28 October 2014

What I'll Be Sharing, Writing in the Next Few Days



Just to keep you in the loop and actually help me remind myself on what I should be sharing and writing here and elsewhere. Above, from left, clockwise ~

1) Collection of my favorite Rayala Dialogues that I posted on Facebook. Maybe some of you have missed it. And for easier archiving, too. 

2) The Pancake Story. This is the latest. In fact, it happened yesterday. 

3) Who are these lovebirds holding hands? ♡

4) Husband's diet and why

5) My article contribution for Make it Blissful

6) Snippets of my royal reality at home -- the answer to one of my readers' question: how do you balance everything?

7) Pia's cupcake party at school last month! What, it's been a month?! Sorry, swamped with lots of business-y and domestic stuff.

8) Raising a reader: Of books and bookshelves

There. Hope you'll stay around, chicas. xx

Hungrily Chasing Dreams, Loving my Craft and Keeping the Faith

I have been in such a high this past weekend. My first bazaar was a huge success! Yes, profit- and experience-wise. I can't believe that as early as 9 in the morning, I was counting money already. And come lunch time, I was at my busiest! My body was not complaining despite having no sleep. I'm not exaggerating but I just had a 15-minute snooze in the car on the way to the bazaar location. Eto yung time na I wished eh ma-traffic. Haha. But hindi, we set up my rustic, shabby chic table around 6am-ish, in between yawns and longingness for a bucket of coffee. 

Please excuse the constipated face.

This newbie mompreneur is seriously, hungrily chasing her dreams. 

20 October 2014

Bebeng's Kitchen's First Bazaar. Ever.

Whew. One major event done for this start-up mompreneur. Like what I orated on Facebook, my virtual food shop was one of the many sponsors of the very successful Mommy Bloggers Philippines' Halloween party held at Fun Ranch Ortigas yesterday. I got a few thumbs up from those who got to taste Bebeng's Kitchen's tasty treats! So fulfilling. The passionate pagpupuyat was worth it. Hihi. I'll tell you all about what Pia and I had experienced there on a separate post, maybe next week. In the meantime, you can check my fellow MBP members' posts on Instagram by using the hashtag #mommybloggersph

Segue lang — I actually owe you a lot of kwento pa pala ano? I think one of those is my little cupcake's 6th birthday party at school. I'll do that as soon as I can, after all my kabusyhan, don't worry. I'm sure you'll like the free printables that I found on the net when I was planning the party. 

Anywaaaaaay. Ta-daaaa!

15 October 2014

Bebeng's Kitchen Warriors


Any kingdom's queen has to have her royal crew. This domestic queen has a few. Say —  a menopausal washing machine, a dirty old man refrigerator, four bragging bachelor electric fans, a geeky mop and a battalion of hardworking kitchen warriors. The thought of giving them character and name and profile started when I bought a stand mixer last weekend. I don't know with you but I'm someone who can fall in-love with a KitchenAid Artisan mixer. I want to sleep with her. LOL. I asked y'all to vote for what you think is the best color to buy among the choices I gave, and I was overwhelmed by your giggly responses. I really felt that you guys are so happy for me! Can't wait to show you what I've got. Sad though, that my old kitchen loyalists do not have names. But yeah, if you'd ask me who they are in my story, I can give you an impromptu brief about its character. And maybe come up with a name right then and there. Just please don't ask me to name each spoon and fork in my kitchen drawer. 

Is this making you think that my long list of to-dos have made me gone haywire? 

37/52

"My daughter's photos, once a week, every week, in 2014."

This 20-plus-year-old Barbie supermarket playset she was playing with was given to her by my twin cousins, V&V, who now live in the States. It was just one of the many toys and treats that were in the balikbayan box that they sent over (she got an authentic "Jessie of Toy Story 2" doll that one twin got from Disneyland in Florida, My Little Pony figurines and lots of chocolates). They passed this on to her because they are her godparents and I think they love me that much that they love Pia so much, too. I'm glad that my getting-more-like-a-grown-up-six-year-old is taking care of these toys. Sometimes, she cares for it so much that she'd rather not play with it. LOL.

