summer

I have a love-hate relationship with this season. I love it because it's the best time to go to the beach and I hate it because of the scorching heat. For the past weeks, my kids and I have been in two resorts, hitting both the pool and the beach. We've run out of sunscreen but, what can we do -- it's summer time!!

me, the sand, the sea, and the sunset

wet & wild (I'm wet, Ripley's wild for the waves)

beach butts, I mean bums (heck, they're the same anyway)


great expectations

beach boy

beauty queen

I don't know what I did to deserve this angel

smoky eyes and lemon pie

Four days into my self-imposed holiday and I'm bored out of my skull. In between watching Jamie Oliver and Giada De Laurentiis, there's really nothing much to do but cook. So far, I've whipped up a mean zitti with sausage, basil, and tomatoes (my own recipe); a Shaker lemon pie where I had to wrestle with an uncooperative pâte brisée; and a pot of steaming pancit molo (which is a kind of beef dumpling soup); Today, I'm planning to make corn pudding.

Aside from slaving in the kitchen, I've been learning how to put on eye make up. Last night I did the smoky eye effect using black and gray eye shadow and I feel pretty smug because it actually came out really beautiful and dramatic (as opposed to looking like somebody hit you with a non-stick frying pan on both eyes -- yes, perhaps that could happen!).

I know I looked fine after the make up tutorial because Zaki just looked at me and yawned. Ripley did a double take but thereafter screamed "make-up, mommy!", which I assumed was an adamant request from a 2 year old to look 20 years older. My ever supported husband on the other hand just said, "That looks nice, babe." To which I replied, "I thought you hated make up." To which he replied, "Make-up is okay, it's jewelry that I hate." There's nothing more heartwarming than knowing that your family supports you -- yes, even with utterly trivial matters like eye make-up.

Next on my agenda is reorganizing my closet and packing. I've been putting off the latter for days now, but I guess, I have to start by taking my gigantic luggage out of the dusty plastic bag under my bed. Never mind the details of my trip, but it's going to be bittersweet and full of hope, that I'm sure of.

$48.6 *%@?! million dollars, baby!

I'm speechless. She's gonna get -- I mean, amass, a huge amount of money. Is she happy now? And more importantly, how much will Miss Mills give to charity? (We're watching you!) She's probably grinning from ear to ear at this very moment -- like a cunning, evil cat that just swallowed the canary. She is nothing short of disgusting.

Oh, and now she can buy herself a leg and hell, even an extra arm!

And so what if she has a gazillion dollars now, she'll still go down in history as the world's worst dressed gold digger who garbed herself in a rodeo/cowgirl-gone-totally-wrong outfit after being awarded by the court $48.6 Million which she will use to buy more rodeo-inspired outfits with matching vests. Aaaarrrrggghhh!

there's something about heather

I was watching CNN today and I just can't help but react to the McCartney-Mills divorce / fiasco. I'm sorry, but I'm a Beatles fan. There's just something about Ms. Mills that strikes me as phony. She fired her lawyers and represented herself in court while McCartney brought his bevy of hotshot attorneys. What was she trying to prove? Obviously she wants sympathy. It's an old trick, you know. I've seen ruthless gold diggers with more subtlety than that (er, did I really say gold digger?). And if she wants to win the hearts of people and the judge, can she at least enroll in acting class? Her dramatic performance gave me goosebumps -- of the icky kind. "I endured 18 months of abuse, worse than a murderer or pedophile." Boo-hoo. Give me some tears, girl! Her face was all crumpled and weepy but alas, not a single tear was seen, ladies and gentlemen of the jury when she was spilling her heart out with those shocking revelations. I just find the whole thing p-h-o-n-y! Am I supposed to pity her because of her disability? I think she's such an actress, and a very bad one at that. Oh, did I mention she has a website which she's probably earning a lot from? And she abhors rich people because they're "stingy" and "snobbish" but she wants to DOUBLE the 50-something million dollars divorce settlement that she was offered by her estranged husband. Now this screams GOLD D----- to me!

I just don't quite trust those shifty eyes.

playing queer eye

As promised, I have some photos here from that talk I had last January emailed by Lyn Jaen, the organizer of UI's Career Day. I so enjoyed that talk... never mind that I had tingling legs and a still to be diagnosed illness (don't worry, it's nothing serious!) that was probably brought about by too much cola and fat. In the photos, I was doing some "fashion critiquing", you know, to the tune of "Queer Eye..." and Trinny and Susannah. So here goes...

"Those shoes are totally wrong, dahling! "

"Do you have shoulder pads on? That's way too 80s for me..."

"Except for some needed "leverage" in the height department, I think you're kinda okay..."

"A bit ho-hum, this outfit you can totally wear to go to your equally boring job."

terrence, my man and Max & Emme

Oohh, I love, love this man. If I can have him for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I will. He's difficult, he's dreamy, and he's a damn good actor. I couldn't resist when I saw this photo from NY magazine. I just had to have him! (So sue me.)














Meet Max and Emme. Now, this photo, according to NY magazine is worth $6M, dahlings. And guess who took the photo? Me! Not! Of course, who else but their emaciated Daddy! Predictably, Queen Jenny from the Bronx will not allow any stranger to take snapshots of her precious twins. But if she's getting $6M out of this and if I was the one paying for it, hell, I'd let a monkey do the honors -- er, on second thought, I guess Marc Anthony will do. One more thing, I don't care if the photographer was trying to be artistic, but cutting off half the head of one of his babies give me a vibe that says "Give me another $1.5M and I'll include the rest of Max's or Emme's (duh, which is which?) head."

sara lives!

