Today F.B. & I went to Market Market so I could check out the Converse store there. I liked a pair of sneakers at the Converse store near his house but they didn’t have my size so we went to the other Converse store at Market Market in Bonifacio Global City. I got pink and black Converse sneakers for P2600… about $54 USD. Pretty much what I’d pay in the U.S. They match my tattoo! Think I will change the laces to black when I get home though!






























Saw this place at Market Market… the name just seems unusual to me… haha! (Get a high and your munchies fix at the same time? Hmm...)











F.B. and I went to church later that evening and afterwards headed to the new SM Marikina mall to have dinner at Gerry’s Grill, one of our favorite places. I thought the spaghetti meals on the menu were interesting. Spring rolls and spaghetti? Barbecue pork and spaghetti? I see spaghetti on a lot of menus here. You can go to KFC, Wendy’s, Burger King and get spaghetti. Heehee! You can’t do that in the U.S. so much. I guess Americans don’t like spaghetti quite as much.















After dinner we went to Starbucks; (we’re addicted!) I usually get my white chocolate mocha, (hot, iced or frapp.) and F.B. likes to get caramel mocha frappucinos. I did a lot of shopping today. Besides the Converse sneakers, I got a cute Victoria’s Secret t-shirt at a surplus store in SM Marikina and I got a Pepsi t-shirt at Market Market.

Ooooh I almost forgot! I LOVE the supermarket at Market Market! I think I ranted before about not being able to find pretzels in the Philippines and only seeing Rold Gold pretzels… well I found my most favorite pretzels at Market Market! Whoo Hoo! Snyder’s peanut butter & cheese sandwich pretzels! Got one of each! Yay! We also got some other snack foods… looks like we’re having a party, huh? F.B. loves his ruffles and we like these new chips called Tempura. Yummy! Tastes like shrimp tempura. And I got regular peanut butter because I want F.B. to try bananas with peanut butter. Heehee.













We always drive past this goat place when we are around F.B.’s neighborhood. I have a thing for goats… I like them. I’d like to buy one live though… not as meat. I tasted goat before though here in the Philippines. It tastes like beef. Poor Goat…




























Here are some pictures of us with Miss Daga. (“Rat” in Tagalog.) F.B. gave her to me the night I arrived.











































I injured F.B. the other night. I was having one of my weird nightmares where I’m half asleep and half awake. I remember dreaming I didn’t know where I was and F.B. said I was saying, “Where am I?” I accidentally elbowed him really hard above his right eyebrow during my “nightmare”. He has the bruise to prove it… oops… sorry…. I’m dangerous when I’m sleeping.

Today it's been 6 months since F.B. & I were married. Wow... half a year already. We only got to spend 1 month after the wedding together though... hurry up immigration!

My regular black & white Converse were getting ratty. The rubber was cracking. So I needed a new pair. I've wanted to try the slip on kind. For $12 more you can customize a pair of converse on their website! So check out my custom Converse sneakers! I got 'Love8279' embroidered on them. (I was born in '82. F.B. was born in '79.) I love them!

Tonight I went with my cousin Jessica to The Inkwell Tattoo to get my rat tattoo! It only took a half hour to have it done. And it didn't hurt very much at all. Jess and I pretty much talked the whole time when I was having it done. I did have to stop talking when he was shading it in a few times, it hurt a little then. But really you would think getting a tattoo would hurt much worse and they don't at all! Just feels like little scratches.

Here is my new tattoo. I just LOVE the little toes! My tattoo artist retraced the clip art design for me to make it clearer. It looks so good in person. Now I just have to wait for it to heal and peel... lol. The design always looks 10x's better after it peels. Very happy with how it turned out! (The picture makes it look bigger than it actually is though. It's smaller in person!)

I had to take Sugar to the vet again last Saturday. She's been on her antibiotics and the metacam for nearly 2 weeks now. Her eye infection is completely gone but she started to develop a scab on her swollen paw. Which made me start thinking she's had an abscess this whole time instead of a sprain. So the vet saw her and confirmed what I thought, that it was an abscess. He was able to drain it for her and told me to keep it clean with peroxide twice a day. She's also to stay on the SMZ-TMP antibiotic for 2 more weeks. Another week into the antibiotic and her paw is starting to look like a hand again after almost 2 months! Though, I've noticed two more abscesses appearing. So it seems this whole time Sugar did not have a sprained paw, she had a really bad infection that was spreading due to the abscesses. Blech. Poor girl, at least we know what it is now. And the vet was so happy to see her eye looking better and to figure out that the lumps were not suspected tumors after all!

