Merry Christmas!!!

I've been awfully busy since I arrived two weeks ago hence no updates and hellos.

For two weeks, I had to settle down and create a base in one of my sister's house. Alternating in three houses (to be with all of my sisters and their families, my parents and brother) were a bit too tasking for me so I had to choose a base for the next months I will be staying here in Chicago.
When I was a bit settled in, I got busy with my jewelry orders from friends and organizing my supplies. On top of that I had to make the transition of finding a new OB for me and with all the check-ups, lab works, appointments...well, let's just say the dust hasn't settled in yet. :/

But it's Christmas! So I'm determined to enjoy the festivities for the next days.

So excited for the coming year (as I always am) but even so much more because a little boy is coming that will change everything. =)

Its snowing already!

...and I'm missing someone very much. =)

Hello!

Nyarks, it's been almost a month since I last wrote here.

To say the past few weeks were a flurry of activities is an understatement. I am still trying to wade through all the dust settling from all the happenings. I promise to write more often starting this week. I just have to organize all my mess into a more tolerable jumble. =)

I'm in Chicago now and I know I left without telling a lot of people. It's just that until the last week before leaving, I didn't have a ticket yet and had to finish and delegate everything for the next months. Busy, busy, busy!

And people who know me well know for a fact that though I love talking about feelings and whatnots---I rarely talk about plans. I feel like the only time to tell people about something is when its at least finally happening. =)

I'm gearing up for the next few weeks. =) I'll be posting more fun stuff, hopefully.

busy bee

The past few days had been very busy for me since my sister and her family will be coming here this Sunday, I had to oversee a few repairs in the house, finish two wedding accounts and some of my new stuff for the shop this holiday season.

I'm so glad to have my energy back. My second trimester is a breeze. I'm at my happiest when I'm busy.
I still have a gazillion things to do for my shop since I went on a sort of "break" during my first trimester, I now have so much waiting for me. Since most, if not all of my items are customized or made to order, I'm still trying to limit myself from accepting too much but the thing is I'm much happier when I'm tinkering with something.

I'm presently also doing a very special project for one of my very best friends for her wedding in New Jersey. I'll be posting everything once they are done. I hope you'll love them, Therese. :*

The Doll Collection

I've always liked cutesy things made into accessories. It's just fun to collect something like these charms more than wearing them all the time.

I have more dolls coming up and can't wait to share them at my shop. For now, meet my new Matryoshka and Kokeshi collection. =)

Please go to my online shop: Charmed Life for more whimsical, collectible accessories.

Belle De Jour Power Planner 2012

Days go by so fast! I can't believe it’s the second week of November already! It's hustle time for us and definitely will be a busy, busy month. I'm happy though because I love it when I'm busier and on my toes.

I can't wait for my Yanca and Zekie's visit here in the Philippines!

Starbucks has already officially started with their planner promo last week and though I also collect stickers and get myself a planner every year, I'm more excited with getting my Belle de Jour Planner for 2012. I got myself one two Saturdays ago, a day after it became available in malls. I buy it mainly for the discount coupons---which makes the planner at PhP 598 totally worth it.

I have been collecting Belle de Jour planners since they first started in 2007 and I can say it fits my personal style more. It's OC yet girly and fun which I like to believe describe me. =) See? It even matches my Sarah wallet perfectly!

With my old 2011 Power Planner--Naka plastic cover pa! I'm really OC when it comes to these things. :/ If you see what's inside, everything is organized and itemized!

For more info, visit their facebook page or their official site.

BTW, My Doll Collection is now up in Charmed Life Shop. Will be uploading more pieces and collection for the Holiday Season. =) Visit my facebook page and online shop for more whimsical and collectible pieces.

Next week, next week.

I feel like my life is on hold right now even though we have so much to do specially this month. I've been waiting for something this November and until that comes, I feel like I'm at a stand still.

