Birthday Grants: Caleigh Madison Loafers

I turned 22 just recently. As I write this, I’m in Mov&May Perivolos, Santorini probing Galliano Versace and Tony Cohen muftis. To which, everything is happening in my dreams. Teehee!

Okay well, all these fashionable designer outfits and nomadic affairs have been serving my bucket list for years; all waiting to materialize. I find myself having what I call, “head trips” as I begin to envision my personal hankerings.

Especially now that I turned 22, I’m starting to reconsider the choices I have been making in the past. And eventually move to a healthier and more positive lifestyle. Where everything has to happen with my pilates and bikram yoga exercises, healthy options diet, daily scripture readings, and constant physical primps and pampering.

Saying all these things doesn’t exactly mean fighting the guilt of extravagance. At the end of the day, women reap desirable results to looking and feeling better when they start to take care of themselves in and out.

Having said enough, I feel extremely happy to get to win a Snake Skin Studded Loafers from Caleigh Madison’s giveaway. 

The loafers come in khaki with a snake skin texture and black edgy sequins. Inside is carefully tailored and comfortable to wear. 

Holy kamote I could never be so excited to give this pair of loafers a most-deserved wear!

Thank you Caleigh Madison! It’s a birthday wish granted!

New Season Cath Kidston x Vintage Inspired Tea Party

I am in absolute awe. Thanks to my now advertiser, Cath Kidston. It has become a large stopping-place for both home and fashion finds in unique and colorful vintage prints and patterns.

Other people don't essentially have an eye for vintage pieces. But there is a different kind of light that anything retro gives. The subtle colors of vintage help pull the cheerful triggers in us.

Classic floral prints and fonts are specifically well put together, which we can highly amalgamate with the idea of creating a fresh and positive aura in our households.

The use of vintage prints is not entirely restricted in the corners of every woman's home and closet. There are patterns like cowboy prints and knits that are available for men to use, too.

Its patterns are often used by event planners and wedding suppliers in conceptualizing a good theme for their clients.

Cath Kidston is simply a patchwork of anything and everything comfortable vintage. Agree or not, people in today's oblivious world definitely look for something suggestive of nostalgia. That's where the positive aura I was talking about significantly comes from.

We are already close to observing the Season of Lent. Most of us will eventually celebrate Easter Sunday for the resurrection of Jesus and for the intention of spending quality time with our family.

We can throw up a simple tea party at home using Cath Kidston pieces:

Spray Flowers Print Tea Set for 4

                 

This style tea set features spray flower prints and includes a teapot and 4 pairs of cups and saucers. Available for purchase here.

Country Rose and Placement Spot Tea Towel

                                                    

There are times when we have to do impromptu celebrations. And the thought of preparation is sometimes, honestly intimidating if we are the host. That's when vintage prints can become our immediate accessories.

We need not put up huge flower vases and banners as they won't make for a practical way to prepare for an impromptu party.

This tea towel adds creative flair to your tea set. Besides mentioning that your visitors will be needing something to  wipe off accidental food scraps on their faces or somewhere else. :)

Tea towels available for purchase here.

Cotton Rose 16 Piece Cutlery Set

                                              

Okay, it doesn't necessarily have to be 16 pieces. You can always invite a visitor or two for a simple private tea party for the Easter.

This cutlery set perfectly matches your vintage-inspired tea set. Available for purchase here.

As condiments to your party, you can easily drop by a pastry shop to buy ready-made cupcakes and cookies. You can also prepare home-made sandwiches to add in the menu. Light a candle for ambiance. And play a breather music. Yes, I call what you have in mind a breather music. :)

You might also consider giving your guests Provence Rose Mini Note Cards for a "thank you" note.

               

A simple appreciation goes a long way even with your family.

 

Photo Credits:
cathkidston (dot) co (dot) uk

Top 5 Sweet Flicks for Valentine's Day

If only my website had a way of speaking directly to me, I would have ended heartbroken. I left it for a bit long while to juggle three other jobs. I knew I screw for having that said as a reason but I am definitely on to making a good start to recompense for the damage.

It's Valentine's day and it's always nicer to spread love than bad vibes. 

I saw fair ladies and gents carrying roses and chocolates with them down town. And while a romantic dinner set by the beach makes for a perfect activity, I suggest taking the rather less expensive but thoughtful way of spicing up the evening with your loved ones.

I have picked 5 romantic movies singles, couples, and families can take joy in watching at home:

1. Valentine's Day

Don't you think the title is very high time? It's a 2010 romantic comedy movie about couples and singles in Los Angeles breaking-up and making-up based on the pressures and everyday anticipation of Valentine's Day.

The movie depicts relationships in different stages and points of view, from childhood crushes and puppy loves, to hormone-driven teen-playing-adult relationships, to mature and stable adult relationships. 

The downside is that there are few scenes and lewd conversations that couples, especially parents need to get ready for in explaining and guiding their children.

