Gone are the days when women are confined inside the house (in the kitchen to be exact). But no matter how far along we have gone in progress and technology, let us admit that we still tend to associate women with kitchens. I am one one of those who feel lost in the kitchen. I never thought that living on your own, having your own space sort of gives you that feeling of being in command. Never mind that I do not know how to operate the oven, I know I can do this! Imagine hubby’s surprised delight when he comes home to these:

These dishes take 15-20 minutes to prepare by a normal person. I, on the other hand, struggled a full hour and 16 minutes to finish. But it’s all worth it. Faye – 1, Kitchen – 0. Yay!

If you are interested on the recipes, please check out my separate post here.

Yummy day, folks!

Image credit: http://communio.stblogs.org/2011/02/saint-valentine-1.html

Facebook posts thrive with Valentine posts, Google searches show a considerable spike up on Valentine’s Day ideas and history. Truly, the next best thing to being in love is to see someone else in love. To see parents who dote and work hard to provide for their children’s future. To see kids who burn the midnight oil so they can repay the sacrifices of their parents by turning in high marks and graduating from school. To see elderly couples still as sweet as ever. To see best friends sharing dreams. To see siblings hanging out. Love comes in many forms, but the best one there is is God’s love to us. For He so loved the world that He gave us His only Son.

Image credit: http://www.freejesuschristwallpapers.com/

I think the next best form of love is the one that brings out the best in each other. And I am confident to say that that is what we, my husband and I, have.

My husband never believes in Valentine’s Day. He said it’s not even a real holiday, lol! Besides, he doesn’t want to be tied down by “holidays”, and I have to give it to him as everyday for us is like Valentine’s Day.

Don’t get me wrong, there are days like it’s World War III. But we know deep inside that we love and care for each other so much to let anything come between us.

My husband never gives me flowers; and my dad is with him. Their reason? “It will just die and be trash. What’s the point?”

My friends are nagging me to tell them what my hub gave me this Valentine. Last year, he gave me a Sony Vaio. This time, they keep on urging me to tell them what. I told them I don’t know if these will qualify for Valentine’s Day gifts because he gave me these days before today. (I can almost hear him saying, “I don’t need no holidays to show my love for you, I can shower you with gifts any day without the need for a special occasion or what.”)

So, here they are: (Note: I am not trying to “show-off” here, just sharing what most of my friends would want to know, but still, you can always leave me messages or comments t let me know what you think.)

iPod touch

Nine West slingbag (got this c/o https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000984046316)

Nine West tote bag (c/o https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000984046316)

Thanks hub, and happy Valentine’s Day everyday to us! ^_^

• Got 2 new purses courtesy of the hubster (details on a separate post)
• Unfriended and blocked 2 women from my personal Facebook account on grounds of malicious and untruthful talks about me behind my back (debating whether to make a separate post, as I’m sure a lot of people will be able to relate on this and no, this isn’t gonna be one of those hateful rants or something but rather an in-depth probing on social networking sites and how it affects real life)
• Got 2 new FREE nail polish courtesy of my uber nice seller in shades I wouldn’t have thought will fit me (reviews will be posted soon, thanks sis!)
• Scheduled a teacher conference with my 2 siblings’ advisers this Friday. I promised to satisfy their major food cravings if they turned in good grades
• What’s with number 2 today?
• Shameless plug: Please take a peek on the beauty blog where I contribute some measly reviews (http://ph.makeupandbeauty.com/clinique-all-in-one-colour/)

End of rant. Ktnxbye!

After painting my toe nails (Wet n Wild nail color in Lavender Pearlescent, a little freebie gifted by my super nice online seller) and making sure there’s nothing of me that needs to be overhauled (lol!), I decided to update my iPod touch with some music videos saved away in my Western Digital external hard drive. Note: This is again, a gift. I live off other people’s kindness most of the time, I’m that pitiful

First of all, I made sure that these music files are into mp4 or MPEG-4 video file format because as far as I know, mp4 is the video file type supported by the iPod. So just imagine my shock when I got this error message:

I was like: 0_0

What the heck!?! What am I supposed to do?

After some researching and chatting with my nerd herd (ahaha!), it came to my knowledge that the ordinary mp4 format is still yet to be converted to an iPod support mp4 format. Well, at least now I know what the problem is.

Turning back again to good ole search engine, I found a few software that can help me in my dilemma. But then, another problem looms in:

Of course, cheapskate me isn’t willing to pay that much. There’s gotta be a better way.

Lo and behold, the answer is just right in front of me:

Yep, iTunes. Just do the following:

1. Once the movie files are already in your Library, click on “Advance” in the toolbar

2. Click on Create iPod/iPhone or iPad/Apple TV version

And voila! Just sit back, wait until the conversion is done, then simply sync your iPod with your iTunes. You’re good to go!

Enjoy, I know I will! ^_^

I also want to start eating healthy; cut on carbs and calories, more on veggies and fruits.

One day during the lunch hour, I’m feeling good about myself for ordering this and sticking to this alone:

Never mind that my mouth watered at the sight of hubby’s fish and fries:

Only to find out later on, that both have the same number of calories…

I shouldn’t have added the dressings!!!

Me: (sounding uninterested) What?

Hubby: (in a chirpy voice) Well, I just landed in Bangkok Airport and I’m in Duty Free! Do you have anything you want in particular?

Me: (sighs) Okay, what did you do this time?

