Mexican Dinner

Last night I had a craving for mexican food (thanks to Boy Meets Grill episode on Lamb tacos), and so I gathered whatever is in the pantry and came up with the following:

• Grilled Spiced Sirloin (instead of the apricot-basted Lamb loin) as the meat for the soft tacos
• Tomato Salsa
• Guacamole

Here's what I did:

Grilled Spiced Sirloin
I invented this hahaha but was inspired of course by the episodes I watched from FoodTV, as well as recipes of Nigella lawson

Meat: 1 block (1/4 kilo, 1 1/2 inches thick) of sirloin steak
Spice Rub:
- Chili Powder (lotsa this!)
- Cumin
- Cayenne Pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- Salt and pepper to taste
*Sorry I don't have the exact measurements, but this really depends on your taste!

Grill the meat about 5-7 minutes on each side, depending on preferred done-ness. Let it stand for 10-15 minutes for the juices to go back to the meat, before thinly slicing it. Make sure each slice has a crispy portion. Yum-yum...

Salsa

Ingredients:
- 1 large tomato, cubed
- Chopped fresh coriander
- Chilies or chili powder (if desired)
- EVOO (drizzle until the tomatoes look luscious, maybe around 1-2 tbsp)
- Juice of 1/2 lime
- S&P to taste

Just mix them all together!

Guacamole
Loooove this!

Ingredients:
- 1 large ripe avocado, meat is cubed (diamond-shaped)
- Chopped fresh coriander
- Chilies or chili powder (preferred to have this!)
- Juice of 1 lime
- Cracked pepper (I just added this hehehe)

Again, just mix them together, making sure that the avocados are not mashed. Chunky for me is better. Hehehehe.

Anyway, my other condiments were:
- Sour cream
- Tortillas (heat them a little if they came from the ref)
- Prepared Salsa(not really needed, but since I have it on hand, I took it out as well)
- Shredded lettuce
- Cheese
- Nachos

Drinks: Apple juice (huhuhu... no margarita or sangria for me)



Gash... I ate two big soft tacos, and my helper was laughing when I said... "I don't want anymore, I'm soooo full...." Hahahaha!

Last night's dinner was really something, and I plan to do this again, but with the company of my friends and of course, my husband...

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Trip to LV

Last night while waiting for my friend in Greenbelt, I decided to take little Eannah (ergo, me) for a stroll in Greenbelt for. Of course, we had to take a little peak in the LV boutique and lo and behold... I saw the LV sandals I drooled over, with my shoe size on display!


Don't they look good on me feet? :P

I'm still thinking about it, but there are two concerns: 1) price (huhuhu I have to save for our little Eah's sake) 2) can only be worn after birth.

Aside from this, I'm already buying my bag. I'm still thinking though on whether to get a Speedy 30, Speedy 35, or the Trouville Bag....


This really looked good, plus there are compartments inside, unlike the speedy!

*Sigh* I guess I'll just get the Speedy 30, because it would really be a total splurge if I have another LV purchase for myself... (Think about Baby Eah) Which goes to this....

Since I'm more concerned in providing for our little Eah (tehehehehe excuses), I asked about diaper bags... and LV has in its Mini Lin line!


Doesn't it look nice?

When the attendant told me about this bag, I felt a small kick from our little girl... Hehehehehe! I told my husband about this little incident, and all he could say was... "Nge!" Hahahaha, little Van in the making eh?

But then again, a PhP100k diaper bag is admittedly too much (for us at least). Even if we buy this in Sweden, it would still cost more than PhP70k. That's already one huge christening celebration for our little angel. Again, a wishlist for her I guess, and it's up to her Papa anyway (which I'm sure he'd say... she won't even use it when she grows up!)

There goes our trip to LV. Didn't buy anything, but I'm still happy as clam for my little window shopping.

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Say Hello To...

Little Eannah!

Well… not yet 100% sure but most probably our little angel is a girl!

