On A Wonderful Day Like Today

It's going to be a Dora party for my dear Zoe. I made a quick decision last weekend to hitch with Hunny who had a meeting at work and go to Divi via LRT2. I realized that other than the Dora invitations which I got from National Bookstore weeks ago, I had nothing prepared for Zoe's 2nd birthday. And so I bravely went to Divi alone and actually enjoyed every minute of it! Haha. Here are some of my finds. A Dora doll (P 60) and Dora backpack (P220) Dora Party Plates (P100 for 3 packs) and Dora Party Hats (P20 per pack) Dora (says Dolla in the bag LOL) (P35 per pack) with Dora stationery set for the loot bag (P156 for 13 packs) I also got a Dora Happy Birthday Poster (P25), a pack of balloons (P 45), Winnie the Pooh stationery set (for the boys), a pink and white leather belt for Zoe (P75), a matching lavender skirt and blouse from an overrun store (P175 - super discounted!), 3 packs containing a dozen clips per pack (P10 each), a Happy Birthday Banner (P 120) - can be used ov...

Zoe suddenly felt sick Wednesday night. When I got home from the office, she had high fever and vomitted a couple of times before falling asleep. I was so distraught. We didn't know the cause for her sudden fever. We barely slept the whole night because we were checking her temperature every hour. And to make things worse, going on leave the next day was next to impossible. I had so many pending stuff and deadlines at work and had to work on all of it so I will be able to attend an important scheduled seminar (worth 15k) at Makati Shangri-La Hotel on Friday. Good thing my husband and I have a shared responsibility take on parenting. And so as the good father he always has been, he took the afternoon off from work and brought Zoe to the pedia for a check-up. The doc ordered some lab tests on her blood and urine since she was negative for the common causes like sore throat and tonsilitis. It was Zoe's first time to have her blood taken so, as expected, she gave the med tech a ver...

We let Zoe try a carousel for the very first time during our last trip to MOA. I thought that she would enjoy it since I really liked riding on carousels when I was young. I was wrong... Zoe with Daddy, preparing for the thingy to start. Picture-taking first... When we tried to make her sit on one of the horses, she CRIED! So Daddy just had to carry her for the rest of the ride. She was so scared that she didn't even want to look at Mommy who was trying to take pictures. Lesson learned. Zoe doesn't like carousels (well, not yet).

My sweetheart and I decided to unwind a bit and go on a date Friday night at Powerplant Mall. We ate at Burgoo again since the last time we had a dinner at Burgoo T. Morato, we didn't get to enjoy the food that much because we came to the party late. So this time, it's just me and my hunny. We had Fish and Chips. Yummy! I think this is their Seafood Pasta. Will definitely order this one again! Can't miss a great dinner without PIZZA! After dinner, we just walked and window-shopped. We saw some artistas as usual: John Estrada (with kids), Ronnie Ricketts, etc. etc. :-). All in all, it was a great date!

Thanks to Pat and Pheng for sending me this tag! {START} I want all mommies to share their kid’s favorite snacks.When you are done with the tag link me up here so I can add your blog(s) to the master list. 1. I Am Mommy 2. All About The Memories 3. Enchanted Play 4. Just My Scrap 5. My Happy Place 6. Iam Dzoi 7. 8. Suburban Sass 9. To the Moon and Back 10. Raising Sandy 11. Mommy Talks 12. Aggie Shoots. Aggie Scraps 13. All Kinds of Me Stuff 14. The Salad Caper 15. Winding Creek Circle 16. InkBabyStudios 17. Changing Lanes 18. Pit Stop 19. Belly, Baby and Beyond 18. Celebrating LIfe 20. My Life is Peachy 21. My Precious Niche 22. Just Me.. Eds 23. Eds Mommy Life 24. All Things Me 25. Feels Like Home 26. Because Life Is Fun 27. Shopaholic Ties The Knot 28. My Only Djuan 29. On A Wonderful Day Like Today 30. House Everything 31. YOUR BLOG For the past days, here are Zoe's favorite snacks: 1. Hansel biscuits in chocolate 2. Pringles LOL 3. Banana 4. Bread Stix...

Don't you just love Disney songs and movies? I've been a fan since I was a kid. There was even a time when I would spend my whole afternoon just singing with my music CD of Disney songs and enjoyed every bit of it. Just for fun, my listing here my top 15 top Disney Songs. See if my favorite songs are your favorite songs too! 1. A Whole New World (Alladin) 2. Beauty and the Best (Beauty and the Beast) 3. Circle of Life (The Lion King) 4. Part of Your World (The Little Mermaid) 5. Colors of the Wind (Pocahontas) 6. Go the Distance (Hercules) 7. Something There (Beauty and the Beast) 8. Hakuna Matata (The Lion King) 9. You'll Be in My Heart (Tarzan) 10. Can You Feel the Love Tonight (The Lion King) 11. Be Our Guest (Beauty and the Beast) 12. When You Wish Upon a Star (Pinocchio) 13. Reflection (Mulan) 14. Someday My Prince Will Come (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) 15. Kiss the Girl (The Little Mermaid) And oh, by the way, you may be interested in the new Screenlife Game Disn...

