Friday, November 13, 2015

Event: Ayala Malls holiday schedule announced (plus, my photo with Piolo!)

Last week, I had such a lovely time attending the Ayala Malls party that announced their holiday activities for all shoppers at their malls all over the country. We had a preview of what to expect (songs! dances! celebrities! oh my!) and then shopped from the goodie buffet. I even got to have my photo taken with my college crush, Piolo Pascual!

My haul from the shopping buffet!
Heehee that cake wasn't for me but let's pretend!!!

Anyway! Where was I? Holiday schedule. Yes! The festivities had already begun last week so I'll give you a rundown of what to expect from today till December at an Ayala Mall near you:

Daryl Ong from The Voice
Celebrities and songs!
The Sound of Christmas, a concert series featuring top singers together with the well-renowned Manila Symphony Orchestra and special celebrities like Piolo Pascual, Daryl Ong from The Voice of the Philippines, Sam Milby, Yeng Constantino, Erik Santos, Nikki Gil, Kyla, KZ Tandingan, Richard Poon, Angeline Quinto, Jay R and Marion Aunor (not all stars will be at the same date and venue).
November 14 - Fairview Terraces 
November 22 - Ayala Center Cebu 
December 6 - Market! Market!
December 13 - Alabang Town Center

The kids from Steps Dance Project
Dance!
Ayala Malls partners again with Steps Dance Project to bring back Frankly Speaking, a jazz musical inspired by the famous hits of the legendary music icon, Frank Sinatra. This musical concert will also feature the talented dancer, musician and entertainer from New York, Omar Edwards. 
November 14 - MarQuee Mall Angeles, Pampanga
November 20 - Centrio Mall, Cagayan de Oro
November 22 - Abreeza Mall, Davao

Peppa and George!
Peppa Pig!
My kids will love this one: British animated series Peppa Pig comes to life at Ayala Malls! Together with her family—little brother George and Mummy and Daddy Pig—Peppa Pig will entertain kids with songs, dances, and snorts of laughter!
November 13-15 - Glorietta
November 21-22 - TriNoma
November 27-29 - Ayala Center Cebu
December 4-6 - Alabang Town Center
December 11-13 - Market! Market!
December 18-20 - Ayala Malls Solenad

Arts & Crafts at Glorietta!
December 12 - Artwork T-shirt Printing

Fairs & Sales!
Alabang Town Center introduces the holiday spirit with back-to-back toy fairs and sale events before its weekly Community Christmas Cantata during the whole month of December with special participation from Lyceum Orchestra, Lighthouse Bible Church, San Beda College, SAT Music, Christ Commission Fellowship, and many more. 

Food Fair!
December 11 to 13 - Weekend Market by The Clean Plate at UP Town Center
December 20 to 22 - Awesome Food fair co-presented by lifestyle blog Our Awesome Planet
All weekends of December - Greenbelt Christmas Market

Goodies for everyone!
More Christmas activities every weekend at every mall! 
Meet-and-greet events with Santa Claus
Fireworks displays
Chorales
Booths for holiday treats
Simbang Gabi 

 (L-R) Ayala Land President Bobby Dy, Ayala Corporation Chairman Emeritus Jaime Zobel De Ayala, 
Steps Dance Studio director and Steps Dance Project founder Sofia Zobel- Elizalde, Lizzie Zobel, 
Ayala Land VP and Head of Operations and Support Services, Commercial Business Group Rowena Tomeldan, 
and Ayala Land Senior Vice President and Commercial Business Head Junie Jalandoni
(L-R) Ayala Land executive’s Junie Jalandoni, Joseph Reyes, Bing Jose, Ruby Chiong, 
and Myrna Fernandez, Manila Symphony executive director Jeffery Solares, 
The Sound of Christmas director Raymond Lauchengco, Piolo Pascual, Daryl Ong, 
Sam Milby, Ayala Land’s Javi Hernandez, AC Legarda and Mark Sablan

Season for Giving 
Glorietta will hold the activity, “100 Christmas Wishes” to encourage shoppers in sponsoring wishes of 100 less fortunate children from November to December. 

Since Filipinos love to go to the malls (nothing wrong with that!), Ayala Malls have definitely made their shopping centers a fun place for family and friends. I should know—I'm always at a mall! And not always to shop. My family eats, plays, meets with friends, watches movies, be entertained, be together! We're definitely looking forward to meeting Peppa Pig and Santa Claus!

