"costume change"

i finally got some downtime from christmas preparations and activities; not really frantic but busy enough to say, "whew!" how was christmas for you and your family?

well, i was about to post some pictures of food we prepared for noche buena when i thought of changing my blog template. a new design, a new look, or even simply rearranging stuff on my blog. the default templates in blogger weren't really appealing (sorry blogger!) so i decided to look around for other blogger templates. i found some and went through several designs before i settled on the current template: coffee desk

my sister says it's "me" because i'm a coffee addict (hehehe) and i still use a planner (yeah, i'm a bit old school).

i'm still trying to put it all together by placing my old widgets but i know i'll get there :) what do you think about my new template?

happy holidays to you

well, it's december 24, 4 p.m. ..thought i'd squeeze in a post now before we all get busy preparing for christmas eve...

let's stop thinking about our problems, tight financial situations, fights, what you hate about people you know, and all the negative stuff...focus on family, dear friends, the mere fact that we can celebrate the holidays whether it's a lavish or super simple celebration, and the real meaning of christmas - birth of jesus christ.

a wonderful christmas to everyone :)

who do you call? stressbusters!

sometimes stress can really get to you. it's how you handle it that helps you get on with life. lately, i've been going through prolonged stress attacks :) LOL those who know the source of my stress would probably just laugh but me, i can hardly laugh let alone smile ... vacations are not the way i deal with it although i wish i could. i've realized that there really isn't any vacation for the kind of job i have. i deal with it by eating - LOL! now, why am i not surprised? i guess that's how i deal with any kind of stress :) right now, i find myself eating only when i feel like eating. and sometimes, what i feel like eating doesn't really constitute a healthy meal but it does satisfy my craving.

kitkat dark chocolate - at the grocery i frequent, the kitkat boxes are close to another chocolate (the brand of which escapes me at the moment) that has the same colors, red, white, orange... so imagine the look on my face to see something dark brown/black with the words "kitkat"..upon closer inspection, i find that kitkat has gone dark...as in dark chocolate!

sebastian's bananutella - after a japanese dinner, my friend and i wanted to have dessert. someting other than coffee and cake, chocolate, etc. then we remembered sebastian's ice cream! lady luck was smiling at us because there is a sebastian's stall in trinoma. i already knew what i was going to get: butter pecan. turns out i was wrong. my curiousity got the better of me so i peered at the tubs of ice cream in the fridge and i saw they had banananutella ... have you ever tried eating a banana smothered with nutella? try it, you'll like it and if you're like me, a third of the nutella jar will be gone together with one or two bananas :) the ice cream was good but could be even better if they added more nutella...the banana part, they've got down pat. more nutella please :)

next post: more stressbusters

damn ...

on the eve of the fourth year - still no retribution in sight...

i hate getting the bad end of a deal...

finally, i got it :)

i protest!

my blog says...it has been ages since i posted and while i do visit my own blog once in a while, it's because i have links here that i haven't had the time to list somwhere else.

yeah, i've been busy...on facebook :) (now blog, calm down...please...) yeah, whenever i do have time to spare, i'm there, busy with my cafe :) it is one of my dreams to have my own cafe and in fb (as most of us call it), i have the el ellce cafe (yes, i can hear protests from my family because i haven't actually asked permission from them to use our name...). for my 30-seater cafe, i've got nine stoves (one more level and i can get another), 6 counters, three waiters and a cafe that looks "divided". divided because i've got a portion of the cafe that is actually my idea of a cafe, you know, bookshelves, wooden tables and chairs, lamps, that kind of look. i don't have enough money so i haven't converted my whole cafe into how i'd want it to look like. even in fb, i've got to save money for renovation :)

see for yourself:

even my slaying has taken a backseat to the cafe ... tsk, tsk, tsk...

well, i've got to go...gotta prepare more dishes for tonight so that my customers will have something to eat when they drop by...hope to see you there!

ondoy

ondoy, ondoy, ondoy...i don't think i'll forget that name anytime soon...the name conjures up images of submerged cars and houses, people stranded on their rooftops, nonstop rain...

i am very fortunate not to have experienced the worst of typhoon ondoy but i know many friends and have seen the reports on those who need help.

i am posting here a link to ms. joelle horca's blogpost (with her permission) which provides more information on how we can help: typhoon ondoy relief efforts

thank you.

cute :) hahahaha

for a woman who changed the philippines for the better...

thank you tita cory, goodbye....

a cool lola!

i've been a fan of lola techie since her first commercial for a local telco. i found her first commercial very amusing but i was really laughing out loud with the second one.