Last night, I was really anxious to know our baby’s gender, and so I took a 2-minute walk going to the nearest hospital and had an ultrasound. it was a long wait, since we were told to be there before 8 pm (we were there around 7:30), but the sonologist (middle-aged, slightly conservative man) was there at around 8:30! While waiting, I was talking to our baby, to show herself to Mama hahaha. Anyway, it was really a suspenseful moment, but i was pelased with the way the sonologist handled our session (compared to the last one in Polymedic). He was very thorough indeed! At first he said that it’s not 100% sure but it looks like the baby is a girl (”may guhit“). He then proceeded to measure the baby. He showed me the baby’s head, arms, legs, back, chest, number of fingers, etc… While looking at the monitor, he mentioned again… it really is early but looks like a girl. Towards the end of the session, he took another look and said… “Sa palagay ko talaga babae.” He told me to look at the monitor and pointed to the baby’s organ. It’s a little oblong-ish and has this fine line in the middle. Heheheh, there you go!



I asked about the baby’s nose (vain vain!) and when he showed me the profile, it’s not really clear, but he joked that he couldn’t see the nose, it’s a little flat! What’s prominent is that the lips are pouting, and her chin is defined (for me it looked really delicate). Our little angel was very active, and our last glimpse of her was she putting her little hand in her mouth, as if to thumbsuck! How cute is that!

Anyway, it seems that our baby is on the big side hahaha. based from what ir ead in the internet, at 23 weeks, the baby should be around 450 grams. Little Eannah is around 661 grams. Hehehe. No wonder Mommy is still thin while the tummy is bulging… All goes to our baby girl!

The sonologist suggested that to be sure, I should have another U/S at 7 months. Again he repeated that baby is most likely a girl… Hello baby Eannah Alessandra!

If ever our baby turns out to be a boy… well… it’s ok! Our baby is the biggest blessing given to us so far, so why choose right?

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23 Weeks

Time flies so fast... I am now on my 23rd week of pregnancy! I have read somewhere that this is the time when my baby will feel my mood swings as well as hear what I hear (and say).... Hmm this means I should all the more be on the happy side always, and careful on the things I say! Plus, I should continue speaking to my baby, especially at night and when I wake up. Oooh I can't wait to see our baby!

Also, the back aches I usually experience early in the morning are now slowly fading away, so these past days I have been sleeping quite well. Thank goodness!

Anyway, as a habit, this is me today....



Yesterday, I was checking out baby stuff like crazy! It felt funny but it also felt really good. My friend Liv actually wondered when I told her I haven't bought anything in preparation for our baby, so later I will check out the baby stores before I meet up with my friends for dinner. Hmm... I should do that, you know to check out the cost of each items.

Here's one of the items in my wishlist for my little cherub...


Baby Blanket by Burberry

Or this...



But they cost some really mean $$$ you know! Hahahaha! And I'm sure our baby's Papa will say... "uh-oh... this is not a good start" Hahahaha!

Anyway, this is all for now regarding baby stuff. My OB appointment tomorrow was cancelled, so I gues I'll be getting more news about our baby next week. Hopefully she'll tell me that we can now determine our little angel's gender! Yipee!

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5th Month of Bliss

Today marks our fifth month as a married couple. Early this morning, I felt this strong feeling of sorely mssing my husband. How I wish he’s here so we could celebrate our special day, together with our little baby in my tum-tum (who is also on the 5th month). This made me so sad, thinking that it really is a big sacrifice getting married and yet being oceans apart (do I hear a song? hehehehe). But then I realized that I should look at it in a different persepctive, that rather think about our situation as a sacrifice, we should be grateful that my husband’s career is on full speed ahead. Hmmm… Am I beginning to be influenced by the “teachings” of The Secret? Tehehehe…

