For Thenie's Birthday

Date a Girl Who READS by Rosemarie Urquico

Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books 

instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because 

she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she 

wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will 

always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly 

looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly 

cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird 

chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book 

shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the 

pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the 

street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is 

floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in 

a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a 

glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask 

her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got 

through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she 

says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that 

to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would 

like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her 

birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift 

of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, 

Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. 

Understand that she knows the difference between books and 

reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little 

like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your 

need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, 

nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always 

leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all 

things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That 

you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is 

meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read 

understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the 

Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her 

up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a 

cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours 

but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the 

characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always 

are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. 

Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn't 

burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the 

story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even 

stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in 

the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the 

winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under 

her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl 

who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can 

only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, 

then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the 

worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.

Date A Woman Who Bakes by Mashrabiyya

Here's another Date a Woman series entry shared by a friend. 
Source: http://mashrabiyya.wordpress.com/2011/04/02/date-a-woman-who-bakes/

Date a woman who bakes. Date a woman who has a subscription to bon appétit and Martha Stewart. Date a woman who wishes Chocolatier Magazine was still available on newsstands or that Gourmet hadn’t been shuttered. Date a woman who buys French baking books online from specialty vendors just for the glossy images and diagrams for sugar flowers. She’ll be the one salivating over a recipe in a food magazine at a coffee shop, or reading a cookbook like others read novels on the subway. Her bucket list is full of restaurants to eat at and “foodie” towns to make pilgrimages to. Chefs are her celebrities. She has no time for the Kardashians or Justin Bieber, she’s too busy experimenting with new ways of using meringue or finding new crannies in her kitchen to stuff French rolling pins and pie stones.

Date a woman who knows the difference between granulated, powdered, sanding, and demura sugars. She’ll be the one lingering slowly through Williams-Sonoma, running her fingers gently over the bottles and boxes of baking supplies, food products, and specialty pans. She’s carrying a dog-eared food magazine with a new recipe she’s dying to try. She’ll be the one reading the box of Scharfenberger, making sure she has the right cocoa percentage for her ganache. She’ll squeal over a new cookbook or a copper beating bowl. Crack a joke about an 11 inch French whisk and she just might coyly tell you what you can do with your frosting.

Date a woman who bakes. Come to her house one afternoon and let her show you how to bake a cake. Lick the bowl clean with her. Wipe the batter from the corner of her mouth with the pad of your thumb. Relish the scent of vanilla on her fingers, and the silky softness of her fingertips from all that butter. While that cake is baking, ask her about the soft pink scar on her wrist; listen to her war-stories of touching a hot pan or a knife slip that cut her finger. Ask her about being 4 and standing on a chair stealing dollops of cookie dough while her mother wasn’t looking. Brush the flour from her cheek, lean in for a kiss just as the timer goes off. Whip frosting with her. Offer up a taste on your fingertip to check the chocolate ratio. Watch how smoothly her wrist flicks her frosting knife around the cake, coating the whole thing seamlessly. Feed her. Revel in her slow spreading smile from the satisfaction of that perfect bite of cake.

Date a woman who bakes. She knows that baking is about more than just baking, it’s about the joy of being in the kitchen; about taking sensuous pleasure from the entire process and relishing the outcome. Date a woman who bakes, a domestic goddess who leaves nutmeggy fumes of baking pies in her languorous wake. Date a woman who knows it’s not about being a Sophia Loren, Debbie Reynolds hybrid in pink cashmere and gingham, but about feeling like a domestic goddess. Date a woman who knows that the 30 minutes it takes to make and bake a tray of muffins is just enough to crack the hardened shell of office drudgery and awaken the spirited, fresh imp inside her.

Date a woman who bakes, a woman whose thighs, like those of a 17th century courtesan, have the creamy, firm consistency of panna cotta. She isn’t afraid of a little flour in her hair or a chocolate stain on her cuff. She has work aprons and dress aprons and she knows how to coordinate her shoes with all of them. She has the confident sexiness of a woman who knows if she serves you a slice of her signature pie you’re not going anywhere anytime soon. She’ll offer you a breakfast of fresh muffins or a dinner of banana pudding after a languid, luxurious afternoon in bed. Date a woman who bakes, because her milk-fed hips will have you hanging on for dear life.

Date a woman who bakes. She knows that sometimes all she can manage is skin-of-her-teeth efficiency, brisk cooking with little to no pleasure. But other times, other times she can unleash, let go of the reins and create glory with simple ingredients. Date a woman who knows that her power as a woman – as a proud, strong woman – is defined equally from the strength she shows as it is the happiness she creates. She doesn’t have to alienate herself from her domestic sphere in order to carry forth the cause. She reclaims the kitchen with aplomb, because she isn’t frightened of the challenge of a soufflé.

