By J, on January 15th, 2010
With the freezing temps here in our area, I wonder how the older people are coping. I have always said to my husband that I don’t want to stick it out here in New York once we reach retirement age. I can just imagine the cold weather exacerbating their already bad joint pains.
I’m nowhere close to retirement age but I dislike the cold temps. How about you? At this point, I wish I was somewhere warm and nice, but I have no choice for now. I will just continue my hibernation mode and head out only if it is extremely needed. We still have a couple of months till we feel the end of this bone chilling weather. I can’t wait!
By J, on January 15th, 2010
“Whatever the celebration make it more beautiful with Red Ribbon.”
I’m ecstatic to say the least, that Red Ribbon Bakeshop is finally here in New York. Not that the location is nearby, as we will have to drive at least 30 miles each way to get there but it’s better than having to buy their goodies from a retail store.
I had no clue about the big surprise from my husband last Friday. He was smiling ear to ear as he walked in and I was kind of agitated because he was really running late coming from the office.
I was shocked to see a couple of plastic bags bearing the Red Ribbon Bakeshop logo. It turned out that last Friday was the opening day of the bakeshop. He weaved his way in, as the place was packed with Red Ribbon hungry Pinoys. He was one hundred percent sure that he was the only American in the bakeshop.
I need to tell him what goodies to get the next time he heads out there. He only bought baked goodies that he is already familiar with such as Brazo de Mercedes, Ensaimada and Taisan loaf.
If he keeps going there, even if I have temporarily halted baking at home, I think I will have to know more about some kind of diet; in fact, if you are also interested to know more about it, you can click here to learn more about hcg diet.
I’m drawn to baked goodies, and no matter how I restrain myself from baking there is always a way to get them. One of these coming days, I will drive off to Queens to personally see the new place. By then, maybe we can also dine in, as they also serve hot food.
( Red Ribbon Bakeshop is a popular bakery and fast-food chain in the Philippines and some parts of the United States. They have more than 80 branches all over the Philippines, 20 stores in California, two in Las Vegas, two in New Jersey and one in Phoenix. They offer a wide range of pastries and cakes).
By J, on January 14th, 2010
While most people celebrating Christmas had their traditional Christmas dinner fare; the non-traditional, interracial couple that we are had it our way. Yes, as you read on the title of this post, we had Italian and Jewish cuisines, none of which I made. The foods were brought in by my husband from two places: from the famed Kosher Second Avenue Deli(Jewish foods) in Manhattan, and L & B Spumoni Gardens (Italian dishes) in Brooklyn. Lest, I’m mistaken as Italian – no I’m not, but my husband is Jewish who doesn’t like Jewish foods as much.
We both had seafood salad, zucchini fries and sauteed broccoli rabe with garlic. As you may notice, we both ate and shared the Italian dishes.
The big girl in me went ahead and had my matzoh ball soup with carrots and kasha, and devoured my stuffed cabbage (two dishes that my Jewish husband won’t eat at all); while my husband had a triple decker sandwich : (tongue, Corned Beef, Salami, coleslaw and Russian dressing).
Italian foods
  
Jewish foods
  
I don’t want to spell it out that we indeed pigged out that night, because it is evident. The amount of food was tremendous, and that soon after devouring my share, I couldn’t stop surfing online for the best diet pills that I can possibly get. The good thing though, is that we had some leftovers. But the following day, another cholesterol, carbohydrate and sugar laden feast was offered to us. Can you imagine all the calories?
By J, on January 14th, 2010
When a new year unfolds, my husband and I always sit down and map out our vacation plans for the year except last year when right off the bat we knew we were not headed anywhere due to our ongoing project. This year, we think we will have some leeway if our time line as outlined will not shift. As in any big project, we are bound to have bumps along the way. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that it will be smooth sailing so that we can get that much needed break.
After that 3-weeks Italian getaway in the Fall of 2008, I’m raring to head out someplace I haven’t been to. As a seasoned traveler, I’ve been to several continents but there is one mode of travel I haven’t tried: that is going on a cruise. I’m one hundred percent sure that I will never get to experience going on a cruise simply because my husband is adamant about the whole idea. All these years, our vacations have always included flying or land travel, but we never took long drives as long as we can fly out. That said, we always stayed in hotels, some of them: all inclusive hotels.