Btw, I've seen the other twin last February and she treated us to a kickass party at Republiq for her birthday. Yes, this stay-at-home-mom, who wanted to channel Martha Stewart partied like a bachelorette that night! LBD, painful high-heeled strappy shoes and vodka. Ooh. 

Next month, I can finally get to talk to the other V in person! We send updates of our every days to each other through Viber. I can't wait to let her taste my #BebengCooks dishes. And I can't wait for her and Pia to play this toy together. *sniff-sniff*

Rest of this project here: 52 weeks of the pink-lover punk

Gary Valenciano Hijacked a Plane

Yes, he did... with a song number minus all the "hataw na" moves and beats! It was a simple in-flight feel-good entertainment for our kababayans from Los Angeles who were coming home to Manila. If you know someone close to you who works abroad, please share this video with them. Sending virtual hugs to my two best girls, S who works as a video editor in Singapore and C who works as a physiotherapist in Florida. I miss you both! ♡

14 October 2014

The Little Bebeng is in Mommy Shorts!

I'm an extremist. When I want something, I make sure that I'd get it no matter what it takes. Kinda sound like I'm a brat, no? Well, when I was younger, I don't take no as an answer. Ha! Guess what, this little terrorist surely knows that, too. She really is her mother's daughter. LOL.

My then three-year-old terrorizing toddler
And speaking of being an extremist  when I like someone, I show it. I do the "PDA stuff" by existing, by communicating, by stalking, by supporting, by being there all.the.freaking.time. You see, in my journey as a regular mom blogger, I became a fan of really famous mom bloggers; not just those who think they are ha! As in like, NYC-based-who-reply-to-her-followers-and-earning-from-her-blog-kind-of-famous. I'm talking about Mommy Shorts. Try to read one post and you'll understand why I like her.

10 October 2014

I have a problem!

Daz me right durr. [source]
A good problem. A problem I can't solve yet but I'm happy to think about. 

I told my husband that I really want to take Bebeng's Kitchen seriously, not that I'm just playing since I started it on July. As in, I was dreaming of its expansion for weeks already. You see, I can't bake a lot, can't try other breads and cakes aside from the regulars I made because I only own a few kitchen tools. 

1) My table top oven's still in the appliance hospital so I borrowed my mom's. It's rusty and old. Surprisingly, it delivers but in a slightly different way. The muffins were a little denser and brownies were softer. It's okay but not the best. Ask those who know me well, I always want the best in everything I do. I then asked my fellow baking mommas on FB on what oven I should get — electric or gas, Elba or La Germania. Gas and La Germania won for the best practical reasons. So I'll be hugging my own La Germania real soon! I can't wait to share with y'all how my new kitchen buddy would look like. One thing's for sure, he's kinda big. He's German. Teehee.

2) I don't have a mixer. I do all the stirring, mixing, whisking manually. Hello, macho arms! Not. I super get tired just to get the right consistency of whatever I have to mix. Sometimes, I don't quite get it. So to further inspire me to become the next big thing in the food commerce (claiming it makes it true I believe), I am buying myself a KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer. Did I hear you mumble a "woot"? Or was it a "yay"? Hahaha! Isn't this a big deal in any domestic queen's life? This is the Rolls Royce of all mixers, right? Before anything else, I'd like to let you know that I'm getting the most affordable model, not that one that costs twice as much as my daughter's tuition. I'm still sane and sober. And financially-challenged

But like what the title suggests, I have a problem.

08 October 2014

The Daughter of a Soldier


Sophia was around three years and something months old when I finally felt that she knew what her father does, why he's away most of the time and why a lot of men call him "sir". 

