Pinkberry

Finally! Finally! Finally! After 50 million years, I have tried Pinkberry's yogurt! Hay I never thought this day would come. Lol, being that I live in NJ where there's no Pinkberry around and when I worked in the city it was Winter/Spring time I never really had the chance to try Pinkberry lol. But don't worry we tried Red Mango naman in the past lol so needless to say I'm not that ignorant lol.

My hubby and I were going to check out some museums in the city today but as luck would have it we:
1) Waited so looooooooooooooong for our bus to arrive!
2) When we reached the city, the bus had to go arooooooooooooooooound the world just to get to Port Authority.
Again, they wasted our precious time (tick-tock, tick-tock)
3) My hubby was sick and needed to use the bathroom at Port Authority.
4) Because of so much time that had passed we couldn't visit the Tenement anymore since it was pass 4pm (which was the last hour to tour the Tenement) and so we decided to go to Bryant Park.
5) As we were walking towards Bryant Part, I asked my hubby to take a picture of me and of course since we were born lucky in this lifetime we didn't have the SIM card inside the camera.

Ay-ya-yay!

So we finally decided to just go home na lang since my hubby was sick and we couldn't take photos anymore. I asked my hubby if we could at least try Pinkberry before we go home...before the Summer ends...and at last I finally did...

I tried small Pinkberry Original with Mochi Balls and Strawberry:

It was good. But I think Red Mango's yogurt is creamier. But nevertheless, I have finaaaaallllly tried eating a Pinkberry yogurt!

Thanks Mr. L, it kinda made the day worthwhile lol :)

Website: http://www.pinkberry.com/

Greek Delights

After returning from the city from an early morning interview last Wednesday, my hubby and I were both craving either Indian or Mediterranean food for an early lunch. We wanted something local and of course inexpensive. So we decided to drive by Montclair, NJ. Unfortunately, the Indian restaurant that we wanted to try was still closed and we were really hungry and couldn't wait for it to open at 12 noon. And then we saw Greek Delights.

I believe it just recently opened its doors to the public. I like the restaurant--- it's very spacious, clean and the service was exquisite. If you also sit towards the front of the restaurant you could ask them to open the huge windows of the restaurant to let some fresh air in.

We orderered the Greek Appetizer Sampler:


I ordered some Keftedes (Greek Meatballs):


My hubby ordered a Gyro:


Since we didn't finish our appetizer and my meatballs we have asked them to wrap our food in take out boxes and we asked if we could have an extra order of pita bread which we surprisingly got free of charge. Isn't that amazing? All in all, I love this place :)

Website: http://greekdelightsnj.com/

Yoshinoya

After Mr. L and I visited Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum I was craving for some inexpensive Japanese food. I was always intrigued to try Yoshinoya whenever I would pass W42nd St. I was kinda imagining that it would be similar to Tokyo Tokyo Restaurant in Manila, Philippines. It wasn't but it was ok.

Yoshinoya is right across Madame Tussaud's Wax Musem on W42nd Street so all we had to do was cross the street.
 

Mr. L and I both had the Beef and Chicken Combo which cost about $8 bucks per plate. It was good. It's very suitable for the Pinoy "Panlasa" or "Taste" especially the chicken--- the skin was crispy and the sauce was sweet.


All in all it was not bad at all.

Website: http://yoshinoyaamerica.com/

Fantasy Football Draft Cupcakes

Last weekend I made mini-Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes with Fluffy Vanilla Frosting (in yellow, green and light blue) for Mr. L's Fantasy Football Draft...


Here are the cupcakes right before I placed them inside the oven


Cupcakes after taking them out of the oven


Cupcakes in my stackable cooling rack


Cupcakes in yellow fluffy vanilla frosting. I used my new Wilton Dessert Decorator Pro to make the icings.


Cupcakes in green fluffy vanilla frosting. I used my new Wilton Dessert Decorator Pro to make the icings.


Cupcakes in super light blue fluffy vanilla frosting. I used my new Wilton Dessert Decorator Pro to make the icings.


They were delish. I'm glad Mr. L and his friends enjoyed the cupcakes :)

Pressies from Mr. L

Mr. L bought me 2 presents over the weekend simply because I begged and urged him too lol I am me and it was a weekend to celebrate how much he loves me even more lol.


Yay, I'm so excited I can finally make decorative icings. This has been a childhood dream of mine. Alas, my childhood dream to be Betty Crocker, Martha Stewart and Nora Daza will finally come to fruition lol.


Mr. L also bought be a stackable cooling rack. Now, I have more room.

I'm so excited to use my latest baking gadgets :)

Thanks again, Mr. L for always succumbing to my charms lol  giving me presents simply because I am me lol!

His and Hers

Being married, my husband and I have collectively owned “His & Hers” stuff overtime. These are items that we have or bought over the years that are matching or in Filipino terms, items that are “terno.” It’s corny to have matching stuff but I personally think it’s cute. It brings out the kindergarten or high school romance in our marriage.

Here they are (not in any specific order):

1) Our “His and Hers” matching iPod. Well, not necessarily…My husband’s iPod has more memory (it’s a 160G), supposedly that is. Not since he downloaded his 40,000+ music... Now he is left with zero memory.

Another difference is my iPod has my name engraved at the back. I’ve had this since 2004 when I didn’t really care for gadgets. I received it as a birthday present from my hubby. We---my sister in-law, mother in-law and I --- bought my husband’s iPod as a Christmas or birthday present (I think).  We use to have matching cases until my husband decided to get a clear case.  My iPod’s screen is actually cracked but I am not planning on replacing it until it dies on me lol. I just love that it has my name engraved at the back.

