Last Weekend (July 24 to Present)

I was not supposed to have a backlog in this blog but I'm having headach for some days already and also my PC had a virus that needed to be cleaned up.

Anyway, last Friday, we suddenly decided to go to Festival Mall for us to just have a whole day rest on Saturday. We returned our printer to the repair center after seeing the same problem it had before. It was a back job. Hubby also upgraded the memory of his laptop to be more efficient on his work. We had dinner in Sai-Bachi. It was a good dinner. Hubby had their eat-all-you-can tempura, while I had their noodles and tokuyaki balls. We also went to Robinsons to look for a Baby Walking Belt but it was out of stocks. We ended up just buying shoes and additional milk container for JEL.

Saturday
We all stayed at home. Hubby tried to repair my PC but was not satisfied. He was able to install the virus scanner but the virus definition can't be updated. In the evening, he was not felling well. Was the virus from my PC got into him? Hehe.

Sunday
After our Sunday Mass, we went to ATC. We bought EPass Load, picked up our TPC pictorial prints and my LYB membership card. I also bought some cosmetics from Body Shop. I availed their Members' Birthday Privilege (20% discount on your Birth Month).

We then went to Megamall to Celebrate Ariel M.'s Birthday. Jel was able to play with Clark. See pictures here.It was awesome to see them again.

We also went to SM department store looking for the Baby Walking Belt but it was also out of stock. We just ended up buying new shoes again for JEL. No Worries. It's not expensive. We just bought it for P99.

On our way to my parents house, it was raining hard. Our windshield wiper broke. The car repair shop we went to was not able find the right size of bushing from the nearby car accessories shops. It was expected since it is a Sunday and already 3pm. We are just thankful that Manong was kind enough to do some Mac Gyver stuff. He just used an epoxy to make one wiper working. Ariel drove our car with this set-up.

In my parents house, we just had PM snacks while my family is playing with Jel. We left my parents house at 6pm.

We're still supposed to go to Antipolo for the welcome party of Ariel's cousin Jason and Her Ate's Despedida party but we opted to just go home for safety purposes. We are still from the South and it was raining hard. We are all tired when we got home.

Monday
We got excited to know that Ma'am Joji is already back after attending a quarterly review in our CA office. She was able to bring the plush toys I ordered from Ebay which was shipped to Kuya Rowen's Home. JEL was surprised seeing them. See her pictures here.

Tuesday was an ordinary day but we're thankful that Ariel felt better and JEL's colds was contained. My PC virus clean-up was also getting better after system restoration.

Yesterday, hubby and I had a lunch out to buy some balloons for JEL's 6th month Birthday today. I pumped six balloons. Pictures will be posted soon.

Today, it's already 12:47am. I'm still awake and trying to update this blog. Hehehe. Later, we will be taking a half day off for JEL's monthly Pedia check-up. We will also be picking up her cake from Recipes and Magic. Hope it would be nice and tasty!

Well, that's it. I need to sleep now. Hope I can post JEL's 6th Moth birthday pictures tonight.

GO Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Geneology - Roots

Got A Free Lunch Yesterday

We had free lunch yesterday using our BPI charge slips from Chowking. We had fish lauriat, pork lauriat, halo-halo with 1 scoop of ice cream and 3 siomai (3pcs each). We're not able to eat all of them and just took some of them out for our PM snacks.

Anyway, this is just one of the advantages of owning a credit card. We should enjoy the perks we're getting but we need to ensure that we're paying our bills on time to avoid paying finance charges.

YGG Invasion

It feels like we're invaded by the Gabba Gang. Our room is already infested with YGG stuffs. All for the love of our daughter. Hahaha.

They are JEL's favorite. Her eyes are getting big every time she sees this poster. She never gets tired of our bed time stories ( YGG book - Meet the Gabba Gang). She smiles and wiggles her legs while listening to her YGG impersonator mom. hehehe. Her dad even stays up late at night just to search and download YGG episodes (No DVDs yet here). Luckily or unluckily, he is just able to download 2 episodes for 2 weeks. We burned them in a CD last weekend so she can watched them even on weekends because the show is just being aired twice a day on weekdays only.