We have our vacation dates; possibly two getaways this year for as long as our big project goes as projected. And for our destinations: we have one laid in stone and we are still debating on the other one. As to who will win the debate – I’ll keep you posted.
By J, on January 9th, 2010
It has been frigid here in the Big Apple. And yes, officially we’re experiencing what we call as deep freeze. I have been sort of wishing and hoping that one of these coming months, God will lead me to feel and see a visible exit sign out of the North East and head some place where the weather is nice year round. And when I say all year long, I mean non-humid 70 degree weather throughout. Is there such a place?
Anyway, to make it worse, the weathermen sent me panicking last Wednesday when I found out about another snow storm coming in to our area yesterday. I have been hibernating and I rarely head out since the cold wintry weather started, and since my pantry was already running out of produce I knew someone will have to get them, and that had to be me.
Bundled up and unwilling, I had to brave the cold. Only two miles into my trek, the famous New York traffic started to make it’s presence felt. I was almost falling asleep behind the wheels with the stop and go rhythm. Then from out of the blue, the snail’s pace traffic freed up, and all the other motorists started to speed up. The sleepyhead in me went with the flow and before I can slow down and make a right into the ramp to exit, I continued speeding ahead and missed my exit. I couldn’t believe I missed the EXIT SIGN. How could I have missed the sign!
I know I’m to blame, but because I was getting restless and anxious to get to my destination, I made such a stupid move. As soon as I got into the next exit, I exited and I’m sure you would not want to hear the rest of the story because I totally got lost. It took me awhile to sort it out. After a call to my husband I was finally headed back to the right direction.
I’m not that good with directions. Thus, I always try not to miss my exit, because not even an almost flawless GPS can help me when it happens. But with the harried life that we lead, it is inevitable not to miss those exit signs sometimes.
By J, on January 7th, 2010
It’s a brand new year and this early, I’m off on a shopping mode. Why? Because I was a lucky recipient of several gift cards given as Christmas presents to me.
So what is the next best thing to do when it’s freezing outside and you don’t want to head out and get bundled up, but you want to shop? Of course, shop online! In fact, because I kept on surfing and clicking, I stumbled upon great buys at circuit city. With a lot of choices, the fickle minded me is now on a quandary whether I give in to my desire for a new ‘toy’ or that red sole pair of shoes I’ve been meaning to buy to add to my collection.
Will the girl in me prevail? I think, I’ll sleep on it.
By J, on January 2nd, 2010
After ringing in the new year and was done watching Jennifer Lopez and the crystal ball dropped at Times Square, my husband and I proceeded to indulge on some decadent treats with hot tea.
By 1:00 a.m. I was ready to hit the sack but instead of turning off the TV remote in our bedroom my attention was diverted when suddenly I heard a voice over apology on HGTV. That was Cablevision’s announcement about HGTV and Food Network being yanked out of their cable line up. Cablevision’s message to their subscriber is aimed to explain the dispute, and that company officials indicated there was no immediate plan to restore the stations . This is the result of a fee dispute with Scripps Networks.
I couldn’t get over it. I’m not a TV addict but these two channels are two of the few channels that I tune in to whenever I’m in the mood to watch TV. To me, it’s like taking out ESPN if I was a sports fanatic. Our current subscription with Cablevision gives us tons of channels but a lot of those are channels that I haven’t even bothered to explore.
I’m upset, and I’m one of those 3.1 million subscribers of Cablevision who share the same sentiment. After a recent increase in fee, this is what we get. If these channels are not going to be restored back in their cable line up soon, I’m more than willing and ready to switch providers. After all, Direct TV is just a phone call away, as well as Verizon Fios. These two both offer the Filipino channel as well, so sooner than later I’ll be back in business along with HGTV and Food network.
By J, on December 31st, 2009
As I opened the blinds in my kitchen window at noon today, I saw this beautiful vista. We got a surprise snowfall in the morning which left a picture postcard behind, although my photograph is not of postcard quality.
As in previous New Year’s Eve, NYC authorities have tight security in place for millions of revelers who are going to troop to Times Square for the countdown. Even with bone chilling temps, I hope that they will enjoy and have fun.
The sun didn’t shine as much today, which kind of gave me a melancholic feeling. As the year ends, I couldn’t help but look back at everything that transpired in 2009. It was a great year in spite of health issues within my immediate family, so many lessons learned and a lot of blessings to be thankful for.
I look forward to 2010 with so much optimism and enthusiasm!
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