Ten Things I'm Thankful For Tuesday

♥ Turning in my pages for a magazine. (:
♥ Getting all my to-dos done for the week.
♥ Laugh-out-loud kind of fun with my friends.
♥ Hanging out with my best friend a week before she says "I do."
♥ Switching cable providers: 90210 Sunday marathons are baaack. HAHA!
♥ A glass of iced tea tarik to go with breakfast.
♥ My first quiz night!
♥ My new favorite game: Scramble with Friends (start a game with me! My username is macysfields)
♥ Figuring out how to use that resurrection thing on Temple Run. d:
♥ Payday! (: Money might not make the world go round, but it sure does pay the bills!

Baker's Bites: Red Velvet

I tried to search for a recipe for these cupcakes that were "the best Red Velvet cupcakes ever" according to a friend. I tweaked the recipe I found a bit till I found  just the right mix. If you're curious, head on over to my Facebook Page and order a dozen (or two!). (:

Shot Through the Heart and You're to Blame

Music Monday

My brother tweeted a link to this video last week. Hilarious!

Tasty Tuesday

Treats at last week's book launch for One Crazy Summer and Fan Girl, both written by absolutely brilliant people who I'm honored to call my friends (also my bosses, hahaha). Can't wait to try the recipes in the book!

Wishful Wednesday

A dress to wear to a beach wedding in March. Where can I find one?

Thoughtful Thursday

Hair inspiration for short 'dos. I don't know what to do with my hair for my best friend's wedding this weekend!

{ via Once Wed, 100 Layer Cake 1 2, The Glamourai }

Fashion Friday

I haven't been doodling my outfits this year, but I've consistently been Pose-ing. Har har. I don't know what is it with my fascination for chronicling what I wear every day. It's not like my outfits are anything special, haha!

Weekend Wind Down

January has been on full speed so far and I'm glad I have today to kind of take it easy. I made Red Velvet cupcakes this morning, an order for a friend celebrating a belated Chinese New Year. Letters to Juliet is on cable right now and I'm enjoying some well-deserved me time before heading out to fulfill my maid of honor duties. In 6 days, my best friend is marrying the love of her life. (:

Someone said that it isn't going to be a very good year for people born on The Year of the Dog (I'm a water dog). And I have to admit, the first four weeks of 2012 haven't exactly been easy. But in the spirit of "happiness is a choice," I am trying to see the good things and hoping for the best.

Starting with: Ending my work week with the Lolas seeing a hilariously cheesy-baduy film, my Red Velvet cupcakes coming out perfect even if my oven's light magically turned itself off, a yummy Saturday breakfast, our book project finally taking shape, the magazine I started working on also slowly but surely moving forward, and I am NOT working from home this weekend. (: See? It isn't so bad after all.

Foodie Finds: All Things Pretty

I met up with my friend Teresa (we share the same birthday!) after almost 2 years of not seeing each other. She told me about this place and she thought it was something I'd like to check out.

It's located at Capitol Hills Golf and Country Club, a place I used to frequent as a kid since my dad used to play golf there. I was surprised to see how much it had changed!

Check out that gorgeous fridge! I want one for my future home. It matches my KitchenAid perfectly.

The staff were all donning Cath Kidston aprons and the tables outside had CK table cloth, too. I loved how everything looked so... shabby chic, for lack of a better description.

Pink, blue, and white all over. They even had a picket fence around the restaurant. Super cute!

While waiting for our orders, we were served popcorn, pretzels, and marshmallows in a pretty pink polka dot mug.

I ordered the Potato Chip Fried Chicken which came with heart-shaped rice. Aww. It was a safe order. I mean, how can you get fried chicken wrong, right? But the gravy was so buttery good that I wiped the sauce dish clean.

We ended the meal with these candies from our childhood. This still remains as one of my favorites!

Stacy's
Capitol Greenstreet Commercial Center, 
1 Capitol Hills Drive, 1101 
Quezon City, Philippines

Ten Things I'm Grateful For Tuesdays: Quality Time

♥ Rare times when everyone is home for breakfast or dinner.
♥ Lunch after almost 2 years of not seeing each other!
♥ Makeovers and take out dinners.
♥ A super fun night out with girl friends.
♥ Random sightings when you're on your once-in-a-blue-moon night out.
♥ Laughing at happy drunk people at 4 in the morning.
♥ Late lunch with some of your favorite girls.
♥ Painting nails and doing their makeup... while they're asleep!
♥ Making babies giggle with the odd sounds you can make with your lips.
♥ Gate crashing a dinner because you live a stone's throw away from where they're meeting. Haha!

How-To: Nail Line Art

This was originally a water marbling tutorial, but after 2 failed attempts, I gave up.

Both require the same first step, apply one coat of base coat. I use Sally Hansen's Double Duty Strengthening base & top coat. Doesn't make my nails yellow and it's value for money since you only need one bottle for your base and top coats!

For the marble nails, you'll need a cup of water, your choice of 2 to 3 colors of polish, some tape, and an orange stick (I used a barbecue stick). You can follow the tutorial for marble nails on Refinery29. Here's how mine turned out the first time:

I also tried a red, blue, and purple combination but the polish would dry up too quickly and end up clumpy on my nails. So out came the polish remover.

