I was thinking of putting of this week's Friday's 10 Happy Things until I remembered one of my resolutions for this year, which is to be consistent with everything I do. May it be a task at work, a fitness program or simply following my blog series schedule. Obviously I didn't commit to the fitness program part (lol) because getting up in the morning will always be a struggle for me. Well, unless you have pancakes drizzled in chocolate syrup topped with fresh Strawberries and powdered sugar waiting for me! Let's begin!

I'm skipping my weekly Friday's 10 Happy Things to share a short story of a few things I'm really thankful for for the month of September. Here goes! I was planning what I'll be doing over the long weekend of the APEC summit when all of a sudden, I got an e-mail from an unknown person. I would usually dismiss e-mails like that as spam because I get a ton of those useless I'm a millionaire I'll give you some inheritance stuff, but I decided to read it anyway.  I was surprised shocked because it was a nomination e-mail stating that my blog has been nominated by several netizens in #Bloggys2015 for the Philippine Blogging Awards!

If there's anything I did differently this year, I started to focus more on putting articles that will be of help to my readers. I used to post rants and really personal stuff *cringe* in here, but I realized after a loooong time that people probably wouldn't be interested with all the drama my life has to offer, lol. I also started cooking more and posting consistently! Being nominated alongside popular bloggers is such an honor already! I thought that was it, I was happy and ready to accept my loss even before the voting session begins, ha! Your main pessimist, that's me! But then I received another e-mail! I was told that I'm also invited to the Philippine Blogging Awards Gala Night! *insert silent scream*

I got the e-mail while I was in the office which explains the silent scream, hehe. Can you imagine? A red carpet for influential bloggers and I'm actually invited, people! I also get to bring a date! Ugh, so much enthusiasm and eagerness! I think this is the part where I tell you guys, I'm bringing my boyfriend.  Yes, I have a new boyfriend, haha! More about that on my next post!

For now, I'm just really thrilled with how September ended for me. It started out crappy due to some financial miscalculations I did aka buying clothes, shoes and gadgets I don't really need, but overall it still turned out quite well. I went over to the site to find out what it's all about and also to nominate my favorite blogs! If you want to know more about Bloggys, you can go here. If you want to nominate your favorite blogs on the other hand, you can go here. 

Aside from the horrendous traffic we experience last Tuesday, I think I had a pretty good week. I don't want to remember how horrible Tuesday was because I actually consider myself one of the lucky few who didn't get wet, who had to walk home or who paid P1k+ for a ride home. Doing this week's 10 Happy Things also made me realize how fortunate I am to live 10-15 minutes from work. Oh, the small things. 

1. Waking up to the person I love on a Monday morning and sort of not wanting to go to work yet because you just want to cuddle. And eat breakfast together or probably sleep some more.

2. 100% passing rate for my Engineers! They got endorsed to Technical training last Wednesday and I couldn't be more proud. We also got to celebrate with a few drinks after class which is a good thing because it saved me from the hellish traffic situation. 

3. I got a box of donuts from my trainees the other day as a simple thank you gift. It somehow served as a reminder of why I'm doing what I'm doing. Not for the food of course, lol. But to keep inspiring people (naks!).

4. I was out drinking last Tuesday which is why I didn't have any idea about the horrendous traffic consuming Metro Manila. I thought cab drivers were just being extra choosy because of the rain. One thing to be happy about was that I got an Uber to take me home. I didn't fully understand the extent of the traffic until I traversed EDSA-Ortigas and was still stuck in traffic for about 15-20mins at 1 fucking AM.

5. Got an invite to join a product launch on Saturday. I won't be able to go because I have another appointment but I'm really glad to be getting a lot of invites lately. Posting content consistently really does pay off. 

6.  The new iPhone 6s in Rose Gold! It's so pretty. I don't really like Pink but it's a break from all the neutral (Gold, Black, White, Silver) colors we've been getting from Apple. Not to dismiss all the fun colors from the iPhone 5c but, they're just too loud for my taste. The Rose Gold on the other hand has the perfect amount of subtlety I would want for my next device. 

7. I found the perfect design for my blog! Buuuuut, it's only available for WP. I've already sent the designer an e-mail since I can't be bothered to tinker with my own design right now. Crossing my fingers she can convert her WP designs to Blogger!

8. A reader sent me an e-mail containing links to her photos doing some of my recipes! I'm overwhelmed because I'm NOT good in cooking. I really just get lucky with all of the recipes I mix and match. Lord, is this a sign? Lol!

