✨ Glitter, Groceries, and Getting My Life Together — One Page, One Swipe at a Time

There’s something magical about the little things we do on ordinary days — the quiet rituals, the tiny upgrades, the small decisions that somehow make life feel lighter. One day last week, it was two things for me: a fresh set of glitter-pink nails and a pantry ledger that’s slowly giving me my time, sanity, and energy back.

It sounds funny when you say it out loud — sparkly nails and grocery lists, but that’s exactly where I am right now. Somewhere between beauty and survival, between soft luxe living and “I just need my life to run smoothly, please.” And honestly? It's okay. It feels real. It feels like growth. It feels like I’m getting my life together, one page in my ledger… and one swipe of polish… at a time.

My Leftovers Tracker Ledger

Unlike other creators, I actually use most of the products that I sell, like my Pantry Ledgers. 

It's been saving me a lot of time, energy, and money! 

I talked about how my Pantry and Fridge Checker saved me $34 in the grocery here. Today, I'm going to talk about how my Leftovers Tracker is helping me save time, energy, and money. 

One day last week, I was soooo exhausted. Like more exhausted than usual. I needed to cook brunch. I looked around the fridge and remembered Dr Farrah Agustin-Bunch's book and what she ate daily. I thought, let me try that. 

We're so used to eating a specific set of foods for breakfast, right? When we say breakfast, we immediately think of bacon and eggs or pancakes. For us Filipinos, we think tapsilog - tapa, sinangag, itlog (marinated beef, fried rice, fried egg). We also think corned beef, hotdogs, mostly processed food. That day, I decided to serve leftovers and cook one extra dish. See if our stomachs would be okay with the "non-breakfast" food. And guess what? It was okay! Matter of fact, it kept us fuller longer. 

I know the dishes don't complement each other, but that was my point. My family can choose one or mix and match the meals. For example, my son got the eggs, pasta and some apples. I think I ate hakaw, rice, one of those baked sweet potatoes, and the leftover salad. My husband ate the bulgogi. Everyone was fed, everyone was satisfied. 

Benefits of Serving Food this Way 

The first benefit, of course, was it saved my sanity! 😆 It's so hard for me to come up with breakfast meals that don't involve convenience food because I was programmed that way! 

Now, I just look at my Leftovers Tracker and pull out the things I want to serve that day. 

Second benefit is we no longer waste food. Followers of my food blog know how much I abhor throwing food away. With this new system, everything gets eaten.. and eaten fast! 

Third benefit is for our health. Since I broke free of that breakfast food only mindset, I'm no longer tied to canned or processed food. My food repertoire has gotten bigger because I can serve dishes that I normally serve for lunch and dinner, which is something that I cook from scratch.

We also get different nutrients from eating different kinds of food. 

Fourth benefit is saved time. It's a no-brainer to cook breakfast/brunch now. I reheat different kinds of dishes and cook one dish. I don't linger in front of my fridge anymore wondering what to cook. I take out one kind of protein and thaw it, look what the leftovers are, and figure out what dish goes well with the leftovers. If there's nothing, or I'm craving something, like in the case above when I was craving bulgogi, then I cook that dish. 

Fifth benefit is another obvious thing, which is saving money. No throwing food away = no need to buy more. We finish what we have, then buy more. 

I cooked hotdogs today, after over a week of not relying on these so-called "Filipino breakfast foods." 😊 I've also drastically reduced our cconvenience food purchase. 

Sixth benefit is honoring my heritage and my ADHD brain's need for variety. I have Bicolana blood and when we eat, it's always like a fiesta. We want our table full, and we want it to abound with different kinds of dishes, never mind if some of them are leftovers. We thrive in that atmosphere of sharing and enjoying our food with our loved ones even if it's just a regular meal on a regular day. 

Glitter

Now let's talk about the Glitter part of this blog. 

I got this nail polish (along with a few more) from KKV during our staycation in that area. 

It doesn't have a name so I'll name it Soft Luxe Champagne Fairy Dust.  😊

The shade is so delicate. It's perfect for days when I feel very feminine, when I'm relaxed and not rushed. 

This nail polish is easy to apply but you may need a few coats to get the exact shade in the bottle. I only swiped twice then applied my Mumuso fast drying drops.  

This shade is pretty, sure, but I have a problem with it. It's easy to remove. Too easy, in fact:

I  literally just peeled it off my nails! It only lasted overnight. It started to chip when I washed the dishes. 

I hope the other shades I got will perform better.

Is it worth the price of 2 for $1.68, well, yeah. You get what you pay for. If you're only going to use it for an event, then yes. But if you plan to use it daily and hope it sticks, you're better off buying a better brand. 

As for me, I already bought it, so I'll make the best of it. 

Get your very own Pantry Ledger here.

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'Til my next post,

Stay soft. Stay strong. Stay Glowing.

LET'S GLOW.

With elegance and quiet fire, 

Lady E

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