birthday gifts

My birthday is just a stone throw away. Since I am so in love with birthday gifts for women thus I'm thinking of getting one or two from personalcreations.com. They have this special offerings of items/gifts priced under $50 which is so tempting! I was torn literally on what to like, since I am on a strict budget for this year, I need to keep it real and stay with my $100 budget for myself. Anything that will exceeds that is a no-no.But while I'm finishing this post, I'm thinking if I can ask the husband to buy this for me so I can get another one for the budget that I have! Now, I'm tricky? not. Just being wise! Let's just see if my plans can possibly push through. I just hope so!
Anyways, you can visit the site too and see if you have anything to like! Definitely sure you'll find a lot of good finds on it and let me know if you order too alright? let's share for the shipping!

profile

Now that I am practically enjoying shooting with off-cam flash, I have come to realized that photography is a never ending subject to study. In fact, it also came to me that there are so many other stuff to try before landing to your desired output. And a bunch of trials isn’t enough! Lots and lots of trial and error actually before being able to satisfy your desired result. And speaking of nth trials, here is one of the many off-cam trial snap I took during one of our events. Good thing we had a nice clear spot in the house (aside from their well coveted cascade faucets) I had fun shooting with their funky curtains too!

How to make a three-course meal on a budget

 

Saving money on your food can often seem pretty difficult, especially when you've got plenty of mouths to feed!

So, here are three simple, tasty - but more importantly budget-friendly - recipes you can get your teeth into!

Starters - Roasted red pepper and tomato soup

This simple recipe can be used over and over again, you could even add your own ingredients to personalise this signature dish. What's more, if you don't manage to dish it all out straight away, it can be chilled and kept for a few days in the fridge.

Ingredients

• 4 large red peppers
• 6 large tomatoes, peeled
• 4 large cloves of garlic, unpeeled
• 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large red onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 850ml of vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon of dried oregano
• Bread rolls (one for each person)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees centigrade (gas mark 6) and place the peppers and garlic on a baking tray. Sprinkle both with oregano and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Roast the peppers and garlic for 20-30 minutes (or until the pepper skins have bubbled/blistered). Remove the peppers from the oven and place in a plastic sandwich bag. When they have cooled, peel the flesh and chop the peppers, getting rid of the seeds.
2. Place a large pan on the hob and heat one tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onion and fry until soft. Chop the tomatoes, getting rid of the seeds, and place into the pan along with the chopped peppers and vegetable stock. Now gently press the soft-cooked garlic from the cloves and add to the pan. Lower the heat and simmer for around 35 minutes.
3. Once done, blend the soup in a food processor until it reaches the desired consistency. To serve, simply reheat and pour into bowls.

Main course - Pan-fried sausage and potato tomato casserole

This quick, cheap recipe will create a surprisingly tasty main that will serve up to four hungry diners! What's more, if you don't want to use sausages, you could use chicken, or beef - or even a vegetarian alternative.

Ingredients

• 500g new potatoes, sliced in half
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 450g pork sausages
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 pepper (doesn't matter what colour), diced
• 1 large jar of tomato pasta sauce

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and add the sausages and potatoes. Fry until brown (this will usually take around 10 minutes).
2. Add the onion and pepper and cook until they have softened. Keep turning the sausages and potatoes to make sure they get cooked thoroughly.
3. Once cooked, add the pasta sauce and a small amount of water (only a splash). Cover the pan with a lid, lower the heat and leave to simmer for around 10-15 minutes.
4. To serve, simply remove from the heat and spoon onto a plate.

Dessert - Sweet banoffee pie

This delicious banoffee pie is cheap and easy to make, and will go down a treat after the casserole!

Ingredients

• 125g cold butter for the filling
• 175g cold butter for base
• 175g caster sugar
• 400g condensed milk
• 250/300g plain digestive biscuits
• 2 large ripe bananas
• 150ml whipping cream
• 1 bar of milk chocolate

Method - base

1. Place the digestive biscuits in a small tub and crush them using the end of a rolling pin (or your hands).
2. Melt the 175g of butter in a saucepan and stir in the biscuit crumbs. When combined, press the mix over the greased base of an 8-inch cake tin. Then place the tin in the fridge for one hour to allow the base to set.

