FIND THE PERFECT GIFT FOR YOUR VALENTINE

Valentine's Day is coming up soon, and with it comes an opportunity to extend some love and kindness.

God sent His love to us through His scriptures that full of mercy, kindness, love and compassion.  But what ideas or what message will you send to your loved one?  Love is the most precious gift that one can ever think of on Valentine's Day. But, some cute bouquet of Valentine's Day roses is not a bad idea to express it to your loved one :))))

Here are several suggestions without breaking your budget:

Show your love by sending a handmade gift.  All kinds of arts and crafts are becoming more popular gifts these days.   Think of the fun by creating your own Valentine's gift exchange to your teachers, classmates, or simply gift to your favorite dog.  Here are some pieces of handcrafted gift that I found from Family Fun website.

 

For your teacher, a clap hand and a tube of hand lotion.

Puppy Love Locket for your dog

For your classmates

Black, white and fuchsia (hot pink) matchbox for your coworker
picture from Etsy

There is a variety of other options to shop other than a bouquet of flowers.  
Have you ever thought of a cake?  Like this cake? 

White Chocolate Rose Mousse Cake

from http://www.thebleedingheartbakery.com/ ........ hmmmm yumm ....

 

OR, you may want to consider the permanence of a gift. Flowers, cakes or a box of candy will be enjoyed for the short term, whereas jewelry will last a lifetime.

Browse and shop a lovely selection of jewelry for Valentine's Day gifts from www.Pragajewelry.Etsy.com. Affordable assortment of earrings, necklaces, and bracelets in sterling silver, silver plated, gemstones, glass and more.

This beautiful necklace measures 18 inches in length.
The color is a combination of plum and amethyst and is made of enameled pewter with swarovski crystal, cat's eye glass and amethyst rondelles by Czech fire polish.

This vibrant red coral charm bracelet is sure to spice up any outfit. 

Measures 8 inches in length

This is a two stranded coral/magnesite necklace measures about 28 1/2 inches in length.

This 17 3/4 inches necklace is made of red twisted tube glass,

round cherry quartz and it is further decorated with silver plated flower accent.

This chic necklace is made with a 19 x 13 mm white magnesite rondelle,

accented with red quartz and bali beads spacer.
Measure 18 1/2 inches in length and finished with a fancy toggle clasp.

Matching bracelet

Measure 8 1/2 inches in length with 1 1/2 inches extender.

This pink hearts shaped glass are bursting with playful metallic shimmer and lovely copper swirl.

The combination color of pink and amethyst is separated by a silver plated beads.
Measures17 1/4 inches in length

This is a stylist bracelet made with a vintage-style light green and pink lampwork glass beads,

with vibrant colors and artistic rose design.
Measures approximately 8 1/2 inches in length

This piece is made of opaque red rondelle and twisted oval glass beads.
Measures approximately 26 1/2 inches in length.

Again folks, please visit my jewelry collection at www.Pragajewelry.Etsy.com

Last but not least ............ here is the greatest love and kindness of all.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life".

John 3:16 

Love,

Mia

Mia and Her Collection: EARLY SNOW BLIZZARD HITS EASTCOAST ..... CK...CK.....

Mia and Her Collection: EARLY SNOW BLIZZARD HITS EASTCOAST ..... CK...CK.....: "A blizzard is a severe snowstorm usually accompanied by high winds, blowing snow, very cold temperature and the blowing snow can cause white..."

EARLY SNOW BLIZZARD HITS EASTCOAST ..... CK...CK...CK....

A blizzard is a severe snowstorm usually accompanied by high winds, blowing snow, very cold temperature and the blowing snow can cause whiteout conditions that make driving and walking nearly impossible.  This unexpectedly perfect storm arrived in unprepared NYC, NJ area the day after Christmas, where pretty much every retailer in the United States has outrageous after Christmas Day Sale.

As many folks head out the door for Day After Christmas Sales ........ me and my husband Eddie, made our way to go to Macy's Herald Square in NYC.  Snow was already start falling but not to heavy, so we thought its just another snow.  Oh, and yes, none of us checked weather channel that a blizzard warning is in effect for New York City and surrounding.  We arrived at Macy's and got a perfect parking right in front of the building.  That was around 2:30PM.  Soooo ..... if you think most of New Yorker will stay home watch TV and eat their hot soup, you are mistaken.  Macy's was packed!  My friend Grace happened to work at Macy's, so after Macy's we were heading Queens to attend the Indonesian Catholic Apostle Christmas celebration, Grace and her husband Darmo came along in our car.  We stayed at the party until 9PM.
 
