Barefoot Mestiza: Summer Lovin'

I'm back! :)

Yes, I know I haven't posted in eons. Blame it on eBay hehehe.

I was thinking of changing the layout, but I guess I haven't seen it in so long, I actually like it again hahaha. Will probably fix the links sometime soon...I think some of them are dead already o_O

In the meantime, you can check out all my goodies for sale at http://stores.ebay.ph/PinkSushi-Shop.

My store will be closed from Dec. 19-Jan. 4 for the holidays though...I didn't want a repeat of last Christmas when I was so toxic from processing last-minute purchases I forgot to put up a Christmas tree o_O

Happy holidays, everyone! :D

Posted by chevee at 6:35 PM | December 16, 2008 | 0 comments

Am I turning into a Bridezilla?

Took this quiz just for kicks, hehe. I got the link from http://www.weddingsatwork.com/. I was half-thinking I'd get a result something like, "Yes, you're a full-blown Bridezilla! Everyone beware!" XD After all, I have been known for my OC-ness. I even wash dishes the textbook way (my Home Ec textbook, that is): glasses/glassware, cutlery, plates, plasticware, then greasy pots and pans.

So I took the quiz, and got this...

Posted by chevee at 5:12 PM | June 17, 2006 | 4 comments

Desktop goodies!

I've been busy making stuff for my deviantArt page. I don't know when I'll be starting my MT course, but once they call with the schedule I'll have to enroll and start classes immediately, so I'm using the free time I have left for my artwork. I also need to finish a couple of layouts I've put aside. One of them is 50% done, graphics and overall design finished, just needs to be coded.

Anyway, here are some desktop wallpapers for you to use on your desktops, originally posted on my dA page. Some of my digital art can also be used as wallpaper, depending on their dimensions. Remember, these are for personal use only, so please don't distribute, re-post or alter them in any form. Thank you! =)

Posted by chevee at 11:13 AM | June 12, 2006 | 6 comments

Recipe #6: Hotdogs & Beans

I know, this isn't exactly gourmet fare, but hey, it beats eating the beans straight out of the can, or pouring soy sauce on rice (yes, I actually know someone who does this fairly frequently. I feel so dang sorry for her grandchildren.). I read a recipe somewhere of a dish using sliced hotdogs and ketchup, with nothing more than some sliced onions, I think. Sounds yummy, but I just couldn't bring myself to "waste" the hotdogs by cooking them with nothing but ketchup =(

I tried to make it a bit healthier by adding mixed veggies and using chicken hotdogs instead of the usual kind. If you have time, make this with chicken/turkey sausages and fresh chopped veggies. If you're in a hurry though, this version will do in a pinch =)

Ingredients:
6-8 large chicken hotdogs, sliced diagonally
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots and corn)
1 large can baked beans, chili beans or pork and beans
1 can condensed tomato soup (or 1 pack tomato sauce)
1/2 cup sweet ketchup
1 onion, chopped
1 bulb garlic, minced (optional)
chili powder (optional)

Saute the onion, garlic and hotdogs until hotdogs are cooked but still firm. Add veggies and mix thoroughly. Stir in tomato soup/sauce, ketchup and beans. Stir continuously until it starts to bubble. Season to taste. If you like it spicy, add about 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, or 2 small minced chilies (the small red ones, not siling haba). If you like it sweet, add about 1-2 tablespoons of sugar. Serve with hot steamed rice or garlic fried rice. Yum!

Posted by chevee at 3:26 PM | June 07, 2006 | 5 comments

DIY #3: Recycling old spiral notebooks

During my grade school and high school days, I remember some of my classmates using spiral notebooks with the wire removed and the notebook "sewn" back together with either yarn or DMC thread. I assumed it was a way to have the coveted celebrity notebook covers (with teased hair and really laughable outfits, now that I think about it) without the headaches associated with spiral notebooks, primarily the ratty, "chewed" look these acquired halfway through the school year. Having had boring taste in notebooks (plain blue Coronas, cutesy Merits) I never tried it.

Until now. Last school year, Nikki's school specified 90-page spiral notebooks. Much as I hate spiral notebooks because of the aforementioned "chewed" effect, I meekly complied. Can you believe I actually plowed through the piles of notebooks at NBS just to find ones with 90 pages? Sheesh. I shouldn't have bothered. The only notebook Nikki filled (and then some) was her test notebook. The others had lots of blank pages left. The covers were shot to hell, of course. I didn't want to throw them away, though. So, what could I do?

I did what any hot-blooded, penny-pinching mother would do. I patiently took out the wire binding (not as easy as it looks when the notebook is REALLY scrunched and deformed), threw away the used pages and ratty covers, and ended up with a pile of clean white notebook paper. A BIG pile.

