I don't really feel good today. I think I'll be coming down with something. Geesh! It must be the virus going around the office. Or the fact that my baby has fever. Ugghh! Wish I could just go home and sleep and not be stuck here in the office. But then again, have to earn money; hence, have to stay put and bear this sick feeling. Will probably just take a nap in a while...

goldilocks revisited

It's Tuesday morning and as I was walking Ayala, I chanced upon the Goldilocks branch near Rufino. I decided to go inside and check what's good to eat. I usually eat pastries or breads from Goldilocks every weekend beacuse my mother-in-law has a penchant for Goldilocks. It's like our default mid-afternoon snack...hehehe. Anyway, I remember my law school days where I would gorge on a whole serving of lumpiang sariwa, thinking that I would get my vegetable fix for the day, just by eating one. Let us not also forget the famous diniguan of Goldilocks. They used to serve it with puto, but then many people wanted to eat rice with it that they eventually changed their "value meal" to dinuguan with puto or rice :) Plus, their equally famous egg pie and brownies...yum! My balikbayan relatives would always ask that they be dropped off to any Goldilocks branch before their flight back to the US to hoard on polvoron...hehehe :) I am not really a fan of polvorons, so I tend to skip that whenever I am inside Goldilocks. Phew...plenty to choose from...hehehe :)

Today, I decided to try their breads. An officemate suggested the Heavenly Marble Slice. Why name a bread "Heavenly"...hmmmm. So, I took one for myself and 2 more for my baby and hubby later. So, here I am munching the "Heavenly Marble Slice" with coffee. Indeed, it tastes "heavenly"... :)

giveaways updates

doing my usual rounds of looking for great giveaways. For those interested, click on the links below for their respective giveaway contests:

http://www.baileyandmeister.com/2009/10/bare-escentuals-giveaway.html?showComment=1256089600029#c9023194296800699910

http://letmefeelikeadoll.blogspot.com/2009/10/havent-got-cross-yet.html?showComment=1256464549253#c6073500397283872733

http://thislatebloomer.blogspot.com/2009/10/aichas-pink-motif-giveaway.html

http://blovet.blogspot.com/2009/10/100th-follower-giveaway.html?showComment=1256686177445#c3105765300366829397

my first ever buy from a reseller

Yey! Today is the first time I ever bought any stuff from a reseller. I bought some sample bb creams from littlecoolshop.multiply. Yey! Hopefully I get those samples tomorrow or the next day. So excietd to try them...yihee! :) I bought the BRTC bb cream samples. Hope it works well on my face, though...hehehe :)

slips...

A lot of "slips" happened to me and it's not even 9am yet in the morning!hehehe :)

First, I woke up late. I usually wake up at around 545 to beat the usual Makati traffic and stuff. But today, I woke up at 645!Talk about oversleeping! So, I rushed to take a bath, took 2 spoonfuls of b reakfast, played a little with my baby, said bye to hubby, gave instructions to the househelp and off I go. I opted not to bring the car, since I know it would be super traffic and I don't really enjoy driving if it's super traffic. So, I neded up using public transportation. I was waiting for a taxi which seemed like forever, so I decided to just take a jeepney and get off near Buendia, where there will be taxis. When I hailed the jeep, I was trying to get into the jeepney when I fell inside the jeepney! I think my shoes slipped or something! Talk about early morning embarassment!!hahahaha!!:) Then the manong driver said, "Ingat po, dahan-dahan lang atw ag magmamadali." So, I just pretended nothing happened and found a seat. When the jeepney was nearing Buendia, I said, "Para po." The very smart driver, stopped the jeepney in the middle of the road and told me, "Puwede na po kayo bumaba." I was falbbergasted! What??!!! In the middle of the road? So, I said, "Puwede po sa tabi?" (with a smile)...Then, he shook his head, but I was not moving an inch, so he was left with no choice but to move the jeepney in the right side of the road so I can go down. The jeepney was like 1/4 from the ride side of the road when he said, "Bumaba na kyo, alalay na lang." Then, suddenly, 4 of the otehr passenghers suddenly stood up and was also trying to get off the jeepney! So, when it was my trun to get off, the jeepney was alerady moving! I bumped my ehad in the roof of the jeep, trying to get off the dran vehicle as fast as I can! Aaaarrrggghhhh!! Then, since the jeepney ride took like forever and no taxis were available, I was left with the option to ride the bus instead. I rode the bus, happy that finally the worst is over...not! I was the first one to sit on the three-setaer chair, when a man sat next to me! I was soo pissed with him, coz he was so ungentleman! He was sitting there, comfortable with himself and sometimes placing his elbows on my things! He's clearly a pervert dressed in a barong!I could have killed him! Aaaaaggggggghhhhhh!!

