Old School Blogging: Alphabet Meme

I finally found some window for blogging tonight, and TV time later - the girl slept early, thank God!  Time to join this blog meme, my first (and possibly last, heehee) for this year.  Some might wonder what a meme is... pronounced as "meem".  In my own words, a meme is like an online chain letter; passing on an idea or participating in a theme or Q&A activity like this one from person to person (blogger) via internet.

I can't remember the last time I joined a meme, but I know it was for Mommy Moments by Chris, who happened to tag me for this alphabet meme.  A few a couple of weeks after, Toni tagged me in her meme as well.  Thanks ladies, I enjoyed reading your list.  It's been a while so I'm giving this a shot.

You can click on the images for their full stories. Read on as I might surprise you with some of my answers *wink*!

ALPHABET MEME

A. Attached or Single?   ATTACHED

B. Best Friend?

C. Cake or pie?

D. Day of choice?  FRIDAY, of course! ;)

E. Essential Item?  MOBILE PHONE

F. Favorite color?

G. Gummy bears or worms?  WORMS, cola flavor please.

H. Hometown?  QUEZON CITY

I. Favorite Indulgence?

J. January or July?  JANUARY

K. Kids?

L. Life isn’t complete without?

M. Marriage date?  NOV. 30, 2002

N. Number of brothers/sisters?  1 BROTHER

O. Oranges or Apples?

P. Phobias? (I got stuck here)
For now, I'd say NECROPHOBIA (fear of death) since I have so much to live for.

Q. Quotes?  TREAT PEOPLE AS YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE TREATED.

R. Reasons to smile?

S. Season of choice?

T. Tag 5 People.
I'm curious to learn more about these old and new blogger friends I follow:
Jen, Tina, Fleur, Jackie, Divine

U. Unknown fact about me?  I ENJOY WORD AND TRIVIA GAMES.

V. Vegetable?

W. Worst habit?  PROCRASTINATING

X. Xray or Ultrasound?  ULTRASOUND

Y. Your favorite food?

Z. Zodiac sign?

This was long, but fun to do... even made me a bit nostalgic! =)  Hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing it.  I think #my3things will pass as a meme too, right?

I'd love to know your thoughts on this post.  If you enjoyed this, feel free to share it!

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Versatile Blogger Award

The Versatile Blogger : a versatile blogger means you have the ability and skills of embracing a variety of subjects which is useful and interesting to read.

This is the second "blogger award" I have received ever since I became one more than a year ago.  I got my first, One Lovely Blog Award, here.  So it was really a pleasant surprise that two mommy bloggers I follow have thought about me for this special award.

THANK YOU you Mia of Confessions of a SAHM and Chris of The Mommy Journey!

Now let me share the blog love.

For those whom I passed this award to, please follow these steps:

• THANK and LINK BACK to the blogger who gave you this award
• SHARE 7 Things About Yourself
• PASS this award along to 15 Bloggers who you recently discovered and think are fabulous
• CONTACT the bloggers you chose and let them know about the award

***

Now this is the hard part, heehee...aside from what I already wrote about me in my profile, here are:

7 (more) Things About Mom-Friday

1. A typical Piscean
2. An impatient mom
3. Studied in an exclusive girls' school from kinder to high school
4. Used to bake, collect stamps and embroider as hobbies
5. Frustrated fashion and interior designer
6. Would love to travel the world
7. Believes in karma and the Golden Rule

15 Versatile Bloggers

80 Breakfasts
Animetric's World

Black Sushi

Frannywanny
Hypermom

iMom
Jenni Epperson
Make or Break
Manila Mommy
Manila Reviews
Mother Earthlings
MrsMartinez' Raves and Rants
Our Phenomenal Life
Pensive Thoughts
Topaz Mommy

Well, I have to confess that I did not discover enough new blogs to meet 15, so I included a few of my old favorites in the list :-)


If you enjoyed this post, feel free to share it! Stay connected and Follow me on Google friends, Facebook and Twitter @mymomfriday, or Subscribe here via email and get the latest updates!

