WAHOOOOOO! Â Presents for Pinoys was a SMASHING SUCCESS! Â I will have lots and lots more photos for you tomorrow morning, but bed is calling my name right now. Â More later… In the meantime, check out what your generous donations bought for the kids! Every 9-11 year old girl got...
Sarah Novak
My expat friend Naomi over at DelhiBound wrote a fantastic post that caught my eye this week. Â It captured the Expat experience so brilliantly that I thought I’d share an excerpt from it. Â You can read the whole thing HERE. A Little Background Information: Naomi and her family...
Amazing Grace + Light Show + Techno Music = A Fun Time for All
So as you all know if you read my REVERB post, INSPIRED ACTION is my theme for 2011. I’m done doing things because I should and am doing what moves me instead. Here’s a little tune I’ve chosen as my theme song for the year – I know it will bring me back to...
Hi All- One of my favorite annual traditions is to reflect on the year I’m finishing and set some intentions for the year ahead. This year I happened to stumble across a really great tool that is facilitating the process for me. It’s an online writing initiative titled...
I am well aware of the fact that I talk about my undergrad Alma Maters frequently. Â And some of you may even be thinking, jeez, why doesn’t she just move on from college and embrace her adult life. Â And I probably would … if I had gone to a ‘normal’ school. Â But...
It seems fitting that a monstrous snowstorm took out the Metrodome’s roof. Â I wonder if that’ll be the end of the Vikings playing there??
Seriously, watch this clip, it is mind-blowing to see the power of mother nature!
Today was our annual Holiday party with the kids from Friendship Home. Â Each year we take them out to do something ‘special’ during the holidays. Â In December of ’09, if you remember, we went to the IMAX. Â Well this year I thought we’d change it up from movies...
Well, it was a big day here in Manila… my elves and I wrapped nearly 100 presents in 4 hours time! Â If you’ve been reading my blog lately, you know that these presents are for the Presents for Pinoys Project that we’re doing this holiday season. Â I never should have...
Hi All- One of my favorite annual traditions is to reflect on the year I’m finishing and set some intentions for the year ahead. Â This year I happened to stumble across a really great tool that is facilitating the process for me. Â It’s an online writing initiative titled...
I thought we’d deviate a bit from the norm today (being Sam Tsui’s AMAZING work) and enjoy a little vintage Mariah. I’m pretty sure this song will never get old!
Come on, push the play button. You know it’ll make you smile…
WE DID IT! Presents for Pinoys is fully funded with over $1000 being generously given by this blogging community! Â All I can say is WOW – I am humbled and totally in awe of how you stepped up to support this endeavor. Here’s an update on where we are with the project: The...
If you paid close attention, you may have noticed that Sam Tsui is frequently shown in videos with his friend Kurt, who plays every instrument known to man. I came across this amusing video that Kurt did and couldn’t resist sharing it with you. Happy Monday! And do...
Until I have a kid of my own, I’ve officially adopted baby Leni as my surrogate daughter.  In real life, she belongs to our good friends Andrea and Brian, who are also in the Foreign Service.  Today we had the privilege of attending her 1st Birthday Party.  I thought I’d...
I’m confident that if Sam knew about Presents for Pinoys, he’d support it too! :) Enjoy this week’s mashup.
After all sorts of moving around, Nick and I decided to base ourselves in Auckland for our final week. Â It’s been a nice change of pace, even though the lack of moving has made me a bit antsy. Â Our strategy for our time here has been to use Auckland as a base from which to take...
My crazy travel schedule got me off my usual Thursday Sam postings. Since I’ve been missing him, I assume you have been too! Hope you enjoy this new duet “Just a Dream.”
I take risks in many ways in my life but the physical realm is not one of those areas. So you might imagine how out of place I felt in the Adventure Capital of New Zealand, beautiful Queenstown! Quite honestly, I have never seen more Northface-clad, dred-wearing, barefoot, care-free...
We had just wrapped up our stay at the B&B/Farm when Nick threw another surprise my way – he told me we’d be spending 2 nights in a private apartment on a vineyard in the Otago Valley! Â I’m sure you can imagine my delight… everything about it sounds romantic...
Although New Zealand food has been some of the most expensive I’ve ever paid for (thanks, in large part, to the falling price of the dollar) it is also the most consistently superb food I’ve ever had. Â Meal after meal is fresh, beautifully plated and scrum-diddily-umptious...
Nick put together a 5 minute video of our helicopter ride over the Glaciers in New Zealand. It’ll give you a better idea of what this majestic experience was like. Enjoy!
After we got done with our helicopter ride, we continued driving south to Fox Glacier where we had booked lodging at a 700 acre working farm/bed and breakfast called Clearwater B&B. Â We had never stayed in a B&B before and the fact that it was a farm made it all the more...
I know I said that sailing past the Sydney Opera House was as good as it gets, but I’m going to have to retract that because the last 24 hours topped it. Â This last day was out-of-this-universe good and it was all because of my fab husband, who put hours and hours of research into...
Finally got a chance to break in my new ZOOM lens that Nick got me for my birthday. It was a ton of fun to get so up-close-and-personal with the animals. Hope you enjoy the pics! Lots more on SMUGMUG.
