Owner: My World URL:http://www.lucel.blogspot.com Join Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2007 21:36:39 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: An on-line journal of my life in the Big Apple as a stay at home wife Site statistics:Click here
Direct Buy...Direct Scam? 2007-08-12 19:53:00 What will US$3,800.00 buy and how far will it go? Well, for me it will surely buy me a lot of toiletries from Kieh'ls, L'Occitane, Laura Mercier, Fresh and a few bottles of my favorite scents Imperial Millesime(Creed) and Jo Malone.It's been three years ago when we found ourselves attending an open house by invitation only. I came across an infomercial on TV about Direct
Buy and I was enticed to make that phone call for an appointment. We were about to begin the top to bottom renovation of our place then. In that open house, we found out Direct Buy is a club, wherein members can purchase directly from manufacturers at big discounts . They made a very good and convincing presentation and all attendees only have one chance to decide to join or not. When you walked out the door that one time, you'll never have the chance to secure the appointment again therefore, you lose out on joining the exclusive membership. To make the long story short, Frank wrote a check for the 3 year membersh
Garden update 2007-08-11 18:29:00 Upon waking up this morning, after freshening up, my next stop was our balcony. I was just too anxious to know how my plants fared overnight when the temperature dipped to the 50's.The sitaw's (long beans) leaves suffered a little damage. Some of the leaves wilted and turned black. The rest of the plants seem to look okay. With the sunshine and the temperature into the low 80's, they were fine the rest of the day. I'm just one happy gardener. Babaw ko lang talaga.Dinner tonight will be take-out Italian food from my fave Papa Leone Restaurant in Manhattan Beach. Frank and I went to take out the food early enough, because the place tends to get busy on Saturday nights. Can't wait to dig in. Read more:Garden
Crazy weather 2007-08-10 18:14:00 Believe it or not, it's cool in NY! What a big difference a day makes. Yesterday, we were baking at boiling point temps within the tri-state area. Now, with this sudden drop of temperature I can't help but be concerned with my vegetable garden. It's quite windy too, specially we're near the ocean. The eggplants are starting to blossom pa naman. Kakaaliw!Just hope the temps will go back to average readings at this time of year tomorrow. So unpredictable! Read more:Crazy
, weather
All about me (part 2) 2007-08-09 17:54:00 It's almost Friday once again(advance posting), so here goes...1.When the Med Tech Board was released, I was already working my first job as Professional Medical Sales Rep with Elan Pharma(Zuellig).2. I worked as a Med Rep for three years and one day I woke up, I decided I didn't want to be "nice" to Doctors anymore.3. My Med Rep experience was my vehicle to getting myself into corporate sales. I don't want to bore you, by writing a "resume". To make the long story short, through training and experience, I was given the chance to join Procter and Gamble as Sales Manager and worked with the company for a while. At P & G, as my former colleagues used to say, you don't have to go to a graduate school to get your MBA. Training was so extensive and they made it so enticing, that trainings were held off-site(out of Manila) or if it was in Manila we were housed at a 5 star hotel. My last job, prior to moving to NY was as Regional Sales Manager with Sara Lee Philippines(not the direct
Dow Down! 2007-08-09 17:34:00 Dow Jones, that is. The stock market nosedived again by 387 points. I've been trying to shrug off my thoughts on this, but it certainly is part of my day to day life. What, with a husband that works for one of the biggest financial and investment firm in the world, my day revolves around how the stock market shapes up on a day to day basis. It's dependent what time we have our dinner every night, because if the husband is not home or not on the way home, the kitchen doesn't start to heat up and the poor me would have to wait.As I'm writing this post, Frank hasn't called yet to say he's leaving the office. Who knows when we're having dinner tonight.....
