Office Space: Inspiration

Love the "stuff" on the walls.

Perfect for the creative & crafty.

Being smart with space - office in a closet? Sure, why not!

Looks like this could be another closet conversion.

Love the splash of bright color!

Like the use of wire to hang pieces of "inspiration".

Yo Gabba Gabba!!!

Yay – Ella’s 2nd Birthday finally made it on the gabbafriends.com site. We are so excited! And we are super-excited for the show this coming November. Imagine, I was contemplating traveling to the Midwest to catch one of their shows – so glad I didn’t. They added 60 tour dates all around the US. They are so popular with kids and adults alike, premiering on popular TV shows and even making an appearance at the White House for their Easter festivities. Awesome!

Mixin’ It Up: Random Thoughts Wednesday

• Single-mom-with-twins action this morning – niece spent the night so I had to get both girls ready this morning and take them to daycare. It wasn’t easy but mission accomplished!
• Yay! Going to Yo Gabba Gabba LIVE in November. Tickets purchased and I’m so excited they added tour dates to include San Diego!
• Can’t wait to work on a hip-hop mix CD with the Hubby – keepin’ things fresh and fun as always!
• So glad I went to the REEF last Friday in Long Beach – good friends, great music and got to unwind with the Hubby and my other friend Vodka Collins. :)
• DJ FL3X’s latest mix is the business – especially the freestyle portion. I feel like doing the cabbage patch!
• Half way to the long weekend – YES!
• Hodad’s with J-Dils is on the calendar – looking forward to that bacon patty, Jan! :)
• So glad my SIL is home and healthy.
• Started our next newsletter – going to be another exciting issue.
• So proud of another Filipina making her mark – Nicole Scherzinger won Dancing With the Stars!
• Nice relaxing BBQ with the fam this weekend – I want to make a new dessert and dish. Therapy.
• Possible date with my #1 guy – YELP to the rescue. :)
• Happy to report – making progress on master bedroom. LOL.
• Got Ella’s skinny jeans and we all just love them on her. Adorable.
• Meatloaf, corn, mac & cheese for dinner tonight.
• My nephew is so perfect. :)

Bieber Fever + The Robot = Something Special

Date with Mommy #1

As promised in #26 of my to-do list, I had a one-on-one date with the first of my four kids. Today’s date was with my 14 year old s.d. Here are some highlights of our day together. Lots of fun, good conversations, laughs, added with some girly time shopping, a delicious lunch together and a few surprises!

The Invitation

Just the 2 of Us

Our Yummy Lunch at Homestyle Hawaiian

Surprises :)

Smile!!

Something Only a Girl Can Appreciate

A Book Called "SHE" That Celebrates Women

Spending one-on-one time with your kids is something I strongly recommend. Believe me, they love the undivided attention, and you get to catch up on your kid’s life, make new memories together, and spoil them for a day. With four kids, we cannot afford to spoil them with material things (nor do we want them growing up spoiled) on a regular basis, which is why it is even more special to them when we do smother them for a day with attention and gifts. It’s also important to get a feel for what they’d like to do – for example, I asked my s.d. what she wanted to eat and researched places ahead of time, but left everything else a surprise.

I cannot wait to plan the other three dates. I have some ideas in mind already. :)

Random Thoughts Thursday

• Big day tomorrow – just throw some luck my way! :)
• Tomorrow it the last day to vote for my Ralphs reusable bag design – crossing fingers that I make it as one of the finalists. Please vote. Thanks for the support!
• Club with the Hub tomorrow night? Depends on how my day goes tomorrow – I’m 70/30 right now. Could be a very exhausting day.
• One-on-one date with my 14 year old s.d. on Saturday. She requested sushi or Hawaiian food so we’re going to try to check out a place that’s new to both of us – Homestyle Hawaiian and then watching The Last Song. Afterwards, maybe check out the mall since we’ll already be there. Can’t wait to spend some quality time with her.
• Dinner tonight – grilled steaks, sweet corn on the cob and white rice. Steak is marinating as I blog…mmmm.
• Been daydreaming a lot lately.
• I think God showed me a sign yesterday morning. ;)
• Shaun Maxwell and his mommy will be coming home today.
• I love (not really) how I stay awake through most of a show I really wanted to watch and fall asleep right before I catch the ending! Happened while I was watching Top Chef Masters  last night and has happened several times before!
• It’s time for Ella to sleep with her sisters – I’m getting kicked off my own bed!
• Having a two year old is like having your own personal echo – the other day at a 4-way stop, a woman was not paying attention to her turn and I said out loud “Go lady!” and right after Ella said “Go lady!” Gotta watch what I say. Glad I didn’t say something worse. LOL.
• Didn’t have time to pack a real lunch today, so I just grabbed a pandesal and stuck a slice of American cheese inside. Good ole pandesal sandwich! :)
• Grateful I have a good relationship with s.s.’s biological mother. He’s going through some teenage stuff right now, especially in the relationship department, so it’s nice to be able to commensurate with his mom. And thank goodness we are both on the same page!
• Getting my idea list together for a special baby shower of someone near and dear to me.

