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Christmas Events

Christmas and New Year 2020 in Photos

It’s currently the second of January 2021, and I’m taking advantage of the downtime before school resumes on Monday. I was actually able to finish 2 K-dramas during the Christmas vacation — Sweet Home and The Guest (all horror series, I know) — so I think it was a vacation well-spent haha!

Anyway, belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I was supposed to write at least 2 blogs back last month, but December happened and it just got super busy. I wasn’t expecting that Christmas in the year of the quarantine would be busy, but here we are. Just to clarify, my schedule was busy not because there were a lot of events (there were none), but I was trying to finish all homeschool and work tasks before the vacation. There was also some shopping to be done for Noche Buena and Media Noche as well as gifts for neighbors and family members.

Christmas and New Year this year was admittedly different from others because, aside from the lack of holiday events, we were not able to spend it with our loved ones. Both Job and my brother did not get to go home this year because of the pandemic so it was only the 4 of us at home who celebrated Christmas and New Year. Still, we are blessed to be complete and healthy so we’re happy!

Celebrating Christmas with my 8-year old who’s nearly 9!

Small Noche Buena spread enough for 4

I wasn’t able to take photos while we were opening gifts, but I gave these 2 K-Pop albums of their choice. A Blackpink album for my sister and the BTS Map of the Soul 7 for Yuri (I bought these albums in advance; hindi pa narelease ang BTS Be)

We had Christmas Day brunch at home with my cousin, Kuya Jason Olalia, and his family

On Christmas weekend, we did our yearly tradition of counting Yuri’s ipon (which is actually my Invisible-50 Challenge since he did not receive any allowance this year hahaha)

Happy New Year! This was our small Media Noche spread

I had to highlight this dish, which was the only dish we did not cook. We ordered this Chicken Biryani from a neighbor. Yum!

Celebrating Christmas and New Year as a family — virtually!

Again, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Let’s look forward to a great year ahead!
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January 2, 2021 by
Christmas Events

After the Long Christmas Vacation… Bring It On, 2018!

Happy new year, everyone! My 11-day holiday break is finally coming to an end! Here are the things I planned to do but, of course, didn’t:

  • Write a year’s worth of blogs
  • Update my blog’s look
  • Plan a new morning routine for 2018
  • Take pictures of the clothes I’m no longer wearing and sell them
  • Take Yuri on a date or do science experiments
  • Update the look of my home office
  • Lose 15 pounds

Perhaps I don’t need to say that I feel like a failure lol. But I am trying to be kinder to myself, to realize that while I am not able to do everything I think I need to do, I am still trying. That I’m only a failure when I stop trying.

Before I proceed, let me say thank you to the best bosses in the world for giving us a long break! Please visit our website: Stay At Home Mum.

It’s true that I could have done so much more during my vacation. I could have done science experiments with my son, rearranged the furniture, tried new recipes, become a real estate superstar… I could have rested more and watched an entire KDrama or two!

By the way, I wasn’t even able to write about our Christmas celebration. To be fair, because of our hectic schedules, we didn’t go all out on decor this year. Only your standard Christmas tree and Christmas ornaments on our shelves. No lights because they take effort to put up and even more effort to take down hehe. We also didn’t have a formal sit-down Noche Buena. Instead, we had a street party with our friends and neighbours.

At our Christmas street party, wearing my new Ever Bilena Toast of New York lippie hehe and the matching shirts our neighbors/friends worked on

What we lacked in decor and formalities though, we made up for gifts. I saved up a bit before Christmas and spent it all on gifts and Christmas stuff. For someone like me whose love language is gifts, Christmas truly is a special season. Yuri had the lion’s share of the presents, of course. Kids do have the best Christmases! I received a few gifts myself, both from friends and family. Thank you! Continue Reading

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January 2, 2018 by
Christmas Events Shopping

Christmas Bazaar 2016 at the Davao Convention Center

My co-workers, Sarah and Jona, and I are regulars at local bazaars.

More often than not, we end up buying more food than we had planned!

This year’s Christmas bazaar is no exemption. Since the bazaar will be there until Sunday (November 30 was the first day), and we went yesterday (where there was a huge downpour!), here’s a quick post about what you can expect from it. This is by no means an extensive description of the entire bazaar. Instead, here are pictures of booths and stalls that caught my eye.

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December 2, 2016 by
Christmas Events

Highlights of Our Christmas 2015

How was your Christmas?

I have come into terms with the fact that I won’t be able to blog properly until everything goes back to normal (hopefully during the first week of January!), but I found just enough time to squeeze in an update post. Here are the highlights of our Christmas, 2015!

