Ex Party Girl/ Workaholic Gets Domesticated

written ages ago.

Since I got to the States, my life has made a drastic change. My 25 year old self would be shocked to see what she's turned into in just a couple of years. I've done a complete 180. And it's a relaxing break from the whirlwind life I used to live. I call this the Domestication of Maya Navarro. It's the stuff housewives and old maids are made of. I'm enjoying it so far but I don't know when I'll grow restless from too much down time.

Mornings

Before: Wake up to the sound of my annoying alarm clock at about 8/ 8:30 am, drag myself out of bed to shower, get dressed for work with about 2-3 outfit changes before finally settling on my first choice, drink coffee or pour coffee into a tumbler and drive to the office. In stilettos.

Now: Wake up to the sound of baby Armaan cooing in his crib. Sing him a good morning song while I unwrap him from his swaddling blankie. Change his diaper and play with him on the bed. Sit him down on his walker and turn on his Shapes and Colors DVD while I make coffee and cook eggs for breakfast. Barefoot and in my jammies.

Lunch

Before: Grab quick lunch at the caf or a long lunch with bosses. Or skip lunch due to the number of things to do for work.

Now: Put Armaan down for a nap while I cook (yes ladies i cook now) or heat food. Then watch TV or play Guitar Hero on PS3 (I'm getting really good!!). If I dont feel like playing, I just watch TV and drool over Home TV Shopping stuff like the Pancake Puffs maker or the Chef cuisine equipment. Very Bree Van de Camp.

Afternoon

Before: Work work work

Now: Read a book while Armaan watches his series of cartoons: Postman Pat, Theodore Tugboat, Pecola, Sitting Ducks etc. Then Ate gets home and we chat and eat snacks and play with Armaan. Or we watch downloaded movies cinema style with the blinds closed and everything. Or we cook. Again, I have learned how to cook already. Or am still learning. cookbook-in-hand style. I have cooked spaghetti, carbonara, other pasta inventions and viands like adobo, caldereta, pochero, nilaga, tinola and have experimented with Indian and Chinese cooking like Chicken Tandoori, Tofu with sesame, Lemon butter fish and shrimps, and a few more other recipes from the Internet. As I type, I'm preparing for another batch of beef caldereta with a twist (To Al Jean, thanks for the recipe).

Chicken Tandoori

Pochero

Night

Before: Dinner with friends/ dinner with Chev and a movie. Drinks or coffee with friends. Get home at around 11 or midnight, latest at around 2am then sleep. It also used to be nights at Embassy, Cuisine, Ponti, Capones or Good Earth. With blaring music, cigarettes and alcohol.

Now: TV show marathon. Mondays it's Gossip Girl, Tuesdays it's American Idol and Hell's Kitchen, Wednesday it's A.I. again and then other shows like Supernatural, Smallville, House, and Sunday's Desperate Housewives. Then it's off to bed at 10pm. Ho-hum. There are days though when we go out for dinner or we drink and play poker here at home because of the DUI law thing. Sometimes we also play Taboo and my newest game board Scene It or other card games. With chips and soda and occasional wine or beer.

Weekends are spent like how I spend it in Manila. At the mall. Bright side: At least now I don't have to work during weekends.

And on some very special weeks, I fly off to Boston to be with Chevy. And we go around and eat at places we've never tried before or have been recommended by friends or by the Best of Boston or we just hang out at this apartment and watch TV (usually NBA, Comedy Central and Food Network). Someday we plan on taking culinary lessons so we can start our own diner or cafe in Manila haha.

Sounds like a total bore huh? Not really. For me, it's my rehab from days when I shouldn't have partied too hard or worked too hard or drove home from a bar buzzed or wasted with the risk of hurting myself or other people. I enjoy learning new skills and exploring new places. It's like household-parenthood training.

I'm floating now and can't work until after 60 days since I got here. Soon I'll get back on my feet and join the Big Bad World of Work again. Hopefully :) I'm both excited and dreadful at such thought. Until then I'm just enjoying looking after my baby nephew. I mean, who wouldn't right?

