The Snubbed Blogger and Other Stories

My Sunday was a mixture of ups and downs, but thankfully, there were more good things than bad things. But before I talk about it, here's what we wore (hahaha):

Doesn't he look like a fashion blogger? What happened to my 2-year old?

On Mommy: Zara tunic | F21 jeans | CLN shoes

On Baby: Carters shirt | Baby Mossimo jeans | Elle/Chicco shoes

Yes I need to lose weight. Now, about our Sunday, there was only one bad thing, but it almost ruined my day. It was because I was a...

THE SNUBBED BLOGGER

A month ago, I was invited to attend this particular event of a huge company. I said yes. I was even required to wrote a pre-event post as a "partner blogger," the PR person's words, to invite participants.

The venue was an hour away from home. Since we had to go to church first, we had to wake up extra early. Also, we had to plan our day around this event so there were many changes in our usual, comfortable Sunday routine.

To say the event was a disappointment is an understatement.

Our Sunday in Photos (Plus SmileBrilliant Giveaway Winner!)

Yesterday, Sunday, was Araw ng Dabaw. We don't usually join the city's festivities mainly because there are a lot of people on the streets and it would be too hot. However, we usually go to malls because, well, the sales are there!

I was especially anxious to go to SM Lanang yesterday because I know there would be a Davao Gourmet Collective. I really, really, really wanted to buy Davao-made chocolates, whichever company would be exhibiting there.

Here's my little boy with his "baha" pants. I think the outfit is very summer-y; the only thing missing is a pair of open sandals! That's my sister sporting the peace sign.

Me and my widow's peak

Upon arriving at SM Lanang, I made a beeline to the atrium and looked for the Davao Gourmet Collective. Lo and behold, there was none. I thought it was held in another location in the mall so I asked the ladies over at the information booth.

Me: Miss, may Davao Gourmet Collective today?
Miss: Ha?
Me: Davao Gourmet Collective? Saan?
Miss (turns to the other miss): Collective daw?
Other miss shrugs
Miss: Wala man ma'am

Imagine my despair (yes, despair talaga!) when I heard that. All week long, I've been waiting for Sunday to arrive just so I can buy chocolates. Tapos wala daw? I'm sure there was a collective because I follow SM on Instagram. How could this be?! Chos!

Anyway, we were really hungry because we didn't have lunch yet. It was already 3:30 in the afternoon. Due to hunger, we decided to just go to Giligan's to eat comfort food. No time to pick new restaurants! I also knew I wanted to eat sisig because I was stressed about the DGC. Hehehe.

Garlic Chicken

Pork Sisig

Gambas

Everything we ordered was yummy, and that was not just because we were very hungry. The gambas was especially delicious, while the sisig was crunchy and very chicharon-like. Sinfully delicious. Even the little boy was enjoying himself:

Blue and Red Sunday

Hi! It's Monday again! Grabe ang bilis ng panahon. Soon enough, it's gonna be Valentine's Day na naman. Alone parin ako. Charot!

Hahaha!

Anyway, how did your weekend go? Mine was uneventful, thank God. Of course, Sunday is my only real "weekend." I work the whole Saturday so I always see to it that I don't think of anything work-related during Sundays. It helps that I get to spend the whole day with my little boy. This inevitably means pigging out, so I don't bother counting calories on Sundays. Err, I don't exercise, too... Hey, one day lang naman!

Here are photos that show how my Sunday went (Sorry for the quality of the photos; I haven't replaced my broken camera yet. The stocks are taking so long to arrive!):

Here is how Yuri poses for an OOTD shot: kagat labi. Adorbs! I wish I had a proper camera to capture that smile. Ugh!

 Admiring his outfit: Crib Couture shirt, H&M jeans, and Children's Place sneaks

  

I noticed that we tend to go matchy-matchy! Hindi sinasadya yan. On me are my mom's cardigan, Forever21 dress, belt from Gaisano Mall department store, and Celine flats

(That's my Cuzo bag) I was trying to get a photo for Instagram...

...when the little boy decided enough is enough. This is what happens when you stop and pose for a second too long!

