Trick or Treat 2011

I took a vacation leave just to be chaperon for the day since no one will take the kids trick or treating if I don't. Yep, I'm the resident alalay (stage sister / stage mother.)

Here are some shots of the event. I'm too tired to tell more. LOL. 

with Bridezilla

with the Toy Story Gang

who says I'm scared?

Professor McGonagall, I think.

with the Dragonball Z dude

at Pizza Hut!

Puss in Boots

I got all 8 on the first day it was released. Yep, I have no EQ or rather, really low EQ. Hahahaha.

birthday greeting "cards"

I asked for some birthday greetings because I participated in one with Gasoline Dude before. It was kinda fun sending a photo with a greeting to someone I used to just read about on the net.

Luckily, there were 7 who sent me birthday "cards." For a first timer, I think I did pretty well.

To the seven people who sent me their greetings, thank you! I am in awe of your kindness and creativity.

Rafol's Draw of Thoughts

Purple Doll

Sabrina Fairchild

Gasoline Dude

Manong Calbo

Distilling Thoughts

Madmader

 Thank you everyone! MWAH!

the best gift ...

playing with puzzles

Last night, before I went to bed at around 3am, I was thinking back to the times when I was a kid and presents really mattered. I realized that as one grows older, the presents don't matter as much anymore. Yes, they are still welcome but other things start to matter more.

Last night, when I laid down on my bed and saw my son, I realized that he truly is the best gift I have ever received. I uttered a prayer to God to help me become a better Mom to him. I uttered a prayer of thanks and gratitude.

I may not have everything that I want in life but I do have everything that I need. Most of all, I have my son and that is the only thing that matters.

31 things to do in one year ...

For my past birthdays, I made a compilation of 28 great moments in my life, 29th was years of blessings, and how 30' rocked. This year, I was wondering what I would write about on my birthday and up until a few minutes into my birthday, I had no clue at all.

Luckily, the stars were smiling at me. I realized that for this year, instead of writing about things that I learned or done, I will write about 31 things that I will do on my 31st year. I hope that by the time my 32nd year comes up, I will have accomplished every single one on the list that I will write tonight.

1. join at least 6 charity events and do volunteer work .. it's time to give back 
2. have a nest egg of at least 50k 
3. be fit and healthy (lose the tummy, tone all over, lose 30lbs) 
4. travel to an Asian country 
5. go back to Boracay 
6. have a real party for B's 7th birthday 
7. own either a DSLR, iPad, or laptop 
8. go on a date with B once a month for 12 months straight 
9. not cut my hair and curl it once its long enough to be curled 
10. read 50 books 
11. get an article published 
12. scrapbook all photos from 2008 - 2011 
13. finish The Lovers and have it framed 
14. photo shoot for myself
15. get my film and blog club as official PEx clubs 
16. watch 100 movies 
17. write 20 poems 
18. get our family portraiture done 
19. create a photo blog and place one photo entry a week (that's 52 photos in a year)
20. attend Cinemalaya 2012 
21. buy another bookshelf 
22. do 24 random acts of kindness
23. conduct a photo shoot for others 
24. be a wedding singer 
25. get a white board to show off my magnet collection 
26. redress my cork board to show more positivity  
27. do my Monday affirmations and muni muni at least 2x a month 
28. watch Mama Mia the Musical 
29. be more active in the blogging community  
30. take one really great photo of my son that I'll have blown up and framed 
31. LOVE MYSELF! 

Whew! It took me almost 3 hours to write but now I have a list that I need to finish off. Happy 31st birthday to me. :)

Nuffnang Blog Awards, Here I Come

I've always blogged for myself. My blog served as an outlet for me to let go of the negative feelings that I have. Eventually, it became about sharing my experiences as a Mom and to talk about my son, B. It then evolved to talking about my passion,  my family, friends, and latest would be food places that I have been to.

My blog is now almost 6 years old and it has been only in the last year or so that I have promoted it, created a facebook page, and placed ads on it. I may have an old blog but I am still fairly new to the blogging community and how it goes.

If I could attend the Nuffnang Blog Awards, it would be a great milestone for me and a real eye opener. I will get the chance to meet other bloggers and learn tips and experiences from them. I can grow as a blogger as well as a person for this experience will surely enrich me.

Imagine, come 16 December 2011, 500 bloggers from around the Asia-Pacific region will flock to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the Nuffnang Asia-Pacific Blog Awards 2011 in Putrajaya Marriott. The Awards aims to not only honour the region's best bloggers, but also to bring together blogger communities from across Asia-Pacific. The Nuffnang Asia-Pacific Blog Awards is brought to you by Volkswagen Malaysia and Putrajaya Marriott.