When we're about ready to go home, we were shock to see the outside blizzard.  Me and Grace with our high heels tried to fight our way to the car (duuuuhhh ...... it's a party).  The snow was nearly 10 inches high, higher than our heels ... LOL. After spinning and sliding in the huge unplowed  parking lot, our seventh generation Honda Accord 2005 made it's way out to the almost empty street.  We drove not more than 20 miles an hour due to low visibility.  Once we reach Manhattan, that's where the problem began.  More traffics ahead of us, some sliding, some spinning, some dancing on ice, some covering the whole street.  Some taxis was abandoned in the middle of the street.  A GMC Terrain SUV wheels are sliding out of control on ice, and you think how come their four wheels drive vehicle can't go.  LOL, it doesn't matter if it's four wheels or two wheels, it's still just rubber on ice.  So, we were about to make a turn on 57th street, hoping that wider and major street will be well plowed, but before we made a turn, we didn't realize that the snow on the side was that high.  Our car got stuck just in front of a taxi that also got stuck.  The car won't move, all of a sudden this Samaritan China man whose taxi's stuck in the snow bank came to our rescue.  He pushed our car as much he can until finally did moved.  We all thanked him, but in return he asked us to help push his taxi.  Eddie and Darmo was like ...... "oh crap", they just wore a suit with no jacket, no gloves, no hat, not to mention their leather shoes.  So, we told him we're going to help and again try to park the car into a better spot.  Unfortunately, we got trapped again that I have to switch and seats behind the wheel while the boys tried to push the car.  After all the pushed forward, push backward and push forward again, the car out of the snow bank, and I make sure look for a better spot to stop which was actually far from the China man's cab.  What happen to the two boys?  Their face and hands were frozen and they couldn't help to get inside the car, so we regretly left the China man behind.  We all felt soooo bad to the China man, but that's what happen when you were not prepare with winter gear.  So we strolled very slowly on 57th street, but all of sudden the wipers when completely off.  But we were afraid to stop and fix the wipers, cuz when we stop, it will be hard to slide the wheels.  With zero visibility, just depending on lights, we moved extremely slow.  We thought we're not gonna make it home with no wipers.  When we reached Fifth Avenue we got a better spot to stop and clean the wipers and voillaaaa ...... it works ....... so off we go.

Numerous people simply gave up waiting for bus and taxi, instead they walking down in the middle of the street. We were wondering how come Manhattan streets were not being plowed, or maybe they only did once???  Or could it be the snow just fall too fast???

 Anyway, we made our way out Manhattan and facing another problem on Rt. 3.  A huge truck trailer was stuck horizontally and covering three out of four lane highway. After waiting for about half an hour for the NJ trooper to haul the trailer, we finnally able to pass the trailer and traffic was moving slowly through the slushy snow covered roads.  We got home almost 1 AM and not able to enter our own driveway, by then the snow was already high and the stupid snow plower dumped the street snow into our front driveway...... whaaat daaa ....  We left our car on the street and we DIVED!!!!!


The next morning I put a sign "HOUSE FOR SALE 1 MILLION US$ OBO ..... OWNER MOVED TO SUNNY AND WARM STATE" ................ hehehehe you laughing ...... let me know if you are interested :)

BALI hold my hand ..... i am coming home :)))))

End of story.

The next morning, over 30 inches of snow

Free snow, feel free to pick your own

He is thinking of playing golf

Neighbor come to our rescue

No need snowboard .... slide by itself

LEMPER AS MY CHRISTMAS GIFT

Christmas is said to be a time when family members plus extended family come together to spend time with each other.  Though gifts are said to be a way of showing our love and appreciation for other people, but many times buying gifts for all can surely rip a hole in our pocket. Christmas shopping can get so expensive and stressful. In my case, not only I need to spend for my family, I have to think of gift giving to neighbors. With the economy being what it is, I thought of skipping this tradition. But I thought, it is wise to build a good relationship among neighbors.  They will help us when we suddenly find that sugar in our house is over or babysit our dog in times of need.  I figured baking for a wonderful neighbor is most suitable gift, so, I decided to bake an authentic dish from my home country and it is called Lemper.


Lemper is Indonesian sushi which we Indonesian eat as a snacks. It is made of sticky rice dumpling stuffed with tasty shredded spiced chicken and wrapped in banana leaf.  Here is my own preparation method.  Of course the presentation doesn't look like the authentic Lemper we have in Indonesia, but I have to say the taste is near authentic.