I mailed F.B.'s late valentines/anniversary package last week. Only thing is... I forgot to include the mix c.d. I made him... it was still in my car's c.d. player after testing it to make sure it was okay! Arrgh! I feel so bad about that. It's so expensive to send express packages to the Philippines. (I don't send it any other way except express because then we can track the package's progress.) He said it arrived on Friday in the Philippines when he checked the tracking number, so he should have his package sometime next week. I also included ring guards for his sister Lady. (She got engaged last month!) and a pretty thank you gift necklace for his mom. Besides some stuff for him. Our 5th Anniversary is coming up next month so I guess I'll send another card and include his mix c.d. in that!

I've started looking for plane tickets back to the Philippines. I am thinking of leaving either the week before or the week after Thanksgiving this year. So far I haven't found a good deal yet or a good flight so I'll keep looking.

My old black & white converse sneakers fell apart. I only had them a little over a year. For some reason the one shoe had a defect and my little black stripe kept trying to fall off. I kept super gluing it down, but one day when I got home I discovered it had torn off in a much larger piece somewhere and I couldn't fix it. So sad... has that ever happened to anyone else that owned Converse sneakers?

Discover card kept sending me emails and letters about using my credit card. "Why haven't you used your card?" "If you don't use it, you can cancel it." So I finally just went ahead and put a new pair of Converse sneakers on my Discover card from Zappos.com. I looked on Ebay first for a good deal but they were all going for over $40, so I just ordered them for $45 on Zappos.com brand new plus free shipping! I just got the same color to replace my old ones.

I try to make sure I use a credit card a month, even for a small purchase so the banks know I'm using my cards. I've been a little behind with that though lately trying to get my big balance from last years trip paid off by spring... I guess Discover card felt forgotten, lol.

I recently ordered and received 'The First Queen of England: The Myth of "Bloody Mary"' By, Linda Porter. I don't really have any historical biographies about Mary Tudor, except for The Children of Henry VIII By, Alison Weir, but that is also about Elizabeth I, Edward VI & the Lady Jane Grey. So far the book is interesting, though I think I still prefer the way Alison Weir writes.

I've also modified my workout routine to 3 days of the week to 20 minutes of running/walking. I have to lose 10 pounds by November and for my wedding in December. I would like to be back at 130 and I am 140 right now. My cousin is getting married in November and I am supposed to be one of her bridesmaids and whatever dress I buy or get made I am most likely going to wear for my own wedding in December. She wants dark purple and she said we could all pick a style that suits us, so that makes me happy.

I've been doing most of my Christmas shopping online on Amazon.com, Ebay, Bath & Bodyworks, Old Navy, Cafe Press. There's only very few gifts I need to get from the actual store. (Mostly food/candy items to go along with gifts).

I was teasing F.B. the other day that I was going to get him this fabulous sweater from Old Navy for Christmas. I was saying when he finally arrives in the USA then I could easily spot him at the airport, hahaha! He did not agree. :-p
(Sadly I can't even link you to that awesome sweater because people actually bought it!)

I did tell him I was going to get him 2 warm clothes items for Christmas for when he really does arrive. (No new immigration updates, I emailed our lawyer but haven't heard back- he may be away on holiday.) F.B. already knows he is getting these items so I thought I would share.

Men's Logo Thermal Tees

Men's Bonded Performance Fleece Hoodies

 (Navy isn't available in regular sizes anymore- I think I got the last one. :-p )

And I got myself two items as well- (Hey! had to get free shipping!) Do you guys know that if you sign up for Old Navy emails on their front page under 'Sign up & Save' they will send you a coupon code for $10 off that you can use online or print out & take to the store? I didn't, I found it by looking for promo codes online. So I ended up getting free shipping & $10 off!

My items:

Women's Logo Zip Hoodies

(They didn't have the cute dark gray with purple logo one anymore that I originally wanted.)

Women's Performance Fleece Scarves

I'm going to be a darn train commuter starting Tuesday! Ugh! So I figured I might need a scarf to go along with my gloves & hat and winter jacket. Since the weather is supposed to be below freezing next week!

And two very unnecessary items for myself:

Silver Canvas Sequin Tennis Sneakers

I really wanted the neato sequin Converse sneakers they had out a few months ago. But it happened to be just at the time I ordered my $62.00 custom Converse, so I didn't get the black or pink sequin sneakers. Now you can't find them online. Or if you do people are selling them for $80+ on Ebay, etc. *Sad Face*. So I did a little searching and came across these cute $9.99 no name brand silver sequin sneakers that look like Converse. They will be cute for the holidays!

