Going Contemporary...

I asked my husband one time a question. If he had a chance to re-do our bedroom, how does he he want to change it and what style would he want it? His answer plain and simple. He said, "Go contemporary."

True enough, our bedroom is too traditional and too boring. It has wooden closets, a wooden bed, wooden side tables and a wooden t.v. rack. Thinking about it, I somehow tend to agree with my husband. All that wood actually makes the room look old, boring and outdated. What is needs really is a breath of contemporary furniture to give it that x-factor and modern look.

If you are dreaming too of having a contemporary look for your rooms, the online site of gomodern.co.uk provides a variety of beautiful modern furniture. You can choose a beautiful bedroom set that is made up of a combination of black furniture and glass furniture. You can also readily purchase online those black sideboards that go with your modern bed. There are also attractive black dining tables and glass tables that can give that great look for your dining room. And for your living room, you can get a sofa similar to this classic Italian sofa bed (picture below) that spells contemporary.

Zoe's Toys

As young as she is, Zoe has already accumulated a lot of toys and other stuff. Lookie here...

Too many stuff toys...(can you see Barney, Tigger and Jollibee?)

Too many plastic toys and other crazy stuff....

I wish I can get rid of many of these toys and revert to having wooden toys and puzzles that will promote imaginary play (ala Waldorf style of learning).

Got a Tattoo?

Tattoo Chat City is the latest web chat room you can go to if you are interested in tattoos and finding and talking to other people who have them or are interested in them as well. It's so easy to join and there are no required registration fees. There you can share unique tattoo design ideas and the best places to get them. I know for a fact that some people can't enough of them. They simply have to have one tattoo after another. It's also considered as a form of art and nobody can stop them from getting one.

My opinion of tattoos was actually changed drastically when I saw the TV series Prison Break wherein Wentworth Miller portrayed a guy who had tattoos done all over his body. He looked cute still even with all that "drawing" on his skin. Another person who has a tattoo that caught my attention is Angelina Jolie. During the last Academy Awards, while wearing a beautiful Elie Saab black gown with matching emerald drop earrings (ooooh, I love those emeralds!), she sported in her left bicep a tattoo which indicated the latitude and longitude of the places where her children where born. I think it's cool and quite unique! So, to tattoo-lovers out there, who are your favorite celebrities with tattoos? Discuss it in Tattoo Chat City to find out more!

Dream Bedroom for the Kids

While looking for an appropriate bed for Zoe (and also for baby number two), I chanced upon this great site that offers wonderful kids furniture. Seeing their wide variety of products got me really excited! As you know, my daughter is a toddler who is soon will be a preschooler. Nearing the age of 3, I think it's high time for Zoe to start learning to sleep in her own bed and not anymore in a small crib or with us in mommy and daddy's bed. Besides, she will be having a baby sister or brother soon and it's time for her to become more independent.

In the site of Spacify, the site that I am talking about, I particularly fancy this kids bed which is bunk-style and has a matching children's desk. I have thinking of creating a modern look for the kids' bedroom and I think the picture below is perfect. It's really the one I've been looking for. I love the apple green and white combination. It is really modern, funky and refreshing to the eyes. Plus, I love that it comes with a matching study table. With Zoe going to preschool pretty soon, a sturdier desk would be a necessity for her. What do you think?

What's Wrong with the Picture?

What's wrong with it? It's an eyesore I don't know what to do with it.

• It covers the small window that brings in the air in the attic.
• It is becoming a logding place for Zoe's old stuff (her Maclaren stroller, crib accessories & walker).
• Nobody wants to sleep on it (it's a sofa bed) because it's a hassle to convert into a bed.
• It has too many pillows on it (accumulated throughout the years).

Plus ~ where can I safely store my uncle's bulky golf clubs and stuff and our heavy duty floor polisher?! I don't know anymore how I'll keep them out of sight.

Suggestions, anyone?

Innovation is Key

I was watching cable tv the other day and chanced upon an interview with the big boss of Amazon.com. The discussion revolved around the survival of companies in this crazy economic turmoil that the world is experiencing right now and how companies will still be able to make profits amidst the crisis.

