Miss Domino Mag?

Miss Domino magazine? Check out LonnyMag.com.

My college friend, Michelle Roque is the design director for this new and upcoming online design magazine. They just released their first online issue today and I am super duper excited for her and the magazine. They have received alot of support from vendors such as West Elm, Williams Sonoma, Design Sponge, Shelter Pop, etc. So, hopefully, they'll be able to produce more issues. Word is that more issues may come out since the editors are going to Paris for the next issue. Let's keep our fingers crossed for this online magazine's success!

Michelle was one of my kick it buddies back in college. I'd always go to her house after class to just hang, eat, and whatnot. I remember, I was taking a pottery class in my last semester of college. I really thought I'd enjoy the class. Shit, that class was hard as hell. The movie, Ghost, made it looks so easy, yes? Anyways, the stuff I put out was so fugly. They were heavy, thick rimmed and just plain shitty! Till this day, I'm surprised I got a B in the class. At the end of the semester, we had to take the stuff we made home. I thought it would be nice to gift some of the stuff I made to Michelle and her roommate. Now, I was planning on gifting them the best of the best, which was probably like 2 or 3 items, if that.

The looks on their faces when I dropped off my pottery was priceless. I wish I could hear the shit talking after I left their apartment. Boy, oh boy. What is sweet is that they still have the stuff I gave them because, well, I made it and gave it to them. So sweet, huh? I think it was. They are too, too kind.

She was one of my first friends to take the fatty risk and move to NYC to attend Parson's college. Parsons as in Tim Gunn. Gotta give it to her for making that change. It takes alot of courage to decide to up and move to NYC and on your own for that matter.

She also does freelance design work. --just sayin'. :D I was lucky enough to have her design my table/menu signs to match my invitation design. Loved her for that. She even was able to do some very last minute changes to a couple of them on the day of my wedding. OMG. I think that and my hairdresser team coming late was my two stressful moments.

Anyways, check out the magazine and I hope you like it. Don't forget to bookmark it!!!

Who Knew??

In the beginning of our planning, we were looking at paving and/or stamped concrete. There was just too many things involved with each one that it was becoming all too consuming. Plus, these two options are pretty expensive.

It's a good thing that I spoke to our landscaper about salt finish concrete as he brought up the option of staining the concrete in two colors. Since the "stain" lady is his wife, he was able to get it at a reasonable price per sq. feet.

I found out on a whim that salt finish concrete was fairly reasonable and add staining, its not too shabby. It pretty much lowered our total a good $4K. Crazy, huh?

Met with the "stain" lady today. Never knew that this option existed for concrete. Then again, I didn't know much in the beginning stages and I'm continuing to learn each day. She provided a simple one page sheet that had colors in square boxes. Fortunately, she provided pictures of previous jobs to give me a better picture. Love me some pictures.


Staining is freakin' awesome. It gives the appearance of expensive flooring at a fraction of the cost. You can stain the concrete in a variety of colors. From white, green, red, yellow. The colors are endless.

I chose the stain color, bark brown, that is very much like the picture shown to the left. We will be having borders along our concrete and I chose a dark chocolate brown to outline it (picture on the right). I'm crossing my fingers that it will turn out great. No wait, awesome.

It's Been a Long Time.

Just noticed that my last post was on September 3rd. Hey, it's still September. So it's not a terrible drop in blogging, no?

I don't know what is with me and blogging lately. I just haven't had enough energy to hit the " new post" button and write something. Perhaps it's because nothing big has happened to me these days. Or, does something big have to happen for me to blog?

Last I left you guys with was eating at a fancy schmancy Filipino restaurant, called Intramuros. Fancy, indeed , it was! So posh and modern. Never seen such a Filipino restaurant like it before. I later found out that it was a mortuary. Crazy, right? Was taken aback especially since most Filipino's are superstitious and opening up a restaurant where the dead chilled out for a bit sounds insane! I mean, who does that???

Wish I could say the the food was absolutely to die for. We had a variety of dishes ranging from shanghai lumpia's in which one was made out of ham and cheese. (That caught me off guard, and I thought it was slightly ghetto. At least use good cheese like gruyere or brie or something. ) to pork sisig, bicol express and such. Quite frankly, we were a hungry bunch and ordered a whole lotta food.


We also had the Intramuros paella that was made with longonisa (Filipino sausage), salted duck egg, clams, adobo, squid, tomatoes in saffron and bangus. Sounded delicious on paper, but when we got it, it tasted mediocre. Sure wasn't worth the $25!

The dish that I enjoyed the most was the crispy binagoongan over grilled eggplant. Translation: diced crispy pork lightly glazed w/ shrimp paste over grilled eggplant, topped w/ diced mangoes & tomatoes ($13). If I could and didn't have to worry about clogged arteries, I could eat this dish nearly every day of my life. It was that good!

In other news, the hubs and I are finally getting our postage stamp of a backyard landscaped. Woohooo!!! We got tons of estimates and in the beginning it was a bit intimidating because we had absolutely no freakin' clue about landscaping. All's we knew was that we wanted concrete, lawn, and plants and trees. But, if you ask us to be specific, you'll get a blank stare and a curt smile from us because we are thinking, " WTF?"

We finally settled on salt finish concrete that will be stained with a color. So far, it's looking like it may be a brown color. We are having a little side lawn for Maddie because for some reason, she will only do her biznatch on grass knoll. Also, we will be having a few ornamental trees, plants, and shrubs and bark.

They will be starting on the week of October 18th. Hopefully, they'll be done by Halloween so that we can throw a little bbq shindig with the familia. Currently, we are shopping for a natural gas grill to inaugurate the event.

A Challenge for Me.

I think I've reached a time in my life where I need some challenges thrown my way. Funny. 10 years ago, I had a hurdle of challenges and unknowns in my life. I just graduated from college and had no clue where I was going to venture off. It was my bad for being a slacker majority of my college years. Why is that I always seem to find myself doing superbly well at the tail end of my school years? Didn't I learn my lesson the first time, ahem highschool?

My first job out of college was at E*Trade as a Customer Service Associate. I stayed with the company for 2 years. I was absolutely miserable at that job. It was a complete opposite angle for me. Finance, really? I hadn't taken a single business class in college and I was in the financial world? What the heck was I thinking? Ahh yes, I was motivated by being on my own, financially, and to experience the world of "the real world."

Finally, I said, I'm quitting. Peace Out.

Moved back in with the parentals. Took a temporary job with the county. Went back to school. But, the question was, for what? Master's? Another bachelor's? What? What?

Its obvious that I ended up getting a degree in Respiratory Care and ultimately became a Registered Respiratory Therapist. After completing the last exam of my boards just recently. I lagged big time on taking it. But hey, I passed!

Now, I'm finding myself just bored. I know I need something to challenge myself and my mind. It's starting to eat at me. So, now, I'm reconsidering getting a Masters in Public Health and getting my Asthma Educator Credential, or just taking up a course at the local community college. The latter seems just the easier thing to do, considering the costs involved. But? I don't know. I just have this " but? wondering".

Do you often find yourself bored and in need of some sort of challenge?