After church, I finally got to try Manang's Chicken. The kind owner of the Davao City branch (in Gaisano Mall, near The Peak) has invited me months ago, but I never found myself anywhere near Gaisano Mall. I finally found time and - yay - I don't regret it! I will write more about this lunch tomorrow.

Yuri Speaks Phrases and Other Stories

Good morning! Monday na naman ulit. Thankfully, I had a good weekend. This past weekend was a double whammy because Saturday was my parents' anniversary (31st?) while Sunday was Yuri's 22nd month.

Did I just say Yuri was already 22 months old? Oh wow how fast does time fly?

Like what I mentioned a few weeks ago, I already stopped tracking words. He's learning in a steady stream and I'm pretty sure he know around 200 words already. Nice one, late walker! Hee hee #justkiddingaround

But what he did lately is speak in phrases. Actually, here's a piece of advice to new moms: they won't be recognizable phrases at first. They're just a string of two words spoken separately. They're not spoken in a flowing manner like how we adults do it - at least in my experience. I didn't think Yuri was speaking in phrases at first, but as he repeated them, I realized the words made sense and were used as a pair. Eureka!

Here are some of the phrases I remember Yuri saying:

- kuwin apay (kunin tinapay)
- abas tayo (labas tayo)
- kuwin tubig (kunin tubig)
- ebe tayo (Time for bed - the book - tayo)
- tati pis (cookie please)
- dede tayo (dede tayo!)

If you think toddlers saying words are cute, wait until they speak in phrases. Absolutely adorbs!

Last Saturday, I read Abreeza's Instagram post about Gonuts Donuts' buy 6 take 6 promo for only P216. Of course, the kuripot in me couldn't resist. So that afternoon, we had a variety of sinful donuts! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take a photo of all the donuts. Here's a poor shot I managed to take:

My mom also made spaghetti. Yum! No photos, though. So much for dieting!

(The kids - my sister and my son - and I were at home the whole Saturday. Mama and Papa were in Cafe Laguna in Abreeza. Did they have an anniversary date? Hmm)

Then on Sunday, we heard mass (we regularly go to SM's mass now). Although belief-wise I consider myself a Born Again Christian, because I'm still living under my parents' roof, I wholeheartedly adopted some Catholic practices like going to mass and doing the sign of the cross during mealtime prayers. Remember: Honor your mother and father. But that's beside the point.

Anyway, last Sunday, I genuinely enjoyed the service because the priest's homily was very Biblical and Gospel-focused. I like how he preached about Jesus as "the one" and how we only need to accept that the Work was already done at the Cross for salvation. He also called for repentance not to make way for the Lord as in the time of John the Baptist but repentance because the Kingdom is already at hand. Finally, he called for us to be "Credible Christians." He clarified that he did not mean "credible Catholics" but "credible Christians" as in "credible believers of Jesus."

And I was like, wow, this is my kind of priest!

My Far-from-Perfect Sunday and Changing my Character

It's Monday again! Ambilis! Sunday just flew past my face. Hindi ko sya nafeel. Lucky are you who have two-day weekends, but for those like me who only get one restday, I feel yah!

Yesterday was a really chilly day. The kind of day when the bed's magnetic pull is too strong. It was raining quite hard here so we weren't able to go to church. In an ideal setup, I would stay in bed all day wearing pajamas and reading a book with Yuri by my side content to be playing quietly. But life doesn't always happen that way.

One of the reasons why I didn't get to enjoy my Sunday that much is that first, I didn't get to go outside the house and second, I had to do a general cleaning of the bedroom. There are actually a third and a fourth reason, but let's get to that later.

We finally had to say goodbye to our sidecar crib arrangement, which served us well for a year. I actually liked it because while we were technically co-sleeping, I still had my personal space. No, the problem was that Yuri was getting too big for the crib. So last Saturday, we bought a double bed.

Yes, just a double bed. We couldn't buy a bigger bed because our stairway was too narrow. In fact, getting the double bed upstairs caused not a few scrapes on the banister. But we made it through. Yehess.

