Holidays 2013

I can't believe 2013 is almost over. It went by so fast. I wrote only a total of 15 entries for the whole year here. It went by in a blur because of the flurry of activities. We are back in Chicago for family and the holidays. Its been two weeks but It feels like its been just 5 days. Time goes by so fast.

Coming here was almost impossible, a day before our flight, we were still at the Immigration office in Manila, waiting for Hunter's exit clearance. I thought we will not be able to make it on time. *Whew. For now I am on a much needed hiatus from all the concerns back in Manila.

Some Holiday Snippets:

holiday activities with the munchkins

Hot chocolate on a snowy morning

My little family

On a hunt for a good shabu-shabu. We craved for one because of the weather!

Beautiful Christmas tree in the heart of downtown Chicago

Holiday Staples: Prime Rib and Ham! Yum.

Hunter waiting for Santa

I think we did a good job with our ginger bread houses

Hearth and Home

Holiday activities with the girlies

Somebody knows he's been a little naughty this year!

Motherhood and Holidays

I’ve always been conscious about not turning my blog into a “tutorial” of some sorts. I will feel embarrassed to do so. Sure, I can share some items that I’m loving, a few recipes here and there but not a “how-to-do-this” blog, especially about motherhood. Never that.

The reason for this is because I am also learning and I will be forever learning. I’ve read something when I was pregnant about that mommy guilt that automatically gets built-in, the moment you give birth and I couldn’t agree more. No matter how hard we try, at the end of the day we always ask ourselves: are we doing it right? Are we giving enough?

I’ve been feeling this way, the past few days months. This year has been a really busy year for my business and although I am so thankful for all the blessings, there’s always this small voice at the back of my head nudging reminding me that I am a wife and mom first. No matter how far we’ve come as women, doing everything, being everything, I guess there will always be that “mommy guilt” when you get too busy and juggle everything and justify that’s its all for your children.

Heh. Anyway, I’ve been reading so many articles about how different it is raising a boy. Hunter is now at that age when his personality is really emerging and he is now a big ball of energy bouncing all over the place.  I’m trying my best to keep up. I know there is no right formula about parenting but it won’t hurt to read as much as we can and just apply whatever works for us.

From all the articles I’ve been reading girls generally follow rules easier, stay put longer and focus on school and excel academically. Sometimes the challenge is not to fall into the trap of comparing our son to the girls in his class/group. Everyone develops at their own pace—and it all evens out in the end.

Personally, I am happy that I have a boy as my first child. Growing up with three sisters, I know how girls develop and mature earlier than boys. I like to think that him being the first child automatically makes him more responsible because he is in-charge. He will have that “first-child” personality.

“You may think you’ve birthed a baby boy, but you just gave the world another man.”

Anyway, my body clock is all messed up right now. I have less than two weeks to finish my big projects and all Christmas orders as well as finalizing all the details of the new store. After all this hoopla, I will slow down and enjoy the rest of the holidays. I promise.

Speaking of holidays. Yes, we celebrated Thanksgiving. I cooked everything! I’m proud to report that this mommy guilt does have its advantages if you wield it properly. After days of being so busy with projects and such, I was able to whip up Pumpkin Soup, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy from scratch together with Roasted Chicken and Apple pie. Nothing too fancy.

It may sound pretentious, celebrating Thanksgiving in the Philippines, I know. But I just want Hunter to grow up being aware about the basics even though he lives here. And really, we don’t need any holiday to be thankful everyday for all the blessings.

Our Charmed Life these days...

I can’t believe I have written only less than 30 entries this year in my blog.

The thing is, I have never worked this hard in my life than the last few months. Since I opened my shop, I have been running around so much I didn’t have time to log in my little cyber home. I missed it.

November 6 was supposed to be the grand opening of my shop in a new location, but because of the recent fire that happened in the east wing of Robinsons Galleria, we had to close shop for the next few weeks.

I was thinking of doing a blog about my new store as my “blogging comeback.” I was really excited about this new store. It’s not a lot bigger than the old one but there will be more display shelves for more options.

I still have to clean my display racks and jewelry holder due to the smoke from the fire that stained most of our furniture and displays. *Sigh.

