Glee-cap: Original Song

Unlike everyone else, I didn't actually get to watch this episode on Tuesday when it was shown on TV. Thank God, for Rogers on Demand, or for others, GlobalTV.com where you can watch full episodes of your favourite Global shows (did you know that??) Working shift work makes it so hard to follow any TV series so kudos to those who still manage to watch The Bachelor, Celebrity Apprentice or Jersey Shore. 

This review has spoilers so those who haven't seen it, you've been warned!

......aaannnndddd proceed!

Anyway, how intense was Tuesday's episode?? It seems obvious that Ryan Murphy has been pushing really hard to sell the Kurt and Blaine story, and the build-up towards that was amazing. The moments before the Kurt and Blaine kiss, where he was describing a defining moment --- I had one of those moments. It was beautifully done. Well done, Darren Criss! (by the way, he's not gay in real life. I'm not sure why this bit is important -- but I guess just for us heterosexual girls :P)

The Rachel-Quinn confrontation scene was intense. I know people are getting tired of this love triangle, but I totally get that feeling when Rachel walked out of the auditorium and struggled writing her original song. I've had one too many moments like this. "Get it Right" and "Loser Like Me" were quite catchy. Anyway, do you still remember this from Season 1??? How I long for a nice Rachel-Finn moment. I guess we'll have to wait till next season!

images through Google Image Search

what to do with day old bread

Seems such a waste to throw out bread, even if it is a day past its expiration date. I hate throwing out food, so here's a bread pudding recipe to extend the life of your old bread =)

Ingredients

• 6 slices day-old bread
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups milk
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Break bread into small pieces into an 8 inch square baking pan. Drizzle melted butter or margarine over bread. If desired, sprinkle with raisins.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.

Drizzling melted butter mmmm.....

I added 1 banana on my bread pudding before baking...and a tiny bit of caramel sauce before serving. Yum!

free: wedding invitation templates and diy wedding crafts

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Are you a DIY bride? One thing I love about weddings is when the bride and groom personally take part in creating items to be used for their wedding. I think it makes weddings much more personal and really reflect the couple's personality. A and I did everything for our wedding (except for flowers, cake and photography). We made our invitations, wedding favours, escort cards, table numbers, menu, wish tree, wedding cd and even the gifts to give away to guests for the reception games. We loved that we were able to both contribute to the most important day of our lives.

Wedding Chicks is a great site for the DIY bride. The pictures above are just among the sample free invitation suites that can be downloaded from their website. Click here to go directly to their DIY and Downloads link.

Enjoy!

what's in a name? weirdest baby names in recorded history

I guess this goes under "random post" yet again as I've been trying to find ways to kill time at work by checking out how people these days are naming their kids. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for uniqueness, but I think some are just a little bit ambitious (and strange) for wanting to name their kids in such ways. I have a list of the weirdest celebrity baby names like the following (and I thought naming a female child "Girl" was weird)

1. Jermajesty - Jermaine Jackson's son. Sure, it'll make him feel royalty and he doesn't exactly go to a regular public school like the rest of us, but I have a feeling Jermajesty Jackson still cannot escape being picked on in the playground for having such a "majestic" name.

2. Why go far if you can name your kid "Superman"? Apparently, rumor has it that a New Zealand couple Pat and Sheena Wheaton wanted to originally name their kid "4Real" but was deemed unacceptable for containing a digit, so they thought of the next best thing. We have quite high expectations for you, eh Superman??

3. Audio Science - Shannyn Sossamon named her son, "Audio Science" to, I don't know, honour her love for music, or torture the poor kid. He'll get a job in the music industry and people will say, "Hey Audio" and the poor guy will not know whether they're calling him or he needs to make audio adjustments.

4. David Duchovny and Tea Leoni naming their kid, "Kyd". Certainly couldn't think of anything more original, huh?

5. I thought this was a joke, but Rob Morrow named his kid "Tu" which makes her name "Tu Morrow". Smart? I think so. (Sure, it's hilarious, but really???)

6. Toni Braxton naming her kids Denim and Diezel. Boy, she loves those jeans!

7. Repeat offenders Bob Geldof and Paula Yates naming their kids "Little Pixie", "Fifi Trixibelle" and "Peaches Honeyblossom". I'm not sure who to feel sorry for first.

8. Sage Moonblood - Sylvester Stallone's. I don't even know what to say about that. And people made a big deal about Gwyneth Paltrow naming her daughter "Apple"

9. Bronx Mowgli. Seriously. This kid needs some serious fending for himself in grade school. Great job, Pete and Ashley.

10. Some actor named Dan Cortese named his kid Tabooger. Please let this be just a rumor.

Other weird, not so celebrity names we've heard: Feel free to use them as you please (not!!)

