You reap what you sow

And today, we got cherry tomatoes! Excited for all the other plants to eventually produce their own flowers, fruits, and vegetables. For now, we just have to wait...

Two weeks in

Happiness is being in my dream country and being able to document everything!



Recent shots from my phone and my camera:
1. Beautiful 7pm sun 2. Reading while babysitting 3. Delicious fruits for dessert
4. The healthy option 5. My first real Converse 6. Giant teddy bears in Costco
7. Peach & orange roses 8. Never-ending ice cream 9. This & Blue Machine
10. Gas up & baby car seats 11. Nth time to prepare dinner 12. Best breakfast

Now lift your eyes to the sun

All of a sudden, Sunday felt so summery. We spent the afternoon on the deck eating ice cream, getting haircuts, and painting a bird house. We also took a stroll down the neighborhood. Tito Chris even brought out his make-shift pedicab like the ones we have in the Philippines and let the kids (and eventually Tita Inds) ride. It was such a nice day to be outside.

Running out of things to do, and time

Or maybe just ideas? Last Saturday may be the first time I ever looked forward to going to the mall. On a normal basis, I'm not really fond of being inside malls or any enclosed building crowded with people. The experience takes too much energy. However, I haven't been to one in what feels like forever and I do want to check out the malls in Maryland...

Four hours of roaming around Westfield Annapolis were spent:

• Indulging in the summer sales. We bought a pair of shoes, dozens of clothes, and a scarf from different stores, all with great discounts. When we left the house, we really didn't plan on buying anything but the sale was just so hard to resist!
• Drinking amazing flavors of tea from Teavana. At first I thought they were just selling teapots, teacups, and tins full of teabags until my aunt asked me what drink I wanted to order. They offer a lot of delicious flavors and even give out free samples to make it easier for customers. Totally worth it!
• Falling in love with the furniture and decors at Pottery Barn Kids. Tita Inds kept telling me that we should leave the place ASAP or else I might ask her to buy every girly thing I could find!
• "Stalking" and photographing adorable triplets. Ahh, if I had any hint of courage in me, I could've had my picture taken with them instead.
• Having dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. Although there's a branch of said restaurant in the Philippines, I never got the chance to eat there, making this my first time at CPK. And a good first time it was, the food and the service were both great!
• Ordering a to-go from The Cheesecake Factory: Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake. Hershey's Chocolate Bar Cheesecake, I'm coming back for you!
• ...and after all that, coming home to such a wonderful view. During the summers, the sun is exceptionally beautiful at eight in the evening. Or at least in this area.

What else can I do in Maryland? In the US? There are still so many weekends!

Messin' with the kid

I finally got a hang of babysitting my two-and-a-half year old cousin, Remy. He is a hundred percent adorable and yet eighty percent makulit (as kids usually are). I have tried every trick in the book to make this little guy happy. For almost two weeks now, we have done nothing else but watch a lot of Cars, Fireman Sam, Blue's Clues, and Dora the Explorer episodes, eat tons of ice pops and Nutella sandwiches, read and study books about numbers and colors, and play with either the iPod or Lego blocks.

So far everything has been great. Nothing tragic happened yet (haha!). But unfortunately for me, he is the most difficult person to put to sleep. "No" has been his favorite word. But as I have said, I got used to it and he eventually falls asleep anyway (phew!). Even so, I cannot help but love him. And it certainly helps that he is so cute! Just look at those cheeks and those long eyelashes!


Achievement of the day: he finally knows my name. He used to confuse "Issa" with "Tita" and I would (jokingly) scold him if he gets it wrong because 1) well, it's just wrong, I am not his aunt but his cousin, and 2) I have never felt so old in my life. In any case, I am very thankful that I am learning a lot here: from cooking, to doing the laundry, to taking care of a child...Life skills, really. A new chapter of my life awaits and I think I might be ready.