This aside, I finally received our wedding video (draft only, and I need to give him my comments and things to be changed) from Archie Paungan, our photographer/videographer. *Sigh* Our wedding was really a wonderful event for us. Of course, I cried in some parts (ok in most parts), as I felt again the feelings I had at that time. It’s just now that I noticed that when my Dad was giving his speech, my dear Enrique was holding back his tears (ok, pa-simple wiping his tears). Plus our “raunchy” long kiss. Hahahaha! I could really see some action going on. Yaiks! (But of course, kilig factor pa rin hahahaha)

So now maybe I should just focus on the positive side of things… My husband loves me very much, we have our baby on the way, our careers are doing good, and well… we do have a wonderful life. Thank you Lord for all the blessings You have given us.

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Of 22 Weeks and Back Aches

Today marks the 22nd week of my pregnancy, which means I am little more than halfway trhough my pregnancy! Just the thought of it really makes me excited, as each week draws me nearer to seeing, touching, and smelling my baby! Of course, I still don't know the gender (seriously, I am sooo tempted to have an ultrasound tomorrow!), but it's ok, mama Van can wait right? Once I know though, it would be doubly exciting... Rafael or Eannah? We'll find out really really soon!



22 weeks and counting!

Anyway, on to more serious stuff... For some time now I have been experiencing terrible backaches that wake me up in the wee hours of the morning. The worst I have experienced so far was at 4 a.m. this morning; I almost cried in pain! Well, actually I was crying a bit already. I tried to reposition myself, but to no avail. Since that time I was unable to sleep... Huhuhu.

So today I did a little reseach on pregnancy and back aches, and this was what I have gathered from About.com:


Why Your Back Hurts

When you are pregnant your body produces a variety of hormones. One of these hormones is called Relaxin. Sounds like something really soothing and helpful, which it is, for birth. Relaxin causes the ligaments and the pelvis to soften to allow the baby out through the pelvis. This is also why pregnant women "waddle."

In addition the pelvis relaxing for the upcoming event of birth, your uterus is growing and this does two things:
• Changes your center of gravity
• Relaxing uterine ligaments cause additional strain to be placed on the spine and your surrounding muscles
• Your overstretched abdominal muscles are also not equipped to handle the entire weight of the uterus so your spine and back muscles will bear this extra burden as well.

To ease the back pains, the following should be done:

• Utilize good posture
• Use proper lifting techniques
• Pelvic rocking
• Massage
• Sleep with pillows supporting your legs and back
• Wear flat heeled shoes that offer good support
• Heat (bath, shower, pad, sock)
• Swimming
• Don't move in a jerky fashion
• Stretch daily

Well.. I have done these things, but still my back aches. Probably it's worsened by the fact that I am thin, thus my body is not used to the extra weight/pressure in my abdominal area. Oh well... I wills till continue doing the above, and will consult my OB regarding this. At least I only experience this when I sleep. I hope though that my body will get used to the changes and my back pains will be lessened a bit.

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21 Weeks!

I should've posted this last week, but I forgot hehehe...

This is me at 21 weeks!



Some said that my tummy is bigger than it should be. I guess it just looks bigger because of the clothes I wear or because my tummy is the only one growing while I still look thin. My officemates joked that from behind, I don't look pregnant at all. Then when I face forward, it's the same ol' me but with a bulging tum-tum.

Anyway, tomorrow I'll be 22 weeks, and month-wise, officially 5 months pregnant. Oooohh I can't wait to know my baby's gender!!! I'm really stopping myself from having another ultrasound this middle of May. Will our baby be a Rafael or an Eannah? We'll see really really soon!

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Birthday Mama

Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday happy birthday.......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.... ME!

Tehehehe, I'm just trying to cheer myself up so that this day will be a day full of blessing and happiness.

My day started with a wakeup call from my beloved husband. We talked a good hour and I felt both very happy that he called, at the same time sad because he's not by my side to celebrate my special day. He trie to console me though by telling me that I'm not alone on this day because I have our little bundle of joy inside my tum-tum. That really is a good thought. He also believes that while he sang the brthday song, our little baby was dancing... *Sigh* I can just imagine our baby doing that inside, now that really put a huge smile on my face.

