Rachael Ray is in my Kitchen!

Her cookware collection that is! This lovely 10-piece hard-anodized cookware collection from the 30-Minute Meals Queen surprisingly arrived today courtesy of my very generous mother in New York! Thank you mom!!! Such a sweet treat after a very exhausting day editing a video for a client. I hardly got up from my chair until this balikbayan box rang the bell! I was so thrilled to find Rachael, among many other nice things. I’ll tell you more about the loot next time. She really sent me a lot of cool stuff!

Anyway… about my mother… yeah she likes to shop, and lucky me – she likes to shop for her eldest bratinella. Hahaha! I’m not kidding when I say that she lovingly calls me her “spoiled brat” and in return, my term of endearment for her is “my crazy mom” – yes, we are your typical dysfunctional mother-daughter tandem.

My mom loves to shop for us. As a kid, I was fortunate to be never left out when it came to having the latest toy – Barbie, Rainbow Brite, My Little Pony… And I always had those frilly Cinderella dresses for every special occasion. As a teenager, my mother fed my infatuation over Brandon & Dylan (If you’re still in your 20s, I bet you don’t know these guys) by sending me lots and lots of 90210 stuff. Fast forward to when I became an adult, she introduced me to H&M and I just got hooked too. I was blessed to have imported bags and clothes because of her. Would you believe she was the one who bought me all my SATC DVDs, with matching coffee table book and a board game? When I got married and I got into baking and REAL cooking, she’s been sending me super nice stuff from Martha Stewart, Rachel Ashwell, Wilton… and now Rachael Ray!

I’m not complaining. But you know what I realized? It’s just like those times when I was a little girl playing with my dolls in my make-believe afternoon tea party. I guess, in my mom’s eyes I’m still that “little girl” she regrettably left when she and my dad split. She didn’t see me grow up. ‘Til now, she sends me these “toys” (much more expensive though than when I was five) I guess as a way to make up for lost time. I’m just wondering though if my mom actually subconsciously thinks I’m still just playing my usual “Bahay-Bahayan” now. Haha! Would you believe that she actually forgot, for one moment a couple of months after my wedding, that I was already married? But I checked the box that arrived today and she dutifully addressed it to Virgilind Palarca. So I guess it has finally sunk in.

I was so excited to use my new cookware today but I was just too doggone tired from video editing that ironically, and quite shamefully, the first thing I ever cooked on my brand-new state-of-the-art cooking pan was scrambled eggs! HAHAHA! I’m not kidding. I was too tired to cook anything fancy tonight! So I’ll just make it up with Rachael tomorrow… On second thought, Rachael Ray is the queen of quick dinners so why should I be ashamed of scrambled eggs? :-)

Anyway, before I take these babies on test drive, let Rachael herself explain how she came up with the brilliant idea of OVAL shaped pots...

Rachael Ray talks about her Oval Pots and Pans from rachaelray.com on Vimeo.

Once a Bag Hag... Always a Bag Hag

I used to be a bag addict; a bag-o-holic; a bag hag; you name it, I'm guilty on all accounts. I only got sober about 3 years ago when I decided to de-clutter my closet... simplify my life... and focus on the more important things. I asked myself, do I really need all these bags? I decided that I will start living my life one bag at a time.

Also, ever since I started my stint as a Freelance Writer and working most of the time from home, there wasn't really any need for me to update my wardrobe as often as I did when I was still with MTV. I was producing, of all shows, MTV Fashionista hence the fashion quotient requirement. Those were the times when you could not make me step out of the house if my bag didn't match my outfit. Now, I'm less than half of the fashion freak that I was in my twenties.

I already sold most of my well-used Nine West's, Gucci's, Aldo's, Guess's, Coach's, Tommy Hilfiger's, Kipling's as well as sporty bags from Adidas, Puma, and even fab finds in bazaars, etc... etc... Believe me there were MANY. I literally had a case of Excess BAGgage (and fantasized on Kate Spade and LV.) I had a bag for every occasion and mood. But as much as I would have wanted to keep all of them, I got to the point when I just really had enough of the fashion addiction. I realized that they've been sitting in my closet for too long already. Like puppies they need new Fashionistas to pet them. So off they all went to my Garage Sale of what I call Pre-Loved items!

But once a bag lady, always a bag lady. I don't keep a lot of bags anymore but I've kept some of my favorite pieces from way back. And my mother, also a bag hag herself, never fails to send me a new one every now and then from New York.

Anyway, I'm blogging about bag-o-hilism because this afternoon I was really delighted to find this nifty item at the SM Department Store that I think every bag lady should have -- A BAG ORGANIZER! I thought, wow, why didn't anyone make this years ago when I was wasting precious time whenever I would switch bags to match my outfit? I remember that I was always running late. So usually, when I switched bags, it was inevitable that I would leave at least one item in the other bag.


I have about a dozen things in my bag: make-up kit, wallet, sunglasses, IPod, 2 cellphones, digital camera, coin purse, face powder, umbrella, small notebook, planner, pens, keys, fan, passport (it's my only ID as Mrs. Palarca)



This bag organizer I found is actually a small compact tote bag with lots of pockets. It has a handle and the bag fits inside all regular-sized bags. So all you really have to do is arrange your items inside the organizer in the most accessible order then slip the tote bag into your bag of choice and voila you’re ready to go. The next day, when you feel like ditching that patent leather bag for that cute canvass tote to match your summer outfit, then all you have to do is take out the bag organizer and simply slip it into the new bag of choice. I was so amused with the idea.

When I got home, I researched this item on the Internet and as expected a lot of online boutiques are already selling this item. But what I discovered is that most of the ones sold on Multiply and other sites look like your usual Kikay Kits. There are pouch types and there are also some that look like the usual toiletries organizer which you have to roll and wrap up.


The above photos were downloaded from the following sites:
Organice Bag Organizer
Fashion Monster
Oh So Chic

Although they’re all cute, they aren’t as handy and easy-to-use as the ones with the handle that function as the inner bag. It’s like my bag’s got a soul. Hehe. Okay, that’s far-fetched.



There were two brands that caught my eye in the store. The LugMax Bag brand had several colors but they were more expensive. I just wanted a basic black organizer to fit inside most of my bags that I have now so I chose this brand IN THE BAG instead. It only cost 129.75 pesos compared to the 175 pesos of LugMax.

More than anything, I think this “neat” idea has given bag-o-holism a new dimension. Since the organizer itself becomes your basic bag, the bag that carries it actually acts like its dress! So it’s like dressing up your bag like dressing up a doll. Isn’t that cute? Now switching bags have never been any easier and fashionably fun! Now that I mentioned it, is it okay to have a relapse on my bag-o-holism sobriety?