My other cute unnecessary item! It's a mouse/rat ring that wraps around your finger. It's too cute!

Mouse/Rat Wrap Ring

I got this on Ebay as well from a seller in Hong Kong. I've had no problem ordering items less than $8 on Ebay from Hong Kong, I've always gotten them. (And usually free shipping!) It does sometimes take a month for shipping though. I got 2 cute Opal or "Opal" (Not really sure.) rings on Ebay shipped from Hong Kong during the summer. Now the seller I bought this ring from doesn't have anymore available but you can do some sleuthing here- I see other sellers selling the same sort of ring in silver or bronze.

Hoping Old Navy ships fast because I've got to get F.B.'s Christmas/Anniversary gifts in the mail by December 20th at least. He still might not get them right on time even with express mail to the Philippines but at least they will be on their way. 

As for health updates, the steroids are definitely starting to relieve my back. It is not as painful and debilitating as it was before. But... now I have an awful pain from my butt down to above my right knee. I'm thinking it's the sciatica nerve. Not sure if this is due to the fall I took the other night (even though I was told I landed on my left side.) or from the doctor messing with my legs this past Monday to check & make sure it WASN'T the sciatica nerve. Or just because my back hurt so darn bad I didn't feel my leg hurting. Anyhow now that it hurting worse than my back. :( Hopefully I won't need an Xray or MRI though and I still have quite a few doses of steroids to take (ends Wed.) And a doctor appointment on Monday at 2pm. Maybe he can just presribe a pain reliever that doesn't make me pass out!

I've just been resting in bed only getting up for meals or snacks before I take my pills (about 3 times a day). and also bathroom or shower. I've mostly been on the laptop, reading or painting my nails, lol. I've got a new obsession with nail polish blogs! (You can see some listed under Food & Fun blogs on my right side bar).

I have to go back to work on Tuesday (I'll have drained my paid leave, blah). We'll be downtown. I spoke to my manager today and she said it was a good thing I wasn't at work with my back because it's chaos with the move happening. Their last day at our NE Philadelphia campus is Friday. I had to have my coworkers pack up my work supplies for me.

Upcoming Events: 

December 18th: seeing the Nutcracker with my cousin Jessica!

December 19th: 1 year wedding anniversary with F.B.! ♥♥♥

Purple is my favorite color! (Along with Pink, Aqua & Black.)

My glasses are purplish:

My customized Converse have purple in them:


I have a lot of purple clothing:


Purple Jewelry, almost all of it came from the Philippines.


I wore purple on my wedding day. (F.B.'s barong was light purple.)


I had a silky soft purple pashmina in case it got chilly in the evening on our wedding day:


My wonderful in-laws & sister in law who put our wedding together included purple in our wedding decor- even our wedding invitations had purple on them.

December, F.B. & I will be getting married. We've been together 5 years now and have been engaged for 2 years. We never wanted a big wedding. We never really wanted a wedding party at all. That's just us, haha. We aren't big party people and we just like to spend time with close friends or family. We always decided if we got married it would be small and we would just have a dinner afterwards with a few friends & family.

Since we are getting married this December alot of people like to ask me, "How are your wedding plans going?", "Did you get a dress yet?", "Where are you going for your honeymoon?", "What day are you getting married?"

My favorite question is the last. Because... we have no idea what day we will be getting married! I asked F.B. recently, "Isn't it weird not knowing what day we will be married?" He said, "Not really, maybe a little." People always give me a look when I answer that I don't know what day I'm getting married and then I have to explain.

Why? Because after I arrive in the Philippines at the end of November F.B. & I will be going to the United States Embassy where I will have to get a Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage. After we have gotten that paper we will file for our marriage license. There's a 10 day waiting period and we will have to attend pre-marital classes. Then either during or after our 10 day waiting period we will make an appointment with a judge in Cainta, Rizal Philippines to be married. We are planning on getting married in December. Since it's around the holidays it would be nice if it will be before Christmas, but it depends on how fast we get our paperwork & marriage licence.

