooked something for our parents when we were kids.

First time you got on a plane. Where did you go? Were you scared?
I was one.  Went to the Philippines with my mom and one month old sister.  I don't remember anything.  But my mom says that I became friends with the Japanese man who was sitting next to us on that very LONG airplane ride.

First time you shaved your legs. Did you cut yourself?
Sixth grade.  I used my dad's razor, so yeah, I cut myself.  And then I proceeded to shave my arms.

First time you put on make up. Looking back how did you do? Did you look good or like a clown?
Summer of '87.  I was eleven, going into sixth grade.  Pastel eyeshadow in a shimmery light purple.  I wore some for picture day.  Eyeshadow is still my favorite make-up to play with.

First time you moved out of your home. Was it an apartment, house, etc?
Junior year of high school to attend a private Christan boarding school.  I lived in the girls' dorm.

So I'm tagging all of you who are reading this!  Let me know if you played along.  I want to see your answers!

Taking a break

from scrapping to share.  Did several things for Prima in the past couple days that you can see in my gallery on their site.  This layout is my favorite probably because of the picture's sentimental value.  Our wedding photographer captured this photo just minutes after we became Mr. & Mrs.  Ahhhhh, sweet memories . . .

In other news, my poor Clarkie boy has not been feeling well.  Part of the reason why I'm taking a break right now, otherwise I'd be downstairs in my space scrapping the night away like a madwoman.  Instead, here I am blogging while keeping an eye out for my sick boy.  All I have to say is thank goodness for laptops and wireless internet connections!

Look who's expecting...

No, not me, haha!  One of my childhood friends, Joann and her hubby Jere are expecting their first child this spring.  Finally got our schedules together and had a little photo session with them over the weekend at their house.  Joann's friend from New York and her two nephews were over so I had them get in front of my camera too.  Pictures all taken in natural lighting (we saw the sun on Saturday, yay!) with my 50 mm lens.  Still working out my color conversions in Photoshop, but I'm getting there!  Click HERE to see album.

Big Mama

Me:  "Cadence, how big do you love Mama?"

Cadence, stretching her arms out wide:  "Big, Mama!"

*And I sure do hope she means, "Big, Mama!" (I love you a lot, Mama!) and not "Big Mama!" (I think you are big, Mama!)  What a difference a comma makes.

My baby girl in her Icky Baby skirt this past weekend.  Definitely one of my favorites in her wardrobe.  A wardrobe that is ridiculously large for a girl of just two years.

Boo hoo

The Bears lost, and Chicago's dream of a Superbowl title have crashed and burned. However, like a good Chicago sports fan, I will say with all the optimism I can muster, "There's always next year!"

Here are some pictures I took of Miss Cadence today that cheered me and my sorely disappointed husband up.


We partied yesterday.  Cousin Kiel turned seven years old.  Played around with my 50mm lens at the party and captured some images of Kiel and his little sister Ashley.  These two are my favorites.

More photos from the day are HERE.  Happy week!

Da Bears!

are in the playoffs!  They play the Carolina Panthers this afternoon.  With the 2005 North Division Championship title tucked under their belts helmets, I, along with the rest of Chicagoland, are hoping for a big win! I must admit that I haven't really followed the Bears as faithfully as I had way back in the days of the Superbowl Shuffle.  Nor am I as avid a fan as my Fantasy Footall League playing husband.  However, I am Chicagoan so you can bet that I will be rooting my behind off for DA BEARS!  Soldier Field is definitely the place to be, but since Ronald and I must spend ridiculous amounts of money on diapers, wipes, formula and other baby necessities, we will be watching the game in the comforts of our own home.

In anticipation of the big event, I took these pictures of the kids with their cousin Jakey all decked out in Chicago teams sportwear.  Clarkie modeling a Bears onesie, Cadence in a Cubs jersey all girlied up in pink and white, and Jakey wearing a Bulls onesie with the highly revered and retired #23 worn by the one and only Michael Jordan.  Special thanks to Kuya Bryan for the outfits!

