TOPAZ HORIZON

Happy New Year, mamas! My goal is to blog 3 times a week this 2019 and Mondays is when I plan to share my mom life - mom finds, mom thoughts, home tips, motherhood madness, family trips, mga ganyan. For today, I wanted to quickly share that I finally got to shop at Shopwise because of honestbee!
Download the honestbee app for free on Apple App Store or Google Play Store and sign up for an account now. For more information, visit www.honestbee.ph.

Hello, mamas! I am halfway through my gift list this Christmas and I'm giving every family I love a bottle of Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice! Why? Well, three reasons: one fun yet wholesome, one just practical, and the other almost embarrassingly religious haha.

First, I'm a mommy and I like to have fun, too, when my family celebrates happy occasions like birthdays, good grades, and the holidays. So what better time to break out a bottle of bubbly? It's the best time for bubbles! But alcohol is not an option for my three little kiddos. So we were delighted when a few years ago, we discovered Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice. It's basically juice with bubbles. No alcohol!

My second reason Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice is a great gift to give to families other than so the kids can drink, too? Well, not everyone likes wine. Pinoys especially are not a wine-drinking country. According to my husband who researched this for an ad campaign when he was still an ad man, we Pinoys drink gin and brandy. We don't drink wine. Soooo why do we keep giving bottles of wine on Christmas??? Now, since I'm not a fan of any kind of alcohol myself, I shouldn't give gifts that might encourage any kind of fondness for the bottle. So Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice to the rescue! It looks like a bottle of champagne, it's fun like a bottle of bubbles, but it has no alcohol!


Last and basically the biggest reason I'm giving my family bottles of Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice is, well, we're Born Again Christians. And not just any Born Again denomination—we're Baptists, the most fundamentalist of them all. We've been told over and over again that wine is the drink of the devil so my family's pretty much spiritually allergic to any kind of alcohol. It's so crazy, this avoidance of spirits, that my husband was incredulous when I said we can't have any alcohol at our wedding because the Born Agains might walk out hahaha! Vince protested, "Even Jesus had wine at the Last Supper!" So at our wedding, Vince had to whisper to our other guests that they can secretly order at the bar so as not to offend my deeply religious family. But this Christmas, I'm going to prank my family by giving them Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice because it looks like wine but it isn't! It's just wholesome fun in a bottle!

So, dearest mamas who want to have more fun in your parties but don't want anyone to get drunk and make a mess out of your beautiful homes, here's my advice: Get bottles of Welch's Sparkling Grape Juices. Made of the freshest Concord and Niagara grapes, they're available in effervescent white and grape flavors. I love them! Even my husband, who used to adore alcohol, is now a convert (to Welch's non-alcoholic drinks, not to Born Again Christianity ahahaha).

We're happy, free, confused, 
and lonely in the best way
It's miserable and magical 
Oh yeah...

I hope Taylor Swift doesn't sue me for using her lyrics to describe how nice and strange my first month as a 42-year-old woman is. She may think 22 is miserable and magical, but 42 is just the same. I think every age is, come to think of it.


I can't speak for every 42-year-old woman out there but my misery comes from being an exhausted mother and working endlessly for money that goes straight to your kids' school and tummies. What is this drudgery haha

But I can't really think about the misery because it's such a happy time, too, and oh so magical! With three wonderful children, all of us so healthy and strong, eating 3 or more meals a day, cocooned in a comfortable home with Netflix, toys, books, food, hot water running from the taps, clothes on our back, heavenly beds to sleep in, and surrounded every single day with hugs, kisses and laughter, how can I complain? I'm in such a good place. Thank You, God!


As for freedom, well, despite the encroaching decay that comes with age, I have never felt more confident of my beauty and my body because I'm finally free from insecurity and obsession with image. It comes from 4 decades of getting to know my body and finally becoming friends with it. Much of that acceptance and awe comes from me finding out it has super powers after pregnancies and births and the ability to still make my family's life amazing despite 0 hours of sleep. Sure my belly is large and soft, my eyes are showing years of tears and joy and hard work, my neck is starting to fold into itself, my hands are wrinkled with household chores, but now I see these as marks of a life well lived and loved. To be finally free to LOVE ME is a gift!

