NO TO ABS-CBN’S TWILIGTH TV VERSION

OMG. I just received the most ridiculous news so far. Did I hear it correctly? ABS-CBN will be making a TV version of Twilight? This is really giving me goose bumps and I thought that it is just a joke. But it is all over the news and I heard it on radio stations as well.

ABS-CBN CEO Eugenio Lopez III signed a contract last December 6, 2008 to get the rights for the TV version of Twilight and it costs them millions of dollars. They will start filming by February in Baguio, Tagaytay, Bukidnon and some parts will be tape outside the country.

Here is the unofficial cast:

Rayver Cruz as Edward Cullen
Shaina Magdayao as Isabella Swan
Valeen Montenegro as Alice Cullen
Gabby Concepcion as Dr. Carlisle Cullen
Luis Manzano as Emmett Cullen
Al Tantay as Charlie Swan
Yayo Aguila as Renee Dwyer
Fred Payawan as Jacob Black
Carlos Agassi as James
Chin Chin Gutierrez as Esme Cullen
Karylle as Rosalie Hale
Joross Gamboa as Jasper Hale
Jessy Mendiola as Jessica Stanley
Empress Schuck as Angela Weber
Brad Murdoch as Laurent
Nikki Bacolod as Victoria
Aaron Villaflor as Mike Newton

Can you imagine Rayvver Cruz playing the role of Edward? I don’t even know him but I have to Google it so I can see for myself who will play Edward for this outrageous project. Plus there is Luis Manzano who doesn’t even know how to act to play the role of Emmett and Carlos Agassi to play James. Aggh!! This is really outrageous and we should really put a protest to stop this project.

And you know how Telenovelas work here in the Philippines. They will extend and extend it even if it completely changes the plot as long as the viewers are continuously watching it. It will definitely ruin the novel. I don’t know why Stephanie Meyer even agreed to sell the rights to ABS-CBN. And whoever did the casting is completely out of his mind and might not even read the book as the actors that they selected doesn’t really fit to play the roles.

I’m really affected here. I am a big Twilight fan and I don’t want it ruined by some Telenovela that ABS-CBN will be producing. Can you blame me? After I saw this picture, I was completely outraged.

Photo Credit: http://perezhilton.com/

Christmas 2008

I am finally done with Christmas shopping (Well I better be because it’s Christmas day already).

Here is my gift list:

1. Elizabeth Arden perfume for my Tita Jie
2. Belle de Jour Planner for my cousin and my sister
3. Samsonite luggage for my mom and dad (which they will use for their trip to Davao this coming January)
4. Old Navy polo shirt for my brother and cousin
5. Mark and Spencer wines and cookies for my aunts and uncles
6. Old Navy polo shirts, jackets and Hell Boy 18'' action figure for hubby
7. Art Activity set for my cousin Aliah
8. Make up kit for kids for my cousin Jahnna
9. Hot Wheels for my cousin Jego and Jeb
10. Activity set for my cousin Jayson
11. Little Einstein dolls and lion robotic stuffed toys for my daughter

Everything is wrapped and they are all under our Christmas tree. I can't wait for our Christmas gift giving later.

Sunday Stealing: The Sreaming Masses' Meme

Sunday Stealing

1. What is a nickname a former (or present) lover gave you? Mom

2. How do you style your hair? If you just would say "cut" what style is it? I let my hair down since I had a hair rebonding. It is shoulder length now.

3. What's your least favorite Christmas song? I saw mommy kissing Santa.

4. How many colors are you wearing now? Six colors (I’m on my PJs now)

5. Are you an introvert or extrovert? Extrovert.

6. What was the last book you read? Eclipse

7. What's one piece of fiction that changed your life? Nothing in particular

8. If you are attracted to someone who is already in a relationship (or married), what might do you do? I will do whatever I can to control my feelings.

9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy recently? Yes, my nanny. She is really pissing me off, big time.

10. What's your favorite dessert? Anything that has chocolates.

11. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning? 30 minutes

12. Name one website that you visit daily. Why do you read it? www.yahoo.com. To check my mails.

13. What was your last job before either you are at home or at another job?? Network Engineer

14. Do you like to clean? No.

15. What was the last song to get stuck in your head? Joy to the world

16. What's the last movie you saw? Twilight

17. Pirates or Ninjas? Ninjas

18. What is your least favorite thing to do that you have to do everyday? Work.

19. Best time of your life? Every time I am with hubby and my daughter.

20. What are you most looking forward to in the coming year? More blessings and good health for my family.

New Year, new room.

I have packed my things a month ago since my boss asked me to pack early because I will be asked to vacate my room and move to my new room anytime soon. But for every project there are always things that are beyond our control which causes delays in the project.

But I am really glad that I was able to move in to my new room today. It is a much bigger room than my previous one but since the IT section doesn’t have much room (we lost our work room, our storage room, our graphics room and our training room), they have to put our work table in my room which really occupies a lot of space. I don’t even know where to put my wood cabinet where I place all my books and files. And it would have been nice if I was given a new computer desks but I guess I should be thankful since I end up getting a much better room than my other colleagues. One of my colleagues has to occupy an open area and my two of my colleagues were given much smaller rooms than their original rooms.

