I Dieeeeee!!!

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This picture is just too cute!

I have wanted a pug for the longest time. It’s my favorite dog breed. And the more banlag (wall-eyed) they are, the more adorable they are to me.

Four of my former officemates in Shell had pugs–one had the mother while the other three bought her offspring from different litters–and I died of envy every time they would talk about or show me pictures of their pets. As much as I’d want to have a pug right now, Abet and I already have our hands full with our labrador and our beagle.

Should we decide to get another dog, I’ll make sure we’ll get a pug this time. I read that they’re good with kids. I can totally imagine my future children riding our dogs like horses. Maybe I’ll even get our kids some kiddie equestrian riding apparel. How cute would that be?

Just another Phoebe post

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My little Beefy girl likes to keep me company while I work. I swear, I don’t put her there, she just automatically goes behind the laptop when I’m working. Maybe it’s the warmth, I don’t know. But I sure like her there.

Excited much?

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I have a confession: a big chunk of my blog-hopping time is now spent on pregnancy and parenting blogs.

I’m not pregnant and Abet and I do not have any plans of procreating in the near future (not in the next 12 months, definitely), but I can’t help but read all about pregnancy and motherhood, if only to prepare myself. Besides, there’s no dearth of inspiring local mommy bloggers in the metro, such as Dainty Mom and Topaz Mommy, to name a couple.

I think I’m just right on schedule. Consider this: I started reading wedding blogs three years before my big day, and those years of research and browsing for inspiration helped me achieve the dream wedding I have always envisioned. By reading all about motherhood–pregnancy, birthing, breastfeeding, everything–I am arming myself with knowledge so that when God’s perfect time comes for us to have our own Baby Mesa, I won’t be so lost as a first-time mother.

In the meantime, I’ll go ahead and have these mommy blogs on my Google Reader. I’ll also keep fantasizing about baby names, cute baby outfits, and even personalized room décor for kids for my future offspring.

Once I see those two lines on the pregnancy stick, I’ll be ready.

Dea, The Bathroom Cleaner

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*Image from here

Since I became a housewife work-at-home wife, I have discovered that I actually enjoy doing housework, particularly cleaning and disinfecting our home.

Now, before you brand me as a domestic diva, let me just clarify first that this does not include organizing. I hate organizing, something my husband loves to do and is very good at, praise God. I especially cannot stand organizing our clothes/closets, that’s as much fun for me as being hooked up to ekg machines.

Anyway, my favorite chore of them all is cleaning our bathroom. I actually enjoy going down on all fours to scrub our bathroom tiles and our fixtures. I also enjoy buying cleaning products at the grocery. I now have a wide variety of brushes, sponges, cleansers, and disinfectants in my arsenal. More than anything, I enjoy the feeling of doing my business in a clean, sparkling, fresh-smelling loo.

I went home to my parents’ house earlier today and actually volunteered to clean one of their bathrooms. In fact, I told my mom that I’ll clean their bathrooms during my weekly visits home.

I guess you can say I’m addicted. Sorry, germs.

Happy, Lovely Thursday – 20120112

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It was back to reality for us this week. We finally took our Christmas tree down, it’s back to normal at work for me, and Abet is now busy again with work, grad school, and rehearsals. The holidays are really, truly over, and it didn’t take very long for things to get crazy again.

Here are the things that are making me smile and keeping me sane this week (I’m still very much into Instagram):

Purple statice flowers on my workdesk.
I got these at Dangwa for only P20.

Our music-themed pillow cases.
The tackiness can be justified by the fact that my husband is a musician and that these are 500-threadcount.

Fish-shaped kitty food in her fishy kitty bowl.

My day and night Estée Lauder eye creams.
I feel that eye creams are now a must for me at this age.

Essie Whisper

My nail polish du jour, Essie Whisper.
I just painted this on my fingertips on a whim.

That’s it for now! Until next week!