And yes, there's confusion still. But only because we live in such strange times where people I used to admire turned out to be supporters of evil and untruths. Also, I'm only 42 but I don't really know what the future holds in terms of my career so I don't know what dreams to dream anymore. The world is changing so fast, I don't know what my place is in it. I'm just living one day at a time and hoping that work that I love and will love me will come my way this new year. And of course, as a mother and a wife, I never really know what I'm doing. I know I'm supposed to just love them, but love isn't easy and I'm forever questioning myself if this is a loving response or not. Tough, being a mom and wife!

As for lonely... I guess every parent feels lonely. Maybe not all the time, but some of the time. I wish there were family and friends to help me out in this life, but everyone's so busy. Even me. So even if they have the time, I don't. And that's okay. I've learned to fold into my books, enjoy my own company, and pray. Yes, pray. God's the only one around all the time. Also, the only one who cares for me and my own every second of forever. Everyone disappoints, sooner or later. So the sooner you put yourself in God's hands, the sooner you understand that it's okay for the world to come up short because your joy and peace lie in eternity anyway.

I hope you all have a relationship with God, mamas, if you also sometimes feel sad and lonely. And happy! God isn't here just for the bad times. He's there all the time. We just need to remember that and appreciate it!


So I'm 42! It's off to a great start, despite it being absolutely ordinary. I love my normal and ordinary life. I've come to appreciate how normal is safe and comfortable. As long as my boys are healthy and safe, I'm healthy and safe, food is on the table, and a roof is over our heads, what more do I need?

Well, a dog. I want a dog more than anything. A fluffy tri-color corgi with a big head and big paws to be specific. But that's for another birthday maybe many years from now if we ever get to own a house with a yard. Till then, and even if that puppy never ever becomes mine, I'm happy with all that I have—the good, the bad, everything. It's a wonderful life and I am oh so grateful!

Since I work from home, I get questions from the stay-at-home and work-at-home mommies in my blog community about how to make extra money. This is a question I also ask my other mommy friends because we all want to either contribute to the household income or allot a budget for things we or our family wants. But since we're all already so busy, how can we find the time to make that extra money?

Hello, fellow mama bloggers! I'm showing you what's inside my blog planner for 2019. Yes, a planner exclusively for blogging! Because I'm a blogger—and a professional blogger at that so I really ought to take blogging seriously next year. I'm hoping a planner will keep me on top of things. Here's a peek!

The rabbit in the lower right corner is my stamp. Essentials Planner covers don't have rabbit holes.

For my blog planner, I chose the Essentials planner from the BDJ Power Planner roster. I like it because it's a super flexible format. There are pages for the months and weeks, but the weekly spreads are just dotted so I can bullet journal my weeks.

The Essentials planner is super minimalist. It doesn't even have a personal information page. That's why I've been a bujo planner for a few years now. I want to customize my planner and design every spread the way I feel that week. Some days I feel like drawing and doodling. Some months I'm too busy and I need all the space of my pages to write down my To Do list.


One thing I don't like is daily inspiration. Okay, sometimes I like inspirational quotes, like maybe once in a blue moon. I resent being "inspired" every day, if ya know what I mean. I'm already too busy with work and motherhood. Please don't tell me to "design a life I love" like my life now isn't enough!

But I did concede to posting these two encouragement cards. Because I really ought to be more passionate about my blogging in 2019 and I should never stop believing in myself. But that's all the scolding I'll allow in 2019 haha


Here are the annual and monthly calendars. I plan to blog MWF next year, hence the lines on said days. I'll put the blog posts under the lines. Events, meetings, etc go above the lines. On the notes section is my list of "must blog" topics. That just means sponsored posts! The press kits list is the stuff I regularly receive. I always forget to post them on Instagram or Facebook! Sorry, PR agencies. Hopefully, listing down the PR kits you send me will remind me to talk about them this 2019!

Wish me luck with this MWF schedule! I've been meaning to follow it for 3 years now and it's not been happening!