(I was thinking, good luck sa new house because it had an even narrower stair case. But let's cross the bridge when we get there.)

Here's our old arrangement:

And after more than 3 hours' worth of intense labor and cleaning, here's a new sleeping arrangement for Yuri and me:

You might be wondering why we were such in a hurry to buy a new bed. Well, my parents just chanced over a furniture sale in Gaisano Mall, and this bed (frame + Uratex mattress) was only P7k+. Original price was near P10k. Okay!

I am a bit nervous because the reason why I had to switch to a sidecar arrangement was Yuri falling off the bed. To be safe, I placed the old mattress on the floor. Just to be sure. But ultimately, I'm praying God send his angels every night to, um, keep Yuri from being too malikot while sleeping.

What's the third reason my Sunday didn't become a real restday? Yuri refused to take a nap on the new bed, that's what. It was getting on my nerves already because I'm sure he's sleepy. In fact, Yuri is almost always a good sleeper until now. And it went beyond naptime. Before dinner, he was already asking for tuyog (sleep), so after eating quickly, I was sure he'd sleep almost immediately. Well, no. The boy endured another 30 minutes of battling sleep despite his obvious sleepiness. Hay naku!

Now, the fourth reason happened when Yuri finally fell asleep. I was looking forward to having quiet time and finally being able to talk with Job after an entire week. I was looking forward to it the whole day. Unfortunately, our network didn't want to cooperate. I'm looking at you, Smart! Job can receive my messages easily, but I didn't receive any of his. Talk about a cherry on top of my sundae-sweet Sunday!

Of course I was really frustrated. Aside from the fact that my body was tired, I also needed some emotional recharging by talking to Job. I thought it was unfair. Now, when we complain that the world is being unfair to us, aren't we technically complaining that God is being unfair to us? I realized that last night. I was being upset with Him for not giving me a perfect Sunday. What? What a brat!

The Cold Sunday That Was

The weather has been restored to default now (I think), which is a bit balmy: not hot but not cold either. I honestly prefer the weather last week, which was very cold (at least for me!), but I wouldn't want places flooding, so this weather would work, too.

Weather last week (the entire week)

I mean, who doesn't like bed weather? Not me! (I'm blessed I get to enjoy that kind of weather by being able to stay home all day.) But this morning, I awoke to a bright sky. Suddenly, it doesn't seem legal to wear sweatpants anymore!

Anyway, what was I up to last weekend? Not that it has been very interesting hehe, but that's the only day I'm out of the house so... You know what I mean. Heehee. Sunday was still very cold and rainy, and we were all in jackets so I didn't bother to take OOTD photos. Wala namang makikita eh! Hehehe. Even little Yuri was wearing his St. Patrick jacket, so walang kwenta ang OOTD shot. :P

Plus, I was not able to take a lot of photos since I intentionally left the camera home (what is it with rainy days and laziness?!). In fact, this was the only "OOTD" shot that I have:

See? Yuri is balot na balot. And in the last minute, I exchanged the denim bolero for a long-sleeved cardigan because I was too cold!

Meanwhile, instead of SM Lanang, we went to Abreeza this week. You see, Yuri had a "poop emergency" in church, and the nearest mall with a decent changing station was Abreeza. Yuri never does well with changing diapers in places other than the comfort room, so with the rare occasions that he does poop in public, we really have to go to a comfort room with a changing station. Luckily, church was just in front of Abreeza Mall, which has a great family lounge with good comfort rooms.

Honestly, I love SM, but when it comes to private comfort rooms, I prefer Abreeza's. Please forgive the bad photos taken by my phone hee hee.

The photos don't do justice to the comfort room in the family lounge at all. Someday, I might take a decent photo using an actual camera. You do have to pay a small fee to use the comfort room, but it's worth it.

After that, we ate lunch in Jollibee (because I still have some coupons left hehe). It was a rather stressful experience because of the number of people there and the lack of facilities (read: high chair). The highlight of our stressful day was this:

You see, in the atrium of the mall, there is a Timezone for little kids. As in it looks like a mini peryahan. There was even an indoor playground for little kids where they could play for free, but it's always so crowded. Maybe when Yuri gets a bit older, I'll take him there on a weekday. Meanwhile, Yuri has set his eyes on the rides that go around the mall's atrium.