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Monday, November 09, 2015

How to get the 2015 Coca-Cola Glass Collection from McDonald's


Hooray for two of my favorite things in the world—Coke and McDonald's! This year, they've partnered once again to offer the 2015 Coca-Cola Glass Collection. That's the drinking glasses up there. I don't know if this news will actually excite you, because, you know, baso, but we started collecting these glasses with the Olympics 2008 collection and, well, we like collecting things! 


Now on its 8th year, the 2015 Coca-Cola Glasses is also called the Coca-Cola Signature Glass Collection because this is inspired by the evolution of the iconic Coca-Cola contour bottle. Even the green tinge is because the first bottles of Coke were greenish! Why? The first bottles were made by the Root Glass Company (yes, I did some research for you!). Now glass is basically melted sand and Root got its sand "from 160 acres that Root purchased west of Greencastle in the Fern Cliffs area of Putnum County, Indiana." I like how that sounds like a setting for a good romance story! Anyway, this sand had copper and other minerals which created that distinct green tinge. Instead of thinking of that as a bad thing, Coke thought, "Hey, it can be our signature glass color, just like our sexy contoured bottle!" Coke didn't say that exactly. I did. But you know what I mean!

The Coca-Cola Signature Glass Collection is available at all McDonald’s restaurants nationwide now. As in now na! To collect the limited-edition glasses, all you need to do is add P29 to any McDonald’s meal and you get one glass. There are six designs to collect, and each glass is embossed with the Coca-Cola logo. Each is also date-stamped with 1899, 1916, 1955, 1961, 1994, and 2015. So six glasses times P29... That's just P174 total! Well, on top of your meal, of course!


Collect all six designs only at McDonald’s via Dine-In, Drive-Thru, or McDelivery via 86-2-86, www.mcdelivery.com.ph, or the McDo PH app, all day, including breakfast hours. Have fun collecting... and drinking Coke!

Share your collection at McDonald’s official Facebook page, or by tagging @McDo_PH on Twitter and Instagram.

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Thursday, October 15, 2015

It's huge! I visit MANGO's Eastwood branch to shop!

This post is brought to you by MANGO.

I missed the opening of the bigger and better MANGO store at Eastwood a few weeks ago. Eastwood is not my stomping grounds but because I saw fellow bloggers talking about how they absolutely loved the new store, I went to check it out.

 Boy, it's really big! Look!

This is the MANGO Kids section:

My photos can't seem to do justice to the wide aisles, the well-spaced clothing items, and the high ceilings. I loved that there's space to shop. The only place in the store that felt masikip was the fitting rooms. 

 Anyway, the MANGO store in Eastwood is right in the garden area. I don't know what it's called, basta it's where the fountains and ponds are. Just across Bread Talk, right beside GAP. I like that when I was shopping and I look past the windows, it's all nice and green trees and bushes. Super refreshing. Dangerous, too, in my case because nakakagana to shop!

 Here's what caught my eye in the store:
Jeans! Jeggings! Pants!
I love anything with roll-up sleeves.
Military-inspired jacket.
I almost bought that dress but my tummy was too big! 
Little black dress to the left and little red dress to the right.
An adorable outfit! Almost got it but was afraid I'm too old for it haha.

Of course, since I'm a mom, I went through the racks of MANGO Kids, too, and found these:
For my mini heroes.
If they had a bigger size sana for my husband!
This camel jacket! Why not in my size???

 I also liked MANGO's Autumn/Winter 2015 Boho Collection showcased by supermodels Kate Moss and Cara Delavigne. 

I was born in the 70s so I have a soft spot for gorgeous prints, chiffon kaftans and maxi dresses, bell-sleeved blouses, flared jeans, fringe, flower power, embroidery on everything. Here are my Boho Collection outfits:
 

 Really loving the dress that Cara wore! Cara and Kate are part of MANGO's #somethingincommon campaign, which emphasizes that Kate may be born in the 70s and Cara in the 90s but their love for free-spirited fashion is their common denominator. Aside from being supermodels, of course!

“MANGO is great,” says Cara. “When I think about what to wear every day, I like to be creative and MANGO is a perfect brand to play with the range of styles there are nowadays. This is the first time I have worked with MANGO and having Kate as my partner in crime is ideal! We are a lethal combination. I admire her personally and professionally, she is a true fashion icon. It is a privilege to learn and to share this experience with her.”

Kate has been part of the MANGO family for while now, starting with her collaborations with the Spanish brand in 2011 and 2012. Kate says, “It's so great to be working with MANGO again; it is such a fresh and modern brand.” Of Cara, she says, “Cara and I always have fun together and you really can see that in this campaign.” 

