The Great Outdoors Big Easter at the Blue Bay Walk Garden.

On a hunt for something eggs-traordinary to do this Easter?

Have your family hop with excitement and treat them to The Great Outdoors Big Easter Bash slated on Sunday April 17 at the Blue Bay Walk Garden in Pasay City.

Organized by quant shopping retail strip Blue Bay Walk, the event is packed with eggs-citing activities for kids and parents, which will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. There will be an Easter Bunny Photo Wall, Easter Egg Arts & Crafts, Easter Egg Hunt, Pet Show, and Easter Story Time.

The event is open to the public and free of charge.

Interested? Register at the official Facebook page of Blue Bay Walk at www.facebook.com/BlueBayWalkOfficial.

5 Creative and Fun Ways to Celebrate Easter.

While it may not feel like it in some parts, springtime is right around the corner, and with it will come one of the cheeriest holidays of the year: Easter. If you’re the kind of person that enjoys this holiday as a time to celebrate the pleasant weather and the cutest animals, you may be looking for fun ways to celebrate this special day.

To get the most out of this lovely day, here are four creative and fun ways to celebrate Easter:

Easter eggs and a lovely bunch of Easter roses.

1. Have a self-care day.

Okay, we know that this isn’t your typical Easter holiday idea but if you’re over the treasure hunts and over-done activities for this holiday, doing some self-care activities can be the perfect way to enjoy your day off. You could book a local spa, if you’re comfortable with their Covid-19 sanitization policies and social-distancing but if you’d prefer the comfort of your home, there are plenty of ways to make a spa-like ambience at home. Order roses for Easter, dim the lights, set up candles, turn on the bath, put on your favorite music and relax. You can pick out your favorite face-masks to get that deep-cleanse (did you know they have bunny face-masks out there?) and do your nails. Take time for you on this holiday—you deserve it.

2.Virtualize the holiday with your loved ones.

It’s probably been a couple of holidays that you haven’t been able to spend with your loved ones due to the pandemic. If that’s the case, consider spending this one with them, even if just virtually. From Zoom to Houseparty, there are plenty of apps to choose from so that you can connect and celebrate with the ones you love. If you have long-time Easter traditions that you always do, figure out ways to keep the traditions alive, no matter where everyone may be located at this time.

Easter dinner idea.

3.Prepare Easter goodies for a low-key dinner with friends.

Many people around the country have created small circles of friends and loved ones known as a Covid-pod. The idea is that people only spend time, for the most part, with these friends so as to still have some socializing and connection while playing it safe to avoid exposure. If this is the case for you, perhaps you can prepare a fun Easter dinner with your pod. Whether your grandma has an amazing Easter recipe or you have to come up with your own, a Easter meal with friends can be a great way to celebrate the holiday.

4. Create and send Easter cards.

Do you have friends and loved ones spread around the country? Chances are that you’re missing them and they are missing you. If you have an artistic streak or really enjoy arts and crafts, why not use this skill to not only cheer them up but have a good time while you’re at it. Not only will they be delighted to receive snail-mail from you but you’ll also get to show off a talent you may have been hiding.

Lee Jae Wook in Extraordinary You (2019).

5.Do an Easter egg hunt—at night. 

If you’ve decided to have your Covid-pod over, why not do something very traditional like an Easter egg hunt? Except, instead of chocolate bunnies, everyone will be searching for something that grownups enjoy, whether it’s small liquor bottles or gift cards to favorite stores. Look up some Easter-inspired cocktails and make it an Easter egg hunt you won’t soon forget. If you don’t have a Covid-pod per se, but are open to outdoor activities with masks and distance, this kind of egg hunt can still happen.

In Conclusion

2020 definitely made us think outside the box and because of this, we now approach holidays a bit differently; but maybe that’s a good thing. With Easter just around the corner, it’s time to start planning for a great experience. Hopefully, these ideas can get you started on a memorable Easter experience, whether you’re near family or alone at home.

Easter Fun Facts!

Foodie Goodie | Hummingbird Nests.

Admit it, you missed my Foodie Goodie Friday posts. I missed it, too! I've been swamped with products reviews and blog campaigns lately that I haven't had the time to tinker in the kitchen or cook a proper, full-course meal.

Anyhow, I'm squeezing in this quick food post because a reader sent in a request for an Easter recipe. This recipe is a quick one, too. But you'll have tons of fun making it with your child. Enjoy!

Hummingbird Nests

Ingredients:

1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup shredded coconut
Egg-shaped candies (M&M's Peanut or jelly beans will do)


Procedure:
1. Melt the chocolate chips, following the directions on the bag.
2. When the chocolate is smooth, stir in the coconut.
3. Drop the mixture by the heaping tablespoon onto waxed-paper-lined cookie sheets.
4. While the 'nests' are still warm, use your thumbs to poke an impression into the middle of each.
5. Allow the 'nest' to cool, then fill with egg-shaped candies.