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Day-Out At Eton Centris Walk

A new commercial center right smack in the middle, or should I say corner, of busy EDSA and Quezon Avenue?  First time I've heard of Eton Centris, I cannot really visualize where and what this place is, so I have got to see it first hand.

The family took the opportunity to visit the place when hubby had a scheduled lunch meeting at one of the restaurants in Eton Centris Walk.  My curiosity was finally satiated. The complex looks cool and futuristic! As soon as we walked through the promenade, I was impressed.

Centris Walk is part of business tycoon Lucio Tan's Eton Centris property on that huge corner of EDSA and Quezon Ave. which conveniently connects to the MRT Centris Station. According to it's website, Centris Walk is a "mixed-use complex that epitomizes the vibrant work-shop-play-and-live concept...covering a gross floor area of more than 14,000 sqm. ...making use of “green architecture”, this new dining and lifestyle oasis will feature lush landscape, covered walks and pedestrian-friendly promenades."  Wow.

I was held in awe by these mushroom-like discs towering over the whole complex.  Honestly, I don't know their purpose but they definitely made up for the lack of scenery at this time.  There are a number of establishments already open but I was informed that everything will be up and running before the holidays.

Despite the scorching mid-day sun, the kids just went crazy at the play area...with the swings and slide, mini camp house, and their all-time favorite carousel!

Worth mentioning was our lovely lunch with my friend and her kids at Italianni's. We had our favorites like calamari, spaghetti and meatballs, and chicken parmigiana, and their latest offering, Spaghetti Al Granchio -- tossed in aglio olio and crab meat. I love anything with crabs but this pasta dish didn't make an impression, so I had leftovers. But service was excellent and they even went an extra mile with customer satisfaction when they generously offered to cook me a new serving of the pasta dish after they asked how our meal went.  I gave an honest feedback that it tasted a bit bland and they offered to replaced it. So thank you to the Italianni's Centris Walk service team and their training officer Rich (hope I got the name right)! It was a welcome surprise. And that's what I have here in my take-out bag. :-)

Then off we went to Tutti Frutti for some yummy fro-yo desserts courtesy of our friend, who invited us to sample the different flavors on offer. I was really looking forward to this part of our day. :-)

Don't miss my full story on our visit to Tutti Frutti Centris Walk, up next .

And this summed up how our day went.

 

GOOD NEWS to all Mom-Friday followers!

TUTTI FRUTTI Centris Walk will be giving away a 

SPECIAL TREAT!!!

Find out how you can join on my next post!

(Update: Tutti Frutti Fro-yo Treat happened here)


Tutti Frutti - Centris Walk
Eton Centris Walk
EDSA corner Quezon Avenue



This is my first participating post for Pixel Bug Weekend. Thanks for the invite mommy Salen! :)


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Mommy Moments: Kids and Amusement Rides

Tea Cup ride, Carousel, Mini-Ferris Wheel, Crazy Bus. Young kids can demand so many rounds on their favorite amusement rides once they get started. And they want to ride 'em all till they drop!

Here's my share of those fun (and dizzying!) rides with the kiddos for this week's Mommy Moments.

Having a blast, this is the little man's first try at Cosmic Kidz's Sling Shot ride in Kids Universe at SM Mall of Asia. He went for four rounds straight!

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Anatomy of a School (Trolley) Bag

Second Friday of the month:  Family Friday - Schooling

No. This is not the girl's bag.  She can't possibly have a bag that's almost as heavy as her! Hers is that little pink backpack on top of big brother's first ever (large) school trolley bag.  She just likes sitting on this wheeled one.

Every since my boy was in nursery, he have wanted "a big bag with wheels" like the ones he saw being pulled (dragged) by the prep boys and graders every morning when we bring him to school. Maybe it's the sheer size of it, or simply having wheels on the bag that impressed him.  If he only knew how cumbersome those trolley bags can be!

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Mom-Friday's Peanut Butter & Banana French Toast

First Friday of the month:  Food, Mom-Cook

I am counting the days 'til school opens and just planning what food to pack for the kids, among other things, is raising my stress levels lately.