It was December of 2009 when she first rode the plane and traveled with me and her nanny to the South to spend the holidays with her soldier dad. Unlike today when nails can already be a subject of a beautiful photograph, this momma-in-the-moment forgot to have a photo of her in front of or inside the plane for posterity. Oh well. 

The journey with my then chubby 15-month-old baby girl was a breeze. She slept the whole time, giggled to everyone who said "hi", and when we arrived, her father lovingly held his unica hija. Was the feeling mutual? Did she reciprocate the affection given? She did nothing and said nothing (of course). Ha! Our tiny trooper just smiled showing her 8 (or was it 12?) milk teeth and remained her cute bubbly self the entire vacation. We did not complain. For us, it was more than enough.

Earlier was totally a different scenario, though. 

07 October 2014

36/52

"My daughter's photos, once a week, every week, in 2014."

This was two days before my birthday. And just like some of the people I know who feel the same when their birthday's near, I kinda felt sick. So most of the time, I was in bed then the couch... or couch then the bed. Surprisingly and fortunately, Pia was utterly well-behaved! She just had these little cute kicks that were inevitable for her age; like waking me up when I dozed off while watching her cartoons with her or telling me that she's hungry. She's hungry like every 5 minutes, this kid! But most of those times, she was a cool kid. She is, actually, even if I don't feel sick. She just gets easily bored so she gets mad when she's not doing anything fun or creative. There went my make-up brush and pink blush-on as the sacrificial lambs to cure her boredom. 

**
The rest of the photos from this project... HERE! xx

05 October 2014

Foodpanda Delivery saved the day!

Unabashedly, I want to let you know that I'm one of those moms, who can make you feel inferior about your domestic skills. I brag about and am proud of that on my Instagram's #bebengcooks posts so yes, you can roll your eyes as long as you like. Heehee. Anyway, I may not know all the bourgeois cuisines as I am a big fan of Filipino foods but yes, I incredibly know my way in the kitchen. However, there are lazy days. Many lazy days, to be honest. 


When that inevitable feeling happens to this self-proclaimed domestic queen, I don't fight with it. I'm too lazy to even argue with my conscience. Sometimes, I pop out some meat loaf from a can, dice it, saute it with tomato sauce and mix it with cooked pasta. If I have extra budget, I dial-a-friend. My bff's name is Ronald, the one with the big red shoes. I love the nearest branch's fast service and the flat rate delivery charge! We love Ronald and his world. In fact, my daughter loves him than the bee. OK, not the actual mascot, though ('cause R's kinda scary haha). BUT. One day I decided to dial another friend. 

04 October 2014

Two Women

Oh why, hello there.

To you who comes here often to check if I have a new entry, big hug! Thank you for not getting tired of me, for sticking around despite my sweet shortcomings. Do you know how many times I have been on hiatus? I've lost count, really. I sometimes wonder if there's a cure to this — this some kind of a disease that enveloped me these past few weeks. No, I'm not sick or anything. I just got really, really lazy to even go to my Blogger dashboard and check the pending comments. I actually wanted to quit.

Say what?!

MARTINE. It is true when my blog and writing mentor, Martine, said that our blogs must be connected to how we live our lives. OK. A little honesty here — I've gone through a crisis. Let's say, life slapped me with a harsh reality. So instead of just sulking in sorrow, I tried to solve the problem. The solution had something to do with a start of a new beginning and that new beginning includes an end. Did you get it? You see the connection between that and this? Whatever it is that you're thinking of right now, let it be. What's important is, I'm back. I.am.so.freakin'.back.


How will I not be inspired to go back to my cyber kingdom and bleed words again? See ladies, Martine gave me a Ree Drummond book! *virtual chest pop a la Maja Salvador lol* Wow, just wow. I felt like I'm on chocolate dextrose when I opened the package last Thursday. The Pioneer Woman is one of my favorite kitchen goddesses since I started my blogging journey two years ago, and to have her book is like cooking her food in Oklahoma, without smelling the manure-infested air.