Watch Valentine's Day here.

2. Serendipity

This movie aired in 2001. It's about a couple who reunited years after they first met and opted to trust in fate, chance, or destiny to decide whether they are truly meant for each other or not.

You might somehow find a predictable script but the actors, music, and the plot will give you a light heart. 

Watch Serendipity here.

3. 50 First Dates

It's a 2004 romantic comedy movie about a man who used to have no interest in having a serious relationship but met a local pretty young woman in Hukilau Cafe'.

The good part was that the man untiringly loved and cared for the woman even if she had Goldfield Syndrome, a kind of anterograde amnesia that makes her memory last for only a day. 

On another note, you'll love to see walruses flying a kiss.

Watch 50 First Dates here.

4. Letters to Juliet

It's a romantic film in 2010. It's mainly about a couple who separated for many years but suddenly found each other in Italy through the help of an aspiring writer who replied back to a love letter sent in Juliet's House in Verona, Italy. 

The place exists in real life and the movie clearly shows that true love doesn't age.

Watch Letters to Juliet here.

5. A Walk to Remember

This movie is a tear-jerker, but the story is love. It's a 2002 romantic drama film based from the novel of the very good Nicholas Sparks. 

It's about two teens who have shown important elements in love-- sincerity, care, trust, forgiveness, hope, and sacrifice along their relationship. 

Personally, it's a movie grown-ups and growing ups need to see.

Watch A Walk to Remember here.

Some of you might prefer watching Editors' picks romantic classics like Pride and Prejudice, Breakfast at Tiffany's or the famous When Harry Met Sally. But the above choices will spur you with cheerfulness, resilience, and hope about love. 

You might have or have not watched them yet but another suggestion is for you to read the more elaborate book version of the movie (if any). It's as if you need telling twice, only that it's fulfilling to know the story without its other significant parts cut.

You can also look for more romantic comedy sweet flicks here. The list actually goes on.

More importantly, let me remind you what the Bible says about love:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud or rude. It is not self-seeking.  It is not easily angered. Love keeps no record of wrongs. It does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. ~ 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! God bless your heart! 

Drop your comments below.

Photo & Video Credits:

google (slash) images (dot) com

megashare (dot) info

References:

imdb (dot) com

Today I Turn 22 (And I Ain’t Getting Married)

Time flies. Today I celebrate my twenty-second year of life-- almost perturb but completely wonderful. I already have plans set on how I’d like things to go about this day. It's turning out however that throwing up a get-together is a bit impossible.

So I decide to be my laid-back self and make merry of this day with few of the most important persons in my life. Homemade brownies here, diavolos pizza and coffee smoothies there will all serve our craving tummies. Everybody knows birthday calories don't count. Snorts! I’d also like to put up some jazz music in the background. So it’s a little café sort of feel.

Mommy-ing and wifey-ing reads stockpiled in my desk in the past few weeks. It’s somehow funny when the mom gets to ask me perhaps for curiosity’s sake about why I have been reading those things in a while.

From kindles

To printed parenting finds

I don’t want to freak her out but there are times when I’d like to tell her I want to get married already with puns intended. Haha!

To online references

Well I’m 22, and of course I’m still far from marrying. I just realize how I could start gearing myself to live a more productive life in the future and make career decisions without interrupting the joy of being youth in the process.

Balancing my work as a nurse and a part-time blogger/writer is somehow difficult. However, I’m thinking of ways to keep the homeostasis.

Here are 3 “life at 20’s” realizations I’d like to share in my life blog catalog:

• 20’s are the best years for travel

Experts would even say traveling should take precedence over other things young adults spend their money for. Imagine how much there is to learn about the world when you begin this early.

• 20’s is never too late for a healthier lifestyle

Choosing the right food at equally right amount and toning up your body as early as possible will do you a big favor in the future. Wear and tear issues are inevitable but you can help prevent speeding them up.

• 20’s is the stage you have to learn that life is different outside school

Maximize everything you can learn from studying. Life will offer you way more serious challenges once you get out of the school premises. But keep your faith and understand your brain works. It will help you more than a dictionary would.

I’d like to thank God, my significant others, and all the people who’ve been part and will be part of another wonderful year in my life.

I’m thinking what’s blowing a candle next year when I’m 23 feels like? Teehee! Much love to you all J

A Mother’s Day Blog: If I Should Have a Daughter

Last year I blogged about the value of having fathers in our lives. And today I am posting a recognition to the people who play equal significance to us all-- mothers.

I find it hard to write anything really heartfelt about my mother. Before any cuss words be thrown up on me, I have a good relationship with her and I love her beyond faking.

One reason is, I have way too many laughing moments with her more than I thought. Good memories outweighs the bad.

I spent senseless years thinking that I don’t have a mother who cares about me. It sounds very trivial but that existed in my mind until I was sixteen.  But as tough luck and misfortunes came, I have seen my mother coming to the rescue without solicitations needed. She knew when to speak and when not to.

