A Bit of Sunshine from a Wedding

I wanted to show a bit of sunshine from our house! This is super late post since I scored the flowers from my friend's wedding.  This is one of the perks of staying up until the end of a wedding reception, you can grab the flowers from the tables as the stylists or caterers are packing up.  Most of them are more than happy to collect the flowers for you since they will just wilt and go to waste since the bride and groom's family can only take home so much of these blooms.  Just be sure not to take the vases home.  Most of the time these are not part of the wedding favors. 

 By the way, I looooove my bird vase! You can make them out at the side of the neck of the vase. I love them.  Scored again from Uniwide!

Belated Happy Puso Day!

So how did your Valentine's day go?  From my news feed on Facebook, I seem to notice that more people are feeling the looooove this year.  I think we have come to realize that love comes in all shapes and forms and romantic love is not the only reason that one should celebrate this day of hearts.  Well, it could be that, or that most of my friends have gotten over the Valentine's Day angst that is so common when one is younger.  The angst that makes one wear all black and stare grudgingly at each person who's holding a bear, a bouquet or a box of ferrero rocher chocolates (yes may brand talaga).

Since I am taking things easy around this time and hubby has to work, we celebrated Valentine's Day in a pretty low key manner we had breakfast out then...

We finally got an S and R card!

This is a big deal for me because this means I can just go there anytime I want and buy pizza on a whim. :)

Dear husband also made breakfast for me on the 15th.  He made paninis at home. Kasi "panini"ndigan niya daw kami palagi. Hahahaha That and we got a chance to eat at La Piadina again and we loved their four cheese piadina.  Love the grill marks! 

And it is always great to receive flowers, just goes to show that guys would go to great lengths to buy over priced blooms this time of the year.  I love it!

And the little one got something pretty too! 

May everyday be a Happy Puso Day!

Green and Aubergine

Just because leaves are pretty too.

Leaves from outside. The vase is from Uniwide.

It's a bit rough around the mouth edges. I think it's supposed to be a perfume bottle.

I'm not complaining though, it's a steal at Php 35.00!

Rainy - Sunny Days

Just a couple of weeks ago we were battered by torrential monsoon rains.  This week there's more than enough sunshine to drive our dogs to the back of the garage to find shade from the heat! 

One rainy afternoon, I happened to change things up in the display cabinet. Yellow for the sun, blue for the rain and green because yellow and blue makes green. Here's to better weather as we enter the hectic -ber months! (That's a lot of -er's!)

 

Top left: All owls and the elephant came from Uniwide

The elephant made it's presence known by blaring "Eeeeeeeeeooooooaaa!" 

(Yes that is my elephant animal sound.  In your world what sound does an elephant make?)

This owl saw the elephant first and shouted "What is this madness!?!"

I like my animals in a solid color and doing pretty weird poses. Makes it easier to think of lines that they might say to each other.

Top right side: Eiffel Tower from 168 in Divisoria, green jar, cake stand and owls from Uniwide, assorted books and our palaspas from last Holy Week. (Oh yes let's use what we can!)

Lower Right: Ceramic beige flower from Uniwide, Intertwined elephants from Mandaue Foam, Blue jars with bronze glaze gift bought from the US and the letter M.

Lower left: All jars and vases from Uniwide ( I love the cobalt blue and the yellow one with flowers perched on the side!), the letter T and wooden frame message board from Robinsons.

Next time you see the shelf it will be spruced up for Halloween!!!!! Soooooo exciting! 

In the mean time,

what sound does an elephant make? :)

Now Showing: The Show Cabinet!

One thing that I've noticed with Filipino households is that we only get to change the decor in the house when it's Christmas. So basically a house would have two "looks". Once I started reading foreign blogs they mentioned having a "fall mantle" or a "Christmas mantle" or "Valentine Entryway". And it got me to thinking, yeah why don't we rotate the decor around the house? Put away those that you won't use for now so that you can showcase a few interesting pieces at a time. :)

So now I show you what I've been doing to our show cabinet!

It looked like this when we moved in and during the house blessing. :)

photo from my sister's cam

Top left: bunny bride and groom was a gift for our wedding, M and T letters came from an invitation place at Alabang Town Center
Top right: silver vases and black vase from Uniwide, tall clear crystal jar from SM and small crystal candy jar from Metro Alabang. Fresh flowers from palengke (market)
Lower right: brooch bouquet by yours truly, silver candle sticks from Uniwide, frame and pictures were from waaay back. All shots take by good friends Iking and Alvin (represent!), clear candy jar from Metro Market Market, silver plate from Uniwide with assorted knick knacks
Bottom letft: black and whote frame gift from the wedding, silver candle sticks from Uniwide, vintage bag was also a gift but it can also be bought at Simple joys and clear candy jar also from Metro

Now it looks like this! A little bit more color and a touch of Valentines. :)

Top left: Same bunny groom, letter M and vintage bag, set of aqua vases gift from mother in law from the US

Top right: same bunny bride and letter T, green jar, pink flower, beige basket, white tumbler with aqua zebra lining from Uniwide, white candle holder house warming gift, green flowers from Landmark

Bottom left: same silver candle sticks and bouquet, rustic jar from Uniwide, heart candy can from Gourdos and ornate mirror from.... Wait for it.... NOVO!!!!! Just Php 79.00!!!!

