I Love My Job

I can't even summon my thoughts to write a blog, nor any recent craft projects to share. I have been working on some things around the house, but I feel I am not creative enough to creatively express it in words... or maybe I am just too lazy to speak (I mean write).

My job has taken most of my time and energy since there was no other available to alternate the schedule with.

My restaurant work is not a glamorous job. I would come home covered in vegetable juices or blood from the prepping prime rib. One thing I learned, though one can love cooking or working in the kitchen, but it doesn't mean working in a restaurant will be a bliss. Cooking can be an enjoyable hobby, where you can take all the time you want in making one dish, on the other hand, restaurant work is a business where you have cook/prep as much as you could as quick as you could.You are paid in hours. I would come home drained and sore all over, but then, I had to do continue doing it as I work in my own kitchen to cook dinner with my work shoes on. Main reason why I don't blog much anymore, because I feel like I rather use my remaining energy to watch "Who's Line is it Anyway" and relax

Yes. It is not a glamorous job. I don't wear high heels nor wear a lipstick, or have time to curl my hair, but I like it. It is the closest I could get to what I did or should I say back I was in college. Although working in the kitchen has nothing to do with film making, it is a fast paced environment, I wear sneakers at work, a lot of running, lots of lifting and the job requires a little bit of creativity and developing of skills. Oh yeah! Not to mention I didn't have to deal with demanding customers. I am happy working at the back of the house.

It is a tough job. Sometimes I wanted to cry when my back really hurt (except when I'm cutting onions), but then I remember how I love my job and I do my best to be great in it. It is my delight to bring good quality clean food like I would give to my own family even if it takes me to wash my hand every 20 minutes for 20 secs under the hottest running water I could handle. 

 This is not my dream job. I know I mentioned I wanted to write fantasy/fiction novels and I still do, but I cannot finish a novel in one sitting. I have got to have a day job that can pay our bills, food and buy my way back to see my family in Manila. I feel it is not the right time yet. God is still preparing me for the best, but for  now, I want to do great and work my way up for a more challenging position.

At the end of the day when I have all sorts cuts on my hand and different sorts of body ache I could imagine, I still am thankful to God for that I have a job. A job I like, then I would remember everything I have gone through from leaving my life behind to start all over again. I remembered wondering how long till I get acclimated to life here in U.S. My husband thought me so well to learn how to be more independent. Tough lessons, tough teaching but lots of love into it. It was all worth it and totally necessary. He must love me so. But I know all of this is because God left me with a promise that he would take care of everything for me.

My Ombre Saga

Every once in a while we get tired of our hair. One day, I decided I want a little change. I was tired of old boring black hair. It has been more than 13 years since I had my last hair colored. I went to the internet for some information. I came across this. They call it "ombre"

I looked for the definition of ombre, making sure I knew what it meant. The online dictionary says,  

ombre is a French word referring in having colors or two tones that shade into each other. I was excited with the idea. I called the salon and inquired for price. The conversation ended with I had to go to the salon to check out the length of my hair.

I walked in to the salon and chatted with a stylist, showed her this picture. It seemed like she knew what she was saying so, compulsively, I said, "Let's do it!"

 I was a little bit apprehensive that something was wrong. After she was done with my hair, It looked like this...

She could tell I wasn't happy with the result, which I was. It did not look anything like in the picture. I am not a professional stylist but I could tell, there was no need to foil my hair. Now my dark black hair has streaks of blondish which made me look dirty. I was not aiming for Christina Aguilera 'dirrrty' look. I told my stylist it did not look close in the picture. It is not ombre! But she insisted it was. I was starting to get frustrated, but as a nice lady I was, I said it looks nice and I wanted to get out of there as quick as I could before I cry.

I posted my laments on my facebook. A friend who happened to be a friend who works in the same salon recognized me and overheard my conversation with my stylist. She saw the look on my face that I wasn't happy about it. Thank goodness she had me schedule an appointment to fix my hair for free!

I was soo happy after she was done with my hair. This is what I wanted in the first place!

And I was right. There was no need for foiling my hair and it supposed to cost less!

I would never want to trust my hair to a stranger again! I learned to stick to a recommended stylist! Her name is Kristen of Style America located along W Ina Rd Tucson AZ. She is awesome!

Giveaway Winner

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing great. I know it's been a few days since my last post. I guess I am not in that place yet where I could work full time and blog in a regular basis, although I will keep on trying. It has been a busy week at work. I am covering for a co-worker's schedule because she just got an arm surgery. 

Okay, we were not goofing around during work. This was taken after my successful training at work.

Working in the restaurant is tough. It requires a lot of physical work, that is why I like to take as much rest I could to recover for the next day of work. Sadly, I had not time for crafts, but it is something I like doing, so I will try to work it out. 

I apologize for the late announcement, but here is the lucky winner of my earrings giveaway!

Congratulations to Entry #18 K. Glinter of Domestic Diva! Enjoy your beautiful new earrings.

Thank you all so much for those who entered the giveaway! There's more to come, so watch for it :) Have a lovely week ahead :)

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Unnamed Dish

I am not really good at giving titles and names (good luck to my future kids). If you would say I should just name the ingredients and how I made it, the name of this dish will only end up a long descriptive procedure with bad grammar.

