Last month, I decided my gift to myself was to stop pressuring myself to blog. I didn’t want blogging to become something I had to do because it’s always been something I loved to do.
Especially in light of recent events, I’ve decided to take a step back, enjoy life, be productive, and not feel guilty for the things I am not able to do (like blogging!)
So here’s to summer, more days in the sun and away from my desk, seeing family and brighter days ahead.
To walks with our forever puppy, .png)
and tons of “Molly Kisses”
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Family photos,
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And happy walks.
For a brief moment in time, we were four, not three. But we have faith that it will happen, in His time. In the meantime, here’s to really living life and remembering the important things.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
I realize I’m a little late in announcing our giveaway winner, I apologize profusely as I was working extra hard to make sure I could take time off to celebrate… my birthday! My mother in law had come for a visit to see us and our new house so we had a blast, taking her around, eating at our favorite places and just hanging out. Here are a few quick snapshots.
We celebrated my birthday with brunch at one of Napa favorites, Grace’s Table.
Then we got me some yummy dessert.
Of course we stopped at my favorite, the Bouchon Bakery and look, they had special macaroons for me!
And then for dinner, Gerard made some of our household specialties, garlic noodles, mussels in a white wine sauce, and yummy dungeness crab!
And I got to open some awesome presents! Gerard gave me the Little Book of Lettering, a book on growing your handmade business, and a yoga strap. Happy me!
So enough about my birthday, it’s time for me to spread the love! Here’s the announcement you’ve been waiting for…
Congratulations Josephine! We will contact you for your details shortly.
Thank you everyone for joining our giveaway and for all the birthday love!
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
I had originally started this blog waaay before I had opened my shops, 43 Lucy and Tagged with Love. Sales were slow, I had lots of free time, and blogging allowed me a creative outlet which I throughly enjoyed!
Fast forward two years later, and orders have grown! I am extremely grateful for the sales we have made as it has helped us make a home for ourselves, put food on the table, and pay bills. (I say “we” though technically Gerard does not work with me, I would not have been able to do any of it without his support!)
While our success may not be staggering by other’s measurements, to me, it has completely blown past my cautiously low expectations (you know, just in case things didn’t pan out.) And that is a major reason why I decided to do a big (by my standards anyhow) giveaway.
Don’t forget to enter for your chance to win a fabulous Umba Box Subscription!
So today, I thought I’d share with you this service that I offer that has been keeping me quite busy.
While I do genuinely love handwritten calligraphy, the time, skill, and price it takes is not always attainable by everyone. So I offer a more affordable alternative, “digital calligraphy.” (I know, I know, calligraphy purists are outraged and originally I would be too!) Or to give it another term, I offer envelope printing services.
What this means is that I will print the names and addresses on your outer and inner envelopes using the font/typeface and ink color of your choice directly onto your envelope. With the digital option, it’s more affordable and accessible to everyone. And it takes the pressure of you from having to individually address all those envelopes!
Here are samples of my latest envelopes:
If you’d like to know about my envelope printing/digital calligraphy services, you can also visit our shop here or contact me via the contact tab up above!
It’s been a lot of work but I absolutely LOVE hearing back from my customers about how happy they are with their envelopes. It’s been so fulfilling knowing that my clients have been happy with my work!
So yes, that’s one of things I’ve been busy with.And I couldn’t be more grateful!
Thursday, February 21, 2013
A few months ago, I got super “kilig” or thrilled when my sister tagged me in this photo:
My 8 x 10 “Heart Cebu Philippine Map” Print was making the rounds on Instagram! I had created this print at our last apartment and it sort of just got shoved to the back burner while we got settled into our new house.
Check it out on our mantle last Christmas:
Please forgive the terrible photo, lighting in our living room is not the best.
So yeah, I kinda forgot all about it. Then this week, I got a bunch of inquiries about where this print was available! Of course, this got me super thrilled again, and now it’s finally up for sale in my shop!
I’m so grateful to the people who inspired me to finally put up this piece up for sale, so to show my gratitude, take 10% off with the coupon code: PROUDPINAY
And if you love the Philippines but you’re not from Cebu, I’m working on placing the heart over different islands! And adding different backgrounds as well. And if you have custom order in mind, feel free to contact me via the contact tab!
I’m super missing home right now! I can’t wait to go back and visit, hopefully sometime this year!
Monday, February 18, 2013
I’ve been quite blest with a lot of work lately which explains the lack of creative posts. I feel like all my energy has been going to creating for clients but you’ll get no complaint from me there!
Last weekend, Gerard went all out to give me a wonderful Valentine’s week, which was a much welcome break from working so hard. It started off with:
Beautiful carnations in lovely shades of pinks, reds, purples, and white. I don’t think we ever had flowers in this house! I need to buy flowers more often!
Followed by:
A wonderful meal of green beans, lemon garlic shrimp, sauteed mushrooms and USDA prime steak.
And this wonderful meal featured once of our favorite once a year treats,
Roasted Bone Marrow with Crusty Toasted Pandesal!
I don’t know if there are enough words to describe this decadent, fattening, out of this world spread. Only that it is divine and extremely rich that we only make it about once a year, for special occasions.
Of course, H wanted to make sure that a little girl got a special treat too….
See the Happy Valentiners!
And if all that wasn’t enough, the next day he brought me:
One of my favorite Napa must-haves, French Macaroons from the Bouchon Bakery!
Whew! I really fell of my health kick and indulged! And indulged some more! But it was totally worth it. It’s always wonderful when we get to take a break and take some time to reconnect. With the fact that I work from home, it’s sometimes hard to define the line between work mode and home mode. It was such a wonderful treat to just sit back, talk, and enjoy good food.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s week as we did!
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Hi! I'm Marilenn, a Filipina graphic designer, photographer, writer, crafter, + more, currently living in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more about me, check out the 
