Christmas Lights Traffic Lights

Every time December hits Manila, every conversation would most probably include a bit about the horrible traffic that every one encounters (or a bit about their surprise that traffic wasn't that bad getting to that area haha).  We all know Christmas = traffic.  Times like these google maps is my best friend and I have been known to explore all possible side streets just to avoid traffic.
The tried and true tested path always leads to gridlocks for me so I need to get creative just to get to where I am going.  Green line is for normal route and red line is for my route. Hahaha

Example:

From Manila (via SLEX) to Fort Mckinley Hill just so I can avoid 40 minutes of Nichols Traffic 

From Macapagal Avenue to Roxas Blvd so I can avoid the crawl along Star City and CCP

Traffic aside, you have to admit, having festive lights twinkling around you eases the pain of being stuck on the road during rush hour.  Here are just a few of my favorites.

I love looking at the tree in front of Aloha Hotel along Roxas Blvd. cor. Quirino Avenue in Manila.  There's no escaping traffic here but I don't mind being there for 20 minutes as long as there is  shimmery eye candy.  Personally I love that they followed each groove of the branches and lined them up with Christmas lights.  Nothing also beats the old school bulbs that they use to light up the upper part of the tree!

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My love for Manila continues with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Department of Finance Christmas Lights!  I love how these two buildings always set up gigantic images using colorful lights.  And this year, they went all Pinoy! :D

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Just across at the the next corner is the Cultural Center of the Philippines and their parols from Pampanga.  I love love love this showcase of Filipino craftmanship, much better than just outlining the building with Christmas lights which they used to do before.  What's amazing about these lanterns is that they are the same kind of parols, but the intervals of the blinking lights are different from each other so you start to think that they have different designs.   

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Who can miss the lights of Ayala Avenue and the Ayala Triangle Enchanting Light Show? The bright LED lights makes you feel like you are having a white Christmas in the middle of a tropical country.  The moving lights and music of the show entertains the crowds night after night.  I also love the decor of the old Prudential Bank building along Ayala Ave. with the angels and the giant Christmas balls.

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Will post pictures of shiny bright lights in and near our home soon! :)  What are your favorite buildings or structures this Christmas?

Dreaming of a White Christmas

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Ever since I was a young girl and saw the immaculate white Christmas tree of my Lola Vey at their house, I knew I would get a different colored tree when I grew up.  I love the idea of bringing in other colors into a festive event.  I still love the red and green and all the glitter and shimmer that comes from gold and silver. (wow, it rhymes! haha)  I kind of remembered telling my Mom to get a white tree when we had to replace our old one but she told me if dust or dirt settled on the tree it would be so obvious. So no white tree for us.

But now... I get to buy my own big tree! And I can pick a different colored one! :D  I contemplated getting a silver one made of tinsel but I had a hard time thinking about how we would actually clean it after.  So I decided to stick to white, blank canvass for any type of holiday color scheme that I want! haha

Sooooo on to decor ideas!

How about a rainbow tree?

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White on White Tree

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Go crazy with color

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home sweet home

And the best part of having a white tree lets your ornaments take the center stage!!!

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Going to the urban jungle known as Divisoria in a few days, so I will just keep you updated about what will be the final turn out of our first tree!!! :)

Thanksgiving! Cheers to moving in!!!

Hi Everyone!

I know I haven't posted anything since October but I do have a couple of good reasons for my negligence. :)  I think Thanksgiving is a great way to get back into the blogging bit since I have a lot of things to be thankful for. :)

First I took advantage of the looooong Nov 1 weekend and we moved in to our house:

Things have improved a lot since then I assure you. :)

Then we moved in and had the blessing of Achievers!

Some shameless plugging first.  If you live within Gen. Trias, Tanza, Naic, Maragondon, Ternate, Trece Martires and Rosario and you are in need of QUALITY occupational therapy and speech pathology services from licensed and certified therapists call ACHIEVERS at 09151864746.   We're along A. Soriano Hiway Tanza, Cavite! Add us up on facebook by clicking here! 

Will be posting more updates soon! Such as how to turn IKEA furniture assembly into a contest, our quest in finding the perfect faucet (took us a couple of hours I tell you!) and never ending pamahiins (lipat bahay edition).

I know God is a great and giving and there were a lot of trying times these couple of months but in the end were so many blessings to be thankful for! Such as sleeping in our own bed and house, finally having access to running water, setting up a clinic in under one month and having cable service installed to the TV! Oh I am also thankful for family, friends, colleagues, clients and an awesome husband who makes the best efforts to clean the house.  What are you thankful for?

Brooch Bouquets... for sale! (with update!)

My obsession with shiny and shimmery things started a long time ago, during my wedding there was no way I was going to pass up a chance to have something sparkly and awesome on the big day.  

