Dog Tired

My friend Jennie treated me yesterday afternoon to a one-hour Thai massage at a quaint spa in Alabang (thanks again, Jen!). I didn't realize just how long I've gone without a spa treatment till I hit the massage bed and felt the familiar feeling of relief and relaxation as the kneading hands of the masseuse began working on my legs. I used to go to the spa almost every month, and even going as frequent as twice a month when the pressure at work became too much to bear. An average stay at the spa for me would be a little over two hours -- that including a shower, 15 minutes in the sauna, another 15 minutes in the jacuzzi, an hour and a half having my Swedish massage and aromatherapy facial and probably another 30 minutes for lounging around the poolside or the lounge, sipping iced tea and reading a magazine or watching a video. That was pure heaven. The ultimate escape from reality which didn't require me to drive far or spend a lot.

I am not the best person to talk to regarding de-stressing and relaxing. For somebody as high-strung as I am, the thought of just letting go and giving the mind and body a rest has been an eternal struggle for me. Being caught up with the busyness of daily living -- trying to be a mom, a wife, a business owner/slave to clients (well, not always...hehe) and a servant to the Lord's work -- more often than not, leaves me tired by the end of the day! A "worry-wart" for most of my life, it is only now that I am beginning to understand the importance of relaxation and all its benefits.

Recently, I chanced upon this site called Ilona's Reflecting Pool and found interesting and practical de-stressing tips that we could surely learn from man's best friend, the dog. If a dog had a human voice, here are probably some of the advises it would offer:

* Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.

* Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.

* When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

* When it's in your best interest, practice obedience. (oh dear, tough one....)

* Let others know when they've invaded your territory. (actually, learning to say no is the difficult first step...)

* Take naps and stretch before rising.

* Run, romp and play daily.

* Eat with gusto and enthusiasm.

* Be loyal.

* Never pretend to be something you're not.

* If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.

* When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.

* Thrive on attention and let people touch you.

* Avoid biting when a simple growl will do. (Bite your tongue instead, it's something I do A LOT lately)

* On hot days, drink lots of water and lay under a shady tree.

* When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

* No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout...Run right back and make friends.

* Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

Of course, there's good ole' reading a book, taking a hot bath and catching up on sleep to recharge and wash away remnants of worries, stress and tiredness during the day. But I'm always open to new and creative ways to make each day more pleasant and bearable.

What about you? Are you anxious, way over your head with work, stressed-out or just plain dog tired? How do you, in your own personal way, cope with stress and invite relaxation into your life? Care to share them with me? :-)

Blind Contour Friday 16

I absolutely LOVE shoes. Or maybe love is an understated emotion to describe what i feel... I LUST over shoes.

I used to think when I was young and single that I could lose all my clothes and all my other possessions, but I will never let anyone take away my shoes. That's how much shoes meant to me then. That was, until I got married, had a child, and learned a new emotion that all mothers seem to meet along the way called "guilt".

Once again, i drew the shoes that i found in a fashion magazine to be my favorites (i've been attracted to really colorful pairs of shoes lately) first with a graphite pencil and colored them in using Photoshop. Then I did a blind contour sketch of my first drawing. I like how they turned out, and getting the colored straps on the bottom shoe drawn in the right places was a surprise to me. The middle shoe seemed to have grown a bad set of teeth, though...

To see more blind contour sketches, visit Inkfinger

We Interrupt This BC Post With A Quiz....

I am late again for my BC post, but hopefully i could scan my BCD today and post it by tonight when i get home...

In the meantime, i took one of Me-An's online quizzes, particularly the one on my love life state. Not that I need to know the answer through a quiz! It was actually a choice between this quiz and one that will tell me what kind of vampire I was. Tempting, since i was once a frustrated vampire (hence my vampiress name -- Chrixean), but being a beautiful, porcelain-looking blood-sucker no longer piqued my interest as it used to :-).

