Tuesday, July 31, 2012

dear motorcycle driver


A few weeks back, in just 2 morning drives, I almost hit 5 motorcycles. These 5 motorcycles were on my right side when I was about to turn right. I had my signal light on for a couple of meters and yet, they didn't even slow down at the corner and just sped straight past my car. It was a good thing I checked my side-mirror before making the turn!

So dear motorcycle driver, please check for signal lights at corners. Not everyone will make a signal AND check their side-mirror. So even if you're not waiting for a sign, I'm telling you a signal light is IT. Please, please watch out for those blinking light signs on cars.

Photo from heritage.

Click here for previous posts from the Dear... series. Click here for a previous post about motorcycles.

Monday, July 30, 2012

i wish...


Got text messages from both Noah and Isabella's teachers that classes are cancelled today.

What about me??? I wish my office would text me too that today has been cancelled. Coz I'd really just like to go back to bed.

Photo from heritage.

Click here for one of those bed-weather days in 2011 - with Diane Kruger and Justin Timberlake.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

tricky trick


As you know from here, I am pretty lazy. So my Simple Trick series only covers quick and easy-to-do tips & tricks. Seriously, if I can do them, you can too.

But if you aren't as lazy as me, here's a charming DIY project. If you decide to follow my tip here to switch from bulky wooden hangers to flock ones, you can put them to good use as a coat, scarf or hat rack in your foyer. Okay, maybe that wasn't as relevant to our hot & humid Manila weather... Perhaps, for your bag or umbrella?

I love these handwritten phrases on the hangers.


This particular trick - the writing on hangers, I can do. But not this next one... 


Sawing half of the wooden hangers, mounting them on a wooden panel, and then on the wall is just too difficult for me (who often, cannot even open a mineral water bottle).


Too bad. Coz it's really charming! More detail on how to do it here.

Photos from here.

Click here for the of-dots-&-things version of this post. Click here for much easier - but I swear, very helpful - tricks than this.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

my nighttime drive


Speaking of listening to the radio during drive-time here, there is this DJ that makes me want to just grab my bag and get out of my car. In fact, I've stopped listening to this particular radio station on my way home from work. Because I just couldn't stand the accent of their female DJ.

When it started about 3 months ago, even though her accent really bothered me, I kept listening to her every night that week. Oddly, it didn't occur to me to switch stations. I think it was because I felt there was something wrong with her pronounciation, but I couldn't tell what was wrong exactly. So I found myself repeating her pronounciation of certain words over and over to figure out what sounded so wrong.

And I swear, it's not because my standards are too high. I'm perfectly fine with barok Filipino-English. After hearing this DJ, I don't even mind the trying-hard-to-have-an-American-twang kind of Filipino-English. Because this girl just says things in a majorly wrong way.

For example, the word "debut". I wouldn't have minded hearing "day-byu" or "de-bu". But mixing it up and pronouncing it "de-byu" just gave me a migraine.

I later found out from a friend that this DJ is really hot-looking. Doesn't she know that radio is a medium for 'better-heard-than-seen' people? Those 'better-seen-than-heard' types like her belong on a visual medium like TV! As Joey of Friends said, "Radio, that's just for ugly people."

Photo from annnniegirl.

Click here for the of-dots-&-things version of this post - my morning drive. Click here for previous posts on my Friends addiction.

Monday, July 16, 2012

the runway show i DID watch


I would have liked to see Project Runway Philippines Season 3 winner, Milka Redoble's finale collection LIVE. It would have been great to see how the fabrics really look (am sure it's different on TV) and get a glimpse (though probably a far view) of the construction (was that puckering I saw on TV?). But I didn't get tickets this season.


I do remember watching Season 2 with Isabella and a few friends. I remember being sooooo excited for Isabella because at that time, she dreamed of becoming a fashion designer (she now wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up).


She had her own Project Runway sketchbook and designed some pretty amazing ensembles. And to think, she was only 11 then!


I found it endearing how she designed outfits for other people. She didn't just stick to her own style. Because early on, she declared her style as G.P.R.S. - Gothic Princess Rock Star. Imagine skulls with hearts for eyes. Yet not all of her sketches were G.P.R.S.!


A year later, she was such a fan of Project Runway that for her birthday, I gave her a "shopping-at-Mood" experience in fabric stores in SM Megamall.


Since then, Isabella has switched dreams. She doesn't even watch Project Runway with me anymore. So while I wish I could have watched this past season's finale live, if I had to choose just one time to watch a runway show with Isabella, I'd still pick that day in 2009... When it was still a dream come true for her.         

Photos are my own, from Isabella's old scrapbooks, and from here.

Click here for the of-dots-&-things version of this post - the one about this season's winner.

Friday, July 13, 2012

visions of a mugshot


I just got a call from Noah's teacher. Turns out the Daddy of one of his classmates wants to talk to me. Oh no!!! What did Noah do?


I am dreading the conversation with Noah tonight. Moreso, the conversation with his classmate's parents. Because I have visions of him in a mugshot. :(


Gosh, I hope he's innocent.

Photos from here.

Click here and here for less incriminating posts about Noah. Because I promise, he is a sweet, sweet boy!

Monday, July 9, 2012

a different window view


Remember how I hate my windows here? I never ever pull back the curtains because I really find what's behind them so unsightly.

Well, I now see my windows in a whole new light. After I woke up to this...


... the sight of the kids playing on my window ledge.


Noah and my niece weren't even playing the same game. Denise was playing with Noah's old toy piano (will post about this soon) and Noah was playing with some dice & Captain America. But they were perfectly happy on that thin ledge covered by my curtains.

I guess for them, it felt like their own little fort.


And what kid wouldn't want a fort of their own?

Yes, I now see my windows in a whole new light. Now, I like pulling the curtains back a bit to catch a glimpse of the kids playing quietly in their own little fort.


It doesn't matter that my windows are unsightly because the sight of the kids playing in front of it is much, much more delightful!  

Photos are my own and from annnniegirl & pinkwallpaper.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

when words & the picture do NOT collide

Remember when I let words and pictures collide here and here? Like I posted then, a picture may be worth a thousand words, but a picture combined with the right words is a thousand times more powerful. Well, here's an example of when the words and picture just do NOT make sense together.


I don't see her smile. Cannot even see her face! And how can your eye not go to her butt?!

Seriously, the smile quote is lost on me with that silhouette of her behind peeking through her sheer dress.

Photo from heritage.