Honestly, I only have a few (count five fingers!) old-reliables that passed the test from my picky eaters. Now, with a first-grader and a pre-schooler to think about, I would really like to put more effort into the preparation of their food from scratch.

We all know homemade is always better than commercially manufactured foods. Of course, it would also entail a greater amount of time and effort to prepare, but you are assured of the quality of its contents which would benefit your child.

One of the most requested snack is this Peanut Butter and Banana French Toast.  They instantly loved it the first time I made one for them so they can expect this yummy healthy treat in their lunch boxes when they're back to school.

I made a simple Raisin Bread French Toast in the past but this version packs a meaner punch with the creamy, protein-enriched goodness of peanut butter and nutritious bananas.

Eagerly helping out with prep work with their own mini wire whisk

PEANUT BUTTER & BANANA FRENCH TOAST

What you need:

2 slices of bread, any soft bread you prefer (ideally a few days old)
Half a banana, sliced
Peanut butter
1 egg
Milk
butter
vanilla extract and/or cinnamon (optional)

Spread your favorite peanut butter on the 2 slices of bread.
Arrange sliced bananas on your sandwich.
In a wide bowl, whisk together 1 egg and around 2 tablespoons of liquid milk.
Add a few drops of vanilla and dash of cinnamon if you wish.
Soak the sandwich, both sides, in the wet mixture.

Heat a tablespoon of butter in a non-stick pan then toast sandwich on both sides until golden brown.

Serve with a drizzle of honey or maple syrup. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon if desired.
Makes 1 delicious fully-loaded french toast sandwich.

An ideal breakfast and snack, this is one of the best french toast I've made! You have to try it yourself.

You may replace peanut butter with a favorite jam or chocolate spread like Nutella (hazelnut cocoa spread). Skip the peanut spread in case you or your kids have allergies or aversions to peanut butter/nuts.  I also use almond milk or rice milk for this, as an alternative to dairy milk.

Finally enjoying the fruits of their labor

If you have great food ideas for the kids' baon (packed lunch/snack), please share them here as most moms like me would need all the suggestions we could get!  :-)

P.S.

Alternative preparation tip:  

After assembling the sandwich, slice it in 6 or 9 squares before dipping pieces in the liquid mixture.  Then fry as instructed. This will allow you to serve it in bite-sized pieces :)  Enjoy!

As seen in

Mom-Friday's Peanut Butter & Banana French Toast

Learn more about nutrition and food tips from this series of posts:

Talks on Wellness and Nutrition, part 1

Talks on Wellness and Nutrition, part 2

Talks on Wellness and Nutrition, part 3

Talks on Wellness and Nutrition, part 4

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Freestyle Friday: The Girl and The Bob

Freestyle Friday:  The Bob Cut 

Today, I am launching another Friday category -- FREESTYLE FRIDAY.

So what is Freestyle Friday?

If you were following my blog for sometime now, you may have noticed the 'renovation' and improvements I have made over the last several weeks, which included a fixed category for all 4 Fridays of the month just to keep things organized in here. But some months have 5 Fridays -- like this month of April. I made an exclusive post about it which I linked below. I'm re-posting a portion for you:

What if there's a FIFTH FRIDAY in a month?
If that's the case, the 5th Friday = LAST Friday of the month = Mom-Finds and Raves post for this last (5th) Friday.
In effect, the 4th Friday for that month will now be:
FREESTYLE FRIDAY - Anything goes...well, sort of.
I will take this opportunity to post anything that strikes my fancy at that moment, or some inspiring images that reflect my interests in fashion, design and photography.  Less words, more pictures. Consider this a pleasant break from the usual write-ups. 

Read the full post on what I am blogging about here on MY FRIDAYS , which you can also find on the sidebar under 'About Mom-Friday'.


"Mommy gave me a trim...I don't know if I like it or not...hmmm..."

Related posts:
About Mom-Friday
Blog Makeover
Blog site makeover in-progress

Entry for Mommy Moments: Hairstyles

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