For the holiday season we scheduled a weekly meet-up at a hotel near Paolo’s office to meet up with clients and resellers.

Makeshift shop. Do what you gotta do.

Holiday season is exhausting enough as it is, hauling stuff every week to a new location on top of meeting deadlines is just so physically draining. I can't wait to have a vacation.

I'm not complaining though. I love what I do, I think part of why I really push myself all the time is because of that love. I don't do it because I have to but because I want to.

I also do it all for this little guy here.

He makes it all worth it. 

I love you more than ever.

So much has been said already, all I can say is I've never felt I love this country more than the past few days. I'm in awe of the Filipino spirit.

Shopgirl

Oh wow! I missed logging in here. Life has been very, very busy.

Just today, both of my girls are on leave so I am the shopgirl for the whole day.

Took photos while making this entry. Hello!

Weekends are spent running around doing errands. I miss so many people I haven't seen for a while because we are either too busy or too tired to make plans anymore.

Our shop now offers custom fine jewelry which I'm very, very excited about. This is in collaboration with Silver Spoon Gems owned by our very good friend, Remy.

I'm excited about this for so many reasons, one of them is because Remy is friends with Paolo since College and her husband is actually Paolo's best friend. So there are more reasons to see each other. "Business meetings" also mean play dates, dinner and hanging out. I love it!

Here are just some of the pieces we came out with:

Birth stone rings

Colorful birthstone cocktail rings

I loooove this. Pink Sapphire set which is a Silver Spoon Gem original. We will be coming out with Gemstone Engagement ring collection soon!

Promise rings with birthstones

More photos are posted in our Facebook page. =)

Jewelry and Cosmetics and Everything In Between.

One of the things I had been busy with the past few weeks was scouting for an additional collection or products that I will be carrying in our shop and all the trade shows. As I have blogged before, I sort of went into the cosmetics direction since I love makeup. I've been toying with the idea of trying out something new but still something fun and something I know and more importantly, love.

One thing I was sure of was carry a local brand. The brand Beauty Cosmetics is perfect. The owner, Rosenn who is just a terrific entrepreneur knows her products really well. I'm just so glad we are their first physical store.

Speaking of our shop, I have been hot and cold for years regarding dabbling with real, precious jewelry. Aside from it being such a big investment, I still wanted to keep the personal element of our service which is customizing designs.

 This opportunity came in a few weeks back just days before Mothers' day which is so fitting with the kind of jewelry we will be coming out, You'll understand once we announce them and I'm excited! Hopefully, will be able to next week.

I know, I know it seems like I have no life aside from running my little business and still being a housewife. Jewelry and cosmetics sound so glam and fun but of course, I still wade through the creative and technical side of the business. Although I must admit, loving what I do so much makes it feel just like playing sometimes.

On the topic of playing, Hunter is now a busy, very active toddler and I'm proud to say I'm still hands-on and yaya-less.

I'm posting this at six in the morning while the boys are still sleeping and the house is still quiet. I guess I should take the opportunity to get a morning cup before my little stinker wakes up. =) Looking forward to a great Sunday and Fathers' day!  Happy Fathers' day to my Papa! =*

Hello...again.

Life has been very busy the past few weeks. Last month, I turned 29, my last year in my twenties. Somehow I suddenly felt an urgency to get my stuff together and finally do the things I have been putting off.

One of my goals is to open a shop before I turned 30. Now that I finally have crossed that off my list, we are off to the other ones we have been procrastinating with for the last 4 years. Paolo and I also celebrated our 10th anniversary last month. So you can say last May was one of the most eventful months of my life.

We were finally able to squeeze in some R and R last weekend. Its a no-brainer, of course. Where else? Tagaytay.

We were able to book a room the last minute. I'm so happy that Hunter is such a laid-back baby. He doesn't need a lot of fuss. As long as he knows we're near, he's all good. I guess all those months of not caving in and getting a full-time nanny, we were able to find that groove we are all happy with. I am much more comfortable that way, surprisingly.

Hunter's all good in his nook with his favorite Little Einsteins.

Tagaytay of course means food galore. We were only able to take photos of the salad and pizza at Buon Giorno at The Cliffhouse. We were only too excited to finish them off. :/

Foie Gras Insalata

Prosciutto Pizza

Hunter thinks his foot is yummier.