Maroon 5 Rocked Manila

Last night we watched the Maroon 5 concert at the Araneta Coliseum. It was simply mind-blowing!! I have to say it was the best concert I have ever watched in my entire life. I'm a big Maroon 5 fan so maybe I'm a bit biased but still, they performed like the Grammy award winners that they are. Sigh. I am still stunned by the show. It was just amazing. Highlights of the show:

I was seated at the patron seats, about 8 rows from the stage. My ticket was free!! Saved 10grand. From where I was sitting I could see Adam Levine's gorgeous face upclose - every expression, every detail..

They sang almost all my fave songs (except Must Get Out)

The band had a great repertoire, no low moments at all and the energy in the Araneta was just WOW!! Fantastic crowd. The band was just amazing. Massive talent.

Adam was hot and charismatic, and hot and very friendly and hot. Did I mention hot? Keyboardist Jesse Carmichael was just awesome. Everyone was just awesome.

They loved the crowd, saying (and I believe without feigning sincerity) "This is truly one of our best concerts ever!" They were in awe, prolly not expecting the Filipinos to love them as much as we do.

Adam did a superb job counting in tagalog

They performed their unique music with so much passion, you could see it on their faces... it was hard not to be impressed and not to get carried away.

Bad trip moments: (@#!*%)
(1) My camera got lobat and died on me a number of times, during very critical times.
(2) I was seated beside a total dork who glared at me whenever I screamed in appreciation. (3) Some guy blocked my view of Adam during a crucial nearly-out-of-battery photo op:

To Adam, Jesse, Mickey, Matt and James of Maroon 5, you rocked my world and I hope to catch more of you in your hometown Los Angeles. And to Jane, Adam's ex-girlriend who broke up with him and inspired him to write all those fantastic songs, thank you and what on eart were you thinking?

This trims down my list of bands to see before I die:

U2
Maroon 5
Coldplay
Dave Matthews Band
Incubus
Dashboard Confessional

P.S. I got this as a souvenir. It's a mounted poster of their album. I'm bringing it with me. It fits in my cargo box. hehehe.

special thanks to Dana for letting me buy this. sayang wala tayong pic :(

special thanks to Bun for the free tix!!

Drama Queen Driver Turns Action Star

It was a Sunday and we were going to Glorietta to buy stuff for me to bring to the US. More stuff!! I haven't finished shopping for my sister and cousins hehe. They just can't get enough polvorons and pancit cantons and other cheap Philippine thrills. It's ok since they are kinda cheap and I know I will miss them too when I go. So there we were cruising along EDSA nearing the turn to Ayala. This area is kinda confusing since it's right before the tunnel and you have to stay in this one lane between the lanes heading down the tunnel and the fricking yellow bus lane until you see the dotted lines which mark the area where its legal to turn. Now I've passed this area a million times but it's still confusing because a lot of private cars enter the yellow lane sometimes and the MAPSA or MMDA guys let them be. We don't know if it's already legal to do that or not. Like the pink fences, traffic law in Makati sometimes changes without notice. Or maybe we just think they do. EDSA is just a riot.

My mom and I were chatting up a storm and I was dodging buses and taxis and didn't notice that I was already in the yellow lane until the oh-so-familiar figure of an MMDA traffic enforcer started flagging down the car. So naturally, I slowed down. I was preparing to park the car by the curb together with my speech and excuses when my mom told me to make a run for it. And being the obedient daughter, I stepped on the gas and drove like crazy to Ayala Ave. In the rearview mirror, I watched the MMDA guy. I was so afraid that he would jump on his motorcycle and chase us. But you know what he did? He just scratched his head and turned away then flagged down another car that was in the yellow lane.

When we got to Ayala I was so nervous. I drove really fast until we were in the safe sanctuary of the covered parking. And I was shaking a little from the adrenaline haha. My mom nonchalantly said you could always tell the MMDA you didn't see him if he chased us down. I didn't argue with that. Although he was right smack in front of us. But yeah, I could always deny it.

I didn't feel guilty about it though. It was an honest mistake and those guys let those buses run amok outside the yellow lane. But us private cars, we are grilled to death when we're an inch past the yellow bus lane. It's just not fair. So there. I ran away from them again. But I would choose my old strategy over this one anytime. Pleading and bawling your eyes out is safer than driving like an action star. One thing's for sure I will miss my MMDA friends. But I'm pretty sure we will have more precious memories in the future.