I am soo not having a good morning today! I hope the rest of the day turns out well...crossing my fingers! x

halloween costume

It's almost Halloween and I don't have anything to wear yet for the annual Halloween thingy here in the office! Geesh! It's not that I don't have anything to wear, coz I can just come to the office and wear an all-black-outfit and tell them I am a witch or something or a gothic goddess or something...hahahahaha!! But that would defeat the purpose of being able to dress up and be creative during Halloween. Waaaahhhh!!I have been searching the internet for some costume ideas, but that would entail sewing (which I don't do...hehehe). Or maybe I could just buy online for some costumes, but maybe it would take weeks for shipment. Aaarrrghhh!! It's like worrying what to wear for a date..hahahaha!! And the hunt for a Halloween costume begins...

hi Maui (suushh.blogspot)

Yey! Finally, I have one "friend"/follower. I never thought anyone would be interested to read my posts...hehehe...Anyway, to give credit to my sish Maui (I think ur name is Maui, right?), here's a link to her giveaway--a small thank you to her faithful followers. I would have chosen to paste a portion of your blog here, sis, to give you proper acknowledgement, except that I suck at this think...big time! Anyway, here's a link to her blog for the giveaway contest...the freebies up for grabs are amazing! :)


http://suushh.blogspot.com/2009/10/thank-you.html

monday woes

Gosh! It's Monday again...the start of another work week. As usual, I am having my MOnday blues. I don't feel like I have fully enjoyed my weekend. There were soo much to do, in such little time. Last Saturday, we stayed at home in the morning and went to the 3-day sale late afternoon. Hubby and I vowed to cut our mindless expenses in buying stuff, in view of our expected loan application from the bank. So we really need to save up a lot. So, we ended up just browsing the stands and looking at stuff while inside the mall. I, for one, is a self-sonfessed shopaholic, just browsed the stands and did not buy a thing. Yesterday, however, since it's Sunday, we went to our usual rounds of visiting both lolas. While my daughter was with her Mamita, hubby and I went to visit Papa at Manila Memorial and went to SM for luncha nd buy some grocery. Then, after, we proceeded to Quezon City for hubby's lola's 80th birthday. It's a good thing we bought a present, coz we didn't know that it was such a big celebration. I, personally thought it was just a gathering of relatives, but it was bigger than what I expected. Anyway, since it was a buffet celebration, we stuffed ourselves with soo much food. So, when we got home, my stomach huirts that I had a hard time getting to sleep...hehehe. Talk about being overstuffed! So, due to upset stomach, I was tossing and turning the whole night trying to catch some shuteye. When I woke, it was 630! Super late for my ususla morning routine! Took a quick shower, took like 3 spoons of rice with some noodles, gave baby some hugs and kisses and took the taxi to work. Was supposed to drive the car to work, but since I left the house late, I was expecting some heavy traffic, so I just opted to take the taxi to work. And here I am now, suffering from Monday blues...waaahhhhhh!! I feel like my brain is tired from all the hoobaloo the whole weekend. Plus, I know I have to do a lot of stuff about the house-buying project...geesh!

stress...

Am just having a stressful day today. To overcome stress, I decided to treat myself to some Mcdonald's chocolate sundae...yum! They say sugar makes one happy and energized...So I definitely hope that after I finish off this sundae, I'd get at least a bit of energy and be relievd of this stres...haayyyyyy...

confusion..