Method - filling

1. Put the 125g of butter in a pan over a low heat, add the sugar and stir. Once the butter has melted, slowly stir in the condensed milk and bring to the boil. As soon as the mixture boils, turn the heat down and leave to simmer for 5 minutes - making sure you continue stirring. The mixture will be ready when it turns a 'caramel' colour.
2. Remove the chilled base from the fridge and pour the mixture into the tin. Put the tin back into the fridge and leave to cool for another hour.
3. Remove from fridge after the hour, and cover the top with a layer of banana slices. Then whip the cream using a whisk, and place a layer of cream on top of the banana.
4. Now add the rest of the banana slices, a little more cream, then grate chocolate on top and serve.

Of course, the cost of these recipes is down to where you buy your ingredients from, and whether you buy 'budget' products instead of 'branded' ones.

 

Tips from Think Money.

sunnies on

If there is one thing that I can’t live without (aside from bags and eyeliners and lipsticks) is my sunnies! You see, I can’t stay outdoor for a long period of time without something to cover my eyes from the harsh sun and humidity that often makes me twitch and trigger my migraine attacks. That is why, whenever I go out, I make sure to check my bag for my designer sunglasses.

on weddings

It has been said though not really proven that covering a wedding is one of the hardest and trickiest for a photographer. Something that really sunk unto my mind thus explains why I let down a few invitations to shoot their special day. Until late last year when I braved and conquer my fear, chin up and clenched fist I said yes. And honestly, it was really, really hard but FUN! my team enjoyed every single moment of the entire wedding event aside from the fact that there are no Door Crashers or uninvited guests that arrived! haha. kidding aside, it was indeed a very memorable experience for my team, at least we can handle a wedding now!

 

Ej and Anne Engagement Session

Ok, so I’ve been a slack when it comes to updating my blogs and telling stories about what’s going on with me for the past weeks specially before and after the holidays. Honestly, my hands are full (and I’m thanking heavens for that) and I missing terribly my blogs! Actually, there are times when I just wanted to stop whatever I’m doing just to open my virtual writer and write down whatever thoughts that has come, but then again, I am busy with the real world and I have no choice but to keep overflowing thoughts and stories until now :) Anyways, I betta’ stop blabbing and show you these photos that my sister and I took late last week, it’s an engagement session of our January 28 wedding couple taken at Colossians Garden in Tagaytay. We’re glad to have a very fun and responsive subjects that they even brought so many props like picnic stuff and even a bike complete with thrust bearings and all! Will be posting more of their photos after I’m done with the set :) But for now…. here are some for you to see :)

dream sounds

I’ve been asked by the husband for so many times now about my Christmas wish list. But since things got so busy for the past weeks, I wasn’t able to think and decide on what I really want to receive this special occasion. Until last night, when I realized that there are still times when I can’t put myself to sleep, sometimes getting a good slumber is near to impossible and so now, I think what I want for Christmas is this well-raved about white noise machine or sound therapy system that can lull one to sleep with soothing high fidelity sounds that are medically proven to create a good night sleep!

What’s up Mo!?

I wonder if you also know the most latest showbiz talk of the town issues during the past few days. It’s actually has to do with my favorite arrogant dj Mo and his denial ex-girlfriend’s break up and all. And with that, he had all his things like computers, cameras, furniture and music stuff like dj headphones up for bid for his friends and even twitter followers. I was actually tempted to bid on his camera lenses and headphones but decided not to, as for sure a lot of bidders will come to life and fight for his things. Anyways, I wonder if he’ll be gone for good or come back in the future to continue with his radio show that I have been missing for days now.

crammed

So I've been out for like what, nth days. Days of limited online time, thus making me cram my dues and tasks, blogging like hell for almost five hours now and really, it is exhausting. Actually, my body has been drained from all the errands that we finished for two days, had to commute and carry heavy stuff to and from our whereabouts also. But there were sad news too, wasn't able to find fast chargers that my sister and I terribly need for our toshiba laptop computers. You see, something is wrong with our current adapter thus making us unable to charge fully my unit. So my sister suggested on bringing my laptop with me since I'd be looking for compatible adapter, unfortunately, nothing fits my model unit. So all the while, the heavy laptop is being carried by me! Which makes my shoulder aches up to now! I should have listened to my friend who told me to check out sites where computer and laptops accessories can be found at super cheap prices! And since we do a lot of ordering online, I can order from the said site and have it shipped to my friend's address who usually does the filling of our boxes. So the ending of my hunt? I ordered from the site earlier today! something I should have done some days ago.

gift baskets

The husband and I are already thinking of what perfect gifts to give our wedding godparents this coming Christmas. Though we already gave out pastries the past few years, we are still considering to give edible presents as for sure their tables will be full of so much stuff from other people as well. But this fruit basket gift ideas are so enticing to look at and perfect as center pieces during family dinners. So there, might give baskets of assorted goodies, hopefully we'd be able to find affordable but well packed baskets at the mall soon!

