The Many Voices of Meryl Streep

OK. I got hungry I can't sleep, it's 2:45 am now. I went down, got myself two dinner rolls and a slice of sweet ham. I smothered mayonnaise and mustard in my rolls and never cared that I tried to eat less the past dinner. So while I munch the fattening friends I made, I watched some Julia Child videos on YouTube. I like Julia primarily because she taught French cuisine to servantless Americans (that we Filipinos eventually learned, too); secondarily, because she started culinary school at the age of 38. The latter made me still believe I can study culinary arts and be a chef and/or write an extraordinary cookbook for y'all. Anyway, in the movie Julie/Julia, which is one of my favorite movies of all time, Julia Child was played by Meryl Streep. Streep really copied Child's mannerisms, accent and tone of voice. And while watching Julia's omelette video, one of the suggested clips on the sidebar was this video below. Watch as Meryl Streep mastered many accents for the roles she portrayed in her movies. Superb. Amazing. Wow. 

My most favorite accent she did was Polish for the movie Sophie's Choice. She sounded so different that she actually looked like she's a different person! Guess what? She was praised for that role that it actually won her the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1982. So... what was yours? 

CCA Manila's Young Chefs Boot Camp

If there's one thing that I could hopefully pass on to my daughter aside from her wit and charm (ahem), it's definitely my love for cooking. Every time I get busy in the kitchen, whatever her role will be; though she'll only take a sip to taste the sauce or something, I always make sure that she'd be involved. I want her to be acquainted with how her food was prepared so she'll know the hard work that was put into it. These days, I can see that she's slowly grasping the concept. The effort to finish the food on her plate is commendable. And lately, whenever I'd ask her to "assist" me in my home chef life, she doesn't complain. So when we had the opportunity to take part in Center for Culinary Arts (CCA) Manila's exclusive class for moms, dads and kids as their way of promoting CCA's Young Chefs Boot Camp, to say that I was excited is an understatement.

I'm convinced, we're not in a hurry.

Sophia's turning 6 this year, on September. She's in preschool and I knew she'll still be since I thought that the K to 12 program of DepEd requires first graders to be 6 years old by June. Her school had the graduating students' photo session last week so that made it official. However, today, I saw Kim's post on Instagram regarding Assumption Antipolo's age and grade requirements and like what my friend's hashtag says: #panicmode. It signified to me that a kid can go into 1st grade if she's 6 by October. Therefore, my girl can be a gradeschooler next school year 'cause she's already 6 by then! My heart pumped fast 'cause I was really confused at my child's school situation. I turned to my friends on Facebook and they said that DepEd orders schools, public and private, to adhere to the official K to 12 Basic Education Program of our country. And that is, to allow kids age 6 to enter first grade. My momma heart was broken. I felt like my child will be left behind, I talked to her teacher after school.

I told him all about what I found out without batting an eyelash, in the hope that Sophia will be considered to graduate. His eyes lit up and in a matter of factly said, "the question is, is she emotionally ready?" I gulped, I sank. Though I said that in a slight push, she is; in the deepest corner of my momma heart, I know she's not. You see, incoming first-graders in the school was in a transition period this year ― they used different workbooks and spent more time writing, reading and doing their Math. As for the rest of the preschoolers ― they sang, danced, drew, read, did art stuff and played. So if my little love was considered to graduate, she was not prepared for 9 books, almost a whole day of structured classes and 30 minutes of writing. I can imagine her every day saying, "Nanay, I'm so tired!" That'll be surely frustrating. And when her teacher voiced out my thoughts, I realized, "why rush the kid?"

11/52

"My daughter's photos, once a week, every week, in 2014."

She's with my mom here, playing with my mom's phone. Pia is her only granddaughter. To be honest, they're not close. They bicker on each other, A LOT of times. Like what Lola L said, we are three generations of that same strong personality. However, my mama has this typical paglalambing; she'd carry us in her lap and pretend that she'll lull us to sleep like an infant. She did that to my 5-year old last week when we spent a night with them. My girl enjoyed it! I guess she missed being babied. Well, she's my only baby and I will do this until she wants me to. ♡

Why I Think It's OK Not to be Skinny

I used to weigh 110 pounds 8 years ago; for my height, 5 feet 4 inches, it's normal. When I got pregnant, on my 3rd trimester, during my last weigh in, I saw a whopping 175 pounds in the weighing scale. I was not even the slightest disappointed 'cause I thought it was due to my pregnancy. I sure did feel disappointed when I knew that my baby only weighed 5.94 pounds when I gave birth to her. Tsk, tsk. The rest of the 175 was all me. Whew, numbers and Math, it make me sweat. Haha! If only losing weight is as easy as calculating basic Math problems, I could have gone back to my pre-pregnancy body in a jiffy. It's just that I feel like I just can't do it yet; especially now that I'm passionately cooking for my husband, kid and blog. Ugh, excuses. I have to have plans for my body. La-dee-da.

Oh, I actually have!

Really, I have plans for my body. I have practical and realistic plans for it. I'm not going to lie, I'm still not sure if I can do it but I think, the moment I believe I can't is the moment I quit. So I'd like to believe that I can, even if I know that it's gonna be a tough journey.

Post-Holidays Scrapbooking Workshop at Gourdo's

I love Gourdo's! It is a haven of many beautiful things for the home. That's where I bought some of my cookie cutters, mixing bowls with covers and the elegant glass cake stand that we used on Cpt R's birthday merienda here at home, which fortunately was on sale. I posted its photo on Instagram and my blogger friend, Louise (of Mommy Practicality, of course you know her!), saw it on my Facebook. She told me (and the rest of our blissful friends) that she got invited by Gourdo's for a fun scrapbooking workshop and that she can invite four more mommies to go with her. Yezz, I signed up and went. Sad though that L didn't make it as the hardworking momma needed to rest, too. Anyway, I'm a novice scrapper. Pia's baby and first birthday photo albums were filled with memories and stories. When I was a kid, my mom used to complain about all the abubots tucked under my pillow but she was the first to commend me for making her some DIY greeting cards for all the occasions we celebrated. Yeah, scrapbooking may not be as important as air and water, but it makes memories more real and royal! 

Of Soldiers and Mistresses

In our crazy beautiful community in the military, one of the most discreetly discussed issues (perhaps even among the civilians), is the old pathetic adage that soldiers are womanizers.

So when I first told people around me that I'm dating a soldier, I saw a glimmer of doubt in their eyes. I never disagreed with them. I just always said something like "whatever profession a guy has, he can be a womanizer if he chooses to". That being said, I was still very insecure of my long distance relationship with then Lt R. He was a soldier in the South and I was a TV network owl from the metro. I sleep just a few hours before their reveille. We just squeezed in virtual cuddling in between my working hours. It was a real test of patience, faithfulness and trust. To tell you honestly, I was a freaking paranoid girlfriend! I got jealous with everyone he was with ― damn, even his Labrador, Xander. LOL. I know you feel me, ladies. As much as we want to give our 101% trust to them, there will always be inevitable situations we don't want to be in; especially if there are poisonous women coiling around the arms of our uniformed men.