Anyway, here are my results:

True Love
Lucky you! You guys have a very mature and
down-to-earth view of love. You've been through
a lot together, so you realize that it isn't
all a bed of roses. You are very comfortable
around each other and confide in each other
about almost everything. You can't imagine life
without one another and are committed to seeing
this through. Go you!

What Kind of Love are You in? (Beautiful Romantic Pics!)
brought to you by

A Wicked Surprise

What a crazy, exciting and fun Saturday it was for me. Jen's sisters (Miren and Patty) and I have been conspiring for weeks to organize Jennie's wedding shower party. It took about 2 weeks to decide on the theme, the concept, the guest list... and another week to invite guests, assign potluck food, follow-up on attendance. It was actually fun planning and putting the whole thing together. What was difficult was trying to keep everything a secret, especially for me and Jen's sisters because we speak to Jennie almost everyday! So throughout all the sneaking around, textings and YMs in the middle of the night, email exchanges, and crazy runabouts getting lost looking for the venue (i was late for the shower, would you believe that? I got the villages mixed up -- Went to Merville instead of Marcelo green Village in Paranaque!! Smart! But i still got there ahead of Jennie -- Phew!), we finally managed to give Jennie her dream bridal shower (i hope...).

Anyway, here are pictures from the Wicked-themed party (Jennie and her family love the musical Wicked so it was only appropriate to make the show, along with other popular Broadway shows, the theme of the party).



Thanks to Me-An and Patty who helped me big-time by sending me broadway playbill photos for the look of the posters and invitations (see extreme top photo) and Me-an especially for putting together those super fun shower games (thank you even more for excluding me from them, haha!). Thanks to Miren and Patty for all the help, grabe! -- I wouldn't have a clue what to do with a Broadway-themed videoke session if not for their extensive collection of music, musical shows and minus-one CDs! Oh, Miren's souvenir broadway musical CD compilations were a perfect remembrance to all Jen's guests. Really nice... And of course, a big thank you to all the guests who confirmed, got to the venue on time (even when I was the one who arrived late -- kakahiya!), brought food, and just made Jen's special day even more super-duper extra special by simply being there and letting her know just what she means to them :-)

Lastly, to Jennie, my sweet soul sister and over-all best friend -- i hope this will be one of your best-remembered days in the video gallery of your mind... I'm really glad to have been a part of it :-)

Now off to the wedding day!

Blind Contour Friday 15 - CRAZY PORTRAITS

This is a drawing of my grandchild.

Well, actually, he is more like my grand"nephew", and I his grand"aunt". Ah, yes, I am 31 years old and I have a darling 1 year old, extremely handsome grandchild we call Enzo. He is such a bundle of joy to be around. He isn't a fuzzy baby, and often times he just laughs and bounces around in his bed whever he gets excited watching the people around him.

Once again, for this sketch, i missed the spots on the page and drew the eyes further down the head, which moved his mouth and his stuck-out tongue outside his chin. He was leaning back on his favorite teddy and birdie printed pillow that time, laughing at everyone around him, and probably wondering what the frig we were all fuzzing about.

I enjoy being his new lola (Filipino word for grandparent). But "uncle" Nicky doesn't seem too happy with his new family position...

To see more blind contour sketches, visit Inkfinger.

7-Up!

One of my favorite bloggers, dear MamaK, tagged me with the theme "Seven Things" and i found her own list quite interesting. So i'm posting my answers to her tag to feed my own curiosity about myself... Don't worry guys, I'm not tagging anyone. But you can feel free to make your own list on your blog if you feel like it :-)

Here goes...

7 celebrity crushes:
1. Brad Pitt - Er....uhm....drool.....
2. Mark Wahlberg - The Italian Job did it for me
3. Richard Gere - And so what if he's an oldie?
4. Orlando Bloom when he was Legolas - My oh my, what a hot blond he was......
5. Tom Cruise - ok, it's a bit cliche but it doesn't mean he's no longer handsome. And I can pretend Katie does not exist....
6. Hugh Jackman - love the accent, love the body, love the face
7. Jim Caviezel - Oh no! Is this sacrilege? But, but, his eyes are just so beautiful....

