Let It Snow

Snowstorm last weekend. The people at the weather channel made it sound so dreadful. Storm will hit around 3pm Friday and it will snow nonstop until Sunday and we're all going to be buried alive. Of course they didn't say that but that was the message that I got.

We prepared for the storm. Bought tons of food and water and flashlights like what we do in the Philippines when there's a storm. Also because half of New Hampshire has no power after being hit by an ice storm (the trees grew icicles) and we were afraid it might happen here. We bought a ton of meat and then I realized that if the power goes out the meat will go bad. Then again we can always put it in the snow right. So we still stocked up on that.

And we waited and waited. Some people didn't want it to arrive. I on the other hand was soooo excited because it was going to be my first snow storm. My first snowfall actually since the snow I saw in NYC was just flurries (but I was so psyched about that too and nearly cried but of course I tried to look cool and not get emotional in front of them savvy city folks).

Friday saw me constantly checking for snow outside my window.

And when it finally started snowing I was out the door in multiple layers of clothing catching snowflakes with my tongue. So beautiful.

prancing around in the snow

my name in snow

that's me making snowangels

chevy with our snowman/ snowhead

everything's white


I love it. Even though it feels like a thousand pins when you're trying to thaw yourself in front of the heater. I love it more than wind chill and rain :)

A Sad Christmas Moment

How did he do it?

How did Chev survive Christmas 07 by himself in a house full of strangers munching on Boy Bawang while making conversation with random white people? How did he stay sane amidst the loneliness of being away from home during the holidays? I have to ask him that when he gets home because right now my heart feels so heavy.

I am so homesick and sentimental.

I am glad that I'm with Chev now and we're spending Christmas together and not from separate ends of the country (or the world). I am even more glad that we're together now as husband and wife and celebrating our first Christmas together. But I can't help but wish that we are celebrating it with all of our loved ones as well. A Christmas milestone in our life and we are so far away.

It's true what they say. Nothing beats being home for the holidays. I miss the frenzy around Christmas time. The bad traffic. The endless company parties. The monito monitas. The holiday dinner with friends. The reunion with families. I miss being around my crazy friends and family. I even miss waiting for my name to be picked at the Company Christmas raffle and lugging around giant Christmas hams and Queso de Bolas right after. I miss the noise. The raucous. The sheer panic of not having any gifts yet for your dozens of godchildren. The shopping. God I miss shopping for gifts. I miss the crazy happy Christmas in Manila. I also miss the scent of Christmas in Manila. The native delicacies, the cool air, the feel and smell of Simbang Gabi. Here it doesn't smell like pine trees as I expected. It doesn't even smell imported (you know the scent from the balikbayan box when it's freshly opened). Here it smells like peace. And quiet.

So there. I feel sad because Christmas here doesn't feel like Christmas at all. Sure it looks like Christmas with all the lights and wreaths and decors. But it doesn't feel like it.

It's really true what they show in the movies *plays Pasko na Sinta Ko* mas masaya ang Pasko sa Pilipinas.

So in an attempt to make this Christmas a little more joyful (since it's just gonna be me and Chevy and we don't have any friends or family here in Massachussetts) I put up a Christmas tree. AND I occasionally play Chirstmas songs when I'm working AND I'm planning on cooking up a Christmas feast for 10. So what if we're going to eat leftovers until Valentine's Day. I just want to celebrate Christmas like I used to. And maybe I'll start wrapping up the stuff here at home so we have things to put under our tree. Or print out giant photos of friends and families so it will look like we have them around.

Sigh. It's just that it's my first Christmas away from home and it breaks my heart. But I know Chev will do everything to make me happy. In homesickness and in health.

*sings I'll be home for Christmas...if only in my dreams*

Settling Down

I have been married for 3 months now. But it was only recently, 10 days ago to be exact, that I have felt what it’s like to be a newlywed and a new homemaker. I moved to Boston last November 27. Arrived at the Logan International Airport at 5:30 AM East Coast time to a chilling 22 degree weather with two giant overweight luggages, 2 cups of orange juice in my stomach and about 2 hours of sleep during the 5 hour flight. Boston welcomed me with such open frigid arms while my husband (I’m still not used to the term) Chev welcomed me with the warmest hug inside the warmest car. Such a relief to be out of the cold. Literally and figuratively.

From the airport we drove home. I asked him to carry me over the treshold of course, in honor of this corny but timeless tradition and he lovingly obliged. The new apartment looked so nice and warm. It basically contained three things: a sofa bed, a microwave oven and a refrigerator. And some pots, plates and cleaning supplies. And of course Chev’s things were strewn all over the floor. I laughed at the mess but was touched because he didn’t buy things yet since he wanted my opinion on everything and also because well, I AM THE LAW (just kidding). During that week we spent our time fixing the apartment to make it liveable. We made two trips to IKEA (we were addicted), 4 trips to Best Buy, about 5 trips to Target since we returned our highly-controversial curtains twice, and a couple of trips to the corner dollar store.

