Sayonara 2009! --

It's the last day of 2009!

5 Favorite Movies of the Year
1. Up
2. Star Trek
3. District 9 <-- I was determined not to like this movie and I didn't, at first, but it has a way of drawing you in and captivating you
4. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
5. Julie and Julia

This week, we received a package from my brother and he gave us a R2 copy of Nausicaa so my sister and I watched that and we also watched and re-watched Howl's Moving Castle (so, so beautiful!) and watched Ged's War Chronicle (Tales from Earthsea) and I just unearthed Neko no ongaeshi (The Cat's Return) and we're planning to watch that tonight. Notice a trend? ;-P

5 Movies I'm looking forward to
1. Sherlock Holmes
2. Iron Man 2
3. Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
5. Toy Story 3

5 Favorite TV Shows
1. Glee
2. Top Chef
3. Grey's Anatomy
4. Amazing Race
5. True Confections on QTV

... also Entourage, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Battlestar Gallactica

5 Favorite Magazines
1. Yummy
2. Real Simple
3. Domino/Blueprint <-- too bad these are discontinued
4. Romantic Times
5. Dwell <-- though I don't buy this anymore

5 Favorite Books
1. Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barberry
2. Anna Godbersen's Luxe series (4 books: Luxe, Rumors, Envy, Splendor)
3. Nigella Lawson books (How to Be A Domestic Goddess, How to Eat, etc.)
4. A Hint of Wicked by Jennifer Haymore <-- romance novel. Her debut work.
5. Seducing an Angel by Mary Balogh <-- another romance novel. Made me cry. Made me stay up late.

<-- also Real Simple: Celebrations and Domino: The Art of Decorating ... and all of Anne Stuart's historical romances

5 Best Purchases for 2009
1. An iPod Touch (for my sister)
2. My Reisenthel Allrounder <-- a German brand which I discovered in Tokyo
3. Our Tokyo plane tickets (thank you to Philippine Airlines for the insanely affordable promo fare.)
4. Our Wii (Whee~)
5. 400-thread count beddings <-- My mom got them when she was in the US and I'm glad she did. Amazing! Now I'm spoiled...

5 Favorite Places in Iloilo
1. Booksale
2. Tinapayan at Atrium
3. Kopi Roti in Smallville
4. Iloilo Supermart at Atrium
5. Daily Buns <-- such a great place to buy bread

5 Discoveries for 2009
1. The Crispy Pata at Cafe Laguna
2. Having only two friends here in Iloilo (and always loving the lunches/dinners/conversation with them)
3. The Kopi Trio at Kopi Roti
4. Cebu <-- I was there twice this year and I love, love, love the place. I want to go back! >_<
5. The Korean Hair Salon inside Ledesco Village

<-- also Anne Stuart, the historical romance writer who is now writing mostly romantic suspense

5 Things that Made Me Go "Wow
1. San Miguel Brewery stock hitting 9.6 this month (when it was 8.9 at the start of the month)
2. Anna Godbersen's conclusion to the Luxe series (Splendor was amazing)
3. Tokyo and takoyaki
4. Uratex Senso-memory mattresses
5. The presidential candidates for 2010 (some were "wow" in a good way and others ...)

Happy Thoughts for 2009
1. My romance novel business <-- and hitting Power Seller status this month
2. Cebu and Tokyo <-- Tokyo deserves a blog entry of its own ... and I'm working on it
3. My children (and my entire family: parents, siblings and husband)
4. Two jars of peanut butter from The Peanut Butter & Co <-- thank you, thank you to Char who got them for me. Makes my mornings oh-so-bright and peanut-buttery wonderful ^_^
5. Life and all it's possibilities!!!