As seen on Spoonful. 
Shared with Food Friday, Food Trip Friday, Heavenly Treats Sunday.

A Fun-filled, Photo-laden Easter Sunday!

I promised the little man that we're going egg hunting come Easter Sunday. And so we did.

Easter pink!

We were at the mall by 10am - the earliest we have ever been inside SM City San Pablo.

The Easter stage.

The entrance to the activity area.

All we had in mind was the egg hunt, but the event host kept on convincing me to sign Yue up in the costume contest as well. (Same story last Halloween. All I wanted was for Yue to take part in the Trick or Treat event, but they kept on asking me to enter the costume contest, too. They said Yue's dinosaur costume was so cute, that it deserves to win the contest. We ended up bagging second prize, heh.)

Find the eggs!

Upon their suggestion, a pair of bunny ears would be fine for a costume. He was reluctant at first, but when he saw some of the boys wearing them (some even bigger than him), he gave in as well.

Bunny baby!!!

The Hop, Hop, and Away Easter Celebration kicked off with arts and crafts activities for the kids. Yue painted an egg,

Alms, alms, spare me a piece of egg!

The finished product!

tinkered with colored sand,

Creative hands at work.

Busy bunny!

some colored pens,

Oh, there you are, Perry!

Love this photo so much!

and some clay!

Stamper + clay = amazed toddler.

When the kids were done with their art projects, the hunt began. There were kids who took some of the eggs scattered all over the activity area before the program even started. (I blame their parents for not listening to instructions and not having the initiative to return the eggs back.) So there were very few eggs left in the activity area.

SM eggs!

Yue and I were clever enough to hop from one merchant store to another to look for more eggs. We struck a goldmine at Mc D's and Octagon. Hah! In your face, overly eager mommies!

He looks like his Dad more and more each day!

After a quick lunch, we scurried over to the makeup section of the department store. I asked the ladies if I could use some of their makeup for Yue's bunny face. Since I'm a regular costumer (haha!), they were more than happy to help me out.

It sure pays to be a makeup junkie! Haha!

Ta-daaa! Makeshift bunny costume!

The afternoon activities began with the kids' parade around the mall.

All that quirkiness!

And all those bunny ears!

Smile, baby bunny!

We were surprised to see Ceana, My Charmed Mom's lovely daughter (and my goddaughter) in the running for Cutest Easter Costume as well! Icar and I didn't make arrangements prior to this, so it was great bumping into each other with the kids in tow.

Fairy Ceana!

Pixie baby and bunny boy. :)

Having fun kids?

The costume contest began as soon as the kids got back inside the activity center. The participants were asked to go up the stage by groups of 5. Here's Yue with some of the contenders for the Cutest Costume category.

Wow, costumes! Hahaha!

Look at how big the competition is. Heh. :)

Absolutely no stage fright.

Happy bunny!

I wasn't expecting to win this contest.
Really now. With Yue's 'costume'? Haha. But the little man had a great time, and that was the most important.

Magic show!

Oooh, the infamous hanky trick.

Amazed Ceana. :)

And he got to bring home lots of goodies from the Easter celebration.

Bring home the eggs!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday, too!

Sharing the happiness with i Heart Macro, Shadow Shot Sunday, Mom and Me Monday, Blue Monday, Green Monday, MYM, Memory Lane Monday, Orange Tuesday, Wednesday Whites, Rednesday, Mommy Moments, and Color Connection.

Good Boy, Good Friday.

With the Philippines being a predominantly Roman Catholic country, our commemoration of the Holy Week is nowhere near ordinary. For us Filipinos, it is a time for self-reflection and penance. A series of religious activities are held the entire week, beginning with the blessing of palm fronds on Palm Sunday and capping it off with a vigil and Mass on Easter Sunday.

During the Easter Triduum (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Black Saturday), businesses and commercial establishments cease operations. while local TV stations go off the air or have limited broadcasting hours. For Yue, that meant no malling and no shopping - which is usually scheduled every Friday.

I had to explain to him why there's 'no shopping Friday' today.

 And why we're not going to SM to play at the arcade.

Or go shopping for books, clothes, and toys.

It was a tad difficult for me to find the right words to explain what Good Friday is all about, but I guess he understood the essence of what I was trying to say. I was quite sure of it, because he didn't bug me with endless questions after.

I promised him we'll go Easter Egg-hunting come Sunday instead. Hope everyone's having a soulful and meaningful Holy Week!

Sharing with InstaFriday, Photo Story Friday, Friday Favorite Things, and Oh, Snap!