Birthday Wish

Found the place for dog lovers! It's been awhile since I decided not to have pets...and now I am so ready to have them again. I miss Mozart and Pumpkin. And while I enjoy the company of Dexter and Einstein, they are in Cebu and I rarely get to see them.

So I am starting to shop around and checking different dog breeds. I want to investigate and lear more. You know just to try new experience. Living with dogs is great yet it is never easy. Dogs need care and can be very expensive too! But then they are always worth it, and I know most of you guys agree. Right? ;)

I am hoping the IT Guy gets to to read it...or maybe some nice friends and will send me a puppy soon. I have been wanting to have one for awhile now, just that I couldn't seem to find the time to really look for one for myself. I am really hoping to have it soon...after all, my birthday is coming! Ahem. LOL

Right now I am just trying to educate myself more on how to be very organize and in making sure I am very much ready when the time comes...which I am really hoping to be soon!

And It Still Shocked Me?!

Remember that recent online discovery IT Guy and I had on nfl sunday ticket?!

Well we did get our friend unlimited nfl sunday ticket schedule, if you get what I mean. He's so happy with it and well I just can't believe it! LOL He is indeed an NFL fan...and a big one at that. He is saying his Sundays couldn't be any better. Wow! Amazing.

Anyway today I got a call from him asking me for nfl sunday ticket price. I was like no way! It's your gift to you and why should we tell you how much we got it. That is kind of odd, right? But then he told me his friends want it too....oookay, but hello, go get it yourself! Don't ask me! LOL

Anyway this friend has just some amazing charm that I went ahead and gave eventually. Now I can imagine several souls locked up inside their houses every Sunday enjoying NFL to no end.

Again...let me say it out loud. WOW!

Another Online Discovery

My friend is crazy with NFL. Okay...maybe he is worst than that! LOL

Last week he did something really sweet for me wanting me to return the favor...very badly. While rocking my head on the way home on what to give him, IT Guy suggested that I just get him an nfl sunday ticket. I was like what?!

Forgive me but I know nothing about it.

IT Guy told me that he did not mean the "ticket" literally. He means the friend might love watching NFL games every Sunday...with no hassle. So I did take a look on the nfl sunday ticket price and nfl sunday ticket schedule. Sounds amazing.

It will apparently let the friend can catch up to 200 NFL games per season which is up to 14 NFL games each and every Sunday! I can just imagine how his next Sundays would be.

Details

...are what the eye fastens on and remembers!

IT Guy is out of town the whole week. He took an 8AM flight this morning and will be back Saturday morning. I am frowning a bit at this trip for several reasons. This morning he told me he will be asking something from me that will preoccupy for the rest of week. He is asking me to help him with his office make over.

Yes, you read it right -- OFFICE MAKEOVER!

Well...it is not an easy task. But I have to admit, my heart jumped in anticipation...LOL

IT Guy's office is quite big for an office...considering he is the only one staying there. He can have a group meeting/ conference inside if he wants too! Yet he has a conference room too. My mind is racing as what I'll put on his office...how I'd re-arrange the exiting fixtures and what other fixtures I need to add!

I wish I have a photo to show you on his existing office. But well, just say it is a mess. For my taste and category...it is a mess. It needs a makeover indeed.

So the first thing I did this morning is go over the net to get ideas on what fixtures I can bring into his office...something classy...presentable yet practical. I get to this retail store fixtures and they just have an amazing collection of fixtures to choose from. Not only they're very good for stores which are newly opened or newly renovated...but their items can also be used in any business offices...up to home use. How cool is that?!

I saw this very chic nesting table.

This will be good on the far right side of his office...where the long couch is...it's ecru so the colors will just blend.

Within his personal area (not sure yet if it will be at his side or back) he can also make use of some racks for literature displays.

I also saw a pretty wood flower cart! I have to admit the first time I saw it, I got selfish as I thought of my porch and my garden first. But I am thinking this will be a good fixture in his office too...as I always believe a flower always gives any room more life! This I have to convince and I hope he trust my creative prowess.

