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My first time to join Mommy Community’s Tuesday’s Toot Meme. I’ve been a member of the BlogaMama community  for a while but I keep forgetting to join the meme.

Tuesday’s Toot is basically giving ourselves a pat in the back for accomplishing something every week. As we all know, Mommies deserve praises, and appreciation too. So if you’re a Mom, join BlogaMama and start Tuesday Tootin’

This week is the best time for me to toot my own horn coz in a matter of 6 days, I raised my June comments in Style It Less from 223 comments to 10,966 for July. And there’s still about 2 weeks left in the month!

Blogging for Style It Less is just one of my many blog I write for under b5media and I  ♥ that blog ( as well as my other 4) and I consider it  (all) my baby.  Just like  my 2 children, I take care of my blogs. It’s a lot of work to nurture and make any blog grow. I love them so much that I do my best every month working hard on each of them. That’s how I get paid after all..LOL. And like I said, I Love My Job!

So I’m tooting my own horn for reaching that many comments as of last night. It probably won’t be that high next month and for a long time so I might as well toot about it as loud as I can now. YES, they are legitimate comments :).

Last Year in Upstate New York

Yup, 2 weeks form now, we’ll be in Virginia Beach. We’re al soooo excited. Even though we just went swimming last Saturday, hehe. Well, nothing can compare swimming in the ocean right?

Virginia Beach is 4 hours drive from NC so we’ll be driving. Staying for 3 days only but that’s ok. Besides the beach, we’ll also be checking an Aquarium place. C is looking forward to that. We might check out the zoo as well, not sure yet. Depends how tired we are and how much we can squeeze in.

But yeah, a much needed vacation is all we need. And it’s our  first ever vacation as a family. Last year’s trip to NY doesn’t count coz it was a family reunion (Hubby’s side) kind of party. This time, it’s just the 4 of us. Woohooo.

NxE compiled a list of 50 Most Influential Bloggers and I have to admit I only read 4 blogs out of the 50, religiously.

Shai Coggins, who happens to be one of the women I’ve admired for years (and always will) before she became my boss. She’s the VP Community and co-owner of b5media where I proudly work.

Heather Armstrong famously known as the Dooce. I visit her all the time and I admire how unabashedly she tackles life and her critics, heh.

Gala Darling who is a fashionista blogger from Australia. Fashion and wit, what more could I ask for?

Go Fug Yourself which is an everyday aphrodisiac for me. I don’t know how my life would be without the Fug Girls.

I’m familiar with some of the other great female bloggers on the list but was never really into visiting daily. Maybe I should broaden my horizon..LOL. Anyway, an idea came to me. See, as much as I respect the 50 minus 1 (not telling) on that list, I think other great female bloggers need recognition too. They’re not as mainstream (world)  as those 50 but they’re just as influential and amazing in my world. Besides the female bloggers mentioned above,  here’s my homage to the other 10 influential female bloggers. In random order.

10. Echo Leigh — she’s a single mother of 3. How she does it and stay sane I don’t know. Oh, and she’s also a budding award-winning journalist.

9.  Sexy Mom — for some reason, that moniker gets uptight people’s underwear tied up in a knot. All The Time. *scratches head*

8. Kadi Prescott — 7 kids. And how was your day? Uh Huh.

7. The Parody — she gets really deep sometimes.

6. Laurganism — a very articulately written blog from a young woman discovering life and it’s eccentricities.

5.  Annalyn — she has an Asian travelogue, food blog, and life blog all rolled into one.

4. House On A Hill — her name is synonymous to Blogging in the Philippines. Plus she loves to cook :). 

3. About My Recovery — if you read the story of why she started her blog, you’ll be crying your heart out. Such an admirable woman who’s become such a force to be reckoned with in the Philippines blogosphere.

2. 5 Minutes For Mom — a great community for Mommy bloggers started by twin mommy bloggers.

1. FeistyMomma — guess what, no one will think of me as an influential blogger except me so darn it, I AM on my list. LOL! I influence my life, my children and husband. No one influences my blog more than myself. I write for 5 blogs under b5media, quit 5 other blogs under another network (not enough time in the day) and maintain my 2 personal blogs. I think I deserve to be in my own list =P.

So, who are your 10 Influential Female Bloggers List?

I happen to like fishnets. Worn underneath a skirt. Fishnet made a come back last fall in the fashion world. I bought a pair, as well as a lace pair. With the new Barbie doll as DC Comics Superhero, Black Canary, I digress.

It’s a little risque for my taste. I collect  Barbie dolls as an adult. Disney, different Countries, and Pop Icons. I never played with them. They’re still in their boxes. Right now they’re in my daughter’s mantel as decoration. Will I be buying this leather and fishnet Barbie aka Black Canary Barbie to add to my collection? Probably not. Will I buy it for my daughter? No. BUT if I do (probably not),  I’ll replace the leather outfit with a ballerina outfit. Or other outfits that don’t involve leather jacket, underwear and boots.

See, problem solved. If you’ve ever played with a barbie doll then you’ll know that you could change her clothes however you want. If that outfit bothers you, understandably so, make your own. I’m sure you could sew a nice cover up using an old skirt from your closet.

No point trying to point your fingers at Mattel telling them they’ve done a naughty thing and  chastising them like a dog who is not fully potty trained by saying "no no, bad dog"  coz trust me they knew exactly what they were doing. They wanted to get the rise out of people and they have. You can either do what I suggested or better yet, DON"T BUY IT! Seriously, it’s that easy. Mattel is not gonna come knocking at your door with a gun to your head threatening you to buy the new doll or else.

