New pillowcases and paper napkins from Landmark

I haven't been to Landmark for the longest time so I was literally going crazy when I saw all the super nice stuff they had in the home section. I had a limited amount of time to go around so the only things I zeroed on were the pillowcases and paper napkins. Anyway, here's the stuff I ended up getting:

There were so many cute designs for these paper napkins, I wanted to hoard them all!
P39.75 each

I also got one pack with a Christmas design
P29.75

Now here's where I spent so much time - checking out the throw pillows since all the designs were to die for! I literally had a whole cart of pillowcases in different colors and designs, and it took me forever to narrow it down to my final selection. I finally decided on purple tones, since I'm about to put up my Christmas tree which has a purple and gold theme.

LOVE the embroidery on these cases! Size of these are 17"x17"
P229.75, P279 

These were the bigger sizes (about 21")
P109.75, P149.75, P169.75

got varying shades of purple and in different textures

Here's how I arranged them on my couch (you can see the previous arrangement and pillows HERE). Like I keep saying, I love how you can totally transform the look of a room just by changing your pillow covers!

I'm still deciding what pillows to use on the other side. Check out my 2 options. What do you think is better? :p

OPTION A

or OPTION B?

Anyway, there were also so many cute canvas pillow covers with vintage and travel designs like Paris, London, New York... But in the end, I was able to control myself and got just this one:


P179.75

Which I used for our couch inside our bedroom.

I totally want to go back to Landmark when I have more time! I think I can spend one whole day there just at the home section haha! ;p

Blue Coral Beach Resort

We took a quick overnight trip to the beach right before Halloween for some R&R. We stayed at Blue Coral Beach Resort in Laiya, San Juan Batangas.

This was our first time to stay here, although this resort would always come up when I'd do online searches for places in Laiya.

Blue Coral's facade

There's some expansion going on around the resort but it didn't really bother us since maybe our room was far from the construction.  I'm sure it'll be done by the summer season next year though.

construction going on in one side of the resort

main lobby with reception area on the right side

Their package includes the usual 3 meals - breakfast, lunch, dinner. The food was just ok for me. It was tasty but I found the meats, like the chicken and pork, to be matigas. Also, there were so many flies everywhere it was so hard to eat since you had to continuously swat them away! They really need to do something about that.

the dining area was big and spacious

buffet set-up

some of the food they served during our stay: shrimp with oysters, roast pork, chicken, buttered veggies

Anyway, here are more pics from the resort:

deluxe rooms above the dining area

way going to the pool area

main pool

We got the Poolside Family room with capacity of 8 - 10 pax.

The room was very spacious, with a 3 bed set up of 2 double-sized beds and 1 double-decked bed (plus there was a pull-out under the double-decker, but we didn't use that anymore). I liked how all the beds were big enough, with thick mattresses too. The blankets were really thin though, so better turn down the temperature of the air-con at night if you don't want to freeze like I did hehe.

There was a colored TV (which had the basic channels like ABS-CBN and GMA, plus a few cable channels like HBO) and a refrigerator. No electric kettle for heating water though.

There's also free wi-fi in the resort and the signal is strong in the dining and pool areas. Sometimes, the signal reaches in the room but you have to stay near the door though. :)

The best part about the room was the double-decked bed since the kids loved playing on it! They kept going up the top part and saying it was their "castle" hehe. I loved how the bed was really sturdy, since the kids kept going up and down the stairs.

The bathroom was also nice with a big shower area. There's just a funky smell at first (according to my MIL, parang un amoy sa pangkulot daw ;p), but it went away after a while or maybe we just got used to it haha. We sprayed the bathroom with alcohol but better bring air freshener if you could.

My only issue with the room was that there were a LOT of mosquitoes. I think it's because of the entrance to the room which is a sliding door. So there's a tendency for it to be left open or even if you close it, there's still a gap in between. Also, the windows in the bathroom had no screen and they were left open when we first checked-in the room. Tip: bring lots of insect repellant!

I would definitely recommend the poolside room since it's literally right in front of the pools. This was our view when you step outside our room. It was so easy getting stuff for the kids like snacks and toys since you just have to walk a few steps. :)

The kids had so much fun in the kiddie pool since it was shallow enough for them to splash and swim in. Miley super enjoyed the slide too!

kiddie pool

Our room was also near the beach and I'm so thankful we were blessed with lots of sun and clear skies during our stay. The beachfront was wide and clean, but we didn't swim that afternoon since the waves were kind of strong. We played in the sand for a bit, but then the kids wanted to swim in the pool again.

We did swim the next morning though, since the waters were a lot calmer. We practically had the whole beach to ourselves and we sort of wish we could have stayed another day.

We had a good time and for the price, I think Blue Coral is one of the better resorts we've stayed at in the Laiya area. Will definitely come back here again given the chance.

===================

Blue Coral Beach Resort
Laiya, San Juan Batangas Philippines

Website: http://bluecoralbeachresort.com.ph

Manila Office:
1209-B Alpha Grandview
M.H. Del Pilar, Malate Manila

Office Hours:
Monday to Friday - 9am to 6pm
Saturday - 9am to 1pm

Telefax:
[632] 559.9747 | 559.9754
[632] 567.4376 | 986.8668

Email:
info@bluecoralbeachresort.com.ph This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
bluecoral_beachresort@yahoo.com

The Burgery {The Bad Boys of Burger}

I've been craving for burgers this past few days so hubby and I decided to finally try The Burgery, located in BF Homes, for date night.

