The One About Cafe Juanita

My family and I had my post-birthday celebration at Cafe Juanita, a place that has been piquing our interest since it drew raves in the blogosphere for some time now. I knew it primarily served Filipino food. Thing is, Hon-some and I don't really fancy Filipino restaurants. As he says, "If you really want to eat really good Filipino food, you don't go out; you stay in because nothing beats a homecooked meal." Makes sense.

However, my family has been wanting to try Cafe Juanita and so one sunny Sunday, we trooped over to the restaurant to try out their lunch buffet (but of course!).

The restaurant's interiors...

...and the food!

Molo soup (yum!)


Filipino salad (I loved the grilled eggplants!)


First main course (I loved the knotted string beans!)


Second main course (Hehehe!)

Halo-halo

The food was soooo good that I almost threw Hon-some's theory out of the window! Kidding! Seriously, though, if you're too tired to cook at home and are hungry for really good Filipino food, Cafe Juanita may just hit the spot for you. :)

Picture-Perfect Thursday: Keep Calm and Carry On

Have you chanced upon at least one parody of Britain's World War II propaganda slogan? The internet is brimming with these parody posters and I'm still amused by all of it. For today, I'm posting some of my favorites.

This is the original slogan:

Now here are some of the parodies:

This speaks to me. :)

Great for a nursery! :)

Ehem...

And another "ehem..."

Hope floats...

This shirt is by Spoofs and The Tshirt Project. Funny! Find it here.

This is perfect when I walk down the aisle. Afterwards...

Woohooooooooooo!!!!

I found a website where you can create your own parody poster. Right here. I tried it and this is what I came up with:

What parody would you make? Share! :)

Save for the "Keep Calm and Carry Lang" shirt image and my "Gorgeous" one, I forgot where I found the rest. Sheesh...

The One About the Easter Craft

Here's a late post (teehee!!!) on a charming Easter craft. Great as a giveaway on your next Easter egg hunt!

I got these cupcake wrappers here and here.

I then wrapped them around some small paper cups. They won't exactly fit but they'll be snug enough.

I cut a sheet scrapbook paper into strips. I was amused with prints-on-prints at this time.

I used tape (or double-sided tape) to attach the strips onto the cupcake wrappers to make small baskets.

Inside the baskets, I stuffed cut up styrofoam. You can also use florist's foam (floral foam? flower foam?).

Then I scrunched up sheets of green tissue paper. Another great idea would be to shred the tissue paper using a paper shredder to make "green grass."

Then I stuck a bunny-shaped lollipop onto the foam and placed some chocolate eggs (Easter eggs) in the basket.

Nice! It makes for a great spring craft as well!

Happy crafting! :)

Picture-Perfect Thursday: Between Real and Unreal

I saw these insanely genius "real and unreal" art installations over at Anthology. They're made by an artist named Nils Nova.

They're perfect wall dividers! Hahaha!

Have a great Thursday! :)

The One About the Teacher's Stash

Last year, I made this for my teacher-friends in the "queenly South" where I used to teach. This year, I decided to make a more useful gift for them.

I got some plastic containers (the ones with dividers) and made labels for each.

Each container followed a color scheme: a base color + black + silver.

I filled the box with what I believe to be some of a teacher's necessities in the classroom: paper clips, binder clips, push pins, and chocolates (hard to work with a grumbling tummy!).

This was initially my favorite scheme: white + black + silver...

But then I saw a pack of Hershey's Cookies and Creme Kisses in our house and loved the blue wrapping. I loved how the blue Kisses looked so nice with the yellow paper clips and push pins!

They went conveniently well in the blue container too, especially when I ran out of the silver-wrapped Kisses!


It's so easy to put together and more importantly, teachers would love something like this! Especially if it's one who is overworked, underpaid, and wallowing in dirty school politics *wink*. Hahaha! Happy crafting!

Picture-Perfect Thursday: Anthology Magazine

I first learned about Anthology magazine from the blog of Daphne Osena-Paez, the only local celebrity I worship. When I visited the website and saw the preview videos of the first and second issues (fantastically made stop motion videos!), I knew I had to get my hands on them. Their website is filled with charming and inspiring images. It's a treasure trove of endless design and style inspiration.

A camera made from cardboard.

Some things aren't what they seem...

Pet portraits

A state of chaos has never looked so pretty...

Green apples in a bowl of concrete (as in concrete!). Who knew?

Lightsaber lamp?

I was falling madly in love with the magazine! Unfortunately at first, the subscription was only open to US and Canada residents so I was searching for family who were based there who could help me out.

Thankfully, a little store in Cubao Expo decided to be the local distributor of Anthology magazines, albeit very limited copies. Once I found out about it, I made a mad dash to Cubao Expo to purchase the magazines.

They've come out with just two issues so far and now I have both of them - for a rather steep price.

Now I'm falling even deeper in love with the magazine.

I'm not in a rush to read them, though. For something so precious as these, I tend to wait for the right moment - some alone time at home, a lovely Italian lunch, a weekend brunch, in a quaint coffee shop. Just like a delicately printed vintage cup of tea, these magazines are to be savored as they are read. Reading them isn't akin to reading Harper's Bazaar (my other guilty pleasure); reading them is a lovely experience in itself.

I'm linking their website here. Lots of inspirational stuff.

The One About the Sneak Peek

Remember the ambitious project I blogged about a while back?

Remember these?

They're earrings, rings, fabric flowers, and pearls that I said will be put together for my wedding.


Well, here's a sneak peek of how I'm putting them together...

And yes, they shall be held by the hand *wink* :)

Happy crafting!