 Here is the authentic Lemper should look like

Ingredients

750 gram sticky or glutinous rice
1 whole chicken - boil them
2 cans of coconut milk
2 stalk lemon grass
2 slices of galangga
4 pieces salam leaves
2 pieces kaffir leaves
3 spoon tamarind sauce
1 1/2 candle nut - grind
salt
banana leaves
aluminum foil

Sticky Rice Preparation

Steam the sticky rice in a steamer. Leave it until half cook (about half an hour) and remove. Boil 1 1/2 cans of coconut milk, 2 salam leaves, 2 stalk lemon grass and a 1/2 tsp salt. Add half cooked glutinous rice into it. Stir well, cook until coconut milk is absorbed. Put back into the steamer until fully cook.

Chicken Preparation

Shred a cooked chicken into small pieces. Prepare about 3 to 4 spoon oil into a heated saucepan. Saute onions and garlic until brown, add kaffir lime leaves, salam leaves, galangga, tamarind sauce, grind candle nut and 1 tsp salt. Pour in 1/2 a can of coconut milk, 1/4 cup water and shred cooked chicken into the frying pan. Stir well until cooked and quite dry.  Let it cool!

Cut aluminum foil about 7 inches, and cut banana leaves for about 5 inches.  Lay banana leaf on top of the aluminum foil, flatten the sticky rice on top of it, follow with the chicken filling.  Roll the foil/banana leaf and secure each end by twisting the foil.
The original Lemper should only use banana leaf  and a toothpick will be used to secure each end of the leaf.

The boiled chicken look like  Shredded chicken while being cooked    Voila ..... before wrapped After wrapped
Ooooohhh ...... didn't I tell you that I got help also from my sister

Christmas at Rockefeller Center, NYC

A world-wide symbol of New York City holiday season is the annual Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. This year ceremony was held on Tuesday, November 30, 2010 and tens of thousands crowd the sidewalks for the event, and I am part of the millions who watch the Tree Lighting Ceremony broadcast live by NBC Channel 4.  The 74 foot tall Norway spruce tree was donated by Peter Acton of Ground Zero FDNY firefighter veteran and his wife Stephanie from their Mahopac, NY home.  The tree will be illuminated through January 2, 2011.

Me and my friends start our trip to Rockefeller Center and we strolled down the plaza and took lots of photographs with the tree as our background.  The plaza is decorated with beautiful holiday greens, colorful lights, herald angel, wire sculpted, the nutcracker statue.  The picturesque ice skaters also add to the festive scene at Rockefeller Center every holiday season.  The weather was freezing cold, it was about 20 degrees with wind chill.  But people seems to forget about the weather.  After that we walk west toward 6th Avenue passing the Radio City Music Hall, take some pictures and walk toward 5th Avenue, looking at the Christmas window of Saks Fifth Avenue and walk through the store just to see Christmas displays.  We didn't get a chance to take a picture at the giant replica of the Swarovski star that located on the north side of the plaza.  On the way to our parking spot, we took a few moments to stand in front of Saint Patrick's Cathedral, on 5th Avenue, which across from Rockefeller Center.  Magnificent church building.

Holiday Market Place at Ogilvy

I didn't do great at the market, not only because on December 17 most people already finish with their Christmas gift, but lots of competition among jewelers.  Every corner you will see jewelry being decorated on each table.  And they all looks good, depending on your budget and your taste.  Some were sold in the amount of $1.00, and some where sold in the amount of $80.00.  My items range from $12.00 and the most expensive that I brought was $86.00 in a set.

My colleagues lend a hand

 

Help set up

View of the market



Christmas Collection

Year 2010 is a fantastic year for gifts.  There is a wide variety of hot Christmas gifts, jewelry, watches, clothes, electronic and more that should make great present ideas for everyone on your Christmas list.  As for women, they will not deny if they are given jewelry as a special gift.  Maybe they always dream of having them.  Be your special moments more lasting by giving the right and impressive gifts.  Handcrafted jewelry is your best choice to give your special one.  Your loved one will never forget it all her life :)  Here, you will see some of my handcrafted jewelry Christmas Collection.

They can be purchased thru my online website at http://www.pragajewelry.etsy.com/

Christmas Pageant Necklace

The Luxury Platinum Swarovski Pearl set

Christmas Glam set

Green Round Magnesite set

TIS THE RED SEASON Necklace

THE CORAL MADNESS Necklace