And now after a week of assembling bookshelves and tables and chairs and decorating the place, our apartment finally looks like a home. Very cozy and warm (thanks to 3 heaters) and very IKEA looking. We were inspired by the catalogue. Will post pics soon.

Our little family of two lives in a studio off Pine street in a small city called Waltham, just 15 minutes away from Boston. It’s in a very American looking house that they converted into several small apartments. We’re lucky we got the rear apartment with our own separate entrance and frontyard that also doubles as the backyard. We live across EMBASSY cinemas where they show the coolest Art films and Indie Films, near a pub and a watering hole and near Asian Grill, one of the few Asian places here in whitey-white Massachussetts. We have a friendly squirrel for a neighbor. I call him Brownie due to his color and my lack of imagination. He spends his day rummaging through trash and running up and down the tree. We also have a small cordless vacuum that I call Dusty. For some reason he’s the only household equipment that has a name (I should get around to naming the others soon). Oh I also call the weighing scale BIG FAT LIAR since he’s very dishonest about our weights. We pretty much have everything that we need now except for paintings on the wall and Christmas decors which we'll be setting up hopefully before the 25th. We blew most of our money on our TV and that stupid GEEK SQUAD insurance (a long story). I’m currently setting up my home office which will be completed when I get all the office equipment from our NY office and I’ll be working from home from now on. I’ll be a Stay-And-Work-At-Home-Wife. My dream come true. I’ll be setting up Café Maya too. It’s just a little corner café here at home. With me as the manager, me as the barista and me as the customer…and Chev occasionally when he feels like drinking coffee. Another dream come true. Well, sort of.

Right now Chev is at work and I’m still getting the hang of working home alone. Every small noise makes me jump. Our creepy neighbor Kevin also scares me. He’s always bitching about something like our parking on his spot yada yada yada. When Chev gets home we eat early dinner and watch TV til its time to convert our sofa into a bed and call it a night. Today when he gets home we’re going to have a meeting. A Budget Setting Meeting. Our glorious spending days are over. We will now be very strict about what we spend our money on. And that will be the necessities: bills, food, water, toiletries, and occasional pizza deliveries and shopping sprees.

So this is what it’s like…settling down. I’m so new at this and so far I’m really enjoying it. It’s like playing house. Only it’s for real. And the bills are real. And the dirty dishes in the sink are real. And my responsibilities are real. And yeah. Those dishes aren’t going to wash themselves. Sigh. Guess I better get a move on before Mr. B gets home and sees me for who I am – a pretentious-Martha-Stewart-wannabe housekeeper. She really is my inspiration. Minues the jail time.

I’m off to the dishes now. Note to self: make dishwasher part of the budget.

To Blog Again

I haven't blogged in a while. No, make that I haven't blogged in a long time. This year I probably posted 8 blogs in 11 months and that includes photo blogs. I just haven't had the time. They used to say that life here in the States is hectic. Spot on. It's been so busy I rarely got any down time. And when I did, I usually spent it lying around doing nothing for the sake of doing nothing (for once). I had a lot of blogs. In my head. I always put my mundane experiences into words that I have stashed in My Mental Blog or in pieces of paper or paper towels or table napkins which I have lost along with my trains of thought. And now it feels like it's time to write again. To dust off the old keyboard and put my words out there for the world to read. Like the world reads my blog.

My friend this morning told me I was a good writer. Of course I let that go to my head. He's actually trying to convince me to write an article for the MOTHER OF ALL BLOGS and of course he opened up his bag of compliments to get me to do it. Maybe I will. Maybe I won't. Okay. I will. Just because he said I was a good writer. So there.

I seem to forget how to do this. I'm just writing whatever comes to mind. With no reason, no rhyme whatsoever. But isn't that what blogs are for?

For the life of me I can't remember the blog entries I stashed in My Mental Multiply.

Hmmmm....

Oh I got one. My birthday entry. Every year I do a birthday entry since I turned 25. This year I didn't write any. Because i was too busy working or riding buses and trains to and from work or shopping or window shopping or lying around doing nothing. I'll write that next. Maybe in a couple of hours.

For now I'm gonna go out and get some sun. It's sunny out. A rare New England moment. I'll bask in the sun and probably prance around while no one is watching. Frolick in the maple leaves that are brown and dead. And feel their crunch under my boots and glow in the fact that it is so nice to be alive compared to them. Or maybe I'll go out in flip flops. Such a brave thing to do.