Aruba in my dreams 2007-08-08 17:57:00 Dreaming about it, no more. We are booked and we will hie off to Aruba for 1 week in September.It was a choice between Barbados and Aruba. Aruba was the final choice because of the allure of the casinos and the beaches. You have both worlds. Don't get me wrong, gambling is not a must. It will just be nice again to play the slot machines because, the last time I was in a casino was when we visited Las Vegas in 2001, a few days after the terrorist attack here in New York.Oh, I think it would be nice to recall the destinations I've visited so far:1. Philippines (almost all tourists destinations and then some). I still vividly remember the visit to Boracay when it wasn't polluted yet. Club Panoly then was the only "big" hotel.2.In the USA:Hawaii ( 2 times)San Francisco,CALas Vegas,NVMaineLos Angeles,CAAnaheim,CAVirginiaMiami,FLNew York(4 times before I settled)New JerseyWashington D.C.3. Singapore4.Hongkong5. Japan6.Taipei7.England8.France9.BermudaAfter Aruba, where will the next destin
Abused 2007-08-07 16:55:00 I woke up at 12:30p.m. today. I haven't done this in a long time. I think I was just really drained from all the details I heard about somebody close to me.Do you even think why a 6 year old girl has to go through verbal abuse and sometimes physical abuse, and the person abusing her is no less than the father? It's unthinkable, but it's possible. This revelation of E didn't come as a surprise to us. She's already in her late 40's and it's always been a wonder why she can keep going on without seeing her parents even if she's just an hour drive away. In fact, she only see her parents once a year. Sunday night was the first time she poured her heart out. According from her, everything just came back to her when she turned 35. That's 6 years after she moved out of the family house. She was just wrapped up, enjoying her new life and newly found freedom and happiness as a newly wed.The abuse started from a stupid merry go round ride when she was 6, and her father took her for the Read more:Abused
Arch support 2007-08-05 17:19:00 Do you even think about the reason why we, women just love those spiky, stilleto high heel shoes? Well, if you're like me, I loved them(past tense) because they look so good and make you really feel that you're a woman. I said I loved them, because my love affair with them is over. As soon as I shed my corporate attire from my frantic corporate lifestyle, I vowed to say goodbye to them. Now, in my "retirement years" I realize all the more, the abuse I have given to my precious feet. I vowed, I will only wear those high heels when it's called for. I used to only have 1 pair of sneakers, but now, I have a plenty and I will continue to get them for as long as I continue to live, Amen. And what about a sneaker with arch support? I have a pair! It's very seldom that you see one in the store. The ones that have arch support are usually for grannies. That's why, when I saw this pair of Gianfranco Ferre sneakers, I just had to grab them. I love, love, love them. They are so comfy and the
Shopping at Costco 2007-08-05 16:53:00 Today, we were off to an early start. Sundays for us are usually idle but since we haven't been to Costco
for a long time, I urged Frank that we go shopping today. And Costco shopping usually means at least 2 hours. I just like to browse, and go from aisle to aisle because there are always unexpected merchandise in this warehouse store.Breakfast was at Burger King. Then we immediately proceeded to Costco. It was only 10:30 a.m. when we got there, but the store was already bustling with shoppers. Our cart was full not to mention: heavy with regular household stuff and food as usual. On our way down to the escalator, Frank suggested we get a dozen cupcakes. I was not quite sold to the idea but I went for it. I figure, why not? It's not priced like gold, so that even if it's not that good and end up not consuming them, I won't feel guilty tossing them. When we got home and was done unloading our loot, I couldn't wait to try the cupcakes. Hence, the reason why there's 2 missing cupca Read more:Shopping
All about me 2007-08-03 21:29:00 I figure, every Friday, I should be writing about me. I don't want to write a long, boring entry all at once, so ten things at a time I guess, is okay.1. I'm an Aquarian. I was born in the month of February.2.I'm the fourth child in a brod of five. Four girls in a row, and I happen to be the fourth. The youngest is a boy.3.I started reading musical notes at the age of five. My sisters went to music school in the summer, that's why I was into it early.4.I went for my elementary and high school education in Ilocos(where I grow up) and I earned my Bachelors degree (Medical technology) at the University of Sto. Tomas (Manila). 5.I used to sing in church. I was a choir member, and one day, I just found myself singing solo.6.I won several writing contests(National Press Conferences) in high school specifically Feature writing and News writing. I travelled the Philippines because of these competition.7.I was an Orator in high school. It just dawned on me one day that I could speak and had
