This week's Happy Planner spread came together with The Happy Planner Neutral Watercolors Sticker Book. No special reason, really, other than the fact that it's been sitting in my planner bag for weeks now.
And yes, I have a planner bag.
My old Sunnies tote, which I used to carry as my crafting grab bag when we go to trips, has officially been promoted into my home planner bag. Since I don't journal exclusively in my craft room anymore, I love being able to grab one bag and settle down anywhere in the house to plan, journal, or decorate my pages. It's surprisingly convenient! Maybe I should blog about my home bags - my journal bag and my watercolor bag. Hehe. But for now, here is my planner bag!
I have mentioned before that I rarely reach for this sticker book because the neutral palette is just a little too... neutral for a bright-color-loving girlie like me. But somehow, I've found myself using it more often lately. Then I realized why, there are already so many almost-empty pages! Maybe thinking I never used it actually made me use it more.
For this week's spread, I included these little reminders:
Breathe in all the possibility that today holds.
Dream big.
Growth is growth no matter how small.
Choose to shine.
A new day. A new start.
I also spent some time catching up on my other journals. I finally finished my September pages in The Daily Stampede (although it's much lighter than usual since our September trip already has its own Stamped Adventures spread), updated my stamp punch journal, and, of course, added to my reading journal.
Life Lately
Last week included another road trip with friends, this time with dinner (plus a little shopping) in Bahrain.
We ended up at Pinoy Turo again, and because I've been loyal to Bahay Kubo since day one, I've been deliberately ordering dishes I've already tried at both restaurants just so I can compare them.
So far, Pinoy Turo wins when it comes to:
Crispy Pata
Mixed Vegetables
Palabok
Tokwa't Baboy
Variety of drink choices
The only category where Bahay Kubo still holds the crown? Liempo.
Another exciting discovery this week was Primark! We finally have one nearby, which means I don't have to wait until our next Europe trip for a Primark haul. I honestly expected Middle East prices to be much higher, but they were surprisingly reasonable. We even found comfy pambahay shirts for around Php220 each!
Then we went had coffee at Timeout Market before driving back to Saudi.
A few days later, my friend Che and her daughter visited for another afternoon of crafting and chikahan. They brought pasalubong from Manila, including another can of Spam to add to our ever-growing "special occasion" Spam collection. They also brought Reno and Nestea, things you don't realize you've been missing until someone hands them to you.
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| Handmade bracelet by Che |
Che also spoiled us with homemade pasta. One was olive oil with shrimp and chorizo (I still don't know the proper name for it!) and the other was carbonara. Both were absolutely delicious. She brought one tray each of the pasta and even after we all had dinner that night, we still had lots of leftover. Here is dinner #2 where I added garlic bread and garlic parmesan wings:
Outlet Shopping, Cotton Candy & A Fancy Cinema
Over the weekend, we finally visited Khobar Mall after hearing about it from practically all our friends.
Our main mission was finding Ton a suit.
We ended up inside Sacoor Brothers, which, if you don't know, is one of the more premium clothing brands here in Saudi.
Funny story...
The first time we ever wandered into a Sacoor Brothers store months ago, we made a very quick exit after seeing neckties that cost more than the Marks & Spencer long-sleeve shirts we had just bought.
So when we saw a coat and pants set priced at SAR5,000 (around Php75,000), Ton was ready to leave immediately.
But Che had told me beforehand that the prices weren't what they seemed, so I confidently marched to the cashier to ask.
Good thing I did.
Long story short... we bought the suit.
I'm keeping the final price a secret, but it ended up being around the same price, or maybe even a little less, than the Onesimus suit we bought in Manila last year.
So so so worth it. We had it altered and it should be ready by now. We just haven't been able to pick it up.
After that we wandered around the outlet stores, finally saw the much-talked-about SHEIN physical store (my guess is that's where the returns end up!), and, naturally, I couldn't resist trying the cotton candy vending machine because... cotton candy is one of my favorites.
Later that evening we headed to Al Rashid Mall to watch Verity.
The only available screening happened to be in the Premier Cinema. Tickets were SAR 150 (around Php 2,250) each compared to the regular SAR 35 (around Php 525) tickets, and even the cashier looked concerned that we were buying them.
The cashier cannot explain the difference apart from saying that it's VIP. So, I Googled.
Turns out the Premier experience includes access to a private lounge, reclining Lazy Boy-style seats, and butler service during the movie. Food isn't included, but you can order anything while watching.
Exclusive Lounge:
To be fair, For a once-in-a-while movie date, it was a really fun experience.
As for the movie itself... I think we definitely missed out because we're watching it in Saudi, and I'm pretty sure the steamy scenes were cut. I also found Dakota Johnson's performance a bit flat. It reminded me of Kristen Stewart in Twilight, very little emotion throughout. So the only reason why she was cast for the role, we weren't able to watch. haha. And yes, the book really is better.
Tiny Updates
And so here we are again, both Saui 1 and Saui 2 have now officially gone to Tamagotchi heaven.
So my Angelgotchi list now looks like this:
Mochi Angel #1a & #1b - September 10-20
Saui Angel #2a & #2b - September 23-October 4
I think I'll take a little Tamagotchi break for now.
I also finished my very first book for October and am now happily scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, and Threads looking for my next reads.
Crafty Corner
It was another productive crafting week!
Bee Happy
I played with Kindli again and made Jibbitz for my new Crocs, along with a matching bracelet charm.
Speaking of Kindli...
When my friend saw the Sailor Moon characters I previously made using patterns I created in Google Sheets, she shared that her husband had made patterns for 251 Pokémons years ago!
He actually gifted us an pixel art of our photo for our engagement back in 2014 and here it is:
Anyway, back to the Pokedex, I immediately started with Charmander. Hehe!
I also finished a pop-up card for one of my Quicklies due on the 7th. Somewhere along the way I accidentally signed up for four projects with the same deadline (oops!), but I'm happy to say I've already completed two.
Kelly Bangs Creative
Kelly Bangs is officially back in Christmas mode!
For October's Tinsel All the Way collection, I created my usual mini album, and I already know I'll be making more projects with this collection.
Kendra's Card Challenge
I finally finished my 15 cards for this month's challenge using Mintay Papers' Home for Christmas collection.
I'll be sharing them in a separate post soon, but for now I'm featuring one of the cards here.
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We also have an ongoing #KCC24 Instagram Hop, and I created my hop card using Polkadoodles' Winnie Autumn Wishes collection. If you'd like to join the fun, start with Kendra's post here.
Mintay Papers
The biggest highlight of my week?
My Mintay Papers International Scrapbooking Day prize finally arrived!
It was such a special moment that it deserved its own blog post, so if you haven't seen it yet, be sure to check it out here.
I also created cards for World Card Making Day, which I shared in another post as well. Read about it here! It has definitely been a very Mintay-filled week, and I'm not complaining one bit.
Other crafty-ventures!
I also finally filmed and edited my foam tape hack reel, something I've been meaning to share for quite some time.
And next on my crafty list is starting a brand-new journaling project with Romy, which I'm really excited about.
This Week's Menu
Oh and I almost forgot, here's a Starbacs drink!
As always, thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you're having a wonderful start to October. With only 80 days until Christmas, it's definitely beginning to feel like the holiday crafting season has officially arrived.
Happy crafting and see you in my next update!
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