I will post a picture of my old room and my new room soon. I haven’t even unpacked my stuff yet so hopefully I will have time next week to do that.

I want an LCD TV

When I attended the baby shower of my good friend, I couldn't help but notice their sleek LCD TV. I really wanted to buy one since an LCD is the perfect style for our bedroom. We don't have that much space in our bedroom especially now that my daughter has her own bed. We used to have a TV in our room but we decided to move it to our second room since we are running out of space in our master's bedroom – we have our bed, my daughter’s bed, our computer, my table for my laptop, my daughter’s toys, etc, etc.

I learned that price of LCD TV is cheaper now compared to when it was first released and they even have promos where you can get tv stands and home entertainment system for free. It's really a good deal and it really makes me want to buy one. I'm sure my husband and my daughter would love to have an LCD TV mounted on our bedroom wall.

Week of 12.21.08:

randomness...feed your mind and your blog
Name 3 of each

Let’s take a break from all the holiday hustle and bustle to blog a bit.

Name 3 of each:
-Pet Peeves: Stupidity, Rudeness, Kiss Ass
-Close Friends: Dale, Peachy, Timmy
-Favorite Movies: For the love of the game, Reality Bites, Pretty Woman
-Foods You Love: Chocolates, Crepes, Sinigang
-Favorite Books: Twilight, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Shopaholic and Baby
-TV Shows You Like: Sex and the City, CSI, Dr. House
-Celebrities You Like: Rob Pattinson, Hugh Jackman, Brad Pitt
-Favorite Items of Clothing: Jeans, Shirt, Pajamas

Till next time...

None/Zero/Nadah

This is my busiest Christmas ever. During this time of the year, things are really quiet in the office. Most of my colleagues are on leave and so there is really not much we can do to keep us occupied. But because of the renovations, things are really crazy that there are even times that I don't have time to check my email or go to the bathroom or just even comb my hair. I didn’t even notice that it is already Christmas tomorrow. I thought that is it just an ordinary day. I didn’t even have the chance to go around the office to great all my colleagues before we go on vacation (bad me).

I would have wanted to go to the salon to have my much needed hair treatment but as it turns out, I didn't find the time to do it. I needed to go to the grocery also to buy things like my daughter's juice, milk and mineral water, a brown recluse spider trap, and grocery items for our Christmas dinner but I was not able to do that also.

But I am still thankful since I am home now and I was able to celebrate Christmas with my family.

Work, work, work

I have been working so hard for the past weeks. Things are really crazy at the office because of the renovation project. I’m working overtime on weekdays and even on weekends.

Last night I went home around 10 PM (which means I worked for more than 12 hours yesterday). Three sections, which compose of a minimum of eight employees per section, have to be relocated to either their temporary or permanent offices. This means we have to disconnect their PCs and set it up at their new work area. My two colleagues is on leave and my other colleague is busy doing something else so I single handedly move all of them. I wanted to finish as much as I can yesterday as I want to go home early on the eve of Christmas. I feel so beaten up after doing all of that yesterday.

It would really be nice if I have a sleep number bed that I can lie down to at the end of a very tiring day. But at least I was able to achieve my goal and I was able to go home early today and that is what is most important to me – to be at home with my family to celebrate Christmas with them.

Weekend Snapshot # 26 - Amici

I have been wanting to go to Amici restaurant since I am craving for their spinach pasta. Last Saturday, my husband has to get something at Quezon City and so I thought that it will be a good time to visit the Amici Restaurant along Tomas Morato in Quezon City.

We ordered the spinach pasta (which I ate right away that is why it is almost half empty when hubby took a picture of it), four cheese pizza and we had mozzarella sticks for appetizer.

I was so full after the meal and we were not able to finish all of it that is why we still have some left for breakfast the next day.

The Manor at Camp John Hay

I was born and raised in the Philippines, a tropical country where there is no snow. And so when my friends send me pictures of them wearing winter clothes, I can’t help but imagine myself enjoying the Gas Fires in our living room or walking the streets wearing those cute and funky winter jackets. Wouldn’t you want to wear any of these?


The closest place where I can go where it is really cold is Baguio, a place up north where temperature can be as low as 6.3 degrees specially during the cold moths which is from December to February.

We were in Baguio last August where we stayed at Camp John Hay Manor. It is one of the oldest and nicest hotels in Baguio and so when we learned that they are offering 50% discount on all their published room rates, we didn’t think twice and we booked a Superior room for three days and two nights.

Camp John Hay Manor is distinguished by its impressive architecture and cozy interiors. They have a very nice lobby and my daughter even had a picture there with the Hole in the Wall Fires as her background. The view from our rooms was also so relaxing and magnificent as we can see the beautiful rows of towering pine trees from our balcony. They don’t have Electric Fires installed per room but we still had a very comfortable night.

All in all, we had a wonderful stay at Camp John Hay Manor and we plan to avail of their promo again next year to enjoy and have fun at the summer capital of the Philippines, Baguio.

Moving to Arizona

Arizona. That is the new place where my friend will be moving. They have been living in Los Angeles for five years now but since her husband received a good offer from one of the best companies in Arizona, they decided that they leave Los Angeles to move to Arizona.

As for my friend, he is happy that things are turning out well for his husband. But she has a job in Los Angeles that she will have to leave since she will be moving to Arizona with her husband.