It was Hunter's first time to swim! =)

We have a jam-packed schedule. Exciting times ahead means more stuff to post about although that also means less time to do exactly that. =/

I'll try harder though. I really missed writing here. I hope all of my three readers have missed me too. Hehe.

Hello...

Honestly, I don't know how to blog anymore. It's been more than two months since my last post!
A lot of things happened the past few weeks. But I've been really busy mainly because of this...

I just recently opened a shop in Robinsons Galleria. Right now, I am still trying to keep up with all the bustle of this new chapter in my life.

We will be here until October of this year, until then everything is still up in the air because knowing how I am, I can't be away from my family in Chicago for more than a year. =)

Anyway, we are still adjusting but happy that we are able to do this. Here's to new adventures ahead!

Hello, its been a while...

Three weeks! Goodness gracious, that's the longest I have gone without writing anything in my blog. The past months, I've been really neglecting this little cyber home and I must say, I'm sorry. I miss writing here, I miss visiting and just typing away little random thoughts.

So hello again. I don't want to say it over and again but yes, I had been really busy. My sister's family came and those three weeks were packed to the brim with so many activities.

I miss my spunky Cheskapooh bear again so much. Three weeks is so short.

Hunter's Vintage Carnival party was a success. I can be such an OC with many things in my life especially when it involves details, so you can just imagine how I was with the first birthday party of my first born.
 I have always wanted a vintage carnival theme for Hunter's party. No fuss, no cartoon characters. We wanted a retro, backyard feel that the kids would enjoy and the adults would feel nostalgic about.

Sometimes it gets a bit tricky when planning parties since I can be really particular with things---I remember planning my wedding: I was so particular with the no mums, no leaves policy.
I guess it makes it easier for the planners and suppliers, but sometimes I must admit, it can be a bit trying.
I'm thankful though with my very capable event planner, Stephanie of Dishful Gourmet. She is first a friend then an event planner/caterer so she knows me well enough to understand when I get into my control freak mode. :/
I loved all the details but what I really loved even more was seeing all the little kids enjoying and seeing all our friends celebrating with us. It was an afternoon of blessing and joy.

The charm lies in the little details. I love the vintage touch of the boards, the food carts and the simple balloonderitas that went really well with our high, wooden ceiling.

I especially loved the personalized details. "Hunter's firsts" was definitely a hit! Even our veteran magician host commended me about that booth. It wasn't something he sees very often in parties.  It was a nice touch.Worked well for a mommy like me who keeps just about the littlest things! Sometimes the best way to wow your guests is not through the "bongga" details but the personal touch.

Photos of Hunter's monthly "birthdays" with Mr. Wiggles--the teddy bear we took photos of with Hunter every month to see his monthly progress were displayed by the entrance.

Welcome to the ONEderful party! =)

I had so much fun planning Hunter's birthday. I live for these little "projects" in my life. I can't for the life of me, imagine having to do the same thing over and over and over again for the rest of my life. So I guess projects and events work well for me since it takes so much of my time and effort for a short while then I move on to the next. =)

We love you, Hunter! 

Speaking of little projects, I have many events, bazaars and trade shows lined up for the next few months which I'm totally excited about. We just finished with our first one for the year last weekend which I wasn't able to blog about because we were running around like headless chickens the past few days trying to finish everything.
My lovely Lovely, my ever-loyal personal assistant of four years left for a maternity leave so I was feeling the loss while trying to be on top of things.

I'm happy to report though that everything went well. We met old and new clients and did well with the  whole run.

My cousins were with me as usual and they made everything so much more fun and a whole lot easier. I love how this is a family affair. =) Hunter did his part by being such a cutie and his usual smiley self. People were asking me if he was for sale. =)

And what do I love almost as much as I love jewelry and accessories? Makeup! I also sold makeup in my booth. I've just recently started dipping my toes in the makeup world. I'm still wading my way through selling makeup but I think I'm loving it so far. Although I think I will be selling only through bazaars. I'm still working things out with my supplier. My problem though is I end up getting the makeup for myself! But we'll see, we'll see.

Anyway, this is such a long post already, I guess to make up for the last three weeks I've been awfully quiet. It is becoming such a busy year but I love it!