Snapshots of my Life

When my husband I went on a European vacation last 2009, we met some really nice people while we were in Venice and I m glad that even after we all went back to our normal lives after our vacation, we still manage to keep in touch. In fact one of them is now the God parent of Jacobo.

Kuya Chito, who works in Denmark went home last holiday season for a vacation and so before he goes back to Denmark, we meet with him to catch up with old times.


We all met at the house of mommy in Victoria, Laguna. Hubby and I drove there from work. We just had dinner and we just spent the whole evening catching up with each other’s lives. We really wanted to spend more time with Kuya Chito and we are even inviting him for another dinner in Manila but his schedule is fully booked. You know how it is with Balikbayans, they only have limited time and they have a lot of friends to visit.

It was a short but sweet reunion. We all wished that we can go all go back to Europe again together. It was really nice seeing you all again.

One of the reasons why I am so excited for our upcoming US trip is that I am preparing for my shopping spree at the outlet stores in US. I checked out the site of one of the outlet stores that is one my list, Woodbury Common in New York and I got really excited as they have more than one hundred stores I think under one roof. They have all kinds of items from designer fashion wear like Armani to leather goods like Gucci and even gifts and specialty items like cigars boxes.

And what even got me even more excited was the fact that they are having a Memorial Day sale on the date that we scheduled for our shopping there. My friend was there also during their sale and items have more than 50% discount.

I will not be buying any bags from now until we leave and I am really hoping that I will be able to get a bag for me from Balenciaga and Gucci.

My group of online friends is planning for our summer getaway. We started to cast our votes on the date where majority of us is free and looks like most of us want to celebrate it on Easter Sunday.

We decided to just check-in in one of the hotels so the kids can join the Easter Sunday activities at the hotel and enjoy the swimming pool while the mommies and the daddies can enjoy hanging out in nearby restaurants or bars.

I am so excited already. I am even looking for Easter gifts that I can give to all the kids. Just look at some of the cute items that I found (Check out their site to buy Easter gifts here.)

I hope this will push through unlike last year where in we can’t find a good place to stay as we plan it a little late so all nice resorts are already fully booked. Glad we plan ahead this time and I am sure this will be blast.

I discovered a new application for my iPhone (thanks to my friends who shared this wonderful application with me): Instagram.

Instagram is an application that you can download for free for your iPhone. What I like about this application is that I can take photos and transform it to a very artistic picture because this application has photo filters that you can apply to your photos like Lomo, X-Pro, Early Bird, etc. Then you can choose to share it in Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites.

And the best part is, this application is free. I just downloaded mine and I am already having fun using it. Just look at this picture of my Jacobo:

I think I used the Lomo finish for this photo giving it a more dramatic finish. I will surely use this application to take more pictures and I will post it here so you can see how cool this iPhone application is.

Have you seen the looks that the stars strut in the red carpet during the last Golden Globe Awards? Just look at some of the pictures:

Don’t they all look so pretty and stunning? This really got me inspired to try out a new project this year and so I am thinking to enrol in one of the beauty courses at Regency Beauty Institute, a leading Cosmetology school in the US.

Regency Beauty Institute is one of the fastest growing schools in the US. They only started with two campuses back in 2002 and after just almost a decade, they now have 80 campuses across nineteen states. Their growth is because of the trust that their students are giving them because they provide nothing but the best hands on training for their students. Their campuses are like upscale salons equipped with the best salon equipment so their students can really get the best hands on training.

Who knows, maybe I can even have this as my second career.

This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com or contact Regency Beauty Institute – 7100 Northland Circle, Suite 312 – Brooklyn Park, MN 55428

Last night, my Twitter is very busy as it keeps on receiving tweets from my friends as we are discussing a very interesting topic. One of my friends shared in Twitter the problem that her friend is facing as the girl caught her husband cheating with another woman. And so the question is, will you be able to forgive your partner if ever you caught him cheating or is it the deal breaker already?

