Happy New Year!!

In just a few days, we will soon say goodbye to 2009 and welcome 2010. This also means that I have to get term life insurance quotes so we can renew our insurance which will expire as soon as we say goodbye to 2009. But before I deal with that, let me be the one to first greet each one of you a Happy New Year!

(I saw this Year-In Photos from Kelly’s Facebook account and it is a cute application to create memories of 2009.)

It was a good year for my family. I am thankful that I spend 2009 with the company of my family and my good friends. We we’re also fortunate that some of our dreams (which we never thought will ever come into reality) have finally been given to us. We also ended the year with the greatest gift that we have ever received, which is an addition to our family. We are really thankful because God has continued to guide us and showered us will all theses blessings. We are thankful also for all the trials that have come our way because it has made us a better person, a better family.

In 2009, our country has suffered a lot of beating and we pray that none of those kinds of tragedy will ever happen again to the Filipinos. Let us continue praying that the coming of 2010 will bring each one of us a new strength, a new hope, and a new life. More blessings to all of us and advance happy new year!!

Photo Bucket Bag

I was looking for news or any information that I can post as fillers to my blog when I saw the email from ArtsCow about their ongoing promos.

Look at this cute photo bucket bag.

It is only $11.99 with free shipping but the promo is valid only until December 31. I just snagged some pictures of Bela from my Flickr account so I can try creating a photo bag and I just love the end product.

I will ask Howell if he can create a collage of Bela’s pictures before the end of the promo so I can create other layouts so I will have more layouts to choose from. But if Howell will be busy, I think this layout is cute already.

You can customize the front and back of the bag and I chose to use two different pictures for the front and back layout. I really haven’t tried the other features but I think you can also add background, themes, embellishments and layouts. I will explore it more later. The bag has a zipper closure on top and different compartments inside.

Check it out at ArtsCow now.

What I love about Tutuban

My best friend visited me at our house last Saturday and I showed her our pictures when we went to Europe and she commented that she really likes my outfits.

But did you know that I only spend less than P4000 to complete a three-week wardrobe? So where did I shop? At Tutuban of course. Since it is summer in Europe, the type of clothes being sold at Tutuban is perfect for the hot summer weather in Europe. Now if only the stores there have merchant services so they can accept credit cards, then I would end up buying more clothes. LOL.

But just the same, Tutuban would still be my favorite shopping place. You just have to know where to shop and you have to check for the quality of the material so you will really get good deals. And since my cousin and my sister are Tutuban addicts too, I am given insider information on which stores have the best deal.

So next time you want to shop for your wardrobe, just give me a ring and I can give you a list of the stores in Tutuban where I buy most of my clothes.

Café World Upgrades

I know my Café in Café World is not like one of those metal buildings buy I am happy now with how my new café has turned out.

I was able to earn enough coins to do some renovations. I was able to change my tables from the simple table to an Aegan table and the chairs from simple chairs to drive thru chair and drive thru booth. I changed the walls too and I even added new decorations. I know have two private rooms (though still small) where guest can watch television. I even spiced up one of the private rooms with a lava lamp which is so cute. LOL. I also have nine stoves now, five counters and three servers. I am now saving up so I can expand my café to the Bountiful Café which is 13x15 in size.

Can you say now that I am really addicted to Café World? Well if you are bed rest and have nothing to do but stay at home, Café World can be a really good way to spend your time. LOL.

Avoiding Business Closure

The United States is still suffering from economic recession and economist say that it may still take a couple of months (or even years) before the US can fully recover.

One of my friends who have her own business is a victim of this worldwide economic meltdown. Her only consolation is that her company is still lucky because they are still in business though sales and cash flow is really going down. So she said that she has to take all the precautionary measure to save her company and avoid a business closure.

One of the steps that she took is to work with a Las Vegas accounting firm that will help her company increase her cash flow and manage the company’s finances. Kondler CPA has helped my friend’s company with their book keeping, audit and reports so my friend is sure that their company complies with the US accounting principles.

By doing this, my friend is on top of her company’s assets and finances which can help her manage her business well and avoid business closure especially during this time of economic recession.

Katrice Wear Shopping

Before I was put in house arrest, I was able to go to the SMX Outlet Sale in SM Mall of Asia to check out the dresses that are on sale by Katrice Wear. Look at some of our pictures:

I just snagged the pictures from Katrice Wear’s site as Howell was still finding a parking slot that time. Bela was so in the mood to try on different clothes and to pose for Marissa (because I promised her that we will go to the toy store as soon as we find clothes for her) so if you checked the SMX Album from Marissa’s site, you can see a lot of our pictures there. LOL.