I guess his office also needs some repainting...and I am so hoping we can do that this weekend. I am a sucker for home...office...store makeover!

And to my friend who just booked a space at the mall...this is something for you to read and ponder on! Ha ha ha! There are just so many useful items you can grab from them...trust me!

By the way, I'm still not done with my home improvement project as I am still having a hard time deciding on what palette to use.

Have you done any makeover lately?

I Garden

...therefore I am.

Another beautiful Monday...another day...another week...another chance to better things!

I missed Fun Monday last week...the past days were rather manic as I have to attend to some urgent matters. I'm so grateful I made it here today!

Faye of Summit Musings is our lovely Fun Monday host this week...and her topic...how awesome, "Your Thoughts on Gardening".

I so love her topic! I am a lover of gardens! As I have said several times here, put me in a garden with some book or my laptop and I'm good. ;) I can't imagine my house without anything greens...I mean, real plants! I keep telling the IT Guy...I don't care much for a big house...I just need a nice garden.

My garden as I mentioned the past week is still a work in progress. Yet I am more than happy to show you parts of it! Below is an amateur collage I did last minute for this post...

The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses.

~Hanna Rion

I love flowers...and one of my Mom's favorite is the first photo on the left side...I forgot to ask her what it's called! Anyone knows? :D

Then I also have some bonsais. I used to climb mountains and every time I see a nice tree I try to bonsai it. I just don't have the time for it now...but still happy to have bonsai plants to accompany me in my solitude! The bonsai in the collage is a rubber tree.

The next two photos shows our very young vegetable garden. On the left side is a bitter melon or bitter gourd and we call it here as ampalaya...and the other photo shows the lemon grass...sweet yams (behind the lemon grass) and the vines in the wall, they are Malabar spinach...the locals here call it alugbati!

The last set of photos well, that is a tree from the Cypress family...and the other photos is just to show how I want everything to be green! LOL

I want my ground to be green than cemented...so I really invested on Bermuda grass for the lawn and we started planting them late quarter of last year!

The veggie garden by the way is courtesy of my Dad...he seems to grow everything! Or make that I am from a family of green thumbs! WOOT!

My love for nature in generally is something I got from my family...from parents...and grand parents. I started appreciating gardening or planting in general early as I always spend my summer vacation at my grand parents farm. The farm supplies rice...coffee...some vegetables.

The garden at home gives us some quick fix on things too. Like for instance when I need to send some people flowers, my garden has enough foliage...so I just buy the flowers. (I still have to grow roses...) We also get our vegetables from the garden...well the ones available.

[ADDED]

Pam's comment reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask if people with garden also get to have problems with fire ants. When we were just starting planting the bermuda grass that was a major issue! Not to mention the fact that my skin reacts to anything...so fire ants bites would always do damage to my skin...leaving dark spots...on top of the pain and itchiness!

Later on we learned to control it through different methods of fire ant baits and trying some fire ants killer. I will not say for now that we have totally eradicated them...but I am happy to say that we have them under control. :)

And I found this site which gives tips on how on treating fire ants bites...I personally find them useful as I did not know then what to do...as I was just worried about the scar or blemishes it will leave.

So those are my gardening thoughts...and I am so excited what others have to share...so let hop to Summit Musings to check what other Fun Monday participants has!

Wish you all a great week!


P.S.

I have updated the site I created last year for Fun Monday. I intend to update it regularly from now on to help people check the host and topic each week. I will also be updating it's blog roll for participants...

TV Shows...

It's the menace that everyone loves to hate

but can't seem to live without.

~Paddy Chayevsky

I have to admit, I am not a fan of TV Shows...not for anything but because of work hours...for years now I have been on a night shift and getting sleep in the day time affect my relationship with the TV, ha! There were times I used to watch a lot and will keep up with them and arrange my schedule to make sure I get to watch my favorite shows...those were the days of Ally McBeal...and MacGyver. LOL

Lately is just a matter of if I have the time, then I watch...but the IT Guy loves the TV! So that leaves me watching shows with him when we are together and I don't have work. I have to admit, there are just TV shows which are quite interesting and we enjoy watching together...topping our list are CSI and Ghost Whisperer.