9. Finally finished all my backlogged office work! As of this writing, I have nothing to do for the rest of the day except work on updates and follow-ups. YAY! It felt orgasmic to cross out that final task on my list.

10. Today is payday Friday! I'm not going anywhere due to the weather. But still thankful because I get to pay my bills on time, huh. I want to hold on to my money a little longer before I do so which is why I've decided to pay my bills this afternoon, hahaha!

Anyway, as mentioned, I will be staying in because I've been out and about for three weeks now and my room looks like a scene from Tarzan. I have to sort my stuff, clean my kitchen and do the laundry! I will also be doing a few kitchen experiments. I'll be cooking Steak for the first time (wish me luck!) and I'll also be doing a new version of my No-bake Blueberry Cheesecake. Cheers to the weekend!

I've been crazy busy the past few weeks and haven't really found the time to work on my back logs. I'm still in the process of rediscovering tools that will help my blogging life easier. I'm pretty sure there's a more efficient way to make this blog work to my advantage. Easier that what I'm doing right now, lol. Once I've finalized my tools, I'll be sharing them with you guys! Right now, I'm sort of stuck in creating templates, looking for the perfect font, and still trying to find the perfect theme that really encompasses all of me. 

Enough about all that insanity; Let's talk happy things! I've been seeing a lot of blog series lately such as The Sunday Currently, Life Lately, What I Ate Wednesdays and Workout Wednesdays to name a few. I've been wondering for quite some time now if I should join the band wagon as it will also help me be consistent in posting articles on my blog. I was leaning towards What I Ate Wednesdays but it dawned on me that my condo has the crappiest lighting in all of Metro Manila and given my busy schedule the past few days, I sometimes don't eat, so....nah. I first read about Friday's 10 Happy Things on Helga's blog and I remember feeling quite light-hearted after doing so. Obviously after a lot of thought and convincing, I decided to go with that blog series. Let's get started!

There you have it, my first Friday's 10 Happy Things. I hope I can be consistent in doing this because it does feel great to look at all the small things we should be happy about. It's also a good way of re-evaluating one's self. Here's to the weekend!

As I grow old, I realize my yearning for material things has diminished to a considerable capacity. I used to have a ton of things on my birthday wishlist, but now, I really can only think of the necessary ones. Of course I still have a few wants every now and then, but not like how I crave for stability, financial freedom and emotional independence. Oh wow, where did all that come from, lol. I initially wanted to celebrate my birthday at the beach but work is hectic as hell because of a pilot project I'm currently working on, so I'd have to make do with spontaneous plans and cheap thrills. 

As I grow older, I also realize that celebrating my birthday becomes less of a big deal. I used to go frantic over not being to celebrate a week before AND after the big day, but that's not the case now. I can plan a grandiose getaway and not push through with it, and that will be okay. Just like what happened this year. Every year, I think I mature little by little. Slowly, I'm learning that just like love, there's no one way or one day to celebrate life--and love for that matter. As a matter of fact a couple of weeks ago, I decided I didn't want to celebrate, but someone told me that being able to live another year is a reason to celebrate in itself, hence my little celebration on Monday. You can drop by my house if you want, we're going Korean for dinner! If you don't know my address that  means we're not THAT close, so you're not invited, lol!

Sooooooo, I finally got a new tattoo! I hope my Mom doesn't read my blog 'cause I haven't told her yet, meh. I wasn't supposed to blog about the experience but I had a really awesome time during my session. Awesome enough to share here! This won't take long, I promise. I had the procedure done last Friday. I asked a friend to drive me to Dyun's place because it will be extremely inconvenient for me to take public transpo after it's done. We headed to Fairview (also FARview) and we got lost along the way but eventually found Dyun's studio. First thing he told us was to take our shoes off before entering his studio, I think that's very relevant.

Inside the studio, everything was so neat, clean and organized. I can tell Dyun is OC, lol. We talked about customizing my design some more and I had to rethink the area on where I initially wanted it. I originally wanted the design on my forearm but my forearm is so skinny it compromises the design. I like the fact that Dyun was educating me all throughout my decision making process. He was also telling me about possible repercussions should I choose to have an intricate design on a small area. Taking everything in consideration, I decided to have it on my lower leg instead. He printed the design and placed the stencil on my leg. He asked me to look at it and check if I was satisfied, and hell I was. I love it! I told him that we should get it on, lol.