I have been very vocal to my husband on my stand about infidelity. I know myself and I know that I won’t be able to forgive my husband if ever I discovered that he is cheating on me. I know for a fact that it will be very difficult for me to forgive and to forget.

But after the conversation last night, it got me into thinking as it is not just my life that is at stake here but the lives of our children too. Will I be able to forgive so my kids will not get to experience a broken family? I know divorce is a very stressful and draining process and even if I know that there are good family law solicitors who can help us with our case, I know that it will be a traumatic experience for my kids. So will I allow my kids to experience that? But will I be able to stand living with a disloyal and dishonest man?

In reality all of us were not able to give a definite answer on what we will do. All of us just agreed on one thing: that we should always put God at the center of our relationship so we will always be guided and hopefully nothing like this will happen to our family.

Finally, I got my first ever Starbucks planner. I know Starbucks started with this planner a couple of years ago but I did not actually get hooked as I prefer the Belle de Jour planner better. But when I saw the 2011 Starbucks planner in real life, I promised to myself that I have to drown myself with coffee if I have to just to get this planner.

I started with a single sticker of the regular brand and then added more when I bought one box of Starbucks VIA. Then during weekends, while waiting for B’s class to finish, I will treat my hubby with Starbucks coffee to add to my stickers. I even got one sticker donation from my sister and my colleague borrowed my card when she went to Starbucks one day to add to my collection.

And finally after weeks and weeks of coffee drinking, I was finally able to complete the stickers that I need and got my self my very first Starbucks planner. My first love actually was the velvet one but I thought that the material looks like it will easily get soiled and dirty and so I settled for the Wood and I just love it.

Oh my gosh, Entertainment Weekly published the first official photo from The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1. Just take a look at this at it is really to die for:

This is a picture of Bella and Edward sharing a bed as husband and wife on their wedding night. The first installation for the Breaking Dawn will be shown this November 18 in theatres and I can’t wait.

I got so excited that I started digging for my Twilight series books and DVDs so I can watch the first three movies again to recall the story so I will be ready when the Breaking Dawn is released. Even if I have to stay late just to finish the three movies and catch up in re-reading the books again (I will definitely need natural acne products as I will have acne breakouts for sure).

I was not able to watch Eclipse movie last year as I was on my first trimester of pregnancy which is the time when I was always feeling dizzy and tired but there is no chance that I will be missing Breaking Dawn Part 1 this time.

I never thought that it is possible to drive from Manila to Los Banos and back on a weekday after office but we did it. A friend from Denmark will be leaving this Thursday and yesterday was his only free day to meet us before he flies back to Denmark. It would have been a perfect timing as hubby is on a holiday while I can take a leave but B has school and since she was absent for two days already last week, I can’t make her skip school again. So we decided to drive to Los Banos, Laguna (which is like 2 hours drive from Manila) after B gets off from school.

But it is manageable as there is no heavy traffic. We left Makati around 4 PM and we were at our friend’s house around 6:30 PM. We were not familiar with the place so we have to make several stops to ask for directions that is why it took us 2.5 hours to get there.

But it is all worth it. Well aside from the food that they served for dinner (which made me forget about my diet. Thank goodness there are weight loss drinks to help me loose weight. LOL), seeing our friend again after not seeing them for several months was really a very good feeling. We were able to catch up with old times and we were laughing hard as we recall old stories of our friendship.

To Kuya Chito, Meg, and Mommy, it was really nice seeing you again and have a safe trip back to Denmark.

Last December 31, my family and I went out of town to celebrate New Year. We only have a week to look for a place to stay and we just relied on the Internet to look for a private resort that we can book.

We stayed at Casita de Anna Maria resort in Pansol,Laguna. We found them through multiply site. The place looks nice and well maintained basing on the pictures that they have on their site and so we took our chance and paid the 50% down payment to book the place. And we were not disappointed when we arrived as the place is really nice.