Don't get me wrong, I looked a up a lot of fresh flower bouquets during my "research" (which basically means staying up late scouring the net and buying and poring over bridal magazines).  When I'm at Market Market I do like drop a couple of hundred pesos on a really nice bouquet to bring home because it really brightens up the place.  I do love peonies, lilies of the valley and roses, but when I asked about the average price of a bouquet made of imported flowers I do admit I had second thoughts.  The idea of spending several thousands of pesos on something that will just wilt by the next week really hit me hard.  

So I came up with a brooch bouquet!  I got to spend a bit less than the imported bouquet that I wanted and best of all I got to keep it and it will stay that way forever, zero wilting! (Woohoo!)  Sure it took sometime before I was able to collect all the brooches that I wanted but the end result was well worth it.  I started early and every time I would have a gown fitting, I would bring my bouquet to see how it will look with my gown and what I need to do to improve it.  Super thanks to Joey Boquiren and Rene Gaviola for all these amazing photos!

Now as you all know I had some major wedding hang over so it kind of spilled over brooches and knick knacks as well.  I ended up having enough that I could make two more brooch bouquets.  And now they are up for sale for just Php3000.00 each.  

Presenting Bouquet Number 1: Never Sad but Always Blue!

 

It's a mixture of brooches, rings and trinkets.  Major colors are different shades of blue such as cobalt, baby blue, teal, turquoise and aqua.  Accented by white, silver and a hint of gold.  Handle is covered with silver ribbon.

 Close up!  Some are made of rhinestones, pewter and accent stones.

I used a mixture of different brooches made of varied materials to create textures, some of the pieces here were even bought during my trip to Hong Kong.  Blue flowers are hard to come by and spray painted blue roses are just not my thing.  I realized that if my motif were blue, I would definitely want a whole lot of that color in my bouquet. 

Presenting Bouquet Number 2: Pinky Pop Love!

Main colors are fuchsia, baby pink, salmon accented with gold and a touch of black.  Handle is covered with fuchsia ribbon.

I added a few trinkets such as a small TV, a camera, a robot, a few cameos and a "love" ring.  I definitely considered this as my color palette for the wedding but hubby found it too feminine so I just vented out my frustrations on this lovely thing. 

Please leave a comment here if you are interested!  Let me know and we can work out a way so I can hand over the bouquet to you.  I don't want to ship it as much as possible out of fear that it might get "hurt" :) 

UPDATE!!! - Never Sad but Always Blue already sold! :)

Love this house...but I think hubby won't approve haha

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Too much pink so hubby will surely react!  But it is pretty pretty pretty.  Pink on the upholstery, mirrored dresser, mix of black and white painted wood.

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How awesome is this entryway? The mirror really makes a statement.

Will definitely find a way to incorporate some of these details at home. 

Baby Got Back (-splash)

Ok, I had to admit I could not resisting listening to the classic video of Sir Mix-a-lot featuring this song while writing this down.  Take note listening as I can't stand to watch it; too much wiggling going on hahaha.

Seriously though, we gave a lot of thought about our backsplash.  We almost gave up the whole idea of putting one and almost decided to just paint it white and just be content with the 1-2 inch granite extension from the counter top.  Though this option concerned me a lot since water and oil splatter can damage the paint easily.  

We also thought about using materials like stainless steel sheets all around but I thought it was too industrial for our style if used too much.  We decided it will just be used against stove and the range hood since it cleans easily and needs minimal maintenance.  We also considered faux red brick finish but it did not blend well with our counter and cabinet colors.  It might end up being too dark in the kitchen.  

So were were back to tile, I scoured the internet for options as I knew I did not want regular 20 x 30 tiles since we used a lot of those in the bathrooms.  

Was initially swaying towards mosaic tiles

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 ... but I was really concerned about it being too busy to that point that I might end up getting a headache if I kept seeing it everyday while working on breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Considered using glass like this one...

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Shiny - super check.  Promotes vanity - check ng malaking pink na ballpen! ("check using a big pink ballpen", gay lingo for "definitely yes").  So again really pretty but not workable for us.  We might end up primping instead of cooking!

Considered penny tile since I loved the DIY that they did at Young House Love.  However, one that really stuck to me was subway tile backsplash.  

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It was classic, had texture and pattern but not too busy that it will detract from the whole kitchen.  So off we went to Alabang Home Depot and Wilcon Home Depot to look for something like it preferably in white or light gray.   

Lo and behold, there are no subway tiles in the all of home depot-land!  So we ended up checking these out:

Right color, nice shiny accents but no stock.  Sadness.  Let's move on...

Penny tile!!!! The only color available.  Sadly it's more on the beigy side.  Not meant to be.  And hubby did not like the idea that it reminds him of crocodile or snake skin. So another "x".

I know I wanted to veer away from the local tile scene but I really liked this one!  It's 20 x 30 nexus white by Mariwasa.  If I only saw this during our bathroom tile hunt this would've been one of our picks.  I realized it also went well with our kitchen since the design color was in silver and light gold (so it goes with black or brown very neutral).  The pattern was a bit round and soft so in contrasts with the edginess of the cabinets and granite but not too girly and not too loud that it would clash with other appliances in the kitchen.  Definitely a contender.

