Life in Motion

Ok, well I have a huge addiction to handbags and purses, especially if they are free, so here, I am sharing this post that I snagged from a fellow blogger, Laarnay . All you have to do is visit this website, enter your name and your email address and pick the handbag that you'd like to have (if you win the draw). The new handbag online shop Handbag Planet is giving away 1 handbag per hour on their launch date (Oct 15).

This was my pick:

So, go on and enter the draw, what have you got to lose? You never know, maybe you'll get lucky!

Labels: Shopping

I've been miserable for the past three days. I never realized how vulnerable I am until I got hit head on. It started on Tuesday afternoon and I blame it on the person sitting beside me on the bus. She was sniffling and blowing her nose and I was too shy to move away from her lest she thinks I'm disgusted or something. But yeah, I caught her colds and now I'm suffering!

But, I say, something good must come out of anything bad, though, no? Well,for one, I was able to skip work yesterday (and God knows how much I hate Mondays!), so that was good. And two, I was able to finish the project I started last week. Someone requested that I make them a set of rings made from swarovski pearls. So I did just that yesterday after refusing to be tied down to bed again, just like Saturday and Sunday.
Swarovski Pearl Ring Set for Aimee
I am feeling better already!

Labels: Bead-dazzled, Life in General, Online Shop

I woke up early yesterday morning feeling the blues. The mornings in the North Pole have gotten colder, a lot colder. I was greeted with a good smacking in the face by the cold air when I opened my front door yesterday. The tree across the street from our place has started changing colors, from green and now to yellow. In the next few days, the leaves will start to fall to the street below. It's time, Autumn is officially here. Brrrrr! I feel the chills just by thinking about it. How can it be? We aren't done enjoying the Summer yet!

So, we did a little catching up on the Summer "outings", before the Mercury drops even more. We drove for an hour and a half to a town called Cap-de-la-Madeleine in the city of Trois Riviere (meaning three rivers), for a little, spontaneous "pilgrimage". We visited the infamous Shrine of Notre Dame du Cap-de-la-Maldeleine. The place is an absolute beauty, both tranquil and solemn. There are numerous stories told of this place, although my favorite is the story about the Ice Bridge. As many parishioners will tell you today, the story began when the "little old stone church" became too small for the rapidly growing community in the Cape. During a mild winter in 1879, parishioners prayed the Rosary, asking for the river to freeze to allow them to transport stones across the river, from the south shore to what would be the new location of the "bigger church". Miraculously, at the end of that mild winter, an Ice Bridge was formed, which enabled the people to complete the transfer of the stones, and later on to finish building the new and bigger church.
The Rosary Bridge, which is built to memorialize the prayers of the parishioners for an ice bridge.
This place is a Sanctuary. In the gardens, one would find life-size, bronze statues of the Stations of the Cross.

St. Mary's Lake. It is located at the center of the garden.
We're hoping for somewhat warm weather so we can go on our next "outing", this time to St. Anne de Beaupre in Quebec City.

Labels: Places I've Been, Seasons

A little over two years ago, my mother-in-law succumbed to Leukemia. Her painful battle, together with her family's lasted for 5 years from the time she was diagnosed. During her ordeal, she did her best to live her life to the fullest and continued to be an inspiration to the people around her. She volunteered to be a "guinea pig" and be studied by doctors performing research for the cure.


On September 27, 2008, my hubby is participating in the Light the Night fundraising event to try and raise more money for the research. It's our way of continuing what his mom has started.

What is Light the Night Walk?

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light The Night walk
is a 5 km twilight walk that features participants carrying illuminated balloons to celebrate and commemorate lives touched by cancer. Cancer patients and survivors carry white balloons, supporters carry red balloons, and those walking in memory of a loved one carry gold balloons. Together, they "light the night" and truly brighten the future for millions touched by cancer.

So, in addition to our own individual pledges, I'm donating 25% of my jewelry sales (both from and outside of Etsy) between September 15, 2008 until September 26, 2008. Of course, individual pledges (no minimum) are also accepted. Just by logging in to the Light the Night website, clicking on the Sponsor a Participant button and entering his name (if you wish to sponsor, no pressure, please leave me a short comment and I will send you his name, he doesn't want to be published...LOL!) and city (Montreal).

And for now, we're praying for this event's success and of course, for good weather.

Labels: Life in General

A fter the massive migraine that knocked me out of my wits both on Sunday and Monday, I am once again under the weather. Ouff! This is just not my month, is it? And the worst part is that I've got half a day left sick day which I can take until the end of the year, no more, no less. If I need to take more than that, I'd have to agree to get a pay deduction! Either that, or simply wait till the New Year (to get sick) when my available sick days gets replenished! Arrrggh! I'm really not a happy camper right now.

The only thing that keeps me going today is the blog love I received from a dear friend Miss Firefly. She received this award from Zakka Life and has decided to pass it along to some of her blog friends as well, including me. Yey! Thanks much, Odette!



In return, I'm passing this award to the girls who, like Odette, inspire me continuously: Gracey, Jeanny, and Caryn. You girls rock!