Container gardening 2007-08-03 18:51:00 Yup! I have a thriving vegetable garden in our balcony. We live on the 14th floor of a high rise and this summer is the second time I have tried to test my "green thumb". Last year it was a flower garden. This year I decided to go for vegetable garden. I bought all the seeds, and the experience of watching what you sow grow and blossom, is so exciting and fulfilling. I got herbs(parsley, cilantro and basil), okra, long beans(sitaw), green beans and eggplant. I did harvest some broccoli rabe 2 weeks ago for the second time but I decided, that was it for this veggie. I learned you have to sow seeds again and I didn't want to do it anymore.I just hope they continue to survive the heat and occasional wind gusts when there are thunderstorms. We live near the ocean and the wind gusts are sometimes strong.So now, here's proof that gardening
in a pot works... Read more:Container
The heat is on! 2007-08-02 18:35:00 What a scorcher! It's just too hot and humid. But why should I complain, it's the summer. And this heat and humidity had me change my menu today. I do my "big" grocery shopping every 2 weeks, but I still go for veggie/fruit run every week in an effort to get fresh produce. That said, I make sure I have a meal/menu plan for the next 2 weeks even before I do my "big run" to the supermarket.When I woke up at 10:00 a.m. this morning, knowing that today was gonna be another scorcher, I decided I was not going to heat up the kitchen using the oven or the stovetop for hours. The planned menu had to change. So, I took out my slow cooker, lay down the heat resistant trivet to protect my counter and started to prep up the 3.4 lb. angus beef bottom round rump roast; the cooker set on low for 8 hours and it came out like this I just blanched some asparagus and buttered them to accompany my slow cooked beef. Yummy! The best thing was, it was another easy to prepare meal.
Piling up 2007-08-01 18:20:00 My...oh...my... I don't know how and when my magazines started to pile up --- un-opened. There's just not enough time. The issues keep coming and I have as far back as May issues still staring at me. I also have several books parked in the bookshelf, still begging to be opened and to make it worse I got 2 weeks of newspapers also waiting to be opened. These newspapers... my husband had already read, and by the way, I'm not after the news(who wants stale news anyway), I'm after the lifestyle section.Just imagine this...not even half of the pile. I'm overwhelmed...
Beauty of Maine 2007-07-30 23:17:00 I should have wrote about this much sooner, but I simply don't have enough time. But then again, how soon could that have been? I only started blogging a week ago. Anyway, we flew to Maine
last month for a week. We chose Maine as our first destination this year because we both love to eat lobster and we wanted a relaxing, slow-paced vacation.I have to say, we enjoyed this vacation immensely. The Portland Regency Hotel, our "home" for the week was perfect because it's located in the middle of everything. We didn't have to worry about transportation because almost everything was within walking distance. We did the usual tours as every tourists would do. We ate lobster like there won't be another chance to eat lobster anymore. Seafood was our staple food for the entire duration of our stay. And what about satisfying our sweet tooth? The place delivered! We found this ice cream place called "Beals Ice Cream House". Simply the creamiest ice cream we've ever had and they have at least 1 Read more:Beauty
The T-shirt 2007-07-29 16:35:00 We went to the supermarket today, and Frank wore this shirt that was given to him by my brother-in-law(my sister's husband). It reminds me of the days during the first year of our marriage, when we fought because of his obsession with his "teams" while playing. Not one game on TV would he miss , dinner must have to wait and chores were worked around the time of the game. The one thing that really irked me the most was when I'd say something and he would give me "that look" because he didn't want to be disturbed.Well, those were the days. It was quickly nipped in the bud.
Gloomy Saturday 2007-07-28 20:22:00 This morning we woke up to a cloudy sky. Thank God, the sunshine came mid morning and it turned out to be another summery day- the temperature soaring to the 90's. The humidity was high too. On a day like today, I'm thankful we live near the ocean, 15 minutes walk to the boardwalk. We get a good ocean breeze and true enough later in the afternoon, I was able to sit out in the balcony while Frank went to the gym.Tomorrow, we need to go to the supermarket. Hope the rain coming this way as predicted changes its course.Rain, rain go away... Read more:Saturday
Summer heat 2007-07-27 18:39:00 New York is really heating up. On a day like today, you must really make sure you are well hydrated and smell good. Why do I say smell good? It's because a lot of people have offensive smell, and they probably aren't aware. Good hygiene is very important but some people just don't care. I am very vain and I make sure I have a good inventory of my basic vanity kit/toiletries so I don't run out. Basic to me would be these:I so love the verbena line of L'Occitane, it has such a good scent. I also love some Kiehl's products especially the foot and body moisturizers .What's on your vanity kit? Read more:Summer
Pop up sponge 2007-07-26 17:59:00 I just had to write about this. I've been using the pop-up sponge from Williams Sonoma which I discovered a year ago.Since then, I never went back to Scotch brite and O-celo. This sponge is awesome. It delivers its purpose and doesn't disintegrate quick. Before first use it looks like this.When wet, it gets to this size and will be like this till you chuck them.In fact, you can wash it with your dishes in this. And by the way, it lasts for months. It definitely is worth the price.
