Li'l Critters Gummy Vites

Kudos to Northwest Natural Products, the manufacturer of this Li'l Critters Gummy Vites Multi-Vitamin and Mineral Formula! It's such a brilliant idea to make a dietary supplement for kids in this gummy bears form. (I'm just not sure though if they were the first.) It's very convenient to moms, very attractive to kids and cute!

The, shall I say, jar or container?
Whichever you prefer. 

BHGCS Recognition Day 2012

Recognition Day was one of the many school programs that I was always excited about when I was still in elementary and high school. Aside from getting my medals and ribbons every year (Oh yes, I was a smart kid ^_^), Recognitiom Day had always marked that it was officially school vacation. Yay! How I miss my school days.

It was Nikki's Recognition Day today. She ended this school year second in class. Aside from that, she was her class' Best in Mathematics, Best in Makabayan and Most Helpful. Nakaka-proud naman talaga si Ate Nikki ko. It came to me as a surprise. Of all subjects that she would excel in, Math and Makabayan pa?! Those were the two subjects that we had to allot the most time in reviewing for exams because I thought she was having a hard time with them. Akalain mo nga naman? She was the best pa pala in those subjects. Astig!

It slipped my mind that it was her Recognition Day today that I forgot to file for a leave 2 weeks ago. So I still had to come to work, but I was so thankful to my boss that he let me leave work early so I could attend. Thank you so much Boss Jan! ^_^

My New Errands Buddy

That's Nikki!

She's 8. And she now makes a very good and convenient buddy when running some errands. She can walk by herself, can eat by herself, has urinary control, has opinions on things I buy, reminds me of important things, etc. She has no complaint sa walk-a-thon. Only complaint I have about Nikki is that she gets hungry so fast. I have to feed her every now and then. Kids!

Nikki and I went to SM today to shop for shoes, white stockings and a cardigan for herself, for her class' presentation on her school's Recognition Day. I picked her up from school then we went straight to SM.

On the way there, one would hardly miss this!

Since when was this here?

Is it just me, or SM really has to put this up where this is the first thing people would notice when coming from that area to its building? Pa-good shot lang sa mga tao?

Moving on.

Whatchamacallit?!

More than enjoying Jollibee's Chocolate Sundae as a dessert, I love making it as a dip for my extra large fries. When Nikki got a little older and first noticed that I was doing that, she wondered. "Mommy, bakit mo sinasawsaw sa sundae 'yung fries mo?", she asked and I simply responded with, "Masarap kasi Mahal e."

Chocolate sundae-dipped fry. Nom nom!

I wanted to tell her the real reason why, but not until I've solved this puzzle. ^_^

And here goes the story.

Aaaw, They Love Me

The Yahoo! Escalations is our account's newest LOB so far. It started as a one-team desk which grew with two then three more teams making it a single cluster. Our company was the only site that has this line of business until this year. I was lucky to be part of its pioneer team composed of seven Tier 2 agents and five Tier 1 agents when it went live in 2008.

If I were not mistaken, this was Vic's idea.

I am no longer part of the Yahoo! Escalations Team or what we simply call Y!ET. I was sent from it back to the Tier 2 Team with new assigned task at that time. I still kept in touch with my teammates and friends from Y!ET. Parang ang layo naman ng pinuntahan ko 'di ba? Its bay and the Tier 2 Team bay are just a laway talsik away from each other. ^_^

Intro lang 'yun. Eto talaga ang kwento.

Kare-kare Take 2

I first attempted to make a kare-kare dish in January when I was itching to make something special for Elmer and my daughters on a day off work. I decided to cook kare-kare for them. According to articles I read online, because kare-kare traditionally uses beef which really takes a long time to cook, Filipino families prepare this dish mostly on special occasions like fiesta, family gathering, birthday party only and even served on Christmas lunch or dinner. I thought it was a special dish so pasok sa banga ang dish na 'to!

Yesterday, Elmer and I noticed that we didn't have a decent food this past week. Most of what we've eaten were fried. Hotdogs, fish, ham, eggs. He requested that I cook today. It's my rest day anyway. They must love my kare-kare at my first attempt because that's what they requested me to cook for today's lunch.

I believe that it does not necessarily have to use beef, and every Filipino family has its own version of this dish. Here's my version. 

It's More Fun Being Blue!

