legally blonde

Just a short recap of this weekend :)

- Watched Eclipse with Ni, H, Ai, and D. Dinner at Bigoli's where we wondered if we could finish 24 slices of pizza to topple the winner of the eat-all-you-can-pizza challenge.

- Had my first tutor session on Sat. Went well :) I think I'll improve along the way. Braved the metro traffic to Makati to see Inception. Missed the first 10 or 15 minutes of the movie (which I was able to read about on the internet :D ) but I was able to follow the general plot of the movie. It was amazing. I loved the idea of dream architecture. Brilliant :) I'm glad to say I have my feet firmly planted in reality.

- Sunday. Had a good session with Ahia. I should prepare tougher assignments next week, I think. Watched Legally Blonde the Musical in the afternoon at Meralco Theater. Nikki Gil was brilliant as Elle Woods :) It was a really funny and entertaining show. Loved it :) Afterwards, headed to Newport City for dinner with D's family. It was my first time inside Marriott. I wonder if it'll be a bustling area in a few years.

July 19 marks Sookie's one month "birthday" with us :)

nomnomnom

D took me out to dinner tonight :)

We decided to try out Nomnomnom along Tomas Morato cor. E. Rodriguez. I'd read about the restaurant in this month's issue of Yummy, and it seemed like an interesting restaurant with its many vegetarian offerings and Norwegian-inspired architecture - white and sparse and clean with tiny bursts of color on the white walls.

The place is small and cozy and welcoming. For starters, we ordered Four Play, which was a serving (plus an extra serving!) of pita chips with hummus, roasted clove of garlic, salsa, and another dip. I enjoyed the appetizer :) The pita chips went well with all the dips.

Then, we tried the spinach ravioli. The tomato salsa accentuated the spinach test :) We ordered the squash soup too, but I found it too thick. I used it as an extra dip for the pita chips instead. But the croutons that were served with the soup went quite well with the garlicky flavor of the squash.

For our main course, we tried the Talong and Lasting Love pizza :) Now, i personally do not like eggplant unless it's minced and diced or blended until it no longer resembles it's original self. But the grilled eggplant on this pizza was divine. I simply forgot about my love-hate relationship with the purple vegetable. I think it could be the crust that was crunchy and chewy at the same time. I took one bite and fell in love :) Haha. It's that good.

I scanned the menu and found a few more dishes I wanted to try. Of course, my ever so kind partner-in-crime gave in to my request to visit nomnomnom again :) I'm sure he enjoyed the food as much as i did.

For a sweet night cap, we went to icebergs for a sundae (for me) and a banana split for him.

Nice way to end the day and to celebrate the demise of my symptom-less cold :)

magra falsa

I just finished reading Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love :) Loved it.

From the "Love" part of the book, I got this Brazilian term, which I love.

Magra falsa or "false thin"

In the author's words, "the woman looks slender enough from a distance, but when you get up close, you see that she's actually quite round and fleshy."

It's a good thing, this word. It connected with me because I've had the "problem" of being too chubby for a while back. And it's only recently that I've grown kind of thin. And still, I find myself fat. I have to remind myself sometimes that bones and skin do not thin define. They define emaciated :|

I read Julie Buxbaum's second novel, After You a week ago. And here's a quote that struck me.

Speaking of marriage (and relationships, in general), she says:

"Five years ago, I said vows. And I believe in vows. I meant them, and not just when I said them out loud for an audience to hear but as a motto and a life choice...I hadn't anticipated the sandy flow of feeling, the yin-yang of love and dread, or the residual buildup of grievances and the slow draining of the benefit of the doubt...But in my naivete, I interpreted this [In good times and in bad] as external; we would support each other when the world imposed and intruded. No one tells you that it's the internal that's the real challenge: those moments of decisiveness equal to taking a vow, when you feel the clawing grip of your promises."

We put too much emphasis on circumstances and situations. We blame them for how we've changed, how we've become. It's hard to see sometimes that it's us who's changed, it's the internal that's changed or transformed, reacting to the external.

I loved the book, by the way. I loved Sophie and her precociousness. I liked how Ellie lost and found herself, and her journey in between.

I've been in a bit of a rough patch recently. Could be mild depression or just an overly zealous pessimistic side. It's been gnawing on my optimism and happiness. Rather, I've been letting it gnaw. I'm chewed to the bones :|

I've had a fever, then a cold that wouldn't appear - no symptoms but I could feel it bottled up in my body - so my eyes became so puffy from all the pent-up cold symptoms. Now, I'm taking 27 tablets a day until Wednesday until my cold symptoms - my poor red throat and phlegm-filled lungs - let up. Then, my wisdom tooth decided to join in the fun and my gums are swelling :( Dentist appointment next week. Sigh, my body has joined the negativity bandwagon.

After reading Eat Pray Love and After You, which are incidentally books about picking up your life, I have decided that it is time to pick up the pieces of my depressed state and time to stand tall. My heart distresses over the thought of QA work but that's that. I got to face it and just do it.

As a side note, I'm excited to see the movie version of Eat Pray Love. I loved the book and absorbed its notes on spirituality and happiness and growth. While I wish I could pack up my bags and spend a year in three countries as well, I think I could do more by picking up the life lessons the author has imparted.

"I honor the divinity within me."