My Weekend and Some Plans for April

Happy Easter, all!

I guess Easter (the commercialized celebration) is more for the kids, so we don't get to appreciate it actually. Still, the meaning behind Easter is something special for us Christians.

A quick rundown of my weekend:


I took pictures of my painted nails for the other blog, Jenny and Jessie. I needed to find a sunlit space in our house (so don't mind the cables and whatnots), and as you may know by now, my cat Moe-Moe Furballs is such a curious cat and would like to check what I am doing, so he made sure he was near me. However, me concentrating on photographing the nails and not minding him made him jealous, so when his little efforts to get him noticed didn't work, he started biting me. Well, the pictures speak for themselves. Hahaha.


I went back reading "London Bridges" by James Patterson. I started reading this last year, but I am stuck halfway through... not because it was bad, but because I can't understand and relate to some of the terms. Otherwise, I like the story of this. It's just that... since the movie "Alex Cross" came out, all I can picture is the actor in the movie.


I visited the tomato seeds I planted and I am so pleased and happy to see the sprouts! Yippee! Just a little more time and I will plant them separately. Also, while watering the plants in the garden, I noticed some sprouts of ampalaya (bitter gourd) seedlings. I didn't know who placed the seeds there - must be neighbors - but I am so thankful!

Another something to be thankful for was that my sister treated me to a refreshing cup of Strawberry Sundae at Jollibee yesterday. Us three siblings went to Tungko to buy ingredients for our dinner, and sister said she was hungry. She bought spaghetti and her own cup of sundae. Summer's really hot this year, though I should really stay away from ice cream.


Last day of my Salad Project was successful! I prepared another bowl of Mango Salad with Bagoong Vinaigrette, which the whole family shared. I am so glad that I was able to happily pull through this project without getting tired and sick of it. I also didn't eat meat for six days, another victory for me.

- * - * - * -

You wanna know a funny thing about eating salads? I actually gained weight. I can't help but laugh at annoyance, but if there's one big lesson salads taught me, it would have to be determination. Well, me gaining weight may be because I drank a lot of water lately (as in a loooooot of water) and that I didn't exercise, so I don't blame the salad at all. What's promising is that... because I am used to eating light and less, I know the next two months is going to be less heavy for me.

My plans? Still the same as always - follow my schedule... and this month, I'd include Cassey's Blogilates workouts. I do find her workout fun and challenging, so I will go for it.

Of course, me going full time on fitness routines means letting go of some things, and I think I am going to take a break (not totally giving it up) from posting at my photo blog, Shutter Happy Moments as well as taking a break from attending events unless it falls on a Saturday night or Sunday. I truly need to be serious because I only have two full months before K arrives, and because our holiday will take place for three weeks + one more week for me to spring back, for sure that full month will give me less chance to eat less and workout.

Late 2011, I say is the best time I had as far as losing weight is concerned. I guess I just need to go back to basics.

Bobbie Nail Polish | Mojito

Click here to view swatches for Margarita
Click here to view swatches for Mint Daquiri




Third of the seven to swatch from the Bobbie Holoprism Collection is Mojito. I truly don't know why this dark purplish shade is called such for I know Mojito (the cocktail) is more of clear drink with mint leaves and limes, but I don't have much problems about the names of the bottles for I am more after the effect it will give on my nails.

Compared to Margarita and Mint Daquiri (swatches of the these two shades can be seen by clicking the links above), this had a better pigmentation, though like the problems I always encounter whenever I am using dark purple nail polish, application was a little difficult because the brush drags the polish resulting to uneven shades on my nails. I don't know if I got a bad bottle of this one as most nail bloggers states no problems applying this, but going for thin coats didn't do it for me... very thick coats did.

Two coats may be enough achieve bottle-like opacity, but to even out the color distribution, I went for three coats - again, waiting for one coat to fully dry before going for another pass. In the shade, the holographic effect can already be seen (something Margarita and Mint Daquiri didn't deliver much)...


... but of course I loved it more under the sunlight as it gives different colors as I moved my hand. For this swatch (and for Mint Daquiri, too), I mainly used my right hand, because if you notice, my left hand looks awful as of the moment. I had another left hand accident - this time the steam from the kettle burned my left fingers and now that it starts to peel, it just doesn't look good.



Using the camera flash and artificial light, it also gives the holographic effect, making this a stand out in the collection (so far). I just can't understand - it looks very purple on my nails, but some pictures on different blogs show burgundy / red violet / light maroon shade. I sure want to see the reddish side of this lacquer, I guess I will just have to swatch it next time.

Bobbie Nail Polish | Mint Daquiri

There are seven shades in the Holoprism Collection of Bobbie nail polish, but the very little OC side of me didn't want to show similar shades one after another, so I arranged every bottle to know which I will swatch. For today, it's the Mint Daquiri.



