2011
Another Published Work
I helped out a friend and did a shoot for the marketing campaign of his play, Suffering Inc. My friend and former co-worker is the director and writer of the play. So of course I have got to help a brother out and spread the word. If you haven’t seen the play, you should go get your tickets now before the run ends.
It’s been really fun doing creative shoots where I am able to use my ideas and even add more in post.
The great thing about shooting photos like these is that it gets published on web zines and even popular weekly newspapers here in Seattle.
One of them is the Stranger. They did a great review on the play and even included the photo I took with a credit.
Oh yeah! That makes me happy.
2011
Fall…ing
So it’s cold. Not happy about it. But I am thankful that Nick and I were able to enjoy our last summer day on Saturday by swimming in Lake Washington. A friend of ours invited us out on his boat for a day and we were of course pretty excited as always to be on the water.
Not only did he take us out in his boat but we were able to take a ride on his scooters. Which was pretty fun since I haven’t been on one since I was 11 years old.
When I was young, my cousin’s dad had a motorbike, a scooter, and a 3 wheeler. It was all for us cousins to ride in around the subdivision where they lived. Since I was the youngest girl, I rode the 3 wheeler with another cousin, who’s the youngest boy. What’s funny was, we were the youngest and we were on the most dangerous ride. Go figure. It was fun though. We just had to make sure we didn’t do any turns quickly or else the 3 wheeler motorbike would be on top of us in a second. Those were good times. Makes me smile remembering all the things we did. We thought we were so cool. Revving the engines of the bikes to make sure other people heard it. We were just on the bikes riding around with no destination to go to really. I loved that.
And since it’s fall. It’s also time for shopping. Not that I need new clothes every season. But who says I can’t enjoy putting stuff together on polyvore just to see how things look?
If you’ve known me for a while, you’ll notice that I dress comfortably. I still believe in being stylish of course. But comfort is of high importance. So it’s pretty rare that you’ll see me in heels. If you do want to see me in heels, invite me to your wedding.
For this boyish sexy look, you’ll notice how loose the outfit is. Which is totally me. I used to wear a lot of tight tops. I feel that I am over that now. I haven’t been buying anything tight since last year. I’ve also been giving my old tight tops to Goodwill since I don’t see myself wearing them anymore.
I am not a fan of the cold weather, but fall is beautiful. And I get to wear boots again!
Any good suggestions on rain boots? My Rocketdog rain boots died on me after 3 months of use. Note to everyone, don’t buy their rain boots!
2011
Another Change
I want to apologize to my readers if you’ve been encountering weird stuff on my blog. First I was hacked, I got that fixed but just recently my theme got all messed up too. It was just showing text. Not likey that much.
So, I hope you guys like the new look. I really liked the old one but it looks like the more simple it is, the better.
Timing could not be anymore perfect for this change in theme, since soon enough there will be more changes in Nick’s and my life. Nick’s going to be done with school in 2 weeks and we’ve finally decided that it’s time to make some little Nicks and Tanyas. OH MY GOSH!!! And once there’s a little one baking in the oven, we might also have to move to a bigger place. Pretty big announcement huh?
The great thing about change is that I actually enjoy and look forward to it. I will admit that sometimes it gets pretty scary, but I get really excited about how my God is going to pull through. How He’d show himself always faithful in taking care of us.
I am always reminded of when I moved here to Seattle from Manila. My friends would tell me that that must’ve been really scary. I was honestly more excited that scared. I was excited to be married to my best friend, excited for the new things I have never seen and was definitely overjoyed because Jesus showed Himself faithful in finally letting Nick and I be together after 3 years of a long distance relationship.
Change helps me look up to where I’m supposed to look. It helps me look up to Him who knows what He’s doing. And I trust that with the discomforts that comes along with change, He will never leave me nor forsake me.
I know that our future little kiddos will be a handful and could be stressful. But the positives will definitely outweigh the hardships. I believe that.
I am excited to hear an additional sound of laughter in our house. It will be wonderful. So please pray that after Nick is done with school in 2 weeks that he gets a job that he loves, that pays well and of course includes really good benefits. Thanks guys!
Photos below are a few more excerpts from our summer in Seattle. Please excuse all the foot shots. For some reason I am very fascinated with the shots. No I’m not turning into Quentin Tarantino.
Olympic Sculpture Park
Nick on our new float. This was at Greenlake.
Camano Island water.
I think the guy beside me is pretty hot.
2011
Summer For Reals
It’s hard to sum up what I’ve been doing the past month. Summer has definitely come and I’ve been out and about every single weekend. Not just the weekend, but also after work bbq’s and swimming in the lake. I’ve been out so much that my body finally told me to slow down. Which means, sniffles. I’ve used up 2 boxes of tissues already and I’m still going. Well I feel better today. And I hope that it’s completely gone by this weekend because I am definitely planning on going back into the water.
A few highlights I wanted to share with you guys…
Nick and I have been doing a lot of exploring of our neighborhood. After work we’d go have a picnic where we can get the best view of the sunset.
Our church had a bbq in the church parking lot. There were music and dancing and we were all thankful that the sun showed up.