The man said that with the downturn in the economy, people and companies will definitely be adversely affected. However, the positive spirit of the people will drive them to carry on through innovation. Thus, innovation is key. In the case of ecommerce, people will find ways to shoot their sales through better products, better technology and better solutions such as getting the services of a channeladvisor custom store. With all these solutions, there is no reason to sulk and be drained by the difficulties that face us now.

Zoe's New Playroom Set-up

I was able to organize some of Zoe's stuff this week...the end result: a new playroom cum study room set-up.

This new set-up leaves more available space for playing and running around in the attic. :-)

Putting Zoe's pic as a small detail:

Her magic sketcher on top of the study table for easy access:

For my next project, I'm planning to finally buy Zoe her very own bed. I think she's ready to move out of the crib. :-) Besides, baby#2 is going to be taking over that crib by the end of the year!

Punkers' Place

Are you a true-blue punk? Do you characterize yourself or associate yourself with the hardcore punks or with those people belonging to one of the many subcultures of punk (and I know there are so many of these subcultures now)?

Well, if you are into punk and are looking for a place where other punkers meet and chat, then you are invited to check out this interesting website that will lead you to a Punk Chat Room. There you can talk about your punk interests and even meet them through video chat.

Sound good to you? All you got to do is to register into the chat room of Punk Chat City. To log in at Punk Chat City is as easy as 1-2-3. It is hassle-free and is absolutely at no cost to you. After logging-in, you can already get in touch, chat and talk to as many as a hundred of other punk enthusiasts from all over the world and start to compare notes about your different shared interests. This may be regarding all things punk - music, clothes, fashion, games, attitudes or maybe just the punk lifestyle in general. What you do think? Are you interested? Then, what are you waiting for?

Pregnancy Fashion

With the buttons of my regular clothes already popping due to my bulging tummy, I decided to bring out all my maternity clothes for sorting last Saturday...

And boy, I had a super hard time. First off, bringing them out got so tired already. Hahaha. Then, I've been thinking if all these clothes are still 'in' by today's fashion standards. I have a feeling that during my first pregnancy, I never really cared about how I looked like or about what other people will say. Now, I feel that my maternity clothes are yucky and out-of-date. Anyway, I am hoping that this time, I could still look a bit presentable even if I'm huge and preggy. Being pregnant is no excuse to be looking sloppy. So, do I have an excuse to go shopping?! I hope my bonus will be big enough to let me spend on some nice new clothes (wishful thinking!).

Protect Your Children

As a mother, I am doing my very best to protect my family from the threats of the outside world. Lo, there are so many bad things that you see and hear in the media that one can tend to get paranoid that these things will happen to your very own family. I am sometimes wary of my kids' future and wonder if the place where we live is safe enough to raise them. I wish that our justice and police system is as good as those I watch in CSI or that there is available information in how to Track Sex Offenders.

Honestly, having a village guard or locked house gates are not enough safety precautions nowadays. Thus, to further protect our family at home, we are trying to train the adults left in the house with our daughter to be extra vigilant of the people walking around the streets. We also have trained them regarding the use of the telephone. We have trained them to memorize emergency numbers to call. They should also not give our address or phone number to anyone. They also have to keep the cellphone always available so we can check on them regularly. We are also now looking at having them take a good self-defense course, for their good and the good of the rest of the family.

To Clean: Windows

I just realized now that since our house was constructed, we never bothered to clean our front windows. And so I looked for the best way to clean them and found my answer here.

The best way to clean windows, or any large expanse of glass, is with a squeegee. It does a faster and better job.

You need a professional-quality squeegee and a window wand. If you'll be cleaning high windows, you also will need an extension pole. The basic process is simple - apply the cleaning solution with the window wand and pull the dirt and water off with the squeegee.

In detail.

1. Mix a capful of ammonia or five drops of liquid dish detergent in two gallons of water. Resist the urge to use too much detergent; that causes streaking.

