Frannywanny

I'll let you in on a secret... Something exciting is happening in TWO DAYS ! Here's a clue: it's silky smooth and sweet and you'll surely get addicted to it. Beginning July 2 , Starbucks Coffee will be launching a line of cold drinks highlighting the new and velvety smooth Dark Roast Coffee Jelly . Take a sip and you'll feel as if you're in coffee heaven as you enjoy the rich, creamy coffee blend together with the soft and velvety jelly gently gliding down your throat. This new line-up includes the Dark Roast Coffee Jelly Frappuccino , the Iced Vanilla Dark Roast Coffee Jelly Caffe Latte and my personal favorite, the Caramel Dark Roast Coffee Jelly Frappuccino . Coffee Pairings Of course, your coffee experience would not be complete without enjoying any of these delectable sweet and savory treats! Everything was so good that I actually forgot to take some photos. Thanks to the Starbucks Coffee team for supplying us with beautiful shots of their new items. Have...

Don't your just loveeeee our beautiful cover? Beginning this July, Real Living has added more pages to give you additional home tips, more real home features and loads of tidbits for the kitchen too! Check it out as yours truly joined the editorial team during the birthday shoot! (hahaha!) Grab a copy now! :)

Just the best way to end a great week! :) After a year and 9 months of existence, Frannywanny.com has finally reached its 60k mark! wahoooo!! click to enlarge Thank you readers :) *hugs*

I got a treat for lunch today :) Normally, lunch at work would consist of a sandwich and a piece of banana. This is part of my ongoing campaign to eat healthy. Well, I took a break today . Joining a couple of colleagues as we made a trip to Quezon City to try a certain restaurant, a big brown signage caught my eye the moment we arrived at the venue, Sabroso : Incredibly flavourful lechon , it read. In an instant, I recognized the restaurant as as this has been mentioned a couple of times by my good friend Jane . Who can ever say no to lechon..most especially one so crispy and mouthwatering? Standing outside the restaurant, we unanimously decided to give it a try and to have lechon as an appetizer. Since we didn't want to fill our stomachs up right away, we ordered a one-fourth kilo (Php. 140) of crispy lechon to share. Service was quick, it took them less then five minutes to bring the platter of lechon to our table. We surveyed the crispy, shiny lechon skin that covered up the r...

A wonderful good morning text greeted me this morning and I knew I have to make a trip to McDonald's today, no matter what. How I wish this can be part of the core line-up but then again, this is what makes the Twister Fries so special. The fact that we have to patiently wait for it to be available once a year and we make sure to indulge and enjoy this to our heart's content before it disappears again. Thank you McDonald's for making my day!! :)

Often times, I crave for the most unexpected things. Take today for instant, I woke up craving for pork machang , which is a triangular-shaped dimsum that is made of brown glutinous rice mixed with pork, chicken and shiitake mushroom. I can't stop thinking about this on my way to work even imagining adding tomato ketchup on top of my machang. The craving stayed on all day that the moment I got to the car, I asked my mom if we can drop by the Little Store for some machang on our way home. A couple of weeks ago, I found myself craving for Mexican food . This brought about three consecutive visits to a mexican restaurant in my neighborhood and a quick fix at Taco Bell . Surveying their menu board, I noticed that they have a new addition to their already mouthwatering line-up. It's called the Cheesy Gordita Crunch (Php. 99) which looks like a taco but is wrapped in white tortilla bread. It got me wondering what it tastes like that I got that together with my favorite Nachos Supr...

It all began one night at a casual Italian restaurant in Ortigas where four girl blog gers (and a super game, cheese-loving guy *peace Chris! hehe* ) agreed to meet up to finally attach a face to the names often seen in the blogosphere. Since then, they would go around town trying out new restaurants and at times inviting more common friends to join them. Over good food and a million stories shared back and forth, the Thursday Club was born. Every other Thursday, the group will meet in a different restaurant chosen by one of the members. This week it was Didi's turn and to satisfy our pizza craving, we chose to dine at Pizzeria Toscana . It has been more than a year since my last visit and it still has the same cozy ambiance that I truly enjoyed before. The photos of celebrities enjoying a plate of pasta are still present but there's also an addition of framed write-ups from the country's leading food and lifestyle magazines. This just goes to show that Pizzeria To...