The past few weeks were spent de-clutterring and closing a chapter in our lives. I'm still not done clearing out 25-year-old worth of stuff in the house. I'm still not done cleaning out the closets and organizing the rooms. We still need a few repairs here and there that I've been meaning to finish before my third trimester begins. This is the best time to do this before I get so much bigger and moving around, or more appropriately waddling around the house will be too much of a hassle.

I'm so raring to go and start shopping for new stuff for the baby, the house and just basically turn over a new leaf. But before doing all those things, I need to get rid first of the old and the unnecessaries.
I'm barely hanging on by a thread, summoning all self-control not to start shopping yet for baby things.

My plans for the week:
1. Hold a Charity Garage Shop--everything will be for free! I'll be giving away my old stuff and old clothes and all the surplus in the house.

2. Finish at least two closets.

3. Start decorating the baby boy's room.

This week should be fun. =)

Your Love is Healing

I love, love, love this song...



This is one of my favorite songs ever and I always listen to whenever I'm lost for words in Praying.

It's the song that I always listen to whenever I'm going through something difficult.

I remember playing it over and over again last year during my saddest times. I can't believe it's been a year since. A lot of things can happen in a year.
I'm grateful though because experiencing rough times makes me more appreciative of my blessings and makes me savor my happy times even more.
I can't wait to see you, my son. =)

"Be still and know that I am God."

I may not always understand Him but I will always Trust in HIM.

Just my humble opinion.

Calling a baby, any baby ugly is so tasteless. If you can’t help it, just keep it to yourself specially if you are not all that gorgeous.

People may tell me to lighten up, that’s its just a joke and just to inject some humor to a review but somehow jokes like that worries me. If that’s how we “lighten things up” then I ‘d rather be dark and brooding.
I mean if you can’t see beauty in an innocent little baby then that scares me with how your mind works.
There's a difference between being honest and being mean.

I think adults making fun of babies and kids is the worst form of being a meanie and a bully.
I feel bad for the parents of that baby they say is ugly. I’m not even a parent yet but it bothers me to hear remarks like that.
Can you just imagine what the parents of that baby will feel when they read that or hear that from someone else?

As a nurse, during hospital duties, I see babies with deformities or many tubes and wires attached to their bodies but whenever I see their parents cooing and cuddling them, I realize all they see is their beautiful baby, nothing else.

All babies are beautiful, not just for the physical attributes but what they represent: innocence and a world of possibilities.

Its mean people and bullies who are ugly.

Something a wee more special this Christmas

Rubies. The stone of fire and passion.

One of the most beautiful and feminine stones, Ruby represents beauty, power and femininity.

Just like Diamonds, prices of rubies are primarily determined by color. The brightest and most valuable "red" called pigeon blood-red, commands a huge premium over other rubies of similar quality. After color follows clarity: similar to diamonds, a clear stone will command a premium, but a ruby without any needle-like rutile inclusions may indicate that the stone has been treated. Cut and carat (weight) are also an important factor in determining the price.

(Image from Wikipedia)

Naturally occurring Ruby crystals are now available in my Charmed Life shop. This is more of the pink-grey variety not used as a fine jewelry. But I personally think, the inclusions actually add character and the color is just as charming and lovely.
Prices depend on mm size and gram weight. For more information, please email charmed_life_by_isa@yahoo.com

9mm, 39 grams

Proud Ate

My little brother's 9 artworks have been published in Artsonia and been chosen to exhibit in Illinois State Fair. He uses different mediums and supplies such as tins, ceramics, plaster and many more to create his art.

These are just some of his work from middle school:

I do believe this one is my adorable nephew Zekie, hehe.

This one's really simple but I just love the solid colors and the happy vibe, so festive!

I'm so proud of you Kuya Josh! I love you so much. Being so far away from you is one of the hardest things. Be a good boy and take care of Mama and Papa well. As the only man in the family aside from Papa, you are in charge. Set a good example to your "minions." =))

Happy birthday! =*

"It's All According to Whom"

I must admit I had been following this certain local gossip blog that talks about celebrities and personalities without giving up their names for some months now.
It’s actually a very clever site since no names are named, no pictures are posted, no blatant giveaways of the people being talked about, the writer actually gets away with the most notorious write ups of well-known people. You only get to guess the blind item with the readers’ comments that are as cleverly veiled.