But she is doing her research now and she found the site of Find a Beauty School and she already know what she will do to get a job in Arizona. She already started looking for beauty schools in arizona. Since the site is very easy to navigate since the schools are sorted by state and zip code and the links for each school are provided on the site, she was able to find a good beauty schools where she can get training once they arrived in Arizona. And what’s even better is that the schools can even help her look for a job after her training.

So my friend is really happy as she knows that they really made the right choice when they decided to leave LA and move to Arizona.

Saturday 9: Holiday Cheer

1. Does the holiday season stress you out? If yes, how do you cope? Holiday season is my favorite time of the year since the mood is really festive so I don’t think I get stress out because of the holiday season. Or if ever I get stress out, I cope by doing more Christmas shopping.

2. Are you ever so busy in December that you have to force yourself to chill?

3. Do you sleep well at this time of year? No because I am always out attending parties, get together or doing some Christmas shopping.

4. Have you ever taken a sleigh ride? If yes, tell us about it. No I haven’t tried it. We don’t have that here in my part of the world.

5. Do you live close to the parts of your family you spend the holidays with? Yes. Our house is just a few steps away from my parents.

6. What will you have for Christmas dinner? I think pasta, chicken and pork barbeque.

7. Do you diet after the holidays? No. I can’t resist the delicious food that is served on the table.

8. What’s the best part of the season for you? The cold weather, the gift giving and everyone is just so filled with love.

9. How many generations of your family get together during the holidays? Four generations.

Christmas Gift Suggestions

It is just a few day away before Christmas. Are you finish with your Christmas shopping already? Well if you are not and you are already running out of ideas on what to give as presents this Christmas season, here are a few suggestions:

1. Unique candles – I saw this cute candles that is shape as your favorite dessert or pastries and they smell as they should (for example, a cinnamon candle has a strong scent that smells like a real cinnamon bread).

2. Bags – Bags are really a nice gift since it can be very useful to the receiver of the gifts.
3. jewelry – be it be a simple bangles or a very fashionable earrings. I love receiving these kinds of gifts and so I am sure that every woman will love to receive these as presents also.
4. Gadget Accessories– Giving gadgets would really be expensive but anyone can afford gadget accessories. You can buy accessories like earphones, portables speakers, or even a flash memory.

Wedding Budget Saving Tips

My husband covered a wedding last week. The couple is on a tight budget. They initially wanted to have a civil wedding but they thought that getting the blessing of God before they start their new life as a couple would make their wedding more meaningful. And so even though they have a limited budget they pushed through in having a church wedding.

This made me think on the ways that a couple can do to save on their wedding expenses. Here is the list that I was able to come up with:

1. Choose a reception venue that will allow you to bring your own caterer. This way, you will be able to choose a caterer that you can afford. You can scout around to get the most affordable but reliable supplier for your wedding.
2. Get suppliers that are near the church and reception venue so you don’t have to pay for out of town expenses.
3. Involve your friends and family. If you have a friend or a relative that does graphics lay out or does photography or is a musician, you can ask them to give their service to you as a gift. This is one less expense already on your wedding budget.
4. Try getting wholesale flowers instead of getting it from a local florist. There are suppliers who can deliver fresh and beautiful flowers on your wedding day which is cheaper compared to getting it from a local florist.
5. DIY. It would be more fun and meaningful to do some of the stuffs on your own instead of getting a supplier to do it for you
6. If you don’t plan to serve the cake, just get a cake that is part real and part dummy. At least you will have a cake for the cake cutting ceremony but you don’t have to pay for the price of a real cake.

Manny Pacquiao: Boxer of the year

My husband is an avid subscriber of Sports Illustrated magazine. He is so into sports that is why he loves Sports Illustrated since this is where he gets the latest news on his favorite sports.

And so when he heard from the news that Sports Illustrated named Manny Pacquiao as Sports Illustrated boxer of the year, he is the most happiest. First, he is a true fan of Pacquiao and second he is so proud that his favorite magazine, Sports Illustrated, recognized Filipino talents such as Pacquiao.

I quote SI.com writer Chris Mannix "In boxing, greatness is measured in moments. And in 2008, Manny Pacquiao had a whole lot of them.”

Sports Illustrated recognizes Manny Pacquiao as the best pound for pound boxer. He is also the first boxer in 70 years to win three bouts in three different weight categories in one year.

To Manny Pacquiao, you really make the Filipinos proud!! Congratulations.

Worried

We received an email from our big boss in Canada requiring us to start logging all our activities. He said that as a result of the global crisis, the department is trying to cut expenses and who knows, they might consider cutting positions of systems administrators too abroad due to lack of budget. So he wants us to input everything that we do with the time slips so management can use this as a gauge on how busy we are at the missions.

My boss here talked to us upon reading the email and he told us that really nobody is really immune and anytime the department wants to cut position, they can easily do that.

This really made me worried. I love my job now and our salary is competitive compared to salaries of other IT professionals in the industry and I don’t know if I can ever find a better employer than my employer now.

This really got me into thinking on what will I do if ever I loose my job.