Date a woman who bakes because you deserve to discover the forgotten Eden of the kitchen with a fearless domestic goddess. Date a woman who bakes because you deserve to be her guinea pig. Because a cake is just a cake unless it’s made by someone you love. Food has a way of cutting through things, and to things, that have nothing to do with the kitchen. This is why food matters, why a passionate, thoughtful cook makes a world of difference.

Date a woman who bakes and she’ll feed your soul with the warmth of her efforts and accept your adoring glances with a soft kiss and a second serving.

Date a woman who bakes because you deserve to be nourished.

i heart PinayShutters!

 my new version of PS Cupcake. 

My PS sisters

Playing around after our outreach.

Of Cupcakes and Smiles..

Last (December 10,2011) I was fortunate enough to be a part of JCRBCC's Sunday School Christmas party. My ate told me about it, and I joined right away. And thought of something to give out for the kids, what else? CUPCAKES! I was planning to have a cupcake drive and I thought this would be the best time to start. And then my " 1000 Cupcakes and Smiles" came into picture. It's a way of giving back for all the blessings I've got. As part of my drive I'm giving away free cupcakes to kids in exchange of SMILES! ( oh how I love kids!) Don't you love how children change your lives with just a smile? I'm sharing these photographs from the event. 

PS.
    "Of 1000 Cupcakes and Smiles"
         150 of 1000 = 850 to go 

In keeping with the spirit of giving this holiday season, my camera club 

PINAY SHUTTERS is once again sharing some love and cheer on December 17th 

through an outreach project with at least 30 street children of Barangay 

431 in Sampaloc, Manila as beneficiaries. 

In line with this, we would like to extend to you all the oportunity to 

share blessings by asking for donations of whatever kind (brand new or pre-

owned) such as the following:

◦ clothes,

◦ shoes,

◦ slippers,

◦ bags,

◦ school supplies,

◦ art supplies,

◦ toys,

◦ food (candies/chocolates/cookies/biscuits/etcetera),

◦ toiletries (soap/shampoo),

◦ towels,

◦ or anything that kids would find useful and delightful. 

Drop-off points for donations are the following:

MANDALUYONG-PASIG-MAKATI-PASAY AREA

C/O ABEL MICLAT

CTC Far East Phils., Inc.

Unit 1F Lee Gardens Condominium 

Shaw Blvd. corner Lee St.

Mandaluyong City

Telephone #: 2119374

MANILA AREA

c/o MICHIE ZAMORA

Chieza Albums Inc. 

1515 F. Jhocson St. 

Sampaloc, Manila

Mobile #: 0916-3283014

QUEZON CITY AREA

c/o ADET LUNA

Heavenly Fish Petshop

156-D N.S. Amoranto Avenue 

Sto. Domingo, Quezon City

Lot 3 Blk 3 Polaris Compound 

Gloria Subdivision 

Tandang Sora, Quezon City

Mobile #: 0905-3171590

OR

You can message me at 09333685228

I Survived the Canon Photomarathon 2011

patience is a virtue! after long hours of waiting.finally got registered. (Oct. 28, 2011)

woooot! 

and the day came! I can't explain how excited I was! The drums roaring gave me chills.

at the events hall.

The Canon Crusaders of Light.

Papa Piolo! (He's one of the new endorsers for Canon)

Kuya Kim also for Canon.

Biggest crowd in Asia! yeah baby! 2600 photo marathoners! 

Another group photo outside PTTC. The RED ARMY! :)

We are all set! 

The RED ARMY ready for battle! :D

First stop 

Cultural Center of the Philippines

this was taken along manila bay.

Getting ready to catch some fish

"SALOP" (the boy reaches out to get the deflated ball.) this makes me sad.

We also went here to visit MAALI. (at Manila Zoo)

Mrs. O :D

Deer and her fawn

We needed some refreshments coz it was really a hot day that time.
Then found this vending machine inside manila zoo! So cool!

Rizal's Monument in Luneta. (salute!)

Pilipinas Kong Mahal

playing around :D

He's busy :p

Siesta time for manong :)

The Manila Cathedral

View of The Manila Cathedral from a water puddle.

View of The Manila Cathedral from a water puddle.

Also went to World Trade Center and saw several cosplayers.
Here's one of them. kawaii!

My buddy with Ms. Donita Rose. lovely as ever! She's so nice as well.
 (at the bazaar)

finally photo op time!

with Crusader of Light Sir Mark Floro (Food Photographer)

with Crusader of Light Sir Jo Avila 

                                                                                                                                                                          

Until next photomarathon! :)