I had fun just shopping! I may not be a supermodel but what I have #somethingincommon with Kate and Cara is a love for looking fantabulous! Look at what I bought from MANGO Eastwood:

 Not near Eastwood, like me? You can still shop for these pieces and more at these branches:

MANGO РRobinsons Ermita, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Power Plant Mall, Gateway, SM Mall Of Asia, Alabang Town Center, SM Megamall, SM Davao, SM Clark, Ayala Center Cebu, TriNoma, SM Cebu, Greenbelt 5, Eastwood, Marquee Mall, Newport, Abreeza Davao, Lucky Chinatown, Bonifacio High Street, Robinsons Magnolia, Centrio, Harbor Point, Glorietta 2, Ayala Fairview Terraces, SM BF Para̱aque

MANGO MAN – Power Plant Mall, Alabang Town Center, Bonifacio High Street, Glorietta 2, SM Mall Of Asia, Ayala Center Cebu, Abreeza Davao

MANGO TOUCH – Robinsons Ermita, Power Plant Mall, Robinsons Magnolia, SM Megamall, SM Mall Of Asia

MANGO KIDS РSM Mall Of Asia, Ayala Center Cebu, SM BF Para̱aque, TriNoma, Glorietta 2, Eastwood

MANGO SPORT and INTIMATES – SM Mall of Asia
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Sunday, October 04, 2015

Beauty Biz Bliss: Collaboration, not competition

I have really amazing news, dear Loyal Readers!

Last weekend, on Sept. 26 at the Work-at-Home Expo 2015, my friends Ginger Arboleda of entrepreneurial lifestyle blog Mommy Ginger, Martine de Luna of intentionally blissful lifestyle blog Make It Blissful, and myself of this all-about-honesty-in-an-increasingly-fake-world blog launched our new business—Beauty Biz Bliss.

Me, Ginger and Martine onstage at the Work-at-Home Expo.

Beauty Biz Bliss caters to the woman who has made a living out of her passion. We want to support this amazing woman in everything she does—from looking and feeling her best as she works to growing her business and managing her home and family with a blissful attitude even with all the work she's busy with.

As working women ourselves—Ginger owns several businesses, Martine is a social media consultant, while I am a professional blogger and magazine editor—we've encountered many challenges that come with pursuing our passions. Isolation is top of the list. Working from home, our days filled with dirty diapers and typing on a computer, there's hardly any time to create and nurture friendships. Having no co-workers and bosses also means we have no sounding board on our performance. When we do go out for meetings and events, how exactly do we present ourselves as professionals when we're used to wearing tees and shorts when we work?

Another challenge we encountered was the fiercely competitive nature of blogging. Mom blogging to be more specific. We think maybe this is because we raise our children in many different ways—some breastfeed, some give formula; some believe in tough love, some adhere to attachment parenting principles; some believe in sending their kids to traditional schools, some are staunch homeschoolers. Perhaps these differences raise our defenses, thinking that because someone's ways are different than ours, her actions are a criticism of our decisions. In our experience, we have been shunned, bullied, gossiped about, and even threatened just because we live the way we do, which was painful to us.


We now believe that there is no need to compete for readers and brands. We all have our own unique strengths, after all. Ginger wants to empower entrepreneurial mothers through her blog—naturally her readers are business-minded mothers. Martine's blog is all about having an inspired vision, purpose and lifestyle—her community of readers is made up of positive women who love beautiful everything. My blogging is all about being real and honest in absolutely everything, even when life gets ugly, I will talk about it like it's no one's business—and my readers are all feisty, brutal and no-nonsense women. We attract different kinds of readers and different kinds of brand partners.

There is no need to compete!

Especially because we three have the same purpose—to empower women. When we collaborate, we make each other stronger. For one thing, working together helps us reach a bigger audience. We strongly believe that we women should be encouraging each other, working together, and finding ways to live with each other's differences, maybe even celebrating them! We believe in collaboration, not competition.


That's how Beauty Biz Bliss was born! We talked about what we're good at and what we're poor at and realized we can help each other out. Martine is absolutely driven with ideas and vision, and she's great at making things look pretty. Ginger is all about execution with frightening efficiency, and she knows how to make money. And I have experience working with big brands, and my years in magazines have taught me a lot about looking fabulous. Together, we can build each other up where we think we need help.

We also realized that many women need support and encouragement, too. In fact, a thread in the Facebook community, WAHMderful Community for Work-at-Home Moms, encouraged us to create workshops addressing this very need of many women. So okay! Let's do this!

Beauty Biz Bliss will offer workshops on everything a working woman needs to juggle her full life. We'll learn how to put on makeup in 10 minutes, what to wear to meetings and events (especially useful to women who work at home), on how to build your brand, market it and get more business, and how to balance that all with joy not stress. We are planning big and beautiful events! Yes, so we can all get together with other women and share stories, swap business contacts, and build each other up. We also plan to work with brands that want to target us working women and offer them our unique voices to help push their campaigns.