• Crystal Chandelier
• Immaunique (pronounced "I'm a unique" and get this her middle name is "child" -- I guess pretty unique then huh?
• Kiwi (a fruit! not a child's name. I don't care how much you love kiwi! How would you feel if you were named "Watermelon"??)
• Kal-el
• Moxie Crimefighter
• Queen Elizabeth (yes, these are first names)

Which brings us to the next Pink Loves Chocolate Contest......if you can name which celebrity named their kid Diva Muffin, you'll win this awesome and very cute camera case from photojojo.

I want one too, so I guess we'll both get one :P Will announce the winner on March 19, 2011. You'll have till the midnight of March 18th to leave a comment.

Google it now!

cool finds: cute aprons

Anthropologie has the cutest stuff! Look at these cute vintage style aprons! Sure they're $32-36 each but they're amazing! Love, love, love!

random things

It's March Break! Which means nothing for us working peeps, except that the malls will be overcrowded, and it'll be a little harder to find a parking space everywhere. I shouldn't complain since my regular work schedule allows me to have five days off every four days. You hear, FIVE days off! Which explains why I have so much time getting bored, enough to actually learn and make all sorts of stuff. Anyway, for the sake of randomness, here are some random things on my mind...

• Been thinking of joining Twitter. Yes, I'm probably the only person in the world without a Twitter account. Wait, I lied, A doesn't have one so I guess that makes me the 2nd last person in the world without one. It just seems like a lot of work. What?!? Updating others about random thoughts and random life stories is too much work?? What century did I come from?! Any thoughts??? (about me joining Twitter, not the century I was born at :P)
• I want the iPad2!!
• Taxes! Every year, I make our taxes myself. It's not that hard and actually cannot be more straightforward than ever, but it's still on my mind and list of things to do. Sigh! What a fun way to spend March Break! (not!)
• Been working on a few family albums projects. I realized I've had the time to make other people's albums and yet we have none of our many vacations together. I've successfully summarized our Philippines trip in 160 pages. Didn't take me long actually, so I'm hoping to eventually move to A and I's vacations, which means I don't have much time before wedding season starts. 
• Reallly, Kim Kardashian??? 
• There's soooo many more talented people out there, I'd never catch up! I feel somewhat behind...
• I've also been thinking about knitting. I haven't knitted anything in...I'd say almost four years. Can you believe I made these??

I also made this purse, which started out as a scarf, but couldn't finish (I was too impatient). 

Anyway, there's so many awesome resources out there for knitting projects. Some you may have to pay for the patterns, but still! Check out these sites. 

Little Cotton Rabbits has an Etsy site where you can buy patterns to cute things like these!

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By the way, how yummy looking are these??? Visit Twins Knitting for more pattens of cute stuff. 

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Speaking of yummy stuff, how wonderful are these? Knitted (and edible!) cupcakes! Click on this link to see how she does it. Amazing!

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Anyway, any random thoughts on your mind?? 

train cookies

It's rainy in Toronto. Actually it's been rainy the last couple of days, but it seems almost childish to complain about the weather when you hear disastrous news on the other side of the world. Sincerely wishing many people are safe, or at least would be safe soon in Japan. Meanwhile, I spent the whole day making train shaped cookies. 

Here's all of them.

How's your day?

Review: Panglao Island Nature Resort in Bohol

I didn't get a  chance to write about our trip to Bohol so I'm posting some pictures including a review of the resort we stayed at -- Panglao Island Nature Resort and Spa.

Panglao Island is about a 20-minute drive from the Tagbilaran Airport. We stayed at the very roomy forest bungalow. Below are some pictures of room features and resort amenities.

The rooms are well stocked with bottled water and other drinks, and even include a generous amount of fresh fruits and Bohol peanut kisses, one of the island's well-known delicacies. They also provide house slippers and a luxurious bathrobe to use. Our three day, two night package included buffet breakfasts and dinners which featured a wide variety of food to choose from. The local musicians that serenaded us at dinner created such a beautiful ambiance. 

The resort itself was picturesque and we were surrounded by exotic plants and trees. There is also a koi fish pond in front of our room. The infinity pool is perfectly situated and gives you a nice view of a man-made island they called the Dream Islet. You can actually walk to the island as this is used for events and functions such as weddings. 