Quarter Recognition Party, Cook-out Party, Christmas Party. Anything that has party in it  (except for third party opkors!) is sure fun at work. Not to mention, we only get to have one once in 3-4 months...if we get lucky. And we sure did get lucky today! Our account just had a cook-out party for meeting/exceeding the goal for Connectech sales. Although it was not really a cook-out  party by definition kasi cooked na ang food when they got to the venue, that was in our humble parking lot. Spell tipid! ^_^ But that didn't bother us. It was scheduled for breakfast. So we took our "lunch" for breakfast. You know what I mean, all you call center peeps out there, yes?

The stage. The emcee. The bosses.

Taste Buds At Work: Selecta's Magnum Classic

Enjoy the royal treatment for a royal price

I first heard of this Magnum Ice Cream in Twitter thru @mondgutierrez. (Yes, I follow him on Twitter, you got any problem with that? ^_^ ) But he would just say "Magnum" in his tweets. I was like, "What is Magnum?", to myself. (I found out later that Raymond Gutierrez is one of the Magnum "icons" daw, along with Erwan and Solenn Heussaff, Liz Uy, Rajo Laurel and Tessa Prieto Valdes).

Then my friends at work explained to me what it was. Oooh, it's a chocolate-coated vanilla ice cream on a stick which originated overseas (not sure where) and locally distributed here in the Philippines by Selecta. And they said there's already a TV commerical for it. I was like, oh-kay! When did that TV commercial start airing? Where was I all that time? I have not seen the commercial until Thursday last week. I got intrigued by it, and so did Elmer. 

Taste Buds At Work: Jollibee's Chicken and Mushroom Pasta

We all know that kids are very fond of Jollibee, its mascot and its products. Jollibee and its products target mainly the younger population. Through the years, Jollibee tries to come up with products that are more pleasurable to adults.  This new Chicken and Mushroom Pasta is one of them. It's like Jolly Spaghetti for adults.

This is how it looks like in the ad.

This is how it does on the actual plate.

It's A Boy

...and he's finally out.

My friend Mona has given birth to a bouncing baby boy in Notre Dame De Chartres Hospital today, March 17, 2012, at 6:24AM through CS.

Baby Jayden Khil Head

I hope I spelled the name right.

My Kids Love S&M

That's what I call the macaroni recipe that I always cook for them whenever they feel like eating pasta, you fool! ^_^ S&M kasi it's sweet and it has milk in it, so Sweet and Milky? Creamy yata dapat. Or it can also stand for Simple and Mura. 

I planned to cook this originally for tomorrow because Elmer and I have been planning to have family picnic in Burnham Park but I don't think the weather's gonna be favorable for that. We've been having gloomy weather and rainy afternoons for 3 days now. I am feeling lazy today because of the weather. I felt lazy to thaw anything from the fridge. Yes, ilalabas na lang sa ref, tinamad pa ako. Kasi may chance na ako din ang magluto. Sarap ng tulog ni Elmer e. I decided to just cook the macaroni, which I knew would not take long to finish so I could join Elmer on the bed. *Wink*

Calli's Potential Talent Exposed

Calli loves to sing...a lot! She always makes me laugh 'pag nagme-medley siya from Lupang Hinirang to Bahay Kubo to Ako Ay May Lobo to Paa, Tuhod then back to Lupang Hinirang. She has such huge vocal chords. I wonder if she can be a good singer when she grows up. This is what Calli and I do once in a while during lazy afternoons - singing along YouTube music videos.

Our rendition of Ako Ay May Lobo. Just ignore the clutter in the background. Enjoy! ^_^

She was a little distracted in this video because she was seeing herself on the monitor. Charo Santos-Conscious si Calli, Haggardo Versoza naman ako ditey! Haha.

So you mommies out there, what talent do your li'l kids show as early as now? Sharing is sexy.


Ciao! ♥
  

After-work Bonding With Girl Friends

PAGASA had already officially declared that it is summer. Even without the official declaration, we can already feel the scorching heat of the sun. 'Mind you, nasa Baguio kami but the sun can still be very unforgiving on some days.

With that said, lately, Golden and I have been talking a lot about Razon's halo-halo - She and her husband Jeff, already having tried it recently and I, having my visiting mom try it (and she loved it). And how we both look forward to having our next glasses of Razon's halo-halo. Coincidentally, another workmate invited her to have halo-halo at Razon's yesterday. Then Golden invited me and Apol to join them. It was a date!