As I step a little forward towards maturity, I can see how she maintains her strength all through the years. She is able to carry on her youth despite being a wife, a mother, a grandmother, and a daughter all at the same time. And if I’m being overemotional, I’d like to think that every daughter is entitled to feeling that way when talking about her mother.

Few things I like or dislike about her though is that first she isn’t a good laundry-maker. Let her do the washing and you’ll get your white trousers back in red and your black t-shirt in pink. I don’t know exactly how she does that.

Next, you’ll never work with her in the kitchen without leaving it messy afterwards. And by messy I mean total chaos. It’s either you get mad at her for it or you get used to it because there’s no way for her to change that attitude. She believes in speed more than cleanliness.

Third is that you can never take her to a concert because there’s also no way for her to care for music or yet you have to blush your butt from watching drama series on TV every night for 5 hours.

And fourth, God so help me she won’t hate me for writing this. (Love you Ma! :D) These are very minute details about my mother and I just love her for the way she is. Sometimes she just really makes me laugh.

Side note: Here's my mother reading a travel magazine in one of our recent trips to a local resort

But seriously, believe me when I say there’s no measure to a mother’s love; the same love that Mary has shown for her son Jesus. No matter how terrible or unreasonable a mother can be, she’ll still always be the last person standing for you after everyone has left. For sure you know that too. There is no break, time-out, or leave in being a mother. Until her last breath, you will always remain a son or a daughter to her.

As I write this post I have here beside me a book by a spoken word poet Sarah Kay. I could not help myself but cry at how she expressed the great importance of a mother in our lives. Here are the lines:

The Greatest Story Ever Told

Today I turned 21. One thing that gets me high on my birthday is when I start to hang in to whoever among my family, friends, special people, and acquaintances remembers to post a birthday greeting on my facebook wall,tsk! A preoccupation this is.

Suffice it to say, that is all I could ever be thankful of; letting in God’s best in love and mercy through other people. 

The more I get to receive their greetings, the more I get reminded of how my life has been glutted with inspiration by other people and how I ripened each time because of them.

Let alone myself understand that maturity (in mind) and wisdom (in heart) doesn’t necessarily come as we age, it comes as to how we have endured and bandy with the daily challenges of life. That’s why I’m determined to learn as my age upturns.

Really, my birthday is all about being grateful for everything that came about in the past 21 years. And I also hope to not just receive more blessings but be more of a blessing to others.

It's what my birthday has to mean to me l Image taken from quot.esarcade.com

These are all the many blessings I got from today,

Screen shots of the greetings of love and happiness from:

Wanted Perfect Father

First of all, I would like to greet all the long time dads, new dads, and soon-to-be dads in the world a HAPPY FATHER’S DAY.

Image taken from weheartit.com

Few days ago when NBA and the Lunar Eclipse were the trending topics on the twitter timeline, I caught site of a twitter hashtag hanging at the bottom of the top 10 trending topics that goes, #thatsmydad. I could only remember one thing about my dad that would suit the hashtag pretty well and I tweeted, “someone who plays guitar and sings me ballad #thatsmydad”. 

I don’t exactly know how other families would usually have a good time on father’s day. I for real grew up in a family where celebrating such occasions is so unlikely, at odds to what I typically hear from others where preparations are really done for their father say, a special dinner. 

“I love you”  is a not so familiar line inside the home. After my mother remained a plain housewife for few years, suddenly had to start a job in the city government. And my father, focused most of his time and attention on politics when he started serving as a Barangay Chairman in 1995. My brother was 9 years old then while I was 5. 

Apparently, politics became part of our daily life since then. It wasn’t until I also turned 9 that I mustered the courage to write him a letter for the father’s day (thanks to the 90’s educational TV series for reminding me of such a good conduct) because I thought it’s only on those kinds of occasion that I get the chance to thank him for all he’s done and to let him know that I love him. 

There were times when I would only see my letters for him run into the trash bin few days after. Though I’ve realized my father surely didn’t intend to throw my billet-doux. I remember my aunt even said, “Don’t be discouraged, you know your parents aren’t really fond of emotions popping off letters”. 

We all in the family hardly recognize feelings and thank each other. Endearments are taboo in that trying to open up something like it makes for a very awkward conversation. Though I know the Filipino culture where families are really valued (well I still hope despite of all the issues the country is facing now), father’s day is supposed to be a day when everybody, most importantly children have to give honor to their father and make him feel like he’s the greatest, the best and the most special dad there is. 

As children grow up, perspectives change and greeting dads on father’s day grow to be less and less of a priority. All the greetings if not forgotten just become perfunctory. Some start to move and have families of their own while others get too busy with their individual jobs. I don’t know how fathers really react to this. It is probably one of the hardest things a father or a parent for that matter could ever learn to do and accept as being parents, the stage of emancipation where one has to understand that his children are never his own .