I'm actually planning on having a blog contest before I leave for the Philippines this year. I want to ask you all to guess what day you think F.B. & I will be married and I'm planning on awarding the winner a souvenir from the Philippines! But that won't be until November. *wink*

I get asked alot about how my wedding plans are going. This is the other question that bothers me. Or my answer seems to bother other people? Like I said before, F.B. & I never wanted a wedding party. That is the main reason we are having a civil ceremony. We just want a few relatives with us when we get married. We would like to have a dinner with family & friends afterwards but I know F.B.'s family might be planning us a "reception" anyhow. They were thinking about it. F.B. has alot of relatives and they always have reunions and dinners together so if his parents want to plan a "reception" for us we don't really mind. I know all of his relatives would like to greet us after we're married.

Another question that annoys me, "Have you gotten your wedding gown yet?" No. I'm not planning on wearing a wedding gown. I'm not a dressy girl. I can tell you right now, I only own 1 skirt in my entire closet that I wore to my cousins wedding 2 years ago! I'm a t-shirt & jeans girl, a converse sneakers girl. I'm very casual. I don't really do dresses or skirts. I don't feel comfortable in them.

But, I do plan on wearing a skirt & dressy top for my wedding. And yes, it's that skirt that's in my closet... but I love that skirt. It's a pretty flowy black skirt just below the knee. It's the only skirt I've actually felt sexy in and fits perfectly. I plan on wearing it with a lacy tank top with an empire waist from... American Eagle. Yes. Haha. They always have gorgeous lace tank tops with empire waist's that makes it look very pretty & dressy. I haven't figured out what color I want yet though.

I have very pretty dressy silver sandals to wear with my outfit:


And I'm going to be wearing a white pearl drop necklace on a silver chain. And white pearl drop earrings I bought in the Philippines, along with a white pearl bracelet.



And of course we already have our wedding rings! Mine & His!

As for the last question, where are we going for our honeymoon? That's another thing that's still up in the air. It's hard to plan a honeymoon when you don't even know what day you're getting married! We haven't really decided where we want to go for a honeymoon. We'd be content with staying in Makati City for the week going to all our favorite places and maybe planning on a day trip or weekend trip to the beach. We will figure everything out when we have an idea of what day we will be married.

After we get married I will be coming home to the USA in late January 2010 so we can being the immigration process with our lawyer. F.B. will be staying in the Philippines while we go through our process. It will take 16-18 months before he will be able to come to the USA as a permanent resident but we are okay with that. It gives us time to get more settled and save more money for when we will be together. When F.B. does come to the USA we will be having a renewal wedding ceremony. This way both of our families will get a "wedding". And that way all of my family & relatives can meet F.B.

NOTE: Our lawyers Peter J. Gonzales & Shanna Stanton have changed firms. They are no longer with Kahiga Tiagha. They are now with Green and Spiegel LLC, but still located in Philadelphia.

Just some things I wanted to explain and get out of my system because I get asked so many questions all the time about our wedding. We have an idea of how we want things to be and a big wedding was never important to us. What's important to us is getting to be together on that day and getting married and working towards being together forever. After all, we've been doing this long distance thing for 5 years now! I can't wait until December!

NOTE: If you are getting married in the Philippines and you are a US citizen these requirements from the US Embassy in Manila Philippines, will be helpful: Getting Married in The Philippines.

I am T-shirt, Hoodie, Jeans and Converse kind of girl. So for winter clothing I was happy when Old Navy was having $16 deals during their 16th Anniversary!

I was able to get a really nice quilted jacket for $16 that retailed for $49! (They are now $25.)

Women's Frost Free Jackets


















I also got a fuchsia velour hoodie. I got 3 of these a few years back in black, grey and brown and I really love them. They are so soft! And you can't beat $16!

Women's Velour Zip Hoodies


















Third was this fleece teal argyle hoodie. I really love it! This is also still $16!

Women's Fleece Zip Hoodies


















I'm not sure how long Old Navy's sale will last, but there are a ton of items to choose from that are all only $16! If I had more money I would have gotten some other stuff!

Unrelated from Old Navy. I also was able to get the best cami's ever for $4.99 each (Originally 12.99) from Kohl's. I wear these under all my t-shirts and even hoodies. It has a built in bra which gives great support. It's always hard to find the white one in stock because so many people buy it. I also got a purple one and I own black ones. Great Cami! Love it!

SO Satin-Trim Camisole

Missguided Mommy started this game and I wanted to play along. It's called, "What's in my bag"

Here's my bag: It's a Converse One Star tote bag I got at Target and it is HUGE. I also have one in black. This is actually the 2nd silver bag I've gone through. On the outside of my bag I have 2 keychains from the Philippines. One is the Philippine flag & the other is the bible verse 1 Corinthians 13:4 'Love is patient, Love is kind."



