My barkada from the neighborhood and I decided to pool our stuff and have a rummage sale at our garage. The plan was just to hold it for two days but since we gathered a lot of goods and many people were buying, we even extended for another day up to Monday. Here are some pics. Our bantay - Yaya Cat and Zoe hehehe Shoes were sold for 3 pairs for a hundred only! DVDs and mags for 10 bucks each! Bags for 50 and 10: The people who went to our sale were so diversed. The first people to buy were some squatter folks who attended a prayer meeting every Saturday morning at my neighbor's house. All of them literally 'attended' our ukay too. Maids and drivers from the neighborhood also flocked to our house not to mention our weekly labandera and my regular manicurista. There were also some construction workers who had a project along our street and bought DVDs and men's polos. There was also a funny bakla who looked at our goods and got many of our high-heeled sandals and kikay b...

Here are some updates on Zoe for this week: 1. Her favorite words to utter these days are: CAR, 'PATOS (for sapatos), TEXT, WOW and lastly, OPPS (which is also mommy's fave word!). Hehe. 2. When we play her Disney cd or her lullaby music, she cries! I really don't why. 3. She loves to put on Mommy's high heeled shoes. (More ukay-ukay pics soon!) 4. She has a new cellphone! We bought a dummy Nokia phone which looks exactly my phone. Guess which one's fake and which one's original! 5. She acts as if saying, "Mom & Dad, I want a baby brother/sister!" Happy Weekend everyone!

I read from Shopcrazy that there will be another Manila International Book Fair at SMX from September 12-16, 2008. The theme is "Words Without Borders". Hahaha! Can't wait. I think i'll prod my diet buddy Shirley to set our monthly meet up at SM MOA again and then make a side trip to the Book Fair! I miss reading so much! I've been so busy with work that haven't gotten the time to open my new books and enjoy myself by reading. I was such a book addict back when I was single. But now with work up to the neck and a baby (read: toddler) to take care of, it's almost impossible to find time to read. So I really hope that I get to buy some new and exciting books soon (real books and not just mags or newspapers). God give me time! For more info, here's the official website: http://www.manilabookfair.com/

My ODP batchmates and I had a small reunion at Burgoo in T. Morato two weeks ago. It was a fun party! I always enjoy their company even if most of these guys are assigned in the branches while I'm based in Head Office. But it doesn't matter if they talk most of the time about their clients, their staff and bank operations (which I am not exposed to). I still always enjoy the laughs and the stories, especially with Tif and Howard around, nakakaloka talaga! BOOs and BMs: With Mareng Tifanny and Melanie who is resigning: I sneaked in a order of Cookies and Cream shake (hehehe): Hope to see you guys again soon!

Thanks for all of you who said a little pray'r for my MIL. She's doing better now and already went home from the hospital yesterday. But although she's already out of the hospital, our family still continues to pray for her good health. :-) Please also continue to ask for that special intention of our whole family. God bless you all!

(Pls. don’t remove) Credits: Elements/Paper by Dani Mogstad/ Layout by JennyL Rules: 1. Don’t remove the credits when you post the image 2. Please link back to the person who tagged you and pass this tag to many of your friends 3. If you have more than one blog, please post this to all of your blogs so your other blogs can be listed to the master list too. 4. Remember to come back here at A SLICE OF LIFE (pls. don’t change this link)and leave the exact post url so I can add you to the master list to help increase our rankings and improve our Technorati Authority. 5. Spread the BLOG LOVE FEVER!! 1. Jenny Said S o 2.) Simply Jen 3.) This and That 4.) Bargain.Sales.Deals. 5. A Slice of Life 6.) Aussie Talks 7. When Mom Talks 8. Mommy Talks 9 Aggie Shoots. Aggie Scraps 10 All Kinds of Me Stuff 11 The Salad Caper 12. Winding Creek Circle 13. InkBabyStudios 14. Me and Mine 15. Creative in Me 16. For the LOVE of Food 17. Little Peanut 18. Pea in a Pod 19. It’s Where the HEAR...