Extended Service 2007-07-26 17:40:00 Simply known as repair warranty. I got this in the mail today. It's a renewal notice on the extended service we got for this.Time flies. It will be 5 years this August. I remember, the stainless steel craze was just starting then. Now, I can't decide if I have to renew or not. GE (Profile) is a very reliable brand. In fact, of the almost five years that I've been using this range/convection oven, I've never had any problems. It still looks new. I vividly remember the comment our contractor(he gutted and renovated our current place) made as we were moving in to this place 3 years ago. He thought it was a brand new range and it was already 2 years old then.Is it worth paying the warranty fee? Read more:Extended
, Service
Yum! 2007-07-25 15:36:00 Inspired as I was with the result of my ultrasound yesterday, I whipped out a quick but delish(according to Frank) meal for dinner last night. I sauteed shrimp with hoisin sauce, tons of garlic and cilantro. Accompanied with blanched green beans and dressed with Italian red wine vinegar,olive oil, mustard, salt and pepper. I tell you, trimming the beans took even longer. And by the way, the green beans were from my vegetable garden. Who says gardening in a container is not possible? We live on the 14th floor of a high rise and we have a good size balcony. I have planted herbs, eggplant, broccoli rabe which I recently harvested, and long beans (pix to follow). The garden surely keeps me busy.
Cushy and comfy Arizona 2007-07-25 15:18:00 Yesterday, I had a doctor's appointment. Usually when I visit this doctor, I take the subway reason being, I don't want to be bothered by parking. I took the F and switched to the N train. This involves a lot of climbing on the subway staircase to get to the platform and of course walking 4 blocks to finally get there. I decided to wear my Arizona
s instead of sneakers. Hey, it's the summer and I will not have the chance to wear them again. Summer's too short. I could tell you, this Arizona delivers. They are very comfortable, it's probably the fifth time I'm wearing them. The soft footbed is a definite plus.A very worthy addition to my ever growing inventory of Birkenstock footwear. As compared to the regular Birks with the cork footbed this does not even need any break in period. They're comfy right out of the box. How cool is that?
How do I encourage Frank to go to the mall? 2007-07-24 17:54:00 He doesn't know.... Finally, I found the trick. I really believe that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Know what it is? Ruby Tuesday!!!! Yes, it's the restaurant. And no, it's not located inside a mall, but it's close to the mall. And we have to drive about 30 miles and about 1 hour to get there. We we're there recently and we had a good meal. The food was good especially the burgers. They were the juiciest burgers we have ever had. Their salad bar is also impressive. We skipped dessert, because as usual we were too full. Yeah... and how was shopping in the mall? He shopped, I didn't. We got this Burberry shirt for him at Bloomingdales. Read more:Frank
Clean bill of health 2007-07-24 17:44:00 I go for mammogram and sonogram every six months. I religiously follow Dr. Kehoe's order. Yeah, I know normal women go annually. Reason for this? I've had 2 surgeries on my left and right breast. Thankfully so, they were benign cysts. Both surgeries were done because of my insistence--"just take the foreign bodies out of my body" kind of thinking. Getting opened up all the time is not an option anymore. So my surgical oncologist recommended I go on a 6 months program.After 3 hours of waiting in the doctor's office, I was taken in ( it's always like this. patience is needed as he has tons of patients). Thank God, I got a clean bill of health. Tonight, I will sleep tight.Till the next appointment.... Read more:Clean
Got cupcakes? 2007-07-22 21:01:00 Magnolia cupcakes
, that is. July 14, 2007(Saturday), night person as I am, I gladly woke up early just to go to Manhattan. Plan was: we go uptown on 5th Avenue first then head out to 14th St. to have dinner at this new Philippine Restaurant. Dessert will be at the famous(c/o Sex and the City) Magnolia Bakery on Bleecker St.The subway was as usual on weekend repair schedule. We found ourselves waiting for at least half hour for a V train. The V never came coz there were service interruptions. We wound up going back to West 4th station to catch the E train to get us to 5th.5th Avenue was bustling as usual with a good mix of tourists and locals. After which, we head out straight to Pistahan. Pistahan is a tiny restaurant, the food was good, in fact better than the nearby Elvie's.For dessert, off we went to Bleecker. We could have walked, but I was lazy. Sure enough we were delayed again for half hour just waiting for the train. Was I disappointed when we got there. About 9:15 p.m. the li
