mani.mondays.january2013.catch-up.edition.
Posted: January 21, 2013 Filed under: DIY, MANICure.Mondays., Things. | Tags: mani and pedi, mani-pedi, manicure, manicure monday, nail spa, pedicure, Spa Leave a comment »Welcome!
Hope you all had a restful weekend! I had quite a busy one, but I had a bit of down time as well, which is always nice on the weekends.
Saturday was spent at a mini event at church for the ones involved in the music ministry, followed by a birthday lunch out for Luke with a few friends at Country Meadows.
Now let’s get back to business. As promised, here we are again for the 2nd installment of the three catch-up editions we’re doing this January.
Here is a little experiment on some nail art:
[Don't mind my really dry skin, I intend to talk about nail hardeners and cuticle moisturizers next Monday! 
]
Above here is a mirror image of my right hand. I used my left hand to apply and you will notice the uneven application of the sparkly silver divider between the red and the blue polish.
I started off with just applying the red polish on the entire nail. When the polish is dry, apply the blue polish diagonally on the bottom third of the nail. [Notice how my index finger just has the red polish and the blue polish] After drying, I then apply the sparkly silver/titanium polish right between the red and the blue.
Below is a much better image with better application of the polish, because it’s my left hand, and I used my dominant right hand to apply.
Here are the different polishes I used:
1. ORLY, Royal Navy
2. Nicole by OPI, Follow me on Glitter
3. Tip Toe by Old Navy, Red Aloud
I’ve tried Orly and Nicole by OPI before, but Tip Toe was very new to me. It was surprisingly great! The brush was decent and the polish was neither too thick or too thin, allowing me to just do a single coat. It was just right and it dried up pretty fast too! Yay Old Navy!
Have a great Monday everyone!
welcome.2013.
Posted: January 11, 2013 Filed under: DIY, Fashion.Fridays., Food., MANICure.Mondays., Music., People., Places., Shopping, Things., Wednesday.WishList | Tags: 2012, 2013, happy new year, new year, reflections, year-at-a-glance 1 Comment »Welcome
If you don’t already know, this month marks my blog’s 1st anniversary! YAY! Today, I’d like to share how it all began.
It was a year ago when I decided to start a blog in the hopes of encouraging creativity in my life.
Before getting married, I’ve always either worked full-time, or was in school full-time, or both. The first few months of being a housewife were great! I got to learn how to cook, bake, and manage the home altogether. However, I’m a quick study, the downside being, I get bored easily.
It eventually came to a point when I started feeling bothered when people asked what I did at home. (Like it’s a crime for a woman not to have a job and stay at home now?) They all most likely meant well, but all the questioning just made me feel so little, and it started making me question my sense of purpose.
This miserable introspection was the beginning of a beautiful journey. The life that would have just passed me by, has now been carefully chronicled on this blog. This entire year of blogging, helped me realize that what I did at home indeed had purpose and it brought me joy.
It is my hope to share this sense of purpose and joy to everyone!
Here are my 2012 favorites:
2012 Year-At-A-Glance
We brew joy here @joybrewed ;)
autumn.wreath.
Posted: November 6, 2012 Filed under: DIY, Things. | Tags: autumn wreath, book page wreath, cheap DIY wreath, Christmas wreath, DIY, DIY wreath, easy DIY wreath, paint chips 1 Comment »{This post is for those who’ve e-mailed me about the last post regarding our DIY autumn wreath, and also for those who didn’t get to e-mail and ask me but were interested to know how it was made.}
I made this wreath almost a year ago for Christmas, I think.
It’s made of:
pages from an old book + some egg cartons + a glue gun + a red ribbon.
{Click here to see the first time I posted about it on this blog.}
This year, I decided to re-purpose it for Autumn and here it is:
It’s the easiest and cheapest re-purpose I’ve ever done. The only thing I did was change-up the red ribbon and add these Behr paint chips.
I got these free from Home Depot while we were looking for a paint colour for our accent wall in the living room.
The fun leaf shape gave me an idea for a future project, so I may have swiped more than “usual”…ooops. I didn’t know, at the time, it was going to be useful for my wreath, but I’m glad they worked out well.
The best part, aside from the fact that they were free, is that I didn’t have to glue them to the book pages {less work, and I can use the wreath again for another occasion}. I just stuck them into the holes and loose spots and they held up pretty nicely since I’ve put up the wreath a month ago.
You can totally change things up and use paint chips in different shapes, or make the wreath totally different by rolling up the book pages a different way!
Click here, here and here for other wreath ideas!
Hope you enjoyed this DIY post! Have a great day!
easter.pumpkins.
Posted: November 1, 2012 Filed under: DIY, Food., Things. | Tags: autumn wreath, bacon, easter, halloween, potato nachos, pumpkin carving, pumpkins, squash 4 Comments »On Friday night last week, Kyla and I decided we would carve our pumpkins at their place. It was BYOP, so Aji and I went to Superstore on late Thursday night to grab our pumpkins. I went for what I thought was a decent medium size and Aji just went for a big one. To our surprise, Jason and Kyla’s pumpkins were mini ones compared to ours!