From the group that brought us Avenue Q and Hairspray , comes another interesting musical production that is sure to tickle our funny bone as we watch six young individuals in the midst of puberty battling each other out in a spelling bee that will teach them that winning isn't everything and that losing doesn't necessarily make you a loser . The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee will run from July 3 to 12, 2009 at the Carlos P. Romulo Theater in the RCBC Tower, Makati. Here's the list of ticket sellers according to the official website of the Atlantis Productions : Additional info: July 4, 8pm show: contact Spotlight Manila

When in the mood to go on a Chinese food trip but is too lazy to drive all the way to Manila, why don't you just hop over to San Juan . Here's a simple guide as you embark on a different Chinese food trip around my neighborhood. Enjoy!! :) Neighborhoods: San Juan

It was the day after my birthday and my friend and former colleague Ding invited us to a fun pizza and pasta party at the new Yellow Cab store in Glorietta 5 . Despite that it was raining the whole day, we still made it a point to go all the way to Makati for dinner. After all, how can you ever say no to pizza? It has been almost a year since I last saw Ding and there were a lot of catching up needed to be done. Dinner began with a platter of crunchy Tortilla Chips with two types of dips -- Tomato Salsa or Cheese Jalapeño. While Janey preferred the Cheese Jalapeño, I enjoyed dipping my chips into the Tomato Salsa which has chunks of juicy sweet tomatoes. Yellow Cab is known of its pizza but they got really good side dishes too! We love the Hot Wings (Php. 195) which is a different take from the traditional Buffalo Wings. Instead of coating it with chili sauce, Yellow Cab's Hot Wings is deep fried and marinated in their signature spicy sauce. The Twice-Baked Potato Halves (Php....

"You are so beautiful to me...can't you see... you're everything I hope for..you're everything that I need" Who can ever forget The Little Rascals ? Remember cute little Alfalfa dressed in a crisp tailored shirt with a hair sticking out at the back of his neatly combed 'do singing this lil off-key song to Darla who fluttered her adorable lashes at her young suitor? Yellow Cab Pizza Co. is bringing back memories of our childhood with their newest pizza creation called Dear Darla (10"=Php. 275, 14"=Php. 435, 18"=Php. 595)! pretty Phoebe as Yellow Cab's newest endorser ;) What makes Dear Darla different from the regular Yellow Cab pizzas that we all love is that it's actually a thin crust pizza served with a generous amount of arugula (my favorite!) and alfalfa sprouts. To eat this, you have to add the veggies inside, drizzle it with chili oil, roll it up and ENJOY! The Dear Darla pizza is available in all Yellow Cab branches in Metro M...

When faced with a wide array of choices in making your Burrito (Php. 290), here's a step-by-step guide on how to make the best burrito that will leave you craving for more...the Ristras Mexican Grill way. First: Choose which rice you would like to have -- Cilantro Wild Rice or Chorizo Brown Rice . If both seems mouthwatering for you, then have both ! Second: Go meat crazy! Choose from Chicken (marinaded for hours in Jalapeno marinade) , Steak (marinaded for hours in Chipotle Adobo then grilled to perfection) , Carnitas (naturally raised pork seasoned with the best spices then braised for our hours) , or my personal favorite -- Barbacoa (shredded beef, slow braised with chipotle adobo, cumin, cloves and a lot more!) . Otherwise, go Vegetarian (a mix of guacamole, vegetarian black beans, sauteed peppers and onions) Third: Watch them pile your Burrito high! Allow them to go crazy as they add crunchy bell peppers, salsa, onions, tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole, corn, cheese and ...

If there's one thing in this world that I am thankful for, it's that of having a sister. Sure, we used to stage a World War when we were kids to the point of me wishing that I should have been an only child. However, during one of those fights, our mom told me one thing that has stayed permanently in my mind since then... "No matter what happens, the two of you have to stick together because someday, it will just be the two of you against the world. Just recently, I read this novel called My Sister's Keeper it's a story about a young girl named Anna who was born to save her sister who's sick with Leukemia. As her sister grew weaker and weaker, more things are needed from Anna's own body. At a young age of thirteen, she has been through countless surgeries, shots and various medical procedures. Anna had enough, she finally made a decision that might tear her family apart and could lead to fatal consequences for her very own sister. This is one of the best n...

It's finally here. Just nine years ago, I blew eighteen bright sparkling candles from my three layered debut cake. Dressed in a ruffled, princess-like gown, I celebrated my coming of age with my closest friends and relatives. That year also marked the beginning of college life and a whole new world of discoveries for me. This year, the celebrations were more intimate but mind you, there were just as meaningful. Looking back, my 26th year has been eventful. It really brought me all the HIGHs and a bit of LOWs. I'd like to take a look back at the THREE greatest things that made a huge impact on my 26th year of existence: 1) FRIENDS. Where will I be without them? I'm truly thankful to have the greatest friends on earth (make that both online and offline) . 2) PASSION. I am thankful to have a blog that allows me to unleash my passion for writing. Through this blog , I am lucky to have the opportunity to meet wonderful online friends who regularly drops by. 3) LOVE. In 13 more m...