Sooo exciting! We really want to help us women encourage each other (yes, we hope you also encourage Ginger, Martine and myself) with this new collaboration. Isn't this so exciting!?

If you want to be part of our new community, please like our Facebook page: Beauty Biz Bliss.

If you are a business that wants to reach our audience of empowered working women, send an email to ginger@beautybizbliss.com.

If you want to collaborate with us for gorgeous and inspiring events, email martine@beautybizbliss.com.

If you are a beauty and fashion brand and you want to be part of our mission to help women be absolutely gorgeous, email me at frances@beautybizbliss.com.

Together, we can all make a difference in women's lives. We really do believe that the secret of the universe is working together. I hope you think so, too! Imagine what we can all do when we help each other! I'm so excited. Please pray for us, okay? Thanks always for the love and support!

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Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Review: My new Skechers GOwalk 3 sneakers

My husband said out of the blue, “Hell has frozen over.” That’s because he saw my shoes in a pile in the hallway but instead of the sky-high heels he associated me with, he saw ballet flats and sneakers. It was the sneakers that did it actually since I had switched to flats when I got pregnant with Vito more than five years ago. Then the day came that I had to run after little boys, and I switched to sneakers because ballet flats just can’t compete with seriously fast little legs.

So, yep, I’m now a sneaker mama!

Who else has the same experience, trading her heels for sneakers? 

Who’d have thunk it that I’d love my comfy mommy lifestyle? And I love that my new propensity to seek comfort has not meant I've sacrificed style. In fact, I'm finding it fun to match my for-heels-only clothes with my new sneaks. Or shorts, at least. So fun to be ultra comfy now in shorts and sneakers!

I picked out my new Skechers GOwalk 3 last week. I chose this pair because I've never had black sneakers before. I love it. It is sooooo comfortable! I first fell in love with Skechers because of my GOwalk 2. Then I needed shoes for the gym and so I got Skechers Sport, which I love, too. But I wanted shoes I can wear outside the gym and onto the streets and so I checked out the latest walking shoe of Skechers. 
While out for work...
...and while working out!

 The GOwalk 3 offers a more comfortable walking experience, whether I'm on flat streets or on rocky terrain. I don't slip at all. And since the sole is a bit wide, I also don't trip, which happens when I'm wearing narrow shoes. I'm guessing it's because I lose my balance? However, since my feet are narrow, I noticed that I really needed to lace up my shoes tight or else my feet start moving about too much inside the shoe.

Anyway, close up photos first:
This came with black and white laces but I switched it to all black. 
Love that black material it's made of! Parang tela so my feet don't get hot. 
I also like this hole! It makes slipping on the shoe much easier.

The GOwalk 3 has Goga Mat™ Technology. That means it has high-rebound cushioning—walking on marshmallows, I keep saying, and it still feels like it! It also has Memory Form Fit design. That means the foam padding around the heel doesn't flatten with use. So I can keep on walking and walking and walking!

 When I turn over my GOwalk 3, I see pink circles. That's not just decoration. Those are the GOimpulse and GO Pillar sensors that provide more flexibility. I read that it also gives you feedback for a more responsive walking experience. I don't know how that works so I can't explain it but I do feel like my body feels better—like I don't get tired easily from walking. I guess that means my body is responding on its own to the shoes. It also helps that these shoes are super light. When you pick them out sa store shelves, it feels weird at first how light they are. Like I think, "Are these strong enough? They're practically weightless!" Guys, they are super strong. I've read reviews from marathon runners attesting to the strength and durability, comfort and flexibility of Skechers.

Love them! Go get a pair now, too! Even my sons love their Skechers. I'll do a post on their shoes soon!

 Check out the Skechers GOwalk 3 at the following Skechers stores: Glorietta 2, TriNoma, Ayala Fairview Terraces, SM North Edsa The Annex, SM Mall of Asia, Robinsons Galleria, Robinsons Place Manila, Gateway Mall, Lucky Chinatown, Market Market, Festival Mall, Alabang Town Center, SM Fairview, SM Dasmarinas, Paseo Sta. Rosa, Marquee Mall, SM Pampanga, SM Clark, Ayala Center Cebu, SM City Cebu, SM Davao, Centrio Mall Cagayan de Oro and LimKetKai Mall CDO. Also available at SM Stores: SM Makati, SM Manila, SM Megamall and SM North EDSA.

Visit Skechers on Facebook! Follow @SkechersPH on Twitter and Instagram! 

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