1. I will surely get a separation pay if I loose my job so I can use it to expand our cell phone business. We have a cell phone shop and we buy and sell second hand and brand new mobile phones. We even sell mobile phone accessories and we do services like mobile phone repair or unlocked cell phones.
2. Continue with my online sideline. Although I don’t think I will make much money here.
3. Look for a job abroad

Oh well. I promise myself that I shouldn’t stress much about it. Like what my boss said, nothing is really definite and anything can change overnight. Hopefully I will be able to keep my job and we will all survive the economic crunch that we are experiencing now brought about by the global financial crisis.

Brains, Mayo and fricken cold

Posting my entry for this week’s Thursday Thunks before I sign off from my blogger account and continue with my research about conversion rate optimization:

1. If you had to have a brain transplant and had to choose between a cat brain and a dog brain, which would you choose? Dog brain because I think dogs are smarter than cats.
2. Why do you think bananas are shaped the way they are? Hmm, so the monkeys won’t have a hard time holding them.
3. Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip? Mayonnaise.
4. Do you use keyboard shortcuts? No. I rely heavily on my mouse.
5. Are you a member at InsanityCafe Forums & Arcade? If not, you should be. No. I will do check it out though.
6. Where I live it was a low of -19 degrees this morning - what was your low last night/this morning? I think around 18 degrees.
7. Do you like hard boiled eggs? Yes.
8. Have you ever drunk green beer? No.
9. Whats your favorite cleaner? I have no idea. I don’t do the cleaning of our house.
10.White or whole wheat bread? Whole wheat bread.
11. Everyone has some type of phobia - whats yours? Heights, close space.
12. Aren't you glad there weren't any Christmas related meme questions? Not really. I am in the Christmas mood already so I won’t mind answering Christmas related questions.

Saturday 9 - ‘Tis the Season

Snagged this from Peachy.

1. Do you enjoy receiving or giving presents more? – I love them both. I love shopping for presents and of course I love receiving gifts too (who wouldn’t want to?)
2. What is you favorite holiday film? - Home Alone. It is really one funny movie.
3. Have you started or finished your gift shopping? – I already started but I still have a few left on my list.
4. What does this time of year mean to you? - Sharing and Thanksgiving.
5. What is your favorite holiday song? – All holiday song. I love hearing them as it really gives a festive mood to the holiday season.
6. What do you love about the holiday season? – Everything is so festive
7. What do you hate about the holiday season? - traffic and crowded malls.
8. Do religious ceremonies play a part in your holiday traditions? If yes, how? – Yes. The whole family always hears mass on the eve of Christmas.
9. Who will you spend the holidays with? My family and hubby’s family.

Still awake @ 1:30 AM

It is already 1:30 AM and I am still online. I haven’t been online lately as I always go straight to bed from work. Lately I have been very busy in the office that I feel so tired already when I am home. But I have a lot of tasks to finish and it doesn’t help that my laptop is really very slow so I have no choice but to stay awake until the wee hours of the morning to finish all that I have to do.

Here is my list:

1. Download our pictures from last week’s event from our memory stick
2. Resize the pictures and upload it to web shots
3. Finalize my budget sheet for this month
4. Start doing my statistical report

Just thinking about it makes me feel tired already and I still have another long day waiting for me tomorrow. I don’t know up to what time I can keep my eyes open and I don’t think that I can finish all the things on my list within the next hour so wish me luck.

For my In-Laws

I am almost done with my Christmas shopping. The only one left on my list are my in-laws. Honestly every year, they always end up to be the last one on my list since I really find it hard to get a gift for them. They are really simple individual so I can’t get them those gifts like cosmetics, clothes or even spa certificate.

But it just occurred to me as I was looking at the site of the popular online eyeglasses shop and it gave me an idea when I saw their collection of eyeglasses. Since my in-laws both wear eyeglasses, I think getting one of those Holiday Glass Frames from Zenni Optical would be a nice gift for them. Something like this one:


They have a wide range of selection to choose from plus they even offer $ 8 Complete Rx Eyeglasses so I can easily buy stylish but affordable eyeglasses for my in-laws. I think this is my solution to the dilemma that I am having for my Christmas gifts for my in-laws.

Katrice Wear

We went to Rockwell Urban Bazaar a couple of weeks ago just to visit the booth of Katrice Wear. I saw their multiply site from blogs of mommies like me who have a daughter and since then I wanted to get a pair of dress or blouse for me and my daughter. Their line of clothes is so cute and what made it more cute is that they make matching clothes for both the mommies and their little girl.

I was able to buy this for me and my daughter when we visited the bazaar:


I would have wanted to buy one of the sexy dresses but it doesn’t look good on my daughter when I asked her to try it.


Their style for the dresses is so feminine and since my daughter is the rugged type, I didn’t like how the sexy dress looks on her. LOL.I would have wanted to try more dresses but my daughter was cranky already. Hopefully I can catch them again on their next bazaar.

Tiring Thursday

I met with hubby and he dropped me off at Robinsons Place since I need to do some last minute shopping. Friday will be my daughter’s Christmas party at school and I still have to buy a gift for my daughter’s exchange gift and a gift for their class nanny.

I know I still have four hours before closing time but I was in a deep hurry as I want to go home early too as my mom have to do some errands and so my daughter was left alone with her nanny.