To Blog Again. Hmm...I have forgotten how good it feels. Like the sun and the crunch of dead maple leaves.

Black is the New President

This autumn purple may be the new black but black is the new president.

I am so ecstatic that Obama got elected and I am glad to have witnessed this historic election night. Got goosebumps watching his speech last night and reading about people's reactions in the paper this morning (or rather my trainmate's LA Times). Some of the most memorable quotes I read over his shoulder:

"We voted today not to practice our civic duty but because for once we feel that it would count, that we could be heard."
"I am glad our children have a black role model to look up to...someone other than a rapper or a sports personality..."

Hahaha.

I can't help but feel proud of the Americans for this milestone in their political history. I hope that Obama can make the changes that this country needs. I hope that he really is the man they can believe in. And I hope he's not the man Nostradamus prophesized about (as the man who rises from the turmoil to bring hope and eventually destroy mankind).

For USA's sake and the whole world's sake.

We all know that he will be the most powerful man in the world. Some have even called him President of the World. And I hope that with his great power and great responsibility (shout out to Uncle Ben) he will bring about good changes.

Everybody's on a high today. the air is charged with excitement. The world feels different. It feels better. And I find myself hoping that Obama will make it better.

But don't get me wrong, my heart still belongs to the Philippines. And GMA is still my president.

Isn't she lovely?

My New Haircut

I got my hair cut. It’s my first hair cut since March. It’s horrible. Well ok not that horrible. If I sweep the bangs to the side it looks ok. Acceptable ok. Not glam ok. But the drama queen in me thinks it’s horrible. My most horrible hair since my Demi-Moore-in-Ghost hairstyle back in grade school.

It was a Saturday afternoon and my sister and I wanted to get our hair cut at her usual salon in Buena Park. But lo and behold we were so lazy we decided to go to the Super Cuts salon near our place. After all, I just wanted a basic trim. My hair is halfway down my back and part brown and part black with my real color showing at the top. I just wanted to have it cut so it wouldn't’t be flying all over the place this windy season. Super Cuts is like a basic salon. Like a Ricky Reyes in the Philippines. Cheap but reliable for trims, not for styling. And besides we also wanted to go to the Jollibee near Super cuts. So we went. After chowing down 12 bucks worth of chickenjoy and halo-halo (goodness) we went to get my crowning glory chopped off. My stylist’s (if you can call her that) name was Maria and she envied my hair for being so straight since hers was uber curly. I made small talk with her while reading about The Lonely Life of Suri Cruise in OK magazine. I told her to cut it shoulder length, no layers, with bangs. Low maintenance kinda hair. I looked up from time to time and gave her some directions on how to cut it but I wasn't’t wearing my glasses so everything looked a bit blurry. After a few minutes I put on my glasses and saw the horror that is my hair. I swear I heard the JAWS-remixed-with-the-TWILIGHT-ZONE soundtrack. I didn't’t get the blow-dry package since it was 20 bucks more than the usual. She only blow-dried my bangs while the rest of my hair was damp. The result: my bangs were all big and poofy and thick while the rest of my hair was damp and plastered around my head, highlighting the roundness that is my fez. I was shocked. I wanted to go on a rampage but the courteous lady in me thanked her while my drama queen side suffered in silence. My sister tried to console me and said it will look nice once it’s dry but after a while she started calling me Edna. As in Edna of The Incredibles.

Thank God I don't wear round glasses. I think my hair looks more like Adrianna of 90210. Self-proclaimed.

Lessons Learned from this Eye-opening Experience:

1. Don't read magazines while getting your hair cut

2. Wear contacts

3. Don't get caught up in chismis

4. SUPERCUTS = SUPERBAD

At least I can go as Edna this Halloween. Or as overdosed Adrianna. Ah. The silver linings behing my gray cloud.

What Didn't Happen in Vegas

August 26, 2008. Orange County Courthouse. I got married to my boyfriend of 2 years in a simple wedding ceremony surrounded by my family here. It didn’t happen in Vegas. It happened in Orange. And it was blissful and sweet…the kind that made me weak in the knees and teary-eyed, like every bride would be on her wedding day. It felt so wonderful to say my vows, to wear my ring and to kiss my new husband. At that moment and time I felt so whole and complete. Finally, I’ve found my missing piece.

While it wasn’t the wedding I have dreamt about since I was a little girl, I was finally married to the kind of man I have dreamt about since I was a little girl, a man who makes me feel so secure and so happy and so loved :) I know Chev will love me for as long as we both shall live. And I will love him until death do us part. The future sure looks brighter than the sun-sun-shine...can't wait. My life can't get any sweeter than this. I'm so happy :)