After our patience-trying flight experience, we needed things to take a turn for the better. Thankfully, that’s exactly what we got. We arrived in Sydney and took a cab to Darlington, a suburb of Sydney where my high school friend Ann lives with her husband Will and daughter Freya...
This is one of the first Sam Tsui songs that got steady play on my IPOD. It’s called “Down” by Jay Sean. I think you’re going to love it as much as I do… did I mention it’s acoustic too?
Warning: This is not a standard Novakistan post! Â I’m hoping you won’t mind though, as I’d really love to get your initial impressions. Over the past few weeks I’ve been working with Sonia Miller of Success for the Soul on a Vision for my new coaching business...
Greetings all – We are T minus 5 days until our 23 day ‘rest and relaxation’ trip to New Zealand. Because we are at a hardship post (I know some of you would debate that, but I swear we are!) we are REQUIRED to leave the country once during our tour and spend some time...
As many of you remember, last year was a VERYÂ tough Christmas for me. Â After those challenging few days, Nick and I made a pact that we would change things up for Christmas 2010 to ensure we didn’t end up in the same predicament… To prevent further sadness, we are doing two...
Seriously, this is too good not to share. In case you missed it, on Thursday Oprah reunited the family Von Trapp for the 45th Anniversary of the movie’s release. I was amazed to learn that they had never all come together for an interview since the movie’s release...
It was a joyful week here in Manila.  I had the privilege of hosting a recruiter from my Alma Mater, the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University.  She was only here for 5 days, so we ended up with a pretty jam-packed schedule.  It was worth it though because we made a...
As is the tradition, we put on a big ole Halloween Party for the kiddos this week. Â Man was it fun! Â Their energy is especially infectious on ‘special days’ like these when we go all out to celebrate something. Due to lack of costume options, 2 out of 3 kids were ‘dead...
Finally, a little something acoustic. Now this is much more up my alley. Hope you enjoy Paramore’s “The Only Exception.”
On Saturday Nick and I were graciously invited to join a group of Filipinos who were traveling 2 hours North to Pampanga to experience the food, churches and handicrafts of that region. Â It was one of the most ambitious agendas I’ve ever seen (it put my itineraries to shame...
This is definitely not my favorite of Sam’s work, but it’s a bit different than his other stuff, so I’m sure some of you will appreciate it. I’m crossing my fingers for a brand new ‘pop’ release this next week (instead of Usher).
One of the many volunteer hats I wear is that of Worldwide Recruitment Specialist (my self-appointment title) for the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University (CSB/SJU) in Minnesota. Â I’ve talked before about how my experience there changed my life, so it’s a...
In coaching, one of the fundamental beliefs we hold about our clients is that they are naturally creative, resourceful and whole – meaning that they have the wisdom and ability to create anything they want in their life (and overcome whatever obstacles may stand in the way of...
One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice– though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. “Mend my life!” each voice cried. But you didn’t stop. You knew...
This will be my third and final post about Hong Kong. Â Today’s post will actually focus on Macau, an island that is a 1 hour ferry ride from Hong Kong. Â Macau is best known as the Vegas of Southeast Asia, full of eye-popping shows, gold-plated everything and poker tables galore...
Oh man, it doesn’t get much better than this. Sam doing a cover of Sara Bareilles’ King of Anything… be still, my heart!
Just one week before we left for Hong Kong Nick and I were having one of our nightly debates/discussions. Â The question was: Which sense would you LEAST like to lose? Â I insisted that sight would be the worst while Nick maintained that touch would be unbearable. Â The debate raged on...
So after 3 days in Hong Kong, Nick and I can say without hesitation that we prefer to live in big Asian cities rather than visit them. Â It’s not that they’re bad by any means, they’re just exhausting when you try to jam all sorts of experiences into a short period (in...
I don’t usually post videos two days in a row but this parody is so hilarious that it merits some rule-breaking. Nick and I couldn’t stop laughing – highlights of the video for me included Coke-in-a-bag and Magic Mic. Leave your comments and let me know what...
This week I have the privilege of meeting up face-to-face with Christine, one of my long-time blog readers.  This is the 4th or 5th time that I’ve converted an online friend into a flesh-and-blood friend.  Blogging can be so one-way at times that I relish any chance to see...
Ok, let’s start with the facts. I adore Christmas. Not just any old Christmas, but the snow-covered, sweater-wearing, eggnog-drinking, fireplace-roasting type. Perhaps some would call that a traditional Christmas. Call it whatever you like, that will always be what my image...
Cebu Pacific is the exclusive Philippines airline of Novakistan. Remember when they won our hearts after the dramatic”Kindle Episode” in Shanghai?  Keep the singing, dancing and in-flight games coming Cebu Pacific, there’s nothing else like you in the sky!
For those who complain that Sam Tsui does none of his own stuff, I am pleased to present his first original song! Now there’s no reason left not to become a fan… Happy Thursday all!
LIMA, PERU!!! We just got the news – Novakistan is officially moving capitals come spring 2012! We will be there for 2 years after Nick completes language classes in DC. He’s also excited to try a new role as Political Officer there. As for me, I’m...
Ahhhh, home sweet Manila! Boy does it feel good to be back. Don’t get me wrong, I had a sensational trip, but there’s just something SOOOO sweet about arriving back home (especially when your husband’s there waiting for you!) Since my jam-packed...