2. Dip your window scrubbing wand or a sponge 3/4 of an inch into the solution, picking up just enough water to wet the window without flooding it. Wet the entire window then go back over it once to loosen any stubborn soil. Last, run the scrubber against the frame on all sides of the window to pick up any dirt you've pushed against the frame.

3. Dampen the squeegee blade before you start and wipe it with a damp cloth between strokes. A dry blade will skip and jump on the window instead of gliding smoothly.

4. Tilt the squeegee at an angle so that only about an inch of the rubber blade presses lightly against the top of the window glass. Then pull the squeegee across the window horizontally. This will leave a 1-inch dry strip across the top of the window. By squeegeeing across the top first, you eliminate drips running down.

5. Place the squeegee close to the frame in the dry area near the top and pull down to about three inches from the bottom of the glass. Continue this way across the window, overlapping into the clean, dry area with each stroke, and wiping the blade with a damp cloth after each stroke.

6. Finish with a horizontal stroke across the bottom and wipe any water off the sill with a damp cloth.

On some windows, it's easier to cut the water off the frame side as well as the top, and then squeegee the entire pane using horizontal strokes. Large (picture) windows should be wet and squeegeed half at a time, the top half first. Finally, if you're cleaning both the inside and outside of the window, squeegee horizontally on one side and vertically on the other, so you can tell whether any streaks are inside or out.

Large (picture) windows should be wet and squeegeed half at a time, the top half first.

Finally, if you're doing both the inside and outside the window, you may want to squeegee horizontally on one side and vertically on the other, so you can tell whether any streaks are inside or out.

Beautify with Lamps

You can add a new touch to any room in your house and not break the bank by adding a lamp or a unique lighting fixture. Sometimes, we focus too much on the wall color or the big furniture that sometimes we forget that just be adding a beautiful lamp at maybe the corner of the room, the room will glow and begin to look like a million-dollar place.

I realized this when I was out in the mall with my friend last Friday night. We were in the new mall in Greenbelt looking for a nice place to eat. That was when I saw how beautiful it was inside this certain specialty store only to realize that they had beautiful lamps at every corner of their store. It made the store very homey and at the same time very attractive.

So if you want to see what type of lamp can further beautify your living room or bedroom, you can just click on ShopWiki and see for yourself the different variety of lamps and other lighting accessories that you can buy online. It is a great guide for the busy shopper. There you will be able to compare styles and prices fast and will enable you to choose the best products according to your own taste and budget.

Back Online

Hi everyone. I missed hopping here for some days because I got sick with colds and cough. I was worried that it will get worse so I decided to just take leave from work for a couple of days and really get that rest. I just had to put my priorities straight and think of the baby and this pregnancy above everything else.

Now I'm back in the office and back online. You could just imagine the ton of work waiting for me and the hundreds of emails that I need to weed out. I've got a big deadline coming up at work and I could depend on nobody else but myself and the grace of God. While the other people are just comfy in their chairs, surfing the net, entering a Catholic Chat Room and making friends, I'm stuck with a killer deadline, hahaha. I'm just praying that I'll make it through without breaking my back and stressing myself too much.

Anyway, in the home front, as I was already feeling a bit better last night, I decided not to waste time. I organized some of Zoe's stuff in the playroom which is located in the attic. I tried re-arranging the furniture too. For a two-year old, I think my Zoe has way too many stuff. And now that we're going to have another baby soon, I could only imagine how much more stuff we will be accumulating in the next few months and years to come. Whew! Thinking about it makes my head hurt.

Help!

Help! I woke up with colds today and I hate it! My head is feeling light, my throat itchy and my nose is runny & so congested. I texted my OB already and she recommended steam inhalation lang to relieve me from my stuffy nose. But I'm stuck in the office, rushing something 'important', and couldn't make that steam thingy until I get home tonight.

Please help me with your prayers that this doesn't get any worse. Thanks a lot!

Nice Frames

Just the other day, my boss and I were talking about when we both had to wear eyeglasses and what factors lead us to have poor eyesight. Well, I told her that I started wearing eyeglasses when I was 12 years old. I only realized that my eyes were already faltering when we had an annual eye exam at the clinic in our school. So my Dad brought me to an eye doctor and the doctor made me wear the ugliest pair of eyeglasses in town. This actually made me detest wearing eyeglasses. I resisted wearing my glasses for the rest of my school days and because of this, my eyes are now worse than before.

