riannagalvez

10.25.2015

Hello, dolls!! Hello, weekend!! <3 This week went by too fast! I can’t believe that our Florida trip was already a week ago. A lot of things happened since we left Fort Lauderdale. Beginning from the tormenting 8 hours that we had to endure because our flight was delayed due to a big mechanical issue with our plane. Instead of being mad, I learned to be more patient and understanding, I realized that it’s a blessing in disguise — I got to hold baby A longer that night and feed him the morning after (which we don’t get to do on weekdays).

The rest of the week was a roller coaster ride. From keeping up with work to big health issues. Baby A and I are nursing a cold right now and it’s definitely not easy! Saturday is our busiest day this week and the fact that I am not well is making it harder for me to do everything! I have to be at work in the morning, attend to our community yard sale as soon as I get home, then go to a wedding at night! This is the kind of day that I wish I have an extra hour to spare or split myself into 3.

I wrote about A’s 28th birthday celebration with our family a couple of weeks ago. The weather in October is beautiful so we are always inspired to celebrate his birthday all month long.

We went to a little neighborhood in DC. Since it was a little early for dinner, we decided to walk around and have a drink. Town Hall caught our attention because of the patio and the hip vibe it imposed.

We were supposed to go to Momofuku for dinner but as we were driving to DC, I told A we should try something different. He told me about Old Europe Restaurant and how he’s been wanting to go there since he found out about it. Continue reading “DC Diaries: Old Europe Restaurant” →

Fall 2015

Hello, dolls!! Hello, Thursday <3 I am 1 day away from our anniversary trip and I couldn’t be more excited!!! I know I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately but I really can’t help it! I started packing 3 days ago and can you believe I am still not done?? It’s really a challenge to pack for our little family although I have to admit, I really enjoy planning our outfits for the next 4 days (guess who is not packing light! lol).

Fall is currently my favorite season especially in terms of dressing up. The weather is just perfect so I get to play with some pieces from summer and accessorize with my favorite fall staples.

One of my favorite Fall OOTDs. I love brown and white together. This lace cardigan is my favorite summer cardigan! It makes any simple outfit look great.

Tooloulou is one of our favorite restaurants here in Baltimore. It’s so sad that they had to close. I really wish that they would open again cause I miss my Tooloulou salad with fried gator and my favorite dirty rice!!!

Here are some entries that I posted about Tooloulou

2012 ,     2013,   and 2015

Continue reading “Fall Diaries: OOTDs and Food” →

Hello, dolls! Hello, WEEEKEEEND! <3 We are one week away from our trip and I can’t wait. The airport is my happy place, A feels otherwise. He gets super stressed whenever it’s time for us to go to the airport. He feels like we are always running late — even though we are always there 4 hours before our flight for international and 2 for domestic! My excitement is more for baby A getting on a plane again. The real hard work of traveling with #MyABoys is me packing for the 3 of us. Traveling for a toddler equals to packing for 2 adults. Yaaay me! 😛

Spring is going to be extra hectic for us. Starting next week, we have great adventures planned every weekend until the end of May (as far as I know…) then summer is going to be all about baby A! Can’t believe my boy is going to be 2 soon!! I started planning his birthday party and I can’t wait!!!

I love celebrating A’s birthday month! He works very hard so whenever we get the chance to go on adventures together, I make sure he eats a lot of Asian food! When he turned 28, we pretty much ate Asian food all month.

Sunday dinner date at My Thai. 

Authentic Thai food in Baltimore. We got interested to go to My Thai because they won the Mason Dixon Culinary Competition. It is worth the trip because everything that A and I ordered was really good!  Continue reading “A’s 28th” →

09.14.15

Hello, dolls! Hello, APRIL!! <3 This month is going to be filled with sooo much love! April is special to me because it’s our anniversary month. I spend the entire month of March thinking about the great adventures that we have planned. This year, we are including baby A on our anniversary weekend again. Like I said in my post NJ Diaries: Summer ,we are going to include him in our celebration because we have 2 weekends lined up without him so being the sentimental Momma that I am, I think being away from him for 2 weekends in a year is enough… for now lol.

