Simply Belle

Me: Lexi, how do I look in this dress?

Lexi: You look good mommy, you look like a teacher.

Hmmm, whatever she meant by it, I will take it as a compliment. The skirt I am wearing is a wrap-around skirt that I bought 10 years ago in Oahu. I thought I would wear it today for this mother’s day ocassion to look more motherly (not teacherly, Lexi). One time, we went to church, and I was wearing a formal long black skirt, a white blouse, and a black blazer. Stephanie thought I looked like a mormon mother. Ha! ha! Whatever.

Today, we had a mother’s day celebration at my friend’s salon in town. Her salon is closed on a Sunday so we kept the place to ourselves. She brought a long table and placed it in the middle of the room. Everyone brought a dish or two. I brought several dishes plus a box of ziploc bags for leftover to take home. Ha ha, I came prepared, you know. Sure enough, none of them thought of bringing the bags.

After eating, Merlinda, (far left) the owner of the salon, thought about giving each girl a makeover. The girls were so thrilled about the idea and so were the mothers. I actually didn’t mind driving back home to get the make up for their glamour look. I guess I was just as excited as the girls.

Here they are in no particular order who are likewise called Merlinda’s Angels.

I tried applying her make-up but she opted to do it herself because she was afraid that she might end up looking like a clown. She thinks that when it concerns about make up and hair, mommy doesn’t know anything.

GG is showcasing her long layers. Her mother (next to Merlinda in the group photo above) applied her make-up including the girl below.

The youngest one, D, has beautiful thick black straight hair. All she needed was a light make up.

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We were invited over at our friends’ house for a last get-together for this year before they head back to WA. to spend the summer. These are retired people who own two homes – one in AZ where they spend the winter to get away from the dark-cold-wet days of Seattle, and one in WA, which offers beautiful weather and long nights during summer.

I usually take charge of the kitchen when I come over. I made eggrolls and pansit.

FYI: I was wearing shorts and a long shirt. Even my husband asked, “do you have anything underneath that shirt?”

Boy, I haven’t even finished deep frying the eggrolls, two of my friends couldn’t seem to get their hands off the cooked eggrolls. For the other gentleman, it was his first time to eat eggroll, and he loved it so much!

Don’t you just love watching them attack the food? It made me feel good as a cook.

And let me show you the weirdness out of this gentleman.

He added catsup to his pansit. Yuck!

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I took a week vacation from work to spend some time with my children. Unfortunately, Lexi’s spring break didn’t coincide with Steffi’s but Lexi still managed to find time to bond with the family. She drove home from Flagstaff at 10 PM Friday night after work and didn’t get home ’til past midnight. As usual, I couldn’t hold still on my bed until she was safe home while my husband slept like a log. Sometimes, I wish I could switch roles with my husband.

Steffi’s friend, Leia, also from Stanford U, flew from Baltimore to Arizona to spend a couple of days with us. She was kind enough to offer to ride with Steffi on the way back to Stanford U. Since this is a year when Steffi starts internship in college, we thought this is the best time for her to have a car. She has been without a car for almost three years and sometimes she would whine at us over the phone that it was too cold to bike to her class. We knew right then that we had to get her a car.

We tried our best to make Leia’s short visit in our place fun and exciting. Initially, she wanted to do some golfing in front of our house but my husband was able to talk her into visiting the Tonto Bridge which is only 20 minutes from our house. By the time we got home after doing few errands here and there, it was 2:30 PM – time for me to get started with my cooking as I invited a couple of Filipina friends over for dinner. Between 2:30 PM and 6 PM, I was able to fix six dishes including making eggrolls from scratch. My kids love eggrolls so much so I don’t mind going through the hassle once in a while. Leia and my husband love Kare-Kare so I cooked that too. I fixed Sinigang na bangus, and daing na bangus for my friends. All went well and everyone was happy.
Here are some pictures taken at Tonto Bridge:

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Like my new design? I like it a lot! How did I get it? An angel from Qatar gave me an offer that I couldn’t refuse. It is good for life! Amazing huh? What did I do to deserve it? He said it is his way of giving back to me for all the things I do for our province. Wow, such words melt my heart. Thank you very much Sandro.

For some time now, I have been trying to redesign my site because I was getting tired of looking at my huge pic at the header. But, being computer illiterate that I am, I don’t have a clue how to go about it. My darling daughter is not available for help because she is extremely busy with her studies these days. So, I thought I would wait for her until she gets home for the summer. Poor me, always at the mercy of my daughter.

Then a fine fellow from heaven came along and saved me. Hahaha, he is probably tired of looking at my image, too. Or, he thought that I deserve a better site. Not that I am complaining about my old blog. Hey, for a beggar and cheapskate like me, I was satisfied with it. It was simple and good enough for my simple mind. But, changes are inevitable these days and even though I am afraid of facing changes, it is about time that I move on to the next level, by hook or by crook.Thank you so much blogspot for accomodating me with less hassles. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Thank you Sandro for your kindness to the old and aged.

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