Sometimes, I do feel bad for the people being written about but somehow, the brain junk food became a daily guilty pleasure for me; if not merely for reading the juicy stuff but for the addicting guessing game.

But really, how far and deep can you get into a game?

I remember some years ago accompanying Paolo to his photo shoot for a corporate print ad.
I saw this familiar girl as one of the staff of the ad agency handling the project.
Figuring out she was a Sienan therefore a former schoolmate in grade school; I gave her a friendly smile. She went up to me and we started chatting. I couldn’t for the life of me at that time remember her name although I knew she was from a younger batch. So we started exchanging pleasantries and small talk when her colleague came up to her to ask for something. She turned to me to introduce us and nonchalantly said,

“Si Isabel, ex-girlfriend ng Kuya ko.”

I almost choked on my own spit and breath upon hearing that.
All I could muster up was a weak “ha?”

I was utterly annoyed and shocked not merely because of the rude introduction (I was after all with my then future-husband and the star “mowdil”), but also of such untruth.

Sure, I did entertain some prospects in the past but I pride myself on saying I never gave away my yes so easily. In fact, though I may be an early-bloomer then physically which may have given people who didn’t know me the wrong notion; I was actually branded too many times as a nerd by people who did know me.

Save for one unremarkable relationship in College before Paolo, I never had boyfriends. My family takes relationships so seriously; we never got around having “secret boyfriends.”
Men were only branded as boyfriends if they are somebody we see ourselves marrying. Now that’s a scary thought, yes even for girls.
So two of my sisters married their first boyfriends. That’s how serious it was for us.

Turned out her brother was this little boy who had nice smiling eyes. He used to give me homemade cards and paper weights way, way back in FIFTH GRADE, during that time when I love you’s were uttered to mean “I have a crush on you.”

Now I remember, I did sat with him on the red tables in our grade school dining area…but goodness, I never thought such a hoydenish act branded him the title and I, a colorful fifth-grader past I couldn’t even recall.
I mean Grade five?! There were no cellphones or even pagers for students during that time to even communicate and maintain a fifth-grader relationship.

Goodness gracious. Now what concerned me about this little fiasco was the fact that the sister was so confident enough to call that out in my face. Thinking about it now, I realize she wasn’t being rude, in her heart she thought that was the truth.
She’s younger and was in 4th grade then, after all an 8-year-old wouldn’t know much about the sophisticated courtship of fifth-graders. :/

Now it makes me think about the grey areas and relativity of truth. We only see something from the angle it is revealed to us or opinions of others passed on as facts. Oftentimes we fall to the trap of thinking that perception IS truth.

But really, we see something not for what it is but for what we are.

Going back to the gossip column I was talking about, it makes me cringe to read the obnoxious comments by various anonymous readers who make it seem like what they know based from a classmate of a colleague’s sister’s friend as a truth and nothing but. Yes siree, that’s enough to make them a credible source.

But what makes me cringe even more is thinking how many more stories floating around about anyone that has been passed on first as an opinion and now as an anecdote. We can never really know.

There is only one truth and many variations stemming out because of different perceptions and opinions.

The sad thing is, everyone may not know that truth but everyone has an opinion.

"It is exactly because a man cannot do a thing that he is a proper judge of it”. –Oscar Wilde

It's all about food.

Last week, I suddenly craved for good old smoked ribs, particularly the ones from my Bro-in-law, Kerwin's Mall BQ in Illinois.

I love their recipe because it tastes so simple and straightforward, just basically all about good cooking.
Pao absolutely loves the smoked flavor and we both don't like a lot of sauce on our ribs so Mall BQ's ribs are the best ribs we've had so far.
I really sound like an ad voice over but it's really that good maybe also because we get the best and the first dibs from Kuya Kerwin himself. =)

Anyway, So last week I had this strong craving for some smoked ribs. I really don't know where to find a similar taste like Mall BQ's because all the Smoked Ribs I've tasted so far in Manila were all smothered with thick, sweet sauce (What's up with that?).