I finally settled for a solid purple base (I used Forever 21's Love and Beauty polish) and took out my The Face Shop nail art pen in black to do some line art. I pinned a similar design a few weeks ago. My hands aren't that steady, unfortunately so my line art kind of looks jagged, haha! Next time, I'll try using different base colors—and I'll probably pick up another nail art pen in a different color, too.

You only need these three things! It's that simple.

Et voila! Here are my finished nails in the afternoon sun (for dramatic effect, hahaha!).

And against a black purse.

What are you wearing on your nails now? (:

Songs I Like: Jason Mraz - "They Shaped My Life"

I need to remember all the things I'm grateful for, no matter how small. Because if I don't, I'm going to get lost in all this negative energy surrounding me right now.

Ten Things I'm Thankful For Tuesdays: Music

♥ Getting hooked on Wicked's OST even before I knew I could see the play.
♥ Catching Wicked's run in the Marina Bay Sands Theater.
♥ Getting tingles and shivers with the opening notes of the musical.
♥ Middle seats even if we were far from the stage.
♥ No people beside me singing along to the songs (haha, I swear I tried not to myself!).
♥ Even if Glinda was no Kristin Chenoweth, she was adorable!
♥ A powerful scene by Elphaba singing "Defying Gravity"—moved us to tears!
♥ A beautiful rendition of "For Good," my favorite song from the musical.
♥ Catching a glimpse of a cast member at the end of the show.
♥ Falling asleep to Wicked LSS in my head.

A Snapshot

My almost-five-year old god daughter caught doing a kawaii pose. She was busy playing Cut the Rope but paused long enough for this picture. (:

Ten Things I'm Thankful For Tuesdays: Plans

♥ A foodie pact between friends: to try new restaurants this year.
♥ 13-item itineraries, Facebook message threads, and email trails!
♥ A trip to Singapore for the first time ever.
♥ ...a trip outside of the Philippines in what seems like years. I don't remember the last time I traveled out of the country!
♥ Bright nails to cheer me up on these gloomy days.
♥ Moral support from friends in light of bad news.
♥ Buying a new pen for travel-related entries in my planner. (:
♥ The beach in February!
♥ My best friend's wedding in less than a month!
♥ A Candy wedding this March, which means another trip to get excited for.

Baker's Bites: Cookie Fail

I've been obsessing about these melt-in-your-mouth brownie cookies for a while. I had some egg whites left over from making the Chocolate Turtle Pie for New Year's so I tried the recipe over the weekend. They came out chewy and too sweet (I didn't have any dark chocolate around so I used semisweet). Next time, I think I will use more egg whites and lessen the chocolate (maybe just 1 cup).

The only missing ingredient in this picture are the egg whites. Yes, these cookies have no flour at all!

They looked puffy when I took them out of the oven, but quickly deflated. I tried leaving them in the oven longer, but the chocolate cooked too much and turned chewy. I promise to try this again with better results!

Sweet Disposition

Music Monday

My best friend and her fiancé are sharing love stories leading up to their wedding. ♥ Click on the image to view the first of four videos.


Tasty Tuesday

A kilogram of Belgian Milk Chocolate from my mom's sister. Good stuff.

Wishful Wednesday
Good weather this week! I'm going on a trip—my first one overseas in a LONG time AND my first trip to a new place. (: I'm so excited!

Thoughtful Thursday

{ via OnceWed.com }


Fashion Friday

Fit my dress for my best friend's wedding in February. Our dress color reminds me of Belle in Beauty and the Beast.

{ via Disney Wiki }

Songs I Like: "I Won't Give Up"

A beautiful video for an equally beautiful song. Oh, Mr. A-Z, how I love thee.

Ten Things I'm Thankful For Tuesday: Friends

♥ Seeing each other at least once or twice a year even if you don't work together anymore.
♥ Promising to see each other more than twice a year.
♥ Welcoming balikbayans home.
♥ A successful spa shower for your best-est friend in the world.
♥ Making last minute plans to go out and dance.
♥ Remembering old high school kwento like it happened yesterday.
♥ Spending the last night of a friend watching her pack for her trip home.
♥ Planning 2012 dates in advance.
♥ Looking for a common free weekend so you can go on that out-of-town trip.
♥ Knowing that it doesn't matter if you've been friends for 2 years or 2 decades, you just know that there are those people who will be your friends forever.

Baker's Bites: Chocolate Turtle Pie

Ran out of pecans so I put lots of whipped cream on top. I have 5 egg whites in the fridge. Maybe it's time to attempt those melt-in-your-mouth brownie cookies? (:

Stay Young, Go Dancing

Music Monday

Tasty Tuesday

A slice of chocolate turtle pie to start the year right. Rang in the new year with this pie topped with whipped cream. Here's to a rich 2012!

Wishful Wednesday
I was never big on resolutions. But I did make a few promises that seemed more like challenges to conquer in the coming year. This year, I've thought about what promise I intend to keep and I came up with this: Be ready for anything. I've already experienced a preview of what my year will be like and it won't be an easy feat, but I know for sure that I'll enjoy. Here's hoping I follow through!

Thoughtful Thursday

{via Rifle Paper Co. and Etsy 1, 2 }

Fashion Friday

{ created with Miss Match }

Here's to more writing, baking, and dancing this year. 2012, I'm ready for the adventures. Take me on that ride!