I have exactly 2 weeks until our trip and I’ve been so busy trying to prepare for it. My excitement is through the roof as I think about being at my happy place (the airport) with baby A again. I am seriously thinking of packing now, but I know for sure that I will be seeing prospective outfits for our trip between tomorrow and the 19th lol! I am going to TRY my best to pack light so A doesn’t lose his sanity when he loads everything in the car.

One of the things that A and I love to do every year is to go on a picnic <3

It has always been my dream to go on a picnic date. I remember putting that in my notebook when I was 17. I couldn’t be any happier that it’s A who made it happen <3 Continue reading “Picnic Date” →

08.31.15: Orioles Vs Rays

Hello, dolls! Hello, Opening Day!!! Today’s blog is pretty timely because I will be sharing my first experience at Camden Yards. Earlier this month, I shared on this blog Our Greek Wedding. My girlfriends Alyza and Joana traveled all the way from the South to witness us say “I do” (for the third time lol). I couldn’t be any happier! To be with the girls that know me so well in Baltimore that weekend definitely made my 2015 one of the best.

I was so busy with work and the wedding, so unfortunately I wasn’t able to plan anything for the only day for me to take my girls around Baltimore. Thank God my best friends are not high maintenance! They were up to do anything.

Our coordinating outfits were coincidental. #GMTA

1. Visit the Inner Harbor

A and I decided to take them to the Inner Harbor.  Any Baltimore trip is not complete without seeing this beautiful view.

The Inner Harbor has attractions for everyone, from families, couples, or individuals who are up for a new adventure. The National Aquarium is a must-see especially because it has been known to be the best in the country. There are cool ships docked by the water, the mall if you want to go shopping, and restaurants surrounding the water so no one will get hungry for sure! Everything is walking distance so you can just park your car in one of the garages (which is not as expensive as New York, DC, or Philadelphia! ;P ) Continue reading “4 Fun Things To Do in Baltimore” →

08.2015

Hello, dolls!! Hello, weekend!! <3 The perfect word to describe this week is refreshing. I got my snow day in the middle of my work week and it was AMAZING! It felt like a “mini weekend” since I got off at 3PM on Tuesday and was able to go in a little later on Thursday. Getting extra time with baby A is always a blessing for me. My time is very calculated. Since my work schedule doesn’t change, I was able to come up with a schedule that works for me as a Mom and an individual. So whenever I get extra time in a week, I get super ecstatic! It means more time with my family and more things for me to accomplish.

Spring is officially here but it doesn’t feel like it! Baby A and I are so ready to wear lighter clothes! lol Though I have to say, I am just SO ready to put away his winter stuff so I can have room for the new ones!

I am almost done with my 2015 entries. I know I know, it’s not ideal but I have so MANY great adventures from the past 3 years and I would hate to not share it!

Whenever A and I get a night off on a weekend, we make sure we go somewhere nice to eat. Being in the food industry, we see it as an opportunity to learn something new. As husband and wife, it’s a great way for us to spend quality time and catch up 😉

Continue reading “Birroteca” →

08.27.15: Celebrating Birthdays From Miles Away

Hello, dolls! Hello, SPRING!!! <3 So the forecast for this week is keeping my hopes up. We are expecting snow for the next two days and here I am watching the weather news like a hawk! GIVE ME MY SNOW DAY THIS YEAAAAR!

One of the challenges of living away from my family is the reality that I can’t be with them to share every special moment. Growing up, my parents made sure that WE will always be there to support one another. From little contests in school, pageants, or sports activities. It doesn’t matter if our participation is big, what’s important is that when we look at the audience, we will see the rest of the family.

I still try to celebrate special moments even though I am far away from them. I make sure I do something that will remind me of my family. For instance, when my brother turned 23 three years ago, I decided to go to Georgetown Cupcakes because that’s one of the places that he told me to go when he found out I am going to the US for my internship.

