Not too Long Ago...

Not too long ago... I met beautiful people online with the same passion for blogging... photography... food... and the good time.

TSS Families... the Johnsons, the Bernals and the Lucs.

Not too long ago... we became friends and enjoyed blogging... photography... food... and the good time.

And not too long ago... I met some of them in person and together we enjoyed photography...

food...

and the good time.

... that is why I am blogging about it!

Because... not too long ago... 4 of your Salitype Sistahs finally met in California and had a grand Mini-Reunion in San Diego.

Four of the Salitype Sistahs [L-R: Chay, Ruthi, Tes and Betchai]

And yes, this is only the start of the many REUNIONS that we will going to have in the near future.

Hopefully... next time, we will enjoy photography, food and the good time with the rest of our Sistahs... Car, Cher, Eng, MJ and Zen.

-Ruthi Gregoire

Special Notes and Photo Credits: Tes of Craftista and Betchai of The Joys of Simple Life. Thanks girlash for the photographs [I stole them from your FB account, My Bad!], for the food [Love the Binagoongang Baboy and the Calamares that I shared with Tes and of course the chocolate cake of Chay], and the good time we shared at Torey Pines and La Jolla [Betchai - those places didn't disappoint me... thanks Sistah!]

If Friends were Flowers...

If friends where flowers, I'll pick you.

- Anonymous -

About two years ago... different flowers in different colors, shape, sizes, and scents bloomed in a "no-secret-CYBER-garden". They were all beautiful and gorgeous. They possessed different characteristics and charms but they blended together. They all grew in perfect harmony and they bloomed happily... and the rest is history.

Betchai

“Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend.” Albert Camus

Car

“A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked” Bernard Meltzer

Chay

“Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.” Tennessee Williams

Cher

“One measure of friendship consists not in the number of things friends can discuss, but in the number of things they need no longer mention.” Clifton Fadiman

Eng

“True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable.” David Tyson

MJ

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one” C.S. Lewis

Tes

“Friendship is one mind in two bodies.” Mencius

Zen

“The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.” Elisabeth Foley

The Salitype Society Sistahs

“Even though we've changed and we're all finding our own place in the world, we all know that when the tears fall or the smile spreads across our face, we'll come to each other because no matter where this crazy world takes us, nothing will ever change so much to the point where we're not all still friends.” Anonymous

The Salitype Society welcomes you to our garden. This garden could be anywhere in the world. It could be in San Diego and Corona in California... in West Virginia... in Texas... in Maine... in the United Kingdom... in Germany... in Singapore... or in our Motherland, the Philippines. Take your pick because it doesn't matter where you want to go... the flowers are the same. They all came from one soil and were uprooted and grew big and strong where they were re-planted to be able to bring joy to everyone who visits the garden.

Happy 2nd Anniversary to all of us Salitype Society Sistahs. It is indeed a blessing to be a part of our  Garden. Thank you for the friendship.

"Friendship is priceless. There is no tag price attached to it. You don't need to haggle or ask for discount because it is freely given not only to those who worth it but to those who value it." Ruthi Orona-Gregoire

Buying Boots from B.A. Mason Online Was Easy

This is a guest post by Nick Kiley
My husband wears cowboy boots, and he has been wearing the same boots from B.A. Mason for years. He said he needed a new pair. I couldn’t a catalog. I went online and did a search for B.A. Mason.
Once I found the website I then searched through the different categories to find the boots. It only took a few minutes for me to find what I thought were the correct boots. The boots used to come in three colors, but the page only showed two colors, brown and black. I went with the brown. I did yell out to my husband to ask if brown was still the color he wanted, he said yes. The boots were $149, compared to $99 the last time we bought them. I received an e-mail saying that my order was received, the boots would ship out that day, and I would get them in 7-10 days.
The boots came within 5 days. My husband immediately opened the box. He showed me the boots and said they were different. The boots were much fancier, they had pointer toes, and the soles were different.
He tried them on and said they felt tight, but he would break them in. I could tell he was not happy with those boots. I questioned him about sending them back. He said no, he would break them in and they would be fine. I knew the boots needed to go back to B.A. Mason. I went back online and searched B.A. Mason again. This time I found the correct boots, for $99. The error was mine.
I followed B.A. Mason’s instructions for returning the boots. I filled out the form, sealed the box and mailed them back. Shopping via hughesnet internet is easy if you can’t find a catalog.

