365/351: December 17 Off to mass. The Christmas traffic this year is unimaginable. We actually have to leave an hour earlier than usual to get to wherever we’re going to on time. It’s insane. I have a trench coat from XXI to top this whole thing off, but since the heat is just as insufferable as the traffic, I decided to just put it on when I get to mass. Sweatfest, here I come! I heard it speeds up metabolism, too, so yay! :) 
365/349: December 15 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAMA BEAR! I love you more than you love dropping baduy jokes to annoy me to no end ♥ I know. It would have made a whole lot more sense if I added this greeting and profession of love to the 365 that actually had my mom’s face on it, opening her birthday gift, but as it happened, she opened the gift a day before. Four hours to be exact. The greeting would have been grossly inaccurate. Instead, I will greet her and tell her I love her with a picture of sushi. We roll that way, deal with it. Roll, get it? No? Okay. As tradition goes, we headed to Sambokojin Yakiniku for dinner. It’s usually mass in the afternoon, followed by some lavish buffet dinner somewhere, but since we had a pretty late start today, we decided to head to mass after eating literally buckets and buckets of Japanese and Korean food. BUCKETS. I felt like throwing up the whole time we were in church. The priest’s immensely boring homily didn’t help my ailing stomach one bit. I had fun at dinner, though. It was an endless supply of kamameshi rice, katsudon, japchae, tempura, beef stew, all the shabu-shabu in the world, all the sushi in the world, and some decent desserts. How could I not have had fun? 
365/348: December 14 My mom opened our gift four hours too early, but only because she couldn’t figure out what we got her, and she was just dying to know. She found out how much it was (my mom is quite the sleuth, which definitely has its pros and cons), and she was racking her brain (and everyone else’s around her, i.e. me) as to what could fit into the price range in her head. But since I’m forever a sucker for surprises, I remained mum on the subject. I’m a fighter, yo. HAHA! Well anyway, she opened the gift when we got home from an entire day at the mall. She started unwrapping before we even started singing her her birthday song.
Look at her face when she finally saw what it was. I’m really glad she liked it :) 
365/347: December 13 Went on a date with my mom this afternoon. It was a much-needed breather after, erm, recent events. We had lunch with my dad and sister, who had to leave soon after because my sister has final exams this week, and then proceeded to sweep the entirety of the mall for the next four hours. We walked on over to another nearby mall and spent another two hours there. It always amazes me how we manage to spend that much time in a mall without buying anything. Well, anything but food, that is. We probably ate enough to make up for all the walking we did. Pizza, pasta, eclairs, coffee, pad thai, and a shrimp and pomelo salad. All in a span of six hours. Managed to grab ourselves a huge pack of gummy candies on the way home, too. I love candy. I love sugar. Probably even as much as I love my mom. Ha. Maybe not. But Twizzlers are definitely my favorite. 
365/346: December 12 So as promised two weeks ago, here is our Christmas tree. I spent the entire afternoon getting it up. I feel like such a Christmas whisperer now. To complete the mood (and to force the Christmas spirit on every other unfortunate soul there with me), I put both of Glee’s Christmas albums on repeat, complete with the annoying belting of Mercedes and Berry. Honestly though, why does she have to shout about silent night? I was down in the living room for something like five hours, painting, and assembling the tree with my dad, then putting the lights and Christmas balls with my mom. Ended up fixing the rest of the living room, and when it was all over, I was more tired than my officemate’s humor. Well worth it, though. It’s finally starting to feel a whole lot like Christmas ♥ 365/340: December 6 We had our brand spanking new oven installed in our newly-renovated kitchen last night, something I’ve been waiting for for a really long time now. The renovated kitchen and everything in it is my dad’s gift to my mom, but as it goes, I’m enjoying it a whole lot more than everyone else. Or so I think, at least. That said, I was aching to bake cupcakes, and I jumped on the first opportunity I could to do so. My unhealthy obsession with anything sweet is no secret (that was supposed to sound fluffy and metaphorical, but it kinda sounds pretty literal, sadly), and as a result of that sinful experience with Sonja’s cupcakes, I’ve forever been interested in red velvet. Maybe it’s the color, maybe it’s the fact that I never really knew what its flavor was supposed to be, or maybe it’s that it’s practically everywhere, but not everyone can seem to get it right. Whatever it was, I was just so magically drawn to it. Literally, a fatty to a cupcake. It’s not even funny. My mom guided me through the entire process, and we ended up making a shit load of cupcakes and donuts, muchas gracias to the recipe I found online. I haven’t had a donut, but I’ve already had two cupcakes. Ah, the night is young >:) 365/337: December 3 Since Meki decided to share one of the photo booth shots from the night of our alumni homecoming, let me share all the ones I was in. I thoroughly enjoyed posing, you guys. It’s like a dream come true. If I could have a permanent photo booth at home (complete with operators, props, and printers), my life would be complete. It’s good to see how you’re going to look exactly before a shot of you is taken. I hate surprises. Especially bad ones. On photos. It’s happened too many times. 
365/336: December 2 Still no Christmas tree inside the house, but this garland by the staircase has got to do it, even just for the meantime. My mom fixed the lights, and I hung the balls. We’re probably gonna go on and hang the other strands of garland around the house within the day. I’m so excited. Getting that warm and cozy Christmas feeling again. For effect, Christmas songs are playing inside my room. HO HO HO. 
365/332: November 28 I headed out pretty early today. 8:30AM meeting at Magallanes meant getting up at 5:30AM to hitch a ride with my siblings on their way to school/work. I’m usually all groggy and grumpy if I get up before six, but this morning was different. I don’t know if it was that I slept early(er than usual, 11:30PM), or if it was basking under my warm new shower in my happy new bathroom (that has a ginormous new mirror that I am ever so in love with), or maybe even if it was a part of my subconscious that was actually excited about today, but for some odd reason, getting up this morning, two hours before I usually do, felt refreshing. That different early morning experience aside, today went pretty well. Meeting, then coffee, then I was on my way back home. My mom’s begun putting up Christmas decorations around the second floor lobby (and soon, the rest of the house), and being the little Christmas-crazed I’m really quite excited for the holidays :) |
365/352: December 18
Look at the hoodie my sister made for me a couple of months ago! I’m pretty sure the design isn’t new to most people, as it’s probably been floating around Tumblr for a while now. Plus, it describes me quite perfectly :3
I don’t think I’ve ever had the chance to wear it (what with the perennially scorching heat in Manila), so since the weather’s been pretty cool these past few days, and since it’s been raining all day, and since it was at the top of my hoodie pile this morning, I decided to throw it on and see how many people like it at the mall.
Or not. We’ll see.