We're already beginning to love them. I love their dance steps! Wait, wait, wait. It seems the Gabba Addiction is now airborne. Are we now infected?! Hahaha!

Pasalubong from Jen

One of my colleagues got back from her 1-month training in our Washington Office and gave me this lotion for Pasalubong.

Thanks JEN!!! I l love it. This is one of my favorite VS scent!

Birthday Token

Our company started to give birthday tokens last year by giving us birthday cakes.See my blog post here. This year they give us a mug and a pouch bag. Not bad, huh. They said that they will change the tokens every year. I wonder what they will be giving next year?! Anyway, thanks for the thought!

JEL's 1st Birthday Party Preps Update: Party Time Caterer Food Tasting

We had our food tasting yesterday. We picked up the sample foods from Party Time Philippines Japanese Restaurant in Festival Mall. We didn't eat those foods for lunch because we ate in their resto. We had Pork Teriyaki, Tonkatsu, Gyosa and Tempura which are all good. Hubby enjoyed their Tempura and the Vegetable Balls.

By the way, we ate the sample foods at home for pm snacks. Below is our verdict.
Baked Spaghetti - I like it. Hubby said that it's a little salty but maybe because we took all the cheese toppings.
Roast Porkloin - Good but needs more sauce.
Vietnamese Spring Roll - We don't like it. We will change it to fresh lumpia.
Fudge Brownie - Yummy and Chewy - Passed!

We already informed Party Time Philippines of these comments and Mel already took note of them.

JEL's 1st Birthday Party Preps Update: Venue Hunting

We accidentally started planning for JEL's 1st birthday last May. We just saw a party planner booth in SM Molino. We got a copy of their packages last May 23 and that's how it started.

I found their packages expensive. So I searched the web for other suppliers and while surfing the net, I got into the Smart Parenting and Girl's Talk forums. I learned a lot from them that it had been my hobby to checked these forums every night.

By the way, here are the places we've been in search for the right venue for JEL's 1st Birthday:

1. Avignon - It seems the guard didn't understand us. I think we also didn't understand him. We've asked for the clubhouse and he said it was already sold. Now, I realize that he might thought that we are looking for an open house. Nevertheless, we will not go back there, the place will not be accessible for our guest coming from Pasig and QC.

2. Camella in Molino Clubhouse - We didn't take a look at it. By the look inside our car,we don't like it already.

3. AMICI Clubhouse inside Camella - Covered but not air conditioned venue. Too Small for the # of guests we're expecting.

4. Big Red Barn Alabang - The Place is nice and for really for kids but I find their packages expensive. I also don't think that it will be worth for a 1st birthday. Our baby will not be enjoying the play area yet.

5. Congo Grille Alabang - Parties are held on their 2nd floor. It's nice for a Jungle Theme party. They can customize their packages. They also have reasonable prices. However, I am not satisfied with their customer service. I was able to compare it with the comment from GT about Congo Grille El Pueblo.

6. Jollibee in Madrigal Alabang - Large Party Area but hubby doesn't want a short party time (2hrs). They also don't allow outside party host.

7. Dazo Hall in Philam Village Las Pinas - Big Party Area and have a reasonable rental fee. It can accommodate more than 200 PAX. No issue with parking. Friendly to the commuters but our guests are coming from Pasig and QC. This is quite far for them.

8. Storyland in SM Southmall - They have a party area that can accommodate 150PAX but party time is only up to 2hrs only. They have in-house party host and caterers but you can also get food from the FF inside SM.

9. Pixie Forest - We didn't inquire here but we've seen a party before in this venue. We saw another party in this place this morning and we are not comfortable with the place because the party venue is dark, noisy, small and has no privacy.

10. Fridays - They have kiddie birthday packages but we can't afford it. Hehe.

11. Orchard Golf and Country Club - They have in-house caterer and we also can't afford the prices of their menus both the buffet or sit-down. How I wish we can. But the downside is the accessibility to our guests.