Christmas Eve started with me meeting my SAHM (Stay At Home Mum) Team PH friends — in other words, my work friends. We met for lunch where we, ten tenen tenen, exchanged gifts! We had lunch at Cafe Teresita near GMA Shrine Hills, which is owned by the owner of Jive Highland Resort. Why we ate there? It’s a long story! I’ll tell you about it in a post especially devoted to the one about our trip to Buda. Abangan!

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I got this oh-so-wonderful gift from Julie, our colleague from La Carlota, Negros Occidental:

A beginner's calligraphy set + a couple of brush pens!

A beginner’s calligraphy set + a couple of brush pens!

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December 28, 2015 by
Christmas Friends Lifestyle Shopping

Mixed Mess: Christmas Rush, Pigging Out, and Official Catch Up Week

So I’m giving up on dieting this month.

Pigging Out

Even though money is kinda tight (I forgot to include my World Vision kids’ noche buena in my budget plan! Sorry guys that I sent it literally at the last minute!), thank God there is no shortage of food around here. Thank you Lord for the generous givers around us and for the occasional extra money to enjoy food!

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So even though I won’t be losing weight anytime this year (and may even gain s’more kilos – – even my puns are food – related gah), I’m just thankful the there’s always food on the table despite the sky-high medical expenses haha.

Christmas Rush

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December 14, 2015 by
Christmas Davao Events Events Shopping

Finds From The Christmas Bazaar

Christmas Bazaar Davao Convention Center

Have you visited a Christmas Bazaar lately? I have (and have written about it in a previous post) and bought several things in spite of my vow to not buy anything before December.

In fairness, it was almost December last Saturday so I decided to forgive myself. I just set a meagre budget (and went just the littlest bit overboard) and off I went.

I went there with my work gals, Jona and Macy.

Grabbed this one from Jona because my groupfie game needs work

Grabbed this one from Jona because my groupfie game needs work (I already look haggard here because this was taken after bargain hunting)

Sarah was supposed to be going with us but she had a headache and had to stay home #buntisproblems. Originally, we wanted to visit the bazaar to buy sweaters and stuff for our Christmas getaway. We also wanted to buy matte lippies. Well, we went home with neither. There were gorgeous sweaters there but their price tags weren’t “bazaar prices.” And then there were no matte lippies at all.

I went home with these instead:

Christmas Bazaar Davao Convention Center

Within budget! Haha

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December 2, 2015 by
Christmas Davao Events Events Shopping

Christmas Bazaar at the Davao Convention Center

Christmas Bazaar at the Davao Convention Center

I was supposed to be on a spending fast this month not just because Christmas is coming but because we’re on a tighter budget now. Papa is on a lot of medication, still undergoes dialysis, and just had a minor surgery last Saturday.

However, when I learned that the annual Christmas bazaar is happening over the weekend, I just wasn’t able to say no. (Don’t worry; I didn’t spend a lot! I set a budget — and stayed within it. Woot!)

Today is the Christmas Bazaar’s last day so instead of showing you what I bought, I decided to post pictures of the things that caught my interest. If you’re in Davao today, you still have a chance to catch the last day! From what I’ve heard, it’s usually best to go to bazaars during their final day because prices of goods usually go down.

I wasn’t able to take a picture of everything (because the area is so big and there were so many booths), but these are some of the stuff sold there:

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Have you visited a Christmas bazaar lately? What did you buy?

All photos taken using a Huawei Honor 4C.
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November 30, 2015 by
Christmas Wish List

Christmas 2015 Wish List!

So it’s exactly a month before Christmas today.

Can you believe that? I can’t. 

Wasn’t it just yesterday when we prepared for Christmas 2014 and I was still excited at the prospect of all those desserts because I wasn’t lactose intolerant yet? Or how my dad was so excited for all those savoury dishes because he wasn’t undergoing dialysis yet? Funny how much things change in a year, no?

Anyway, let’s not dwell on the sad things (read: food restrictions) because Christmas doesn’t just revolve around food. It also revolves around gifts. Of course I’m totally kidding, but since gifts are a fun thing to talk about, why don’t we talk about them? Here are the things I want to have for Christmas!

1. A Blank Planner

Here’s a confession: I bought a Certified Positive last year (I started using it in 2013) and even gave away a couple of copies to my readers. And I loved my planner. I used it religiously — until I started attending real estate classes. I was able to find time to update it occasionally — until I got a full-time job with Stay At Home Mum. And then I had to study and prepare for my board exam. Let’s just say the last time I got to write something in it was in June.

(I did pass the board exam, though!)

I’m not giving up on a planner this year. However, I think my best bet would be a blank, un-dated planner so that I can continue using it even if the month — or year — has already expired. I have my eyes on this:

And while you’re at it, this matching desktop calendar too:

2. A New Tumbler

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November 25, 2015 by