TOPAZ HORIZON

Vince's favorite new shoes is his Sperry Top-siders. He was waxing nostalgic about his old Top-siders when he was a kid and he said he wanted a pair again. So he's been browsing Zalora for weeks and we finally bought him new shoes. Here's the unboxing:

I shoulda taken pictures of the giddy Vince hehe. His face was much more interesting!

Anyway, Vince absolutely loves his new Top-siders. He wears them all the time! They're so soft and comfy. He's always saying, "My shoes are so comfy!" He's so cute! Now soft and comfy, those are words mommy me loves! So I checked Zalora if they had Sperrys for girls and, nope, they don't. Too bad!

I was especially interested in the Katama espadrilles.
The Katama espadrilles feature breathable canvas (I'm loving the anchors-on-navy print!), padded heel and adjustable rawhide laces with gold and silver eyelets (I love that touch of posh!). Must visit a Sperry shop this weekend! I'm really liking the blue one. It will look perfect with my mommy uniform of shirts and shorts! I kinda need a new kind of footwear since I'm in ballet flats all the time. They're not actually very good for chasing after little boys!

P.S. Sperry Top-Sider stores are at Bonifacio High Street, Trinoma Mall, Glorietta 3, Harbor Point Subic, SM North EDSA The Block, Robinsons Place Manila, Centrio Mall Cagayan de Oro, SM cebu Northwing. Also available at Complex Lifestyle Stores in Eastwood Mall, Alabang Town Center, Festival Mall; Shoe Salon outlets. Hide Out in Greenbelt 5 and select deoartment stores, like Rustan's. Check out their Facebook page if you'd rather stay home today hehe.

P.P.S. Father's Day is coming up! Shop at Zalora for great gift ideas!

*Katama photos courtesy of Castro PR

A friend and I were chatting one day. She was about to get married. I teased her, "Is he your first?" And at our age, we all know what "first" means!

"Yes," she replied. "As far as I'm concerned, he is. He's my first love because he's my true love. All the other so-called loves before him don't count."

And I laughed, long and loud. "You're so silly!"

But I know what she means. I've had boyfriends before Vince. But it was only with him I felt completely alive. Only with him, I saw my future. Only with him that I wanted to have children.

I've been kissed before but when Vince and I kissed the first time, I thought my soul opened up and soared and my skin tingled like it was hot and cold at the same time and and my heart, I thought it actually stopped. And after we kissed, I looked at him and said breathlessly, "You're my first kiss!"

And Vince laughed, since he knew I've been kissed before. But I knew in my heart—and my body knew it, too—that that kiss wiped all other kisses off the face of the earth and I was reborn. I knew then and there that I was gone.

He knew it, too. He asked me to marry him about a month later. I said no because his eyes scared me. His eyes said forever. I've never seen that in a guy's eyes before. So I knew I was his first love, too, because he may have had many girls before me but forever only happens once and his forever happened with me.

1999, Baguio. We didn't really know each other when this photo was taken. We just happened to be sitting together.

Remember when I said that this year my word is simplify? Then remember when, as a result of this simplification, I went through my stuff and gave away tons of stuff to my sister and niece? Well, under all my stuff, I found my brand new, unused and still redolent of leather Cole Haan tote.

Yes, I had forgotten about it. So yes, I really should simplify my life! Who forgets bags they just bought?! Crazy wasteful woman.

I'm so glad I found it again. It's no longer available in stores now because I think this was from the 2011 summer collection. My friend Dada bought it abroad for me some time ago because it's a lot more expensive if you buy it here.

It's so cuuuuute! So bright and happy and so Pinoy! It's like a coño bayong haha. It's very roomy, too. It's now my diaper bag. I like how the coated canvas resists dirt and the wet. So perfect for my busy mommy lifestyle!

Sorry no real photos of the bag. I find the boy in the photos much much cuter. Sooo adorable! He and his brother and their father are making my weekend happy. Hope yours is bright and happy, too!

I'm in this month's Real Living. Like, as me and not as a contributing writer. Like, my face and not as a byline haha.

I talk about my favorite things at my home. The font is tiny so you can't click on the photo and try to read. You'll have to get a copy! I promise you it's a good read—I have a story for each piece. Yep, that's why the font is so small. The artist was forced to do that to make all my words fit!


It's also a great issue filled with beautiful, airy, sun-filled homes. One day, Vince and I will build a house with huge windows to let sun and fresh air in. And it will have a large garden for the kids to run around in and where Vince can plant a garden and where I can nap under the trees. Sigh! I'm so inspired to work for our dream house now. That's what I love about shelter magazines!

Thanks, Real Living! Thanks to the editor-in-chief, my friend Rachelle! And thanks so very much to the writer Kaye for being patient with me!

Okay, this is more of a Topaz Mommy post but since I promised my mommy readers over there that my next post there is the second part of Iñigo's birthday, I kinda had to put this one here. I just wanted to show you my birthday boy's favorite game to play.

I get a lot of questions about clothes I wear that are fit for breastfeeding. Mommies ask me that all the time because frankly, there's not enough stylish nursing clothes in Manila. I've been able to get a few nice ones but here's my current favorite:

Ashley Smocked Dress from Dote Studio, Pedro gray pumps, Longchamp clutch

It's a gray empire-waist dress with flared sleeves from Dote Studio from Singapore. I bought it and another nursing dress from Brandsfever. I won't be doing that again. The dresses cost me P4,197.63. Then when they arrived at the post office, I had to pay P1,786 for customs duty, EVAT, IPF, CDS and BIR stamp. I have no idea what the last three are but pay I must so pay I did.