Colored stones make me swoon

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I love ogling jewelry online, aside from makeup, cupcakes, and cute baby animals. This is one of my favorite stress-relievers (and time-wasters). I am most attracted to colored gemstones more than anything (black titanium bracelets just don’t do it for me), and when it comes to colored gemstones, the top brand that comes to mind is Bvlgari.

I just spent a good hour browsing their website looking at stuff like these:

Oh, be still my heart.

Since these baubles go up to hundreds of thousands of pesos, I don’t think I’ll be getting anytime soon (and by anytime soon, I mean in this lifetime), so I’ll stick to drooling over these gems online.

I’ll go back to looking at cute baby animals now, there’s a much bigger chance that I’ll be able to take home one of those.

 

Happy, Lovely Thursday – 20120104

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Happy New Year, everyone! Let’s start the new year on a happy note, shall we?

It’s been a while since I did these Happy, Lovely Thursday posts. I wasn’t able to do these posts when our camera lens got busted and I never had the time to get it repaired. I have now ‘permanently borrowed’ my brother-in-law’s point-and-shoot after he got his DSLR, so I’m bringing this little series back. I do enjoy posting them, a little challenge to myself to see beauty and find joy in little everyday things.

My kitten’s paw. So cute, a black “palm” with pink “fingers.”

A smiling breakfast care of the husband.

Cinnamon M&M’s that my brother Momon brought home from the US.

Must-have MAC lipsticks: Cosmo and Pink Nouveau

My left-hand ring finger.
A daily reminder that I am loved and I belong to someone and someone belongs to me.

That’s it for this week! Wishing you all a happy, lovely Thursday today, and a happy, lovely 2012 ahead!

Thanks, Two Thousand Eleven

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Sharing our beautiful same-day edit video by Kris Matanguihan, because marrying Abet was the best thing that happened to me this year.

2011 was a wonderful year for me, definitely one for the books. This, after all, was the year that I:

  • finally–FINALLY!–became a certified makeup artist. I have always wanted to study makeup artistry and this was the year I threw all excuses out the door and just did it
  • did my (paid!!!) OJT for L’Oreal
  • had 2 more dogs and 4 more cats
  • got engaged!!!
  • quit a highly stressful job
  • got myself a home-based, non-stressful job that I love. I have amazing teammates and bosses, and my schedule is a blessing, simply a blessing
  • did makeup for my first bride, Ergoe, one of my bestest friends in the whole wide world
  • had the beautiful, personalized, unique, and intimate wedding I had dreamed of
  • married my one true love
  • moved out of my parents’ house and rented a house with my husband
  • learned how to cook
  • learned how to be a wife

Abet and I had waited for 2011 to come, and we definitely owned the year. Sure, there were trials–more than we expected as a newly-wed couple–but at the end of the day year, there were more blessings than anything. 2011 was kind to us.

I know that fabulous as 2011 was, there are even bigger things in store for me. Things are just getting started. I can’t wait to see what beautiful things 2012 will bring.

Thank you for the wild, crazy ride, Twenty-Eleven! Look out for me, Twenty-Twelve! I’m owning you like I did the last year!’

My family can’t get enough of animals

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Because, you know, five kids just isn’t enough. :P

Since my youngest brother Joe brought home his first pet, a guinea pig, in 2005, our home has never been out of pets. Since then, we’ve had more guinea pigs, birds, rabbits, hamsters, fish, a dog, and two cats come into our home to keep us company. But I guess there will always be room for one more.

Remember Josie, the newborn kitten my siblings picked up last month that didn’t make it? My sister was devastated when they lost her that they wanted to get a new kitten right away. They’d even go on kitten-hunting trips within our subdivision to look for a new kitty to take home. When Abet’s friend Mario had kittens to give away, I asked for a black-white-orange one to give to my sister. Mario showed Abet a video of the kittens so he can choose, and Abet fell in love with an orange one. So instead of getting one kitten, we got two: Josie (#2) for my sister, Ludwig (after our favorite composer, Beethoven) for us.

But the kitty-twins are so close to each other, they’re always hugging, we can’t bring ourselves to separate them.