We were pleasantly surprised that their prices were really affordable and there were a lot of choices on their menu aside from burgers.

The inside is really small (seats for about 20 pax), but still comfortable. They also offer seating outside.

You can choose to upgrade your meal to include a drink plus fries or wedges.

large vs. medium iced tea

wedges and fries

After much deliberation, I got the Fat Tony...

Fat Tony
1/3 lbs. 100% pure beef patty, onion relish, lettuce, tomato, cheese, bacon
P145

while Hubby got the Machine Gun. It kinda looks the same, but if you look closely, this one has mushrooms in it.

Machine Gun
1/3 lbs, 100% pure beef patty, bacon, mushroom, cheese
P150

The burgers were really good, fat and juicy! Craving definitely satisfied! We enjoyed every last bite and will definitely come back for more. :)

===================================

THE BURGERY BF PARANAQUE BRANCH
231-C Aguirre Avenue BF Homes Paranaque (Across Armada Grill)

For catering/bulk orders, contact 0917-5016640 / 586-8468
 
OPERATING HOURS:
Sunday-Thursday 3:00PM-12:00AM
Friday-Saturday 3:00PM-2:00AM

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/theburgery

Twitter:
www.twitter.com/theburgery

Instagram:
@theburgery 

Fresh flowers

I usually say no when people ask me to take home flowers from table centerpieces after a party. I always felt like it will just wilt after a few days anyway so no use adding more garbage around the house.

But after attending a friend's wedding, I just couldn't resist taking home some of the flowers since they were just so beautiful. I wanted to get more but nakakahiya na (if only I had a plastic bag haha!) ;p

I don't know if you can tell, but the flowers were really big

gorgeous

I wish I could have brought home more of the roses...

And yes, they did wilt after a few days, but at least they added some life to our home even for just a little while. Now if I can only afford to have fresh flowers everyday...

Trick or Treat Neverland style

Well, another Halloween has come and gone and this year was even better than the last! I guess it's also because both kids are at that age where they are able to appreciate trick or treating and all that candy already. Of course, what made it extra fun was the fact that me and hubby also dressed up too so we can match the kids! I'm sure you can already guess who we are ;p

Like I said in my previous post, I usually just think of my kids costumes and make sure they coordinate. This year, they came as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell.

But then, hubby and I thought wouldn't it be fun to dress up as a family? So hubby became Captain Hook...

And I became Mr. Smee! Which is perfect since I'm preggy and Mr. Smee has a big tummy too haha :)

If you can't tell, we had a blast doing all the silly poses! ;p

Oh, and my sister joined in the fun at the last minute! She decided to wear Miley's dragon costume on her head so she could become the Crocodile that ate Captain Hook's hand. Perfect! ;p

Putting together the costumes was so fun, especially the one for Captain Hook! If you're wondering, hubby's shirt was made from 2 ladies tops that I got for P100 each at the export overruns stall from the Noel Bazaar. When I saw that ruffled white shirt, I knew I hit the jackpot. At least I can still use the tops after Halloween haha!

Here's the whole gang ready to go trick or treating!

And yes, hubby went around the whole time in full costume (while I was in the car following them). Career na career! A lot of people actually took pictures of him and the kids since they looked so cute haha!

gotcha Peter Pan!

We had sooooo much fun and the kids got a lot of candy which they're still eating up to now!

Miley's favorite from all the goodies - PEANUTS!

dividing their candy the next day

Now I'm so excited to think about what we'll go as next year! Any suggestions? ;p

I've been keeping a BIG secret...

How time flies! It's now November and before we know it, it's already Christmas and then the start of another new year.

And since everything's been moving so fast, I finally feel that it's time I shared with you something I've been keeping under the radar for many months now...

SURPRISE! We are expecting baby no. 3!!!

I'm now in my last trimester and we couldn't feel more excited and blessed about this new addition to our family. :)

Whereas we were more open during our first 2 pregnancies, this time hubby and I just wanted to keep the news to ourselves for a while. In fact, we only told immediate family at first and then other family members and just a few close friends after the 1st trimester. Even up to now, some of our friends still don't know we're expecting since my baby bump isn't that obvious from most of the pictures I post on Facebook or Instagram hehe. Although some very sharp-eyed people have noticed it and have messaged me privately asking if I was pregnant. ;p

It's not that we're hiding the news or anything, it's just that our views have slightly changed over the past years. Of course if it's your first pregnancy, wanting to share the news to everyone, on every social media platform is understandable (as well as sharing ultrasound photos, doctor updates, etc.).

This being our 3rd baby does not lessen the excitement factor one bit, it's just that we didn't feel the need to announce the information publicly (hindi naman tayo artista na kailangan may press release pa diba? haha!). We wanted to share the news with family and friends personally. And I've noticed that more and more of my friends have been doing the same, whether it's their first pregnancy or not. Someone I know just posted a picture of her 2nd baby after she gave birth, without most people knowing she was even pregnant.

And of course, there's always that anxiety factor. Of wanting to be sure everything is normal and the baby is healthy before coming out in the open. You don't want to jinx anything too right? ;p

So there, I hope you understand why I've just shared this news only now. After this, I can already post my pictures with my huge tummy haha! And finally, I hope you'll keep me in your prayers in this last stretch... I have to admit I'm getting nervous but of course still super excited for another milestone in my life. :)