I went to BPI first as I need to do some transaction for my credit card. Then I went to National Bookstore and have my gifts for my daughter’s teachers wrapped at their gift wrapping section (I wanted the gifts to look good and since I have no talent and patience for gift wrapping, I have to get professional help for this. LOL). The I went to Toys R’ Us to buy gifts for my daughter’s Kris Kringle. Then I remember I have to buy gifts too for two of my cousins. After Toys R’ Us, I have to run again to look for a gift for my daughter’s nanny at school. Then I checked out the stores too to buy gifts for my best friend who is now in the US. I was also looking at funny t shirts at Spoofs Ltd. for my best friend’s hubby but hubby suggested that we check out Greenhills first since my friend’s hubby requested for a jacket with a Philippine flag and I remember we saw one in Greenhills.

My boss will be on leave too next week so I have to buy a gift for him too and for two of my colleagues. I planned to give them Starbucks mug but all the mugs are sold out at Robinsons Place and so we have to drop by at Starbucks along Roxas Boulevard to buy the mug.

When we got home, I was really tired that I just ate dinner and head straight to bed.

TY for OT

Last Tuesday, I had a very long day at work. I worked over time from 4:30 PM to 10 PM.

We rarely work overtime. This is one of the things that I love about my job as it is really family friendly. We get off from work by 4:30 PM on Mondays to Thursdays and 1:30 every Friday and we rarely stayed for extra hours to work over time.

But what I like about this overtime is that I just need to sit down and baby sit. Yes, baby sitting is my only job last Tuesday. I don’t have to check any lcd monitor, or install a patch on the server, or monitor our network. All I need to do is just sit down and watch closely the workers that are doing the renovation job in the office for security purposes.

Renovations work is being done at work now and contractors need to go inside the office from 4:30 PM to 6 AM everyday to do the renovations. Our job is to monitor them and make sure that they only do what they are suppose to do – which is not to loiter around and finish their job. They ask for volunteers from our section who will do the baby sitting and of course, I accepted the offer. Imagine, I am being paid to work overtime and all I have to do is sit down and make sure that they will not leave their work area. I was even able to watch a movie on my Ipod while I was doing my overtime work.

I will have another overtime on the 16th and the 23rd and it is really the perfect timing as I need additional sources of funds for our next family vacation.

Rob Pattinson – the next IT guy?

Is Rob Pattinson the next IT Guy? His face is all over the TV shows and magazines. Just look at him at the cover of Entertainment and Blast magazine.


Isn’t he so cute and hot? But did you know that he got off to a rocky start? Rob Pattinson, the 22 year old British actor was only known for his small part in the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. So fans revolted immediately upon learning that he will play the role of Edward Cullen in the movie Twilight. They feel that Rob Pattinson can’t live up to their idea of the inhumanly attractive Edward Cullen as described by Stephanie Meyer in her book. Rob’s mother really got hurt upon reading online how fans described Rob - wretched and ugly and had the face of a gargoyle - that even Stephanie had to apologize to Rob and her mom as she feels that she ruined Rob’s life.

But look what happened after just a year. He is so popular that just a simple smile from him can send hundreds of teenagers screaming. And mind you, teenagers are not the only ones who are going ga-ga over Rob. I and my friends are living proof of that – yes we are happily married moms who still go crazy over Rob Pattinson. LOL.

The World of Ferrari

Look at my husband’s Ferrari collection:


Shell had a promo a few months ago wherein if you consume worth P500 of gas, you can buy these Ferrari replicas for only P50. He got so hooked with these Ferrari replicas since he said it is so cheap and high quality since it is die cast and not just made of plastic so he feels that it is a good deal. So he end up collecting three sets of these Ferrari replicas.

His fascination for Ferrari started when my friend took him to a Ferrari store when he went to the US last year and he saw a real Ferrari on display. Since then he has been collecting Ferrari items from key chains, to caps and the latest addition to his collection are the Ferrari key chains which he also got as promo from Shell.

At least he is not into real Ferrari cars as I am sure just buying Ferrari parts alone can cost a real fortune and there is no way we can afford that.

Partiesssss

December 10 – Christmas party for all staff
December 13 – Christmas party at my daughter’s school
December 18 – Section Christmas party
December 25 – Our family’s reunion
December 25 PM– Celebration with hubby’s family

Never ending parties which sums up to pigging out during the holiday season. Of course good food will always be present if there are special events like this. I guess that is a trademark of a Filipino celebration - that there should be enough supply of good food on the table to celebrate. And even if the host for most of our parties are expats, they already learned the Filipino culture as they know what will be very tempting and delicious for our taste. This includes sinful desserts and delicious but fatty foods.

I won’t be surprised if I will need Orovo diet pill by the end of the holiday season so I can go back to my pre-holiday figure.

My day & RL Sale

It was a busy day at the office. Renovation work already started and we are so busy at the first day of the week. We got surprised since they disconnected PCs without informing us and so a number of employees don’t have PC to use because we were not informed that we need to set up a temporary office for them. Hope as we progress with the renovation work, they will soon adjust and learn the ropes so it will be more organize as it looks that they are just doing patch up work this time.

Then I was home alone early in the evening. Hubby has a meeting so I did not wait for him and I just went home alone. My daughter went with my mom to the province since the sister of my grand mother died. But at least I was able to spend a couple of hours alone for my “ME” time. And I was able to do my favorite thing on earth which is shopping.