Mama made me choose between the twins or Phoebe. Since Abet and I are already very attached to our little Beefy-Cat, we agreed to let our Big-Big stay with them. So now they have four cats. That doesn’t include the six palamunin cats in our backyard that my mother feeds everyday.

I miss Josie and Big-Big a lot so I often make my sister send me pics via Twitter.

But wait, there’s more. Meet Sistah.

Like Sophie, she’s from the PMA grounds. Her dad’s a black Lab while her mom is an Aspin (asong Pinoy). Joe brought her home from his trip to Baguio last week, she was in his backpack (open, of course) during the whole journey to Manila. Abet already saw that Joe’s backpack was moving when he arrived, but the rest of us didn’t, we all shrieked when Joe pulled out a puppy from his bag. She’s the cutest thing, I swear, but I’m sure this will be a big one when she grows up. So now they have two dogs at home.

But why stop there? Things are about to get crazy… Chicks!

These aren’t pets, though. These babies will be dinner in a month’s time. My dad and brothers enjoyed slaughtering and roasting chickens for our Christmas lunch that they got these chicks in time for my mother’s and Joe’s birthdays in January and February. I don’t think we’ll be naming them. :P

And so, our crazy household just got even crazier, and that’s how we like it.

 

Christmas 2011

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So, my loves, what did you do over the holidays?

As for me, the last few days were just filled with love and joy. This Christmas is extra special for Abet and me because it’s our first Christmas as a married couple, which means we have three families to spend the holidays with: his family, my family, and our own little family of two.

Last December 23, my family visited Abet and me the first time. I was so happy to have them all there, to have them see our home and meet our dogs (Phoebe comes with us whenever we spend weekends at my parents’).

Ooops, my dad is watafez in this photo. Sorry Papi, it’s the only one I have.We missed my brother Momon, who’s spending the holidays in the US with his in-laws. The curtains don’t match our home, I know. Those are my mother-in-law’s, we haven’t bought our own yet.

Moving on, Christmas Eve was spent at my in-laws’ house (which is just a minute away from our home, and that’s by foot). My brother-in-law Obet made us all wear red so he can take family portraits.

The only red piece of clothing I owned was a pambahay shirt, that had to do.

Christmas Day was at my parents’ house. This year’s celebration was very austere compared to what we’re used to, partly because Momon isn’t here to celebrate with us, and partly because now is not the time for grand celebrations, not after what happened to our beloved Cagayan de Oro which we used to call home. My parents donated to Sendong, therefore, just a simple Christmas celebration this year.

We had pansit and roasted chicken for Christmas lunch, but those weren’t your ordinary chickens. My dad and my brothers bought three native chickens a couple of days before, and those were slaughtered, stuffed silly with lemongrass, and roasted for our holiday meal.

You should have seen our backyard sink, it was gruesome. Thank you Aringkingking, Nokma, and Macmashaw for sacrificing your lives in order for us to have a feast. Yes, they had names. Burp.

Anyway, since Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were spent with our families, Abet and I started our own tradition. We will have our Christmas celebration, just the two of us in our home, the day after Christmas. December 26 will be Mr. & Mrs. Mesa’s Christmas Celebration Day. December 26 is when we’ll have a nice homemade candlelit dinner and that’s when we’ll open the presents under our tree.

For dinner, we made pesto spaghetti (using store-bought pesto) and we made fried chicken for the first time. Abet bought white wine. For dessert, we had fresh fruits dipped in melted Toblerone. Abet brewed a pot of Starbucks Christmas Blend coffee (now only P87.50 at 30% off, good for 8 cups!!!) to enjoy while we opened our presents. It was such a fun, memorable evening, I’m so glad we started this little tradition, and I can’t wait for next year (the food should be much better then).

I ate so much in the last week and will continue to eat a lot until next week, I’ll need to go back to Bikram when 2012 comes in (but not until I get a new yoga mat since I can’t find my current one). I have a lot of exercise to do to make up for all the food I’m stuffing my face with. I’ll worry about that in a few days, but in the meantime, I’m enjoying the time–and the food–with the people I love the most.