Anyway, I love my Dote Studio dresses! They're made of really nice cloth unlike the many nursing mommy clothes out there, which are usually made of this horrible thin cotton-like thing that clings to every post-preggy lump. Just look at it. It doesn't even look like a breastfeeding dress!

I wore it to a lunch date with Vince at Circles, Makati Shangri-la...

My hungry husband.

I told ya I never brush my hair!

... and to coffee with my Wine Night friends at Apartment 1B in One Rockwell.

I'll blog about my other breastfeeding dresses and tops soon on August! Hehe, that's Breastfeeding Awareness Month. I want to take better pictures of my nursing clothes so that you mommies will see that your style doesn't have to suffer when you breastfeed!

I'm sure you've seen this super fun prank but I can't stop watching it so you might as well watch it, too! It just brightens up anyone's day!



Gotta love people who are game for anything, right? With the high price of gas these days, I do believe people would do anything for a free full tank of the stuff. But these two amazing people should get even more just for being so fabulously entertaining!

Vince said as he watched the video, "You know what they say: Behind every successful man is a woman laughing hysterically." I love this couple!


Happy Monday!

P.S. Speaking of free gas, I'd like to thank Pilipinas Shell for sponsoring our gasoline. We really do love the racing fuel!

I was watching Channel V and saw Taylor Swift's video, "Begin Again," and totally fell in love with all her dresses. All of them. I'm in the middle of revamping my wardrobe and I think I've found my style peg.

image from Glamour.com's story on bangs

image from Fanpop.com

I was fretting about what to wear. The last time I wore a bathing suit was before I got pregnant and when I tried on my bikinis, well, let's just say the stretchmarks all over my tummy was not a pretty sight. So I had to get a maillot. At the photo shoot for my newspaper column, we were shooting Holly Chang of Wink and I was happily chatting away with one of the PR girls, Janlee Dungca, when I mentioned to her that I was about to go swimming and I had nothing to wear because of my new mommy body. She immediately said, "Soak Swimwear!" And thank the heavens for her because I absolutely LOVE my new Soak maillots!

Vince loves this. He thinks I'm so sexy in it. I love it for these reasons:
1. The color blocking is so bold and graphic.
2. The high waist actually makes my tummy look small.
3. The white band gave me a waist!
4. The super deep front (it's almost down to my tummy) emphasizes my mommy boobs! Plus, it makes breastfeeding Iñigo super easy!
5. And, of course, because it made my husband think I'm hot!

I told my toddler Vito that if I just add stars to the blue and a gold belt, a crown and cuffs, I'd be Wonder Woman. Haha! That's why I matched this with my sons' starry bottoms. Sooo cute!
For our second day, I wore a Soak black maillot with a shirred gold cover on the front and back. It really is perfect for a mommy tummy! Sayang I don't have a full body photo of this one but it really camouflaged the tum-tum.

You can buy Soak Swimwear at Retail Lab at Power Plant (that's where I got mine), Cabana on Gamboa St. Legaspi Village, and at Wink Wax & Laser Studio (where I do my hair removal). You can also shop online.

You can get info on where to buy the i play swim diapers and shorts from their Facebook page.

I bought the Babiators from Taste Central. There are a lot of colors but they're mostly sold out.

Have a stylish summer!!!

That's from Leah of The Bright Spot. I asked the fans of my blogs' Facebook page to ask me anything at all. Leah was the first to ask and here's my answer.

I wish I had known that I would love my kids the way I love them now. I was an unhappy pregnant woman because I was profoundly afraid I would regret having my child. Many moms assured me that motherhood is the best thing ever. At the same time, just as many moms warned me that I'll never sleep again, that I'll become ugly, that motherhood is the hardest job in the world. So... mixed messages, you know?

My Mama, bless her heart, always said that she had just one regret in life: that she married and had children. She loved us but she also always seemed to be looking beyond us, at that other life, the could've been, the greener grass. My sister-in-law left her three kids and ran off with another man. Some of my friends thought of their kids as inconveniences. I was surrounded by mothers who didn't like being mothers. And I was deathly afraid that I'd be like that.

The fear robbed me of the joy of pregnancy. Nine months of misery. It was sad.

Oh, but if I had known that my heart would burst every single day with love for my boys, if I had known that motherhood would come naturally to me, if I had known I would enjoy it so much, I would've enjoyed my pregnancy better, I would've been more gracious to well wishers, I would've embraced my new life sooner, I would've been happier.  

That's it.

Oh, and I wish I knew the sex was going to be better after kids. I was scared my marriage would suffer after I became a mom because everyone warned me I'd never enjoy sex again but, hey hey hey, motherhood made me sexier. My body is not as nice now, yes, but after I've seen what my body can do after two pregnancies and two vaginal births, I feel so much more alive and sensual and powerful and confident. I am woman! And I enjoy everything about being a woman more than ever. So, moms who don't enjoy sex, I don't know what happened to you and I don't know why you poisoned my mind about that.

So, Leah, even though you asked me to name just one thing, let's add one last thing: I wish I'd known to shut out all those people who said so many bad things about motherhood!