Amici

I've been hearing about Amici Italian Restaurant from friends and finally I was able to eat there with my friend, Jane, last week.

Located beside Don Bosco (it was brought to us by Italian Salesian Priest, Fr. Gianlugi Colombo, SDB.) Amici has a "canteen" ambiance. It's a self-service, pay when you order kind of place.

Jane and I ordered Mozarella Fritto served with Pomodoro Sauce. Bitin! Haha. It's really good. One order comes in 4 slices if mozarella sticks. Yum!

For our main dish, we ordered Tutta Carne (All-Meat) and Penne Al Salmone Affumicato, pasta dish with a rich flavor of smoked salmon.

We liked everything that we ordered. Prices are reasonable too. Pizza prices range from 230-350 (8 big slices of oven-baked pizza) and pasta prices range from 170-250.

Of course our trip to Amici wouldn't be complete without tasting their GELATO, which according to Jane, is really good.

I checked out the Gelato bar for my ice cream flavor...I like all!!!

But settled for 3 gelato flavors -mint with choco chips, blueberry and sansrival

I super loved gelato mint chocolate among all the three flavors. I want to try their ice cream cakes next time.

Must Be Mom's Ensaymaditas

I was in search for the best ensaymada.  A friend told me to try Must Be Mom's Ensaymaditas because it's very tasty.  Accroding to her the only branch that she knows of is in Tiendesitas.  Too far from my place so I just satisfied myself with Hizon's and Muhlach's Ensaymada...

As I was strolling along LandMark in Makati, I saw an outlet!!! (Just when I forgot all about it already ;)



I chose the Dulce de Leche Ensaymaditas.  Check out the caramel!!!!



The  creamy dulce de leche filling combined with the grated cheese topping created a salty-sweet taste that is so good!

They do have cheese rolls too.  I'll probably try that next  time :)

The Rebound

I've spent my first afternoon of 2010 watching the movie The Rebound starring Catherine Zeta-Jones (from the movie Zorro and No Reservations) and Justin Bartha (from National Treasure 1 & 2 and Hangover).

The movie is a romance comedy which I totally love. It's about Aram, a 25 year old guy who begins an unlikely relationship with his single mother neighbour, Sandy. Quite cute actually. I'm glad I stayed home and watched :)

I love the part when Sandy gave Aram for his 25th birthday, a picture of him with her children. Talk about unconditional love...

"I know how I feel about you, it's you who doesn't know how you feel about me..." - Aram

I Love Personalized Gifts

Whenever I receive a personalized gift I really feel happy and appreciative. I know that the giver really thought about what I like, what I fancy, what suits me, what describes me the most.

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***Beadazzle by Cat is the name of my accessory business***

First Order for 2010

I'm done with the first order I got for the year 2010. 50 pieces of baby soap wrapped in blue towels as Baptismal giveaway. I made it look like a fish which made the giveaway cute and unique - plus of course it's super FUNctional!!! :)

MY 2009 - the year that was...

Let me sum up my 2009 and all the happenings in my life using photos that I've taken throughout the year...

It has been a good year. There were some bumps around the corner but with prayer and perseverance, I was able to conquer all. I'm thankful for there are more of the "good" stuff than the not so nice ones. I'm praying for a more fruitful 2010 for our country, my family, my career and personal life. God bless us all! :)

Happy New Year!!!

Best Christmas Gift

I got a Polaroid DVF-130 USB Camcorder from my friend last Christmas. I consider this the best gift because I really wanted to buy one for myself even before the holidays. Original plan was to get a Flip Video Camcorder but then they only have a couple of stocks available and the model that I wanted was out of stock.

Anyways, my friend gifted me with the Polaroid camcorder and I'm so thankful that he did. Talk about fun, simple and user friendly, this USB Polaroid Digital Video Camera gives you all three and then some! With a compact built, it's always ready to head out on any adventure. Just point and shoot while the 2.0" bright LCD lets you get every shot just the way you want. It's so perfect for the holidays!!!! :)

Features

• Built-in USB stick for easy download


• SD card compatible for expanded memory


• Battery level indicator


• PC & Mac compatible

Specifications

• Takes 480 x 640 VGA video @ 30 fps


• 2.0" bright color LCD for previewing video while you shoot


• 8x digital zoom

Great Antique Finds

I finally gave in to my lolo's request to look for his Day Bed. He wants something in Narra Wood that has very simple design and where he can fit when he takes his afternoon siesta. A friend told me that instead of looking at furniture shops in malls, we should check out Philtrade Center (along Roxas Boulevard, beside World Trade Center) for great antique finds (cheaper than mall prices).

When we got there I had fun taking pictures of what each store has. They all show character, all depicting beautiful stories untold.

There are so many great furniture there. We saw what were looking for - problem is it's too big for our sala - but...it's narra wood, great design plus of course very cheap. The best thing there is you can make "tawad" like with the Day Bed, original price is P9,ooo, the lady called the owner and said that we can get it for P5,ooo. Great huh?! Too bad, it's way too big for us.

I will surely go back there one of these days to get a cabinet or a table. I desperately need one for my beads.

One more thing before I end this blog. I saw a very interesting thing before we left the place...

[machine circa 1940's :)"]

Since I am into sewing I was so happy to see a sewing machine as old as this one.

Cute Food Erasers

I've participated in a couple of bazaars this season and I just want to share the STAR in all of them.  SOLD OUT in  - Assumption, Eastwood and Cuenca, Alabang.

Ta-dah! My cute food erasers :)

Stock Market

I had dinner with some friends at The Stock Market in Bonifacio High Street.

[caption id="attachment_655" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="maya, tina, carmina and i"][/caption]

For starters, we ordered the Flatbread Pizza with Arugula -- Prosciutto, Pineapple, and Mozzarella and Neapolitan sauce.  It was REALLY good! I loved every bite of it :)  The flatbread pizzas had really thin, crisp crusts!

[caption id="attachment_656" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="flatbread pizza"][/caption]

We also ordered Caesar Salad which is super good too.  The chicken strips tasted so juicy :)

[caption id="attachment_657" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="salad"][/caption]

The mini tacos is another treat.  Actually I was taken by the sauce - 3 different sauces - cheese, sour cream and sort of tomato sauce...

[caption id="attachment_658" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="mini tacos"][/caption]

We ordered a lot of appetizers! Haha! But we finished everything up to the last bite.  We ordered more food!!!

[caption id="attachment_659" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Pasta Alfredo"][/caption]



and of course desserts...

Tina and I ordered Strawberry Sundae while Maya tried their Antioxidant Yogurt with blueberries and Carmina had the Mango-Strawberry-Kiwi Yogurt.

Uhmm...The sundae is good but as for their yogurt, I'll still go to White Hat for their yummy yogurt! Perfecto! :)

[caption id="attachment_661" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="strawberry sundae"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_662" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="antioxidant yogurt"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_663" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="mango-strawberry-kiwi yogurt"][/caption]

Overall dining experience: It was pretty good actually. I enjoyed eating all the food that we ordered.  I will defenitely go back and try their other dishes.