Ramblings of a Perpetually Tanned Filipina

I'm sorry if I haven't been writing for a long time. My work schedule is just out of whack and when it's my day off from work, I want to do nothing but relax.  It's already the holiday season and I haven't done any holiday shopping yet - but I'm already broke. lol! I only got stuff for my family in the Philippines which I will send through the balikbayan (care) box. I have learned that I should start shopping for stuff to put inside the box starting January. Getting stuff all at once is what caused a huge dent to my savings. It's fun shopping for my folks back home, especially when I know opening the box and seeing the simple stuff I gave them will make them happy. I'm hoping to send it before the end of December so it will get to the Philippines before April.  Happy holidays everyone! :)

Whoah! I have a blog! My last post was from when??? July??? LOL! I'm just really busy and things just get too overwhelming sometimes that putting it into words and posting pictures to make you actually visualize those words are most likely impossible. I'm just being a lazy blogger, that's all. I went to the Bahamas in September, but I'll post another blog for that, 'coz today would be about my naughty car. So I got a used car back in March - well, I only paid 1/3 and the rest was taken care of by my husband. So, technically, my husband got me this car. I didn't really need a sleek car 'coz I just need one to get me to work. Hello going home at 1am! Public transportation here in Orlando is unreliable especially if you have a job that doesn't have the 8am 'til 5pm schedule. I don't want to inconvenience my husband either, so I had to get a car. We got the 2001 Ford Focus station wagon and I named it Smurf 'coz it's blue. I had a Smurfet

Dear blog, I had a lobster dinner treat from my husband tonight and it was awesome! Mr. Crabs is moving down to #2 on my list. Lobster is my favorite now- especially the tail! All you can eat Seafood and Lobster feast! 2nd helping I think this car is a lobster lover too! I had a great time, but I don't think I can afford to go there every week. LOL! 'Til next year's lobster feast! Love, Dee

This is what I need right now. A Trip to the beach, a getaway, just a day or a week of relaxation. It's been one hell of a week and "hell" is an understatement at work. The hailstorm in Denver on Wednesday damaged 18 of our planes in our hub which resulted to a lot of cancellations - of course that includes our station. I went to work unaware until I saw my co-workers work on a list. I was like, was there a cancellation during the morning flight? Then bam! I was told that our flight for the afternoon is the one that's cancelled and they were told 15 minutes before I clocked in. I knew it will be really messy that afternoon and all I wanted was go home and just curl up into a ball. It was my first time to deal with a cancellation and I am very aware how messy it can be. Our line was so long, it was like the day is not going to end for us. We normally deal with lines from 2-4pm, but yesterday's line? Until 7pm oh yeah! I was a bit lucky 'coz I only had one

I didn't realize that it's been two months since I blogged. Work interferes with my social life and even makes me stop writing in this blog. I just want to let you guys know though, that I have met Rob Schneider last night. He looks great in person even if he is a little short. :)  We watched his show at the Improv and I was surprised at how good he is in making people laugh. He is funny in movies, but delivering witty, funny lines on stage is totally different. I didn't expect much last night 'coz I thought his jokes will be cheesy. But he did a great job for an hour and a half - non-stop laughter for me and the rest of the people who watched his show. He also is a very nice guy and he even told me "Go Pinoy!" when I told him I'm also Filipino before this picture was taken. He is half Pinoy and half Jewish, and he made Filipino jokes about his mom and it cracked me up. I would like to thank my husband for getting me tickets to his show and for h

I suffer from acne since I was 12 years old. My classmates back in gradeschool would call me crater 'coz I had pimples all over my forehead and cheeks. I was forced to use astringents at the early age of 13 even if I know I'm not supposed to use it 'coz I was just so insecure with my skin. Both of my parents suffer from acne when they were young, that's why I have the bumps too. I tried everything and anything just to have clear skin. It cleared up in 2005 when I used Kojic Acid soap, but my skin was getting used to it that I started breaking out again. It cleared up a little again when we went to Vegas in 2010 'coz the air there is dry and it was cold in October, so my skin's pores took a vacation too from getting inflamed. Then as soon as we got back to the humid weather, I started breaking out again. I have been trying anything and everything - from Stridex pads, to salicylic acid, etc. I tried Acne Free Severe too, but it was just too strong that I started g

I was feeling a little experimental tonight after I saw my friend's photos on food which included this recipe. She had pork instead of beef though. My husband likes beef, so I got beef instead of pork and just kept my fingers crossed while I placed everything in the crockpot. Whoever invented the crockpot is a GENIUS!!! The meat was so tender that it was falling off the bone and the flavor was also absorbed by the meat. My friend's recipe went something like this: Ingredients: 1 Pack Lee Kum Kee Sauce for Sweet & Spicy Beef or Pork Ribs Pineapple chunks (Optional) Garlic and onion Bell Pepper Procedure: 1. Boil the ribs with water and add a little salt until it's tender. 2. Pan fry the ribs when it becomes tender until it turns golden yellow. 3. Sautee the garlic, onion and bell pepper in a separate pan. Add the ribs and add water (estimate how much water you will need for the ribs)  4.Add the 1 Pack Lee Kum Kee sauce and let it simm

