Daydreamin'

I have always been a traditionalist when it comes to home design and interior decorating. Maybe it’s because I had not much choice because the house I live in was built and designed (and owned!) by my parents.

At any rate, if I had the budget and the liberty to build our own family home, I would consider making it a functional house with a modernist look. By modern, I mean that you incorporate all those contemporary furniture plus add in the latest appliances and gadgets that make life easier. I would purchase a high tech stove and convection oven, a stainless steel mailbox (buying blomus stainless steel mailboxes online would be on the top of my list!). My bathroom would be a fabulous place with the best jacuzzi and a modern shower room. I would also add a powerful little laptop and put it on top of a dashing office desk with a sleek design. I would also shop for blomus stainless steel fireplace accessories for my German-engineered portable fireplace and put all of it in a room where my husband, kids and I could snuggle up in the warmth of the fire. Lovely, right?

Well, it’s not so bad to aim high. Dream and you dreams will fall short.

I Wonder Where We'll Go Today

Kindermusik is beginning to be more and more challenging by the week.

The other time, we had to bring a boat.

And then after that, it was binoculars.

This week, Zoe has another assignment for her Kindermusik.


Bring next week: Train Map

Note to self: Google "train map". Hahaha.

HELP!

All About Mailboxes

Have you heard the thing about mailboxes being federal property? Well, whether these are federal property or not, a mailbox is definitely more than just a piece of property needed so that your daily mail does not get rained on or lost. It can also very well be a decoration that can beautify the outside of your home.

If you are planning on buying one, make sure that you know what works for you. Know what type to get, what design and colors among the many mail boxes there are you would like to buy and lastly, where you want to buy.

These days, you can actually buy residential and commercial mailboxes online. There you can also see whether you like the free-standing type or a wall mount mailbox.

Whatever you like, I am sure there is a mailbox that is just right for you.

Never Getting Tired...

...of making the V-sign (aka japan-japan).

Do you or your kids pose the same way too? So many folks are doing it for the camera, it's addicting sometimes.

I honestly think it's OSMOSIS!!!

Wii Take Turns.

To maintain peace in the family, we take turns in playing our brand-new Wii.

:-)

He plays mornings...


I play evenings...

As for Zoe and Luigi, meantime, they can watch. Hihihihi. Sorry kids.

Instant House

I was watching a TV show one time and it was about a home makeover project. In that episode, they featured a humble family which they would like to give appreciation to for a generous deed done and they wanted to do it by giving them the gift of a new home. Based on the initial shots, the family’s home was literally falling apart. It was old, rickety and very unsafe. Thus, it was very apt that this family be given a new house. The catch was, the TV crew only had one week to build the house from scratch. They first needed to destroy the old house and build a new one from the ground. If they were just to repair the house, it would be too easy. They knew that this family deserved not just a newly-renovated house but a totally new house.

The first thing they did was to outsource the building of the house by contacting a supplier of Manufactured Homes in Oregon in order to send them a factory-made house that can be put up within the number of days that they had.

In the United States, there are getting to be more and more options for people who are interested in buying their own house. Now there are high quality Manufactured Homes Oregon which are available in the market. These kinds of houses have a modern and functional design. When you order one of these Mobile Homes Oregon, the “parts of the house” are transported to your location and the house is assembled right there. These kinds of houses are relatively cheap and are manufactured according the safety guidelines and laws provided for houses of this kind. Anyway, going back to the TV show, the house that they ordered was beautiful. It was put up fast and its interior was decorated with style and with the nicest furniture around. And even with the pressure and time-constraint that was there in building any structure, it was evident that it was built with a lot of love – truly a wonderful gift that any family could receive.

Dinner at Cyma

This is yet another back post.

As I mentioned in one of my old posts, we had a late dinner one time at Cyma Eastwood Mall with some childhood friends.

I think I mentioned there that the food at Cyma deserves a separate post. But then now, looking at the pictures, I have totally forgotten the names of the food which we ordered.

All I can remember is that they were all yummy and heavy...and that salad had a side effect on Luigi (...it caused him a lot of gas since I still breastfed him when I came home). Bad mommy!

Uses of Lockers

Lockers are very convenient to use in big facilities which have a lot of people going to and fro. It’s the best for schools, gyms, offices, dormitories, etc. etc.

