This is how we do it(them)...

     While we attended a number of Christmas parties last December, we only felt the Christmas spirit in the comfort of fellow filipinos flats but once you step outside, everything is normal and ordinary.  We planned on dining out for Noche Buena and coincidentally, a family friend called and invited us for dinner and so we joined them.  As for New Year's, we do not have any concrete plans on how to celebrate it since we couldn't have our own fireworks and stuff (during ramadan and hajj, saudis hold scheduled fireworks display and people get to watch them - no firecrackers, fountains, whatsoever).  Our friend invited us over at their house for December 31 and so we got to celebrate it through eating and chatting and by 1am we packed up and left because there's still work the following day.  Though our celebration of Christmas and welcoming 2012 was simple and modest, we still had lots of fun.  Who wouldn't? we're in the company of good friends...yun nga lang kahit anong sabihin, iba pa din ang pasko sa Pinas kapag kumpleto ang pamilya, angkan, ka-barangay, etc, hehe.

Christmas dinner @The Noodle House.  They have the best Pad Thai (at least for me).

 excited for the bottled water..feeling nila liquor, lol.

round fruits for New Year's luck, of course.

girl friends...love tita grace's neck piece! =)

goofing around with pechay leaves, hehehe...

     2011 has been so good to us and I have a feeling 2012 will offer greater things..I'm excited! oh..tangerine is the color of 2012...I love orange! yey! =)

vain...

     I decided to delete some photos stored in my blackberry and as I was browsing, I realized something...I'm fond of taking pictures of my arm while wearing a watch.  Some people like taking pictures of  themselves, particularly their face while I, on the other hand, have a vain arm. LOL

     These were taken when I'm usually bored, hehe. Anyway, I wanted these pics to appear as a collage but I don't really know how to use photoshop, sorry am not techy..

December 25 Photo-Blog

     In early December my kids asked me why Santa doesn't come here in Riyadh.  I told them since this is an Islamic country, Santa's afraid  he might get caught by the Mutawas or religious police.  Last week, out of curiosity, I asked them to write Santa a letter just in case he could stop by, hehe..

Paolo's letter.

Matti's

Sammy's.  I asked him why it's incomplete and he told me he doesn't really know what to ask for..good! lol..

Now we have already given them 3 gifts each even before December 25 so we just decided to buy candies and wrap them as presents, haha..

I wrapped the candies on December 24 as soon as they hit the sack...I placed them in the living room...

When they woke up, they saw the gifts and asked who they are for and I said I don't know, then they watched some tv show...a couple of minutes later they ate breakfast...

I gave the gifts to them after they ate and they were a bit surprised, puzzled in a way...then became giddy as soon as they realized they have gifts...

these are what's inside..Sammy already ate some, hehe...

     What's priceless was the look on their faces when they opened their gifts and how they said the word "WOW" as if they have received the best gift in the whole world.  I have the best boys one could ever dream of (please allow me to brag a bit, hehe). 

P.S.  they were extra happy all through out the day even if we're just at home waiting for their dad to come home. We'll eat out for dinner later. =)

                                                  MERRY CHRISTMAS from our family to yours!!!

     My grown-up Christmas wish is that each and every person in the world be blessed with abundance, good health and happiness!

indecisions...

     Have you ever experienced not being able to make up your mind on what outfit to wear or not and then realizes that the only difference lies between small (very small) details?  I showed my husband the pictures below and asked him which look he prefers and then he looked at me in disbelief and told me they are all the same, lol..

 i know....dirty mirror! eekkk...

Now this should make you laugh somehow...

I love short clips like this! It's really hilarious...watch til 1:01 and you'll  see how I eat chips in real life, lol...

p.s.  I have always loved Juliette Lewis!

                                                         Shit Girls Say - episode 1

Big Bad Watch...

     I don't post pictures of the things I buy in facebook because I feel shy and I don't want my friends and other people who might see it to think that I'm bragging or something.  Although I know some people do that because they want to share their excitement.  So forgive me if I do that here in my blog..hehe. I just feel more comfortable posting and sharing trivial things here because, i don't know, maybe it's the thought that my family and friends don't get to read this blog. =) 

     I love how big my MK watch is.  It really is a statement piece.  There's a masculine feel to it yet it is so beautiful to behold, IMHO. Hubby bought it last November 24.  Yep, too early for a Christmas gift. =)

Meant to be...

     My mom would always tell me that I'm her lucky kid.  Ever since I was a child, often if not always, I would get what I want.  It's as if things and people around me would unintentionally work wonders just so I could have want I want/need. 

     Last September, or maybe October, I saw these striped dresses from H&M and pointed them out to my husband.  But since we're not in the mall to shop, he told me to just buy clothes in December for our Christmas shopping...sad...because I know those dresses won't be there anymore by that time, hehe.

     Then about two weeks ago, I went to H&M to buy new hooded jackets for the kids.  I roamed around looking for the dresses I like but I couldn't see them.  I felt defeated!  While lining up to the cashier I suddenly had an urge to look at a corner next to the counter.  I asked my eldest son to fall in line in my place for a while.  My heart was beating so fast as I approach the corner and there..I saw the dress! It's the last piece but fortunately it's in my size.  And it's on sale!  I also want the other color combination, the pink and orange but it's no longer available...sigh...

black and cream striped dress...

from SR129, I scored it for only SR30...

     But here's the best part...last week, we had our CFC household christmas party and guess what my monita gave me?

yes!!! the pink and orange version of the dress! I couldn't be happier, I was all smile at the party.

there's more..she gave me not one but two dresses, both from H&M.

     Am I lucky or what? =)

Closet Picks...

I just want to share what I wore for the past week...

My husband took outfit shots of me before leaving but he unfortunately deleted them all.  The pic below is the only shot I have showing what I wore (grabbed from fb)...

Blazer: Zara / white organic tee:H&M / jeggings (i think): Penshoppe / shoes: Parisian

 

 

blazer: United Colors of Benetton / top: New Look / pants: Mango / shoes: from brazil (really old) / sunnies: H&M

coat: thrifted / dress: New Look / scarf: H&M / shoes: unbranded (very, very cheap)

 May I just add...for a country not recognizing the Christmas tradition, it's ironic that I have been to three xmas parties already and it's only December 9, lol..

Christmas (Party) Came Early!

     Thursday and Friday came as a handful for us because of the back-to-back parties we attended.  Our energies are sucked right out of us  but our minds and hearts are so happy.  A little bit homesick, but happy.
   
  In as much as I want to share a lot of things that are going on around here in my blog, I feel like I'm a little bit restricted because there are words going around that Muttawas are extra strict nowadays.  But in a way, I'm a little confident that we are not in danger (serious? hehe) because all our activities involve married couples and I'm one hundred percent sure that whenever we do get together, there's no hanky-panky going on..

Anyway, I digress...so as I was saying, I was asked to be one of the ninangs of an adorable baby girl last Thursday.  We were out til one in the morning then the following day we had to get up early for our chapter Christmas party. 

at the reception after the ceremony...

our mouths are full, lol...

after eating, we had a final rehearsal for our presentation for the chapter xmas party...

Friday Party.   I had a different set of outfit prepared for our party and I'm really looking forward to wearing my red pumps but I found out the night before that our unit was supposed to wear purple.  I'm not a fan of the color purple and so I wore the only purple shirt I have.  I got it from New Look last year but never got to wear it until that day.  Notice that I still wore my red shoes..nakaset na kasi mind ko e, lol...

during our dance presentation...

There are two parties more that we're set to attend on the 8th and 9th.