Here's my first week in January! Monthly goals is listed here. That will mostly be me aiming for higher stats, more followers, more sponsors. Battle plan will be maybe advertising my blog and social media accounts on FB and IG, doing giveaways, sending proposals, etc.


You can see that my MWF blog schedule has a theme! Yes! On Mondays, I plan to talk about motherhood, marriage, home finds, recipes, household chores, family holidays, etc. On Wednesdays, I'm going to do beauty reviews, share my beauty regimen, maybe do fitness updates (if I finally exercise this 2019 haha). On Fridays, I'll talk about the working mom life, shopping finds to make our work easier, career tips, blogging tips.


Under each blog post, you can see I put circles to check. These are to remind me to promote on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. Then the empty space under is for blogging ideas, doodles. Also, if I have a campaign from a blog sponsor, this is the space where I put down the details (agency contact, duration of campaign, fee, deliverables) so I won't forget.


For the last two weeks of January, I left it mostly blank. I figured I should wait to see if those previous layouts will work. If they do, I'll continue using them.

As you can see, the Essentials planner has dotted weekly spreads that allow you so much flexibility. I really like it! The rest of the planner looks like this—just dotted weekly spreads encouraging creativity or simplicity or... productivity, which is what planners are supposed to do really!

By the way, the big spots design is mine. It's just washi tape. For February, I'm thinking of going more colorful. I always go pink on February. And I always go flowery in summer. My June-September are usually no design at all. I'm just too busy! Around October, I start decorating my planner again with stickers, doodles, and washi tape. My spreads are never gorgeous like the ones on Instagram's #bujospreads but I aspire to be that talented.


The last few pages of the Essentials planner are plain dotted pages for notes and whatever you like. This is what's in mine: Check out my income tracker! I've always had something like this in all my planners. I actually don't necessarily need this because I have Taxumo which tracks my income and expenses online. But I like having this table in my blog planner so I won't need to go online to check how I'm doing or who needs to pay, etc.


Aaaand my 2019 blogging goals are at the back! Ya, maybe the Essentials planner should have a few of these plain dotted pages at the start of the book so I can do goals, bucket list, and personal information there. That not being the case, I put them all in the back. It's okay, I think. What do you think?

So there you have it! My 2019 blog planner! I hope it helps me become super successful next year! Do you have one like this, too? What does yours look like and what do you suggest I should include in mine?

*The 2019 Essentials Planner is available at all leading bookstores and from the Belle de Jour Power Planner online shop [click here to buy]. It's just P300! So affordable! I LOVE IT! But if you want a planner with more flair, color and inspiration, BDJ has a lot to offer. Yes! There's not just different kinds of planners, there are journals, stickers, stamp sets, and calendars, too. Click here to shop.

My kids and I have a new favorite hangout: Kids Ink! It's a clean, well lighted place in new mall One Bonifacio High Street at BGC.


It has nearly everything a kid would ever want, but carefully curated. Only smart games and toys, for example. Legos, puzzles, board games for toys.


Books are arranged by age so it's easier for parents and kids to browse through shelves that cater to their age level. Although of course, you and your child can always check out the other shelves.

The books are also either literary prize winners, educational, or are so beautifully bound and illustrated, they are a treasure to look at.

I love the workshop area they set up by the huge sunny windows. I imagined myself giving my own workshops there. Did I ever tell you I used to teach creative writing summer classes to kids 20 years ago??? Seeing my kids enjoy the slime-making workshop at Kids Ink made me want to teach kids again. I'm excited to find out what workshops Kids Ink has lined up for 2019!


Kids Ink is on the 2/F of One Bonifacio High Street, BGC. This slip of a mall has three entrances: across Mind Museum on 3rd Ave, across Ascott on 28th St., and across Shangri-la at The Fort on 5th St. It's also beside Noteworthy so moms and dads who love paper and journaling like I do will love to browse there! Bring the whole family! I did!


PROMO ALERT!!! From now till December 31, 2018, get a FREE Lego Creator Holiday Train with every single receipt purchase of P1,499 on any Lego sets.

For more news and promos, follow @kids.ink on Instagram, and like Kids.Inkph on Facebook.

*This post was brought to you by Kids Ink.