TOPAZ HORIZON

Part of my quest to simplify is to get rid of all the clothes and shoes and bags that have piled up on me through the years. The plan was to sell them on eBay (I kept mentioning it on the blogs) but I decided on New Year's Day, as I emptied out my closets, I decided that selling means more complications. Measuring, describing, posting, accounting, sending... The process just didn't jive with my simplification!

So I invited my sister and my eldest niece to come over and take all they wanted!

It was so much fun! I had dresses that still had tags on them, clothes I wore only once, tops that were gifted to me but weren't me so I never wore them, shoes I bought for my enlarged post-partum feet that had since shrunk back to normal. The girls brought home bags upon bags of lovely clothes!

Now my closet has maybe 30 dresses in it. I feel lighter, like I can breathe again. The clothes they didn't like—which were nice but they deemed "for oldies" haha—I donated to charity. The house is suddenly bigger, more spacious. The new roominess doesn't even tempt me to shop! In fact, I told my sister and niece to come back again since I unearthed even more stuff for them. I'm happy, they're happy!

P.S. You know what this means, right? No more Topaz Fashion!

Halloo there! I hope you all had a great holiday. Vince, Vito and I went on a little field trip just before Christmas and visited Acqua Private Residences. If you regularly drive on J.P. Rizal St. by the Pasig River, you'd have seen Acqua rising. It's opposite Rockwell Center, across the river, by the Estrella Bridge.

Well, right about now, the site looks like the photo above, but pretty soon there will be six towers, the most luxurious being Acqua Iguazu yoo inspired by Starck. Quite a mouthful! Famed designer Philippe Starck said blithely, "Ah-mezing name, eesn't eet?" Amazing name indeed!

Amazing looking, too. By the time the P1.3 billion development is done, it will be a landmark along Pasig—the buildings designed to look like mountains rising out of a thick rainforest, with waterfalls seemingly running down the facade, and a sun shining down on the complex at day and the moon glowing on it at night.

Iguazu is the tallest building, the rightmost, the one with the glowing orb. The interiors are designed by Starck and John Hitchcox to have three themes: Minimal, Nature and Culture. Since we observed that our toddler has a love for beautifully designed spaces, we brought him along to check out what he thinks of Acqua Iguazu.

I love how the Minimal is so clean and bright. An entire wall is made out of glass and leads out to the balcony, hence the flooding of light. Even if the space is small (about 36-39 sqm), the design makes it look roomy and cozy at the same time.
Vito's Verdict: He loved it! He loved the bed most of all.

If I were the glass-half-empty kinda person (and to be very honest, I actually am), I'd look back at 2012 and think, "What a bad year." I had a delicate pregnancy, I had hired a bad woman to take care of Vito, I had a hard time juggling work and motherhood, and OK! magazine got killed off.

But 2012 was actually pretty fantastic. Incredible! My pregnancy got better, I dismissed the bad maid and learned such good lessons from that experience that the yayas I have now are beyond great, God sent ladies of faith to me who are now my prayer partners and friends, my second life dream—to be a newspaper columnist—came true, Vito continued to grow more amazing, and sweet darling cutie pie Iñigo was born.

My life is full. Too full, in fact. So for 2013, I'm decluttering, discarding, simplifying. And that will apply to all—stuff, processes, relationships.


Simplifying doesn't mean living on one pair of shoes. But it certainly means 30 pairs is a lot, especially if I use just 3 pairs! Same applies to my bags and clothes. I've started unloading stuff actually. Gave away around 50 dresses and a few shoes to my sister and niece. They looked great in my clothes! The rest I donated to charity. Already I feel lighter and better!

Simplifying doesn't mean it's the easier way, though. For example, I order a lot of fast food because for a busy mom like me, it's the easier option to actually cooking food. But homecooked food is healthier and cheaper and better for me and my family. So that's what I aim to do!

Simplifying means giving more time to the people and things that matter most. Something I should remember this year since job offers are coming at me left and right. I'm grateful, of course, but I wanted to spend more time with my kids! So I should carefully choose what I'll work on and to keep in mind that I wanted a life devoted to my young sons. It's really helped me make good decisions, by the way!

Simplifying also means cutting off complicated and negative people from my life. That includes Facebook. I won't say anymore but if you're on Facebook, I'm sure you understand the stress! I'm just going to quietly block, unfriend and hide.

So that's my goal this year! I feel better about 2013 already! What is it about this year that makes me so happy? Oh, I know—my husband, my kids, my friends, our good health! They're all I really need. Simple!


*image from MelindaBunyard.com

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art—write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can.

For the house, not me!

I'm getting tired of our blue walls. I love them, make no mistake, but after 5 years of living with them, I am ready for a new color. Or a non-color like gray or white.

I was browsing through fab online magazine Lonny.com and instantly fell in love with these stark yet cozy, elegant rooms:


All that light! So amazing. It's like a photo box!

I do admit that I do love color a wee bit too much to just go black/white/gray. I have a pink Christmas tree, for heaven's sake! So I'm pretty sure I'm going to add pops of color here and there. But I do want white walls now. Or gray. Hmm. Still can't decide.

The truth is I want a non color because I take most of my photos inside the house. Me, my kids, my products. And I always have to color correct everything because everything takes on a bluish tinge: our skin, our clothes, our hair, the products! I want to look like a human being, not a Smurf haha.

What's your home makeover plan this 2013?


*photos from Lonny.com