Wordless Wednesdays - Tulips

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A Cat In Waiting

Do you see that cat? He seems to be waiting for "something." When I took this photo, I thought he was waiting for the couple, who's playfully looking at him, to pass through so he can get to where he's going, but he stayed in that position for a good amount of time.

Do you sometimes feel like you're waiting for something but you don't know what? Or sometimes, you're waiting for someone or some event that would make you smile to get through a tough day, a hint of hope when you're desperate, a dash of pouring rain to ease the hot temperatures and humidity, a breathe of fresh air when you're stuffed like sardines in a crowded train, a dollar because you're a dollar short to ride the train home, a call for interview when you're looking for a job, or simply - a break from a rut.

Well, I am waiting and it feels like forever. The problem is, I can't patiently sit still like that cat in waiting.

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I'm so glad it's finally Friday!

Wordless Wednesdays

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Lovely Awards

It's been a long time since I've received any award. But look here, I got two! Thank you CheGo2 the Kitchen for these awards. I am honored.

Rules:

1.) Thank the person who gave you the award.
2.) List seven things about yourself that others may not yet know
3.) Pay it forward by nominating 15 fabulous bloggers you’ve recently discovered.

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Here we go:

1. I don't watch reality TV.
2. I keep two calendars/planners - one for personal and the other for bills.
3. I love going to yard or garage sales.
4. I love and collect cute writing papers. I love paper!
5. I have 15 penpals at the moment. I am hoping for more. Nothing beats the excitement of reading a real letter.
6. I can't function without coffee in the morning.
7. I miss eating hot pandesal for breakfast these days.

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I'd like to present these two awards to the following newly discovered fabulous blogs:

Life Candy

It's All About The Meow

All Jayme

Dea Guwapa

Menopausal New Mom

Love and Life

Confessions of a New Mom

Pinay Wife Speaks

Heart of Rachel

A Wife's Charmed Life

Tuesday Fun

Quite excited to be joining Follow Me Back Tuesday again!



Happy Tuesday everyone!

Snoopy Is Deep

I've always loved Snoopy as a cartoon character, but I didn't know Snoopy can be deep.

Why can't we get all the people together in the world that we really like and then just stay together? I guess that wouldn't work. Someone would leave. Someone always leaves. Then we would have to say good-bye. I hate good-byes. I know what I need. I need more hellos. (Snoopy by Charles M. Schulz)

Happy Monday!

Atop Las Vegas' Eiffel Tower

On our last night in Las Vegas, we decided to take the long elevator ride atop the Paris Hotel's Eiffel Tower replica. We wanted to go up at night, so that we could see the lights of the Strip; it didn't disappoint. Below are the photos I took that night.

The orb there is the sign for Paris Hotel.

Treasure Island Hotel/Casino

The castle looking like building is the Excalibur.

The Bellagio at night.

I hope everyone's having a wonderful weekend.

Artichoke

These photos were taken at the Colonial Williamsburg Nursery which "is an interpretive and sales site featuring 18th-century garden plantings, botanical histories, historically accurate plants and reproduction gardening tools for sale." (http://www.history.org/history/cwland/nursery1.cfm)

It was my first time to see an artichoke plant.

How do you eat your artichoke?

An artichoke Friday to you!

Aloha ʻOe (Farewell to Thee)

To my Grandma Aquilina,

Aloha `oe, aloha `oe

(Farewell to you, farewell to you)

E ke onaona noho i ka lipo

(The charming one who dwells in the shaded bowers)

One fond embrace,

A ho`i a`e au

('Ere I depart)

Until we meet again

My Grandma passed away on June 15 at the age of 84.

Missing Hawaii

While visiting one of the open malls, I saw this "Hawaii's Finest" shave ice stall. I was curious to try this stall's shave ice, but I wouldn't dare because I'd just end up comparing his to the ones I've had in Hawaii. There are things I'd much prefer to enjoy at home. Shave ice is among them - including the manapua and the malasadas.

I miss Hawaii.

Aloha Tuesday!

