I am proud to say that I successfully hired my first household helper. In the US we would commonly refer to this as a maid, but she’s going to do so much more than just clean that it isn’t a sufficient name (nor do they have an equivalent for maid in Tagalog). And so we use...
Sarah Novak
Great news – we have internet! I can’t tell you how much I missed it. I do believe I’ve developed something of an addiction, as it’s my primary means of communication now. I practically hugged the internet guy when he came today. I stopped myself just in...
Greetings all – Hello from hot, sticky Manila. I have lots of little updates to give, so I’m just going to fill this post with various subjects of my interest (and hopefully yours). Where to start… I had a fabulous 29th birthday. I indulged in a massage, took a nap, had...
I never thought it possible, but I managed to find a gym that has Bodypump classes in Manila (and it’s within walking distance of our place!) A little background on Bodypump… it’s a fabulous weight routine where you do 10 tracks in one hour, each of which is coreographed...
apparently do not mix. I ventured into my first salon on Monday to get a much-needed trim. As I previously mentioned, I already stick out horribly amongst the dark-haired, dark-skinned Filipinos. What I had failed to notice was that no women have short hair cuts. The most racy look is a...
Yesterday was the BIG DAY – Photography class started! Just to refresh your memories, this was the class that I had found online and registered for back in June. It takes place over 5 Sundays for a total of 40 hours of fun-filled learning about digital SLR photography. Let’s...
Hi folks – Still in the internet cafe, so I apologize, but it’s not a good environment to write in. Here’s a little highlight from the last 24 hours: Nick and I are woken up at 2 AM by a shrieking fire alarm in the building. He peeks out the door and sees mild smoke near...
Hi all- We’ve safely landed in Manila and are adjusting rapidly to our new life. It’s exhaustingly hot, but the people are so kind that you just forget about the heat. I have been going nonstop and Nick has been trying his darndest to get me to sit down. I just can’t...
Honestly, I did nothing all day except eat on day 2. And it was FABULOUS! I love food and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I don’t like to do it all the time, but a well-researched gem in a new city is a delicious splurge. Here are my reviews of our picks. First up for lunch was...
Day 1 of our trek to Manila is complete. The day started out a little rough, requiring us to awake at 4 AM to catch our flight. I hadn’t slept very well, most likely because I was so eager to get going. Any crabbiness I had in me was washed away by the fabulous in-flight experience...
Well, pack-out day is over and we did manage to survive it…. While we did have a moving team running the move, we still had the difficult task of splitting everything up between 3 categories: Things we hand-carry (2 suitcases a person) Things we send via air shipment (up to 450...
Today I’m going to educate you on the concept of the Escape Bag. First, a brief history on my introduction to the Escape Bag. When Nick and I had been dating for a few months I started to become annoyed by this black messenger bag that sat right in his living room next to the TV. We...
I have a feeling that I’m going to get some flack for this post, but I’m going for it anyways. Think of it as a Public Service Message (only via the internet). Having gone through the recent process of completing our wills recently, I started asking around to get a sense of...
Well, given that nearly every facet of my life is in transition right now, it makes sense that my business would need an evolution as well. I think most of you know this, but I’ve been a life coach since 2007. It was by far the best leap I ever took (next to marrying Nick, of course...
The shopping is done. FINALLY. I feel complete now with my Ravioli and Diet Coke rations. Nick and I comprised on the final numbers and here’s what I ended up bringing: 20 – 12 packs of coke for a total of 240 cans over 730 days (roughly 1 every 3 days). I currently drink 2...
Sorry folks! All this packing has been getting in the way of my blogging. I’m going to attempt 2 posts today to make up for it! This tardy post is a follow-up from last weekend’s trip to Philly. We found this incredible lodging and I just have to share it with you so that...
Today was a big day – we knocked out all the Costco purchases in one run. Pretty amazing. It’s a huge relief to have that crossed off. I used to feel like $1000 got you so much more – welcome to 2009, I guess! While this pile in itself would be manageable, unfortunately...
We got back on Sunday from a relaxing weekend in Philly. We were in desperate need of a getaway, as our place is becoming overrun with foodstuffs and paper products as we wrap up our shopping. It seemed like an ideal destination – only 3 hours away and home of my sister Beth and her...
Wow! We are officially less than 2 weeks out from Wheels Up. It’s hard to believe. I want to thank you all for being such diligent followers of the blog – it topped 150 readers one day last week. We really appreciate your support and the fact that you’re keeping tabs on...
If I was to pick out the one singular dance performance I’ve seen that’s stuck with me for years, it would be Parson Dance Company‘s “Caught”. In this video excerpt, you’ll see David Parsons himself performing. The first half is more lyrical in nature...
If we’re talking about all-time favorites in dance, then I would definitely have to give my vote to Diavolo Dance Company, which I’ve seen perform 3 times at St. Ben’s. They blow my mind each and every time! The company is out of Los Angeles, where Artistic Director...
It’s all dance for the rest of the week! I’m feeling inspired by the arts lately, so we’re going to feature some great work. Since I haven’t done any dance videos on the blog yet, that seemed like the perfect selection for this week. First up is Complexions...
….to becoming an amateur photographer! Today I ventured out with our brand new Canon Rebel Xsi Digital SLR camera. If I’m being honest, I must confess that we’ve had the thing for 3 weeks now and I’ve been so scared of it that I mostly just stared at it in its case...
Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend a fabulous coaching workshop in the DC metro area. One of the keynote speakers was a man named Michael Bungay Stanier, the 2006 Canadian Coach of the Year and owner of Box of Crayons. The premise of his recent work is that we spend too much time...