Hubby: Seriously? Do you think I would just buy you stuff when I did something wrong? How could you even think of me that way?

Me: (silent) ~insert crickets sounds~

Hubby: Okay, I’m sorry I didn’t call last night but I’m beat, the boys lugged me around bars because this is the last time they will see me until the site project is finished, etc, etc, etc……I know I promised but…..etc, etc, etc………

Therefore:

Then…she spotted me….She seemed angry…(Oh yeah, angry bird!)Then she gave me…a pose?!?And another one…And yet another one…She’s working it!Just to show you how far she is from me…Isn’t she a beauty???

If I am wanting a certain bag, let’s say from Marc Jacobs and I know that I cannot afford to part with those $$$ for a bag, then I scout the malls to look for local brands inspired by that same design. Not imitation or replicas! I would rather use a local designer’s creation than use a fake one because I feel like I am fooling myself just so I can have a “Marc Jacobs” bag.

My love affair with Longchamp bags started on my very first black LC Le Pliage Short Handle in Medium which I got from the in-flight duty free of Thai Airways. Since then, I am now always on the look out at Rustan’s and Duty Free for another LC addition.

I purposely stay away from online sellers, because even though this is the most affordable designer bag that I know, it’s still not easy to get scammed by $110.00 at the minimum. Fake LCs are all-over.

When you visit flea markets, I am sure you can spot lots of LC replicas: the distinctive shape and leather flap at the middle, and the unique folded look screams of LC. So how can we really tell an authentic LC Le Pliage from fake ones? I always receive this question so I decided to write down the important pointers I have learned to authenticate your Longchamp Le Pliage.

To a trained eye, a fake LC can be easily spotted from its tell-tale too shiny finish of the bag. An authentic one isn’t too shiny and it appears thick as it feels. It is also smooth to the touch with such pliability and softness when folded.

On top of that, the following pointers might be useful (Note: This is for a Longchamp Le Pliage Medium SH only):

• The leather handles do not have the plastic tubing-support inside it; an authentic LC’s handles are made of strong, real leather which makes this “shopping bag” durable enough to withstand some considerable amount of girl stuff.
• The small leather flap at the middle have the embossed LC logo of a jockey and a button which has engravings of the LC logo as well as the words “Longchamp 1948″
• At the back of the same leather flap are engravings of the brand (“LONGCHAMP”) and the type and model. The E in the words “modèle déposé” must have its distinguishing accent marks. Notice also how the words are placed above and between the stitches.
• The leather feels so soft and the edges are not frayed or too hairy. The back of the button also has the words “ORIGINAL PRY M 6/4 B
• The zipper is a LC logo. The details of the jockey and the horse are finely crafted even the eyes of the horse on each side are well-defined by a distinguishing dot.
• The zipper head was engraved with “YKK” 
• The button snaps should have a sturdy, round, plastic reinforcement at the inner side of the bag. One is located at the inner front pocket and the second one is at the back of the bag near the bottom (for foldable LCs only)
• Lastly, the inside tag. Serial numbers are based on the model and where they are made. You can have it verified at any LC retail store near you (in my case, it’s Rustan’s). I heard also that you can email the customer service from the official website of Longchamp.
  

  Sorry, I have to blot out the serial numbers! ^_^ Just to discourage replication

And there you have it. Hope this guide helps. Should you require any more authentication from experts, you can always post your inquiries at the purseforum.com.

A braided brass bangle I got from Pattaya, Thailand.

It always slips out of my small wrists.

I love the classic and vintage-y look.

Can be worn casually or dressed up.

I hope it won’t have those greenish, moldy-like thingy which I don’t know what they’re called, because they’re ugly.

So this morning, I feel so happy and blessed to be able to attend mass with my siblings, and this is the very first thing we did today. (Nothing beats the feeling of putting the Lord first before you go about your day). We went to St. Joseph’s chapel somewhere here in Laguna. We do have a chapel inside our village near a Catholic university; but mass starts at 7:00 AM and we really can’t get up that early. Sorry, God.

The priest mentioned during the homily that we are celebrating the National Bible Week. If you’ve read my previous post about me having digital bibles, you should know by now that I am carrying with me a bible on my iPad 2.

I also have it on my blackberry:

Now I also have it on my new iPod touch:

And still, I have the actual bible with me:

I have this for 3 or 4 years now. I even took this with me when I worked as an Accountant in Dubai.

But, thing is, what’s the point of having all these if I don’t read them and learn from them and put these learning to good use? That is my second quest in improving my faith; to read the bible more often and apply the lessons in real life as much as I can.

For those who are curious or who are in the same journey as I do, you might be interested in the following bits of information about the bible:

• There are 73 books in Catholic Bible; 46 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament
• The first book is Genesis and the last book is Revelations
• The four canonical gospels are the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
• The longest book in the Old Testament is Psalms, the shortest is Obadiah
• The longest book in the New Testament is Acts; the shortest is 3 John
• The oldest person in the Bible is Methuselah
• “Spare the rod and spoil the child” was based from the biblical teachings of: Proverbs 22:15 -Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of correction will drive it far from him.                                                              Proverbs 23:13, 14 -Do not withhold correction from a child, For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. You shall beat him with a rod, And deliver his soul from hell.                                                                                                           Proverbs 29:15 -The rod and rebuke give wisdom, But a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. [Quotes from the NKJV]

A blessed Sunday to us all!