I Have Fever

"Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it." (Cesare Pavese)

I have travel fever, and it's absolutely a good thing.

Happy Monday to all!

Reviving The Art Of Letter Writing

Lately, I've been trying to rekindle my passion for writing letters; it seems to have taken the backseat since work and other responsibilities are occupying my time and attention. One of the challenges I've been facing is setting a time just dedicated to reading and writing letters, but in order for me to be able to write a good letter, I have to be inspired and be in a specific mood; that I haven't felt in the past few weeks.

I started writing to penpals in grade school and been doing it ever since. I used to have as many as 60+ penfriends; now I have around 15. I still remember running to meet the postman on Saturdays, and the first thing I'd ask mom whenever I get home from school or work would be, "Any letters for me?" I would be jumping for joy if I received five letters in one day, that to me was equivalent to winning the lottery.

I would grab all my letters, head to my bedroom, and run my fingers on the stamps and admire the whole package - the cute envelopes, the soft writing papers and most of all the different handwriting styles. I couldn't wait to read my penfriends' stories from Italy, France, Egypt, Japan and more. I'd imagine how their life is like compared to mine. Sometimes, I'd imagine that I'm a letter so that I could travel to all these places that I've never seen. Reading letters from all over the world was my way of traveling to distant places; they were like windows to different worlds. In fact, it is through these letters that I found my passion in traveling. I still remember vowing to visit all my penpals' countries one day. (Indeed, I have visited and met a few.)

Writing letters is still my favorite hobby, and I intend to keep writing until I can. I do hope that in the next few days or weeks that inspiration will hit me.

What about you? What's your favorite hobby?

Horses And Cats

Apart from exploring the historical park (Colonial Williamsburg), we encountered animals within and outside the park. It's been so long since I was this close to a horse (photos below).  I've forgotten how majestic horses look like at a close encounter. I mean, I see horses when we're on the road, but just a passing glance; this time, I took the time to observe and feel their presence.

A black beauty.

Enjoying sun and grass.

A quick glance.

This cat ignored and walked past us.

A cat crossing the road - perhaps on her way home.

Happy Thursday!

Colonial Williamsburg Characters

For a historian like me, walking with and seeing historical characters alive and in action adds excitement to my day. (I know it's not the same for someone who doesn't like history.) Seeing them is exciting and how much more to seeing them giving a speech based on what happened on that specific day in history. I think that through re-enactment, learning history can be so much fun.

The marching band prepares at Revolutionary City.

He leads.

The drummers.

The auction begins at 1 PM.

I wanted that tea set, but the auction started a bit expensive. Nothing bad with taking home just the photo.

George Washington speaks of the issues of the day. (Audience are allowed to asked questions, and the actor must answer questions based on what was going on that certain day in history.)

Cooking the colonial way.

The peanut butter cookies were delicious.

The shoemaker's wife.

Is he going to work or at work already?

Actor interacting with park visitors.

A wonderful Tuesday to all!

Follow Me Back Tuesday

Happy Tuesday to all!

Williamsburg Flowers

I love flowers. 

Plate size white magnolia.

Bee on the job.

Whenever I see these, they remind me of buttons.

I don't know the name of these flowers but...

this is how they look like when they're in full bloom.

Promegranate flowers.

A flower wearing a bonnet.

Another one with a pointy hat.

Women's Clothing In Colonial America

While waiting in line to get into the Governor's Palace at Colonial Williamsburg, the gate usherette in full colonial costume started explaining what constitutes a woman's attire during colonial times. I was astounded at how many layers of garments they wore back then. I couldn't believe that a woman would be wearing a hat, a cape, a cloak, a mob cap, a shift, sleeve ruffles, stays (corsets), etc. all in one outfit. I kept thinking how constricting and hot would that have felt.

I took these photos (below) last weekend during my trip to Colonial Williamsburg. I've always been fascinated with how the women of colonial times endured wearing all these layers of clothing and still carried themselves so well. I honestly think that putting a gown on during the colonial times is a chore. Although it seems that colonial fashion were constricting to women, I still think they're lovely to photograph.