What's a better way to spend bonding time with friends than do it over good food? Da best 'di ba? Lalo na'ng mga Pinoy, hilig kumain. There we were in the jeepney after work, off to SM City Baguio. I was already secretly enjoying the halo-halo in my mind. True itey! ^_^

Daylight Savings Time

Time springs forward and falls back for Americans and some other people around the world. Thanks to the Daylight Savings Time. But it does not for us Filipinos. We don't practice DST. But I am very familiar with it. Well, at least to when the day and time, most specifically in the US, it's either springing forward or falling back. It's happening in less than 24 hours. On Sunday, once Americans' clocks hit 2AM US Time, for all time zones, they have to adjust it to 3AM, losing an hour of their day. In reality, they didn't lose an hour of their day. Kasi palit lang 'yun sa one hour na nadagdag sa oras nila when their time fell back last year when they switched back from DST.

Photo Credit: hotarmisticenews.blogspot.com

International Women's Day

Today is March 8, 2012. Today, besides Nikki's 8th birthday, the whole world, or at least all women in the world, celebrates the International Women's Day. I found that out when I opened my homepage, Google. This is what I saw in the homepage.

Pandaigdigang Araw Ng Mga Babae (International Women's Day)

I didn't know until now that there's such a special day for women. I feel so empowered tuloy today. To all smart, beautiful, independent, compassionate, dependable, loving, caring, considerate, confident at lahat na, women out there, HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY!!! 

Ciao! ♥

Summer Kiddie Fun

It was just 2011. There was Christmas then New Year's. January came and go, as well as Chinese New Year. And now, it's already March! March 7 it is. Where have all the days gone? The'yve gone so fast. It's Nikki's 8th birthday tomorrow.

*Natawa ako sa sarili ko. Umiral na naman ang you know. I tried to spell out 8th in words - eigth. I told myself, parang mali. Sige, eighth na lang. Parang tama na, pero parang mali pa din. Sige, 8th na nga lang. Best in Spelling pa naman ako nun. Chos! ;)

Happy birthday, Nikki. You're 8 years old na tomorrow. You literally are a big sister now. I love you Mahal!

In a week or two, school year is almost done. One last school event, Recognition Day, and it is official, bakasyon na! I've been asking Nikki what she would like to be busy with this summer vacation. She attended a month of ballet classes 3 years ago and never came back. I asked her if she would like to do ballet again. She said no. Among her most feasible choices are guitar and drums lessons, swimming and tae kwon do. She may take swimming lessons but not here in Baguio. She has to stay with her Mama Shirley, Elmer's mom, in Pangasinan where there are a lot who give swimming lessons, if she chooses that. I have not heard of anyone giving swimming lessons here in Baguio except for one who does it in Asin but Asin is, to me, very very very very very (exaj lang) far from the city proper. Oh, and Hotel Supreme pala. But I'm not sure if they do it every year. So far, I think, she favors tae kwon do. I'll see if she changes her mind soon.

Good Food In Baby Showers

Traditionally, baby showers are attended by both men and women with the intent to share ideas and wisdom on becoming a mother and parenting to the mother-to-be. In the Philippines, people are not accustomed to holding baby showers when possible. This is more common in Western countries.

I have not been to a baby shower until last Saturday. My good friend Mona, who got married to Carl, had a baby shower. Carl is a Brit so it's understandable why merong baby shower. They're expecting to give birth with JK on March 17 through CS. They do not know yet its gender but they already have a girl and a boy names ready for it with initials JK. I asked but I forgot what JK stands for, for either gender.

Mom again-to-be Mona

Me, My Very Dependable Sling Bag (Hides my "abs") and Mona

US TV Shows That I Love

Photo Credit: clipartof.com

 There were a lot of American TV shows/series that I watched since I learned watching them, and some of them I still watch today. There was Prison Break, the first US TV series that I got super addicted to 'though Seasons 2 and 3 got crappy when there was athe Am,erican TV writers strike in, was that 2007 or 2008? But I think all US TV series that time were all affected. I still loved it. I thought the writers could not make the plot any more interesting and thirlling so they decided to end it in Season 4. Yeah, I know there was Smallville even way before Prison Break and pardon me because I have not watched a single episode of it until now.

My Project 365+1: February Update

Just a little recap on My Project 365+1 and the most recent update prior to this one.

Where have all the days gone? They've gone so fast. Today is March  1 and in a couple of days is Nikki's 8th birthday. OMG! Nikki's grown up so fast. (Pansin ko lang, everything's so  fast. lol) Ano kayang slogan namin sa 8th birthday ni Nikki? Nikki turns 8 on March 8. Bongga! Leche, korni. 

Enough with that. After all, this is post about My Project 365+1. Here's what I had for February.

My Project 365+1: February