~For the love of Coffee

I. Love. Coffee. Yes, admittedly guilty of being addicted to coffee!

That is why, when I saw this FB page weeks ago, without hesitations, I jump in and knew my way to join. Awryt, I guess it mattered too that I know the blogger personally and I could relate to some of her posts -she is a mom, a blogger (she is the face behind the blog Living.Loving.Learning ) and a coffee lover too. Connect, Check!

It was my first time to join a contest hosted by bloggers.. I have been stalking a lot of bloggers and some of them hosts contests like this. But only now that I really found the confidence to join.. AND I was soo happy to win!!! weeeeeeee I am not sure which thought made me happier, the idea that I won or the thought of getting Starbucks coffee for free! :) Admit it, we all love libre.

Weeee, ang saya-saya!!!

Thank you for the Christmas gift Ms Joy! My personalized dedication pa talaga.. sweet~

My Toffee Nut Frap. Nom nom..

weeee ;)

I can't still get over the thought that I won free coffee.. pasensya!

Thanks Ms Joy for making me so giddy and happy! ;)

xoxo

Paskong Pinoy 2011

When you get to have kids and a family of your own you find and give more meaning to every opportunity of family bonding.

"The family that spends Christmas together, stays together." ;)

Our Christmas 2011 was about family. And I indeed felt the warm of Christmas in the company of my own little family, my parents, siblings and my extended family. Sobrang dami kaya sobrang warm! This year, Team Abritz, Team Abritz Sr, Team Lim and Team Garcia decided to have a join Christmas celebration. Dami dba?

Team Abritz

Of course, Christmas is all about my Miguel too. His father and I are excited to start our own Christmas traditions. Finally, this year we were able to actualize it..Miguel acts like a little adult now and we introduced him once more to Christmas (hubby and I attempted that Christmas of 2009 and 2010, but on both instances he just slept, despite the fireworks and noise). It was quite hard to determine who was more excited, Miguel to open his gifts, or me to piktur-piktur. lol

Sa sobrang excitement at para di ma ruin ang moment, we advanced our midnight opening of gifts. It was still 11:00 pm and Miguel was already sleepy (in fairness, he tried his best to stay awake and entertain his grandparents) so we ended up opening his gifts an hour before midnight. Anyways, he doesn't have the sense of time pa naman.

my sleepy bugoy.. 

Oppss..lets backtrack a bit, shall we? I was excited to cook too! I was picturing out myself cooking while sipping a little wine. :)

Hubby's take on Fish Kebab. nom nom! He was super excited to cook the kebab too.. It was a success Sous Chef! :) Congratulations!

Desert section..

tsibog na..

This was my fourth glass I think.. hehehe I had no intention of getting drunk, just feeling the festive mood.

Miguel and Lolo..

Miguel and Papa..

















Now, lets fast forward.. Christmas day -morning, we heard mass at Gethsemane Parish church and after siesta we went to SM for a little strolling-strolling, picture-picture and Dinner at Shakeys.

We capped the long Christmas day off by chilling at IT Park. Miguel had fun with his hotdog on stick and the adults enjoyed popcorn and mango shake. Of course, hindi mawawala ang picture-picture.. Maybe I would have time later on to post my "cam whoring" c/o hubby later after the holidays..

xoxo

PS: whew! It took me 4 days to complete this blog. busy sa work kaya i was able to dedicate a few stolen work-time only..

Fame and 4Tune - Anniversary Party

If not for this post, I wont notice that I have not blogged about work or about the people I work with yet. How ironic, because I usually create my posts when I am at work (sshhhhhh, secret lang to). Oh well, what better way to introduce the people I work with than this post about our Anniversary Party..

Last December 18 (post Anniversary celebration), we had our Anniversary combined Christmas party with the theme Fame and 4Tune. Yes, 4Tune because we turned 4 this year. The place is worth mentioning, not because its nice or of its excellent service or of the delicious food but because of the total opposite! It was a lesson learned for us.. To the management of the The Orchard, rest assured we won't be coming back!

Nevertheless, our Anniversary reminded me of one fact, when and where you spend it won't matter if you are in the company of friends. We had a blast..specially when its video time. hopefully I would find time to post our videos too.. it was super FUN!

You could mistaken our theme as "Mano Po" too, whahahah! 
Our version of the Mano Po poster. (L-R: Ang Legal Wife, Ang Husband, Ang Second Wfie, Ang Eldest Daughter, Ang Ate (Ate Shawie), Si Bunso, Si Tita, Si Cousin) bwahahahah

And since I don't need costume to be Chinese, I went with my casual dress. No effort needed.

It's a tradition that we select Stars of the Night, and this is how we chose the winners this year. The nominees were one by one called on stage and during chow time, we voted.

...and the winners were... Congrats Khenn and Loraine! Bonga ni Khenn, second time na nya to win. Bonga din because the crown ng Best Female Dresser has never left my team.

1st Year: Your's Truly

2nd Year: Michelle Villamor

3rd Year: Sandy Sampang

4th: Loraine Audiencia

Hubby has this cool Cam app in his Android with a feature called China Red. It captures/highlights all things in Red and turns all other else in B&W. 

Kewl dba? I love how it highlighted my Red Lipshook and Nailpolish.

Effortlessly Chinese..

Alin ang naiba?

My kwela Team..

Cam whore moment.. hahaha

Happy Anniversary and Merry Chrismas TM Cebu!

xoxo

Bahay-bahayan, Platu-platuhan

This post would just be quick.

Finally I have laid my hands on these babies..

Been coveting these 'rainbow' plates from Collage for quite sometime already, and finally, they're mine! Thank you to sponsors who made me sooo happy.

xoxo

Holidays @ Starbucks

Let me just say, I patiently waited for December to post this, what a good way to open/start December than blogging about my favorite Coffee Shop while sipping a Praline Mocha or Cranberry White Chocolate Mocha perhaps (oppss, they don't have Praline Mocha this year).

I Am A Starbucks Loyal! and I am a regular @ some Starbucks branches all throughout the year..but there is something different with Coffee and Decembers. Ohh I wish I could describe and share to you all the joy and that holiday-festive feeling I feel everytime a visit a Starbucks store on Decembers. The smell of coffee triggers happy Christmas memories as well as childhood hopes associated with Christmas.. I don't know but, you know that feeling when we were children and we were told stories of  Santa Claus and how he give gifts?.. no joke! that's almost (if not exactly) what I feel when I am on a Starbucks shop, smelling the aroma of freshly brewed coffee on Decembers.

Aside from the featured Holiday drinks, what excites me during Christmas too are their planners. I am a collector of Starbucks planner and unlike others that they just like looking at their planners blank and unscratched, I like mine used and full, documenting my whole year (parang planner and diary in one). For me, it defeats the purpose of having a planner if you won't actually use it all throughout the year.

2009 and 2011 Planners. I failed to make on time to get the 2010.

This year, they chose to have smaller planners with wooden covers. Don't judge the planner by its cover, these are real wood and you can select from Polar, Cherry, Spruce, Bamboo or Oak. The wooden cover is so chic and rustic at the same time. I'm not a big fan of the overall design though, I personally think reducing the size is a bad idea. I don't like small space to write on, I like to blab, even in my planners so I feel that the space is not enough. Nevertheless, I would be getting one.. I can always add post-its if I need more space, dba? *wink

As of this writting, I am a few stickers away from these desirable planners but I, slowly but surely, will hold one in my hands before the year ends.

xoxo