Sewing Machine or Lens?

In less than a month, I will celebrate my birthday. It will be a different celebration this time since I'm spending a couple of days with my entire family in Singapore, instead of just with Ariel which has been the case for the past 8 years.

Anyway, I've been thinking of my "wish list" for quite some time now. At some point, I was considering an iPhone.

I have an iPod touch and I love it. So I thought my next phone should be an iPhone. Later I thought it to be impractical considering that we have "free" phone with Ariel's corporate plan. And even if I ended up adding a few thousand bucks for the Nokia N97 model that I opted for, it's still tons cheaper than if I got the iPhone. After all, I've always had Nokia from the very first analog phone. And I still have my iPod Touch, which I now use as a portable movie payer. I'm not much of a music person anyway.

Then I went on a weekend crop with some friends in Tagaytay.

I grew up with two dressmakers for grandmothers. I've learned to sew at an early age and my Barbie doll matched my own outfits. It was only natural that I use stitching in my scrapbooks. In fact, I've already bought 2 sewing machines - an old heavy duty one which survived the Milenyo flooding but is no longer working at optimal levels, and a small portable one that can't handle cardstock. So I went on a hunt for the perfect sewing machine. And I found this.

I showed this to Ariel in one of our visits to Anson's. I told him I am considering this as a possible birthday gift from him to me. Anyway, when we went on a weekend crop in Tagaytay, Mia brought her Singer baby and let me use it. In fact, I made a couple of layouts and cards with machine stitching. I got to use ALL of the stitches available in this baby. Needless to say, when I got back home, I told Ariel that this is what I want for my birthday.

That is until August 15th when I attended the food photography workshop by Mr. Ricky Ladia. I went home thinking "I've got to have a macro lens!"

I am still researching but this is what I have in mind, so far.

Of course, an L lens is out of the question unless I plan to make money out of it so this is the next best thing. Since we are going to Singapore, I thought we'll check out the prices there first before actually making the purchase.

Any reco from my photography friends? I really have to make a good decision here. I can't afford to buy new lenses every now and then so this has to be THE macro lens I will be committing with for the rest of my life, probably. Is there a cheaper option? :D

Birthday Bash - Part 2

My birthday was actually almost two months ago but it took me a bit of time resizing the photos so well, I'm just posting this now.

Anyway, my hubby gifted me with an external flash for my Canon 40D DSLR. Knowing him though, I know he has a few more surprises up his sleeves. So, while I wasn't all that surprised to get flowers from him, I was surprised to see it waiting outside our bedroom door when I woke up the morning of my birthday. Turned out he arranged for an early morning delivery.

The bouquet contains three each of some of my favorite flowers - three red Roses, three pink Carnations, three Gerberas (in assorted colors) three Lilies, and a lot of beautiful fillers. I just love getting flowers! And he knows it!

We had lunch at Abe right after our Blow Up Babies appointment. I blogged about that here. Anyway, it had been very difficult to reserve tables at Abe but we were able to book one for my birthday. Yahoo!

We ordered Binukadkad na plapla which I first discovered at Bistro Remedios. Now, this dish is actually available in many other restaurants (like Recipes) but it's only here where it is paired with Burong Dalag which I thought is the best way to eat this dish.


A meal won't be complete without veggies so we ordered Pinakbet. It was ok, nothing really spectacular - just your average pinakbet.

Now, I had been looking forward to ordering the Sinuteng Baby Squid. Unfortunately, it was unavailable so we ordered Sisig instead. No luck. It was also unavailable! Sigh. We settled with the Crispy Shrimps which was good but I had my heart set on the baby squid.
After lunch, we stopped by the Home Depot nearby to get some kitchen stuff for my newly renovated kitchen. Then we headed to the Manila Ocean Park. I've got to tell you this. I've been planning to go to MOP for a long time and I thought I'd surprise Ariel on my birthday. So I told him that I have an itinerary and that he should leave it up to me. Days before my birthday, Ariel told me that whatever my plans are, I should give him 3 hours because he has a surprise for me. I had a very strong feeling about it so I asked him if he's taking me to MOP. True enough, our surprise for each other is a visit to MOP.

Our plans ended with MOP. After that, it was totally spontaneous. Ariel asked me if I want to go to Fort Santiago. It's been over two decades since I was last there so I readily agreed. It was a bit unkempt. I think we are doing a poor job maintaining our historical sites. Tsk. Tsk. Nonetheless, it's still beautiful and very photo-worthy.

After our tour of Fort Santiago, I asked Ariel to take care of choosing our dinner destination. He brought me to Ilustrado which I really liked because that only means we're having Paella for dinner. It was our first time to eat there and we had a wonderful time.
Ariel ordered red wine while I opted for white. We skipped appetizer because we need the tummy space for the heavy paella dish.
Ariel also got a fish dish with lots of garlic. Yummy!!!
For dessert, we ordered Canonigo which is a popular Spanish dessert. It's like the outside of Brazo De Mercedes which is light and fluffy, topped with vanilla and caramel sauce , and mango balls. The sauce is too sweet for my taste but it was a great end to our mouthwatering dinner.
Tired from a packed day, we just went home after dinner instead of going to the spa which we initially planned. We opted for a home massage so we can go to sleep immediately after. Before I went to bed, hubby presented his final surprise - a white leather-strapped wristwatch which I saw at a jewelry store months ago.

See all photos here.

Can't wait for my birthday next year! :D

Birthday Pictorial

Here are some fun photos taken at Blow Up Babies on my birthday.

I brought some props to document my hobby.




I also wanted to have a photo wearing a chef's toque and an apron because I love to cook. The apron is from Ch's Kitchen Couture. I love it!!!

Just goofing off!!!





I already bought patterned papers and embellishments months ago to match these photos. I've been planning these shots for months!


Ang sweet namin!
See the unedited slide show here.

A Mini Album Birthday Gift

Here's a mini I did as a birthday gift to our helper Malou. It was her first time in Baguio so I decided to make a simple remembrance of that trip.







This is my entry to Kaya 17. Been delinquent for some time and I hope to be able to submit an entry more regularly.

Supplies Used:

Basic Grey Book Plate Album; Basic Grey Lily Kate PPS (my favorite paper line of all time!); Autumn Leaves, Making Memories and Basic Grey stamps; StazOn and Versa Fine Inks; Staedler Triplus pen; Ribbons, Flowers and Buttons from all over the place

My Birthday Cards

As promised, here are the birthday cards I got. Lovely works of art! Thanks again girls for taking the time to make them and mail them to me.

by Nina (sent all the way from Taiwan and Earliest Bird winner)

by Sheryl

by Ching (sent all the way from the US)

By Jona (Alby and Ariel's Pick)

by Donna (The BLOW OUT Winner!)

by Susie (sent all the way from HK)

The following were received after the cut-off but are very much appreciated nonetheless. Thank you ladies for taking the time.

By CV

by Marian

by Cookie

Inside the pop-up card