Now inside... is my life... I'm not even kidding! Bet you didn't think anyone could have so much stuff in their purse! Now I'm embarrassed, haha!

(Click on photos to enlarge.)



















What are we even looking at here? I try to keep things organized by putting some of my stuff into smaller bags, instead of everything inside my purse. There are 3. One is a silver makeup bag from Watson's drugstore in the Philippines. Another is green & white Clinique bag and the other a small grey mesh bag. I will go over what is inside them later.

To the left: Pens, Makeup, My checkbook & calculator. To the right is my 80GB Video Ipod, Monkey Gloves, Hairbrush, Eyeglass cleaning cloth, my keyring with all of my keys, keychains & tags for stores. Down at the bottom is my real Louis Vuitton wallet (I got on ebay ages ago.) to the left of my wallet is Philippine & Hong Kong money... I don't know why I carry these in my wallet all the time along with my american money... but I do. Hehe. Such a mess. Let's look at what things look like when it's more organized in my bag.

Here's what is inside my makeup bag:
















1 Eyeshadow Applicator
1 Makeup Brush
2 Makeup Sponges
1 Comb
1 Clean & Clear Oil Aborbing Sheets
1 Eyeliner (Avon Glimmersticks: blackest black)
1 Maybelline Concealer (Ivory)
6 Lip Balms (Carmex, Watson's Mint, Watson's Lemon, Watson's Tinted, Burts Bees, Dr. Pepper Bonne Belle.)I confess... I am addicted to lip balms!
1 Lip Gloss: (Victoria's Secret Aphrodisiac)
2 MAC eyeshadows (Naked & Jardin Aires)
2 MAC powders (Medium & Light Blot Powder)

Here is my bigger organizer bag it's from Clinique. Inside is:















My hairbrush, Vaseline Lotion (Cool & Fresh), Bath & Bodyworks antibacterial hand gel (Honeysuckle). 1 1/2 Mentos Mints (addicted!), Orbit Gum from the Philippines. A Cherry Push Pop because I was feeling nostalgic one day. A little purple notebook I got in the Philippines, my checkbook & calculator, tampons & tissues. This great styling stick from Bench that I also got in the Philippines. Its keeps flyaway hair down.

My little gray mesh organizer I've had for years. On the outside is a key chain that says 'F.B. & SLC' that F.B. had made up. The other side has our picture. Inside is:















3 pens. (Bic Atlantis, Black, Blue. 1 Silver Parker pen from F.B. with my name 'Sarah' engraved on it.)
1 Tupperware pill case, (ibuprofen & aspirin inside.)
2 Kopiko Coffee Milk Candies. (From the Philippines! Love them!)
1 Blue 256mb Flashdrive (gift from F.B.)
1 Revlon nail file.
1 Purple Rosary. Gift from a co-worker years ago. (I'm not Catholic, I'm Christian, but I keep in it my purse like some people keep rosaries or angels over their rear view mirror. I feel it keeps me safe.)
2 Safety pins.
1 backup Blackberry battery for my cell phone.
1 Clear Eyes eyedrops.

With everything in my purse it's pretty heavy! I had the idea to weigh it and see how heavy it was on my postal scale. Since Misguided Mommy is doing a giveaway with her post, I am also going to do my first giveaway here on my blog!

If you would like to enter the giveaway all you have to do it post a comment and tell me how much you think my purse weighs. Whoever gets it correct or guesses closest wins! I will pick a winner next Sunday night. (If there is a tie. I will do a random drawing to see who wins.)

I have 2 prize sets & the winner will get their choice of 1. (I thought this idea would make it different since some of you might like a good book over makeup & vice versa.)

1st Set is a Makeup Set. With 4 brand new items.

1 Clinique Mild Facial Soap
1 Clinique lipstick in: Raspberry Glace
1 Clinique Mascara in: Black
1 Eyeshadow set from: Jasmine La Belle. (5 colors)














2nd set is:

2 Yankee Candles: (1.75oz) Scents: Buttercream & Vanilla Cupcake
1 Book: Elizabeth The Queen by Alison Weir. (Also titled as: The Life of Elizabeth I.) Non-Fiction, Paperback Biography.















The winner will also receive with their prize a brand new bag of Kopiko Coffee Milk Candies, I brought back from the Philippines in December. They are amazing!



















Good luck! (Remember, anyone can comment. You don't have to belong to blogger.com!)

If you play 'What's in my Bag' on your blog, leave a link in my comments!