And did you know that today is the last day to get additional 30% at Ralph Lauren. Just enter the promo code HOL2008 to get the discount. They also give free shipping and all items come with a complimentary gift box. I was planning to buy this as my gift to the daughter of my best friend but then I learn that they don’t accept International Credit cards.

They accept paypal though but my account is zero balance since I just made a withdrawal this morning. And besides I am not sure if they will accept my Paypal payment since the address is also not US.

Then after dinner I had a home service for a pedicure. I will be attending our company’s Christmas party on Wednesday and I will be working late tomorrow so I decided to have my nails done today.

And now it is already past 12 midnight. I just need to finish some tasks and I will hit the sack soon.

Weekly Round Up #24

Before I look for North Carolina health insurance, let me post first my Weekly Roundup for the week of December 1 – 7. Join us here.

Monday was a holiday but hubby is working overtime. So my daughter and I just stayed at home the whole day.

Tuesday, I was feeling lazy to go to work specially after having a three day long weekend.

Old navy is having a sale but their site was down until 2 AM of Dec 2 so checking out their site is the first thing that I did Tuesday morning and was able to do some shopping for me and hubby. Nothing for my daughter this time as she has enough clothes and toys already.

I stayed up until 4 AM on Thursday and Friday as I got inspired to sort out our pictures from our last vacation.

Friday, we went straight home from my daughter’s school as hubby is attending their section’s Christmas party.

Shopping for me

I went clothes shopping during the weekend with my best friend. It took me more than an hour to finish shopping and do you know why? Yes, I saw a lot of nice clothes in different styles but as soon as I try it on, it is really not flattering as it shows all the bulges in all the parts of my body. LOL. It made me really feel that I need diet pill before I can wear those clothes.

But good thing I was able to find something that is just right for my taste – it doesn’t emphasize the unwanted parts of my body but I still feel sexy wearing it. LOL.

I’m glad after hours of shopping, I was able to find an outfit that I am happy with and I better be because our party is this Wednesday. So I am really excited to party in style with my new wardrobe.

your daily dose of edward

50 characteristics that Edward has that we wish our men will have:

1. be inhumanly attractive
2. drive 200 km/h
3. save you from death
4. have an amazing body
5. be incredibly wealthy
6. be too much of a gentleman
7. have an elegant way of walking
8. be inhumanly strong
9. crooked smile
10. have an extended and sophisticaded vocabulary
11. be really smart
12. good taste in music
13. smell extraordinarily nice
14. suddenly appear out of nowhere and kiss you
passionately
15.to tell you that you ARE beautiful, not that you look beautiful
16. to be able to enter to your room without anyone
noticing
17. be willing to sacrifice his life to save yours
18. have eyes only for you even if he is sorrounded by
hot girls
19. be able to read minds except yours.
20. quote romeo (william shakespeare)
21. stand in front of you in a protective way when you
are in danger
22. give you his jacket when you are cold
23. to stay young, gorgeous, and sexy forever
24. have morals
25. love you for what you are inside, not for how you look
26. be charming
27. be jealous of your guy friends (jacob, mike, etc...)
28. sparkle in the sunlight
29. write you a song
30. wait for the ideal girl to come along
31. be a virgin!
32. whisper nice things to your ear
33. be able to make you beautiful and immortal
34. tell you that the outside world holds no interest for
him without you
35. be comprehensive
36. have a nice family
37. play the piano
38. kiss you in the middle of a fight
39.always pay everything
40. hug you behind your back
41. have been pretty much single since 1901
42. hold your face while he kisses you
43. do not sleep at night, stay by your side taking care of you
44. speak no lies
45. have a good taste in clothes
46. have beautiful and expresive eyes
47. own amazing cars
48. be able to carry you with no effort
49. tell you that you are the closest to heaven that he
will ever get
50. be willing to spend eternity by your side

For our next destination

Last time we went out on a vacation, hubby insisted that we just bring backpacks instead of luggage. It was a true challenge for me. You see, every time we travel I always bring along extra stuffs – extra shoes, extra clothes, extra bottle liners for my daughters, and others. This gives me a peace of mind that we have everything that I needed.

But when we last left for a four-day vacation, I was not able to do anything and obey hubby’s request. But when we reached our vacation destination, I end up buying a few set of clothes, shoes and even jackets for all of us.

We will be leaving again this coming January for an out of town three days vacation and I am making sure that I will be bringing everything that we need plus a few extras. So as early as now, I am already preparing our Zero Halliburton luggage for the stuff that we will bring for our vacation. Call me excited but I just want to make sure that we are covered this time.

Company Benefits

I used to work for one of the biggest Telecommunications Company in the country. It is my first job and I love all the aspect of the job except that I am only working as a contractual employee. This means I am not entitled to any benefits like health insurance, car allowance, bonuses, 13th month pay and the like. So even though I love the job and I love all the friends that I was able to make there, I decided to look for another job that will give me a better pay and the security of tenure.

But did you know that they are one of the best companies here. They offer their permanent employees bonuses and profit sharing that is why their permanent employees get additional pay aside from their basic salary.