CSI's Sara Sidle lives! After managing to crawl out from under an overturned car, surviving a desert flashflood, a hungry coyote, and the scorching desert heat -- our heroine was saved just in the nick of time (pun intended since Nick Stokes found her -- har-har!). Grissom's usual poker face breaks into a sweet smile as Sara is taken to the hospital. Sigh! But according to showbiz gossip, Sara (Jorja Fox) won't be renewing her contract with the show. But then again, we all know how fickle the biz is. Let's see what happens on the next episode.

picture perfect

If this won't make a Mom's heart sing, I don't know what will.

rewind

I'll backtrack a little, give my legions of fans a quick peek of what I have been up to for the past weeks. Hey, I'm conceited enough to think that some people might actually be interested in my day to day goings on, like voyeurs skulking in the dark alleys -- of Google that is. I know there are people out there who type my name onto their PCs in the secret confines of their badly-ventilated bedrooms and spend hours reading and viewing my blog and my friendster profile. They smirk and they laugh, but they know that the envious green-eyed monster is slowly gnawing at their little evil, jealous hearts (this is the part where you will suddenly hear diabolical laughter). So, as not to disappoint -- I will indulge...

Last January 31, 2008, the University of Iloilo invited me as resource speaker. I talked about "Power Dressing" which included corporate dressing and "Resume Writing". I enjoyed myself immensely in spite of the fact that I was sick at that time. It's also great to know that the graduating students learned something from that talk (see Maddox's comment in the 'spit it' widget on the right) . I've done a lot of these talks through the years, but the one last January was by far the most successful considering the number of attendees and sessions. UP Visayas as well as St. Paul's have invited me in the past as well as a few organizations here in Iloilo. I guess there are only a few people, okay, maybe one here in the city who can get away with two extremely different topics: fashion and resume writing -- er, and that one person is me. Hurrah! Which reminds me, I have to post some photos of the talk here as soon as I get copies from the UI organizers.

Like the true advocate that I am, I and my group also did some socially relevant activities these past weeks. We fed 60 elderly folks from Asilo de Molo and 50 kids from Barangay So-oc in Arevalo. Thanks to some kind sponsors, we were able to pull these 2 activities through without a glitch and much success. Thanks to Injap Sia of the ultra successful Mang Inasal who sponsored lunch after I harassed him through text and of course my good friend Eric de los Santos who also shared his blessings with us. McDonald's also provided snacks for the kids at So-oc and Raymund of Iloilo Drug gave some vitamins for the oldies. My gratitude to your generosity sponsors, I know you'll be blessed ten-fold! (photos to follow)

And of course, my life wouldn't be complete without a fashion show. Last Friday, my mom and I watched "Hinabol by Nono Palmos" which showcased the beautiful fabrics of Panay / Western Visayas through the auspices of the Ilonggo Producers Association (IPA) headed by Tita-Ninang Valerie Maravilla whom I deeply admire and good friend Weng Zulueta. Senator Loren Legarda was there to support the event and a lot of government officials like Governor Sally Zaldivar of Antique (who happens to be a sorority sis by the way -- go Sigma Deltans!) who also walked the ramp. Iloilo's creme de la creme converged, of course. I had a ball admiring some of the attendees' outfits and bitchy me couldn't help but say "what in the?!#@*" after seeing some wannabes strut their stuff (believe me, it was too early for Halloween but some people were dressed for trick or treating) .

Oh, by the way, aside from socializing and doing charity work (what's next, lunch with 50-something women? Yikes!). I also did a lot of cooking (and eating!) and here's one I did for the kids which was both healthy and yummy:

Verdure al Forno with Zucchini and Eggplant

And, because I'm a multi-tasker mom, I made Zach and Ripley a healthy but delish pizza made simply of tomato and basil to go along with the Verdure. (The photo was taken before I stuffed the pizza in the oven so the mozzarella has not melted yet -- this was done for aesthetic purposes, people).

Tomato and basil pizza

For the Verdure al Forno, I have to thank Giada of Everyday Italian for that. I made variations here and there but essentially, the dish is made of bread crumbs, 3 kinds of cheese which I made into a sauce first before pouring it all in, cream, butter, salt, pepper and zucchini. The one in the picture was a combination of zucchini and eggplant. If you know how to make the usual lasagna, you can do this one.

The pizza of course is idiot proof! Bon Appétit!

should Sara Sidle live or die?

3 more days (GMTime) and that question will be answered CSI fans. Will the Miniature Killer triumph? Hmmm... I can't wait to know the outcome of last season's teeth-gritting finale. In the meantime, if you're ruminating over the pros and cons of whether Sara lives or dies but can't decide -- this might help: Sara Sidle.

absolutely no excuse

I know, I know. I'm the girl who cried wolf. There is absolutely no excuse for not blogging. It's just that I was caught up in a lot of things, you know, 5 year plan and all. But I'm back -- again! My schedule is a little bit flexible this month (gosh, it's march now! how time flies...) so I think I can manage this daily (blogging) ritual once again. I also haven't been writing in my newspaper column for a month so those of you who are keeping track of Serendipity at The News Today, forget it, I took a sabbatical for the whole month of February. I'll be writing again this march, so watch out for that.

I'm so excited! So many new things are unfolding. I'll be ending something very soon and beginning with a new chapter of my life. Thanks for good friends and family who have rooted for me and who have supported me all these years -- I am truly blessed!