Today we’re going to learn some fun facts about the Philippines, so that you can be as knowledgeable as I am about this great country! Here we go: The Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7,107 islands. Luzon is the largest island in the archipelago and includes Manila...
Refreshingly fun on a Tuesday! A shout out to all the twins in the world!
We’re all about new experiences lately and this definitely fit the bill. My in-laws live on beautiful Chesapeake Bay and they invited us over for a crab-eating shindig before we left the country. All in all there were 7 of us there, 6 of which were employed in the foreign service at...
Whenever I’m new to something, I like to observe and information gather for a period at the beginning. Given that the Foreign Service is like an entirely new planet that I landed in, you can make the assumption that I need to do lots and lots of observation. This helps me in a...
Oh my goodness gracious. What is happening to my life!? I just picked up a package at the post office and learned that I am now the proud owner of a Head Flashlight. Nick was in charge of ordering us some nice durable flashlights and THIS is what he got for us. Note to self: do not...
Oh my gosh. This is really happening. We are exactly one month out from leaving! That is insane. For those of you wondering about the Wheels Up reference above, it references the wheels going up on the plane (during take-off). Yet another term that I needed to be educated on for my new...
Perhaps you didn’t know this, but I am an ICE CREAM JUNKIE. I love it, love it, love it. In fact, in 2007 I committed to eating ice cream a minimum of once a day from Memorial Day to Labor Day (successfully completed)! I also allow myself to eat ice cream for all 3 meals on my...
Never been much of a cake girl, so the thought of spending loads of money on something I don’t enjoy pretty much seemed pointless. Now ice cream, that’s a different story! Izzy’s Ice Cream had long been our favorite ice cream shops, as it was the site of one of our most...
From the very beginning Nick and I were set on NOT having a DJ. Originally, we thought a concert would be neat, but I couldn’t get the artist to agree to do it (he doesn’t do weddings). Then we tried for a Dueling Piano group but they were out of our price range unless we did...
The choice of venue for the reception was perhaps the easiest decision I made. We were set on St. Paul for the location, so I set up tours for 317 on Rice Park, The James J. Hill Library, The MN Boat Club and the Union Depot. It was no contest. We walked into the Union Depot and I knew...
Perhaps the hands-down coolest thing we did at our wedding was hire a wedding painter. Yes, that’s right! A real, live wedding painter who created a complete picture during the course of the reception. I’m sure you’re curious how I found her. Well, my whole motto for the...
Today’s wedding vendor feature is the harpist that we had play during the cocktail hour. Her name is Laurie Leigh and I found her at a bridal fair. What I loved right from the start about her was that a.) she played the HARP (so cool) and b.) she played very non-traditional harp...
Being that I have event planning in my blood, it’s hard to wrap up an event without sharing some of the magnificent resources that I came across during the planning. I’m all about sharing and I was so darn pleased with how it went off. So what we’re going to do is each...
I know some of you never thought you’d see the day when I would be an early adapter for technological goods. Heck, I didn’t even own a cell phone until I was 21. WHOA. I’ve come a long way! I think my new interest in this area is largely due to the increased quality of...
I know this is what you’ve all been waiting for – our COMPLETE wedding gallery. Warning. There are approximately 900 shots in the gallery, so we’ve broken them down into smaller chunks for your viewing pleasure. For those of you wanting to see just the highlights, select...
Seriously, who’d have thought choosing a hat or two would be such a challenging thing? Now, you may ask, “Why get a hat anyway?” I’d be thinking the exact same thing if I weren’t porcelain-skinned and heading to the equator. I’ll probably have...
Many of you know this, but for the past 6 years I’ve had the honor of being Estelle’s “Big Sister” in the Big Brother, Big Sister program. We have grown incredibly close over the years, so much so that she was one of my personal attendants for the wedding last...
Here it is folks, the last video from the day. SIGH. It’s hard to comprehend that it’s over. I can see why brides go through a little post-event let-down period. Rest assured, I’ll be on to something new by the afternoon. Nick’s off learning to save me at CPR class...
Here’s the first round of speeches from Janet (Sarah’s Mom), Robert (Nick’s Dad) and Sarah Jansen (Sarah’s friend)… I’m working on the last upload for tomorrow (another speech and our first dance). Enjoy!
Yes! I’m married AGAIN! The 2nd time was equally magical. Over the next week or two, I’ll share some of the details of the event – from the vendors I used to my favorite pics. Today we’ll start with a highlight reel from the Ceremony. I’d write more, but...
As many of you know, we’re T minus 5 days and counting until Wedding number 2 in Minnesota. Sorry about the lack of blogging, there’s just so many darn programs left to fold…. I couldn’t resist this post though. It turns out that one of the newest celebrity trends...
As you know, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time on airplanes recently. In the April version of the Delta Skymag, they had a hilarious section about new slang words that have been created due to the infusion of technology in our lives. I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I...
Well, here’s your chance. Introducing KIVA, the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending site. I came across this in a magazine and just HAD to pass it along. For as little as $25, you can select an entrepreneur in an impoverished country that you want to fund. Loans are...
I’m not sure how it happened, but at some point during the trip to Mexico I picked up a copy of the book Twilight. Ladies and Gentlemen, it was all over from there. I had book 1 finished in two days, book 2 of the series done in 2 more and I’d managed to find the third one at...
with Penzey’s Spices! A couple years back I took a cooking class at the Kitchen Window and they went on and on about how the only place that you should ever buy spices is from Penzey’s. I had never heard of this crazy place, but all I could think of were Pirates every time the...
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