I ended up buying the long jersey dress and the yellow dress. I wanted to buy a third pair (yup, totally addicted with Katrice Wear) but there is no size left for the styles that I want (Marissa said that I should go either on Friday or Saturday since she only makes one piece per size but Sunday is the only day that we are free).

Oh well, they will have another bazaar I think come January so I will just wait for that bazaar then. Maybe by that time, I will be allowed to go out and hit the malls again.

Dreaming for Our Next Beach Vacation

My family and I have already explored the local beaches and resorts so my husband and I are thinking that maybe for our next beach getaway, why not try a romantic vacation riviera maya.

We always wanted to have a relaxing vacation and enjoy the white sand beaches of the Mexican Riviera Maya. I have checked the websites of Karisma Hotels and Resorts and they have five signature hotels that will cater to all types of guests, be it a family with toddler, honeymooners, or to those individuals who just wanted to escape the busy city life and enjoy a relaxing day at the beach.

Imagine resting in your own Casita Suite and you will have your own butler who will pamper you and will make you feel like a princess while you enjoy the beautiful ocean view. Now that is one type of vacation that I will surely enjoy.

ICAM Batch '94 Reunion

If you will ask me, my high school life is one of the most memorable and happy event in my life. I met my life long friends from high school and up to now we still manage to keep in touch and we try to have some get together every once in a while to keep up with each other’s lives.

Last November 28, a few of my batch mate has organized a reunion for our batch. Too bad I was not able to attend it because we already have a previous appointment. I saw the pictures taken during the reunion and it sure looks really fun.

One of my batch mates, Simon, created an AVP video of our pictures when we were still in High school and it was really a blast from the past. LOL. I enjoyed watching it and reminiscing all those fun time we had when we were still in high school. Here is the video which she uploaded in YouTube. (You may not notice me, but I am the geeky looking student wearing eye glasses. LOL).

From SG

My best friend together with her husband is here in the Philippines until the first week of January to celebrate Christmas and New Year with their family and friends here in Manila. We met up with them when we went to Singapore last month but since we are only at Singapore for just two days and they can’t take a leave from work too, we just met up for dinner. My best friend and I haven’t seen each other for more than a year so you can just imagine how we miss each other and so the time that we had during dinner was really not enough to catch up with each other's lives. So we promised to meet up again when they arrived here in Manila for a vacation.

I am planning for a two-day out of town get away with her and her family. It would have been nice if we can go on a one week vacation in hoteles en punta cana where we can enjoy the beach of the Dominican Republic but since they will only be here for three weeks and their schedule is busy too with family get together during the holiday season, then we decided that we can settle even just for an overnight out of town getaway.

We haven’t talked about the details yet as we are also busy shopping for Christmas but we will surely go out one of this days after the busy holiday season.

Lynx Rayvens Christmas Get Together

On December 27, I will be meeting up with my high school friends for our Christmas get together. We initially wanted to have an out of town get together where we will rent vacation homes just like the Outer Banks vacation rental. But we are already pressed for time and we can’t handle logistics of an out-of-town party with the limited time that we have. Also, since majority of us have kids already which we plan to bring during our get together also, we realized that it will be more convenient if we just have the venue at a place where it is close to majority of us.

So instead we decided to have the Lynx Rayvens Christmas get together on 27th of December at the Noma’s residence. It will be a pot-luck party and our party organizer, Me-anne, already give us our food assignments. We will also have exchange gifts and of course, games for the kids to keep them pre-occupied.

I am so excited already. I am sure it will be one loud and crazy party again. LOL. So see you all on the 27th guys.

Loots from SMX Big Outlet Sale

As I blogged here, we were able to check out the Big Outlet Sale at SMX Convention Hall at SM Mall of Asia today. I was with my aunt, my sister, my hubby, Bela and yaya.

There are quite a number of shops but I was too lazy to check all of them out. I will just check out the store if I find anything interesting on display or if there are not much people crowding the booth. I was just on the look out for the stall of Katrice Wear and the stall of Melissa shoes.

We started at the right of the convention hall and I immediately spotted the booth of Katrice Wear as soon as we turn left after reaching the end of the first lane. I was able to buy two matching clothes for me and Bela and Marissa gave me P800 discount for the four dresses. I even wanted to buy the Snake skin dress but I think I need appetite suppressants before I can wear that tube dress. LOL.

