Frannywanny

I can't believe I have 3 year old twins! It still feels like yesterday when I patiently waited for my scheduled CS day to come and how Paul and I finally welcomed them in this world on that fateful day at 6 in the morning. It's been 3 years of living a purposeful life being called Mama by my intelligent, adorable and very sweet twins J & L.  For someone who loves to plan everything down to the last detail, 2020 really taught us to be flexible, to be resilient, to accept change and to roll with the punches. As they say, when life throws you lemons... you make delicious lemon squares. Haha! Seriously, the year went by so fast and while it wasn't really a smooth sailing one, it's the year where we got to spend the most time with family. Before the pandemic happened, I worry that I might miss out on their developmental years as I have gone back to working full-time and I often wonder if doing so will make me spend less time with them too. I guess, life has its funny way...

As the clock struck 12, Paul quickly went to me and reminded me to check my phone. I knew what he meant so with several swift but careful motions, I tapped, I scrolled and YES! I've checked out. Today is 11.11 and it's the best day to go online shopping!  Beauty MNL  is also having one of the biggest sale across all their product categories. They have products for skin care, cosmetics, home, mom and kids, nail and hair care and more! I had so much fun shopping and I couldn't wait till today to shop so I went ahead and did my early shopping a couple of days ago.  Ordering was a breeze as the website was very functional and easy to navigate around. I love how they have added in a lot of description and photos to help me decide which ones to get. After making my transaction, I immediately got an email and within a day or two, my package has arrived. How fast was that?!  Since I rarely put on make up this year since I've been staying home since March, I decided to foc...

  " A party without cake is just a meeting." - Julia Child Well-said by one of my favorite cooking icons. *applause applause*  I do believe in this saying and for me, my birthday will never complete without cakeS. Yes, plural. I really love having a lot of cakes and while yearly, my family knows this already so we would have at least 2 cakes to enjoy. There are years wherein I'd get 3 or 4. However, this year was probably extra special despite being on lockdown (it was the first day of GCQ exactly on my birthday) as I got not 1, not 2, but 6 amazing cakes which we all enjoyed and shared with the rest of the family during my birthday! I was so touched with all the love and sweetness from my friends and family. One cake that stood out was this. It was from Hearts and Bells  who are very popular in the wedding scene as they specialize in creating wedding/tinghun/customized cakes. In fact, they have been my sister's go-to cake supplier as they made her wedding cake and th...

If you're going to sum up my life quarantining myself at home this 2020 -- it just be about 4 things. FAMILY. WORK. FOOD. DANCING.   Actually, the last one is very new.. like 2 weeks new. Yet, I'm glad that I finally took the first step to be a bit more active as I've spent 9 months sitting on my office chair from 9am to 12mn with very minimal toilet, eating, walking-around-the-house breaks in between. Such sedentary life I've led and it doesn't help that I've been stress-eating like crazy too. Sushi Bakes, Milk Tea, Sweets, Carbs, Carbs, and more Carbs. I realized though that I can't just rely on diets and when I'm hungry.. I get incredibly cranky and moody and that's no good especially for the welfare of the people around me. So.. I decided that if you can't beat 'em (food) then just burn 'em (calories!). So yes, 2 weeks ago, I signed up for my first ever dance workout class and I got to say that I was super out of shape. I no longer re...

Woah! I can't believe it's November and in 8 full weeks, we're bidding 2020 goodbye. Are you excited for that? If 2021 means having a better and fresh beginning that's free of sickness and calamities then I'm so ready to bid 2020 goodbye.  I had a very relaxing weekend that I think I just kept on napping whenever I can. In fact, I intend to spend my weekends that way. 101% of my time focused on my family and catching up on sleep whenever I can. My kids are growing up so fast and I just want to savor every moment with them. See, a few weeks ago, they celebrated their 3rd birthday. Can you believe it? It just feels like yesterday that I delivered them and Paul and I were still trying to learn the ropes on how to take care of newborn twins. Today, they're very opinionated toddlers who are not afraid to speak their mind and they can really make choices too. Anyway, more on the twins' birthday party as I can't wait to share how it went with you too.  For now,...

The internet is a space so vast that you'd think it's just impossible to meet someone real and much more, carry out a genuine friendship from that. After all, we have our online and offline personas. Some mirroring each other, the others totally different that would even put Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to shame. When I started Frannywanny.com and joined the local blogging community 13 years ago, Didi a.k.a. canDishhh was one of those who welcomed me so warmly and I gotta say that we hit it off instantly. Well, I guess, it's also because we both went to the same high school so that's one big similarity and we share a lot of common friends too. Besides that, I've always loved Didi's personality. She's very down-to-earth, brutally honest and is one of my very loyal friend. Back then, Didi and I were two single girls, not even engaged to be married and motherhood is totally far far away from the picture. I remembered how we would go out for dinner or would just chat ...

This was indeed a big big surprise. It started when I was chatting with my cousin and he casually mentioned Vito's BBQ  as we were talking about Chicken Rice dishes. I didn't thought much about it until I went online and saw a couple of friends from my high school posting about the same thing. "Hmm.. what is this  Vito's BBQ ?", I thought to myself. I was definitely so curious now and I quickly went to their Instagram page to check them out. Oh my! I'll warn you now. Do NOT go to their page at the middle of the night or you'll surely end up hungry and craving for Chicken BBQ. Trust me, I learned this the hard, hungry way.  Apparently, Vito's BBQ is named after the owners' 4 year old and he's so adorable! They started in Libis and recently, they opened their pick-up station in... *drumroll* Ronac Art Center along Ortigas Avenue and is even closer to home! Yahoooo!  Anyway, we celebrated Grandparent's Day last last week and I decided that...