I hope you all had good Christmases spent with family, everyone! Stay safe this New Year!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

The Chic-Boy caterpillar issue is NOT FAKE

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Chic-Boy Scandal

I’m sure you’ve read about the girl who found a caterpillar in her kang-kong dish at Chic-Boy Timog. It’s already gone viral on Facebook, prompting Chic-Boy to issue a statement that this is the handiwork of their desperate competitors, and that they are going to file a libel case against the author. You can read about the brouhaha here.

I know the girl involved. Sigrid is a friend and is someone I respect as an artist and as a person. The caterpillar issue is not fake, nor is it a smear campaign, sabotage, or demolition job by its competitors as what Chic-Boy is saying. This is a real customer experience.

Chic-Boy underestimated the power of a sincere apology. They could just have apologized and acknowledged their mistake. They could have taken this as an opportunity to review and improve their food handling procedures. Their reaction was just plain defensive.

I used to be a big fan of Chic-Boy, especially the Jupiter branch, my friends and family can attest to this. But until all this turns out well for Sigrid, no more Chic-Boy for me.

 

Handyman Abet

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One of the things I discovered about my new husband is that he likes to do home improvement stuff around our house. Whether it’s assembling, hanging, installing, screwing, or drilling that needs to be done, he’ll eagerly do it. He even wants to repaint our home himself. I’m glad that he enjoys doing all these things since I can’t be counted on to do them.

Abet now considers Ace Hardware as a new happy place. I won’t be surprised if he asks me for power tools or concrete blades for Christmas.

Sleep Issues

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I’ve now recovered from being under the weather last week (does that mean I’m over the weather? *hyuk*hyuk*), but now I’m having problems with sleeping properly. I was so sick last week–I was like an RV in bad need of motorhome repair–that I practically dozed off for days. Now my sleeping pattern is screwed. I’m awake all night and fall asleep at random hours during the day. This is probably what jet lag feels like.

I hope my Circadian rhythm gets back on track. I’m not very productive when my own body can’t even follow a schedule.

We have a tree!

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We finally have a Christmas tree over here at Casa Mesa. Our very first Christmas tree together! *yipee* It’s a bit late, I know, but you know what they say: better late than never.

We didn’t want to spend too much on the tree since it’s just the two of us in our home. We’ll just upgrade once we have offspring. For now, we set a meager budget of P1000 for our Christmas tree. That one above us only P518. Amazing, right? We got the tree itself for P200 at Divisoria. I couldn’t believe the price tag when I saw it, the tree is almost 4 feet tall. It’s so cheap, even for Divi standards, and the quality is not bad, no damage or anything. The decor added up to P318: poinsettias at P168/dozen, 3 dozen balls at P40/dozen, and two strands of garlands at P15 each. The Starbucks ornament was an impulse buy last Christmas, it will serve as our ‘star’ in the meantime.

We’re going to have to do without Christmas lights because of Phoebe. I’ll have to add more ornaments because you can’t get any more boring than red and gold poinsettias and balls. I still have P482 left to spend, I’m thinking of getting candy canes and berries.

Phoebe thinks that the Christmas tree is one big giant toy:

She also thinks that the gifts are her bed:

Now that we have our tree, it’s really beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our home.

Is your tree up already?

Sick as a dog

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Fever, colds and a sore throat, plus dysmenorrhea and period diarrhea.

This isn’t one of my best days. I missed meeting with my brother before he leaves for the US (and his Army Navy treat), a charity activity, and my company’s Christmas party, which I’ve been looking forward to for weeks.

On the bright side, I have a handsome nurse (my husband stayed home), I can drink all the Royal Tru-Orange I want, and my dad sent me load because I’m sick (maybe to update them of my condition, I don’t know). Oh, and I slept like a log for what seemed like days that I now feel good enough to use the computer, except that I still have a jacket on.

Tomorrow should be much better.

PS. I don’t understand the expression ‘sick as a dog.’ I have three dogs, and my boys don’t get sick ever.