7 Things I'm good at:
1. Graphic Design and Digital Imaging
2. Drawing (depends on my mood)
3. Singing (it's the stage fright that kills it)

4. Cooking for my hubby - Chicken fajitas, Tuna pasta, Chicken in Tarragon Cream Sauce are my specialties :-)
5. Playing billiards (for a girl, at least)
6. Irritating my husband
7. Shopping (hehehe)

7 things I plan to do before I die:
1. Make sure i've set aside an inheritance for my children and grandchildren
2. See Nicky (and whoever other child will come after him) get married and become successful in his chosen career
3. Meet and get to enjoy being with my grandchildren
4. Travel to places I still have not seen
5. REALLY finish an oil painting and be proud enough to display it at an exhibit

6. Create a children's book with my friend Jennie
7. Make sure I let my husband know just how much I love him and how my life was made more meaningful because of him :-)

7 things I cannot do:
1. Write to save my life
2. Wrap gifts - I suck at it. I can't even cut tape properly!

3. Burp on command
4. Lying - I always get caught... so what's the point?
5. Add, subtract, multiply, divide and anything that has to do with Math and numbers!
6. Small talk. I hate small talk.
7. Interior Designing - i can't seem to automatically know how to match furniture pieces. It's sad....

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex:
1. Height
2. Smile (beautiful teeth is a bonus, but not a requirement)
3. Lean yet fit body
4. Eyes

5. Sense of humor
6. Thoughtfulness
7. Loyalty

7 things I say often:
"can i share?" - to all my close friends when i have to break a news bit...
"hello!" - said in astonishment over something that was said to me
"masaya ba?" (is it happy?) - in reference to almost everything when i want to know if a person likes something
"anyways"
"okidoks"
"whatever" - most often used when Allan and I argue and i get tired of making my point (men!)
"love you, baby" - to Nicky, because he'll always be a baby to me.... *sniff*

They Say It's Your Birthday!....

....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU....... JENNIE!!
God bless you today, dear friend..... :-)

Blind Contour Friday 14

I'm late in my Blind Contour post. My drawing was done last Friday, but my computer conked out on me shortly after and i couldn't scan my picture till today. So i'm posting two BCDs this week....

Anyway, this is me doing a blind contour of me doing a blind contour.... haha!



I shifted around several times on my bed while holding onto my sketch pad, till i chanced upon my reflection on the full-length mirror beside my dresser. Thought i'd be an interesting subject that day because I had on a colorful beaded necklace with a matching beaded bracelet and a bright turquoise tank top. I thought I looked like E.T. in drag in this drawing though -- the shape of my head and the giant eyes skewed towards the lower part of my face was a clear reminder of the famous alien. Then again, it may actually be an accurate self portrait of how i feel on a daily basis.

The Halloween Dino Hunt

But of course.....Nicky went as a dinosaur this Halloween!


After all that talk on his Jurassic and Cretaceous creature obsessions, will it seem fair to our dear boy to have him don a Pirate or Spongebob costume? Of course the task, i thought, was almost impossible when we began our search. We went to every single mall we knew that carried Halloween costumes and the closest we found was a blue reptile-like creature which fit toddler sizes only. I was about to give in to a Ninja outfit when i decided to ask around for possible costume designer referrals, in hopes that 1) he or she makes dinosaur costumes and that 2) they can make it in less than a week! Thank goodness, Jennie (Thanks so much, Jen!!) had made some inquiries recently with a costume designer in Alabang and she forwarded the contact details to me. 'Lo and behold, they do make customized dinosaur costumes! And at a VERY reasonable price! And.... they only needed 2 days to make it! Fantastic!




So here are some pictures of how Nicky's costume turned out. One word when i saw the finished product -- WOW! It exceeded all our expectations, really! The costume makers were great in meeting all our little requests. The reward for this almost impossible costume-hunting task?





Nicky won the grand prize in Powerbook's Halloween Costume Contest! :-D