I got to say that with a little more than a month left as we close 2019, The Grid Food Market was indeed one of my favorite foodie places this year. What's there not to love about it? It has a very good selection of food choices and I'd say, they didn't stop at being "good" but they really went above and beyond by getting the best in the industry. Here, you get only the most authentic Hainanese Chicken Rice, the yummiest Laksa, the highly desired Lobster Roll and of course, you finish off with the best Chocolate in town and award-winning cake selections too. Even my twins love it so much that we spent almost the entire day last Saturday dining at The Grid. We had lunch, merienda and dinner there and we never got tired of it as there were just a lot of options to choose from.
For my part 2, let me focus on 3 homegrown brands that has quickly made a name for itself in the foodie circle. One was first known for their ooey gooey, super sinful brownies. Another is the brainchild of a well-respected private chef in the society and lastly, well the only place in Manila where you can get the best Lobster / Crab rolls. I'm talking about Bucky's, Le Chon by Chef Happy Ongpauco-Tiu and Bun Appetit. These three stalls were one of the firsts to open at The Grid so I actually had the chance to try them several times since 2018. I think it's high time to share what I love from these three stalls and why you just have to drop by for a visit soon.
First is Bucky's. When I was in the Lion City, I've been reading how my foodie friends are going crazy over this super sinful, deep, dark chocolates which started their story in the hip area called Poblacion. Later on, Bucky's started to introduce more dishes and owning the tag line "more than just brownies". I never really got to visit them as I rarely go to Makati whenever we're in town for a short visit so I thanked my lucky stars when I found out that they're opening shop in The Grid Food Market.
We started with a platter of Twister Fries (Php. 150) because my twins just love their fries. You all know how much we always have to get them those delicious fries from Beefier it was really a gamble when I opted to introduce Bucky's Twister Fries which they loved as well. *phew* Yes, we can finally have Twister Fries all year long! Even my niece C loved the fries that she ended up with her own little plate for dinner last Saturday.
I recently discovered how much I enjoyed planning the birthday parties of my twins. Whether we have decided to make the party big or small, I love thinking of fun and creative ways to celebrate their special day. I have an entire year to plan for their 3rd birthday but I'm starting to list down some ideas already. Time flies like a speeding bullet and before you know it, my adorable twosome will turn another year older *sniffle*. Can they stay my babies for a little while longer?
I was so game to learn how to make my own Greenwich pizza and I had my little L who was ready to help me too. All participants of the Pizza Making Camp gets their own apron, a cap, sunglasses, name tag, some goodies, an activity placemat and of course, your certificate of completion. You also get all the ingredients needed to make your pizza and of course, the special dough.
Get ready to jump into muddy puddles and celebrate with us!
You'll probably be familiar with the phrase "muddy puddles" if you have toddler kids like us. Yes, Peppa Pig is in the house and this was our theme for the second birthday of the twins. After the big party last year, Paul and I decided to keep things simple this year for two reasons:
1) My beloved Angkong just passed away a little more than 100 years ago and..
2) We just wanted to keep this year's celebration intimate yet fun with family around.
I started planning for their birthday as early as March. Yes, not wanting to cram (which I still always end up doing) I started considering various venue options. One, a simple DIY swimming party with cousins where we can prepare fun snacks for kids and a heavy afternoon merienda for our adult guests, another option was to just eat out minus the frills and this, a party that's somewhere in the middle -- that's fun, simple yet memorable. Back in March, my twins were super into Mickey and Minnie and I thought to myself -- "PERFECT! A Mickey and Minnie theme is just super perfect for boy and girl celebrants." Then Peppa Pig and her family came into the picture and my twins are so in love with Peppa Pig and Brother George. It came to the point that they would cry if we have to control their screen time and one of their first few words was "Pa" for "Peppa". Oh boy!
So, Peppa Pig it was. I just had to make sure to give as much importance to Brother George so as not to turn the party all girly pink. This time, I learned a lot from my friend I who's one of the best DIY moms I know. She pointed me to several stores on Shopee and gave me a lot of good ideas. Months before their birthday, I started online shopping for all things Peppa Pig. From balloons to banners, from party loot bags to cake toppers.
I never thought that I'd be the type of mom who loves throwing parties for my little ones. Sure I love to plan but I never thought I'd actually enjoy going through the whole process of thinking of a theme, planning the decor, the food and even the cake. I guess, motherhood can really change you and for me, it has made me a more creative and resourceful mom.
