Juliana's Generous!

Why do I say so? Well, read the post below about her on-going contest and tell me if she's not...

JULIANA'S POST:

I am very delighted to let you all know, that I’m running my first ever contest on my three blogs: My World, My Library and Juliana’s Lair. I will be celebrating my first anniversary in the world of blogging this coming July 19, 2008. I can’t believe it will be a year soon, and I have enjoyed this experience immensely.

As my way of thanking my readers, my blogger friends and my constant visitors, I’ll be giving away cash prizes to contest participants with the highest accumulated points across all my three blogs.

1st place - $100.00
2nd place - $ 55.00
3rd place - $ 40.00
4th place - $ 30.00
5th place - $ 25.00

The contest starts today, as soon as this post is published and ends on July 19, 2008. Contest winners will be announced on July 23, 2008.

Here’s how to earn points:

1. Comment on my blog posts.
- Every comment is equivalent to 1 point. You can only leave a maximum of two(2) comments per post and the comments should be relevant to the post.
- Comments on my posts starting from entries written starting February 24 ,2008 counts. Only comments written starting today, March 2, 2008 are valid.

2. Copy and paste then publish this entry about the contest on your blog.
- You earn 30 points.
- Please inform me of the link so I can validate and add the points you earned.

3. Mention this contest on your blog by linking to this post.
- You earn 20 points.
- Again, please leave me a comment notifying me about this so I can credit your points.

4. To add an element of fun, since many of my readers have been asking about how old me and hubby are, let’s play a guessing game.
- If you join the fun, and make a guess you’ll earn 10 points.
- The right guess/guesses will earn 30 points (if both ages are correct)
Only one right guess will earn 15 points.
- Again, leave me a comment so I can credit your points.
(Hint: the pictures you see on my three blogs are all current except the wedding pictures, which were taken when we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary three years ago.)

The running accumulated points across the three blogs, will be posted on the side bars of the three blogs to keep you updated on your points earned.

Should there be a tie in any of the prizes at stake, a drawing will be held to determine the winner of that prize, and the person/s not drawn will win the next prize.

Prizes will be remitted to the Paypal accounts of the winners.

So... I told you she's generous! If you want to join, just click here!

Baby Marianne

Last night after my usual routine of going to church (Wednesdays, I go to St. Andrew's Cathedral for the novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help and to hear mass) I went to my parents' home for a quick visit. Marianne, the 5-month old daughter of my cousin, Cherry was there (like always) and I lost track of time playing with her so I texted Charlie that he should just go straight to my parents' house after work so he could pick me up. When hubby arrived, he played a little with Marianne also (we just can't help it!) before we finally went home. Charlie and I told them we were going to "borrow" Marianne one weekend to bring her to the park or something, hehehe! I guess we were hooked!

Miss Earth Candidates

This afternoon, our quiet office was suddenly a-buzz with the arrival of some of the candidates of Miss Earth Philippines beauty pageant. They visited one of the schools under us to teach some of the students how they can help save the environment. Here are some of the pictures my officemate took before they went to the classrooms:

Cute Puppy

Vivek gave me this:

Thanks friend! It really is adorable! I will treasure it forever!

The Longest Line

Andrea tagged me with this:


Have you in your childhood been to a girl scout or summer camp and one of the games that you played is creating the longest human line? Let's relive the moment of summer camp and let's try to make the longest human line...

Rule: Copy the entire list and add your name below the person who tagged you. Then tag at least 5 friends (But you can tag as many as you like) and visit their blog to let them know you tagged them.
Abie - Journey to Life
Abie - MyPlanetPurple
Farah - changing lanes
Andrea
Bela
Kaptyurd by Howell
Aggie
Apols
Apple
Thea
Jacqui
Jane
Jody
Joy
Kelly
Mich
Peachy
Vien
Nick
Heidi

and now I'm tagging Mhay, Toni, Vivek, Kathy and Raquel

Chicken Casserole

This is what we had for dinner... I didn't go to the market or the grocery store last weekend so I had to make do with ingredients that were available at home to make dinner for me and hubby. (Mental Note: Go to the grocery tomorrow after church, to buy fresh supplies!!!)