Bottom right: same silver vases, aqua books from my collection, white diffuser was part of a set which was a Christmas gift for us, striped can from Hubby (I think it was used to package tea sets), tiffany blue bowl and khaki flower from Uniwide, purple flowers from Landmark and clear cup cake stands iwth dome covers from Gourdos

This is the first thing I see when I enter the house so yes, it makes me happy in soooo many different ways. :)

New Year New Life

OK I promise this will be the last title with repeating words. (for now hahaha)

feel free to download this calendar via hello, cuteness!

After one year and five months of wedded bliss.  I know you're probably thinking that I felt my world drastically change last year.  However, since we spent most of these times living at my room at my mom's house and at my in law's place, we felt that we did not have to adjust that much.  There is something about lived in homes.  There is a system to each family, schedules and routines that vary from household to household.  Where you put things, where you get things.  We just had to abide by these systems.  Now that we are together in our own home, it's taking some time for us to adjust and to develop our own system for our home.

That's why I love this list from apartment therapy!  It gives me a sense of control over what to do everyday.  Unlike other people, I actually plan to start January 7, 2013.  Why wait for one more week?  Officially that's when I return to work. And also because my crazy friends are coming on January 5 for our Christmas/New Year party so after all that mayhem that at least I have a clean slate to work with. :)  So here's a 20 minute clean up schedule for 30 days.  They actually recommended that you have a cleaning sound track (this really helps!) and also use a timer so that you can actually see how much time you have left to do a particular task. 

1. Surface clean living room and kitchen (pick up stray items, dust, sweep, vacuum)

2. Clean bathrooms (toilets, showers, floors, walls, mirrors)

3. Surface clean bedrooms (put away toys, clothes, dust)

4. Surface clean "extra" rooms (basement, office, play room)

5. Surface clean living room and kitchen

6. Clean bathrooms

7. Clean all interior windows (white vinegar and newspaper works great and is cheap!)

8. Sweep and vacuum all floors in the house (don't forget stairs)

9. Surface clean bedrooms

10. Deep clean living room (mirrors, baseboards, dust artwork)

11. Clean bathrooms

12. Clean out closets (hang up clothes, mittens, jackets, hats)

13. Surface clean "extra" rooms

14. Deep clean bedrooms (organize drawers, check under bed, tidy closet, dust artwork, fans, lights, mop)

15. Surface clean living room and kitchen

16. Deep clean bathrooms (clean inside drawers, inside of trash cans, tops of mirrors, tile, mop)

17. Clean all door knobs, phones, entertainment equipment (remote controls), switch plates, banisters and other things that are repeatedly touched.

18. Clean out the refrigerator, take stock of food, organize pantry

19. Clean entryway, sweep porch (if you have one), clean out car (because they're often our home away from home)

20. Surface clean living room and kitchen

21. Surface clean bathrooms

22. Surface clean bedrooms

23. Sweep and vacuum all floors in the house

24. Clean linen closet, straighten towels, sheets or regular closet if not applicable

25. Surface clean living room and kitchen

26. Deep clean kitchen (scrub appliances, wash trash cans, base boards, wipe down and straighten cabinets)

27. Surface clean bathrooms

28. Surfaces clean bedrooms

29. Clean one item you've been meaning to get to and haven't (deep clean your stove, wipe down all light fixtures, tackle a particularly unruly area)

30. Sweep and vacuum all floors in the house

In our case, we also have to add a couple of other tasks that we have to do daily.  Laundry was suggested to be done daily but I don't think that's feasible, too much water and energy consumption me thinks.  There are two more chores that we have to do daily which is watering the plants and releasing the Cracken este walking the dog pala.  Will introduce the giant teddy bear to you in a few days.  :)  If you want to see the whole article on cleaning schedules, you can check it here.

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! 

via

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?

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. :)

Fairy Lights!

So I was looking for bedroom lighting inspiration.  My hubby was not so sure about using our awesome Ikea Maskros pendant light like it was used here.  He keeps thinking the ceiling might not be high enough but I kinda like the idea waking up every morning to its awesomeness.   Enter fairy lights.

Yes I know we grew up to know this by its other monicker Christmas Lights but I like Fairy Lights more.  Gives us a reason to use it all year round. Sooooo pretty!

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I would live in the attic if it looked like this...

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Another take on the rustic tree branch canopy bed, let's just edit out that bed side table.

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You can also use it as accent light for windows or for your dressing room mirror!

And we can always take advantage of Fairy Lights in other colors, this would definitely be dim enough to keep you chill and sleepy.

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Now if only hubby would agree with any of these. (I wish!) I would just have to think of a way to incorporate this into our house. :)