Peachy also told me that Melissa shoes has a booth there and all shoes are at 50% discount. I was able to buy Melissa Campana for me and one for my aunt as our gift for her. My sister was also able to buy the Melissa Origami.

Hubby was able to snag a Levi’s pants at 50% off also and I also bought Crocs Gabby for Bela at 15% off.

Here are our loots:

We all went home tired, but happy with all our loots.

Alive…Alert…Awake

It is already 1 AM but I am still wide awake and I am happy because I got my blogging mojo back. LOL. We had a long day today. We woke up early to catch the last Sunday mass. When we reached home after mass, I blog a little bit while my mom helped Bela with her homework from school. Then after lunch, we head to the SMX Big Outlet Sale where I was able to do quite a lot of shopping before going to SM Mall of Asia for more shopping. I thought that I will doze off to sleep as soon as we reached home but surprisingly, I am still wide awake at 1 AM and still blogging.

Well it is probably because I was able to get some rest yesterday. We went to my OB for my check up after Bela’s OT session and then went home right after and I slept as soon as we arrived until dinner time. Then after dinner, I fell asleep again and I did not wake up until 12 AM where I was just awaken by hubby to ask me to go up to our room.

But I guess even if I am still in the mood to blog, I have to shutdown my laptop in just a few minutes for it is Monday again tomorrow which means it is time to go back to work.

Katrice Wear @ SMX Big Outlet Sale

This long jersey dress is one of the new items from Katrice Wear and when I saw it, I told myself that I really have to get it. Since I am pregnant, this dress will be perfect even if I have a baby bump. LOL.
Since we have no schedule for today, I was able to convince hubby to drive us to Mall of Asia and visit the Big Outlet Sale at SMX Convention Hall at MOA Grounds. Marissa informed me that I should go there on Friday or Saturday so I will be sure that I will get the dress that I like in my size since she only makes one piece per size. But I am really lucky since I was able to get this long jersey dress in my size and a matching one for Bela too even if we went on the afternoon of the last day of the exhibit. This is the first time that Bela will be wearing a long dress. My aunt said that it looks cute on Bela but my sister says otherwise. LOL. I will post the pictures soon, so you be the judge.

Would you believe that I am only on my third month and I am already one size bigger than my regular size at Katrice Wear? But at least I have a reason – I am pregnant. LOL. But this means that I have to look for the best way to lose belly fat as soon as I give birth.

I also got this backless ruffle halter dress for me and Bela too. I also like this flower shoulder dress but they don’t have it for our size for all the colors. Now I just have to decide which one Bela and I will wear for Christmas and New Year. LOL.

CC

And when I thought that I am finish with my Christmas wish list, it is then that I saw this nice earring from Jacqui’s Flickr account:

Isn’t really nice? These are custom made earrings from Jacqui’s supplier. Don’t you think a nice Gold Initial Pendant will go well with these earrings? I really have no idea how much these earrings cost. But I don’t really think I (or even my Santa) will have a budget for this, this Christmas. Especially now that I am pregnant, we are really saving up for the things that we will need for the coming of the second addition to our family. Then after that, we have to prepare for the Christening then come 2011 will be for the first birthday and then on 2012 will be another major expense as it is Bela’s 7th birthday.

Ayayayay. This means I have to wait for at least three years before you can see me wear this earring. LOL.

Christmas Gift Suggestions

Have you done your Christmas shopping already? I have already started mine. Every time we go to the mall, I make sure that I buy a few items for gifts so I can check something out from my long Christmas shopping list.

I bought gifts for my female cousins and god children already but I am running out of ideas for my male cousins and god children. Good thing I discovered the site of Kid Sports Inc.

They have lots of cool stuffs that I think my male cousins and god children will really like. They have Baseball Equipment, baseball gloves, and they even have NFL uniform sets. This uniform sets comes with helmet, foam padding, face mask, and adjustable chin straps.


What I like about Kid Sports Inc is that I will not run out of ideas on what to give my male cousins especially for my cousins who love baseball. Any of the baseball equipments that is on sale from this site will be a sure hit for Christmas gifts. So if you are looking for nice Christmas gifts, do check out their site and I am sure you will have lots of options to choose from all their sports merchandise.

This post is brought to you by the site mentioned above.