This was the closest I could find that would closely resemble subway tile.  However, it is one 30 x 30 tile with smaller "tiles" as the design.  The pattern was really nice and with dark grout no one would know that these were not individual tiles.  However, the color of the tile was leaning towards ivory and I did not want that yellow undertone.  So I had to let it go.

Enter Teka Jet Gris Wall Tile.  This one was surprisingly found by hubby mounted against the wall (wall tile duh) while I was the busy one looking at everything that was laid out in stacks on the floor.  So yehey for hubby!

What we really loved about it was that it combined all the elements that we wanted in our options (ok except for the shiny glass part).  It did not look like a bath tile, it had texture, it was gray (some pieces had a bit of brown in them so it would still look good with brown - very neutral), it had a great pattern but won't make our head ache, the individual "tiles" were laid out horizontally (like subway tiles) and it was cheaper than mosaic.  Hubby also liked that even if the individual pieces were layered and textured, the actual tile feels smooth to touch.  It's not too rough like rock tile and since it's smooth it's also easier to clean.

So here's how it looks like at our kitchen...

From a far you hardly notice the end one tile to the next, it is like each small piece was laid down one at a time.  It also went well with the white cabinets on top, black granite and the dark brown cabinets below.  As hubby said, it's like art work for the kitchen wall! We love it!

We're moving next month!

moving takes on a whole new meaning with bayanihan

Soooooooo.... This is the ultimate newlywed's dream right?  To move in to your new place as husband and wife.  To be the kings and queens of your castle!  To carry out your wildest (decor) fantasies in each room of your new abode (it's not what you were thinking!).  However, when you start to talking about moving beginning May and October already rolled around and you still haven't gotten around to doing it, then it starts to become an inside joke between the two of you.

This my friends is the long and tedious process of "finishing" up your house.  It basically involves all the minor details that your never thought about in your whole existence considering that you also lived in a house your whole life.  Makes you realize how little you know about what you need in the house you might as well have been raised in a cave - which is so much simpler. An opening, ceiling and walls. Done deal.

But we do need all the comforts that a modern and progressive house brings.  What would we do without electricity, plumbing, insulation?  We'd be a pretty sad (and stinky!) bunch indeed.  

You have options such as gas, induction, coal, or basic wood! 

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Just a list of a few of the mind boggling questions we had to answer since May:

- How many power outlets do you need and where do you put it inside the house or even just inside one room?

- Built-in cabinets? Where do you put it? How many Drawers? Where do you put the drawers?  How many shelves? What are the heights of the shelves?  Do you put doors, if yes what kind? Sliding or just leave it open?

- Lights oh lights, what kind of light fixture will you put at a particular place in the house? (Note that it is not in the room but a specific part of the house/room, a room could have multiple light sources)  Where do you put it, ceiling or wall, indoor or outdoor?  Is the ceiling made of wood or cement? What kind of bulb to use? What color of bulb to use?  Should you use LED's or are energy savers enough?

I knew these are not a few questions and there are a lot more where it came from!  And I know for a fact that you crossed the wedding planning and honeymoon bliss once your start swapping Martha Stewart Weddings and Wedding Essentials for Real Living every month.

So expect a few posts about our progress on the home front.  Don't get me wrong, I'm living the dream!  A great husband, a dog, a car and soon a house. So many blessings to be thankful for and I am loving all the minutes of these crazy, hectic moments in my life.

What about you?  Have you thought about what you want out of your house?

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I want this... Dipped furniture

from http://www.ivillage.com/dining-room-decor-ideas-dipped-legs/7-b-257933

What a way to add color in the room!!! Loving the coral.  I love how they made traditional oak chairs work well with a tulip table.  Great minimal commitment but high impact idea. :)

something bright and bongga to combat the rainy gloom

Hello everyone!  Honestly, I am getting sick and tired of all this rain.  It's still a virtual pond outside our door.  We can all do our share to help others in need by donating and sharing relief goods but for now, we are still stuck here at home.  

So here's a shiny, shimmery silver lining amidst all the rainclouds that's been dampening our days.  I haven't been this excited about a local designer since I saw Cary Santiago's Aviary wedding gown and the uniquely incorporated wood carvings in Furne One's gowns.  I recently discovered that Michael Cinco (yes of the America's Next Top Model Fame) does bridal collections too!

I am salivating over the details of these gowns...

(all photos from michaelcinco.com)

Di ba????? I've always been a fan of white and silver shiny details.  Makes all the needlework pop!  Love the ornate "backlace" (because a necklace is for the neck then what do you call it if you put it in the back? hehe).  Love the modern Filipiniana sleeve that would be really pretty in a modern Filipino wedding.  And in true middle eastern fashion - more is more so why not put crystals along the edges of each ruffle.  Heavy yes but sparkly double yes! 

There's more great and shiny stuff at http://www.michaelcinco.com/.  Be sure to check out how he works with lace.  Super modern and yet romantic at the same time.

Stay safe everyone!