Since my twins have just celebrated their 2nd birthday. I thought of doing a throwback and sharing with you how we celebrated their first birthday. As you know, first birthdays are a BIG thing here in our country. It's normally when the parents would really allot a bigger amount of budget and would go through the trouble of securing a venue months or even a year in advance. I don't blame them, after all, a baby turns 1 only once (haha) and well it's also a good way to celebrate 12 full months of sleepless nights parenthood. What more for us as we celebrated 12 full months of surviving twin parenting! Hooray, indeed.
the twins with their beautiful Ninang D!
Well, even before the twins were born, Paul and I agreed that we will postpone that grand clubhouse party till the twins are more "conscious" of their surroundings. We've attended way too many children's parties in our lives to notice that more often than not, the year old celebrant is asleep for most parts of his or her grand celebration. For us, that would be such a waste because while the other guests are truly having the time of their lives, the birthday celebrant has drifted off to lalaland. Also, we are very particular with the food. For us, a good party should have the yummiest food.
I can't remember the exact date when I last had my hair colored. Most probably it was sometime in 2016 as I have stopped my annual hair color treatment from the moment I got pregnant with my twins early in 2017 and all the way till I breastfed them. It's so funny because I have tiny white hairs sticking out around my "sideburns" area and when I told my cousin-in-law J that we're finally expecting a baby, he told me this "do me a favor, color your hair so that you'll be a pretty pregnant lady". I had to explain to him that doing hair color is a no-no especially when you'll be exposing yourself to harmful chemicals that might endanger your baby. He was really serious about his advice that he even sent me a whole package of facial mask. J, this is one reason why I love you! ♥
So anyway, we've heard a lot of things about Aveda hair products and one thing that stood out to me was how it makes use of all organic ingredients. That means, it's safe even for lactating mommies like my sister. The next step was to look for a salon that makes use of all Aveda products and we discovered Kazie Salon which is a very new salon along Scout Borromeo in Quezon City. So new that they just opened last October 26! I love the beautiful interiors, the amazing and personalized service and the fact that they chose to use such quality products.
Watch my video below to see how our hair color and treatment experience went:
If there's one thing that I love about Aveda is that it's so gentle on the scalp. I grew up thinking that coloring your hair will give you that stinging, itchy sensation and you just have to bare with it. Well, I later learned that using products with the right ingredients won't give you any of those. I love how it has also made my hair smell so good and soft to touch!
Price-wise, I feel that the hair color service of Kazie Salon is very reasonable and comparable to the other premium salons out there. For instance, the hair color for my hair length is about P3500. We're now converts of Aveda and we have learned to give more attention to every single products that we use. After all, we have to take good care of our body in any way we can.
Check out Aveda on Instagram and on Zalora. Also, visit Kazie Salon at 38-B, 1103 Scout Borromeo, Diliman, Quezon City.
Here are 3 main reasons why I love salmon: - It's rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B, protein and all the good things making it good for your heart. - It's almost always served boneless which is perfect for people like me who do not like deboning their fish. - It's so easy to prepare and so versatile too! Regardless if you steam, bake, fry, pan-fry or grill it, you're pretty much assured of having a good salmon dish.
So, when I received several packs of Seaking frozen salmon cuts a month ago, I was so happy! Well, it was perfect timing too that it arrived just in time for Paul's birthday and you all know how I love going the extra mile for his birthdays so I decided, we have a nice fancy dinner with Baked Salmon as part of the menu.
Anyway, I used the same recipe but since Seaking makes use of Wild Alaskan Keta Salmon, I have to make some slight adjustments. You see, keta salmon has less fat compared to its more popular counterpart. I'm glad though that the finish product turned out well and the birthday boy as well as my parents were happy with our salmon dish.
Dearest J & L, Where did the days go? Just last year, I remembered throwing your first birthday party together with our family and our closest friends. I can't believe it has been a year since then and you're now blowing out two candles from your cake.
This year, Mommy and Daddy became really busy with work. I still feel bad that I no longer can spend every waking hour with the two of you but someday, I hope you'll understand why Mommy had to go to the office or when Daddy and I had to leave you with Ama and Kongkong to attend meetings. Everything that we do now is for the two of you and as I reach home at night, nothing makes my stress and fatigue go away in a snap than with your warm hugs and never-ending kisses. I love it when you would continue to increase your daily count of saying "Mama" day after day. Mama loves you both super duper duper too.