I also received greetings from his whole family, and was really happy that they remembered. My mom-in-law actually gave me her present last Sunday when I stopped by their house. These were pambahay clothes, and I tried one already... so comfy and looks refreshing!

Anyway, while driving to the office, I received a phone call and the person told me there are flowers from me but they don't know how to go to our office... Geesh, what a surprise noh? Of course I knew who gave them... When I got to the office all my officemates greeted me (actually, they did yesterday when I received flowers from them). After a while, I received a dozen red long-stemmed roses from... who else... my beloved husband! *Sigh* He never failed to send me flowers for my birthday and for our anniversary.

My family greeted me also, and when my Mom called, she asked me what my plans were. i told her we will push through with our lunch on Saturday by the poolside. She asked what I will do tonight and told her nothing, I'll just stay home alone (Paawa effect ba?). She laughed and told me to just go their house and have dinner there, she'll ask our cook to prepare some food. Of course I gladly said yes!

Anyway, that's all for now. Later I will treat all my officemates for merienda cena here at the office.

I hope that the rest of the day will be a wonderful day. I thank the Lord for this day and for all the blessings He has given and will give our little (and growing) family. Thank you Lord for the wonderful and good life.

Happy 29th Birthday to Me!

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The Secret... or Is It?

After watching Spiderman 3, my friends and I decided to just walk around Greenbelt to burn whatever we ate during lunch. We happened to pass by a bookstore and I saw the book "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrnes. This book actually got me intrigued when I read about it in Chuvaness' blog, so I got myself a copy (expensive though) and read it when I got back home.



I have only read around 40% of the book, but so far what I have gathered from these pages are the following:

- The Law of Attraction is perfect, and whatever you ask for and believe you will get it, then you will receive it.

- The more grateful you are about something, the more you will attract that something to you.

- Good thoughts bring about good tidings, whereas bad thoughts bring about, well, bad stuff.

- You can get and be what you want as long as you focus your thoughts (good ones) on your wants.

Well... I think this "secret" advocated by the book is not really an astounding find for optimistic people (like me). I mean, there are actually a couple of people who have never read the book, nor the books of the authors mentioned by Ms. Byrnes, and still one of their mantras is "if you want something to happen, claim it." Another is that if you just change your perspective in life, then changes are bound to happen. Of course, this may shed new light to some pessimists, enabling them to shift to new "frequencies," but what will one think if he eventually fails (and he might quote the book "getting one dollar is the same as getting a million dollars"). Does this mean that it's the person's fault, that he didn't think enough good thoughts?

Maybe i am more inclined to the saying "things happen for a reason," but anyway, there is actually no harm in asking what you want, believing that you can get what you want, and then receive (and be grateful) once you get what you want. So I should give it a try:

ASK: Enrique will be here in time for my delivery
BELIEVE: He will be home on time!
RECEIVE: We'll see later on....(and if this happens, I would really be grateful)

Other good reviews are from here:
- E-pinions
- Amazon Readers Reviews (especially from Old School)

So, is it worth reading? Maybe.

Is it life-changing? Hmmm... maybe to some.

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Spider-boy

Since last weekend I was very anxious and excited that I will be watching Spiderman 3 when it opens in theaters this Labor Day. My friend was able to get us tickets (morning only, the later time slots were all full!), and while en route to Greenbelt, I was thinking... yeah the trailer's nice and most likely this will be the last Spidey so it must be good...



Well... it turned out to be below my expectations... I don't know, there was something in the movie I can't quite fully explain, but it really paled in comparison to the previous Spidey films. One nice touch was the little "tribute" to Saturday Night Fever, but still, I got pretty bored in some parts of the movie.

Oh well... now I'm looking forward to another big movie this May...



Goodbye Tobey... hello my Orly! :P

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