Laundry mishap 2007-08-15 17:21:00 I did the laundry today and boy, did I have one big mess. I do the laundry every week and it's pretty much a routine for me to load the washer and dryer the same way each time I do this chore. It was early in the morning and I must have been out of it, that I have set the dryer on high heat for one hour, where the beddings were loaded.When time was up, I took the clothes out from the first 3 dryers and made sure to take out the beddings from dryer 4 the last. I was shocked when I pulled out the bed sheets and pillow cases all shriveled up and wrinkled. I almost cried. In my head, I thought of how big a job it's gonna be to iron everything.The default setting of the dryers are on high, and I normally dry the beddings on low heat because of the nature of the material(800 thread count egyptian cotton). I surely forgot to set the dryer on low. Drying them on low heat, would ensure that I won't have to iron them. That kind of cotton is so heavenly and soft on the body, but they do need s Read more:Laundry
Missing Jessie Mendez 2007-08-14 17:35:00 I badly need a haircut. I would have gone as usual last August 2 at Bumble & Bumble, as this appointment has been booked 3 months ago, but I was too lazy to brave the heat inside the platform on the subway, so I cancelled. But truly, I am just always lazy to go for haircuts, because all these years that I've been here, I haven't found any hairstylist that can come close to Jessie
Mendez.I got introduced to him by my then boss in 1990. In fact, my first haircut was c/o Grace's account. They are good friends. I just so loved the haircut and that was the beginning of "our love affair". He didn't need anymore clients, he was just too busy with the existing clientele he had at that time. Since 1990 till the year I left the Philippines, my mane was pampered by him every 2 months. It was crazy that, should I not be accomodated in his Galleria branch(I preferred to go there), I would follow him where he could take me, even if I had to go to Tutuban or Alabang. There were so many times, Read more:Missing
Busy Monday 2007-08-13 09:59:00 Last night, before I turned in, I made sure my menu for the next 2 weeks was planned, shopping lists(Stop & Shop and chinese supermarket and Target) ready, and the itinerary for today. I planned to wake up early(as in 7:00 a.m., which is so unusual of me). I figure, the earlier I woke up, the earlier I get done, the less traffic I have to go through.As I'm writing this post, I was just done tidying up the place, did a little dusting and cleaned the bathroom. Yes, that was part of the plan.The coffeemaker, as I set it up earlier, just started to brew. So what's next? Breakfast!The list of my itinerary expanded, as I discovered when I cleaned the bathroom, I'm about to run out of my marble tile cleaner. I normally have 2 bottles at any given time, as I do with all the supplies and groceries we need. Oh, if you only see my storage and pantry, you'll never think we're just two living in this place. So today, my itinerary will go like this:1. Bank2.Home Depot3.Target( why am I going he Read more:Monday
Garrett Popcorn 2007-08-20 00:17:00 As if we weren't full yet, we had to pick up and take home a tin of this.Garrett
Popcorn is the famous popcorn that originated in Chicago and has been there since 1949. It was just here in N YC almost a year ago. I just love their Caramel Crisp. It's my favorite flavor. So yummy!It was indeed a beautiful way to end a beautiful Saturday...
A taste of Carribean and then some 2007-08-20 00:00:00 For dinner we decided to go to a Carribean
Restaurant called Caribbean Kitchen on 34th Street. This made us look forward to our Caribbean trip a few weeks from now. The food was good as usual. We are not new to this place anyway because, Frank takes out food sometimes on Friday nights. Dessert was at Cold Stone Creamery in the Village. I had Chocolate Devotion, and Frank had Oreo Overload. Yum and decadent! Read more:taste
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