For example, school lockers are quite useful because it allows students to leave their books and stuff as they go about their daily class schedules. Just like in my own personal experience as a student, the wood locker that I had and rented in college was simply heaven-sent. Because of this, I would be free from lugging around from building to building all those thick Economics books, heavy gym uniforms and rubber shoes. For only a minimum fee per semester, I had less worries and was able to secure my stuff for school. The problem then was, the lockers were so old already. I don’t know now if the student council was finally able to replace it with better looking ones. There are many lockers for sale online now and from there they might be able to choose good quality but affordable lockers.

Our Gwapito

Here's the latest picture of our cute li'l charmer.

...okay, I'm the mother so I'm biased. But he really does look like a real gwapito if you ask me.

Do you have a truck?

I just discovered this wonderful site selling good quality truck accessories. Now we can buy any truck accessory we like through this particular site. For example, there is a truck ladder rack and some car splash guards that does not only beautify the car but are also very functional and useful for truck-owners.

Here is a sample truck rack that can be found at Real Truck.

Having a truck rack is very handy for our family especially that my Dad often travels from the province to the city. With the rack, he can load lots of stuff on top of the truck. For example, there was a time that he brought us dozens of coconut (buko) from the province because it's way too cheaper to buy it from the province during the holidays compared to when you purchase it here in the city. The cost is almost double! Also, the rack is also perfect in bringing home our portion of milled rice coming from our land in the province. You see my maternal grandparents own a sizeable portion of land in the province and every so often, we are lucky enough to benefit from it by getting some rice for our personal consumption.

So if you own a truck, check out Real Truck and get the best deals on truck accessories.

In our family...

"In our family, we put what we need the next day by the front door the night before."

"In our family, we don't drop our things when we come in the door. We take them and put themwhere they belong."

--taken from the Family Reminder for the Day from Messies

My Wish

I was just talking to a good friend over the phone earlier and we were talking about our many expenses. She told me that from her side line business, she is able to earn more for her family. Sometimes, she earns even bigger from this business than from her monthly salary. As a result, she doesn’t have any huge debts on her credit cards and when she does use her small business credit card, she always pays it in full and on time.

That really got me into thinking on when I’ll finally be debt-free. With the hard times we’re experiencing, I want to be free from high interest rates and be able to pay off all that we’ve spent using the best credit cards.

Hopefully when my “secret” plan pushes through, that wish would soon be a reality and we will be debt-free at long last!

Zoe's Current Bedtime Reads

Zoe's becoming a book addict lately.

Here are Zoe's current bedtime books. Take note that we read every single book every single night.

Another reason why we don't get to sleep early and I have eye bags to the max! :-)

It's hard.

It's hard not having a car.

As you may have read in my blogs, we were Ondoy typhoon victims last September. And although we were saved from any severe damage in our home, our car was not spared from the disaster. Many of the parts of the car needed to be replaced and so far, we already have spent loads of money trying to bring it back to a good working condition again. So far, we already are status quo in the repairs because the major work that still needs to be done (the transmission and electrical) would require us to shell out a huge amount of money.

Without an efficient car, I have to commute to go to work everyday now. This means I have to wake up very early so that I don’t encounter the long lines waiting for a service to bring me to Makati. Sometimes, when I don’t get to wake up as early (mea culpa), I have to wait for an hour or so falling in line, risking being late for work. After work, it’s the same story. I also again need to line up to get a ride home. I’m trying to get used to it because I have no choice. I just need to learn to offer it up.

Anyway, last month, we were a bit lucky to temporarily use my Dad’s pick-up truck for more than a week. You see, my Dad was driving for our relatives to go to the province when he discovered that he was driving without a license. As a result, he decided to leave his truck at our home and just take the bus going back to Batangas instead of risking being apprehended by the traffic authorities.

With the truck, our social life became alive again. We were able to attend parties, drive our relatives to places they would like to go, reach longer distances and bring the kids wherever we liked without us having to commute. (Our damaged car could only travel short distance otherwise it would overheat.). But then just when we thought our happy days were to last for at least month, my Dad had to take back the truck because he needed it to go to the province again.

So good bye for now to the truck, its husky liners and ladder rack. We also temporarily bid adieu to the truck’s tonneau cover and its big wheels.