If Margarita was sheer, this was sheerer. Applying the first coat didn't appeal to me at all, as it looked as if I my nails had a bad case of yellow staining, but after applying the third coat, I was able to achieve the desired opacity of it. It wasn't love at first sight for me, and if you happen to search the web for this particular nail polish, most of the bloggers who tried this didn't like it at all. One thing to be thankful for... this collection has been in the market for more than a year, yet Bobbie still continues to produce this shade. It may not be well loved, but I am glad I got to swatch it on my nails.

In the shade, the holo effect is not visible, but it appears to be textured. The formula of this was great; it spreads like butter, and dries fairly fast, too. I went for very thick coats to achieve my desired opacity, but it has a tendency to bubble, so what I did was to allow the layer to fully dry before adding the next. I am not really pressed for time when it comes to doing my manicure, so I applied the first coat in the morning, the next one after eating my lunch, and the third one the next morning.



It's holographic effect can be seen under the sunlight (I forgot to take a picture using the camera flash), but even under the sun, it wasn't as strong as Margarita. I didn't add any top coat for this as it had a very glossy finish, and that I feel a little worried that the thick layers of nail polish might produce bubbles.

This may not be my color of choice... it might not even be a part of my favorite list, but somehow, I have come to love and appreciate it. I like to say it compliments my skin tone, and even if it's light yellow gold / light mustard in shade, it wasn't such an attention grabber.

I don't know if I will still wear this (as is) again, but I already thought of an idea what to do with it next time.

22 - 28 March 2013

Since it's Good Friday today, I just had a laid back morning and afternoon... no major chores to do (by choice), but here's a recap of my week.



I finally joined Instagram last Saturday, but because we still don't have a router at home, I can't upload much just yet. Right now, I am using Insta Pic Frames for the collages... nice, but not so. Any suggestions for a good collage app?

Inserting some fragments of thoughts:

• I am glad I have my cats to drink the milk from my cereal bowl, after I finish eating. I really don't slurp the milk, I just use it to soften my cereals.
• At first I didn't like the nail polish I put on this week... but it does have its way for me to like it.
• I will surely miss pigging out.
• My first godchild is now a mother. Really? That means at 32, I am old enough to be a grandmother, as I am just a year younger than my godchild's mother.

Wednesday, I received a surprise package. I truly wasn't expecting any packages, so when the delivery man called my name and handed me this big package, I started to wonder. Turns out, the package is from the Maya Kitchen, and it contains a shirt, a big box of Maya Pancake Mix, a bag of Maya All-Purpose Flour, and a box of Maya Instant Champorado (rice chocolate porridge). Awww, so sweet of them to send a package... my siblings were over the top happy with the Champorado Mix.


Yesterday, I was able to spot this sunset from our front door. Quite sad that I couldn't get a decent picture of it as the house in front of ours totally blocks the view, but it was still a great experience to be seeing a good farewell to a wonderful day.

Today marks the fifth day of my week-long Salad Project, and I am still in love with it! For today's lunch, I cooked Chopseuy, which allows me (somehow) to have my veggie fix, but for tonight's dinner, I had this salad (nothing more). Very simple one, but I used Ranch as a dressing - just 1 teaspoon because I added 10g of cheddar cheese in it. I still can't say if I like Ranch dressing, but this salad of mine was like eating Kani Sandwich, minus the bread. Adding white onions added more flavor, by the way.

Five random things about me as a salad girl?

1. I don't like the seeds. That's the reason why I buy very slender cucumbers, and why I take out the seeds of the tomatoes.
2. I love Romaine Lettuce. Iceberg is my least favorite.
3. I don't like eating the white parts of the lettuce.
4. Caesar is my favorite dressing.
5. I prefer to grate the carrots rather than cutting them into dice or chips, because there's something about the carrot flavor I don't like. By grating the carrots, it is easier for me to eat.

Next week, I still would include salads into my diet, but not as part of everyday meal, because I just realized... buying salad ingredients can be expensive. :)

Not so good parts of my week?
☹ I just found out that one of my favorite celebrity chefs - Ed Quimson - already passed away. It makes me sad because I always dream of meeting him and maybe have a picture with him, but it won't happen anymore.
☹ I lost the copy of the Sitaw at Kalabasa Salad (string beans and squash).
☹ I wasn't able to cook a recipe this week.
☹ I got sick last Saturday, so I wasn't able to attend the class at the Maya Kitchen, as well as attend the food event at Yellow Cab Pizza.
☹ I lost track of the movies I watched this month... I totally fail my Movie Project this year. 

Still... there's a lot of reasons to smile... biggest smile comes from the fact that me eating less this week is going to be beneficial for my fitness plans next month.