Read about my first Georgetown Cupcake visit here.

Look at ’em perfect babies <3 Continue reading “DC Diaries: Georgetown” →

08.30.15: Third Time is “the” Charm

“You are my today and all of my tomorrows”

Whenever I tell people I got married thrice, they give me a funny look. They often think I am exaggerating! I then jokingly say ” yeah…I married the same man 3 times…..unfortunately (followed by a wink)!”. Then they ask me how, where, and why we had 3 weddings.It’s a beautiful long story.  Today, let me share with your our third wedding! <3

I remember being nervous and very happy that day! I looked around and I honestly couldn’t express how happy I am that we were given the chance to say “I do” in front of our family and friends here in the US. Not everyone gets the chance to celebrate with EVERYONE that they love, but we did!

Our Greek wedding was less stressful compared to our wedding in Manila. I love how we were able to celebrate and enjoy every moment of it without worrying about something going wrong. Continue reading “Our Greek Wedding” →

07.19.2015

Hello, dolls! Hello, weekend!! <3 Is it weird that I am kind of disappointed that I did not get any snow days this year? 😛 I know I at least have 10 days left until we officially welcome Spring, but anything that would save me from waking up at 4AM seems to be out of the equation. I know I’ve mentioned this a gazillion times already, but summer this year is going to be AMAZING and I can’t stop thinking about it! I am already dreaming about our little “traditions” and how baby A is going to be part of them this year. One of the events that I enjoy going to is Artscape.

Artscape is an annual event held in Baltimore, Maryland — Mt. Royal specifically where I used to work! 🙂 It is America’s largest free arts festival with over 350,000 attendees every year — trust me, I know this because I had to serve thousands of people in 3 days!  The theme every year is different and there are performers that people look forward to.

Mt. Royal is the perfect spot for Artscape. It’s the center of arts in Baltimore so there is always something interesting to see. I remember adoring the buildings in the area whenever I walk to my yoga class from work.

It could get really hot and crowded so major tip, be comfortable! 🙂 Continue reading “Artscape 2015” →

Summer 2015

Hello, dolls! Hello, March <3 Two months down..wow! Is it just me or is 2018 flying by too fast? I may have said this sometime last month, but I honestly feel like I can’t keep up with time anymore. With so many things lined up for us until the first week of May, I know I am going to be a busy Mama…what who am I kidding? June is going to be busy too with baby A’s birthday and lots of summer adventures with my A boys. So I guess it’s safe to say that the first half of the year is going to be VERY memorable.

Anyway, I sometimes think about my life before baby A. How I was okay working a million hours every week and sacrificing my day off once in a while. I also like to think about how I spent my “me” time. How easy it was to get 8 hours of sleep without getting interrupted and going on with my day hoping I could at least get a full hour to watch my show and write a blog. You see I got a lot of time for myself before, but I have never been this happy and content. I used to make lists just to push myself to be productive. Now, I know I could sleep at night knowing I did something great to make my day meaningful.

2015 was all about being the best sister for my OG partner in crime, Chella.

Here’s the link to the blog I wrote a couple of months ago when our adventure together here in Baltimore started. Read about it here. Continue reading “Ate Diaries: Summer 2015” →

2016

Hello, dolls! Hello, March!! <3 Today marks my first year at my current job. When I look back to the past year, the first thing that comes to mind is how I have learned to be patient…like really really patient. I decided to make a change because I want a better schedule. I am tired of leaving baby A before he is even awake and coming home to him with only an hour to bond. I wasn’t sure if I could get a job that has a different schedule but the same position (and let’s be honest, no pay cut!). With lots of prayer and faith that things will get better, a job that was unexpected came up…so here I am, enjoying every night and weekends with my baby A.