CSI well...this is my kind of show! If you have been here for some time you would know that with my love for Bond movies...and Tom Clancy books it won't be a surprise that I love CSI. I just love how I get to learn some things in every episode...and how I get to confirm some stuff which I already knew...have read...heard about! So you can imagine how I discuss with IT Guy the legalities on how information should be gathered to make them admissible to court making sure there are no rights violated, etc, etc! While he on the other hand explains to me technology and gadgets involved! We get to focused at some point that we have to google after at some point to know more...LOL This show is one show which I enjoy because it let me think and think more!

Another interesting show which I get to watch and knew through the IT Guy is Ghost Whisperer. He told me I should watch it because the theme is something he thinks would interest me. Very true! It got me hooked! LOL Though I will say it just all a fantasy show for me as I have my own faith and belief on things, still it is something I get to enjoy. It entertains a part of me without boring me because it also make me think and think more! ;) See...it is always about how it preoccupies my mind in moments I watch them...and the more they let me think, the more I find them entertaining!

So...what about you...what TV shows do you watch? Or should I say, do you watch TV after all?! ;)

If you share my opinion about the said shows, you may want nominate this post for DIRECTV BoB Awards and DIRECTV Awards...or you may want to share in the comment your story!

My Thankful Thursday post is just below!

The Joy of Cooking!

They call it culinary arts...I say it's passion! Cooking as they say is like making love, you do it well, or you do not do it at all. Ha!

I have always find joy in cooking and there was a time when I used to spend most of my weekend at home trying out recipes. IT Guy shares this passion with me...so some of our weekends are escapades in the kitchen. Lately we have been a little aggressive in checking out cook books, magazines, TV shows and even culinary schools. Can you believe that?!

Looks like we have gotten serious with what seems to just be a hobby right? Well it's just that we realize culinary can be a promising career...either as a profession (employment) or for anything entreprenurial (business). You can check All Culinary Schools for interesting information about culinary. The site offers a wide range of information, from culinary career options to culinary schools! Just a great start for people who has passion for culinary and is still exploring their options.

Happy (not so) WORDful (less) Wednesday!

House To Home (Planning Stage)

I am just too excited not to make a post on my most recent project at home...my home improvement plan! As I have mentioned in one of my Fun Monday post on bedroom walls and bathroom I try to change my home design according to season. It's summer here and I feel the need to move around stuff to accommodate the warmth and the sunlight!

The very important thing to consider then making a home improvement is organizing one's thoughts and ideas! This is quite hard for me yet so necessary or I end up having too many colors in my hand and I might need an instant extension of the house just to accommodate my decors...LOL

One's you have made up your mind on what you want to do (major or minor) and the areas of concern, you have to determine your budget. To some, this may come first yet I believe there are so many creative ways to make our goals happen without spending so much.

For my project I only target the living room, the porch and maybe about 10% of the kitchen. I won't be doing anything major on them all though, just some few touches on the interior designs which would be mostly on changing colors!

My main goal is...creating space! I need to re-organize the furniture and fixture of these rooms and decorate one room at a time.

I just picked lemon yellow as my inspirational theme for the living room and will look for some earth tones that would go with it for the porch. This shouldn't be so hard for me as I do crafts. I am so excited to showcase my own work to compliment the new design of these rooms...

Next part that needs a little make-over is the kitchen! Me think we need a new kitchen sink! I found some interesting design and make of sinks there. We will be going over each kind this weekend to decide what we need for the sink here. We are only replacing two of the kitchen sinks for now and will see how it will go.

I can't wait to post photos on the outcome of this project. I am giving myself a time line 12 days. A bit tough but well, I need to waste some energy right?!

What about you? What's your home improvement story? Care to share? Any tips?

Fun Monday on a Friday!