Here I am trying to venture the blogging world. I started a couple of days ago, when for a couple of weeks now, I have been browsing the web and have been reading a lot of blogs made by different people. Since sometimes I have lots of weird ideas on my brain, I opted to join the blogging world...yey! Unfortunately, for me, I only know how to write but I do not know how to manuever this site...hahaha! So, I ended up creating a lot of blogs, each with one post each! I wanted to maintain the beautyandgeekness site when I realized that I created the "bb cream" as its title! geesh! How can I create different stuff when my home page is entitled "bb cream"...hahahaha!! So I opted to open another blog, this time, this beautygeekness and decided to transfer all the posts which I have created from the different blogs and just maintain this site. I have "followed" a lot of people using beautyandgeekness...guess I have to join again those contests using beautygeekness because of my lack of knowledge how to use this...geesh!hehehe :) Well, in time, I will be a whiz at this and will post pics eventually...bear with me! :)

my first encounter w/ bb creams

I was busy surfing the web for some stuff, such as recipes, etc. when I stumbled upon a site discussing about some cream...what the heck is a bb cream? Curiousity got me into spending hours researching about what is a bb cream...a.k.a. blemish balm cream. I got this from one site (http://makeupforlife.net/2007/12/bb-cream.html) which explains in full what are bb creams :

The BB Cream, aka Blemish Balm, is *the* hottest beauty product in Asia right now. The product was originated in Germany and used by dermatologists to help patients who have gone through laser skin surgery soothe and regenerate the skin.Soon after, Korean celebs started using the cream and a craze was born. Big companies then took the idea and turned it into a product widely available to the public. The new product is suitable for all skin types, especially those with sensitive and acne-prone skin. It has the advantages of both a makeup and skincare product. It can even out skintone, camouflage undereye circles, acne scars and add radiance to the skin without the heavy mask-like effects of a foundation. Prolonged used of the product will also help improve the overall texture of the skin and fade acne scars.

As you can clearly see, this post which I lifted was created in 2007...and what year is it now? 2009!! geesh!! I am soo late in this craze!! Anyway, after finding such information over the net, I surfed for the most suitable cream for me. So I started with the basics. What brands are available that carry this line and which brands are readily available here in Manila? So, I checked and found Skinfood, the Faceshop and Elianto, to name a few. Then, I found out that there are resellers out there, mostly found on multiply and they relatively sell them at a cheaper price compared to buying them straight in the store. So, off I go to find the perfect bb cream, that would become my HG (holy grail!).

Last weekend, I scouted Mall of Asia and visited Elianto. It was my first time to ask about this product and didn;t know the questions to ask...agh! Anyway, the SA applied some bb cream on my face, which was shade#2. I read from soem blogs to ask for samples to test if the product works for you or not. So, i asked for some samples, but the SA said they don't have any. I guess, since she appleid some bb cream on my face, that's enough sample...hahaha. I told her, I can't buy some right now, since I am still looking for the best bb cream for me. She said that the Elianot brand is cheaper compared to the other brands. After leaving the store, still with the Elianto bb cream plastered on my face, I decided to drop by SkinFood. The SA there, his name is Anton, was pretty approachable. He answered all my questions and even introduced me to almost all of their product lines, explaining each and every one in detail. He volunteered to apply the Mushroom bb cream on my face, but I declined and told him that I still have some Elianto bb cream on my face. I told him I will be back, since I want to test the Elianto bb cream--its durability, look and oil control, etc.So, when I went home, I checked my face on the mirror, and sure enough, the Elianto bb cream is still there. My face still looks okay. Some oiliness on my face are showing, though...geesh! But, I still can't compare the Elianto bb cream to anything.

I will go back to SkinFood next time and try the Mushroom bb cream this time. I am also contemplating on buying some samples, just small amounts, to know if this bb cram is for me, or it's just my curiousity that I am being sucked into this bb cream craze :)

Wish me luck on my bb cream hunting!

arctic cap--gone in 20-30 yrs....gessh!

I was checking my emails this rainy morning, when I stumbled upon this article from the abs-cbn website:http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/world/10/14/09/arctic-ice-cap-disappear-20-30-years-study

Several parts of the article frightened me:

The Arctic ice cap will disappear completely in summer months within 20 to 30 years, a polar research team said as they presented findings from an expedition led by adventurer Pen Hadow.

It is likely to be largely ice-free during the warmer months within a decade, the experts added."The summer ice cover will completely vanish in 20 to 30 years but in less than that it will have considerably retreated," said Professor Peter Wadhams, head of the polar ocean physics group at Britain's prestigious Cambridge University.

"In about 10 years, the Arctic ice will be considered as open sea."

"It's a concrete example of global change in action."With a larger part of the region now in first year ice, it is clearly more vulnerable. The area is now more likely to become open water each summer, bringing forward the potential date when the summer sea ice will be completely gone."

