Woodsing About

A day after our wedding, we went with Gerard's family to the Muir Woods National Monument in Sausalito, which is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

We took an hour trail around the park, looking at all the different trees and wildlife. For more serious hikers, there were 2 hour trails and more too! Gerard was really curious about the Oceanside trail which we presumed had an awesome view. (We'll save that for next time.)

But the most amazing sights were the trees! I've never seen such huge, tall trees in my life!

I've been carrying my camera around more so hope you enjoy the photos!

Giant Redwoods

Streaming Sunlight

GM Signature Pic

GJ's tiny!

View from down below

Being outdoors with all that greenery was wonderful. We'll definitely be back for longer hikes!

For more information on Muir Woods, you can check out their website here.

Maggie the Magic Car!

Look what was waiting for me at our new home!

Isn't it awesome?! A Toyota Prius! My family named her MAGIC, short for Maita and Gerard's Intelligent Car. I just say Maggie for short.

Haha, no, it wasn't a surprise. We had already discussed it ahead of time that we were going to get a hybrid car because it has better gas mileage AND its better for the environment. But he did do the research and he found the car in great shape, at a second hand car dealer about two hours away. And you can actually get an air freshener with the new car smell so it smells brand new! 

So while Gerard is at work, I can actually go around doing errands and I'm not afraid of getting lost because... THE CAR HAS GPS! Honestly, if not for the GPS, I would probably be afraid to drive and go anywhere. Well, I'm honestly still a bit freaked out by the speed on the freeway but at least I'm not worried about getting lost. I now realize that GPS is such a wonderful invention! Because of it, I actually have the freedom to go around and do the things I need to do. (Like buy groceries, go to the bank, mail stuff, ah, the life of a housewife.)

Been super busy with more wedding stuff and unpacking. More about all of that later on. 

But I'm driving to San Francisco tomorrow to do some errands. I will get over my fear of freeways!

Typhoon Ondoy

In the midst of all this tragedy, it is the coming together of Filipinos that brings me to tears.

Over the weekend, Typhoon Ondoy left a wake of flood and destruction over the National Capital Region. Watching the news on TV, one cannot but feel helpless, watching the hundreds, if not thousands of people now left homeless due to the heavy rains and flood.

In this time of need, Cebuanos are coming together to help our fellow country men, The outpouring of of effort has been amazing. (You can read more about Cebuano efforts at Emily Dy's site here.)

Most especially, I am touched by the efforts of my friend Jay, who is helping put together a Live Aid concert as well as coordinating donations. If we could all pitch in together like these wonderful people, there is no telling what amount of assistance we can give to our fellow Filipinos.

Let us help the victims of Typhoon Ondoy.

Designer Reusable Bags

Did you know that a regular plastic bag, like those from the supermarket or bookstore, takes between 500 to 1,000 years to biodegrade? That means that all those plastic bags you take home will all pile up in a landfill somewhere for the half a millennium at least! That's a lot of plastic bags. That's a long time.

This is honestly one of the reasons I always throw an Envirosax in my purse before I head out. To the store, to the mall, to travel, to wherever,I always have an Envirosax handy. So what are Envirosax anyway? Well, they're touted as the original designer reusable bag. I love how handy and useful they are, you just roll them up, click the buttons together, and put them in your purse, glove compartment, suitcase, anywhere. Here are photos from the Envirosax website, rolled up, and in use.

Photos from Envirosax Website

Not to mention all the pretty patterns and prints they've got! I always had a hard time choosing which one to buy. There's a design for every personality, male or female. I also love giving them as presents. If everyone started using an Envirosax for light shopping trips, think of all the plastic bags we'd save! They're also really comfortable to use, they don't cut into your shoulder when they're heavy. I can't begin to count the number of times Gerard has been thankful that I had one, especially when we go shopping. *wink wink* They're great for consolidating all those little carrier bags as well.

If you'd like to find out more about Envirosax, you can find the original Envirosax website here. For Philippine users, here's their Philippine website. So far, here in Cebu, I've found Envirosax at the store What A Girl Wants at the Ayala Center and at Republik at the Banilad Town Center. They retail for P410.00.

But if you think that's a little pricey, there are cheaper options at the SM Department store. They've got all sorts of reusable bags that you can fold up and tuck in your purse too and they only cost about P150.00 each. But I still love the Envirosax designs. There are just too many too choose from. And they're just so pretty!

Either way, I hope you get a reusable bag for yourself sometime soon. Lets lessen the number of plastic bags being tossed into those landfills and garbage dumps!

Photos from Envirosax Website