Harry Potter - last day of shooting

Nothing to say, really. *tears* 

Will absolutely make sure my kids read and watch Harry Potter. :)

Red Velvet

Last weekend, I (finally!) tried the much-praised Red Velvet cupcake by Sonja's Cupcakes.  I know it's a late reaction, but YUM! I think it was the cream cheese frosting that got me.  I've tried their other cupcakes, and so far, my favorite has always been that lemon flavored one. (Now you know I like the sour kind of frosting.hehe I think it's because it neutralizes the sweetness. Oh by the way, I also "had to" drop by Gelatissimo to "taste" a few new flavors and to buy a cup of this mango-coconut gelato for me and E. Perfect.)

So anyway, after that night with the red velvet cupcake, I knew I've found my new favorite. Yesterday, an old schoolmate posted photos of cupcakes she's selling and because she had such good photos, I wanted cupcakes right then and there. Too bad I couldn't order from her since I'm islands away. After work (store check at Market!Market!), my feet took me to Serendra. Bad feet! haha

Look at those beautiful coloring-infused cupcakes. Photo below is courtesy of Our Awesome Planet.

While eating my yummy cupcake, I figured that it should be fairly simple to make. So I grabbed a Red Velevet Cupcake recipe straight out of the Food Network's site. Maybe this time I'll dare to make something that's not cookies or brownies or mango float..okay, the last one's not valid (I tried baking bread once, and it didn't work out well.haha) Don't know when I'll be able to test this out (hopefully  when I get home next month, because that's the only place I can use a decent oven). It looks really simple and based on the user comments, it seems okay. Some say that it's a bit oily, some say it's dry, but a lot seem happy with it. So let's see.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 pound cream cheese, softened
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• Chopped pecans and fresh raspberries or strawberries, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.
Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.
Garnish with chopped pecans and a fresh raspberry or strawberry.
Cook's Note: Frost the cupcakes with a butter knife or pipe it on with a big star tip.

My cupcakes might not turn out to be as good as Sonja's but let's see. They say practice makes perfect.
Can't wait to try it out. :)

Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

There's this feeling that I really love. You know how, when you read a book, and then you watch a movie based on that book, you sometimes get the feeling that you've been there already? Like it's deja vu?

Well, after watching the trailer of Hollywood's take on "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," that's exactly how I felt. (Kinda like when we all first saw Harry Potter, you know.)

I can't wait to see the movie, simply because I think it's gonna bring back memories of what happened in Hedeby. (Like I said, I've been there before.haha)

I'm still in the middle of reading "The Girl Who Played With Fire."  I'm getting to the fun part already, but there are just so many distractions(ex, trips to beautiful places, joint blogging with E, preparing for mom and dad's Silver anniversary) I have no choice but to take it slow. I'm enjoying the book, though:) I mean, who doesn't like Lisbeth Salander?

By the way, I think that it's pretty cool that after being dumped by Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, Rooney Mara gets to be kick-ass as THE girl with the dragon tattoo:)

Hope the movie's as good as the trailer! Can't wait:)

A Trek To Remember with the K.I.D.S. Foundation

Nothing like the high of going beyond your comfort zone.

To reach out and help others

And and at the same time, let others make a difference in  your life

Met interesting people

And had lots of crazy fun with new friends

And with my Yelie

I had such a meaningful summer that left me on a high. Literally and figuratively. 

Kalinga, I'm glad we met. ♥♥♥

Thank you K.I.D.S. Foundation for the AMAZING experience:)

***Photos courtesy of Eliel Sarmiento, Anthony Mendoza, Jaena Pereyra






Wrote a more detailed post about this trip on the blog I share with Eliel. See post here. =)

Grateful

Don't you just love songs that make you feel good?:)

Grateful

Julianne

I’m stronger than before

I’m stronger than I’ll ever be

And I raise my eyes to the one, the one who made me see

Oh what I thought was lost but now was found

And I’m grateful

Grateful for the day you called my name

Ever since you walked into the door it’s never been the same

Mornings are brighter now, I’m not afraid

And I wake up each day with a smile on my face

‘Coz I’ve been in places where I couldn’t even see the light of day

And then you came

And I’m grateful

You showed me the way back to my beautiful

And I’m grateful

You showed me the way back to my beautiful

Everything seems different now

Things are turnin’ inside and out

With a new pair of senses to go with around

It doesn’t even matter if I’m up or down

Blues are bluer, smiles are brighter

It draws a tear whenever I watch the sunsets paint the sky

I don’t even mind walking under the rain

I’ve never laughed like this before and I’m gonna say it once more

I’m grateful

You showed me the way back to my beautiful

And I’m grateful

You showed me the way back to my beautiful

And I’m grateful 

Summer lovin’

Beach season is here! To set the mood, I’ve changed my desktop wallpaper to the image above. Downloaded it for free. Isn’t it beautiful? ♥

Looking forward to my first beach trip of the year, happening next weekend. Hope we all have a great summer. We all deserve a vacation.

p.s. let’s keep praying for the world. hope the recent events and calamities bring us all closer – to each other and to our God. there is  reason for everything. let’s keep the faith.

My sweet Sun-date

Nothing like a sugar rush to cap off the weekend. :)

Team Peeta

Okay, so Peeta is to Edward, while Gale is to Jacob.  I always like the sensitive guy. :)
Anyway, this is my Hunger Games post. Where I say just how incredibly amazing this book is. Well, random thoughts would be more appropriate.  *spoiler alert*
And so here goes:

• After reading the first 2 books last year, I thought, “This is the best thing since Harry Potter!”
  