With these kind of aims and goals, any blogger who will attend will be experiencing a once in a lifetime opportunity. As a newbie on the blogging community, this could open doors for me and teach me things I'd never learn on my own. 

I don't have a top 3 reason but if I need to enumerate, it would be the following: 

1.  life lessons to be learned during the experience 
2. doors being opened in the blogging community 
3. I'd savor every moment and  cherish it forever. 

I do hope that I will be given the chance. I may not be somebody in the blogging world but I am someone who will be forever grateful for this opportunity.

Get Involved!

I am appalled at how people have become so afraid of getting involved that they would just pass by. A few weeks ago, I heard the news about the toddler in China being run over, not once but twice, and no one helped her out. The toddler is now dead.

A lot of people saw it happen and yet no one helped out. They say its called the bystander effect. I don't understand and I don't believe it. I will never ever just watch as someone is harassed or abducted or is in an accident.

I am not a saint. I am not even overly good but I do have some humanity in me, enough to care about other people; yes, even a random stranger.

Please, get involved. A lot of people have died (like Kitty Genovese) and been abducted because we refuse to be involved. Let's start to care again and be humans. We are humans and these people need us. Who knows? One day, you might be needing help as well.

pre-trick or treat

We had our trick or treat at work yesterday but sadly, I was not able to bring B since I had work. To make up for it, my coworkers had me take home a bag full of candies and chocolates. I gave it to B and my little sister this morning and this is what happened.

We're still going trick or treating if not tomorrow, which is my birthday, then on Monday. Happy weekend everyone!

date a personal blogger only if ....

Date a personal blogger only if you are ready to be written about. Personal bloggers you see are not like the techie bloggers who share information that could be useful in your daily life (like how to turn on the computer or not use a brush as stencil for your iPad.) They are also not like the Mommy bloggers who share tips about child raising and rearing or housekeeping. Personal bloggers blog about their life, their emotions, and whatever they are going through. They blog about their family, friends, kids, work at times (be careful not to blog about the woes though; as they say, what goes on the net, stays forever) and most of all, their love lives.

Date a personal blogger only if you are ready to be seen by the world. Personal bloggers will take photos and post it on their blogs. This is a good thing if you have been a good person to them. Now, if you broke their hearts like the last a-hole that I dated did ... have FEAR. You see, he told me to never blog him and I said I wouldn't, unless he gives me a reason to (you know, like if he breaks my heart into tiny little pieces which he did.) So to you mister: you lied, I blog. Touche. 

Date a personal blogger only if you are ready to share some moments with a lot of strangers. Personal blogs are like diaries. It is used to remember and capture scenes that happened as well as immortalize memories. They will set in stone (or at least until the hosting stays) and could be gone back to in years. I plan to print out  some key articles here and book bind it.

Date a personal blogger most of all if you do not intend to break her heart. Personal bloggers will write about it because it is one way to let the pain go. Writing about the heartache and heartbreak serves as a release and a reminder that the douche bag you fell in love with is really not Prince Charming. He's not even a frog.  Frogs are cute. 

Most of all, date a personal blogger like me only if you should be dating and not sneaking around pretending to be eligible when you are not. I will write about you, I will blog about you, I will put a photo of you on my blog, and most of all, I will tell the world about the callous way you broke my heart. This is just an introduction on the next heartbreak story that I will write about. As with the others, no names will be dropped but all gory details shall be posted.


So to the men out there, date a personal blogger only if you are ready to be written about.

B is for budding artist

B was given a box before by a friend of mine.

He didn't immediately liked it and it was stuck somewhere in my room. Lately, he seems to find it interesting and has created a few drawings.

This is a collage of what he made. To see the bigger picture ...

a bunny

spider and a goldfish

cockateel?

 I think he has talent. What do you think?

request

Please pray for my grandfather whom I call Papa Pino. He was rushed to the hospital in Cebu where he lives. Prayers badly needed.

31st pre-birthday celebration

The twins asked me what I wanted for my birthday ... to go shopping or to dine out. I immediately answered with shopping because I needed new clothes. Yesterday, the entire flock went to Alabang Town Center.

We went around Kamiseta and a few other stores, ending at People are People which was a resident favorite store of ours especially when I was still thin. My brothers got me the following:

6 inch heels

Afterwards, we had dinner at Fish and Co. because my Mom wanted their Fish and Chips.

a slushie with papaya and calamansi ... it was GOOD!

my son enjoying his Chicken Tenders

chicken and shrimp parmigiana pasta

We trooped to Starbucks next and final stop for me was Serenitea which my Mom totally hated.

It was a great evening spent with family. Love it!