My Lolo's Rocking Chair

I have very vivid memories riding on my grandfather's rocking chair. I remember spending a lot of time on it as if it were a carnival ride. I knew it so well, how it felt, which spoke was loose, the shake-y armrest, and the bump on its left rocker that prevented it from swinging smoothly. It holds much of my childhood and will always be a wonderful reminder of my grandparents.

This rocking chair was given to my grandfather for his retirement from the Philippine Air Force in 1971. He was a fighter pilot.

Being exactly 40 years old, it has been through a lot as seen on its peeling paint, a makeshift splint for its arm, and nails bored here and there to hold everything in place.

Last week, I took it home from my grandparents' house since it had just been sitting in the bodega. For some reason, it reminds me very much of the Skin Horse in The Velveteen Rabbit and I just want to hug and take care of it. And talk to it.

Do you ever feel like that?

Cupboard Clean-Up (Bowls for Sale)

{Backstory: When our wedding date was near, G and I decided to buy a complete set of dinnerware instead of listing them in the registry. You know when you move in to a new house and you dream about all the parties you'll host at home for your friends? That hardly ever happened in the past 3.5 years we've been married and living here, even less so now that A has arrived. }

Even though I'm nursing a sore throat and mild cold/cough today, I decided to raid our kitchen cabinets and clear out the dinnerware we've never used. We like a fully-stocked kitchen (don't we all?), but ours was just overflowing with items we bought for ourselves, hand-me-downs, and couple gifts. 

Although, I'm still keeping many of what was in there, look what I found! These have never been used! Why we have so many of these, I will never understand (and I don't want to), so I'm putting them up for sale. We bought them at Gourdo's, but my price point is lower than their actual retail price. 

"Multi-purpose" is the operative word for any practical home-maker. Imagine all the lovely dishes you can serve in these pristine, porcelain bowls that can be used for soups, salads, and dessert!

9" (brand new)

Php 260.00 for all four 

(What a deal. Personally, I really like these bowls, they can be used to serve ulam.)

Whoever said rice was not good for the health never had rice served to them in these bowls (with lid). Atkins shmatkins! I'm Asian, serve me my rice in a bowl!

Php 280.00 for all four
(brand new)

Email me at georgia@empiremacaron.com for details. Available for delivery.

Enjoying the Rain

My Mom's Chess Set

This is so pretty:

How can such gorgeousness come out of a bad place right? Like an old family legend, it has been told that my mom purchased this beautiful opal chess set after a fight with my dad. Now, I don't really know what they fought about, it happened way before I was even born, but what I do know is that buying this set was a pretty good emotional purchase. 

LANDMARK (Trinoma): My Happy Place, Part 1

There's nothing I don't love about Landmark-Trinoma. I love the supermarket which I will talk more about in a later post, I like the soundtracks they play on the speakers (sometimes standards, Broadway, Lady Gaga--very diverse), and the fact that, when I went looking for a pie pan in Gourdo's a few steps away, they didn't have any (that's weird), but I easily found one in Landmark's department store.

But what caught my eye today were the staff's outfits. In the past holidays, they've dressed according to theme, like last Christmas, they were in Nutcracker soldier outfits that were FAR better than a passing Santa hat.

Since last month, though, they've done this:

Not Too Shabby...Shabby Chic

Oh, gosh, I used to be sooo obsessed with Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic. I can still hear her crackly voice talking about the beauty of an old, weathered bookend or how a lace table runner can change an entire room. It's every girl's dream and my husband's worst nightmare: overstuffed bedding, heirloom cutlery, cracked paint, French country interiors, crystal chandeliers, and slipcovers for everything.

Me: "But, G, it's shabby chic!"

Husband: "Whut the hell is shabby chic?!"

Narrow Table (One of Many)

G is obsessed with wood. Especially old, second-hand, thick wood planks from resellers who salvage them from demolished old houses. Not only do they have much more character, buying second-hand w saves trees and money! Since most old houses used hardwood, they've already done most of their expansion over the years, and these days, most wood are no longer manufactured in thick cuts.

The lot our house stands on used to have, what seemed to me, a house built in the '60s (but I'm no expert in design trends so even I wouldn't take my word for it), and a lot of the wood from the floor, doors, and jambs were saved after demolition. This is the wood G reuses to make furniture for the house--he designs and finishes them. I guess it's therapeutic for him, but for me, I'll gladly have his work around the house because I think they're gorj and handiwork like his with the material he uses would cost a fortune if we bought it elsewhere.

I especially love this long table he made for our hallway.