Project Life

 Something I've really been into in the past is scrapbooking, and this year I wanted to really commit to it. I've made countless of ones from four-five years ago and only a few of them have really come out good, or completed! And because I've been on this "need to make my life better" kick for 2015, I've decided to sort-of document both the highlights and little things that make this year. What better way to do it than through Project Life?

Project Life is a simple scrapbooking system founded by Becky Higgins. I see it as a professional photo-album scrapbooking hybrid, cause you can purchase these albums (either 12x12 or 6x8) and the pages (with all sorts of layouts for your photos and creativity). It's also got all kinds of decorations you can purchase (either in store or online) like journaling cards, title cards, fillers and papers. 

I believe it's been around for about five years now, and the products are available in over 3,000 stores across the U.S., Canada and the U.K. (among other countries - you'll have to check out their website to see if their stuff is available in your country, and apart from the digital products, her shop doesn't ship outside of the States sadly). 

I'd heard of Project Life before, and never really looked into it until one faithful day in December when I walked into Michael's and spotted their gorgeous albums. One look at all the other items available, was all I need to know this had to happen. So here we are in 2015, and I'm so doing this. 

I'm pumped!

The scrapbooking albums were actually buy 1 get 1 free, so you know, I grabbed two of the 12x12 ones, a pack of pocket photo pages, a pack of mini paper and a mini kit. I didn't buy a buttload of the decorative pieces or additional scrapbooking stuff from Michael's mainly cause I've got some stickers and washi tapes lying around in my drawer. I'd previously had them for another scrapbooking project that well, never really took off. But now, things are getting serious!

I've dedicated one album to solely 2015 happenings, and the other one I'm planning to fill with photos and memorabilia from 2012-2014. Sort of a 'throwback scrapbook' if you will. 

I'd collected quite a lot of stuff over the past three years that I wanted to use for projects like this - admission tickets, brochures, airplane tickets, polaroids and so on - and they are finally going to have a home instead of the box I keep them all in. As for the bulk of my photos, well, I couldn't really be bothered to use up my own ink (because hello? Super pricey!) so I ended up going on the Shoppers Photo website. Essentially you upload all the photos you want printed, choose what size you want them, and poof! Shoppers prints them for you. Now, they do take about 7-10 days but they will drop them off at whichever Shoppers Drugmart location you prefer. The best part though? It only costs $0.19CAD per 4x6 photo. DAMN. To say I went a bit crazy on which photos I got printed would be in an understatement...

Sure, it's pretty pricey considering I spent over $70CAD on those bad boys, but man... so worth it. The quality is amazing and super sturdy, so you know your photos are going to be protected for hella long time. Investment? I think so!

Have you tried Project Life out yet? If yes, what'd you think? If not, well, you better. 

Happy discovering! 

2015 Goals

I know it's uber cliche to say this, but damn, I can't believe 2014 is almost over! I've done so much in the past year (especially in the last three months) that it kind of feels like I haven't been able to fully appreciate it. I've travelled and (finally) started this blog, I've met and interviewed so many wonderful people and discovered so much - both about my surroundings and myself. Sounds cheesy, I know, but there's a number of things I'm thankful for from 2014.

That being said, I'm prepared to ring in the new year! I don't normally make those drastic, life-changing resolutions, cause let's face it, less than half of us can actually keep them. So instead, I've got a few smaller, more realistic goals I'd like to accomplish in 2015, and fingers crossed, I can stay on track with them.

Here we go!

 1. sleep earlier - Like most university students, I'm no stranger to staying up until the I can see the sun begin to rise from my bedroom window and groaning at the thought of having to survive a day on no sleep. So that's going to change. I've decided to only let myself stay up no later than 11pm, and after that, it's lights out. I've also enlisted the help of the Sleep Better app on my iPhone - you place it next to your pillow and it tracks your sleeping pattern (e.g. when you're in a deep sleep and so on). I think a visual of my sleeping habits is totally useful in giving me a reality check.