Anyway, for someone who now can't function without eyeglasses, I have always been on the lookout for eyeglasses which fit the form and shape of my face, my job, my lifestyle, and even my budget. In the past, I would fall for those expensive branded eyeglasses because I tended to equate good quality with the price and the brand. However, I realized that I need not really spend much more than what I could afford on eyeglasses.

And so I learned that Zenni Optical has been emerging to be one of the known supplier of quality, affordable and stylish eyeglasses. It was even featured in NY Times to be a good source of cheap eyeglasses if you are the one who wants to have a back-up pair for a reasonable price. They have nice frames for sale such as this one:

I Love Laing!

It was so sweet of my MIL and SIL to grant my valentines wish over the weekend. I was craving for something with coconut milk last Thursday and thought of asking my husband to request for laing (gabi leaves cooked in coconut milk) from my MIL. They willingly obliged, cooked it and served it for Sunday's lunch. Incidentally, it was also the fiesta in that part of the city so we also had chicken roll, embutido and other delicious stuff for lunch. To top it all, they also reserved a big bowl for us to take home. Yummy! I'm one contented and delighted pregnant mom!

Zoe Talks

I am just fascinated how Zoe is learning to converse and how she is absorbing things and ideas.

For example, we were quizzing Zoe the other day about the basics. I asked her what is your name and she answers "Zara -iolet -ineda". Then I ask her also about how old she is and she answers "two!!!" Then I ask her again what her name is and she quickly answers "Zara -iolet -ineda......two!!!" Hahaha! Looks as if Zoe is advanced in speech...literally!

Another time, I would ask a series of questions about the family. First would be to ask her the name of her Dad. She readily and confidently answers "Txxg". Then I ask her the name of her Mom and she would shout "Bakes!!!" Ha!? Where did that come from? Maybe she was trying to say "Bxxxs" which is my nickname but got it a little wrong in the other consonant (I don't mind sweetheart!).

In another instance, we would tell her quite blantly that she's going to be a big sister soon. And so I would ask her where the baby is. She would point at herself and tell me "Baby, me, Zara!" Hmm, do you think she's ready to be a big sister? I hope she will be, in time.

Anyway, I will leave with that. I still have to click a few sites to get some car insurance quotes for my husband. Have a great day!

Current Craving: BBQ

I actually got my wish for a taste of Buco Salad ice cream last night. Wow, it was heavenly!

But today, I woke up aching for another thing: barbeque! Somebody buy me Ineng's barbeque for lunch or else I'll go crazy thinking about it! Hahaha!

Doesn't that look oh so yummy?

Payday Today

It's payday today and I'm glad. This time, I'm planning out our expense sheet with more caution. I actually went on a shopping adventure last weekend and now am making up for that extraordinary spending. Good thing, we need not get a fast cash loan this time. But as for resolutions, I'm definitely making our menu plan using simpler and cheaper but healthier ingredients and I'm setting aside half of the money in Zoe's in-trust-for savings account and saving it for her tuition fee in case we decided to enroll her in time for classes in June so we need not scramble for money when that time comes.

Anyway, these times are really hard. We really need to save up and tighten our belts. As our company president said, "The past year of 2008 is a landmark year for the global financial markets and for the world. After decades of uncontrolled growth, banks, consumers and even entire governments finally paid the price for excessive risk taking." So now many things happening: people getting laid off, employees getting cash advance because their salaries are not enough, companies closing and profits getting slimmer. We have no reason to be spending excessively and throwing money out of the window. It's a bad situation and we got to face it head-on.

Broom, Broom!!!!

As we were getting out of the house to leave for work today, our little one was already outside, with a broom (a "walis tingting") in her hand, helping her nanny sweep the fallen leaves in the street infront of our home.

She did a good job, actually. Dad and I are really happy that she's growing up to be helpful, active, industrious and happy.