Please enjoy the photos below and the quotes I took from reading Baumgarten's research articles online regarding women and women's clothing during colonial times.

"For some, it is a wish to experience the beautiful fabrics, elaborate decoration, and tactile qualities; experiences no longer found in most of our own clothing. For others, it is a desire to understand people from the past a little better; if we know such details as how they dressed themselves in the morning, what it felt like to be laced into stays, or what it was like to wear coarse linen and woolen while working in a Virginia tobacco field, we might better understand the routine, human aspects of their daily lives, which are so seldom revealed in the written records they left." (Baumgarten, Linda. Looking At Eighteenth-Century Clothing. http://www.history.org/history/clothing/intro/clothing.cfm)

"When we look at ladies' corsets –"stays" –from the period, we cannot imagine how a woman could subject herself to such a garment. Yet the wearing of stays was as much linked to concepts of modesty and support as it was to figure shape; without her stays for most public occasions, a woman was considered not quite properly dressed at best and a "loose woman" at worst. Someone who had worn stays from girlhood might scarcely have questioned their comfort or lack of it. (And who is to say that stays were any more uncomfortable than pointed-toe, high-heeled twentieth-century shoes?)" (Baumgarten. http://www.history.org/history/clothing/intro/clothing.cfm)

The lady in costume is pregnant (not visible on photo), and I wondered what life would have been like for her during those times. "Women's lives in the eighteenth century usually centered on their families; there was little likelihood of a career outside the home. Women went into childbirth uncertain not only of their own survival but of their child's, as well. It was not uncommon for a woman to give birth seven or eight times during her life, with only five or six children surviving to adulthood. Despite high mortality rates, women expected to have large families. Esther Edwards Burr, mother of Aaron Burr, was daunted by her future prospects after the birth of her second child. She wrote in 1756, "When I had but one Child my hands were tied, but now I am tied hand and foot. (How I shall get along when I have got ½ dzn. or 10 Children I cant devise.)" (Baumgarten, Linda. Fashions of Motherhood. http://www.history.org/history/clothing/women/motherhood.cfm)

References:

Baumgarten, Linda. Fashions of Motherhood. http://www.history.org/history/clothing/women/motherhood.cfm.

Baumgarten.  Looking At Eighteenth-Century Clothing. http://www.history.org/history/clothing/intro/clothing.cfm

Travel And Genetics

Flowers at the historic Williamsburg.

I just had a four-day weekend, so I'm a bit reluctant to go back to work today. Saturday and Sunday were spent exploring the historic town of Williamsburg; that place never fails to enchant me. PW and I got our annual passes, so we can return and enjoy the park and museums anytime of this year. I'm so glad that summer is here (except for the humidity) because it also signals the start of summer road trips. I love going on road trips, and I'm hoping this summer will be filled with them. Travel, local or international, is such a wonderful passion because it never fails to teach me new things and appreciate what I already have.

Tuesday was spent at NIH for my usual aplastic anemia tests. I finally got my genetic test results and also got a good discussion about the possible genetic cause of my condition. I found out that aside from my aplastic anemia, I am also anemic. As of right now, they found out that my bone marrow is not producing enough platelets and white blood cells. It's not easy knowing all these because there's absolutely nothing I can do to treat my condition or even alleviate the annoying symptoms I go through almost every single day - except for the pain relievers I take as needed. I guess it is a matter of choice if I'll spend my days feeling helpless about my condition or live my life to the fullest. I choose the latter.

Green

Everything has turned green in my area and wildlife abounds. I took these photos a couple of weekends ago, when my friend and I were out enjoying the park.

Feathered friends kept the lake busy.

There were two of them, but I only managed to take a photo of one. I think they were building a nest.

A baby turtle, who probably can't wait to explore the vastness of the lake.

Wildflowers in bloom.

A snake sunbathing and didn't even budge when I took this photo.

A peaceful view.

Flowers.

Look beyond or through the bushes and you could see wildlife.

Turtles on a log.

A family out for a swim.

A family out for a hike.