                     

2) “I heart /love you” and “You heart/love me” matching teddy bear key chains that my aunt (Tita Ish) gave us on my Despedida de Soltera.  I think this is the oldest “His and Hers” item we have. We looooove it. It’s so cute and adorable. Very thoughtful! Everywhere we go we have a sweet little reminder of our lovingly ways. Along with this we have matching key chain tags like Stop N’Shop, Shop Rite and Pet Smart, etc. We also have matching keys of every single keys that we have like our house keys, mailbox key and luggage keys, etc. so that whatever happens one of us will always have a spare key.

3) Our “His and Hers” iPhone with matching cases.

  

We love our iPhone and we are equally addicted to it and disappointed that right after we bought our iPhones they released a newer iPhone. How sad! Oh well!

4) Our matching Puma Sneakers which we gifted each other on our first Christmas together in 2005. As you can see they are very worn out. 

5) Our matching box organizers/containers on top of office desk to store our knick knacks.

6) Our matching striped towels.
 

7) Our matching electric toothbrushes.
 

8) Our matching Havainas flip-flops.       
 

9) Our “His and Hers” bed side, I mean that in the most literal sense. We bought this bed with a mattress customized to our individual needs. The mattress is actually halved right down to the middle. My side which is Series 600 in green is much softer while my husband’s side which is the Series 600 in blue is tougher to accommodate his back pains. Isn’t this bed awesome?    

Now, I can’t wait to have our “His and Hers” bathroom lol. Now, that would be stretching it wouldn’t it?  What about you do you find yourself and your significant other collecting “His and Hers” items? What’s in your collection?

"Cleanliness is next to godliness..."

So, ok I must admit I strictly abide to the saying, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” This is also one of the reasons why I came up with quotes like “Dirtiness is next to ugliness” or “Oiliness is next to ugliness.” I know, I know, I am once again unleashing how shallow, OC (obsessive compulsive) and a germaphobe I am but nowadays you can never be sure with all of the germs and bacteria lurching around. We all have our own quirks and as the saying goes, “to each is his own.” Well, my quirks revolve around cleanliness and how petrified I am of germs and dirt.

I guess I would have to attribute this to my grandmother, Lola “Dy” short for “Lidy” (God bless her soul), who was deathly afraid of germs and bacteria herself. I would say a portion of the earnings of the rubbing alcohol and toilet paper industry in the Philippines came from her when she was still living. There are so many stories to tell about her and I mean that in a loving way but I will not go into all of that right now I will write more about her in the future.

While, some people have a stick of butter, eggs and a bottle of milk included as the basic staples of their grocery list, Lola Dy’s grocery list included a bottle of rubbing alcohol and rolls of toilet paper. The brand of rubbing alcohol she used then was “Rhea” rubbing alcohol. I wondered why she preferred “Rhea” and not “Green Cross” rubbing alcohol which was a bigger brand in the Philippines then. Perhaps, “Rhea” smelled better than “Green Cross and “Rhea” smelled less medicinal? Hmmmm… As for her toilet paper she preferred buying “Joy” toilet paper which was a brand in the Philippines too. I wonder if both these brands still exist in the Philippines (lol) that’s something to talk about another time.

Back to Lola Dy. Lola Dy, would never allow us to touch her unless we cleansed our hands with rubbing alcohol. She would never pick anything not unless she used a toilet a paper as a cover, meaning she will not let her hand directly touch an object she would have to use a toilet paper and pick it up with a toilet paper. And if ever she picked up an object directly she would have to douse it with rubbing alcohol. She will never allow an object to directly touch her hands nor skin without sanitizing it. Let’s say she had a phone call, before she picks the phone she will wipe it thoroughly with a toilet paper wet with rubbing alcohol and she will do the same with the chair that she’ll be sitting on (will occasionally nix the alcohol and just use a toilet paper to cleanse the sitting area). I’m sure you get the picture.

With that said, I am proud to say that I have a little Lola Dy in me. I don’t go around using rubbing alcohol or toilet paper on everything single thing that I touch but I am not going to deny that I occasionally use rubber gloves when I’m cleaning and feel eeky about touching something. And I always wash my hands after touching something that I think is dirty; after going to the bathroom and before eating. If I am outside of our home, I always use a hand sanitizer as need be.


Thank God for the convenience of hand sanitizers. I remember when I was first introduced to hand sanitizers; I think I was a sophomore in college back in 1997 (this was in Manila of course). One of my block mates has been using a“Bath and Body Works” raspberry hand sanitizer. She would frequently use it. So I was curious about it and asked her if I could have some. So I did! Ah, I loved it! It was a far cry from rubbing alcohols. It smelled fruity in a pink gel form. It also did not dry your hands. I was instantly hooked. Since then I asked my mom (who was a flight attendant then) to get me some when she flew back to the the states. Ah to my surprise, it came in a variety of scents: apple, vanilla and raspberry, etc.

But then my mom lost her job and I consequently lost my source for my “Bath and Body Works” hand sanitizers. Luckily, Bench (clothing company in the Philippines) started their own line of hand sanitizers which is called “Alcogel.” The “Alcogel” hand sanitizers weren’t as fancy and girly as  “Bath and Body Works” hand sanitizers but they did serve their purpose which was to keep me clean and free from germs so they were good enough. And soon after, they started selling “Bath and Body Works” hand sanitizers in the Philippines anyways so it wasn’t like I was missing on anything.

I have been using hand sanitizers since then. I would always have a bottle in my bag and another bottle stashed in my work desk (when I was still working). Hand sanitizers have become one of the basic necessities in our household. My husband has also become a fan of using them and has a bottle of “Bath and Body Works” sparkling peach hand sanitizer is his office bag. We have hand sanitizers in almost every corner of our home: our bedroom, living room and office. I’ve also stashed a small bottle of hand sanitizer in our car (just in case).

What about you? Do you use hand sanitizers? What’s your take on hand sanitizers?