Your children, your responsibility. Mattel is just like all the businesses out there. They exist to make money. It’s up to you whether you want a gallon of milk, or fill your car up with gas, or the new Barbie wearing fishnets. THE CHOICE IS YOURS!

(Image : Sun)

My blog looked all disorganized earlier, I know. Different themes and templates kept popping up. Well fret no more coz I finally found a template that will work with my creative skills. I like templates that lets me infuse my own personality. And I like showing that through my header images.

So I’m settled with this. Changing the image will be a breeze. I get bored easily, if you haven’t noticed :).

Last Friday we decided to go to a place called Hibachi Grill : Sushi and Supreme Buffet restaurant for dinner. I’ve always wanted to try it out ever since it opened but was afraid it was going to be so expensive. The outside view sure shows an extravagant place. And it’s huge. When we got inside, the place was even better than I imagined. The place is massive, with vast array of food in the buffet area. The seating areas looked very distinguished too. My husband told me to tell the Hostess to say " Seinfeld, party of 4". LOL. If you don’t get it, don’t worry about it. You gotta be a Seinfeld fan to understand :).

Why am I talking about this and not in my foodblog? Stick around and you’ll find out in a bit.

Anyhoooo, as always the case, Hubs and Caine went ahead first to get their food while the baby and I waited for our drinks. It took them awhile and the baby and I were getting really impatient. She and I don’t act all gracious when hungry, :). When they got back I saw my son’s plate filled with french fries, a slice of pizza and onion rings. I was a little disappointed but I didn’t say anything. When it was my turn to get my food and the baby’s, I realized why it took them a long time to get their food. The buffet are is HUGE. The variety of dishes are abundant. And they’re not only Asian food. There’s American, Mexican, a separate grill area and a sushi bar. I didn’t know where to start. I got hot and sour soup at first. Then worked my way in the seafood are. Octopus with jalapenos caught my eye. Then ladled my plate with sauteed shrimp, fried rice, broccoli stir-fry  then ended up at the sushi bar. Yummy Yummy. On my way back to our table, I stopped at the American side to get some nuggets and fries for the baby, just in case, then I notice a teenager putting chicken nuggets, fries and onion rings on her plate.

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I love watching beauty pageants. Ahhhh, sue me. I work in the fashion industry, it’s kinda hard not to get into beauty pageants. Besides, I errrr, joined some when I was younger. And when I say younger, I meant high school and college. How do you think I can withstand wearing heels all day? LOL. Anyhooo, Miss Universe 2008 is this weekend. Is it Saturday or Sunday? I know my MIL told the hubs to remind me. She loves watching it too :). I’ve seen pictures from the dress rehearsal in Vietnam so of course I’m curious how Miss Philippines look like. Here are a couple of pics of Miss Philippines Jennifer Barrientos at the 2008 Miss Universe Dress Rehearsal.

Image details: Miss Universe 2008 - Dress Rehearsal served by picapp.com

Image details: Miss Universe 2008 - Dress Rehearsal served by picapp.com

Love the dress. I wish she’d smile more . Hey, it’s rehearsals. Maybe she’ll pull everything together during the live show. Good Luck. I have my favorites but I’ll keep it to myself for now .

When a husband wants to buy something and needs the wife’s approval he hovers around her like a plague that just won’t go away until she finally stops pretending she doesn’t see him and acknowledges his presence then asks him what he wants. (I know that was a long ass sentence)

When a wife wants to buy something, she goes ahead and buys it and when the husband sees it, the wife says, “It was on sale”.

Image details: Shrugging girl served by picapp.com

Ok, I’m sitting here watching Today Show features a family who is supposedly trying to cut back on their budget in half. This particular family is documenting everything through video.

• Instead of going to Chick-Fil-A for lunch everyday, they’re now eating at home
• They’re washing the car themselves
• Going to Farmer’s Market for fruits and veggies
• Having a Pot Luck instead of going out to restaurants every weekend
• The husband mowing the lawn himself
• Taking turns with the babysitting duties with friends
• Turning on the coffee pot instead of Starbuck’s
• Setting up the slip and slide instead of the usual mall trip
• Going to a free neighborhood pool instead of driving around wasting gas

I’m appalled. Who the heck are these people? Am I supposed to give them a pat in the back. Hey Einsteins, this isn’t rocket science. All the things mentioned above, a lot of people are already doing them. You’re not getting a freaking medal from me for being so gullible and stupid and all of a sudden you think you discovered something new.

I want to smack Today Show also for thinking this would benefit me. You freaking kidding me? Please don’t insult my intelligence by making an example out of this family. They didn’t discover something 3/4 of the human population already knows. We’re not a perfect family by any means (trust me) but we have enough common sense to know that the options above existed before this particular family. I cook every day. We eat lunch at home. We do go out to restaurants but only once a week. That’s my rule as the “chef“. I love cooking but I need rest too. My husband mows the lawn, as well as wash the car. We go to the mall/stores and eat at Fast Food restaurants for lunch but only once a week.

“Oooooh, we save about $500/month”. No shit Sherlock. BTW, have you heard of coupons?

I’ve been yawning since I woke up this morning and barely hanging on. I really should go to sleep but I feel like I need to post something in my personal blog. I don’t know what but I just feel like it, heh.

The picture above was from the 4th of July fireworks. It’s one of my favorites that I captured last Friday with my Nikon CoolPix. Pretty huh? Just in case anyone is interested, I’ve been blogging away at my foodblog. For some reason, I couldn’t stop last week. I might post a new one after I post this entry. Anyhooo, click on the thumbnails below to read the recipes.