Printed exercise/yoga pants from Old Navy, ombre tank top from La Senza, Mind over Matter muscle tee from Forever 21

 2. exercise daily - And I don't mean hardcore, full-on cardio and strength exercises at least three hours a day. I'm talking at least an hour of pilates, yoga and cardio a day to ease myself into such routines. With the schedule I'm running, this is a much more realistic way of fitting exercise into my days, and I'm super excited about it! Two weeks before flying out for the holidays, I started really getting into the beginner pilates videos from Blogilates and weight-loss yoga videos from Yoga with Adriene. As sore and wiped-out as I feel after doing a couple of their videos, I feel much better (and more flexible too!), so I'm definitely going to keep doing them (and more) this 2015.

 3. be more organized - Not that I don't have my life in order, but again, with the classes I'm taking and the assignments overlapping one another, managing my time better will definitely help me have less break downs and actually get stuff done in advance. So I've got my trusty Kate Spade planner (that stays on my desk, no matter what), this uber cute journal from The Paper Stone (a gift from les cousins in SG) and these mini notebooks to carry around in my bag for all sorts of purposes - writing quick notes on places and stories I should look into, contact details of my interviewees, and of course,  reminders and deadlines. I need to be able to find a more manageable balance between school, a social life and managing this blog, so this needs to happen.
And you know, this totally feeds my stationary obssession, so, cool beans!

 4. work (even) harder - Now it's no shocker that most of my time is spent chasing down stories and playing the waiting game with sources, but this year, I'm hoping to really kick it up a notch. This definitely overlaps with my goal to be more organized, and you I'm really hopeful it'll work. Be it writing my stories in advance (and giving myself more time to edit), being more persistent in talking to people or just making a decision in which field of journalism I want to be in, it's going to happen. And you know, I can't neglect my Psychology minor too, so this year's going to mean crunch-time for me to get all my stuff done and at the quality I want them to be at.

5. stress and worry less - Again, works well with my 'be more organized' goal, but I really need to give myself a break and not hyperventilate. I'm someone who can get anxious really easily, and boy, does that need to stop. My parents have to constantly reassure me that it's going to be fine from the other side of the world, and I think it'll do me some good to listen to that. Once I know I've done what I could (to the best of my abilities), I need to be able to let it go. I constantly worry about what others will think, what grades are going to be but damn, I need to relax more. Go with the flow after that and move on. Come on, who else is with me? Where my fellow worriers at? We can do this!

6. make time for reading - The only way I can truly relax and shut down from real life is through reading, and I really do need to make time for it. There's nothing wrong with winding down with a good book and some tea (provided that you're not neglecting important stuff like deadlines!!!) and being the bookworm that I am, I so miss that feeling. Granted, I was able to read quite a substantial amount during the Christmas break, but it wasn't as fun considering I had to cram like 10 books in a busy two-week schedule. So this 2015, dedicated R&R with a book is in order, and you can't stop me. Seriously, this is going down. And plus, it'll give me more material to work with for my TLP Reads book reviews, so you know, two birds with one stone, when I have the time. 

7. be more fearless and discover more - Last but certainly not least. I guess this one would have to be my most challenging and drastic one. But you know, day by day baby steps across the year will make this doable. Like I said, I'm someone who gets anxious quite easily, but that's not to say that I don't like getting out there and going on adventures. This year I want to push myself more to step out of my comfort zones on a frequent basis - be a bit more like Jim Carrey's character Carl Allen from Yes Man (if you haven't seen it yet, please do!) and say yes to more opportunities. But you know, not to the gross, icky stuff like you know what in the movie.

So, I'm hoping that you're having a wonderful and fun-filled New Year's Eve wherever you are, and I hope that 2014's treated you well as it has me. If not, well, let's face 2015 together with our chins up, determined and positive. Here's to more adventures (and *ahem* blog posts)!

Love,
Arianna

Corazon, Philippines

 Continuing on with this foodie-posts streak I've been having the past few days, here's my next stop in this holiday's food trip! I present to you, Corazon, a 'filipino-hispano cuisine' restaurant founded by chef Florabel Co-Yatco. They're located in the East Wing of Shangri-La Plaza Mall (4th floor) in Mandaluyong City. Again, this was recommended by my parents, so who was I to object?

According to its website, the cuisine is reminiscent of traditional grandmother-cooked meals so if you want a taste of good ol' Filipino cooking, this is the place to go. And I don't doubt that one bit.