I came up with this dish when I was getting rid of what was left of the veggies in the fridge to room for new groceries for the week. The vegetables are a day or two away from being thrown in the trash. I didn't want to do it so I tried to be a little bit creative and see what I could do with it.

As someone who cooks like a man like me, of course, I didn't measure everything so I can't share the recipe, but what I could share is what I did.

So, I sliced the baguettes (preferably in thin slices). I cut the cherry tomatoes in halves and cooked it in Sherry in a saucepan. I added diced red onions, and a splash of V8 tomato juice and a dash of sugar. In a pan, I melted the butter and sauteed the asparagus and garlic. I liked my garlic to be a little brown-ish.

I brushed the sliced baguette with olive oil and sprinkled some garlic powder. Top with the cooked cherry tomatoes mixture. Next, the as garlic asparagus and top with blue cheese! Et Voila! 

Do you have any creative ideas for naming this dish?

 There's still two hours left for a chance to join my giveaway! Hope you are not too late!

Linking to:

Riverton Housewives Round Up

Blog Stalking Thursday

Transformation Thursday

Time Travel Thursday
Pinteresting Week
Overflowing with creativity
Simple Creations Link Party

Four Step Lemon-Onion Chicken

I just tried this recipe for dinner. It was really good that I have to blog about it.

This is Melissa D'Arabian's recipe from Food Network magazine. It was the  first dish she ever cooked for her husband.

The recipe calls for white wine, but I substituted Sherry cooking wine.

The flavors are well balanced and my favorite part of the dish was the citrus glazed onions! I would definitely recommend this. A must try one!

A quick reminder. My butterfly earrings giveaway is still on going. Click this link how to win!

Enjoy!

Linking to:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Take A Look Tuesday
You're Gonna Love It Tuesday
What I learned Wednesday
Show and Share
Blog Stalking Thursday
Time Travel Thursday

Fantasy Mirror and Giveaway

I call it "Fantasy mirror". When I saw this mirror, I couldn't help myself but become that little girl who imagined a princess with a magic mirror with magical gem stones.

Okay, so, I didn't get it from a fairy godmother and this doesn't have magic. I saw this when a friend took me to a Gem show here in Tucson. How convenient I happen to live near the site where Tucson Gem show was held. 

The Tucson Gem and Mineral show is an annual trade shows which takes place late January and February. People from all different places especially jewelers and  those who are in jewelry business would come here and meet wholesale dealers. Most of the trade shows are not open for the public. Certain shows require registration, fee and business license.

It was a great experience. Although, I came in the last day and I didn't have much time to take pictures of the event itself! My time wasn't enough to check out all the booths! 

 I got these dreamy antique looking mirror and comb with rhinestones. I had a hard time choosing one, so I got all three instead.

And this elegant pink necklace too which are now all available in my Etsy store.

You Were In My Mind

Although, I did not got this one at the gem show, I was walking at the mall and saw a new accessories boutique. I went in and got myself a pair of earrings. As I was about to check out,  this caught my eye and thought about you!

As a thank you for your continue support, enjoy this beautiful blue butterfly necklace giveaway.
Here's how to win. Goodluck! 

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Market Your Biz and Giveaway
Pink Saturday 
Share It Saturday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Take A Look Tuesday
You're Gonna Love It Tuesday
What I learned Wednesday
Show and Share

I Owe You World an Explanation

Hello World!

I'll start this post with my title. I owe you an explanation. Sorry there hasn't been much celebration here lately. I was caught up with such rapid changes for the past months. There are so many things I wanted to share. I didn't know where and how to start. It was overwhelming.

As maybe some of you may knew that accepted a career path in sales for a short period of time. It was a very different experience since I have never been in retail job. I gave my best to give my customers the attention they deserved (even the rude ones). I loved the idea I was a part of the decision making and getting what they wanted. I also tried to always keep my goals and respected my co-workers though sometimes it could  get rough.

I loved my supervisors and managers. They stood by me in every step of the way and made sure that my traning needs were met. As a result, I was asked if I could stay as regular employee. I was elated given the opportunity to say, but sadly, I couldn't continue due to issue of distance.

God is good. I got another job even before my seasonal job ended. It was 3 miles away from home. I thought it was perfect, aside from the fact I loved working in the kitchen. I applied and was hired at the same day.

My days has become busier with all the training. Food service work is tough. It requires physical work of lifting, standing and chopping my entire shift. We had to wash our hands every 30 minutes (or before and after prepping another item), under warmest water we cold handle just to bring you clean food

At the moment when my arms and legs were tired and weary, fingers were prune-y and I couldn't wait to go home and just lay down, but somehow for some reason, I couldn't wait to do better next day, not till I just get my rest. It is not a glamorous work. I would come home with chocolate smudge or tomato stain on my coat, but I don't mind.
Though contented with a new job, I still haven't figured how to balance my time yet. I miss blogging. I miss crafting. I missed refurbishing. I miss thrifting. I miss reading blogs. I miss you and your outstanding creativeness!
After all these changes,  you are always on my mind. I am very excited to share a little something something for you :)
Watch out for it!
Till next time