I have very dry lips and I could not start the day without putting lip balm on my lips. My usual routine will be lipbalm then lipgloss. I rarely use lipsticks 'coz it dries my lips out and leaves my lips peeling after an hour or so. I have been looking for a good lipbalm for years now. I loved Body Shop's Born Lippy, but I still have to work on my driving skills to get to the interstate and off to the mall that has the Body Shop. So I settled for Carmex in Cherry and Original. I like the Original flavor even if the smell of petroleum jelly is too overpowering. My lipgloss and Carmex are like lovers - they work really well together. Until one day, as I was on Youtube, I came across one of PinkieCharm's videos about lipbalms.Towards the end of her video, she mentioned Vintage Sisters lipbalms - a lipbalm that actually works. So I went ahead and checked the site, checked other reviews too, and surprisingly, all of the people who used it liked it and even recommended it. Unlike

March 16th 2011 - I drove on my own to work for the very first time. I was nauseatingly scared that I almost peed in my pants. I'm born and raised in the Philippines and driving is not really a requirement 'coz we have our jeepneys, buses, cabs, tricycles, etc. Public transportation is convenient and very affordable. So when I moved to the US, I have zero experience when it comes to driving. Believe me, the employees at the DMV gave me this "you're 20 something and you SERIOUSLY don't have a driver's license??" Even my current job assumed that I already have a license - 'coz it's a necessity to have a car here to get to places without waiting for the bus for hours and crossing scary and deadly streets. So my husband got me a car on the 11th of March. It's blue with the Jesus fish at the back. We had a very good deal on the car 'coz my driving instructor is friends with the family that sells the car. I never drove it from the dealership

I haven't blogged in like what - forever? I have been very busy lately 'coz I just got the job I really wanted and I was on training for 2 weeks and 3 days in Denver. I should write about Denver (or part of Denver) since we didn't really get to see downtown Denver. It has been a great start of the year and everything is working out well. Juggling two jobs isn't easy, that's why I rarely have the time to think and write a blog entry. I shall make a come back soon and ramble for a day or two. This blog is still alive - the owner is just plain lazy OR just seriously busy. I miss blogging and I miss sharing my crazy or not so crazy encounters with random people and things. I shall get my tan back on soon! xoxo

One of my favorite fashion/beauty bloggers, April made me want to run out of our house at 10pm and go to CVS to check out their 75% off deal. She got a lot of make-up for less than $50! You can find her haul here:  http://aprilathena7.blogspot.com/2011/01/cvs-75-drugstore-cosmetic-sale.html . I love make-up, but I don't go for the expensive stuff. I still can't convince myself to splurge on make-up, especially that I don't really wear tons of it everyday. Since I was jealous about April's haul, I went ahead and dropped by the nearest CVS after work last Sunday, January 9th. I only got a few items 'coz the store near my place didn't really have a lot of stuff on sale. I think the 75% deal depends on which store you go to. On my first visit, I saved a total of $19.62! Then, I had to visit another store near my workplace 'coz I figured they have a wider range of choices there and I was happy that I wasn't disappointed with what I have found on the sale

Let me tell you a story on how I got my driver's license ( cue How I Met Your Mother theme song) On a cozy Thursday morning, I woke up to the sound of a voicemail left on my phone. It was the voice of the corporate recruiter who hired me 2 days ago on a job I really wanted so bad. It wasn't good news. Our room was so quiet, that my husband also heard what the recruiter said - we need your driver's license. We were both in a state of panic. The first words from Tim's mouth was "Oh my God" and I was in a state of shock. I'm glad that I was off for 2 days, so I wasn't able to hand over my notice of resignation from my other company when the new company called me up. I was this close to being jobless, and I'm very thankful that I didn't have to go to work for the past 2 days and put myself in a very bad situation. Tim and I jumped out of bed and we had to come up with a solution asap. I'm glad that my husband is clever and intelligent e

I haven't updated my blog for ages and I have realized that it's already 2011 y'all! 2010 was a very interesting year for me. It wasn't perfect, but it taught me a lot of things in life. Since I moved here in January, I have learned the value of hardwork, humility, perseverance, confidence, and optimism. From the comfortable life I had in the Philippines, I had to step one notch down and learn the value of time so I won't be late for the bus everytime I go to work, the value of humility as I work as a cashier and not a trainer, and persevere regardless of what obstacles I face every single day. It wasn't easy, but prayers moved those mountains I thought I will never conquer. Everything was different as I celebrate Christmas and New Years here in the US. We didn't have tons of people come over to our house and share a family feast. I didn't see almost a truckload of gifts under the tree, and I didn't see lechon on our dining table. It was a very sim