"Remove the Arctic ice cap and we are left with a very different and much warmer world," he said.Loss of sea ice cover will "set in motion powerful climate feedbacks which will have an impact far beyond the Arctic itself," he added."This could lead to flooding affecting one quarter of the world's population, substantial increases in greenhouse gas emission from massive carbon pools and extreme global weather changes."

"Today's findings provide yet another urgent call for action to world leaders ahead of the United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen in December to rapidly and effectively curb global greenhouse gas emissions."

****

These information have hounded us for years, yet we never take action, we never believe. The wrath of Ondoy has alarmed us that indeed these issues regarding climate change could indeed be true. Are we still going to wait for that 20 years to come when what we have left of the Arctic cap is just a sea of water?I have a little daughter and I fear her future.

maja blanca

Maja blanca or maja maiz...yum!

An office mate bought some maja blanca to share and memories of my childhood flashed back. My parents love corn--from japanese sweet corn to the usual corn bought in the market. Whenever we go out of town, we would make it a point to drop by at the side of the road to buy from those manangs/manongs who sell corn to provincial buses and tourists. Sometimes we would buy a sack of fresh corn and boil them at home, to have them readily available at hand.

Anyway, back to the maja story...hehehe :) So, since my officemate brought that maja blanca, I decided to surf the net for recipes. I found one from Tita Connie Veneracion's blog : www.pinoycook.netThe following recipe is lifted from her blog : http://pinoycook.net/maja-maiz/

Ingredients :

1 c. of cornstarch
1 250 ml. brick of sweetened condensed milk
1 c. of coconut milk
1 c. of water
a pinch of salt
1 425 g. can of cream-style corn
1/2 tsp. of butter, softened

How to :

Grease the bottom and sides of a 6″ x 10″ ceramic baking dish with the softened butter.Disperse the cornstarch in the water until completely dissolved. Add the coconut milk, salt and cream-style corn. Set over medium-high heat and cook, stirring, until thick and no longer cloudy. Remove from the heat and add the sweetened condensed milk. Return to the stove top and cook over low heat, stirring until the milk is fully incorporated into the cornstarch mixture. Pour into the buttered dish and leave to cool for about 30 minutes before cutting and serving.

After office, I immediately went to Hypermart Buendia to buy the ingredients needed. When I got home, I asked hubby if he wants some dessert for our dinner, coz I plan to prepare something(the maja!hehehe). So, he agreed and said, he'll eat anything, so I immediately prepared the maja. Instead of using water, I opted to use milk instead. After painstakingly adding one ingredient after another, I realized I don't have condensed milk...hahahaha...Should I just add more sugar, coz I have evaporated milk?Would that suffice for the needed condensed milk in the recipe?

So, with the lack of the needed condensed milk, I decided to just forego the maja maiz/blanca experience for the weekend :)

free items

Just started to browse the web for free stuff. Found the following sites with loads of freebies to share. Enjoy!http://hummysluvshubby.blogspot.com/2009/10/win-200-cash.html

http://macalicious-iheartcosmetics.blogspot.com/2009/10/halloween-2009-compgiveaway-reminder.html (just in time for Halloween..yey!)

http://notesfromthetoothfairy.blogspot.com/2009/10/grand-jewelry-giveaway-alert.html

http://aniiita89.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-first-giveaway.html?showComment=1254941305643#c4689319845161254624

http://inspiredbymeme.blogspot.com/2009/10/my-first-giveaway.html

http://www.theshadesofu.com/2009/10/viral-mac-giveaway-contest-for-shades.html

http://makeupbabble.blogspot.com/2009/10/giveaway.html

http://sparklemidori.blogspot.com/2009/10/my-first-giveaway.html

http://getgawjus.blogspot.com/2009/09/finally-100-follower-giveaway-d.html

http://nihrida.blogspot.com/2009/10/my-1st-giveaway-to-show-my-love-and.html

http://jordysbeautyspot.blogspot.com/2009/10/competition.html

http://ricahx15.blogspot.com/2009/10/100-follower-giveaway.html

http://thevintagepearl.blogspot.com/2009/10/dainty-eclectic-and-hammered-stars-win.html

http://notesfromthetoothfairy.blogspot.com/2009/10/grand-jewelry-giveaway-alert.html

http://suushh.blogspot.com/2009/10/thank-you.html


Am still on the lookout for more freebies online! :)