Issue 34: Happy Holidays from your WW Gals 🎄☕️
Cozy up with our brekkie recipes + Marissa’s heartwarming holiday in Manila + set your THEME for 2024 ✨
Happy Holidays Friends!
As we close the year, we want to thank you all for the love and support you have shown us! WEEK TO WEEKEND IS OFFICIALLY ONE, and we couldn't have done this without the support of everyone here!
As we celebrate the holidays, we hope your week to the weekend is filled with delicious food, love, and laughter, and we can't wait to see you all next year.🎉
With love,
Marissa & Akina 🎄✨
Easy-to-Make NY Morning Brekkie & Treats 🥐
Celebrating the holidays is about crawling out of bed in your PJs and gathering with your loved ones. With that said, give yourself a break with these easy-to-make breakfast recipes you can whip up in the morning.
🥚 Breakfast Casserole
Whip up an easy breakfast casserole and pop it in the oven. Swap out veggie sausages from this recipe with your favorite protein (leftover roast chicken or BBQ chicken from New Year's Eve dinner, regular sausage, ham, etc.).
🥐 Croissant French Toast
If you have any leftover stale croissants, turn them into delicious French toast. Top it off with some whipped cream and some fresh berries.
🥣 Homemade Custard
You're in for a treat if you love a good custard filling in cream puffs. We've been obsessed with Soyami's frozen custards, and if you're like us and can't wait for them to open up, here's an easy recipe you can whip up to satisfy your cravings.
Christmas in the Philippines 🇵🇭
A personal essay by Marissa
It was a reminder that home is not just a place but where our loved ones are and where our hearts find peace.
"Umuwi ako," my mother would say to me in Tagalog. In my mother's mother tongue, it means "going home."
This holiday season was special for me and my active, almost two-year-old son. After nearly 23 years, it was my mom's first time back in the Philippines, and little did she know that we also had a surprise planned for her.
Born and raised in Guam to Filipino parents, I always felt caught between two cultures, never fully belonging to either. It has always been a challenge to express how I feel in front of my parents, but I was excited that they'd get to visit their motherland after a long period and be joined by my brother, who lives in California.
My brother and I are eight years apart, but despite that fact, we share a super close relationship and have been living miles apart since I was in high school. Our relationship has always been open and sincere. His move felt like a significant loss, but we've remained close despite the distance. We've had the opportunity to reconnect on several occasions, including trips to Japan and, most recently, to the Philippines. This trip was also memorable for him as it was his first visit back to the Philippines since he moved to Guam at age five.
I've always cherished having my parents as my link to our origins, even if I had moments when I felt out of place in the Philippines due to my Westernized accent. I especially felt comfort and connection through our love for food and sharing our favorite Filipino meals as a family. I saw the delight in my parent's eyes as they fed my son, and I realized how food bridges generations, carrying stories and love in every bite.
Witnessing my parents' subtle reconnection with their roots, I found pieces of my identity falling into place. I understood that my heritage was not just about a place or a culture but the values, resilience, and dreams my parents carried with them across oceans. It was in the Philippines that I finally felt the connection to a part of me that was always there, waiting to be acknowledged.
Although I could not accompany them to their provinces, my heart was whole. I realized this journey was not just about rediscovering roots but about building bridges between my past and my children's future. It was a reminder that home is not just a place but where our loved ones are and where our hearts find peace.
Here is a montage of pieces of Manila, how I saw it:
✨ Are You Ready for 2024?
Here at Week to Weekend, we try to center our content around our three core values: meaningful connections 💛, creative living ✍🏻, and wholesome experiences 🤸🏻♀️.
Every year, we skip the resolutions and choose a THEME. This year, we chose NURTURE + PLAY.
Before the year ends, we challenge you to come up with a theme that you want to adopt for the upcoming year. We prepared some questions and ideas to help you build meaningful connections, embrace creative living, and explore wholesome experiences.
💛 Meaningful Connections
Who do you want to further build a relationship with this year? We take Esther Perel’s teachings to heart regarding relationships, as she believes that “you learn to love yourself in the context of relationships with others.” Check out our notes on Esther’s master class.
What is your connection with your self, body, and mind?
Ask your parents, grandparents, or an elder to share a story from their childhood with you. Understanding your roots is also embedded in storytelling.
✍🏻Creative Living
Our definition of creative living is embracing a life that brings curiosity and joy in whatever form resonates with you. As Elizabeth Gilbert explains in her book Big Magic, it's about finding the treasures within you and embracing the curiosity to uncover them.
What are old hobbies you once had as a child? Would you revisit them in 2024?
What's one way you'll embrace creative expression this year? (You don't have to just turn to art; even building a sandcastle at the beach with the family is creative expression!)
What treasures do you admire in your best friend/partner/children? What are some treasures you admire within yourself?
🤸🏻♀️ Wholesome Experiences
What's one solo activity/experience you want to have? How will you feel having completed this activity? (solo travel, learning how to golf, going to the movies alone, etc.)
What's a simple experience you want to have with others that doesn't require any money. Jot it down and plan a date in your calendar.
While jetsetting is fun, have you ever considered playing a tourist in your hometown? Try it out!
Happy Holidays! 🎄
Your support means the world to us, and we’re happy you’re here. Say hi by DMing us :) We’re always open to any suggestions or issue ideas you may have. ☕️