It was an extra fun activity because it was Aji’s first time to carve and we were all pretty excited about our theme: “Easter”
We sort of decided to put an Easter message twist to this year’s carving just because it’s a great way to join in on the fun of giving away candy to random strangers that come up to your doorstep, without joining in on the original evil connotation of halloween.
If you are wondering what pumpkin #1 says, it’s not about Easter, Aji was being a rebel and wanted to be different.
His pumpkin says: ”THIS IS NOT A SQUASH”, in Filipino.
Pumpkin #2 is mine, it says: “JESUS LOVES YOU”
Pumpkin #3 is Jason’s and it’s a dove which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
Pumpkin #4 is Kyla’s and it’s a cross which is a symbol of Jesus’ empty cross.
We had an awesome time carving but Kyla had more fun taking the goop out of her pumpkin and some out of Jason’s and mine too!
{The first photo is my autumn wreath, I just thought it would be nice to add it to this bunch of photos}
After an evening of laughter, we capped the night off with some baked potato nachos with bacon, which Kyla made.
Hope you all had a great and fun evening tonight!
wednesday.wishList.
Posted: October 3, 2012 Filed under: DIY, Shopping, Things., Wednesday.WishList | Tags: acent chair, art work, desk, DIY, home decor, home sense, magazine holder, reclaimed wood, red door painting, table, vintage side table Leave a comment »
A month ago, we were in Richmond and we actually had extra time on our hands to spend in a shopping mall. So off went Aji to the nearest Best Buy store and off I went to the nearest Home Sense store.
Here were my finds to add-on to my Wish List:
1. Reclaimed Wood Desk
Isn’t she exceptionally pretty? This is a work of art on its own! (Big Sigh…)
2. Shoe Organizer
Now I know we’ve already got those Ikea shoe but this is just my “the grass is greener on the other side of the fence” babble. I think it is much prettier than what we’ve got though, to be honest, not just because “the grass is greener..” lol!
3. Chevron Print Accent Chair/Vintage Green Side Table
Oh these pieces would work so well in our living room! Now while I love Ikea very much, I would like to gradually graduate from some of our Ikea furniture which I’ve had for at least 10 years already. (Hah! That will be the day…it’ll be a celebration! I’ll make sure to post lots of photos!)
4. Mail Slots/Magazine Organizer
I almost drooled when I saw this red, aged mail/magazine organizer! I think I gasped a little louder than usual at the store when I saw this, and people kind of looked on with this in mind: “What is wrong with her? It’s just a mail organizer!”
Contrary to popular belief, this is NOT just a mail organizer, it is a beautiful piece of furniture that can also work as wall art.
5. Red Door Painting
Oh what I would give for this cool painting to be in our entryway! Sadly, Home Sense does not accept barter, I asked.
To be honest, I didn’t even bother to look at the prices of all the items because I would just be terribly disappointed not to be able to buy everything!
Instead, I basked in the joy of being able to take photos of the things I really loved so I could share them with you on this fateful Wednesday!
Have a great Wednesday everyone!
mani.mondays.september2012.edition.
Posted: September 10, 2012 Filed under: DIY, MANICure.Mondays., Shopping, Things. | Tags: manicure, nail polish, nail spa, polished nails, sinful colors professional, Spa 2 Comments »
Happy Monday everyone! You’ve guessed it right! It’s that random day in September for Manicure Monday!
Can you tell how dry my hands are? Maybe I should do a hand care post one of these days for Manicure Mondays…
I definitely need good habitual hand care.
Ok, onto the three nail polish colours that I used, still from the Sinful Colors polish binge I went on a few months ago.
I used
1. Secret Admirer
2. Love Nails
3. Frenzy
I alternated Love Nails and Secret Admirer between my nails and topped them with the sparkly purple/aqua Frenzy.
The manicure looked fabulous despite my hands and cuticles desperately needing some hand care.
I still had a very positive experience with these nail polish. They didn’t come off easily even after a full week’s work. They remained glossy and sparkly too!
Have a great week ahead of you!
patio.express.bench.
Posted: September 1, 2012 Filed under: DIY, Shopping, Things. | Tags: acacia wood furniture, furniture shopping, patio bench, patio furniture, patio furniture sale, summer furniture, superstore 6 Comments »We bought this “Patio Express” from Superstore. When we got home after the purchase, Aji, immediately took to his computer and played his video games (his usual on a weekend, and on weeknights too).
So off I went onto the patio, to build the “patio express”. It had Ikea-like drawing instructions that made things really easy, identifying each screw and where they went exactly.
It took me all but 10 minutes to build this baby. I’m assuming this is why they decided to call it the “Patio Express”.
I would’ve finished sooner if not for the lack of another person to help me secure both sides of the bench arms while I screwed them down. [In all fairness to Aji, he did actually help me for about a minute or so during the build, thanks love!]