• I’ve been trying to get people to read it, but it’s a bit difficult to explain that the whole book is about children killing children on national television.  Sure, it’s a lot more than that, but the premise does sound violent. I did convince a few friends and, like always, I bugged my siblings to read it. (They love the series, by the way.Yey!)
  
• Waiting a long time for Mockingjay was not very easy.  And I was a bit disappointed after reading the last book. =s
  
• Don’t get me wrong, I liked how it ended and how it somehow reflects what goes on after wars and how people cope after all the trauma. But see, the problem is that I was waiting for something big to happen in the end. I was waiting for an epic ending. Instead, after the big explosion (parachutes scene), it was one anti-climactic scene after another. Add that to the fact that the story took so long to build up. Or maybe my expectations were just way to up there?
  
• Why did Prim have to die?! :(
  
• The epilogue wasn’t creative, but at least we know who ended up together. :)
  
• Catching Fire is, hands down, the most exciting book (and my favorite in the series).  I love the Quarter Quell concept. But it was Hunger Games that made me cry.  (Rue!)
  
• My favorite character is Haymitch. :)
  
• I hate that they make movies out of the books right away, so a lot of people just skip reading and just wait for the movies =( But I’m still excited for the movie!haha
  
• They better get a good cast(like they did with Harry Potter!).Like they keep saying, Hugh Laurie would make a great Haymitch :) Peeta better be cute!haha
  
• They keep comparing this book to the Battle Royale . Must find that book/manga/movie sometime.
  
• Now that the series has ended, what’s next? :) Might give in to peer pressure and read Fallen. haha ;)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand.”

I officially have a new book to add to my list of favorites. A book that I am so glad to have found randomly in one of my favorite bookstores. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is one of those books that seem to talk directly to me. Like, I get this strange feeling that it was made for me. (Of course I know that it is not. Stephen Chbosky, the writer, will probably get so kilig if he finds out that some random girl from the Philippines thinks that the book he wrote more than 10 years ago actually spoke to her. I would, if I were him.)

The book is an epistolary (new word for me! it means that the book was written as a series of letters. In this case, the main character, Charlie, writes to an unknown person to share his day to day life with because this person understands and won’t judge him), a day to day chronicle of what goes on in the life (and in the head) of a shy freshman boy as he explores the normal growing up fare – family drama, love, sex, smoking, drugs, and passions such as music and writing.  It’s basically your typical growing up/coming of age kind of story in the same tradition as “The Catcher in the Rye” (which was, surprise surprise, the author’s inspiration for writing this book). If you liked that book, I am a million percent sure that you’ll love this one, too.

Charlie’s someone I can relate to, if not for his experiences (some are too extreme. Drugs? Nah, I’m a bit more mellow than he is) but  because of the way he thinks. It’s too familiar. Like my thoughts. And it’s a bit creepy. His observations about everything and everyone almost sound like my own thoughts. I think he and I would make great friends. It’s like finding your soul mate in a book character.

“When I was walking up the stairs to my dad’s old room, and I was looking at the old photographs, I started thinking that there was a time when these weren’t memories. That someone actually took that photograph, and the people in the photograph has just eaten lunch or something.”

“And I thought that all those little kids are going to grow up someday. And all of those little kids are going to do the things that we do. And they will all kiss someone someday. But for now, sledding is enough. I think it would be great if sledding were always enough, but it isn't.”

“Sometimes, I look outside, and I think that a lot of other people have seen this snow before. Just like I think that a lot of other people have read those books before. And listened to those songs.
I wonder how they feel tonight.”

See? I keep on thinking those kinds of thoughts. Probably the "connectedness” talent that I have (thank you for letting me know this, Strengths Finder 2.0.  Will write about this book sometime!)

I don’t know. Maybe I’m just a wallflower myself.

And somewhere in between reading the book, I came to a conclusion, that yes, I most likely am. I feel like I’ve been observing to much, not doing enough. Trying to understand everyone, not feeling intensely. I’m envious of people who feel every moment as intensely as every other moment in their lives(even though I sometimes think it’s too OA). I think I’m sometimes deliberately missing out on the “being in the moment” part of life. Must be “out there” more. 

“Maybe it’s good to put things in perspective, but sometimes, I think that the only perspective is to really be there. Like Sam said. Because it’s okay to feel things.  And be who you are about them.”

The only perspective is to really be there. Isn’t that a nice thing to remember? :)

This book has the most beautiful lines and the most memorable characters. I felt like those were my experiences. And that I’ve lived them through Charlie.

“So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.”

I know when a book touched me so much when I can find so many memorable quotes and insights from it. This one has everything I’ve been wanting to read in a long while. Because while I enjoy reading about faraway adventures and magic and future worlds, it’s these kinds of books that make you appreciate reality and every piece of it. The bad things that make you a better person and the good things that are worth living for.

Quote dump

This why I love to read. :)

"What is a teacher? I'll tell you: It isn't someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows."
-Paulo Coelho, The Witch of Portobello

"If there is a Creator, what is he? And if there isn't a Creator, what is this world?"
-Jostein Gaarder, Maya

"The reason death sticks so closely to life isn't biological necessity - it's envy.  Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous, possessive love that grabs at what it can.  But life leaps over oblivion lightly, and gloom is but the passing shadow of a cloud."
-Yann Martel, The Life of Pi

"To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation."
-Yann Martel, The Life of Pi

"To lose balance sometimes for love is part of living a balanced life."
-Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love