Lastly, the courteous and hospitable staff of the resort made our short stay wonderful. We were well attended and extremely satisfied. I would recommend this resort to anyone visiting the beautiful island of Bohol.

easy strawberry banana smoothie

Looking for that relaxing island feeling?? Try this =)

 Easy Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Ingredients

8 strawberries

1 medium banana

1 1/2 cup of milk

1/2 cup of yogurt (optional)

Using your blender, mix all the ingredients for about 10 minutes. No need to add sugar! If you must, add a few drops of honey. 

hoped for goodnight, not goodbye

She called me a few months ago asking if I wanted to get together. It's been ages since I've seen her, maybe almost six years ago, and though I haven't seen her for awhile, it was always nice to hear from an old friend. Especially one I have shared many wonderful moments with. I guess in the age of advanced social networking, it really shouldn't be too hard to keep in touch. And to think, we apparently have been living in the same neighborhood for awhile.

We've lost touch over the years. She had a baby. I got married. And I guess, as I have said before, there were things that got in the way that became more important than friendship. I don't hold it against her, just like I have accepted that the changes and choices that we've made didn't necessarily mean we didn't care about each other anymore. So when I got that call, I was more than excited to see what she's been up to.

We didn't actually make it to dinner that day though. She had a personal matter to attend to and I didn't want her to feel obligated for cancelling so I said to her, "Don't worry. I'm sure there'll be other days". How little did I know then.

I got a message today saying that she had passed away. I thought it was a joke. How could someone my age be gone? I don't know the details yet, but I still couldn't believe it. All I can think about is how I spoke to her just a few months ago. How we were supposed to meet and how I probably should have called her back and tried to reschedule that appointment. How I could have seen her and found out what she'd been up to. Somehow, I feel like I have neglected her. That somehow, I have failed her.

I look back to those childhood/preteen years we've spent together and all the stories, memories and laughters we've shared. I think about the letters we used to write each other and how she made that time of my life bearable.

I think about how I can never see my friend again.

Goodbye, M. Rest peacefully, my dear friend.

pancake tuesday!

Mmmm....haven't had these in a while...Pancake Tuesday sounds yummy! It might just become a weekly tradition =)

The Fluffy Pancake Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar (optional)
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

•  In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth. Don't worry if it's a little lumpy, it'll all work out in the end =)
• Heat a griddle or frying pan over medium high heat with a little bit of butter/margarine. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. I usually wait for little bubbles to appear on the sides before flipping my pancakes, roughly around 3-4 minutes. Brown on both sides and serve hot.
• Wanna make it fancy? Serve it with fruit (strawberries or blueberries) and maybe a touch of whipped cream. Yum!

And some Marvel themed cupcakes for a mini superhero...

wedding trends: themed engagement sessions

Themed weddings are so popular these days, why not themed engagement photos as well? We believe that engagement photos should reflect the couple's distinct personalities and give their guests a view/peek into their personal lives. It can be a photo shoot showing things they enjoy doing as couple, just like this food themed engagement session. Click on image sources for more info.

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Or, more fabulously, about a favorite movie, just like this Notebook themed engagement session.

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 ...and a school themed engagement session. How cool would these be for engaged teachers?? Click on the link for more photos.

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This last one happens to be my favorite from Wildflower Photography...an Up themed session! Click on the image source to view more photos. I believe they even got goodies from Pixar for featuring the movie throughout their entire wedding. Sounds awesome, huh? I believe an Up themed engagement session is in our future someday =)

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free customizable chocolate bar wrappers!

Intimate Weddings is offering free customizable chocolate bar wrappers you can use for your DIY favors. Click on this link if you're interested!

make your own inspiration board!

Making an inspiration board is a fun way of putting together ideas for your big event. You can basically use this for planning any event, but is especially useful for weddings. Here are some samples of what others have done. Click on the links for the image source.

A lavender themed dessert buffet

a fun winter inspired blue and silver wedding theme

I love this black and white houndstooth theme!

Inspired yet?? Go make yours now!

Goodbye, Melloyello!

 Goodbye, Melloyello! Too bad we didn't get to ride out in the sunset one last time! We will miss you!

random post

Another random shot. Hanging out at MStudio. Come visit them sometime. I might just be there.

1001 Meyerside Unit 8 and 9

Ice Fest at Yorkville and some other stuff...

We had a free half weekend so we decided to visit the Ice Fest at Yorkville. Too bad we missed the actual ice sculpting competition. Aren't ice sculptures cool?? I'm pretty sure A thinks this one is special =P (Fact: A loves watches)

 Photo op! Can't be sad about winter all the time =)

 Winter wonderland!

A hanging out with his peers. Haha (just kidding, babe)

 Isn't this huge smile just perfect in the middle of these beautiful winter trees? (yes, that was me in the background)

 and another one. It was perfect weather! =P I wish I could pose like a real model would instead of this half-smile I was sporting. Grrr!

 I didn't know about this, I swear.

 And this, but good job, baby =)

 Anyway, after we got bored, we went home and baked some cookies.

and yes, we got crazy so we made more....

Anyone want some??