Little Miss Audrey

Posted by Arvi on Saturday, November 30, 2013
Mr. T's company usually hosts a Trick or Treat party for the family of their employees. Last year, we were still pregnant with Ava so Mr. T was on the other side of the party, giving out treats to children. And that time, I remember him telling me how he'll bring our baby to next year's trick or treat. Which is this year! :)

He reminded me about the party a couple of weeks earlier and that's when we started looking for costumes. The DIY Mama started Pinteresting and stumbled upon a lot of really cute costumes. But the problem was, Ava can't walk yet. And most of the costumes look nice if the baby's walking already. So it came down to one, The Baby Octopus.

Photo from Mom Inc Daily
We were all set for this so I listed down the stuff we need. A few days before the party we went to SM to buy everything we need. We already had everything, but I couldn't find a black onesie to complete the costume. I needed to think of a plan B, quickly because the OC/Stage Mama in me won't settle for something na pinagpwede na. Either we get all the stuff I need acording to plan or ditch the whole thing and go to/think of a Plan B which was exactly what we did. So little Baby Octopus became Little Miss Audrey.

From the Archive | DIY: Custom Canvas Shoes

Posted by Arvi on Friday, November 29, 2013
Originally posted in June 24, 2012

In the afternoon, I decided to work on a different project - hand-paint a pair of canvas shoes that I don't get to wear much because it's too plain. And I will share how I did it step-by-step.

DIY Custom Canvas Shoes
1. The first thing I did was decide on the design I want. Google images and Pinterest will give you a lot of inspiration photos to choose from. I went for the Aztec print and found this photo thru Pinterest:

image

In the Kitchen: Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

Posted by Arvi on Friday, November 29, 2013
This is a quick and easy recipe I adapted from (where else?) Martha's recipe. :)

The recipe originally calls for half a cup of raisin which is what I did the first time I tried this recipe. This is the ingredient that's pretty flexible, so you can try anything you think will work best with an oatmeal cookie. It also said rolled oats and not the quick-cooking ones but I used the latter since it was what I have that time. One last tweak I had to make was reduce the sugar by a quarter of a cup because I don't think Mr. T can handle a mother-daughter-sugar-rushing-till-dawn tandem kind of night in the middle of a workweek. :D

So here it is..


Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
  • 1/2 cup figs
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

How to Bake:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together oats, flour, raisins, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy, scraping down bowl as necessary. Add egg and vanilla; beat until combined. Gradually add oat mixture; beat just until combined.
  2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto two baking sheets. Bake until cookies are golden brown but still soft, 12 to 16 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Cool 5 minutes on sheets; transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Fambam Hits: Milky & Sunny

Posted by Arvi on Thursday, November 28, 2013
About a month ago, right before crazy November started, we found our little fambam in a small and cozy breakfast place called Milky & Sunny. This has been on my list for quite some time and I was happy to finally convince Mr. T to drive all the way to Kapitolyo in Pasig for our Sunday brunch that time. :)

A view of the whole place including my breakfast buddies. :)