This is what you get when Chicago teams aren't winning. A bunch of upset boys.  Teehee!  ;o)

*And just for Joann . . . finally added a couple pictures HERE in my winter album of the annual barkada Christmas party at Mike & Ria's.

GO BEARS!!!

Filipino word of the day: Barkada

"Barkada" is a word from the Filipino language Tagalog meaning:  "a group of friends."  As I promised my barkada, HERE are the pictures our most recent get-together.  So glad we could all hang out with our pals Jay & Eunice who were visiting from out of town.  Wish they didn't live so far away.  But the nice thing is with our circle of friends, no matter how much time has passed between our get-togethers, we always pick up where we left off.  And here is the obligatory group shot, taken with five zillion different cameras.  We are Filipino after all, you know.  :o)

I've been tagged...

by the super sweet Rebecca.  Here goes!

Four jobs you have had in your life:
Other than mommy . . .
Sales associate at Gap, Hallmark and Ann Taylor Loft
Front desk agent at Embassy Suites Hotel
Data entry for Riverside Publishing
2^nd grade teacher

Four movies you would watch over and over:
Goonies
Pretty in Pink
Love Actually
Sweet November

Four places you have lived:
Chicago
2 different suburbs of Chicago
Michigan for college

Four TV shows you love to watch:
Lost
Alias
Las Vegas
Commander in Chief
ETA instead - Grey's Anatomy (How did I forget this one?!!)

Four places you have been on vacation:
(my favorites)
Tahiti
Philippines
Paris, France
Florence, Italy

Four websites I visit daily:
Hotmail
2Peas
Ebay
A handful of blogs

Four of my favorite foods:
Thai food
Cheesecake Fantasy from Cold Stone
Giordano’s stuffed spinach pizza
Veggie food from Joy Yee’s

Four places I would rather be right now:
In bed, preferably sound asleep
Getting a manicure/pedicure/massage
Somewhere warm
On vacation

Four bloggers I am tagging:
Grace
Jamie
*It seems that everyone else has been tagged!
**ETA Melissa - found someone else  :o)

Thanks to those who shared what their collections are in my previous post.  Reading your comments made me smile!  :o)  I actually forgot two things on my list of collections.  P.J. bottoms from Old Navy and vintage style aprons from Anthropologie.  I just started collecting the aprons.  I thought maybe it would help me on my quest to become a domestic goddess, particularly in the arena of cooking.  Ha.  We shall see.

Last night my sister and I decided that our kids needed some quality time with their dads, so we ditched 'em and went shopping.  Afterwards we spent some time at Borders.  Quality sister-sister time.  Must do it again soon.

To my friends who are dropping in to see if I posted pics of our get-togethers . . . I promise I will work on posting them before the day is over!

Collections of sorts

Back in the day I used to collect Precious Moments figurines and Ty Beanie Babies.  Oh, and shoes.  And snicker away at my Beanie Baby collection.  I'll have you know that eight years ago I had acquired three dinosaurs and a very rare Violet Teddy all for just 5 dollars each, held on to them for awhile and then sold all four for 2500 dollars.  These days my collections are a bit different than what they used to be.

• Graphic tees from Target and Fossil.  In fact I have three tees on hold for me rigt now at my local Fossil store and they're all on sale.  Yay!  This collection started fairly recently.
• Quilts from TJMaxx/HomeGoods.  Inexpensive enough that I can buy all the ones I think are pretty.  Well, most of the ones I like anyways.  Right now I have a thing for striped quilts.  I just added one to my collection last week.
• Little People Toys by Fisher-Price.  Started on a whim to get Cadence this ferris wheel.  I wanted her to have it for her first birthday because I remember that Aimee and I had this vintage Little People ferris wheel when we were little and I recall how much we loved playing with it.  We have expanded our collection of LP toys.  A lot.  And I admit, I'm addicted to collecting these toys.  It's quite embarssing really how many LP toys we have.  But it's all for a good cause.  My kids!  ;o)
• Keepsake Ornaments from Hallmark.  Started collecting in '96 when I started working part-time at a Hallmark while in college.  I like to buy them for our tree and also as gifts for friends and family.

So what kind of collections do you have?  Seriously.  I want to know!