They have a building with three floors. The first floor is where the kitchen, small dining area and the videoke are. At the second floor is the big function area and at the third floor is where all the rooms are. The rooms are just the typical rooms that you can find in basic hotels but they are clean and that is what is important for me. They only have one CR at the third floor and all the other bathrooms are located at the first floor. There are two shower area and one bathroom for each male and female restroom. They say their rooms can accommodate maximum of 35 pax. There are four double deck beds per room and each room has its own air conditioning unit.

They also have a big garden where you can park your cars and it is also where the kids played while they are not swimming. The pool is big and clean. The water is not that hot for a hot spring resort which is what we like but I think it will be too hot if it is summer time.

They have videoke machines, gas stove, grill, refrigerator and free WiFi internet. You have to bring your own cooking and dining utensils though if you want to cook your food.

The price to book the resort is P15,000 and the whole resort is for your own use for 24 hours. They don’t have a definite time for check in and check out unlike the other resorts that we checked so you can come in anytime and that is when your 24 hours will start.

We will definitely be back here, maybe for our next New Year celebration again.

I am sure I am not pregnant but I don’t know why I always fee hungry that I always end up eating more than three meals a day. If I continue with this pattern, looks like I will need to buy apidexin so I will loose weight before Jacobo’s first birthday party.

Just like a few weeks ago, my husband and I went to Binondo to buy charms and talismans and since Binondo is also a good place for a food trip, we did not pass this opportunity to dine in to one of our favorite Chinese restaurants there. So after shopping for our charms and enhancers, we decided to have dinner at President Restaurant and we had this:

Cold Prawn Salad for our appetizer which is so yummy. It has fruits in it and has nestle cream but it is not too sweet and I love the cheese that is mixed with the salad.

Crispy Fried Chicken

Sweet and sour prawn

We were so full after dinner that I was not able to work as soon as we reached home and hubby and I just doze off to sleep.

If our US trip will push through, my credit cards wills have real serious beating. I am doing the budget sheet for our US trip and I am really feeling overwhelmed at how much we need to save for this trip:

• Airfare for three persons. Hubby’s airfare is free as his company will pay for it since he will go on training but we have to buy tickets for myself, B and my mom. Jacobo is still free and I just have to pay for the taxes so at least it will be a big saving for us already.
• Park tickets as we plan to go to Disneyland, Universal Studios, and Sea World.
• Transportation while in the US as we plan to go to Las Vegas, New York, San Diego, and Washington.
• Museums and entrance to famous spots like the Statue of Liberty, Empire State, etc.
• Accommodation, though this is very minimal as we will be staying with friends in some of the cities that we will be visiting like LA, New York and San Diego.
• Food and I am sure I need to allocate a big budget for this as we have babies and toddler in tow.

But I am sure no matter how expensive this trip is, it will still be all worth it because my husband and I are sure that our kids, especially B, will really have a grand time.

Do you believe in Chinese charms and talismans? Well I must say that I do. I started with this belief last year when my Chinese friends introduced us to world of Feng shui and apparently these talismans and charms bring good luck.

So before we end 2010, my husband and I see to it that we will be able to go to Binondo to buy these talismans and charms to welcome the New Year. Well actually we still have until Chinese New Year (February 8) to buy these talismans but we wanted to have it in possession as we celebrate our new year on January 1.

According to the store owner, I am born in the year of the snake and the year of the metal rabbit will be a lucky year for me. Here is an excerpt from Worlds of Feng Sui site:

“The Snake can look forward to yet another great year filled with lots of success and heaven luck! You will see many auspicious events materialize. This is a year when goals can be realized.”

So all I need are enhancers:

1. Victory Banner
2. Heaven Seal Amulet
I still know my faith and I still believe that God is still the Supreme Being that controls our life. But it wouldn’t hurt to believe in different enhancers and cures to attract good luck, right?

I was searching on where I can buy ATV Parts and guess what, I was redirected to the site of Anton, Our Awesome Planet, where he is talking about the sand dunes of Ilocos.


I got really excited upon reading his post as my friends from work is actually planning a road trip down north this coming February. It was five years ago when we last went on a trip together and since majority of us haven’t been to Ilocos, Pagudpud and Laoag before, we all agreed that this is the perfect road trip for us.