My friend Rhonda and I
Little Michael and I. We were both laughing at a really funny joke.
One of the best things we’ve done this summer (so far) is go on a camping trip. We had our own piece of lake. No one else was there. The sun graced us with its presence. We ate and swam and played a whole lot.
One can’t complain about where the tent was set up.
Yes, the water was that clear and refreshing.
I still have the skillz.
View from our tent.
Nick and his raft. He built that himself and he was very proud of it.
It’s really great to be married to my best friend.
PS. I started doing bootcamp at the gym 3 times a week. Nick is graduating in a few weeks and I deactivated my Facebook. I shall write a post about that shortly. Now that I’m not wasting my time on Facebook. Ha!
2011
Summer Status
INSTALLING SEATTLE SUMMER…..
███████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 44% DONE.
Install delayed….please wait.
Installation failed. Please try again. 404 error: Season not found. Season “Summer” cannot be located. The season you are looking for might have been removed, had it’s name changed, or is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.
It’s been a while
It definitely has.
I’m not sure if summer has officially arrived in Seattle, but I definitely have a summer schedule. I have the type of schedule where I don’t go home right away after work. I mean, if the sun is out (which is rare in Seattle), it’s pretty hard to be indoors. So Nick and I make the most of it.
I know I said I was going to post some photos from our Anniversary trip but it’s been harder and harder to find the time.
Here’s a little excerpt.
I have not forgotten about you my dear readers. What have you all been doing since the beginning of summer?
2011
Life Happens
I’m here. I’m alive. Had a great vacation. But life is happening. Busy. Schedules. Appointments. I hate saying I’m busy. I don’t like it when someone wants to schedule something with me and I say I can’t because I have something to do. I guess that’s what happens if you live in the city. Am I getting tired of the city life? It’s a sign that going back to island living is for me. Haha!
Hawaii was great. Photos to come. Stories of our adventures will soon be up. But for now. I am living the Seattle life for a little bit.
Nick and I have a couchsurfer coming in to stay at our place tonight until Wednesday. So until then, hope you guys are having a fabulous spring.
Whoever is looking forward to summer, raise your hand!
2011
Manila Rain
I’m not in Manila but all this Seattle rain reminds me of home. If only it was a little bit warmer, I’d be outside jumping in puddles. Running around, doing cartwheels and even consider shampooing my hair in the rain. I’ve done that in Manila and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
“Reminds of me home.” I have been saying that a lot. When I say home, I still mean Manila. I’ve been here for almost 5 years now and I still don’t consider Seattle home? I am not sure anymore. Home is where my family is I guess. My home is with Nick and with my parents and brothers.
My heart longs for laughter and teasing with my brothers. Oh how I miss that. I was talking to one of my brothers the other day, we were teasing each other and laughing so hard. He says to me, “I wish you were here because I miss this.” I miss it too. And it hurts being away from them.
Last night I was talking to a friend about the dynamics of friendship and family in different cultures. I told her that I felt like I was walking on eggshells most of the time here in Seattle. People are too sensitive, take everything so seriously and personally. While I grew up in a culture where we just make fun of ourselves and it’s ok. We laugh about it. I can’t tease anyone here. And if I do, I’d get the, did-you-just-say-that look. I’d be removed from their friend’s list and will be ignored forever.
Maybe I just need a break from all this. It’s only a week and a few days ’til Oahu. I can’t wait to be in the sun and recharge my batteries.
No on Snow
I was complaining to my brother about how Seattle is going to get about 6 inches of snow by Thursday. I am not happy about that. I have a lot of friends that love the mountains, the snow, and of course snowboarding but that is soooo not me. This tropical lady needs to get out of Seattle ASAP!
As I was venting to my brother he says to me, “At least you can make halo halo fresh from Heaven.” I don’t have to shave the ice. Haha! Shaved ice from Heaven is a good way to look at it.
2011
Free lunch, well sort of
I found a deal online for a cafe near our office last Monday and thought, “Dude, I’ve always wanted to try that place!”
As I was paying for the deal, I found out that I had credits for referring a friend to that deal website. So lo and behold, instead of paying for a $10 lunch that’s worth $25, I paid nada.
Oh yeah!
I told my co-worker, “You and I are going to have lunch tomorrow.”
And so we went.
We went to 5 Point Cafe. It was sunny and beautiful outside last Tuesday and it was worth the walk of a couple of blocks to get to the cafe.
I was brought back to my childhood when I ordered the hamburger steak. I used to order it all the time at this place called “Pancake House” in Manila. Yeah, that Pancake House serves the best hamburger steaks. So when I saw the hamburger steak on the menu, I had to order it for nostalgia’s sake.
It’s the kind of place that I would go back to on a Saturday or Sunday brunch with the husband or friends. The place, with servers covered in tattoos, gave me a really cozy feeling. I felt like I was at a friend’s house with their grandmother cooking in the back and the cousin was serving our food.
Good times.
Oh I mentioned “sort of” a free lunch since the bill went up to $28 including tax plus tip. So out of my pocket I only paid $6 for a really good lunch with coffee. It was worth it. I mean $6 is worth a teriyaki chicken with rice. haha!