I don't know what this dish is called since, like I said, I had to make do with what was left in our refrigerator and pantry. Maybe there is a already a dish like this called something else but for now, I'm calling it Chicken Casserole. Oh, and although I am stating the amount I used when I cooked, I guess everyone is free to alter everything according to their taste...

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 Kilo Chicken Wings
2 Bell Peppers, cut into strips
1 small pack tomato sauce
1 large onion
1 clove garlic
2 small potatoes, quartered
1 tablespoon fish sauce (patis)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup water
salt and pepper, to taste

PROCEDURE:
In a pan, saute garlic and onions in canola oil then add the chicken wings, salt, pepper and fish sauce then stir fry until the wings are half cooked. Add the bell peppers and 1 cup of water and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and let it simmer again until the potatoes get half cooked.

Then add the tomato sauce and simmer to completely cooke the potatoes and to reduce the sauce into a thick consistency.

There, it's simple so you can make it in about 15 to 20 minutes. Very ideal for working housewives like me! Plus it can serve 2 to 4 people depending on how many helpings they get, hehehe! But since there was only me and hubby, there was enough leftover for hubby to bring to work tomorrow for his lunch.

... and they continue to come

Remember the saying you will reap what you sow? Well, I don't know what I've been doing right lately to make me reap awards... Hehehe! I know it may not mean much to others but when blogging friends award me with whatever stuff they have, it just makes my heart swell with happiness and love. So, to the academy... ehem, I mean to Jhona who has bestowed upon me these great gifts, Thanks a lot! You don't know how you made my day...

5 star award

Jhona has awarded me with a 5-star rating!


Now I'm passing it on to Toni, Mhay, Meng, Anne and Kathy.

Global Business Etiquette Seminar

Normally, I would cringe at the thought of yet another seminar to attend... and yes, when we were informed that we were to attend an "Etiquette Seminar" I felt like, it was just going to be a waste of time because I felt like I knew how to act in the office already. Besides, most of our clients are "masa" anyway so I really didn't feel the urge to attend seminars that includes "fine dining etiquette" in the program. One more thing, the secondary appeal of a seminar, aside from it's topic and how it would affect you is the venue... And when we were told it was going to be in a conference hall in Ortigas, I thought, "how boring", couldn't they have chosen a hotel or somewhere scenic? But I'm really glad I attended, it was refreshingly informative and enjoyable at the same time. Our speaker, Ms. Valerie Cruz-Tapalla held her audience's (that's me, including 57 others) attention quite well. Her wit coupled with her being blunt was surprisingly the antidote for an otherwise boring subject. I mean, it really isn't rocket science, most of the subject we tackled there, we already studied during social graces class in college, but in terms of being reminded that times really have changed and you might not be changing in time to cope with the recent globalization of everything, it was quite an eye-opener. And it didn't even matter that we were not in a hotel or an idyllic resort or whatever... It was the topic that was engaging and the speaker who mattered the most. For me, if the seminar's objective was to show employees - be they in the government or in private companies that there is more to etiquette than just social gatherings or dealing with the elite. It is so much more! But what struck me the hardest was the realization that most working Filipinos, regardless of whether they belong to the group of employees or that of employers, practice working ethics based on customs and traditions that we, Filipinos have grown up with. It is but fitting that we update these practices to make us more globally competitive. Even the simple act of shaking hands could make or break one's impression of a business colleage or client. Besides, now I can brag about being an Emily Post Global Business Etiquette certificate-holder!

I enjoyed the seminar so much that I checked out the Wilma Cruz-Tapalla website for other similarly useful seminars or classes. Hopefully, I would be able to attend another soon... now I'm sounding like this is a paid advertisement of their academe, hehehe! But really, if you like to improve your working etiqutte, or even if you just want to attend a seminar or personality development, you should check out their site.

Cute Friends

Got this from Vivek...

Thanks a lot! All my friends are cute, so I'm passing it on to everyone in my blogroll... hehehe!