*** *** *** *** *** *** ***

I grabbed this from Odette as well, who received it from JavaQueen. She's sharing it to her entire blogroll. Aren't these girls super? Hey, grab the badge too! Yes, YOU! :)

Labels: Blogging, Meme

I am very exhausted! We, hubby and I plus another friend of ours went south of the border on Friday night. The wait at the Lacolle border was longer than we anticipated, it took us an hour to get through customs, which was actually very surprising since it wasn't a long weekend, yet there were a lot of cars lined up when we got there. So, I was a bit disappointed because I didn't get a chance to go to Michael's like I wanted to. I wanted to pick up some craft supplies for the weekend, but they were already closed when we got there. *Sigh*

So, after breakfast on Saturday, I asked the hubby if we can go to Ottawa for a few hours. I was determined to get some craft supplies and most definitely some beads too. I checked out the famous Canada Beading Supply in Colonnade Road, and believe me, I was in bead heaven! They carry a wide range of semiprecious stones and wires at affordable prices! I went nuts and bought me $135 worth of beads! All semiprecious. The hubby of course winced whe he saw the bill.

Sunday evening I started developing a massive headache. Yeah, I. Was. Done! I was having the worst migraine attack ever! I curled up under the covers and came out only at 3PM yesterday, it was that bad. I had to call in sick at work as there was no way I could go out in that state. As soon as the headache was gone though, I indulged myself into playing with Saturday's purchases. I came out with these few pieces.

Made from blue turquoise fossils
Made from Red Jasper stones (Update: SOLD)

Labels: Bead-dazzled, Online Shop, Shopping

Miss Firefly (head over to her blog to read more of her adventures) posted something on her blog that hits close to home (my home, at least). She recently moved to Ireland to be with her darling husband. Everything is fine and dandy, except, domestic life is just so new and foreign to her. But, isn't this true to most of us women who plunged into married life for the very first time? I know when the hubby and I first moved in together, I found myself struggling too. I was so used to living alone, doing my grocery shopping only when I wanted to, ate out most of the time as I detested sitting on the dinner table alone. Spent several after-office hours either in the library or in a bookstore. Owned two sets of plates, miss-matched cutleries, a single ladle and two types of pans, one for frying eggs (which was used rather frequently) and another for cooking something with soup (which I think I used twice or three times during it's lifetime). And spices? Hmmmm, yeah, salt and pepper were the only spices you can find in my kitchen at that time.

Everything changed drastically when I got married though. The first three months were rough. I found myself crying for mommy when things got tough. But hubby was very supportive and understanding, and we sailed through those rough times together.

I may not be an expert on this, but, in an effort to help a friend uncomplicate things, here is my take.

for every category, please give at least the first 5 things (or more, if you prefer) that are important to you/your home, including your favorite brands

1. dried herbs and spices
- salt and pepper, parsley, thyme, rosemary, cinnamon, chili flakes, Montreal steakhouse steak spice

2. sauces/vinegars
- the Ilocos vinegar is still my fave, I get it from the Filipino store nearby, I go for the VH Honey Garlic BBQ sauce and the Diana Sauce

3. brands of laundry soap
- this one depends on what's on sale...LOL! Mostly "Cheer" or the "Arm & Hammer" biodegradable laundry soap

4. cookwares
- I use the "Calphalon" stainless steel, they don't come cheap but it has a lifetime warranty, T-fal is also good, but I don't like the non-stick ones

5. cooking utensils/tools/gadgets
- blenders, food processors, garlic press, manual choppers or slicers, cutting boards, cheese graters, I use mostly wooden ladles (gentler for the cookwares)

6. kitchen appliances
- oven toaster, microwave, Maytag smooth top oven & stove, fridge, rice cooker, slow cooker (perfect for those winter months), dishwasher (although I don't own one yet)

7. tablewares
- Corelle, Corningware, Noritake, Royal Doulton, Oneida Rego

8. all for the toilet/loo/wc
- I still use the good ol' Mr. Clean all purpose cleaners, and Lysol for the loo

9. cleaning agents/materials
- Mr. Clean all purpose cleaner, Lysol, Vim cream cleanser, Windex, Cerabryte for the smooth top stove, Murphy oil for the wood floors

10. anything else you'd like to add
- I also use white vinegar and baking soda to disinfect the kitchen counters and floors. They work wonders. And most importantly, get a fire extinguisher for the kitchen, one valuable lesson I learned when we were shopping for house insurance.

Above all, relax and enjoy married life. There is no way to learn everything instantly, we learn and grow as time goes by.

Labels: Becoming a Wife, Life in General

A week ago, a colleague of mine commissioned me to make her a jewelry set for her bestfriend's birthday. I finally managed to finish the set this past long weekend. It came out really nice, I think. She requested a black and white combination. I added a touch of silver bead seeds to make the black beads pop even more. I used the jet black fire-polished beads, mixed with white fresh water rice pearls.

Black and White Set for JC


I also made some yesterday, they are going to be posted on the shop sometime today.

In the meantime, I'm off to send some packages for a couple of friends in the mail. And then maybe do some actual work. Hehehehe! Happy Wednesday everyone!

Labels: Bead-dazzled, Online Shop, Shopping