I guess we just have to wait until our car comes back to life again and until happy days are here again.

Sorry.

Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been uber busy at work because it's OPB time once again. (I think I've mentioned this so many times already!) Anyway, apart from that, there are also some developments in the home-front and in the career-front.

We just got a Nintendo Wii last weekend and we all woke up Monday morning feeling so sored from all the tennis and bowling and baseball that we played. It's a great feeling! Plus, I realized that I never gotten the chance to play bowling or tennis with my hubby until now. It's a wonderful bonding (and competitive) moment for us. :-) I would love to do it again and again (or until I win!!!). Hehehe.

At work, there's the annual individual performance review going on now. Many feel uneasy when rating time comes along. It can be exciting, crazy and sometimes humbling (plus frustrating). At any rate, I find it LIBERATING! ^"^

Will keep all posted!

Breastfeeding Issues

I have issues, yes.

I have been feeling a bit frustrated with my b'feeding lately. You see, I feel that I am almost out of milk and don't have enough supply even to feed my baby boy even at night and early mornings.

Like early this morning, he cried and cried and just won't take my breast after 1 or 2 minutes of feeding. I knew that my breasts were practically empty. So for the very first time, I was the one who prepared and gave Luigi the bottle of formula. Well, some would say, it's no big deal since Luigi has been mixed-fed (around 80% breastmilk, 20% formula) since he was about 3 months old. That was time that I had to go back to work. But you know, as far as I was concerned, I wanted to direct feed him whenever I am around. That means every night and early mornings AND weekends.

But as for this morning, he cried to me as if begging for more milk and I couldn't give it to him. There were even tears in his eyes!!! So when I finally gave the formula, he happily drank it and even smiled and smiled after finishing it. Honestly, I felt bad.

Anyway, I've given my very best. Maybe I'm just tired so the milk wouldn't come. At any rate, life must go on.

All I know is, I love my kids so much.

Is It Summer Already?

We just finished celebrating Valentines over the weekend and now we’re already at the start of the Lenten season with the coming of Ash Wednesday.

I don’t know about you but for me, I’ve noticed that the weather is getting to be hotter than usual these days. Maybe summer is arriving a little earlier than before, I’m not so sure. Anyway, whenever I travel these days, I have made it a point to bring my summer necessities: a bottle of water, my foldable fan and umbrella. You know that I don’t want to be looking harassed and smelling like sweat when I get to the office.

Actually, if I were to choose between summer days and rainy days, I’d pick rainy days. Except for the huge typhoons that come with the rainy season (God forbid that another Ondoy storm happens again), I love waking up to cold misty mornings. And I think it doesn’t hurt to be walking in the rain, especially when you’re snuggled tightly to your husband and you only have one umbrella to share. ♥

I also love the practically of having available rain water. With rain barrels you can carefully save up some rain water for household use. Apart from that rain harvesting is a good practice that can save you money on your monthly water bill. And what many do not realize is that rain water barrels have a decorative effect to your house or garden. It brings a bit of glamour to your mediocre landscape or your boring backyard. Hey, I know where there are rain barrels for sale so just shoot me a comment or a private email so I can tell you more about it. ☻

Comics Muna

Some comics that I hope you'll enjoy:

For Valentine's:

If you're feeling lousy or fat:

For the pessimistic:

For homemakers:

No "Me Time"

Howdy? How have you been?

As for me, it’s been a pretty busy, I should say. My US-based guests already flew back last Tuesday and we seem to be back to normal now (if there is such a condition). Our relatives were with us for a whole month and it’s been fun having them, to say the least. I think it’s enjoyable to have them around the house. My uncle loves to talk and tell stories during meal time and it gives us a chance to stop and enjoy some family time and not rush to do the next thing. They also happily gave us a hand in taking care of my kids. Oh, do they adore Zoe and Luigi! And maybe because of our fondness for them, Zoe woke up on Tuesday morning crying because her Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Tita are no longer at home. It’s actually the first time that that happened. We always had relatives stay with us but Zoe doesn’t really look for them when they are gone. Well, good thing is, they will both be back in Manila in three months because one of my cousin’s getting married on May 22.