Wow...I just can't believe I've been gone for a week!

I'm sending my apologies to Karisma for missing her Fun Monday this week. My schedule just got crazy...and my body is telling me to slow down...so I've been catching up with my sleep the past days.

I promised Karina to make a late post...because I just love her theme - I Made It Myself!

Mariposa flutters anywhere...with anything...anytime!

So, here are some of the anything that gets to Mariposa's hand...

Mariposa can do balloon arrangement, please check what I did in our Christmas Party last year.

Mariposa can also cook...do table settings...and scented candles as evident in our last Easter Celebration this year!

I believed I have mentioned in my past post that I have a butterfly garden, and that some people buy butterflies from for weddings. Yes, we have butterfly release here too. I sell them only if it the release is done outdoors.

This week, we got an order...for 100 butterflies! So today, I had to make the cage for the butterflies. It was kind of a challenge because this is the first wedding I've handled that has umm...an unusual color motiff. I know some would go for multiple colors...but usually they're pastel colors...or the rainbow shade...but this one?! Ha! It has the following color motiff - fuschia pink, torquise blue, celadon green, tangerine orange and sunflower yellow! Can somebody tell me if this is a "thing" for 2008?! I have not read anything that says so...

Anyway...I had to make it. So here I am making the cage...

Finally, I've managed to combine the other 3 colors here...

And here is the cage...less the butterflies!

I'd like to thank my official photographer...no other than the IT Guy! LOL Yup, yup, he is that crazy over me...when he can't bother me because I'm doing something...he either stares at me...or take pictures of me. These photos were taken from my cellphone! ;)

I've been up since yesterday...so I need to go to bed soon...will be back for other post!

Participants of
Friday's 40 Photo Challenge my entry will be up later today.

Day to Read

I got into WhollyBurble's site, and she inspired me to excuse my life from RL issues and do the things I love to do, READING that is!

So, I am joining Day to Read.

On Jan. 10, 2008, let us take time to READ.

Read anything you wish to read...

but haven't taken the time to,

...a book...

a magazine...

a newspaper...

what have you!

I have been a great fan of books! Books has always been my comfort. If I'm sad, I read. I'f I'm glad, I read. If I'm lonely, I read. If I want to travel but don't have the time and resources to do so, I read.

Most books I am reading and are with me are classics, philosophical (include slef-helped) and business books of course!

An all-time favorites of mine are:

* The Good Earth by Pearl Buck, this books reminds me of my Grandpa who valued land so much. Most of my childhood memories were spent with him in his farm. He allowed me the privilege to plant rice, corn and understand the values of land and agriculture. It breaks my heart to listen to my Aunts and Uncles plan about selling the land. So that I'm saving to hard to make sure I have enough to buy it if ever they really decide to. Some of the parcels had already been disposed and is in my name now. That is not an investment for me though (people may think it is!) but my little attempt to keep connected with my Grandpa whom I dearly love and missed!

* The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I read this when I was 13 and I still love reading it again whenever I have the time, after all they say, "If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” It taught me at a very yourn age that Beauty depends on the eye of the beholder. More than anything, this book made me decide never to let go the child in me. I never wanted to be those adults who never understood what the Little Prince was drawing, it was a boa's constrictor, not a hat. :)

* Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. This book made me realize what to look for in a book. It is never what the author says, but what the book whispers...and it whispered to me. "..there is no there, there!" This encourages me to spread my wings and fly...

* The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. This is the book that I grew up with and how I go back to the different characterisitcs in the story today...as I have been the Lion, the Tin WoodMan, the Scarecrow and etc. at some point in my life.

I still have a lot, and most of them are classics, I love the works of the following authors, Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, John Grisham, and a lot more. I'm too lazy to type all of them, but you can browse my bookshelf here anytime...

So not only I commit myself to Jan. 10, 2008 as a Day to Read but I commit myself here to read a good book and post the review here. (Books that I have been wanting to read but haven't find time to!)

Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere. So, read with me and the rest of the world and together, let us get there! ;)

Thank you!