Documenting 11.11.11

Friday marks the 11^th day of the 11^th month of 2011 (11.11.11) and a lot of people say that this day is lucky. Some even say that this is a lucky date to tie the knot as the numbers 11.11.11 stands for one husband, one wife and one soul in Chinese beliefs and this translates to a marriage that will last forever.

But even if you don’t believe in superstitious beliefs such as this, you can even consider this day special because of the rarity of the event. 11.11.11 will never occur in history again so it is also nice to document how this special day in your life turned out.
So how can you document 11.11.11 to make it more memorable?

One way is to document the entire day through pictures and create scrapbook layouts, which tells the story behind each picture. Or if you are not into scrap booking, you can just take pictures and upload those pictures in image hosting sites such as Flickr or Instagram so you can place tags and stories for each picture.

You can also join the One Day on Earth project, where people from all walks of life from different parts of the globe capture events of this special day through pictures and videos and collect this entire media in the One Day on Earth website to tell the world’s story about 11.11.11.

November 11, 2011 is indeed a rare event so why not create memories that will let you remember this special day.

Happy 11.11.11 everyone.

The author, Melissa, is a professional blogger and freelance writer. Her latest project is content writing for the discount-shopping site You Love Coupons where she writes about discounts for weight watchers and ediet. So check out this blog to avail of weightwatchers promo code and ediets promotional codes.

all glammed up!

I was just cleaning up my phone’s photo library when I saw these cute photos of my daughter taken some months ago. Couldn’t help myself from laughing upon seeing these, fully accessorized - Beads and all, the works! Anyways, this reminds me to keep this and have this printed so she can see how cute and fashionable she was during her pre-school years. And yes, I love how she seemingly know how to fiddle with my mobile phone!

add ons for the truck

I know someone who is a truck owner and he is kinda looking for a special gadget that will surely enhance his trucks. Good to know that there are gps for trucker available today. This will surely help him enhance his truck units and will help the drivers find their right way easily. Thus, delivery of goods will be on time or even earlier than the required time. Diesel will also be minimized because the drivers do not need to try different routes.

i miss you.

My favorite Macchiato drink. Unfortunately, there is no way I can start tasting you again. I need to follow my doctor’s order to stop drinking caffeinated drinks especially coffee and sodas to ease my migraine problems. So there, hopefully when my medication and cleansing is over, I’d get to sip you once again even at least once a month, just to keep me sane and happy. But for now, I'll just keep myself busy with reading and learning more about Tubing Bender and other stuff :)

composters et al

Mom has been bragging me for the nth time about gardening stuff that she wants to order from the states, unfortunately no one is available to scout and do all the research thing for her. You see, gardening – the mainstream way isn’t that simple. You have to purchase heavy duty equipments like composters, bins, mowers and the likes in order to fully function well. So there, since we love our mom and we wanted her to be happy, we promised to help her with this long overdue project of hers, soon. Hopefully we’d be able to find local suppliers that can give us stuff she needs at very affordable prices too!

Christmas wish for our house

If there is one thing to wish for our home this Christmas, it would be a brand new panasonic home theater system to boot! Actually, other awesome brand will do as long as it would make our movie watching spectacular with all the right surround sounds and awesome huge flat screen :) I wonder, when would be the malls and electronic shops will have their another biggest sale, hopefully by then we’d be able to save up and be able to buy our dream hts system for our house :)

drifter cart

Two months ago, the husband came home with a new toy in tow – a drifter cart that can be used on sand, cement or just about anywhere as what he told me. Anyways, since it’s nearing Christmas and still haven’t figure out what perfect present to buy for him, I might just pair his drifter toy with one of those Shoei Qwest of his choice! Something that for sure will make him giddy happy this coming holiday season!

awesome wedding band

Our parents are about to celebrate their 31st wedding anniversary two days from now. And really, we are so proud of them! Actually, one of the things we wanted for them is to have them renew their vows, maybe on their 35th. Hopefully, we’d be able to push through with that plans as well as get them stunning triton wedding bands to boot! Was checking out jewelry shops online and this I found, something that would look really good on their fingers :)

Tatay Rene’s 75th Birthday

May 4, 2011

Kamalig Restaurant, Rosario Cavite

 

Patrick turns 7

May 1, 2011

Lavania Subd. Clubhouse

 

       

Kryll’s 1st Bday Party! – a bee meets bee celebration :)

March 20, 2011

Jollibee Tanza Cavite

Kryll’s 1st Bday Celebration