Our Philippines #1: Featuring... LAGUNA

TODAY'S FEATURED PROVINCE:

- LAGUNA -

I came from Liliw, Laguna. Laguna is one of the provinces in the southern part of Luzon and Liliw is a small town located at the foot of the famous, legendary and magical [as it is called by our ancestors] Mount Banahaw. Liliw is known as the "Slipper Capital of the Philippines" because we make high quality, stylist yet affordable slippers.

Our Philippines

Maybe a lot of you already know that we Salitype Sistahs all came from one beautiful country... the Philippines. It is a small country that lies in Southeast Asia where the weather is always warm and the people... warmer.

Map Source: ePhilippine.com

Color Blind

We were born in a society where color plays an important role in identifying or classifying people[yellow race]... things[chocolate brown]... places[Blue Danube]... weather[purple rain]... music[Maroon 5]... situations [red alert]... feelings[green with envy]... and even economic crisis[pink slip].

[Roses are blue and so are you... ZEN? wink***]

We grew up in a society where we classify gender into two colors... pink for girls and blue for boys.

[cotton candy covered winter]

We live in a society where knowing one's favorite color signify closeness. For as simple as it may seemed to be... if you do not know the favorite color of your bestfriend or loved ones... you don't care about them.

[Grape flavored pond]

We exist in a society where people have the tendencies to reverse or mix color to suit one's fantasies... or to ease the pain of reality... or to fill the emptiness of broken dreams.

[grapefruit sky and tangerine lighthouse]

And we co-exist in a world where some people still believe that there is a pot of gold... at the end of the rainbow.

[plowing with hue]

Color possesses me. I don't have to pursue it.
It will possess me always, I know it.
That is the meaning of this happy hour: Color and I are one.
I am a painter.

Paul Klee

-Ruthi-

Awaiting Spring

Winter will soon be over. [I hope very soon because I can’t wait for spring.]

Well, living in Maine for almost 3 years now and being able to survive all 4 seasons for that span of time, I somehow love the feeling of looking forward to the changing seasons.

Like a little girl waiting in great anticipation for spring to see again the wild flowers in bloom… or the cocoon to undergo metamorphosis and turn into beautiful butterfly… or the return of the birds from hibernation and lunching on my feeders… I too wait for spring with so much hope in my heart.

I long to once again walk barefooted and let the grass tickle my toes. I long to see again the trees – budding… and new life - sprouting. I long to feel again the warm breeze on my cheeks and open my windows to welcome the crisp scent of pine trees to spice up my living room.

Changing Seasons - transforming life in multiple ways… giving hope in multiple levels… and sustaining faith in countless possibilities.

-Ruthi-

Blogging as a lifestyle

As a student, albeit my penmanship was not good enough to win a secretarial post during each classroom election, I love to write. I have written a lot of poems and essays during my early years in school. And I knew they were good stuff not because I have written them, but mainly because they were products of my innocence and unassuming juvenile imagination.

Now that I am an educator myself, I have taught students how to write. Oh how I long to read again, once and for all those old scripts that had once been the impression of my childhood. But much to my desire to read them again and to come up with a compilation of my earliest works... it is hopeless for I have lost most of them, regretfully.

It was an excerpt from the unpublished book I've ever written entitled - Sawasdee, The Amazing Experience.

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Yes, when I was a little younger... writing was a way of life to me. I grew up writing my emotions. I write when I was happy. I write when I was sad. I write when I was angry. I write when I was bored. I write when I was hungry. I write when I felt loved. I write when I was in-loved. I write when I had nothing to do. I write when I was inspired and I write until my fingers were numbed and aching.

Fast forward to the 21st century. Blogging is my new writing. I blog when I am happy. I blog when I am sad. I blog... I blog... I blah-g! If there is something I need to say, I blog it. When there is something I feel, I love to blog it. When there is something I don't like, I would blogging whine it. When there is something I hate, I freakin' blog it too. And when I am financially challenged, I will take opportunities to blog it as well. [wink*] What else do you think I will do? Yeah right... blog it! Why not? It's the cheapest way to cure psychosis. It is the only thing that can keep my sanity intact. And yes, it helps me to go shopping too.

I eat, drink, breathe [and shop] blog... so here goes... whatever state of mind I am in.. I just blog it away. Happy blogging everyone.

-Ruthi-