my childhood playmates

I find this photo so adorable. I can so relate. I grew up with just my brother as my playmate. My grandmother (see previous posts about her here) didn't allow us to go outside & play with our kid-neighbors so we ended up pretending our stuffed toys were our playmates. My brother and I had 3 teddybears: a brown one named Wicket (yes, we are part of the Ewok generation), a chubby gray one named Wally with a tail that rattled, and a pink bear named Winnie. We would pretend we had a magic pill that allowed them to talk and join us on all our pretend adventures in our room. This is probably why I love Disney Junior's Doc McStuffins so much. I love the idea of having a magic stethoscope that makes her toys come alive and talk to her.

Wicket, Wally and Winnie (same starting letter! so Pinoy!) have become the heads of our pretend horses (see related post here), bears in an imaginary jungle adventure and even the audience of a few concerts.

Though these teddybears were not real, to me, they were real playmates in a childhood filled with fun, imaginary adventures and happy memories.

Photos from annnniegirl and ikea.

Click here for previous nostalgic posts. Oh, and speaking of grandmothers, Happy Grandparents' Day to my mom and Lola!

the BER months have arrived!

Can you believe it's September already? For the benefit of my non-Filipino readers: Christmas starts early in the Philippines. It has become a tradition for radio stations to play a Christmas carol or two on September 1.

As if programmed by Pinoy radio stations, then 4-year-old Noah decided to be Santa Claus 3 Septembers ago. He wore an Elmo shirt inside-out & his black Batman pajama pants and convinced (actually, more like demanded) Isabella to make him a moustache & suspenders out of paper (yes, Isabella started the super paper powers in our family. I called it paper magic.).

Then we made one of our wicker ottomans (see related posts here and here) Santa's sleigh and Caramel, our rocking horse, a reindeer. Isabella eventually got into the whole Christmas in September bit because putting those antlers on Caramel was completely her idea!

I eventually coaxed her into wearing a Mrs. Claus costume I wore the previous Christmas at an office party. But not without a binder clip at the back for a shapelier Mrs. Claus.

I never really found out what came over Noah that day in September 2009. But he sure had Christmas on his mind that day. Later that afternoon, he even asked me for a pair of scissors. Twas a good thing I didn't just hand him one because it turned out, he wanted to use it to cut a tree outside and put balls on it!

Can you believe the BER months have arrived?

Photos are all my own.  

HeeHaw-somest Mother's Day!

I spoke - er, posted - too soon. We broke tradition this year and it was soooo worth it! I had the HeeHaw-somest Mother's Day ever!

Maybe you already know from here how much I love horses and how terribly I miss riding. Well, my day started with an excited Noah brightly greeting me with several handmade gifts - my favorite of which was this bookmark of a purple pony. His cousin has the actual Littlest Pet Shop toy horse and I constantly beg her to let me have it, but she refuses every single time. So my sweet Noah drew me my own LPS pony!

Then, coincidentally, Isabella gave me her most coveted LPS pony (the one I pined for when she was younger, but she was never willing to give it up). She said the horse was supposed to watch over me when she's not around (Awww!). So I put the tiny horse on the charging tray on my bedside table.

Then, the hubby changed the Cafe 1771 plan to... a trip to El Kabayo Riding Stables in Clark, Pampanga! I was greeted by a delightfully unexpected sight! The facility is a replica of an old western town straight out of an American cowboy movie. The facade recreated an old-west saloon, a trading post, a telegraph office, a run-down hotel, a federal bank and even a courthouse, the sheriff's office and a county jail!

Then I finally got to ride. Happiness! First, we took the trail. We went through a kalamansi grove in the sweltering heat. Then Isabella and I still wanted to ride so we went around the riding ring.

Before leaving El Kabayo, we explored the Old West Town more closely. Here's a prisoner from the County Jail that escaped because the Sheriff was sleeping on the rocking chair... Hehe.