12. Madrigal Center - I find the rental fee expensive for a non-A/C venue.

13. Max's near ATC - Hubby doesn't like the place.

14. Starmall - They have accredited caterers but can order from the FF inside starmall. They have reasonable birthday party packages.
a. Castle Area - Small. It can only accommodate max of 100pax.
b. Resort Area - Small and can only accommodate max of 120pax.
c. Function Room with A/C - It can accommodate 150pax but have low ceiling.
d. Function Area (Open sides, covered, no AC) - It has a capacity of 500pax but can rent half of the place only. Pictures of the place is seen here.

We wished to celebrate JEL's birthday in our clubhouse but it's small and can only accommodate 40-50pax. Currently, we are leaning towards the non-A/C function area in Starmall due to it's accessibility to our guests and their not so expensive venue rental fee. We are also not obliged to get their packages. The only downside is that they have accredited caterers and they charge corkage fee for outsourced food carts and party host.

Extended Birthday

I had a 2-day birthday celebration. The actual day of my birth was celebrated with my family (I blogged about it here). The next day was celebrated with my in-laws and their kids. We really had a very busy weekend.

By the way, here are the activties we did last Sunday:
- 8:30 am mass in St. Jerome Parish. It ended early so we strolled inside Makati Supermarket while waiting for ATC to open.
- 10am TPC pictorial. We all had a good time posing for pictures and having JEL smile. More pictures here.
- We bought Yo Gabba Gabba Books for JEL in Powerbooks.

- Lunch in Magdaragat with my in-laws.

- At home, Jel played with her cousins while Ariel is helping my in-laws with their laptop problems. We had dinner together. They left at almost 9pm. I'm already tired but I still fixed some things inside our room and prepare the things needed for work the next day.

Btw, I got this gift from my in-laws. Thanks!

Also, I forgot to blog about a call I receive on my actual birthday from Fr. Ginu, our Parish Priest, who is having a vacation in India. Thanks po for remembering!

Overall, we had a tiring yet fun-filled weekend!

Chocolatey Birthday

I just turned 33 today and I want to thank the Lord for all the blessings I got for 33 years. There were ups and downs but I was able to make it with His guidance.

I had a simple birthday celebration. A week ago, we ordered chocolate cake and cup cake with topper from Cakefarm. They are one of the famous bakeshop in cavite that we are eyeing for JEL's birthday. I was not able to take a pix of the cupcakes because we are all busy during lunch. Anyway, here is the pix of the cake

We picked this cake from Bacoor Cavite before going to NBC tent. There is an ongoing bazaar there and I asked hubby to buy some matching clothes for the three of us from KATRICEwear who will be having a booth there as a birthday gift. Below is the matching poloshirts that we bought.

We were also able to buy short, blouse and dress for Jel from other participating sellers. I love them all. Actually, we already washed them all and planned to wear them tomorrow. Hehe.

We had lunch in my parents house. My dad cooked some foods for me some. We had buttered shrimp, pork kaldreta and lechon kawali. And just bought pancit from our neighbor. We all had a very yummy lunch that I forgot to take pictures of the food.

The funny part is that all my siblings gave me chocolate goodies.Ditse gave me a Banaple. Gemme gave me an Iko's Choco moist cake and a Cadbury Chocolate bar. Jen and Anna gave me Chocolate brownies.

I've tried all of them. They are all yummy. I just told myself to forget first all the calorie counting for this day? Is that a valid excuse?

Another gift I received today is the homed cooked menudo by my Aunt (Mama Linda). I really love her menudo especially its sauce. Thank you po!

Oh, did I mention that the greatest gift I have for my birthday is our little girl??!!

We had a very tiring yet happy day. Another year was added to my age but it's all worth it! Thanks to all who greeted me by email and text and also those who remembered my special day in their own special way!

I love you all!!!

Bday Teaser

This is just a teaser. Trying my luck on digital scrapbooking using scrapblog. Sorry for being an excited 1st time mom. Hihi. By the way, this is just part of Jel's 1st bday party preps.

Absence

I've been MIA in this blog for a long time already. I'm been really really busy. I was not blogging but I am posting pictures on our baby in my multiply site. Please visit me there.

I miss blogging and I wish I can come back soon.