paper crafts and more!

more stuff to fill up my immeasurable time!

did i mention i love cupcakes?!?

a little festive...

with cherry on top!


holiday cards!

gift packaging =)

holiday treats!

more calendar views

"googling"

I like that term "googling" and yes, yes, I know, it's a bad habit -- I googled myself again. It doesn't hurt anybody and by the way, I heard John Mayer, who I've just decided I have a love-and-hate relationship with, googles himself everyday to see what sort of news/dirt/gossip are out there about him. Not that I can really compare myself to him or anything; I am simply rationalizing.

I don't know why it bothers me (this referring to a certain "meantime girl" article being out there in the messy worldwide web). After all I sort of brought it to myself. I remember vaguely sending it, without my signature to a friend of mine (some friend, huh?) about a boy I was coveting at that time (in my now seemingly distant past) in hopes that I might relieve myself of the agony of unrequited love. A few years later, another friend asked about possibly contributing an article to a web e-zine called Rice Cafe (now defunct) for their "Dating/Relationship" section. I guess in a way, I wanted my voice to be heard. I wanted my meantime boy to know how I felt even if it was in fact, a long shot. And so, boldly, I hit send. (Sadly, of course, I don't think he's ever read it). And the rest is history.

Some are nice enough to give me credit (thank you). Some attempt to rewrite and add their own things (opinions, personal touches) into it (which, I do not appreciate). I mean, there was one who tried to turn the whole thing around and made it about a meantime boy (yet used the original piece word for word! can you say plagiarizing?!?) And again, I don't know why I'm so outraged, but I am.

I'm not an arrogant person. I don't want to come out of this as someone who's trying to win royalties over something that I'm not even sure is a masterpiece. I just want to be given credit where it is due. Is that too much to ask?

And maybe people who will stumble upon my new-ish blog will say, "well, how can you prove that you're really the Jan Javier who wrote this article when your new blog talks about nothing but food, rants, arts and crafts and nothing in comparison to anything anyone would ever expect?" (although, in my defence, I think cupcakes, and crafting are more interesting topics than the sad demise of my horror story of a lovelife) And the answer is......I can't. I can't prove that I wrote it. I only know that I did (sounds silly, I know.) I've had a history of creating blogs and un-creating them after writing a little bit too much about things that happened in my life. People I know, apparently are much more connected to the web as I've anticipated and I always end up being burned because of something I said (I mean, wrote) no matter how fictional and cryptic I try to make it seem.

And maybe the truth is, I am not that person anymore. Maybe the reason I was writing about my so-called lovelife was that my life then felt so unfinished that I needed to create these stories so that I'd have something to look forward to. I wanted them to remind me about people in my past that had been important to me one way or another. I am married now and finally happy and though the story does not end there, I don't feel the compulsion to rewrite what was already perfect. Oh and yes, the meantime boy is not my meantime boy anymore. He's out there now, older, wiser and finally happy with someone else. I can't end this blog post better than what Sandra said in the last scene of "While You Were Sleeping"

"Life doesn´t always turn out the way you plan."

I don't know what things could have happened had my meantime boy realized I was writing about him. I don't know if things would have worked out the way I had imagined. I only know that I am much happier now with a person who couldn't be more perfect for me. A person who had made me realize that the finest of things come to those who truly deserve it the moment it's least expected.

The tag line, "No Pressure. No Worries" was not in the original "The Meantime Girl" article but was added by the editor-in-chief of Rice Cafe. I went on to write two more articles for Rice Cafe and a few more that were never published.

updating at 4:00 am: Holy S**t!?! this website is still alive?!?? Resurrected?!? how?!? Anyway, visit it before it's gone!

out of..

song of the day:

And it's okay if you have go away
Oh just remember the telephone

well, they're working both ways
And if I never ever hear them ring
If nothing else I'll think the bells inside
Have finally found you someone else and that's okay
Cause I'll remember everything you sang

Cause you and I both loved
what you and I spoke of
and others just read of
and if you could see now
well I'm almost finally out of.
I'm finally out of, finally,
deedeeededede
well I'm almost finally, finally, finally out of words.
- Jason Mraz

sweets for my sweet...

In the light of the coming new year, I've created a customized calendar =)
I found great images from a site called dry icons and they're great for all design/scrapbooking projects.

I love this graphic!

I used sparkly paper and it looked soooo nice =)

here they are!

A closer look...

With the cover...

Cupcake madness continues with red velvet

I saw wall-e & eva candy decorations and I had to get them!

cupcake wrappers from martha stewart are perfect!

For A's birthday =)

I'm not much of a baker so you can see the mess. but what the hey!

cupcake madness

This is butter pecan with a hint of cocoa. Yup, fresh from the Duncan Hines box, except I added some cocoa. I was inspired when I saw that they make cream cheese frosting. I just had to try it.

coconut flakes! yum!

And because it is a cake mix after all, it was soft and fluffy.

here they are!

wedding items for sale!

After much deliberation, I decided to sell some more of my wedding stuff to clear out my ever-so-crowded storage closet. Click on the pictures to for better viewing.

Silk cherry blossom stems - SOLD

Colours available: 4 in dark pink; 1 in pale rose and white.

Original price: $10 each

On Sale for: $5 each! + shipping

I bought these from White Aisle and was discontinued after they run out of stock. Never used and still in original packaging.

Birdcage Card Holder

Original Price: $55.00

On Sale for: $30.00 + shipping

I bought this from HomeSense and had been very useful in collecting cards and well wishes.

The Wish Tree - SOLD

Original Price: $80.00

On Sale for: $50.00 for pick-up only

We bought two silk cherry blossom trees and put them together in a wooden crate with styrofoam and moss.