I mentioned that I learned to be patient, and I think it’s because of all the times that I wanted to give up, I would just think of the things that I had to sacrifice to get where I am. I am NOT a morning person, so when I was told that I have to be in the kitchen by 5AM, I thought I wouldn’t last. I had to wake up at 3AM to pump milk for baby A and leave before 4:4AM0 to get to work a little before 5AM — I really thought I wouldn’t make it after 3 months LOL! But here I am, on my first year surviving each day with a smile. I think the biggest test of my patience is the fact that I am used to running a kitchen a certain way and I feel like I have to approach things in a different way…somehow pushing me to forget the majority of the things that I learned from my previous jobs.But hey! I have never been happier and more satisfied…especially with how things are going with our family <3

To commemorate my workversary I would like to share a glimpse of what I do at work.

Here are the specials that I made during my first year as an Executive Chef <3

You will see that I used beets and heirloom tomatoes like crazy. Since they were in season, I used them graciously for over 3 months.

Seared Rockfish with Red Beet Gnocchi and Buerre Blanc Continue reading “WORKversary!” →

07.2015 : Summer Before A

Hello, dolls! Hello, Sunday!! <3 Spring is fast approaching so here I am dreaming about all the activities that we will do as a family. The weekend that I am looking forward the most to in spring is our anniversary! I am excited because it is going to be our first big trip as a family this year. I am already getting comments from friends asking me why we are bringing baby A to our trip… since it’s our “anniversary”. Truthfully, it’s because I already know we have 2 trips lined up this year without him — I kind of feel like that’s enough for a year to go on a great adventure just the 2 of us (for now at least lol). Also, I do not want to wait until summer to go on a big adventure with my A boys! Besides, we have a bigger one planned after baby A’s birthday <3

Anyway, it’s amazing to see what we did a year before A was born. How we had no clue we are going to be parents sooner than we thought. Weekend trips were pretty easy before, we could be out the door in 10 minutes or less. Now, we are lucky if we could pack the car in 20 minutes and not rush back to the house again after locking all the doors because we forgot something! lol

Long Beach Island, New Jersey

If you want to enjoy the beach with your family, this is the perfect spot. No bars steps away from the sand = no rowdy drunk people!

Quick trip to the beach with my man and sissy <3 Continue reading “New Jersey Diaries: Summer 2015” →

Spring 2015: Life before baby A

Hello,dolls! Hello, 5th entry this month (yay!). I have important weekends coming up in the next 4 months. They are still a jumble in my head so here I am trying to declutter and get organized. There’s a part of me that is afraid to flip through my planner because that will remind me how fast time is running and get realize that life is indeed too short. I get emotional like that when I start to overthink things. I mean, is it just me? I guess when you live your life away from your family for quite some time, you start to value time even more. Much more when you have a beautiful 20-month-old who makes you wish that time would just stop e v e r y d a y.

Today, I was thinking a lot about my future. What I want to do and accomplish in the next 5 years and how I can make it all happen. You see, I am the kind of person who loves to look forward to “something” whether it’s a weekend getaway, a shopping trip, or investing in something big. There are times when I am okay with time going by fast, especially when I am excited about something.

My goals were very different 5 years ago. I remember telling myself to keep on pushing to work 60-70 hours a week so I can be recognized by my superiors. Now, I want to spend most of my time with baby A. I made changes in my career to have more time outside work without jeopardizing my position. Needless to say, I am just as happy as I was 5 years ago — maybe even more.

Before baby A, my “weekends” would involve binge watching my shows,going out with A for the entire day, and staying up late that we would often fall asleep on the couch. Now, I have to say that my weekends are more fruitful — I am more productive, going out with baby A is always an adventure for me, and discovering restaurants as a family has become one of the things I look forward to when I am off.

A and I went to A LOT of restaurants before baby A. It felt like a reward after being on our feet for n hours every week.

One of my all time favorite restaurants in Baltimore is The Food Market. It was an abrupt decision to go to Hampden that night. I was supposed to go to Hershey Park to see Van Halen with A, Ali, and Peter. Unfortunately, the concert got canceled the last minute!!! I felt bad for A and P but it was for the best……..for me hahahahaha

Continue reading “Baltimore Eats 2015” →

Hello, dolls!! Hello, weekend!!! <3 This weekend went by so fast — and I love it!! I am finally enjoying my weekend with #MyABoys!! So if you have noticed, my blog is starting to be active again. This year, I am committing to a lot of things this year, one of which is to post more! So far, with my 4th entry this month, I think I am doing pretty well 😛

A and I are starting to seriously plan our trips this year. We are only 2 months away from our anniversary so I know reservations have to made soon because with all of the events and gatherings we have for some of the weekends in between, we pretty much only have a month left to get this trip planned!