Anyway, with our relatives gone and just when I thought I could “snatch” some moments for “me” time, like finding the chance to soak on a hot tub at home, there comes a very tedious assignment at work. It’s profit sharing time once again in the office and my table is practically being flooded of loads of lists and proposals…in other words, TONS of WORK. And like any other officer in my company who likes the possibility of variable earnings, I am also wishing and hoping that this bonus will send us a windfall. If that happens, never mind the overtime and effort spent at the office. And I guess the hot tubs can wait. Wish me luck!

How was Your Valentine's?

Belated happy valentine's day to all!

How was it? Well, for me, it went by without me noticing it.

It was spent with family and relatives ~ very well-spent if you ask me. No, there were no fancy dinners, expensive gifts or bouquets of flowers (and no feeling of envy)!

It was enough to know that I had a Valentine who is happy to be stuck with me...for life. In turn, I am very happy to stuck with him just as well.

:-)

...Oh, we did watch a wonderful Valentine benefit concert featuring The Philippine Madrigal Singers the night before Valentine's. It was very good and it was for free (my relatives from the States gifted us with front-seat tickets)!!! More about this in another entry!

Buying Cabinets

Building a house could be one of the family’s ultimate dream. However, for those who do not have the right contractor or the right supplier, it could be a nightmare.

In our case, we found our previous contractor quite disappointing when it came to our bath cabinets and bathroom vanity cabinets among other things. It’s because the quality of the cabinets were not at all at par with the price that we paid for it. In a matter of a couple of months, our cabinets were falling apart and the handles had already been glued back a million times. What a waste of money it was! If only I have followed my gut instinct to buy kitchen cabinets from a reputable store from the very start instead of having it made by the contractor (for obviously, this was not their expertise). Then I wouldn’t have to pay again for repair or buy a replacement for our cabinet accessories.

Oh well, next time I know.

Father and Daughter

Here's my husband and baby girl (picture taken at Greenbelt 5):



Yes, they sometimes go out with matching clothes.

For some, it's corny but I find it rather cute!

These Days...

...I've actually taken notice of my face.

Work has always been awfully busy that many times, I am too busy to even put on a little effort. But lately, I've miraculously managed to put a little moisturizer on my face, a dab a mix of complexion creams on it (yes, they are in trend these days) and put on a sunblock. I've also have rediscovered a lip gloss that I had and found it so yummy plus it actually did a lot of good for my dry chapped lips. I've also managed to have time to fix my hair. All I need to do now is find the time to have a trim for the ends of my hair are now in a wreck.

Anyway, I guess there's something about the season of Valentine's which makes me feel more inspired and more romantic. :-) And I hope the spirit of this season of love will last a long time.

I Want.

Hunny, if you're reading this, this is want I'd like for Valentine's...

...or my next birthday (if shipping gets delayed). LOL.

And if you're extra generous, maybe you can pitch in another one that looks like this:

Thanks in advance and happy valentine's day dear. :-)

My Best Friend's Wedding

London-based Cleo, one of my dear best friends, recently got hitched to her boyfriend of 3 years in a very simple church ceremony. I'll say that in spite of the rush preparation (it's so hard to plan when you're an overseas bride), the wedding was actually nice.

We arrived just in time for the bridal procession. She was wearing the mid-length gown which I bought the night before (yes, you read it right, I bought the gown the night before). Anyway, her bridal bouquet was lovely. And of course, her bag is cute (coz it's mine!). Haha!

The priest who solemnized the wedding was a fairly new and young priest. He's been a priest for less than a year, I think. Anyway, during the homily, he associated a marriage with chopsticks. With no pun intended for Cleo's being partly Chinese, he depicted the similarities between the two. It's quite simple really. The key is really to work together to make the marriage work.

With all its simplicity, let me just note that I love a wedding like this. This is a real marriage with wedding vows done by the couple in front of Our Lord and all His Saints (well, as opposed to weddings that are officiated just by a civil authority). There is no need for grand entrances or ostentatious flowers or gowns. As long as the form and matter are present, it is a sacrament, a valid marriage.

So here is the happy couple.

After the mass, they hitched in a shiny black car going to the reception in Makati.

And here's us. Oh well, I look at myself here with a little cringe. If you notice, I haven't gotten back to my old (often dubbed as pre-pregnancy) weight yet. My tummy still has that sort of pregnancy pouch that doesn't seem to come off. If only I could, I'll fly to the States and have a plastic surgery travel and undergo a california cosmetic surgery to lose all those pounds I gained from giving birth. Do you think it's already safe to have a procedure done like a tummy tuck in Beverly Hills? Well, I'll have to ask my OB first.

Anyway, going back to the wedding, the reception was at Conti's in Greenbelt. I sort of know one of the persons who own the place so I recommended them to the couple. Well, apart from a small glitch with the reservations, the food was glorious (okay, there goes my diet again!).

My warm wishes for a lasting marriage to you guys! May you find yourselves together soon in London (as planned). Cheers to lots of cute babies in the future!

My Mini Wedding Project

I surprised my friend Cleo with an additional gift for her wedding: souvenirs!

You see, she was too busy preparing for her (rushed..LOL) wedding to think of the small details that goes with any wedding. And for me, no wedding is a real wedding without souvenirs! Hehe. So the night before the wedding, my husband and I rushed to the mall to pick up some instant souvenirs. Luckily, we chanced upon nice bracelets in one quiant store. We also got some gift bags in red and fushcia.

The day of the wedding, I whipped up some tags to come along the bracelets. Instant! It's done!

Lookie at my mini wedding project!

The tag...

With the bracelet...

Ready to give away!

Travels and Field Trips

My relatives have been talking over dinner about their past travels together. They have been almost around the world and we just drool with envy while listening to their interesting stories. And even with that, they are still planning for more trips in the future, including a trip to Beijing, China to see the Great Wall of China. Wow!

Anyway, one of the more recent trips they had was a road trip going to Washington D.C. with their grandchildren. It was one of the first out-of-state trips of their grandchildren. They really maximized their time going around the major attractions. They said that what they couldn't and shouldn't miss is a trip and a picture at the steps leading to the Lincoln Memorial (oh what a great photo opp this was!) and of course, a whole day tour at the famous Smithsonian. Everyone knows that Washington is home to the best museums for kids and that includes a tour round the Smithsonian Nationa Museum of Human History. They went to the O. Orkin Insect Zoo and the Butterfly Pavilion and the kids had a blast! Oooh! If only we can also bring Zoe and Luigi to these kinds of wonderful places too. It would be so much fun! Anyway, I'm making that a dream project for the family in the few 3 to 4 years. :-)

For Tonight...

For tonight, we will be having dinner out with our US-based relatives. Since they only have a few more days left here, we invited them to dine with us in Greenbelt. I have been craving for the delicious pizza and pasta at Capricciossa so probably that’s where we are going to eat tonight. I can’t wait!

All-in-all their vacation here is for about a month. And since they’ll be away for so long, I think that they are already beginning to wonder how the weather is in Chicago and how their house is doing. Well, we all hope everything is alright. We actually talked about installing a Home Security System for their home since there are times during the year that they are abroad. They know that among the many choices, ADT provides the best Security System for homes. Anyway, I hope my cousins (their sons) can check their house once in awhile so that they will feel secured that things are okay.

I have been...

...disorganized. (sigh).

And I felt it the most when I remembered that I seem to have forgotten to pay for an insurance premium due two months ago. Now, I'm hurrying to try to "save" it!

Co-messies, please help!

My Dad, the Gardener

Have I ever mentioned here that among the members of our family, it is my Dad who really has a green thumb? He certainly has a knack for planting and gardening that most, if not all, of the trees and bushes in our home was planted and grown by him. Having lived in the province in his early years and being a son of a true-blue farmer, my Dad can literally grow any kind of vegetable and fruit-bearing tree. It's actually very fascinating!

Anyway, now that my Dad has retired, he always spends his mornings doing gardening. He recently harvested some root crops, fruits and vegetables and gave part of it to us. Now I'm thinking that maybe I can send him several vegetable seed packets this summer so he can grow more varieties of vegetables in their garden. Or maybe I can also ask him to train me or even my daughter Zoe on the basics of gardening and turn our mini-garden at home into a kid-friendly garden. It's never too late or too early to learn, right? In fact, I've been noticing lately that Zoe may have a natural inclination towards plants and trees too. She always seems to want to help out in watering the plants in the morning and often asks me to get her a leaf or flower from the plaza whenever we go out. You'll never know, she might have inherited her grandpa's green thumb.

Flower Project

Isn't this so lovely?