After driving around for sometime, Pao and I decided to try out 145° Fahrenheit in IL Terrazo Mall at Tomas Morato.

Their ad says they are "French inspired Neo-American steakhouse that combines excellent food and polished service all in a comfortable atmosphere."

We had the usual soup and salad before the main meal and I can say I really, really liked the house salad as well as the Pumpkin soup, I was tempted to ask for more but had to restrain myself to make some room for my smoked Ribs.

As usual, just as I expected, my BBQ ribs were smothered in thick and sweet sauce. *Sigh.

It was good although not the taste that I was looking for. =/ They have big portions though and I love how the side veggies are perfectly cooked---something that's often overlooked in other restaurants.

Pao's Lamb shank was actually better. I love how the Lamb is perfectly cooked and was delicately flavored, something a Lamb lover appreciates.

For more info about 145° Fahrenheit click here and for the menu, click here.

***********************

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my most fab sister, Tiffany! =* Cheers to another year of adventures, laughters, lessons and Chanel! I love you!

Panawagan po

Seeing my cousins and siblings gallivanting around Illinois during my favorite season (Fall) makes me so jealous. I love apple-picking, visiting a pumpkin patch, the colder (but tolerable) weather, Halloween and just overall the colors, the scents and flavors of fall.

Seeing all their fall pictures makes me crave for candy apples.

I know it's easy to make for some people but I'm craving for a particular one being sold in Westbrook Market back in Downers Grove. *Sigh. Please, please, please, PAGING MY FAMILY AND RELATIVES IN ILLINOIS please send me Green Candy apples from Westbrook, the ones smothered with just caramel and nuts, nothing more.

Thankyouverymuch.

Tomorrow is not guaranteed to anyone.

Rest well, Sonny.

Sadness always comes when we hear of people passing away, more so with young people who meets death early on. More than leaving memories that will never be enough, they leave people and their own little world behind.

Tomorrow is not guaranteed for anyone. So live life everyday, and make each moment count. Life is too short and beautiful to live in regrets and resentment.

I only go by one rule that guides me in life and achieving my dreams: To be the kind of person I am happy to spend the rest of my life with.

Today I am more reminded of my little dogma in life. We don't really know how long the rest of our lives are. May it be 5 short days or 80 long years, I want to be that person that I am happy to live with and that person that makes her life count.

John 11:25-26 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”

Organic Soaps

Lately I'm more maarte than usual, that's the only difference I noticed since I got pregnant. =) I'm enjoying dressing up and primping myself while growing bigger by the day.

Since I got pregnant I changed to using Organic soaps. More than the benefits of using something organic and helping mother earth, using organic soaps for some reason makes my baths feel more luxurious and feminine.

So now, I've been hoarding on a lot of handmade soaps. I don't really have a sensitive skin but I've noticed switching to these soaps make my skin so much softer without that tight feeling. I've researched about the difference of using commercial soaps and organic soaps and found out that commercial soaps are almost the same with detergent soaps--they only add moisturizers and scents.

I love, love, love Lush Products, although a bit pricey, I find their soaps really worth the money. The soaps don't lather well but Lush products are quite packed with the moisturizing and organic ingredients. My favorites so far are the Sultana of Soaps and one of their popluar products, Honey, I washed the Kids. This is my favorite scent ever. It didn't smell so good while I was trying it out in the Store probably because of the other strong scents mingling inside the Lush shop (you know this if you pass by any of their stores) but once you lather with this soap in the shower, it's just so amazing.

Since I got pregnant I've also been using Creamy soaps with Cocoa butter such as their Lemslip, A Ring of Roses and body scrub Sugar Babe. I also love their scrub body butters particularly the Aqua Mirabilis.

