Bright and Jazzy Weekend

This weekend has been gloomy on many fronts, so I welcomed some new distractions. Mom was in Osaka for a few days, and I asked her to visit some of the craft stores mentioned on I Try DIY's guide. I was so relieved that she was able to fly back in this morning, unaffected by Typhoon Lando's havoc; and it was like waking up on Christmas day, with her hoarded goods laid out on a table. She brought home Royce' (not enough!) the strange but delicious square persimmons that I love, a designer bag for herself, and a mountain of cosmetics. She also bought some USB-powered reading lamps, and she was so cute when she happily showed them to me. She scored these calligraphy holsters and nibs, Copic pens, and Kuretake brush pens for much cheaper, that I almost couldn't believe the conversion!

Calligraphy nibs, holsters, Copic pens, Kuretake brush pens, music note puncher

A photo posted by Katherine (@kaichypoo) on Oct 20, 2013 at 6:08pm PDT

Before I can get around to playing with those, I've been taking a break from drawing, and pretty much everything else, because I'm speed learning a couple of songs for gigs next week. I'm both excited and freaking out (more of the freaking out!) that I'll be performing with Baihana to sub for their alto. I absolutely love and look up to these girls, who sing harmonies so seamlessly, in their signature bebop/swing/big band jazz. Every free moment of this weekend has been spent trying to sight read their pieces, and then attempting to sing along with their recordings. Not yet there, but I will get there. Maybe tomorrow.

Learning jazz pieces for Baihana (c)

September Surprises

Those last weeks of September just flew by, and I was kept busy by the remaining workouts of the Manila Throwdown, trying out Mystery Manila for the first time, and spending time with family and friends. Some of my best friends' birthdays are in September, as well as my dad's. For my dad's birthday, we hosted a small dinner at home for his high school buddies. Mom, Yaya V, Yaya Rose, and I started cooking as soon as I woke up. On the menu, we had steak, eggplant parmigiana, sardine puttanesca, sweet and sour butterflied tilapia, and mom and I experimented on deep fried apple pies. I was so excited for dessert that night, and was happy to hear that Macy enjoyed it! It went really well with this Silverlake Riesling that my mom brought home from Washington. 

I'm actually not a big fan of apple pie, but this fried apple pie one with kesong puti ice cream was sooo good! 😍 pic.twitter.com/RNmB2d0U8v

— Macy Alcaraz (@macysfields) September 27, 2015

My friend, Anna, had been so busy with her multiple jobs, that her husband wanted to get us involved in planning an early birthday surprise for her. Her post below sums up how it went, and seeing how happy that made her was more than I could ask for.

I HAVE THE BEST HUSBAND AND FRIENDS EVER!!! 😭💕🎉😍 Was feeling bummed that I wouldn't be able to watch the Maroon 5 concert because of work, but then I come home to this amazing surprise that Chris planned with my best friends! I was in tears!!! IT WAS AWESOME AND CRAZY AND BEAUTIFUL AND JUST SUPER SUPER LOVE!!! BEST EARLY BIRTHDAY SURPRISE EVER!! I have the sweetest husband and friends ever. I love you guys so much ❤️ Thank you Chris, my girlies, Ryan, Chuck and Marty for the memorable night! Thank you for capturing the whole thing on video, Marty! Watch the full video and read the full story on my Facebook. I mean, just if you want to. Hahaha! The complete video is super sweet!!

A video posted by Anna Graham (@missusgraham) on Sep 18, 2015 at 3:54am PDT

On her actually birthday salubong, she wanted to host a Mexican night. Chris, her husband, said that Anna had wanted a piñata, and was wondering where he could get an inexpensive one. I volunteered to attempt one,... and got a little ambitious with a macaron peg for Mrs. Graham. 

The finished product: a macaron piñata in the colors of her Salted Caramel flavour

Mini-piñatas for each of my Girlies, represented by their favorite colors. 

Strung on a doorway, with Anna's Mexican table setting in the background.

I made the mini-piñatas with cups, based off a sample I saw on this Brit + Co article. As for the macaron, I had to wing it! If you want to see how I did it, keep reading below, and I uploaded photos, too. Unfortunately, I might've made them too sturdily (for fear of it not holding up) that when we started hitting and pulling them respectively, they didn't break! Overall, it was all such good fun, with very little help from the spiked punch and Bacardi. Anna served chili con carne, quesadillas, tacos, this new Jalapeño-flavored Nova (I love Nova!) with Anapet's salsa. So grateful for these friends of mine.