Cabeza (P325) - fried calamari with romesco sauce and sweet chili sauce. Eat this, and you will not stop. They are so addicting, especially when you dip them in the romesco sauce!!!

My all-time favourite dish from Corazon: the Paella Negra (P495) - squid, squid ink and fish fillet with garlic aioli. I'd never been one to eat paella negra (particularly cause once you put a spoon full of it in your mouth, your teeth and lips go all black cause of the ink), but this trumps all the ones I've tried. It's so creamy and savoury that I could eat this by itself and be content. There could be a little more squid and fish fillet pieces, but I can't really complain. In fact, I may be able to finish half the plate by myself given the chance. Damn, I'm salivating badly as I write this... So, so mouth-watering(ly) good! And I don't even mind having a black-inked mouth after eating this dish sent from heaven. Must-try!

Yum yum yum...

Ciudad Real (P395) - lechon kawali (fried pork) with laing. I mainly ate this for the laing, which is made from dried taro and coconut milk. It's sooo good, and again, paired with the paella negra? Heaven. *drool* And don't worry about the little chili bits, it's not uber spicy, but it does give the dish a bit of a kick (normal for laing, so you know, it's a package deal).

Per my mom's suggestion, I tried out their Quezo de Bola cheesecake. Now, I do love my cheesecakes, but this one didn't sit right with me, mainly because the Quezo de Bola taste (think extreme cheddar) is so strong. I prefer my cheesecakes more light and sweet, and this one just screamed hard-core cheese to me. Not to say that it's not good, but you know, it's not something I'd go for. But hey, gotta try something new now and then right? If strong cheese tastes are your thing, go for this one! My parents love it.

Update: About a week later, we had a get-together with a few friends who also used to live in Vietnam, and of course, off to Corazon we went! This time round I was able to try more of their dishes, but apologies though - I kept forgetting to whip out the camera to take photos of them before we devoured them! Woops...

Ensaladang Manilena (P240) - salad with tomatoes, mangoes, onions and bagoong (shrimp paste). I didn't try this one myself, but I was told that it tasted really good, so if you're a fan of simple salads (and anything with bagoong), try it out.

Bernardo (P495) - beef salpicao (salad) with beef tenderloin sautéed in garlic and olive oil, served with a basket of pan de sal (bread). You don't necessarily need to eat it with the pan de sal, but there's something totally Filipino about pairing the two together (note - we like to eat bread with anything: pasta, ice-cream, dinuguan, etc. You name it, we probably eat it with bread too).

Torres (P350) - fried tilapia with mango sauce. This, paired with paella negra, is ah-mazing! It just brings out that seafood taste even more in the paella and the combination of garlic aioli and mango sauce is pretty tasty too.

We also ordered the Cabeza, Paella Negra (again), Ortega (ox-tail kare kare), Castellano (crispy pata - a must try Filipino dish!) and Ciudad Real (again, LOL!) Could not get enough of the paella negra again so you know, I definitely enjoyed that.

We also ventured off to try new desserts, and I am in love with the Mango Torte! Mango, cream and graham crackers? Mhmmm.... love love love! I recommend this way more than the Quezo de Bola cheesecake if subtle sweetness and creaminess is more of your thing. Fun fact, one of our friends actually suggested we eat the mango torte and quezo de bola cheesecake together (as in, one bite of each at the same time) and damn, it was good. The combination of fruity sweetness and cheesy bitterness is pretty awesome, so do try that out too! My life has never been the same since that discovery...

Check out the rest of their menu here! Even the menu is uber colourful and gorgeous!

Price-wise, definitely worth it, especially since you can't go wrong with the food here. You can get your Filipino cuisine fix here, and heck, you may not want to leave. The ambience and decorations are also pretty top-notch, with the bright colours and little Filipino quirks like the ice-cream by the front of the restaurant. The staff is also pretty great, and they are more than willing to make recommendations that, man, they aren't wrong about. Hospitality, food and ambience? You will definitely not forget you're in the Philippines.

Corazon can get quite busy and because large groups do tend to reserve tables, I'd recommend you drop by just before peak hours so a) you get a table and b) you don't have to wait long for your food to arrive. Not to say that waiting times are uber long, but you know, if you're absolutely starving and can't wait to chow down on some Pinoy classics, well, come early.

Happy discovering!