All the planning and researching are making me think about Manila a lot. So for my entry this weekend, I would like to share with you our last few days in MNL which will conclude our MNL trip in 2015. And a little bit of our first month as a married couple in Baltimore.

Coming back to Baltimore as husband and wife <3

I married someone that I want to travel the world with! Can’t think of anyone else <3 Continue reading “MNL Diaries: See you again, MNL (2015)” →

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Hello, dolls!! Hello, Valentine’s Day! <3 I have mixed emotions about Valentine’s Day. In my previous posts about February 14, I would always mention how I see it as a family occasion. If you haven’t read any of my VDay posts yet, here are the links:

Valentine’s Day 2012

Valentine’s Day 2012 pt. 2

Valentine’s Lunch Date 2012

Valentine’s Day 2013

Valentine’s Day 2013 Pt. 2

Valentine’s Day 2014

Valentine’s Day 2015

Valentine’s Date 2015

Okaaaay. So now that my long list is done,  maybe now you fully understand how I feel towards Valentine’s Day. We are keeping it simple this year,A planned a really good menu for my parents and us — double date vibes at home! He asked me if I want to go out just the two of us, I happily declined and said it would be nice to spend the weekend with our family in NJ instead. I would normally say yes and start planning my outfit, but with a couple of trips coming up before baby A’s birthday, there will be a lot of solo time for us…so yeah 😉

If you are Manila and still wondering where to go for Valentine’s, Hole In The Wall is a great place to go to. Especially for couples who are adventurous.

It was our last day in Manila, so we wanted to go to a place that hasn’t been around since I lived in Manila to make things extra exciting for us.  Continue reading “MNL Diaries: Hole In The Wall” →

07.06.15: 

Hello,dolls!! Hello, February! <3 Before I start my entry…let me just say how This Is Us (a remarkable US TV show) has been crushing my soul with every episode. I spent the day after the “Superbowl” episode looking at IG stories so I could spoil it for myself. YUP! I know I wouldn’t be able to handle it so I wanted to prepare myself. But just like everyone else that bawled their eyes out, Jack Pearson stole my heart and left it bleeding!! I have yet to watch the episode last night, and I am not sure if I am ready for another heavy episode! Lucky for me, I was able to convince A to hold my hand as I watch Jack be the best husband and Dad that he is when I watched episode 14 of season 2 aka Superbowl (AKA THE SADDEST EPISODE ON TV EVER!!! next to McDreamy’s of course).

Okay..so now that my “This Is Us” thoughts are out, let me move on to my real topic. I know we are still a couple of months away from summer, but it’s never too early to plan for it. One of the things that I love to do is blueberry picking.

When my sister lived here for over a year, I made sure that our Mondays will be filled with adventures. One of my favorite trips with her was when we went blueberry and cherry picking.

My friends know that anything that involves stepping on grass is something that I am not fond of. BUT if it’s food related, I would definitely give it a go! Like fruit picking or winery tours! lol Continue reading “Farm Girls” →

06.19.16: Current Reality

Hello, dolls! How’s your 2018 so far? Can you believe we are already halfway through the first month of the new year? The past 5 weeks seems like a dream to me. To come home from work and have my entire family waiting for me. To wake up and know that I can physically be with my siblings for the rest of the day. To be taken care of and feel like a kid because my parents are here to help me with e v e r y t h i n g. I talked about perfection in my last post. (Read about it here. ) My perfect family moment is about to end. I hate send-offs, it leaves a hole in my heart.