I chanced upon this flower arrangement and I hope I'll be able to recreate this arrangement in time for our Valentine's lunch at home with our relatives. Valentine's Day is already next week so I really need to practice my flower arrangement skills soon!!!

Now if only flowers come in cheap these days...

Flowers on My Mind

The hopeless romantic in me is getting pretty excited about this upcoming Valentine’s Day. I have been browsing through dozens of pictures of flower arrangements and chocolates for the past few minutes of already. (Well, not that I expect to receive any of those from my husband on V-day. A warm kiss and hug are all I need from him!). Anyway, I particularly drool over those flowers I saw at the Martha Stewart’s shop. She really seems to come up with the loveliest styles, if I may say. Sometimes, I wish I have the same talent as hers. But of course, I don’t.

Speaking of flowers, my thoughts bring me to old memories when I was young and my grandma maintained several window boxes at the front porch in our ancestral house. On one side she had a window box which contained beautiful sunflowers. At the other end, there were blooming white roses. Such lovely flowers! During the summer, we would sometimes help out in watering the flowers. It was a nice and quite an enjoyable chore to do. Plus, what's so great is that we didn’t need to buy flowers outside anymore because we already have it right in your own window box!

Well, you can check out these window boxes planters online and see how these can beautify your home.

Here are some samples:

Small Things to Brighten Up the Home

Last week, I decided to add a few small touches on our living room to spruce it up a bit.

I rediscovered the extra candle plate which we bought for our godparents as a gift during our wedding four years ago.

I also re-arranged the ducks that my family has had for decades. One of the baby ducks already has a broken beak but I do not have the heart to throw it away.

Lastly, I resurrected this antique-looking photo frame which was a gift from my billionaire boss and inserted on it an old black and white picture of my parents. This picture was taken maybe around the late 60s when they were still boyfriend/girlfriend. Personally, I think the picture just exudes love, happiness and purity. *-*

Now, our home is brighter than ever!

Random Update

Hello there! I've been busy lately and never really get to do as many catch-up posts as I can. First, it's because work has been busy. What I do to cope is to maximize and enjoy my short lunch breaks to go to mass and do some research on Golf Platzreife for my friend who's dad is taking a trip to Germany soon. I looked up http://www.golfakademie.com/ and got envious to go to Germany too. Well, it's actually a longtime dream of mine to find the time (and the money) to go and visit our relatives there. There we can make a tour of the castles and roam around the stores, buying nice stuff at the local golfshop and do a roadtrip using GSP!

Anyway, let me stop daydreaming now and just share with you random personal updates.

As for Zoe, she already got accepted in the preschool near our place. She will be in the Senior Nursery class this June. We will to send her there for the meantime because we think that Zoe's still so small to travel a significant distance just to go to a big preschool. We decided to just transfer her to a big Catholic school in a couple of years and when she's a little bit older.

Anyway, this preschool is sort of an international school (they've got lots of foreigners as students). The teacher we talked to was very nice. Actually, this school was highly recommended to us our wedding godparents since their grandchildren are currently enrolled there. So now, we're in the process of completing the documents required and by next week would have made the reservation. Can't wait for Zoe to start "real" school! Yay!

As for baby Luigi, it's a bit sad that we're already mix-feeding him (almost 20% breast milk and 80% formula). Somehow, my body got tired of all the night-time feedings and the pumping in the office so my milk supply has significantly been reduced. I'm still hoping to revive my milk supply (give me all the malunggay in town please!!!) so wish me luck!

Around the house, our balikbayan relatives are still with us so we're trying to maintain the ideal set-up: healthy food and clean household. The house seems more alive now with my uncle and auntie helping out in taking care of the babies in the house. Zoe is very comfortable with having them around and I think that they adore Zoe and Luigi just the same.

That's it for now. More updates soon!

Yummy

After having dinner in Cyma, as I posted in my previous entry, we trooped to Cheesecake, etc. for some coffee and dessert.

Honestly, I never really noticed the Cheesecake, etc. store in Eastwood before so it may be the first time I've actually dined here.

Clueless, I ordered what was said to be the best-seller on the menu:

Here's the Cashew Dome Cake that they served and it looked very pretty and yummy!

Combine this with a mocha drink and you're in heaven!

There goes two more pounds on the weighing scale...Hahaha!