My friend Dennis is already searching for a van-for-rent service as we wanted to rent a bigger vehicle where all of us can fit in. We will be a group pf 13 pax (3 nannies included) and we are planning to stay in Fort Ilocandia and then experience the beaches in Pagudpud.

I am so excited already and I am really hoping (and crossing my fingers) that this trip will push through.

And so hubby set up the new LCD TV that he bought for me. Of course B is over the moon too as she can watch her favorite DVDs in full HD already and so when his dad finished setting it up, I saw her getting a DVD from her rack so he can test our new TV.

Sadly, our old DVD player is no longer compatible with the new TV so this means we have to get an HDMI player and tv video cables so B can watch her favorite movies again. She made her dad promised that her dad will have it fix the very next day and of course the spoiler dad gave in to her daughter’s request and dropped by at SM Appliance Center after office the next day to get a new HDMI player.

Anyways, we really need to replace our old DVD player so I guess it is just a perfect timing. We checked out the store and prizes for HDMI player is not bad after all. So we were able to go home with a new HDMI player and I am sure B will be so happy and thrilled to be able to watch her favorite movies in a full HD LCD TV.

I have long wanted to go to Tagaytay since I am craving for pancakes and hot chocolate of Bag of Beans but since our December schedule is so busy, we always end up cancelling our short trip there.

But last December 26, we were able to finally push through with our trip. We left late again as we waited for my sister and my dad to dress up so we reached Tagaytay around 2 PM already. You can still feel the Christmas rush as there is heavy traffic in the Tagaytay area and there is a long queue at the restaurant that it was only around 2:30 PM that we were finally seated for our lunch.

We went horse back riding after lunch as per B’s request and even though we are still full, we decided to have merienda at Bag of Beans after B's horse back riding so I can finally satisfy my craving and this is what we ordered:



Hot Chocolate for everybody
Pancake which I shared with my sister
And their all-day breakfast of egg and bacon for my dad

And of course I am the happiest because I was able to satisfy my craving.

As a diabetic patient, one should be careful and should closely monitor his health conditions. That is why some diabetic patients take oral medicine, like Actos which is an oral medicine for Type 2 diabetic patients.

But I read that this oral medicine, which also has been sold under the name ActoplusMet, Competact and Duetact, has been pulled out from the market in France and Germany because it is being linked to increase the risk of heart attacks, heart failures and bladder cancer.

But I am glad that despite of this bad news, the victims of Actos can still file for Actos lawsuit and competent lawyers from O’Hanlon, McCollum & Demerath law firm can help them. This team of experts knows the process of filing for product liability claims so victims can rest assured that they can get justice and be given what is duly right for them.

Every time I go to work I always see to it that I look my very best. I am in the IT field and I get to interact personally with different clients and so I really see to it that I am at my best everyday at work.

And so I think those in the medical field would want to look best too when at work and not just be limited with just plain white nursing uniforms scrubs. And thanks to Blue Sky Scrubs, those in the medical field will no longer be limited with the boring white medical scrubs as they offer different styles and different color of medical scrubs both for male and female.

Their medical scrub uniforms are hand made and made from high quality material so they are of good quality, fashionable and flattering too. They also make pants, caps and other accessories.

Now, those in the medical field can be chic and fashionable while doing their job in giving care to those who are sick.

My friends are all raving about their Yakimix experience and so I have long been waiting to have the opportunity to try out their buffet. And so after we applied for our passport at DFA, I find this to be the perfect opportunity to try out Yakimix since their Macapagal branch is just a stone throw away from the DFA office. It is also around 11 AM when we finished with DFA so it is just the perfect time since the restaurant is still not crowded so we were able to get seats easily.

Their price for lunch buffet is P499 and it is so worth it. Just look at their food variety:

The sushi and maki bar alone is enough for me plus the dessert section. Hubby enjoyed eating the crabs and he even tried the raw food and cooked it himself in the hot pot in our table.