I really have to restrain myself from hoarding more soaps since organic soaps expire after some time. But once you start, it's hard to stop. It's just so addicting to try out everything! I have so many soaps in my bathroom right now, it's crazy.

After researching about local organic soap brands, I came upon the brand Embodyment. There are a lot of good local brands such as Ilog Maria. I love the Ilog Maria soaps but only get to buy these stuff when I'm in Tagaytay.
I have yet to try the Embodyment soaps that I ordered online. They all smell so yummy too.

So many soaps, so little time! These are just few of my unopened ones since most of them are now sitting in my shower. =)

Weekend ♥

Friday night, Saturday and Sunday are all about Food and Love. =)

Homecooked Wednesdays

The lack of updates is due to me running around my little world the past week. I had to man a few repairs and construction being made in the house, help out a cousin who is a minor (I'm the guardian) work on some things while slowly easing my way back to my normal workload in my shop. Whew.

When we were just dating, we used to call Wednesdays as Isabel's day and made sure we go out somewhere a bit more fancy than the usual. Now, because of Pao's heavy schedule, we only have late dinners so most of the days of the week are spent having dinner somewhere to spend some quality time. We rarely eat at home so now I make sure Wednesdays are for home-cooked meals.

Last Wednesday, I suddenly craved for my mama's Binagoongang Pork with eggplant. So I decided to make my own. It was my first attempt and I'm happy to report, it was a success!

Use 1 kilo of Pork chopped into cubes and cooked with 3 cups of water and a cup of vinegar, add bayleaf and whole peppercorns. Wait until the meat is tender.

In a saucepan, I always use EVOO for my cooking oil and sauté the pork with 2 cloves of chopped garlic and a head of onion. Add 3/4 cup of Shrimp paste and 2 heads of medium-sized tomatoes. Add some water/vinegar from where the pork boiled until tender. Add some spices, depending on your preferences although I found out I like it a bit spicy so I add siling labuyo, Morton spices, a bit of sugar. Slice the eggplants and add.

I found out the taste really depends on the Shrimp paste you are going to use. Also make sure the pork is really tender--it makes all the difference! =)

Oh baby, the places you will go...

Last week, we woke up very early Saturday morning. It was the day we will find out about what we are having as our first child.


This is me all spiffed up. I didn't know that me wanting to wear a blue dress that day was actually a sign! ;)
I lost another 2 pounds upon check up. Although my OB wasn't too concerned about it since the baby is growing on time. Goodness I lost so much weight since the beginning of my pregnancy! Surprisingly, I don't have the same appetite as before. I was expecting I'll be more voracious but no.



We were the first couple at my Doctor's clinic! Yay!

It didn't take too long to see what we are having. The little peanut proudly showed Mama and Papa that he is no doubt, a boy!

Paolo and I were just bubbling with joy the whole time, laughing for no apparent reason while just looking at the screen and seeing our baby move. I looked at my husband and saw his face lit up upon hearing "It's a boy!"



It didn't sink in at first but after a while...I got nervous. I was expecting that we were having a girl and for a while, I felt a bit lost. I was so confident before specially when people warn me about the first time having kids.

I'm so used to taking care of baby girls. I took care of my two nieces, a newborn Cheska and even spent one summer in Chicago during my school break babysitting a baby girl.
I thought of my brother Josh but its been a long time and I was also young when he was born. My relationship with him is more of a "barkada."

It will also be the first time in Pao's side that they are having a boy for a first child.
It is very exciting and new yet a bit scary now that it has sunk in. It is only now that we realize that oh my, we are really having a baby and a baby boy at that.

They say raising a baby boy is much easier than raising a girl. Maybe because of the cleaning up and dressing up part, people are more relaxed with boys. But now I'm thinking how do you find the balance with raising a man?

How do you comfort a boy without coddling him? How do you raise a strong boy yet a sensitive one? How do I teach him to soar his wings yet remain grounded?

I'm getting ahead of myself! For now, I will just enjoy and look forward to a little baby and trust that we will learn along the way.