My family and I have to do this several times in a year. After weeks and weeks of being surrounded by so much love and laughter, we have to go back to our “current reality”… talking on Viber and posting on social media to update each other. This is my family’s second trip to the US, this time it’s extra memorable because aside from finally spending Christmas together again, we were able to express what we want to happen in the future. Before, we would leave our sentences with “let’s see what happens next year”. Now, we are saying “we are going to make it happen”. It’s a great plan to hold on to, a scary one, but to know that we are all on the same page about being together is a big thing for all of us.

So as we set the table with one less plate tonight, I will keep on praying that there will be less sends off in the coming years (which by the way started last year! Thank you, Lord!!). When my life here in the US started, I was only setting the table for myself. I remember not wanting to eat or cook at my apartment because it would only bring me sadness since I had to eat alone. Then came A…. I found someone that took me away from that lonely situation, and made me realize that life here is not so bad after all because I have him to share the table with <3

P.S. I wrote this intro 3 weeks ago. #SMH

Since Valentine’s is right around the corner, let me share with you one of my favorite date nights from 2016 and show you a simple way to celebrate LOVE <3 

It was rare for A and I to have weekends off. For all the years that we both worked in the kitchen, I would say we probably only got 10 weekends — this is me exaggerating btw! So whenever we do, we make sure that we do something really awesome. Our favorite? Eat GREAT food!

The entrance is hallway #goals!!

Continue reading “Cunningham’s x Warby Parker” →

April 2015: VIGAN

Hello, dolls! Hello, 2018! WHAT A YEAR IT HAS BEEN!! I am saying it with so much love and joy as I officially welcome another BLESSED year — yup! I am claiming it already <3 I believe we all have our own version of perfect. Mine is the feeling I get in my heart…like that warm feeling that makes my world stop and stays in my mind forever.

I have a lot of perfect moments in my life. When I put on my wedding dress, as Klariz zipped me up on our wedding day, I knew it was the perfect dress for because of the feeling that I got.  That moment they put baby A in my arms 18 months ago, I knew he’s perfect — his tiny fingers moving as I held him close to my heart. Perfect is also when my family and I are complete. We don’t get to have a lot of “perfect” days in a year but when we do, we make sure that we have enough memories to hold onto for the rest of the year.

It’s been almost 6 years since I started my journey here in the US. If I add up all of the times that my family is complete, it would only amount to 1 year, I used to dwell on this — how I miss celebrating birthdays, graduations, and the holidays with them.

With God’s grace, I haven’t felt homesick since my sister came here in the US for her internship.

For my first entry this year, I would like to share the second part of our Ilocos adventure. Read the first part here

Continue reading “PHL Diaries: Ilocos 2015 – Vigan” →

April 2015: First Roadtrip as Husband and Wife

Hello, dolls!!MERRY CHRISTMAS!! <3 It’s truly a Merry Christmas for me because FINALLY!! After 4 years, I am finally with my family during the holidays. It wasn’t an easy journey to get everyone here but with God’s grace, our dream of being together for Christmas came true. It has been a crazy busy week as my family catch up and make the most of their time here.

Having my family here reminds me so much of my life in the Philippines. I love waking up to the smell of garlic fried rice on weekends and how my Dad asks me if I am hungry every 10 minutes (like for real). Following the core of our holiday traditions and adding some of A’s made our Christmas extra memorable this year. It reminded me of our union 2 years ago and how we embraced each other’s family values and created a version that is perfect for our little family <3

In 4 months, A and I will be married for 3 years. We started our marriage by being with our families. Like there was no “solo honeymoon” phase for us because every day was allotted to going on adventures with them. Not that I am complaining! Our entire wedding trip was memorable because we got to spend A LOT of time with both of our families.

One of the things that we planned to do with Peter and Ali was to go to the beach.

I know…I know… why not Palawan or Boracay….

First of all, they were in the Philippines for a short time. Short, in the sense of us spending most of their time doing wedding stuff. It was hard to plan a trip to an island with not enough time, so instead, we went on a road trip. Continue reading “PHL Diaries: Ilocos 2015” →