Moving, Merging, Consolidating...Simplifying!
Friday, October 10, 2008

My weblogs are moving to a new home! Please pardon the dust during this simplification process as I move to a new home, {INSPIRED Simplicity}. I am merging my two sites, My Life and My Soul, for after all they are one and the same. In efforts to live up to my new blog title and to live my passion in simplicity, I hope you find this new site much simpler and improved as I try to consolidate and, well, keep things simple. In moving forward, I hope to incorporate tips and resources that not only inspire me but that I find to be very useful in my quest for a simple, authentic and balanced life. May {INSPIRED Simplicity} bring out the simple pleasures and treasures of the simple life. Please update your links to my new address and visit soon.

Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 10/10/2008 01:37:00 PM 0 comments  

Planning to Savour the Holidays
Friday, October 3, 2008

stumbled upon photo by: Alexandre Duret-Lutz

It's October already! In the beginning of the year I penciled in goals for each month in my planner. For this month I wrote Christmas preparations (and, of course, my darling daughter's birthday (that'll be a separate post)). I noted this reminder for myself because last year I was overwhelmed and stressed out from late preparations. So this year I'm giving myself enough time to prepare so that I can savour the season and fully enjoy the holidays.



stumbled upon photo by: Anthony

Here is the beginning of my checklist


1.) Family photo for Christmas cards


When? (Taking into consideration all family members individual busy schedules.)

Having 6 members in the family (not counting my mom, who may be celebrating Christmas in Manila this year), with two of our children now adults with busy schedules of their own, it's getting harder and harder to schedule a photoshoot. This year I really need to plan ahead in hopes of having a complete family photo as oppose to the individual collage photos I had to make do with last year.


Where?

home? indoor? outdoor? beach?


2.) Family Newsletter


In the last two years, our family newsletters are made available online saving on paper, ink and time. Our newsletter website is noted on the Christmas cards we sent out.


3.) Cards


Hand made cards are not only very satisfying to make, it is a great budget idea for today's trying economic times. I plan to set weekly goals as to how many cards I need to make per week based on how many cards I plan to send out and my deadline.


4.) Gifts


In light of our present trying economic times, finances dictate for creative gift giving this year.


Stay tuned for my creative gift giving ideas.


In the past years I organized my gift list in a spreadsheet. At a glance I can see what I gave to whom in what year. The system allows for easy gift shopping or gift making and avoids the possibility of duplicate presents.

5.) Decorating


I am simply grateful I already have what I need in this department. I normally start putting up our holiday decorations right after thanksgiving. I collected holiday decor over the years by buying most of them after Christmas.


For those of you who still need some holiday decor, I suggest to make note of what you still need so you can start looking for sale items. Or better yet, try to wait and shop for them during the big after Christmas sale.


6.) Entertaining/Family Time

I am not normally a "baking" mom but this year I plan to have a cookie baking day and creative gift making time with my darling daughter (hopefully I can involve the boys too). It would be a great family time to discuss the true meaning of the wonderful holiday season.

Hopefully when Christmas time comes I can actually revel in the joy of the season.

Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 10/03/2008 10:10:00 PM 0 comments  

My Decorating Style...Authentic
Tuesday, September 30, 2008

I don't really have a particular or specific decorating style...I'm what they call "eclectic". I like to call it "authentic". I'm normally an obedient person but when it comes to decorating, I go with whatever I like or what works for me as oppose to following a design rule. I like just about every style there is, hence, my what they call eclectic style. I enjoy combining the different styles I like and incorporating things that have meaning to me. I also enjoy the "hands-on" experience in creating or repurposing something for the home. I get my inspiration from HGTV. But even before HGTV, there was Lynette Jennings on the discovery channel. She was my original source of design inspiration. She has a new book out available on my inspired bookstore.








Thomas Jefferson said: "In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock."

Lynette Jennings says, and I absolutely agree, that even in matters of style, there is no need to compromise. Don't be afraid to go with what you like and let your authentic style show through.

Happy fall decorating! (Just a word of caution and reminder from Suze Orman: we are in recession (in case you are still in denial:).

So enjoy recycling and repurposing what you already have.

Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 9/30/2008 08:13:00 PM 0 comments  

Harvest Festival
Monday, September 29, 2008


Isabella performed with her dance troupe at the 71st Arroyo Grande Valley Harvest Festival this week-end. Just wanted to share the two photos I managed to take before the performance.


As in our "taekwondo days", we use these activity times as precious family moments creating memories to treasure for years to come. Though not a thrilling time for the boys, Isabella's proud brothers are always there to support their baby sister. We took a leisurely stroll after the performance and had a nice Mexican dinner to end the day.

Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 9/29/2008 05:59:00 PM 0 comments  

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A Peek of the Blue Ocean
Friday, September 19, 2008

...from my bedroom

It's a beautiful day today....



Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 9/19/2008 01:08:00 PM 0 comments  

Labor Day Weekend Nesting
Monday, September 1, 2008

This weekend I was blessed with the energy and strength to tackle a long dreaded task. True to its name, I laboured during labor day weekend. I had been needing, wanting, yet dreading cleaning/organizing my closet. It feels so good to put things in order and to finally see the beautiful hardwood floors inside my closet. Once you start organizing, you get this surge of energy/inspiration leading to a "nesting mood". At least it did for me. I finally got to organize not just my closet but several other cabinets/closets in the house.I was able to revisit my old scrapbooking stuff (hopefully this will fuel a spark to "create" again).

tackled closets:

  • my closet
  • Isabella's closet
  • hallway linen closet
  • entryway coat closet
  • masters bath cabinets
other cabinets to-do:
  • kitchen
  • laundry
  • boys room
  • garage

well, I'm halfway to an organized home:)


On Monday, Isabella and I started painting the fence. We did half of the left side so I'd say we're about 1/4 of the way to a painted fence:) yet another dreaded task. Today I feel drained so I'm praying for the next surge of energy...hopefully soon:) and for a "nesting mood" for my soul.

I am {Simply Grateful}

This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order. - Isaiah 38:1

Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 9/01/2008 08:15:00 PM 0 comments  

Isabella's academic recognition/achievement
Saturday, August 30, 2008

It's a great start of school year for Isabella as a 4th grader this year. The top 13 entering 4th graders are placed in a combined 4th/5th grade class. She loves the extra challenge she is able to do in language arts and Math. The class separates for Social Science and Math due to different curriculum. High STAR test scores allowed Isabella to stay with the 5th graders for Math. We are so proud of her love for learning and her love for everything she gets to do. We are Simply Grateful.

Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 8/30/2008 11:27:00 PM 0 comments  

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Striking a Pose...

....from a window ledge after her dance performance at Pier 39
(not to worry it wasn't a high ledge). She's in safe hands.
The great photographer is her mommy Cecile.






Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 8/30/2008 11:13:00 PM 0 comments  

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Best Friends Forever

awesome photos by ate Cecile of Papelle Photographie









Krystn’s support and genuine admiration for Isabella is an incredibly remarkable gift. I could not wish for a better BFF for my darling daughter. Isabella is equally genuinely proud of her black belt BFF who also happens to be in GATE language arts (congratulations Krystn!). This mutual authentic admiration and love they share at such a young age is truly a great blessing and we are simply grateful.


Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 8/30/2008 10:39:00 PM 0 comments  

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Pier 39 Show

A great successful and fun show at the Pier 39 in San Francisco last Saturday, August 23.
Thanks to ate Cecile for these awesome photos. We are {Simply Grateful}.



"Shop Around"
jazz releve with an attitude

enjoying a tour jete

it's all about dance...and lovin' it!

tapping to her heart's content

a quick change from tap to jazz in the finale

Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 8/30/2008 09:59:00 PM 0 comments  

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Good Timing of a Bad Thing

Our water heater burst the day before our scheduled trip to Union City for Isabella's performance at Pier 39. As bad as it may be, the timing is a blessing. Can you imagine if it happened while we are gone for several days? And I was able to locate a plumber who was able to replace the water heater on the same day. The boys and I rented a shampooer to suction the water out of the carpet in the garage. All is back to normal by the end of the day and we were off to Union City as scheduled the following day.

Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 8/30/2008 08:58:00 PM 0 comments  

"Inspired" Guests

Just before the completion of our kitchen project, I had the pleasure of a visit from my spiritual mentor and hero, ate Lolit, and her family, together with Glenna, another spiritual hero. Need I say more? It was a short visit but definitely not short of inspiration.

Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 8/30/2008 08:56:00 PM 0 comments  

New Kitchen
Friday, August 15, 2008

I Uploaded this to HGTV's Rate my Space. Please stop by and well, rate my space. Comments appreciated. thanks.







At last our kitchen renovation is finally done....french country style!

  • cabinets - we kept the cabinets as they were still in great shape. formerly honey oak, we painted them white

  • countertop - uba tuba granite with ogee bullnose edge

  • backsplash - gold tumbled travertine with 1 row of 4x4 set straight and 6x6 set diagonally with 2-1/2" granite decos in cut corners

  • sink - Kohler Undertone Series - 1 Bowl Model Number K3183

  • faucet - Price Pfister Ashley Series - T529-YPYSingle Handle Pull-Out Kitchen Faucet

The renovation was a tough process as it was a big inconvenience not having a sink and stove for over a week not to mention the dust. It actually took over 2 weeks (from tear-down) but thank God we have our Union City home where we retired to half of the time.

It was all worth it!

Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 8/15/2008 08:03:00 PM 0 comments  

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Center Stage




We just got back from Isabella's play/"sharing" of her summer acting workshop, Center Stage. It was a 4-hr/day week-long acting workshop at her dance school taught by 2 excellent PCPA - Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts graduates. We are so proud of and impressed with the whole group as they were able to showcase an amazing performance. Isabella portrayed the lead role from a play written by one of the teachers. The play is called The Six Companions. It is about a princess duck who found companions to rescue her brother from an evil king. The story is a very clever portrayal of friendship and the moral that we all need each other. It was a great experience for Isabella. She said it was the "funnest" workshop and she's sad it had to end. So I think she will be taking musical theater come fall:)

Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 8/15/2008 03:17:00 PM 0 comments  

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Sand Play
Thursday, August 14, 2008



During Immanuel's visit with Krystal and friend Jonick who helped fix our wobbly fence.

Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 8/14/2008 06:59:00 PM 1 comments  

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Smiling Indy
Friday, July 25, 2008



We caught him smiling. He likes to sleep on his back. We call it his "bum" position...taking after his owner, Ian.

Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 7/25/2008 10:25:00 AM 0 comments  

Studio Show Photos
Thursday, July 24, 2008

now available at Photography by Julie Campbell

Here are the proofs of some of my personal favourites


Isabella's endearing number with dad
her tap choreography to dad's Rhythm of the Rain



Rescue Me

Cooties




JAZZ (Shop Around)





Ballet



TAP (Billy Jean)


Ms. Tara
Isabella's teacher/dance inspiration


Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 7/24/2008 09:18:00 PM 1 comments  

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Red Hot Bathroom




There's no stopping us now....when it comes to decorating, that is. After Isabella's purple and pink bedroom, we moved on to our hallway bathroom. From "victorian grandma" style (sorry no before photo) to grand and red hot design. Isabella and I had so much fun with this project...from choosing the color to the actual painting. I did the top portion while she tackled the bottom section. She said she feels like a "design star" (I think we watch too much HGTV:) Whenever I start to get anxious she reminds me to "breath". I think we inhaled paint fumes that we got silly at times...acting like design stars. Then we forgot to realize that we cannot paint behind the toilet...so comes Phil to the rescue...our toilet engineer/hero:) We finished it in 2 days in time for her dance rehearsals. Then we're off to our next project....back to Isabella's bedroom to paint the walls her fave purple color. The bathroom was our practice run. But I think we might tackle the fence first. We'll see...we just go with the "flow"...of how we feel at the time:) I'll keep you posted.

Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 7/24/2008 08:29:00 PM 1 comments  

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Isabella's new bedroom
Saturday, July 19, 2008


It's keeping us excitingly busy these past couple of days. Dancing to the theme of ballerina princess in purple and pink...her favourite colors. Finally a bedroom of her own (not that she sleeps there yet:) Since our move a year and a half ago, we didn't feel a need to decorate a room for her. She sleeps with mommy and daddy still and I like to keep it that way for as long as I can. But this summer she wants to invite some friends and we thought a girl's room is in order. We truly enjoyed shopping together and she is ecstatic at the outcome. She can't wait to have friends over.

Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 7/19/2008 03:23:00 PM 0 comments  

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Grand Chandelier
Wednesday, July 9, 2008



I got this from my friend Tessie for almost next to nothing considering it's a one-of-a-kind Kreiss design. Thanks GFF... now my dining room looks grand!

Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 7/09/2008 10:04:00 AM 2 comments  

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CDMA Studio Show
Monday, June 30, 2008

CDMA's 2nd annual studio show culminated yesterday, Sunday, June 29th at the Clark Center for the Performing Arts . It was a successful two-hour show featuring all the talented students of CDMA in a myriad of exhilarating dance numbers (jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, hip hop and music). We feel so honoured to be a part of this collaboration of talents headed by CDMA's Director, Kathy Schultz, and Assistant Director, Tara Behnke (Kathy's lovely daughter). We are so grateful to them for bringing out the best in our Isabella.


Isabella was in a total of 8 numbers:

  1. Billy Jean - Tap
  2. Cooties - Repertory Class/Jazz
  3. La Danse Pour Jeunes Filles - Friday Ballet
  4. Shop Around - Jazz
  5. Waiting on the World to Change - Tuesday Ballet
  6. Rhythm of the Rain - tap dance to her dad's guitar accompaniment
  7. All You Need is Love - theatrical dance depicting CDMA's story
  8. You Can't Stop The Beat - Jazz/Tap Finale
She enjoyed and gave her all in every single number. We were stopped on our way to our car in the parking lot by several people, some of them we don't even know, congratulating us on Isabella's superb performance.We are all so proud of her energy, focus and dedication. We truly feel so very grateful for this talent she's blessed with. It is my prayer that she will continue this spirit and someday use it for the glory of the One Who bestowed this incredible talent.

Here are some photos from the dressing room with her wonderful and beautiful friends/dance troupe mates:






Tessie and I were also part of the show. We performed a jazz dance number (Rescue Me) with 3 others from adult jazz dance class.



more photos to follow as they become available.

Posted byImelda@Inspired Simplicity at 6/30/2008 01:20:00 PM 2 comments  

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