Then as I took more close-up photos, I realized that the Old West Town replica was actually the facade of the stables. So through the "shop windows" you could actually spy horses! And if you remember from here, just seeing a thoroughbred's back calms me. So I was delighted beyond belief when I looked through each shop window and saw such huge beautiful horses! Their backs were usually facing the shop window so one of the El Kabayo staff handed us grass to feed the horse.

Truly, this was the HeeHaw-somest Mother's Day ever!

Photos are my own and from annnniegirl and here - all edited with pixlr.

Color Obsession: seafoam green

I am loving the seafoam green in this year's Spring collections. Particularly these Zara pieces...

And even these from Tibi...

I wouldn't have thought of pairing this pastel green with black, but this Dior looks fabulous with the black belt - on the runway and on Michelle Williams! Gives the soft pastel an edge...

The truth is, I was first attracted to seafoam green when I saw Celine's window display with this (they call it almond) green box bag.

I usually love a pop of color so typically, I'd be attracted to the orange (they call it poppy) & pink (called hibiscus) ones. But for some reason, the pastel green Celine box bag just drew me in. Loooove!

And then I started seeing this green everywhere. On shoes...

On macarons...

Even on carousel horses' hair...

And bikes!

Ooohh, I just love, love, love the colors of Spring!

Photos from garancedore, here, here, here, here, Celine and annnniegirl. 

Click here for previous posts from the Color Obsession series.

Today, I am loving...

I have always been attracted to barnyard or horse-stall doors. Probably because of my love for horses (see related post here). I guess that's why this photo of a split-door has been bookmarked in my "pretty-folder" for a while now. I think it would make an interesting backdoor. I imagine it can work just as well as the open-pane door here as a kid's puppet theater or lemonade stand.

I've also bookmarked (& posted here) this actual barnyard door that's used as a bathroom door.

But I never imagined you could repurpose an old horse-stall door like this.

Today, I am loving... these repurposed horse-stall doors.

I love the character & charm that these old horse-stall doors bring to the room. The details are just gorgeous!

And I love the idea of partly concealing a bar or groceries. I also think that putting them on sliding rails - rather than a regular door with hinges - adds to the allure. And of course, the pretty backsplash of that bar is to-die-for! 

Today, I am enamored... by these repurposed horse-stall doors!

Photos from annnniegirl, i'mjustsaying, heritage and designsponge.

Click here for previous posts from the Today, I am loving... series.

my favorite things

We recently watched the Sound of Music at the Newport Performing Arts Theater. And while My Favorite Things was sung in the abbey rather than Maria's bedroom (as in the movie), I got to thinking about my own favorite things -- the random, everyday things that never fail to put a smile on my face.

1 I loooove post-its - tiny ones, big lined ones and those with pretty patterns. 2 All Crayola products. Seriously. I'd love to have a wall of all their crayons. They've retired some colors and changed the names of some over the years and I'd love to have every crayon that was ever produced. 3 There's something about cable knit sweaters that I am attracted to. Everytime I go shopping out of the country, I am drawn to them and I always have to tell myself, "No wools this time. No wools." or I'll end up with sweaters I can never use in Manila. 4 Royal Milk Tea with small and big bubbles from Bubble Tea is my absolute favorite. 5 Polka-dot lining in wallets, bags and boxes are always a pleasant surprise! 6 I love horses. Just seeing thoroughbreds calms me. I grew up making pretend-horses out of side-tables, my teddy bear (for the head) and my mom's belts as reins. So I love seeing rocking horses nowadays. 7 Growing up, I had my brother as a playmate so dolls were never a play option. The toy we both loved was Lego. We created so many things out of our Lego bricks! I remember making dogs with a flat hole for a mouth that could fit those tiny smooth flat pieces which we pretended were doggie treats. 8 And of course, pretty scrapbook paper, notebooks and gift wrappers. I love that there are so many delightful prints and patterns out there.

When the dog bites

When the bee stings

When I'm feeling sad

I simply remember my favorite things

And then I don't feel... so bad.

What about you? What are your favorite things?

Photos from here, here, here, here, here, here, blondiensc and acupofjo. Layout by moi.