Suffice to say, it's not just Yuri that had a lot of fun that day!

My turn! I always say that I'm an old soul but I have a very young heart!

We finally bade goodbye to the animal rides and off to the grocery we went. And that's officially how my Sunday went. How did yours go? I hope it was uneventful, too!

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The Last Sunday of 2013

Wow, I can't believe I just wrote that. From this day on, there would no longer be 2013 weekends. Gee does time fly fast!

So how did my last weekend of 2013 go? Well, aside from meeting up with 2 of Yuri's ninangs, nothing much! Yesterday, we went to SM Lanang Premier as usual. We planned to attend mass there; however, we were late. Boohoo. (I attend the mass because my parents are Catholic and I want to obey them.) By the way, here's Yuri's OOTD:

SM and a lot of stores (like Cotton On and Forever 21) were on clearance sale. However, I wasn't interested in buying clothes at all. Really! Maybe it's because I'm too lazy to check out the sales. Maybe it's because I haven't truly worked for almost a week now (I'm on a no work - no pay scheme). Or maybe because I'm just not interested!

I also didn't buy anything for Yuri because he has still a lot of unused toys and unread books from Christmas! So, sorry, next time na siguro tayo magkakaron ng fab finds heehee.

We did buy a lot of food: some to eat and some to prepare for New Year's Eve. I will need to do some serious dieting next year. Aja!

One highlight of our Sunday, though, was meeting Jollibee - again. I could not count the times we have seen and taken a picture with the orange mascot, but I guess we're not stopping soon. While we were eating, Jollibee appeared and Yuri could seriously not stay seated. He was wriggling in his high chair and was even motioning for Jollibee to go near him using his hands. How very Pinoy. Hahaha!

Another problem was that I forgot to bring the camera. Good thing my mom let me borrow her phone. Thanks, Ma!

Sunday at Home and Discovering BonChon!

We I was cooped up inside the house the entire weekend because my sister has to study for her upcoming exams. While I wanted to go to the mall to finish my Christmas shopping, there was no one who could accompany me. After Yuri turned 1 early this year, I haven't attempted to go outside the house without an alalay. I'm too scared to do so!

Anyway, my entire Sunday was spent playing with and chasing Yuri. Whenever I have these kinds of days, my desire to become a SAHM intensifies (*ehem ehem*). I attempted to wrap some gifts, but with Yuri around, who was I kidding? My parents were also busy re-decorating for Christmas (they are so fickle we've already re-decorated twice this month) and re-arranging some furniture. Time flew quite fast, and by lunch time, nobody was willing to cook.

So we decided to just order. Our usual go-to was Jollibee, but I've had a recent bad customer service experience, so I wanted to call some place else. We have always wanted to try BonChon but their place in Abreeza was too small and too tight for us. Their SM Ecoland branch was larger but the 45-minutes travel wasn't worth it. Because we wanted to try their famous chicken, we gave them a call.

Unlike my recent experience with Jollibee Delivery, this transaction was a very pleasant and smooth one. We weren't charged a delivery fee, too. After around 45 minutes, this arrived:

Finally! Makaka-try narin kami ng Bon Chon! #latebloomer

Soy Garlic Chicken Drumsticks and Thighs (P365) + Calamari (P125)

We also ordered some Ko-Yo: Banoffee Pie and Strawberry Almond  (P75 each)

(Pictured above is the Banoffee Pie)

Chicken - the verdict:

Their chicken is famous for a reason! Ang sarap! Promise, we brought the entire rice cooker to the dining table because the chicken was oh-so-delicious. I'm not kidding. The skin was crispy, garlicky, and honey-sweet all at the same time, while the meat was still very tender despite having to be delivered a distance. And you know what? I kept one piece in the fridge for Yuri's dinner, and without having to heat it, the skin remained crunchy and not tough at all!

Calamari - the verdict: