DIY Christmas wrappers and presents

"Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas... dum...dum... dee dum...."

I can't help singing that song as I see Christmas decors everywhere - in the mall, the lanterns and lights adorned on houses we pass by at night...Of course, in our house our tree has been up since after Beaboo's birthday last October, thanks to our official Christmas decorator - Lola Cora! :) It has been a tradition to decorate our house and put up our tree right after Oct 5. since Lola has to go back home to Paranaque after that. So yes, it has been Christmas-y in our house really early. 

But yesterday, I was busy wrapping a few Christmas presents. And my little girl was busy on her own. Guess what my busy little bee's up to? 

Worldwide Culture Swap

The Worldwide Culture Swap is a project initiated by three French expat moms aimed at promoting different cultures around the world to children - starting with their own - to partner families/ children all around the world. Their tagline being "Bringing you the world, one package at a time" is a simple endeavor which centers on bringing families from different parts of the world closer to each other by introducing their own cultures to partner families  within a WCS group. 

For starters, and to those of you who are utterly curious ( I know I did :) so here are a few information from their website about this culture swap program:

The Big Shift - Working Mom to Stay at Home Mom

Just recently, I was visited by one of my BFFs who is a busy career woman and mom who works for the Australian embassy. She informed me that she was granted a one year indefinite leave. Whew! Talk about being one of the fortunate ones in the corporate world. She was about to resign but her boss decided to grant her a one year leave instead! :) And so I started reminiscing about my days working as a corporate slave before

Is Life fair?

Whoever told you that life was fair? The fact that we were born was proof enough that life isn’t fair and that our existence has nothing to do with our choice. I have yet to meet someone who can tell me that being born was his own choice.  And so, given this dilemma, life in itself is not a choice given to us but a gift given to us by our Creator. I say gift since we may do with it as we please.

My little Business Manager...JOHNSON’s My Kid’s Growing Up So Fast Contest.

My Beaboo lives a very toxic life. 

She wakes up, eats breakfast, 

takes a quick shower using Jhonson's baby milk bath, 

goes to school... 

and off to a short stint at our hardware. 

She manages the computer making sure that  christmas songs are played 

so that our customers would be encouraged to buy from our store. :)
Christmas songs makes them want to spend way way more **wink wink**

Oh and she mans the cash register too! 

Happily exchanging customer's money for candies.. 

Farewell Harry Potter!

Just last Thursday, I was already at the cinema lining up for the final installment in the Harry Potter series. I cleared up everything for the day and convinced a friend to come with me for the Deathly Hallows Part 2 3D movie. Too bad my little girl is still too small to take with me to the movies.. and since she only wanted a pet harry wizard (hairy lizard) and not Harry the Wizard to whom I have been following since JK Rowling published her very first novel.

I remember the first time the Sorcerer's Stone came out,

doldrums

**trying my hand at writing poems (sort of :).  I know its not as good as real poets go, but hope you like it. **

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photo credits to: vladstudio.deviantart.com

I am a chameleon, i put on a myriad of faces,

happy face for the little hearts that look up to me

a ray of sunshine to those looking for inspiration

but deep inside, i am shattered, grieving

a sadness that contains me

Passion For Make-Up

I'm not much of an artist per se. I don't draw well, my handwriting oftentimes is only legible to me and I have yet to memorize the color wheel. :) But I've always had a passion for make-up - not so much the artsy, glamour aspect of make-up I seem to find myself being entangled in (due to hubby's photo shoots) but I'm interested in the enhancing effect of make-up.

So you can  just imagine my level of excitement when fellow blogger Ms. Ria Jose informed me of the "Basic Make-up Workshop" organized by FiDA (Fashion Institute of Design and Arts). The Basic Make-up Workshop is a three day workshop which tackles the origins of make-up, skin preparation and analysis, importance of make-up application, hygiene and sanitation among others. 

Mr. Archie Tolentino Chief MUA Maybelline NY

The workshop is conducted by Maybelline New York - Philippines Chief Make-up Artist Mr. Archie Tolentino. I was in awe that someone as good as him was the one to teach us the ropes of basic make-up. After all, I've seen his work and his name printed in most glamour and fashion magazines!

The Most Revered Mother and Intercessor of All

For most devout Catholics, the Blessed Virgin Mary is the most revered saint and intercessor of all weary souls, our direct line to Jesus. For me, the Blessed Virgin Mary has played a very significant role in my life and the life of my one and only daughter.

photo credits to: deacondance.com

I've always believed that the Blessed Virgin Mary has always played an important role in my life.

Letting go of mommy's hand...

My unica hija just discovered having play-dates. Early yesterday morning, she asked me to pack her extra clothes along with her favorite tattered rag doll "pwincess". And then she can't wait to get over at her cousin's house. So there I was bringing my little girl for the first time for a play-date outside the confines of our house or the store. Sure, you can call me overprotective and sorts but then, this is my one and only angel were talking about here, the one that took us forever to make (*wink*wink*).

Preparing a Survival Kit

With the recent disaster that struck Japan, it made me think of how powerless each of us can be in the midst of a calamity of this magnitude. We can only pray for God to even out the odds a little for us to survive. So my "praning" old self was suddenly thinking of the inevitable.. what if mt matutum, a supposed dormant volcano suddenly decides to wake up and join the current hoopla? what if the big one suddenly hit gensan?

In the event of the inevitable,

Life's Silver Lining...

Life has its shares of ups and downs. Often it happens you find yourself swimming in a sea full of sharks, with the constant worry of how to keep yourself afloat while thinking about how to defend yourself with no crude weapon but your own hands.

Life is filled with problems from just worrying about a teenage crush who never seems to notice you to more serious ones like how to make ends meet at the end of a grueling day at work to grieving over the loss of a loved one.

And then you start to wonder…

Daddy the Photographer

My four year old can't really understand when I often tell her that daddy has a photo shoot or that daddy has to go to the studio to make people smile with his camera. She doesn't get the "photographer" kind of work. All she knows is when daddy goes to the city to shoot, he is at a mall 'naglalakwatsa' and it makes her sad since daddy didn't take her and mommy along. :)

Daddy off to a photoshoot with his gears and camera bag..

So it was a nice surprise for her when one Sunday, after our day at the mall,

La Familia

Families are people who are bound to you by blood whether they like it or not. These are supposedly people who will stick by you when you are at the lowest point of your life and will understand you when you are at your worst behavior....Ha! tough luck! The truth is, since they have no choice being affiliated with you by blood, makes them both ways -- either the strongest ally you can have or the strongest enemy.

A Clutter-Free 2011

For this year, I think I would like to free myself from all the clutter in my life. Now when I say clutter, I meant not just the physical mess I get myself swamped in but the non-physical clutter in my life as well. Meaning, all the people and negative emotions otherwise referred to most of the time as "excess baggage" that make you feel bad about yourself.

First, let me analyze the physical clutter one at a time:

Sox Bloggers and RC Polomolok… Making A Difference in People's Lives

Bloggers are usually people who love to write. They enjoy “blogging” about something that happen to them or the places and social events they attend so that the whole world will know about it. They have become the new media, getting invited to attend an opening of a business, getting freebies just for them to blog (or to write) about a business establishment or a product. Rarely does one come across a group of bloggers who have a heart. I am of course talking about the SOCCSKARGEN BLOGGERS or the SOX BLOGGERS.

unloading the gifts for purok Palakasam like Santa's little elves...

In far flung purok Palakasam in Polomolok, the Rotary Club of Polomolok 101 in partnership with the Sox Bloggers headed off to distribute gifts for the “Shoebox-full of Love” project.

Montage Xmas Get Together

Its that the time of the season once again, where we have a series of  Christmas parties one after the other. Tonight was Montage's own version. These group of guys and a gal are composed of the best and most award-winning photographers in these part of the island. Most of them have won a photography contest not only locally but abroad as well. So as usual, simple old me was a bit overwhelmed by their mighty presence..hehe. Excuse my photographs...I am after all not a photographer but a blogger :)

The hunks of Montage Digital Photography: (L-R but not from hunk to least hunk :) Ronald R., Ronald V., Virgel V., Hannah, Arnold V., Dan Dee, Cris and Omar G. (not in the picture: Dong P, Sherwin D., Ghie C. and       Dino K.)

Okay enough of the praises and back to the party. Its funny to note that once they band

the reawakening of the kikay in me...

before i got hitched

I really don't consider myself as the "kikay" type of girl. In clothes, I wear clothes that are comfy, shoes well..slippers more like it and wear almost close to nothing when it comes to makeup....nah! Sometimes I like to look a bit stylish, I still miss those days when people especially guys do a double take just to have second look (hehe feeling diyosa..feeling lng naman). Those were the days when I was still a corporate slave, wearing fancy corporate clothes and shoes. Going to the salon on weekends, having my hair and nails done, even wearing make-up. That was life in the metro. My life as single unattached me.

Blogger Mommy

dali!! pgkaligpit ng kwarto, paliguan naman si beaboo..pgka-kain ng almusal..pag napaupo sa harap ng computer..patay! (tulad ngayon =) wala na naman matatapos na trabaho. maliligo, magbibihis pupunta na ng tindahan para magtinda ng bakal, semento at mga pako. --pambili ng gatas at diaper ni beaboo.

ten years and counting...

How do you celebrate a decade of friendship, love and togetherness? well, technically we've been together for thirteen years or so and we've been through the bumps and humps of married life, we've cried together, laughed out silly with each other, had boxing bouts that would put manny paquiao to shame, watched scores of movies together, simply put..we have been through a lot in a decade.