In this week's Coffee Break, Jan wants to know: "Back in high school, what were your usual worries and fears?" High school for me was very exciting. What were my worries and fears then? Well, I worried about a lot of things! I had many friends and was very active in school. During my fourth year, I was the Class Secretary and Glee Club President. I was also a CAT Executive Officer (EO) and Platoon Leader of the Alpha Platoon (a.k.a. Model Platoon). I got fairly good grades and was always part of the Top Ten in class. I was willing to give up TV, parties and even boys just to be able to study for exams or just to finish my term papers and projects. As a result, everything paid off. Besides, the boys did wait. :-) Looking back, I think it's quite amusing how I was able to get through high school, more so college and MBA, with flying colors. If you probably throw me back there now, I wouldn't know what to do anymore or how to manage everything that has to be done. Ju...

Thank you to birthday girl Melisse for this award. Mwah! Do you know any bloggers that kick ass? Maybe they’ve got incredible, original content. Or they’re overflowing with creativity. Is it someone that helps you become a better blogger? Or a bloggy friend you know you can count on? Or maybe it’s someone who simply inspires you to be a better person… or someone else who sends you to the floor, laughing your ass off. Whatever the reason may be, I’m sure you know at least a couple of bloggers that kick ass. Well… why not tell ‘em so? LOVE ON ‘EM * Choose 5 bloggers that you feel are “Kick Ass Bloggers” * Let ‘em know in your post or via email, twitter or blog comments that they’ve received an award * Share the love and link back to both the person who awarded you and back to Mammadawg.com * Hop on back to the Kick Ass Blogger Club HQ to sign Mr. Linky then pass it on!* Passing this to award to online friends Jenny, Eds, Em, Tin and Tet!

Just want to type in a quick request for prayers for my dear mother in law who is in the hospital right now. Hoping she will get well real soon. Thank you everyone in advance!!! :-)

Hubby and I have decided to hold Zoe's 2nd birthday party at home. Although it's just going to be simple party, I'm still trying to make hirit to him for us to at least have a theme for the party plus invites, some party decor, some goody bags, and a themed birthday cake (sana pumayag!). So what's it gonna be? Please help me decide: For me, it's a tie between --- I love you Barney! ..and I did it with Dora! Ang hirap namang magdecide, hahahaha!

I was going through my personal emails today and suddenly remembered my dear friend who is now in London for work. She has been away for more than a year now. Before she left, she was my constant companion, my shopping buddy, my long lost sister. To be honest, among my friends, I am most comfortable with her. Our friendship was really something for the books. I feel a little sad now because I'm missing her company. Although we had our share of quirkiness, she and I really get along well. Too bad she had to leave for work. I hope she'll get another chance to go on vacation here soon. Anyway, in her last email to me, she was talking about her predicament with her housemates and living conditions. She wanted to move out of her current apartment and live somewhere else together with another flatmate. She told me that one of the factors that she's considering is the price of the monthly rental, the proximity of the place to her workplace, the availability of a good brand of Gas ...

Your Fitness Type: Serene You find exercise to be a great way to relieve stress. Getting fit is important to you, but not as important as clearing your mind. Try exercise that has a mind-body connection, like yoga or tai chi. You may also enjoy exercising in nature - whether it's hiking or swimming or taking a long walk. How Should You Get Fit?

Name 3 restaurants you highly recommend: On the top of my head, here are my favorites that I always go back to because of the service, good food and price... 1. Conti's - I'm a super avid fan of Conti's. I feel somewhat biased since I personally know one of the Conti sisters. She catered Zoe's baptismal party for us almost 2 years ago and I still remember the raves we received because of the food. Super sarap talaga --- (secretly na pinaglihihan ko din ang baked salmon and lengue estofado nila!). 2. Italianni's - one of the dependable restos serving Italian food. My personal favorites here - Angel Hair Pomodoro and Sicillian Chicken Salad. Yummy, makes my mouth water! 3. Hmmm...tough one -- but I guess I'll list San Jacinto Panciteria in C5 as my number 3. My family loves eating here. We would have dinner here on special occasions like my graduation, birthdays, etc. etc. Plus I love Chinese food! This was really my second choice venue for Zoe's 1st birthda...

Although it's still a bit early, I have already been seeing a lot of nice Halloween Costumes being sold online and in the different stores. This gives me an idea of buying early since, as we experienced last year, I did not plan on anything regarding our trick or treat costume for Zoe and ended up in a rush. I only made my baby daughter wear her existing cute velvet black gown and then matched it with spider loot bag. It was cute though and actually served the purpose but I really want to buy Zoe a better costume this year. Every Halloween season, my husband and I always make sure that we let Zoe join a trick or treat party. Good thing, our village association always organizes an afternoon trick and treat for the kids with an evening halloween dinner party for the older folks. Last year, Zoe had a lot of fun participating in the Amazing Race-themed trick or treat sponsored by our friendly neighborhood mommies and daddies. Some even looked up the Halloween costume history and gave...