Then I got some pretty paper (card stock thickness) left over from various card-making and crafts activities. I cut out two pieces for the covers (front and back), then put a piece of notebook paper over it and lightly marked each hole with a pencil. I poked out the holes cleanly (right side going in) with the largest needle in my sewing kit, then double-threaded a smaller needle with clear nylon thread from my mom's beading supplies.

I sewed the covers together with about 150 pages between (her new test notebook, I learne from last year's experience), using a running stitch, double-stitched at each end for strength. You can just knot it at the end, but I added a little beaded charm just for kicks =)

I covered the notebook with plastic for added protection. Since I still have a big pile of paper left (and TONS of various papers and card stock) I might do 3 or 4 more notebooks just for fun =)

Posted by chevee at 7:40 PM | May 24, 2006 | 7 comments

Recipe #5: Baked Veggie Frittata

A frittata is a type of Italian omelette featuring hearty fillings, such as meats, cheeses, and vegetables. Rather than being folded like normal omelettes, it is open-faced.
[www.wikipedia.org]

Since I don't have a non-stick skillet, I bake my frittatas in the microwave =) I usually make these from whatever odds and ends I have in the fridge--it's a great dish for using up all those little bits and pieces. Plus, you can sneak in a lot of veggies and your vege-phobic kids won't even mind XD

Basic Veggie Frittata Recipe:

1-2 onions, chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 bell peppers, seeded and chopped
2-4 tomatoes, chopped or sliced
1-2 carrots, chopped or grated
2-4 potatoes, chopped or grated
2-4 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon basil (dried; if fresh, double the amount)
salt and pepper to taste
other vegetables like radishes (chopped/grated), peas, corn kernels, and even leafy veggies like cabbage or lettuce (shredded/chopped)

What I do is, I saute all the veggies together, beginning with root vegetables and ending with leafy ones. Then I put it in the freezer for fast frittatas. I just add 2-4 eggs depending on the amount of veggie mix, and season with a bit of iodized salt, pepper and lots of basil. You can also add grated cheese or raisins. Serve with ketchup, sweet chili sauce or a soy sauce/onion/garlic dip =)

Note: Photo is from wikipedia. I wasn't able to take a photo of my latest frittata before it was demolished XD

Posted by chevee at 12:20 PM | May 18, 2006 | 6 comments

Carebears, G.I. Joe, and why I love them

As a true child of the '80s, the Carebears were a staple of my TV fare. Not only did my sister and I watch every episode from every story arc (from Professor Coldheart to No-Heart), my mom even brought home several movies she had taped during her US trip: Carebears The Movie (I & II), and Carebears in Wonderland.

Which is not to say that we were a couple of girly-girls, either. Along with Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Pony, Lady Lovelylocks, Rainbow Brite, and classics like Swan Lake and The Little Mermaid, we also loved G.I. Joe, Transformers, Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, Thundercats, Tiger Sharks, M.A.S.K., and of course, Voltes V and Voltron.

Back then, even cartoons shown on TV were in English, ie in their original form. Except of course for Voltes V. which was dubbed in English by Pinoy dubbers. We never noticed how bad their accents were until GMA7 brought it back a couple of years back, but hey, it wasn't that bad, I suppose =)

I know they were mostly marketing tools, but what show isn't? Even Sesame Street is selling merchandise, and at least the shows were entertaining, and showed positive values. I abhor cheesy "feel-good" shows and movies, so I don't think the Carebears series is overly sweet and saccharine.

Besides, I don't remember being overcome with a sudden, insane longing to buy all the toys, coloring books, etc after watching it. It was actually my mom who went gaga and brought home a whole balikbayan box of stuffed Carebears, Rainbow Brite and Strawberry Shortcake toys, among other things.

I recall a huge My Little Pony Paradise Estate as well...it was as big as the living room when fully laid out, including the swimming pool. There were several ponies as well. I think my mom gave it away when we moved. I remember my sis and I also had the Carebears and Rainbow Brite sticker books from Panini, and we completed them, except for a few stickers that were out of stock already. Yes, we had one each of both series =)

We really didn't like Barbies very much, though we did like dressing them up and decorating their house.

And no, I haven't seen the "new"Carebears show that is currently the craze in the US. I refuse to see it on grounds that they changed some of the character designs. Share Bear now has two lollipops (?) on her tummy instead of the milkshake with two straws (modern hygienic practices?). And there's some bear with a star on the tummy. They made Champ Bear BLUE!! And Secret Bear is now hot pink...gross. Nice to know they didn't mess with the original cast of bears though, especially my fave, Cheer Bear =D

So what brought on this sudden nostalgia trip, you ask? Well, my hubby brought this home from KFC last night:

I squealed and oohed and aahed over it. Then we took pictures.