Another benefit that I like which I don’t get from my current employer now is Car Allowance. They have been using the service of a management consulting firm who manages all the reimbursement of their employees for all their car expenses while using their personal car for business. This is a win-win scenario for both the employee and the employer.

Since the management consulting firm uses a driver reimbursement schedule for all the participating drivers, this gives the drivers confidence that all the expenses that they incurred for using their personal car for business is all accounted for and will be part of their monthly reimbursement. As for the employer, this will save them big bucks instead of providing a company car for each of their mobile employees.

How I wish I am getting that kind of benefit from my current employer. But I am not complaining though. I am happy with the benefits and the salary that I am getting with my current employer. But I will never complain too if that kind of benefits will be added to my list.

Beauty Wrap for your Gadgets

I asked my sister if she wants a Belle De Jour planner as my Christmas gift for her. She checked out the BDJ site and got all excited when she found out that one of the coupons that comes with the planner is a discount coupon for G-mask. So without thinking, she immediately said yes to my offer.

So I was like, “What is G-mask?” Well if you like to give your gadgets (mobile phones, Ipod, PSPs, laptops) a new fashionable look, then G-masked it.

G-mask is like beautifying your gadgets and at the same time protecting it too since G-mask can make your gadgets scratch proof. G-mask uses a special protective film made in Japan that is hand wrapped to the entire surface of your gadgets for protection. What is nice about this wrap is that it comes in many fashionable styles and designs, giving you gadget a funky look after the wrap. The film can protect your gadgets from 5 - 7 years and if in case you get tired of your G-mask, you can easily peel it and will not leave any marks on your gadgets.

Check out these gadgets that have been G-masked. They look really cool.

Saturday Special

Happy Anniversary to the Saturday Special! Here is my post for this week.

~One Word To Start A Sentence Or Statement~
~Fill In The Blanks~

1. Going to sleep?

2. Working from home?

3. Feeling sleepy?

4. Having a bad day?

Who wants financial freedom?

Don’t we all want to get out of debt? Debt is a fact of life. Most of us have debts since we have too many needs and we don’t have enough money in our hands to get what we want. I don’t see anything wrong with having debts but if we have debts, we should also be responsible in paying for all our debts. Otherwise, it will all sum up and in the end we will just incur thousands and thousand of debts.

I for one rely on my credit cards for most of our monthly expenses. I don’t bring cash every time we go out so most of my purchases I charge to my card. But I can say that I am a responsible individual since I always make sure that I pay all my balances every month.

But what if things get out of hand and your debts pile up from one debt to the next. Will you still have a chance to get financial freedom? Of course that is still possible. First thing you need to do is acknowledge your debt. Sit down and compute how much you really owe. By doing this, you will have an idea on how much you owe and how much you can afford to pay regularly on a monthly basis. Then stop increasing your debt and make a new budget base on how much you can really afford. And getting a professional who can help you make a financial plan that will help you get financial freedom can help to. Since they have the experience and the knowledge, they can guide you on how to get out of debt.

It will really be a big challenge but getting financial freedom is still possible. All you need is discipline and help, and in no time, you will be free from all your personal debt.

Twilight Addict

I know I should be looking for term life insurance but instead I have been searching the Internet for these:

.: Edward Cullen Doll :..: Edward Cullen Life-Size Standup Poster :.

Yes, I am that addicted to Twilight (ok let’s say I am particularly addicted to Edward Cullen). Kelly sent us a picture of an Edward Cullen doll that she found online and so I started to look for Twilight items online too and I was surprised to see a life-size standup poster of Edward. I would have wanted to buy it but it is not cheap and besides I don’t know where to put it. My husband might get mad and think I am crazy if I will display a life-size poster of Edward in our room. LOL. I can just settle for Edward Cullen wallpaper on my laptop.

So I just searched the Internet for other Twilight items like this Hard Cover Box Set:

I have been thinking for weeks now if I should buy it or not since I already have the paperback collection and just when I am decided to buy it, it is already out of stock. At least it saves me from shopping again.

And I received my Twilight official sound track CD too two weeks ago and I love the tracks specially the performance of Rob Pattinson. So who’s addicted to Twilight now? LOL.

#101

1. Snow is starting to fall.

2. I'm looking forward to more shopping tomorrow.

3. Christmas is the best holiday ever!

4. One of my favorite old tv shows is Mc Gayver.

5. I'm done with Book 1-3 of the Twilight Saga.

6. The most enjoyable thing around the holidays is spending time with my family.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a good night sleep, tomorrow my plans include going to the mall and continue with my Christmas shopping and Sunday, I want to just stay at home and watch the Pacquio – Dela Hoya Dream Match!

No Diet for now

Bar of chocolate
Bag of chips
Rice every meal
Leche Flan

This is what I have been eating lately. We have stocks of chocolates and chips that we bought from our last trip to the grocery that I always satisfy my hunger with these junk food. And then with the coming Christmas season, I am sure our dining table will be filled with great food and sumptuous desserts that I am sure will be difficult to resist.

As early as now my aunt has been planning our menu this coming holiday season and I am sure if I see the menu that she planned prepared on our table, I will never think twice and I will dig in right away. Anyways, Christmas is a time for celebration and I guess I have to stop thinking of weight gain for now. Besides, I can always rely on Orovo for my diet before I dare to face the reality and find the courage to step on a weighing scale.