I looked at my calendar today and began to panic since I realized that Zoe's 2nd birthday is just 4 weeks away. Gosh! I have nothing planned out yet! So what's it gonna be? Another big party like her 1st bday ? A Jollibee party? A simple family gathering? I HAVE NO IDEA...Harhar. Bad mommy! Ok, but first things first. I need to talk to Hubby today and ask about his budget! Any party ideas?

When it comes to career, many people have different approaches to it. Some put up objectives and timelines for themselves while others invest on corporate training and in developing good marketing ties. There are many approaches that actually work but I think that the worst approach is not having a plan at all. It is like when you go to work everyday thoughtlessly, just waste time and allow the work load overflow until you find yourself in havoc and then later on, with no job at all. That is why it is very critical that you set yourself a good plan for your career. Yes, you can take control of your career, not your company, not your boss but YOU. My husband who has been building a career in IT for the past 12 years already has set for himself a good plan for his career. First and foremost, he has enrolled himself in a leadership management course last year to develop his skills in planning, leading, controlling and managing. On top of this, he has been attending several IT-related semi...

From THIS... ...to THIS ~~~ Thanks dumpr.net !

We let Zoe pick a book from the department store and this is what she grabbed. 'ARNEY! BOP! Didn't realize hard it would be to pay for this~ coz we had to explain to the cashier the baby didn't want to let go of the book and they just had to find a way to punch the item so we can pay for it. Zoe didn't want the book wrapped in the bag either (no time for that anyway since Zoe already ran out the door with the book).

As I have talking about before, I have noticed that Zoe has been growing so fast! She's so much heavier now that I get back aches from carrying her around especially when we go outside. Actually, we have two baby pushchairs for Zoe, one for indoors and one for outdoor use. And although her outdoor pushchair is very nice and durable, I think Zoe is now in the stage wherein she prefers to just walk or run around. So whenever we go to outside like during trips to the mall and the supermarket, she just refuses to use her pram because she's more eager to run around and explore the space. For example, when we went to Mall of Asia last week, we just let her do some b4uing1 and running around. She went in and out of the shops and jumped up and down the sofa in the coffee shop where we had dinner. And all this running around made Mom and Dad unduly fatigued at the end of the day that we vowed to make a plan on how to convince her to use her pushchair again or else we would need to sc...

I resist saying that kids within the age of 2 are terrible. However, there is some evidence to them being terrible, not at exactly at 2 but a 2 and a half. In a book that I read, it says that "life can be so smooth and delightful with the 2-year old that is may be quite a jolt when he turns 2 and a half and all too often, it becomes tense, explosive and rigid. Two, in many boys and girls, is an age of rather straightfoward, sure, uncomplicated functioning. Two-and-a-half can be a time of difficulty in amny ways, and especially difficult when violent, demanding, explosive emotions take over, as they so often do." -- do some of you mothers with 2 1/2 year old kids agree with this? If yes, then that statement makes me a feel a little more at ease for at least, the "terrible" things (read: tantrums, demands for sameness, etc.) won't happen until Zoe is 2 and a half. But of course, every single child is DIFFERENT and it may not happen at all. Whew! :-)

Being stressed out with financial woes during the past month, I got very interested in the BillsIQ test and as expected, I wasn't so happy with the score that I got. In summary, it is saying that I am currently not saving enough and paying too much interest because of the many debts that I have. That is why I need to consider getting a comprehensive Debt consolidation facility soon or else, I'll be struck with just being with just paying off the monthly minimum payments of my debts. Until I begin to pay majority of my existing debts, I'll never be able have time to save enough for my retirement or for the rainy days. And if I don't have enough savings on my retirement years, it simply means that I might not be able to retire at all. Now who would want not to retire? Nobody can deny that life now is most difficult with all the prices of basic commodities going up and the salaries of people not going up as much. In a way, at least I still can manage our finances. Ever si...

..errr--- and 14 million dollars. *photo grabbed from US magazine.

Look how Zoe has grown... Set # 1 Set # 2

Alzheimer's is something that is very close to home for me. My grandfather experienced it during the latter years of his life and it was something really painful to see especially when it concerns someone you love. We had to take extra care of him and made sure that there is a caregiver who is always available to attend to his needs. Alzheimer's is a degenerative disease that has no definite cure. It has become prevalent in millions of people in the past years. It commonly manifests itself in apparent memory loss, mood swings, language difficulties and confusion. As of to date, there are many researches which aims to give a cure to this disease but none have been proven successful. In view of the threat of this disease that lots of people face, let us help and participate in the Alzheimer's Memory Walk . Start or join a team that will walk for a very good cause.