Anyways, here are some photos of my latest “puzzle building” activity:
It was such a fun little afternoon puzzle! Best of all, it was only $29.00 at Superstore and it is very sturdy and it fits well in our patio behind the bedroom window.
Hope you’re having a great Labor Day weekend everyone!
the.accent.wall.development.
Posted: July 26, 2012 Filed under: DIY, Things. | Tags: accent wall, american deluxe, colourful, condo living, DIY, DIY painting, fender, home decor, home decorating, house and home, interior decorating 3 Comments »Some people are afraid of using colour in their home. Aji and I are not “some people”. We love colour. Even before we moved into our new home, we’ve already decided on our accent wall colour.
Our picks ranged from blues to purples to reds until we’ve both agreed on this:
We were positive it was going to look bright even if it seemed too dark on the palette. We have a massive living room window so we knew the light will balance the dark paint on the wall.
So after the move, unpacking and cleaning, we painted the accent wall. (By “we” I mean, Aji painted while I slept and then I took off the tape in the morning)
This is half the wall painted already. Of course we chose nighttime to paint instead of daytime. It gets really warm in the afternoon in our living area.
This is a day photo and the wall looks very blue. It looks a lot more green/turquoise in night photos.
This is the finished wall without any artwork.
We were contemplating if we were going to leave it blank and let the colour be the accent.
You can see the other side of the living room here and you will notice that we really do love splashes of colour.
I just had to add some red in the mix to tie it with my “red love affair” in the kitchen.
Of course I couldn’t help but add some artwork on the wall. It was inevitable.
Then I added a few more picture frames.
Finally, Aji decided to hang one of our “children”, Aster (a Fender Stratocaster American Deluxe), on the wall and the accent is complete.
This is a night shot and an ultra saturated one might I add (sorry to the ultimate photographers out there).
Here’s a day shot of the wall.
These are the updates so far, will for sure do another post if we change-up the wall in the coming months!
Hope you’re having a great week so far!
foyer.lover.
Posted: July 14, 2012 Filed under: DIY, Things. | Tags: entryway, foyer, home decor, house and home, interior decorating, new home 3 Comments »One of my most favorite parts in our new home is the foyer, aka entryway. We didn’t have one before at the old place.
Having lived in a dormitory for four years during Med. school, before getting married, I never really knew what I was missing.
What foyer are you talking about?
You have to understand, Aji and I lived in my dorm room for about 2 months after getting married in the Philippines, before I went back home to Vancouver. When we moved into my parents’ one bedroom basement suite, we totally thought the space was so much more than what we had in the dorm, so we were just so thankful.
A few months passed and it seemed like the basement unit was getting smaller for the two of us. Accumulated junk stuff is what happened.
Then we had people over and we realized that the most number of people we can have over is six, that’s including the two of us.
Aside from the fact that we had very little space for guests to leave their shoes in, we also figured out that during the winter months, not having a foyer meant having the door open straight into your living room for about 10-30 minutes depending on how long the conversation went (during goodbyes), right before guests left the house. Can you imagine how cold it got? Brrrrrrrr.
Now If you aren’t feeling the love we have for our new foyer already, here are some photos for you to change your mind!
Showhome photo:
When we moved-in:
Three weeks later:
Have a great weekend everyone!
white.pantry.revamp.
Posted: July 10, 2012 Filed under: DIY, Things. | Tags: DIY, decor, ikea, crafts, house and home, talon pantry, white, wall decals, stickers, stainless steel appliances, flower decals, boring to beauty, pantry art, Canadian Tire Leave a comment »We got this small, boring, plain, white pantry about a year ago, at Canadian Tire, due to our lack of storage in our previous home, a rental basement suite. It was on sale and if you remember, all our cupboards and our appliances where white at the old place, so we decided to get this. We wanted to get rid of it when we moved, but sadly, we didn’t have enough cupboard space that would fit certain tall and bulky grocery items such as 2L Soda/Pop bottles, family size chips, bulk toilet paper, paper towels, etc.
Do you have the same storage problems living in a small pad or suite? An extra pantry helps!
Although, if you buy the same white pantry we did, and you have dark cupboards, and dark appliances, it will not work.
Okay, it doesn’t look so odd on the photo above, but it does over here:
The white cupboards look so…white, and plain right beside the dark brown cupboards. (Notice how I’ve tried to create some distraction and put some of my unhung wall artwork right beside the white pantry…lol!)
So here’s what we did:
I bought those decorative wall decals last May at the Ikea AS-IS section. They were a pack of 4 sets of flowers, all for the price of 0.59 cents. I didn’t know what I’d be using them for when I got them, but I sure am glad I found and bought them. Don’t those wall decals look lovely on that white pantry?
Here’s one more photo for good measure!
Ahhhhh…now it looks like it belongs there.
Hope you’re having an awesome, sunny Tuesday!