For Her

I still don’t know what to give my mother in law for Christmas. My friend is going to Jakarta next week and she is offering to buy me batik clothes that I can give to my mother in law. But the problem is, I want to be able to select myself our gift for my mother in law.

My second option, I can buy fashion jewelry sets sets from my favorite online shopping site. I learned of Holsted Jewelers from a friend who buys her jewelry also from them. Their collections are really nice and they are affordable and yet they are of high quality. And since they do their designs exclusively, I am sure that whatever jewelry set that I will purchase will be something that is unique and something that my mother in-law will not just find in any retail store.

I am looking at their classic collections and I showed it to my husband. He too got thrilled as he knows the taste of his mom when it comes to jewelry and he said that my choices are perfect for his mom. But in any case, I know that any jewelry from Holsted Jewelers will never cease to put a smile on anyone’s face.

Weekend Snapshot # 25 - Pizza and Pasta

Since my sister’s sideline is doing quite well, she treated us for a sumptuous dinner at Kulinarya in Rockwell. This is our first time here and all we can say is that the food was delicious.

We had Carbonara, Chicken and Chips and the White Cheese Pizza which was really delicious that we even ordered one for take out. The price is okay too as it is not that expensive plus the serving is big that one whole pizza is already goof for 2-3 persons.

Health Issues

High blood pressure
High sugar level
High cholesterol level

These are the results when my aunt had an overall check up couple of weeks ago. Her doctor is asking her to start with healthy cooking and to monitor what she eats so as to avoid complications.

High blood pressure really runs in our family and almost all my family members, from my mom to all her siblings have high sugar and cholesterol level and high blood pressure. And these conditions are something that should be taken seriously as it may lead to heart attack.

We have been monitoring what my aunt and my mom is eating as they can sometimes be stubborn and they disobey their doctors. We keep on telling them that their health should always be their top most priority and they should not take for granted all that their doctor is advising them.

So far, ever since my aunt started to live healthy –doing exercise and having a balanced and healthy diet, she hasn’t experienced having high blood pressure again. Hopefully, things will continue to be this way as we love our aunt so dearly and we don’t want anything serious to happen to her.

Dinosaurs Alive World Tour in Manila

The Dinos are coming. Yes, the Dinosaurs Alive World Tour started to open its doors and is located at Block 5 of SM Mall of Asia.

Photo Credit: Ticketworld

The Dinosaurs Alive is a new theme park which opened last November 28, 2008 and will be here in Manila until January 11. The theme park is open from 10am-10pm on weekends and 12pm-10pm on weekdays. They feature 31 life size robotic dinosaurs including a T-rex that is 30 feet tall so visitors should expect one great adventure as they will be able to interact with these life size robots.

Aside from the 31 robotic dinosaurs, there are other activities that the whole family can enjoy like the Dino Train, the fossil dig and a dino inflatable.

Ticket prices on non-peak days are P550 for adults, P400 for children (under 1 meter) and the family package (4+1 Free) is P1600. On peak days, ticket prices are P600 for adults, P450 for children (under 1 meter) and the family package (4+1 Free) is P1750.

Still on Xmas Shopping

I made a post here before about the Bell de Jour Power Planner. I was planning to buy a number as my gift for my cousin and sister and my colleague.

I was at the mall with my cousin last Saturday and we were able to check out the Urban Bazaar at Rockwell. I was so happy when I saw that there is a booth in the bazaar that sells the planner. The planner was really beautiful. I like it when I saw it at their site but it is even prettier when you actually see it. The price that you will pay for the planner is so worth it since there are tons of GCs included with the planner. My sister is already planning to use the All Flip Flops GC and the Gmask GC since she wants to spice up her Ipod and Mac Book.

So I bought five planners from them - two are for my daughter’s teachers, one is for my colleague, one is for my cousin and one is for my sister. At least I was able to save on the shipping cost instead of ordering it online. And I was able to get a discount since my cousin bought one too (as her gift for me). LOL.

So the only one left on my shopping list is the office staff at my daughter’s school and my aunts and uncles. I am planning to give them personalized gifts as I saw this site where I can personalize everything and I am sure it will be a perfect gift for them.

Today is a holiday

I am so happy that we are on holiday today too. Since I work for a foreign mission, we have our own set of holidays and we don’t usually observe Philippine holidays. We only observe, I think, 12 holidays per year but since there are only 11 Canadian holidays that fall on a weekday, management decided to include November 30 as part of our holidays.

So here I am at home with my daughter, just chilling and having a relaxing time with her. Too bad hubby has to work today but he promise to go home early as soon as he is finish with his shift.

I was watching Nickelodeon with my daughter and they showed the Halloween activity that Nickelodeon hosted last Halloween. My daughter got really excited upon seeing it and she kept on telling me that she likes to wear her lion costume so we can attend the Halloween party. Too bad we were not able to participate in any of the Trick or Treat parties at the malls. My daughter would have enjoyed it for sure.

Hopefully we will be able to attend next year. I am that excited already that I already have a costume in mind for my daughter. I saw this cute equestrian riding apparel and I am thinking that this will be a nice costume for her. She loves to ride horse and she loves animals so I bet she will love this costume too.