If you want your own Carebears bucket and tumblers, run to the nearest KFC outlet before they start running out of designs (speaking from experience, most of the novelty designs start running out of stock with the tumblers first, because they usually give these away with other meals as well).

Now if only they would bring back G.I. Joe XD

[Image of Cheer Bear is from www.care-bears.com]

Posted by chevee at 4:56 PM | May 05, 2006 | 4 comments

Next project: House renovation?

"...tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down..."

Our house is falling apart. Just like in the lyrics of my fave-song-of-the-moment, it's tumbling down bit by bit.

This isn't exactly our fault. The house actually belongs to my in-laws. It was rented out to Chris' uncle, who lived here with his daughter for about four years. In that space of time, absolutely ZERO repairs were done. I mean NADA.

Dripping faucet? Pshaw. When the faucet finally blew, they tied it down with rubber bands. When the plumbing in the upstairs bathroom conked out, they simply shut the door and used the downstairs T&B. When we got here ALL the faucets were tied down by rubber bands...those that worked, anyway. The kitchen faucet didn't work, and the sink leaked like Niagara Falls.

Now, for me, indoor plumbing is not a luxury--it's a NECESSITY. So the first thing we did was to replace the faucets and fix whatever plumbing we could. The upstairs T&B was totally shot though...we need a plumber.

When we moved in, there were TONS of trash in the house, even in the closets! And dust thick enough to plant potatoes in! The curtain rods were gone, the window screen hinges (more on those later), about half of the cabinet handles, all the lights, and--get this--the front doorknob jams frequently because they tried to remove it and the deadbolt, failed, and didn't (or couldn't) put it back properly.

You'd think, considering the damage they did to the house in the amount of time they lived here, they would be kind enough to leave the basic hardware. No dice. They moved into the house when it was brand-new, and when we got here...well, it wasn't a pretty sight.

In the "dirty" kitchen where we do the laundry and wash the dishes, the roof drips when it rains. When it's raining outside, it's also raining in the kitchen. It appears that when a minor leak sprung, it was never fixed (big surprise) and it got bigger, and now a big honking portion of the ceiling is gone--it came crashing down during a particularly heavy rain. I'm particularly worried about the electrical wiring up there...when it's raining I usually don't switch on the light for fear of blowing a fuse or electrocuting myself.

*sigh* And the window screens are driving me crazy. I grew up with aluminum-framed, steel mesh screens, with little panels you could reach through to close the windows (we had the casement type). I thought that was basically the standard. The screens HERE, however, are wood-framed (frighteningly large frames) with chicken-wire and nasty green plastic mesh with quarter-inch holes. Seeing as I now provide a 24-hour eat-all-you-can buffet for mosquitoes, gnats and other nasty biting things, I really don't understand what they were meant to screen out. Cats? Chickens? The neighbor's pet goat?

There's a lot more. I don't even know where to start. But since we have to start somewhere (besides forever replacing the faucets and swearing at the red ants swarming all over the place), I decided to start in Nikki's room. My mom already sent the money for it. Basically, we'll be repainting the walls and cabinets (which are in a pukey shade of light blue), replacing the window screens and building a loft bed to make more room for her stuff.

Hopefully this weekend we'll start canvassing for the materials for the bed and the screens. I already found building plans for the bed (I'll make a post about it after we build it). All I need now is how-tos for the window screens.

Actually what I'd really like to do is knock the whole thing down and rebuild everything over, with a SANE layout (did I mention we can't get our Ac installed because the only provision for an AC is in a hole in our bedroom wall IN FRONT of the upstairs bathroom? Yes, boys and girls, INSIDE the house).

*sigh* I know they say money can't buy happiness, but it sure would help a lot =P

Posted by chevee at 9:36 AM | May 04, 2006 | 0 comments

Anime: Violence vs. Nudity

I'm an admin at an anime-themed community, and one of the topics raised recently was this: "What anime series will never be shown here in the Philippines because of censorship of violence or nudity?"

What followed was more of a "recommended viewing" list of mostly ecchi (soft-porn in anime-speak) series. However, it did pique my interest, and when someone complained about the local TV networks "heartless" butchering (ie censorship by cutting violent/ecchi scenes), it prompted me to post this reply:

"It's not a matter of heartlessness. It's purely a business and legal precaution. You will remember there was quite a brouhaha over the frequent airing of 'violent' anime by concerned parents. and those were already censored for really violent scenes.

Personally i don't care, because to me, parents should be responsible for monitoring their children's viewing (our daughter watches almost all the same anime we do, even shows like CSI). However, most parents do not have the luxury of doing so, and they complained to the TV stations. Hence the need to butcher the series in order for them to be accepted for public viewing.