Panang Curry Chicken

One of hubby’s favorite Thai dishes is Panang Curry. I was inspired to make some sort of a Thai curry dish after watching Giada At Home this past weekend. I found several recipes for Panang Curry and came up with this “simplified version”. The authentic stuff was nowhere to be found at the Asian market I shopped at yesterday, like Thai basil and lemongrass, but I think I was ok without them.

• 2 cans of coconut milk
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced
• 2 red bell peppers, pitted and sliced
• 1 onion
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cans of baby corn
• 3 carrots chopped
• 3 Thai chili peppers, with seeds out
• 3-4 tsp of honey
• salt, to taste
• fish sauce, to taste
• 1 can of panang curry paste (which now I know, I will only use half the amount, as this batch was really really spicy – on a “Thai” scale it was around a 6)

Sautee the onions and garlic. Add the sliced chicken with 3 pinches of salt. Cook chicken all the way through. Leave the juices from the chicken and add the bellpeppers, carrots and baby corn. Add the panang curry paste and chili peppers, and mix well. Then add coconut milk. Cover for 20 minutes or until carrots are soft. Adjust your seasonings to your liking. I added honey to make it a bit sweeter, but it didn’t take away from the heat, which I was hoping it would. Next time, I would use less curry paste and will add potatoes! I served this over hot steamed rice with a side of our family’s favorite appetizer, gyozas. Hubby gave me a thumbs-up – we were all sniffling and gulping several glasses of cold water at the end of our meal. LOL!

Panang Curry

Baby Boy

Proud Papa

Tiny Toes

Kisses from Big Sister

Shaun Maxwell

Love My Shauney

Weekend Recap

It’s amazing how much I got done this weekend:

• Completed AND submitted both eco-bag designs. I hope I make it as one of the finalists! Regardless, I’m happy with the work I put into the designs I submitted. :) This is a BIG one to cross off my list!
• I actually watched and finished both Twilight and New Moon. I am anxious for Eclipse to come out now.
• Wrote and sent out all of the TY cards for Ella’s bday.
• I folded and put away all of Ella’s new clothes from her bday.
• Laundry – done!
• Grocery shopping – done and stayed within budget too.
• I was able to watch some (ok, a lot of) TV – caught up on Tori & Dean and even watched an episode of Millionaire Matchmaker OnDemand. Plus, I also watched a couple of shows on the Food Network – 5 Ingredient Fix and Giada at Home. I’m inspired to make Thai yellow curry chicken and veggies now.
• Cooked a recipe from one of my older issues of Food Network magazine but with turkey bacon instead. I’d make this again with the kids – fun and easy! Adding a notch to #21 on the To-Do list. Only 8 more recipes to go!
• Got my toes done – didn’t think it would happen but thank you Hubby for insisting I do it and thank you for the nice lady at Nail2000 for letting me come in 10 minutes before closing time!
• Ate some good food – hit up Chamorro Grill again with the big one to discuss his future plans AND later that night picked up sushi from our favorite place for a quiet dinner at home with the Hubby (and Ella).
• Went to my gf’s kids’ bday party on Sunday – Ella had a great time in the jumpy with her friends!
• Spent time with the family on Friday night.
• Replaced our broken mini-vac – finally!
• AND…I’m seeing the numbers on the scale go down! Woohoo!

Still left outstanding…OUR BEDROOM! Ahhhh – I think we need to tackle our room section by section. That might work better. Happy Monday, everyone!

Happy Birthday, Shaun Maxwell!

This morning, my nephew arrived into the world – Shaun Maxwell Sadsarin. I cannot wait to meet the little guy. My heart is filled with so much joy, to have another addition to our family. Happy birthday, my nephew. Photos to come. :)

Watch out world, he's here!