The ambiance of the restaurant is also a plus and I like the minimalist theme that they have. The staffs also are very attentive and respond right away to our requests. I will definitely go back to Yakimix.

My husband is a photo enthusiast and he has been doing photography for more than five years now. In that five years, he has accumulated a lot of photography gadgets from camera lenses, high end digital SLR cameras, flash, and a lot more. And now he is taking a big leap to turn this hobby of his into a business since he is already well equipped to start up his own studio.

And 2011 looks like a good year for him as he already found a location where he can put up his first Photography Studio. Everything has been finalized already and the lease for the studio has been signed and paid and all that is left for him to do is move his stuff so he can start setting up his studio.

His cameras and his other photography gadgets are not cheap so he really wants to make sure that these will all be move safely and securely. So how can he ensure this?

1. Get professional help. It is very important that hubby finds a very reputable moving company that will ensure all his items will arrive at the destination safely and securely. That is why I am already doing some research on reputable movers and have requested for moving quotes already so we will have a ball park figure on how much we need to allocate for this.
2. Get good packing materials. These can include boxes, pasting tapes, bubble wrap, adhesives, etc. It is important to ensure that the materials that will be use for packing is strong and sturdy to avoid any accidents during the move.
3. It will also be helpful to put the items wrapped in bubble wrap in another box. This will avoid any jostling during the move. Also fill extra spaces with bubble wrap, packing peanuts or even old newspaper for additional protection.

And once the move has been successful, he can now start setting up his studio and start with his business. Good luck to you my dear hubby!

Since our December was so busy, we did not have enough time to go shopping. But since it has been my tradition to always have new clothes for Christmas and New Year, I have to find a way to shop.

Thankfully, I can always rely on online shopping and I shopped most of our Christmas and New Year’s outfit online:

* rocawear jeans for hubby
* Aeropostale and Hollister shirts which I ordered from my good friend Aggie for hubby again

* Old Navy shirts and Old Navy shorts and pants for Jacobo and hubby
* Dresses for me from Shek Galore

I am actually happy when I saw in person the items that I ordered as the materials are good and most of them I even got at discounted prices. The plus is I don’t have to dare and face a crowded mall just to go shopping since I shopped for all of this from the comforts of my own home.

Last December 17, I took a leave from work to go to DFA for our passport renewal. We might be travelling by May 2011 and our passport is less than six months valid by then, and since hubby needs to renew his expired passport already and we need to apply for a new passport for Jacobo, we decided that we will just all apply together.

The earliest date that hubby was able to book when he tried last November was for 8 AM of December 29. Thankfully, a friend of mine works for DFA and she was able to request for a Courtesy Lane pass for us.

So we went to DFA last December 17 to apply for our passport. We were asked to enter a different gate than those applying with appointment and then we have to go to their courtesy lane section at the 2nd floor. Then we were asked to get a number from the guard for the courtesy lane. We were there early, around 8:30 AM, as we were advised by friends to come early so we will not experience the overspill from the earlier appointments than us.

The courtesy lane I think doesn’t open until 9 AM as we waited until 9 AM until they started processing our applications. We were asked to go inside the office first where they verified the courtesy lane pass that we are holding and then we were directed to Step 1, which is the verification. We were asked to photocopy our courtesy lane pass and they asked us to sign the Acknowledgement form acknowledging that we received our cancelled passport.

After our papers have been verified, we then went to Step 2 for the Payment.

After the payment comes Step 3, which is Encoding / Enrolment. Since Jacobo and B is with us, we were allowed to line up at the special lane for senior citizens and children which is faster than lining up in the regular queue. Thankfully, Jacobo and B are both very cooperative when their pictures are being taken and so the encoding part for all of us were just a breeze (I just did not like how I look in the picture though as I look harassed. LOL).

After encoding, we went to the counter of LBC because we just opted for our passports to be delivered than have it picked up. By 10:30 AM, we are already done.

Our scheduled passport release is January 5, 2011 and hopefully LBC can have it delivered to us by January 6 so I can finally set a US Visa appointment for my mom and Jacobo.