Ecchi/hentai anime is different. I think it should really be restricted to being available on video, and sold only to those 18 and above. It has no redeeming social/educational values at all and is purely for viewing pleasure.

Why the bias against hentai, you ask? I know some hentai/porn collectors complain that violence is just as, or even more, deplorable than nudity.

However, i would like to point out that it is easier to explain why the hero just stabbed a bad guy in the eye, than it is to explain why the hero is pronging the heroine with his sword while the heroine's best friend is gobbling on his weenie."

I'm not saying that violence is justified. I am merely pointing out that most ecchi and hentai feature shocking and humiliating debasement of women, in addition to extreme violence against women. I know. I've been there, seen that.

Of course there is nothing "dirty" about nudity and the human body per se, but the acts being portrayed in these flicks are not about love and respect and the beauty of the union between male and female. These movies and series are about the debasement of women, kicking them down "where they belong", beneath the grimy bootheels of smarmily grinning men.

What kind of values will my daughter absorb from this trash? That women are inferior to men and exist only to satisfy men's carnal pleasures, no matter how humiliating or disgusting?

Let the pantyshot fans and rape aficionados buy their guilty pleasures and enjoy them in private. Just keep them away from the general public. We should have the choice of NOT being subjected to sexist, brainless TV.

Then again, with local programming the way it is, I guess it might be too late already.

Posted by chevee at 6:48 PM | April 20, 2006 | 2 comments

Getting the blues...

Forgive the rant, but...I'm so depressed. Why am I depressed? Let me count the ways:

The heat is killing me. Ever since they cut down the banana trees across the street the temperature has risen sharply. Plus, the malunggay tree at the back which used to shade the kitchen window and the upstairs stairwell window has practically been denuded by over-zealous pickers. For the life of me, I can't imagine why anyone would want to break off whole branches of the leaves. (Note to self: Must get started on gardening project right away, if only to avoid dying of heatstroke). Our airconditioner is still back at my in-laws' house (long story why), and anyway, with what Meralco's charging these days, I probably couldn't even use it. Grrrrrrr.

I feel like I am depriving my child. This is not a random feeling. Mostly I get this feeling when She Who Must Not Be Named brings up some item that I consider frivolous yet she considers essential for the upbringing of little girls. Items like meat (which my daughter hates but she keeps trying to make her eat); useless trinkets (usually in hideous shades of red or orange); and now voice lessons. I said there are no voice lessons available here. She said there are lessons available near HER house. Implying that I should let my poor underprivileged child stay with her longer, so as to make up for the privations endured the rest of the year.

I put my foot down and said no. I've decided to give Nikki lessons in Math and English since those were her weak points last school year. Still, it makes me feel so...so...POOR. Gawd. For someone who grew up with a yaya, and only had to deal without a maid when she got married...I never felt poor, really. Just...different, I guess. Gee. There's nothing like a mad tug-of-war for your child to make you realize how some people think money can compensate for everything.

My house is full of stuff that isn't even mine. Oh yeah. I get to spend Holy Week wading through sacks and boxes of musty old books and magazines, toys, clothes that seem to have jumped out shrieking from some '70s granny's baul...*sigh* And it isn't even mine! I know I agreed to take all the stuff I could from my mom's house, but still...wading through someone else's stuff and wondering where my stuff is (when I used to have so much kikay stuff too...). It adds to the depression factor of #2.

People are just evil, sometimes. Got spammed by some b*tch in the w@w egroup, siya pa ang galit, eh breach of ethics naman talaga. G*ga pala siya. Invasion of privacy and breach of trust (not to mention basic ethics itinapon niya out the window), tapos siya pa indignant. Then someone I know was jilted by her fiance, saying he needed space...turns out he was cheating on her. *sigh* I like to believe that people will eventually get what they deserve. Sometimes lang it seems so unfair kasi bad things happen to good people, and all these scumbags seem to be so fortunate (take politicians, for example).

The heat is killing me.

*sigh* I need a drink. A nice cold glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice, maybe.

Sadly, I only have Tang. *sigh* This heat is terrible...

Posted by chevee at 3:52 PM | April 12, 2006 | 6 comments

Meet the Mestiza

Mom. Wife. Writer. Designer. Quirky cook. Neat freak. DIY junkie. House-obssessed. Cockroach-phobic. Fueled by sinangag and longganiza.

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Our Wedding Site

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Recent Posts

I'm back! :)

Am I turning into a Bridezilla?

Desktop goodies!

Recipe #6: Hotdogs & Beans

DIY #3: Recycling old spiral notebooks

Recipe #5: Baked Veggie Frittata

Carebears, G.I. Joe, and why I love them

Next project: House renovation?

Anime: Violence vs. Nudity

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