The Essentials: "Rained-In"

Image By Frank Vincentz (Own work) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

With the past few weeks leaving the Metro wet, damp and soggy it is pretty safe to say that summer (and its shenanigans)here in our beloved islands is officially over.  However, while waking up to a perfectly sunny day is one of the best, waking up with the sounds of raindrops on your window (preferably light, pitter-patters) on a weekend comes a close second (the worst? After a night of binge-drinking on Jägerbombs). With a rare opportunity to waste time at home, here are the essentials to make your "staycation" as cozy as possible.  Comfy slippers included.




1. Hot drinks.  While there are a myriad of tea bags and instant chocolate drinks in your cupboard, there is definitely an added comfort as you brew your tea or make your own hot chocolate.  Ditch the instant for once, you've got long, rainy day time on your hands. 


 Brew your own Green Tea! using this recipe from thekitchn

image credit: karenhickman.wordpress.com

    or
    Make hot chocolate from chocolate chips using this recipe from joythebaker

hot chocolate recipe from www.joythebaker.com

     
or better yet, Mint tea steeped in Hot Chocolate (Great rainy day invention ever. Well, its a tie with umbrellas at the top spot.)

image credit: kahakai.blogspot.com

2. Warm duds.  Ditch those skin-tight, skimpy summer outfits for comfy, feel-good threads.

     

A cardie in silk that's not prissy.

Silk Back Cardigan, Forever21

Stylish yet comfy slippers that are ideal for lounging inside the house. 

Minnetonka "Cally" slippers

3. The decidedly rich Chocolate Cake
Margie's kitchen's "Cookie Monster" cake.  The best chocolate cake I've ever had: icing that's not runny, moist cake and seriously chocolate-y.  Unfortunately, unless you're in Butuan City where the bakeshop is, getting this cake may seem, at the moment, impractical.

See the chocolate on that thing.?  So.good.

Enter the most practical chocolate-cake fix, Starbucks' Chocolate cake.  It's definitely easier to have since there's Starbucks in every corner of Metro Manila.

But if going outside is not an option with the harsh weather, we have a link on making an easy moist, no-bake chocolate cake.


4. Movies perfect for a rainy day.
When you are staying-in and have relatively cooler weather, it is always a good idea to watch movies while you are curled-up on the couch, sipping your hot drink concoction and eating that seriously chocolatey cake.  Movies that warm up the heart (some of you cringed. sorry.) or makes us realize we are lucky to be staying-in in our homes are best.


My Sassy Girl (original, Korean version).  Sweet yet darkly-humored, the original trumps the Hollywood version a thousand times.  This movie also tells us that some guys do find drunk girls with a lot of emotional baggage quite charming.

With the right amount of hilarity and genuine sweetness.  My Sassy Girl is an all-time fave.

The Notebook.  Romantics will forever love this (and gloomy weather does kind of make us feel a bit fuzzy, ain't it?)  And how about that scene when they were making out in the rain? Cinematic gold.

The scene to measure up to when kissing in the rain.  Pneumonia not included.

Battle Royale.  Japanese horror/thriller films do have that reputation of veering into the weird territory that eerily (and ironically enough) seem possible.  The movie's premise evolves around the fictional Millennium Educational Reform Act AKA "BR Act" which basically states that your high school class will be sent to an island where you will kill off each other-- literally up to the last man/woman standing.  Aren't you glad you are not a bratty teenager anymore? 

Remember that mean girl back in high school? She's a doll compared to this one.

So there you have it, our rained-in essentials: Movie.tea.cake.faux fur-lined slippers.  What's yours?  Happy lounging!