Pink Pashminas - SOLD

Original Price: $10.00 each

On Sale for: $5.00 + shipping

I have seven of these that were never used. I bought a lot and had few leftovers. The seven I have are still in original packaging. Great as a wrap or a bridesmaid gift.

And here they are as worn by my beautiful bridemaids.

Small roses for decoration - SOLD

Original Price: $18.00 each

On Sale for: $10.00 + shipping

There's 100 little roses in each pack. I used these for my favor boxes, as well as wedding bubbles. Very easy to work with for all your crafting needs.

Votive candle holders - SOLD

Original Price: $ 1.00 each with 5 votives (1 of each colour in each pack)

On Sale for: $0.50 each + shipping

I bought these from IKEA and is still on sale there if you need more. I have 15 of each colour, for a total of 60 votives.

Wicker Vases

Original Price: $35.00

On Sale for: $20.00 + shipping

These delicate wicker baskets with a ceramic vase inside were originally $40 each but one of the vase cracked and we got a discount. Perfect as a decoration for the church. We bought curly willows, light green hydrangeas and orchids to decorate and they were beautiful! You can see them from the previous picture too with the bridesmaids.

Chocolate brown CD paper cases

Original Price: $1.25 each

On Sale for: $70.00 for 80 paper cases

I have 80 of die-cut card stock in cocoa. This item requires assembly. The picture shows the assembled product with a pink ribbon and label I have created.

oh happy day!

a birthday card for a dear friend

sentimental clutter

November 9, 2008

Our place is a mess. In just 5 months, our initially empty place is now filled with stuff. Stuff we thought was cute and decided to keep. Stuff we thought went well with all our other stuff. Stuff we don’t want. Stuff we don’t need. Stuff we couldn’t figure out what to do with and are now just sitting there collecting dust. My parents moved to a new place and I had to pick up even more stuff of my past that had been quietly resting in my now defunct or dare I say, non-existent bedroom. Which literally meant, one of these days, I’d have to sit through the mess and decide once again, which memories need to be kept for another 10 or so years. Maybe it’s my compulsion to associate every single thing with a memory that keeps me from throwing things out. Maybe after all these years, I’m just a sentimental nut.

Our place is tiny. Tiny and functional. Even our stove is the small sized one. Our sofa is a loveseat. Our dining table is expandable. The only thing that’s big is our TV which we don’t even use all that much. Our home used to be essentially minimalist. But people as predictable as we are, we keep buying things, consuming things. Things we don’t really need but gives us relief from our temporary selfish cravings. Things that make us feel good. Things that seem to make sense at the time of purchase but means nothing now.

Organize. Prioritize. Minimize.

I don’t miss the mess. At times, I’m so frustrated I just want to throw everything out. Forget that they ever meant anything to me at one point or another. I’m just afraid I’d regret it once I really start throwing things out. These are memories of my childhood. These are things I’ve carried with me since our first big move to the city. These are things that I used to care about. And though I hardly even recognize myself in them, these are still things that made me who I am today.

falling in love with autumn

Finally---a fall picture! I seem to miss doing this every year since I moved here. Everytime we even get close to planning taking pictures, it's too late to capture all the colours of fall. And so off we go to an impromptu trip to Ottawa with our favorite travelling buddies. Thank God for Thanksgiving weekend!

We found this bench at Rideau Hall and look! Photo op!

I like this shot. It reminds me of the video we played at our wedding. I had imagined having our engagement pictures to be taken in the fall and so here it is, one year later...

This is a cool shot. And you can tell, we can't get enough of it. =)

So many things in my mind, and so many things to do! It's been four months now and we still haven't finished our Thank You cards and soon enough, it will be competing with Holiday cards we have to send. I'm also doing this course and though I'm not that excited about it, it's only a two month course and I can't wait to get it over with. Yet, I'm doing anything but start it =P There's been too much stress and negativity and true enough, little weekend getaways like this is what I need. The leaves changing colours, falling and flying ever so carelessly with the wind reminds me that with every beautiful end is an even brighter beginning....

"No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace,

as I have seen in one autumnal face."

--- John Donne

two more nights!

Yup. I have two more nights before my anticipated three-day Thanksgiving holiday from work. I just don't like doing night shifts; I never get sleep during the day, just like now. I can't wait until I'm on the good schedule again.

Anyway, I'm trying to get tickets to see this show and it seems they have good seats for the matinee slot on Thanksgiving Monday. I'm just waiting to see what A's schedule is like and hopefully see the show. It's been awhile since I've seen a musical in Toronto. I think the last one was The Lion King. Yup, it was a while back. The woman playing Maria was chosen through a reality type show in Toronto which I didn't get to watch but based on the video on their website, it seems it will be a good show. I'll let you know how it turns out.

It almost seem like I need a mini get-away every time I have consecutive days off. Work's just been so crazy and stressful at times that it's just necessary to take some time away from it all. How amazing would it be if we can actually afford taking a vacation every five days or so? Pretty amazing, I would say!

Anyway, I just heard they're opening a Jollibee in New York some time soon. Jollibee is a popular Filipino food chain famous for their fried chicken and classic Filipino style spaghetti. They were exclusively serving only in the Philippines and certain parts of US such as California and Las Vegas and so I am really excited that they're opening one closer to home. I think I will go back to NYC just for that. And maybe watch "The Little Mermaid" play that I didn't get to see the last time we were there. And take the double decker bus tour. And visit Grand Central. And walk along Fifth Avenue. And stay at this luxurious hotel.

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Beautiful, huh?

Haaayy...So much to do, so little cash. Ha ha.