Friday, January 29, 2010

Piling on the pounds

Mariel and I were at Kate's atelier and we had such a fun time just choosing cloth swatches, designs, accessories. Well, the truth is Kate drew and drew and Mariel and I just oohed and clapped in delight. Why were we there? Mariel's wedding is coming up! So excited for my dear friend.

So I had my measurements taken for my gown and, let me tell ya, I'm a little alarmed at my size. Everything's about 3-5 inches bigger. Good for the boobies but the waist and hips? Yikes! It's not that I'm being vain. It's more like I feel this is a stranger's body. Last time I checked, my waist was 26; now it's 31! I guess if it was a gradual gain, I'd think nothing of it but, my goodness, every time I look in the mirror, I do a double take, "Who's that?!"

For the first time in my life, I've started thinking seriously about exercise and diets. I look at the Kardashian sisters' bodies for example (here's their pic when they did a Quick Trim review) and I find myself wondering if I'm ever going to need to work hard to get thin again.All my mommy friends tell me--almost gleefully--that, "No, you'll never get your body back!" and I feel a little sad. Not because I'm vain but because I like my body--the skinny, flat-chested, bony-kneed me. It's who I am and, despite being taunted for being a skeleton all my life, I really like my eat-all-I-can-yet-remain-skinny self.

I've always been super thin. I can spend the entire day at the buffet and not gain an ounce. I've never owned a weighing scale but, now that I'm pregnant, I got a nice bathroom scale that I step onto every morning and evening. That needle has climbed to 112 lbs. That's way beyond my average weight of 100 lbs--which is my 30's weight. In my 20's, I was an average of 95 lbs. In my late teens, I tipped it at 90 lbs. Nope, no eating disorder. My family and I are just naturally skinny. My husband is slim, too.

At the OB's office last week, my OBG told me I'm gaining too much weight and put me on a diet--more leaves and salads and grains, no more sweets and fatty stuff. I'm not even a fan of sweets and fatty stuff! I'm already eating less than I used to (blame the nausea)! Where on earth are the pounds coming from?

Curiouser and curiouser indeed. In other news, we're very excited about the baby. Vince says he can't wait to see me get big. I also want to see myself get big, but in the boob and tummy areas only. I'd like to look like Nicole Richie when she was pregnant. This is what I expect actually since my mother, when she was pregnant, always looked like she just swallowed a basketball. But with my fast weight gain and my OBG's confirmation that I am indeed piling it on, I don't think I'll be anything like Mama!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Now this is a magazine cover!


Thanks, GQ! Any magazine with Johnny Depp on its cover is the perfect magazine cover really. What a dreamboat!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

There is no Plan B

I think I'm finally enjoying my pregnancy. I say that cautiously because, well, I never know when the nausea will strike. Well, I do know now when it will strike--after I take my prenatal vitamins--but the nausea has indeed lessened. Plus, I have more energy and my acne is clearing up (thanks to Murad and VMV, damn expensive but working!). What I'm really happy about is the "less nausea" part. That has got to be the worst thing ever about pregnancy. However, ask me again when the varicose veins, stretchmarks, fat, and labor come!



Anyway, right now I'm thinking about that whole Kris-James-sugod the fan issue. So weird that after she goes on and on righteously saying "I'm a wife. I have to protect my marriage!", she announces just as righteously to all and sundry that she's now separated from him. Er, I thought she was saving her marriage? Let me be clear on one thing: I'm a wife, too, so I have no issue with Kris confronting that Mayen woman. Mayen threatened Kris' marriage and it is only right that Kris go and annihilate the threat. But now that she has, what does she do? She leaves. What the hell was all that fuss for then?

Let me tell you how Vince and I see marriage. We see ourselves as a pair of scissors. Separate, we are each a blade--we each have our own purpose; therefore we are not meaningless individuals. Together, we still have the same purpose but we work together towards one goal. And whatever comes between us, we destroy. This we both agreed on--for better or worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, till death do us part. Only death will separate us. That's the plan. There is no other plan.  

Let me tell you about another couple with no other plan. When Playboy asked Will Smith if he and wife Jada signed a prenuptial agreement, he replied, "No. I don't even like the concept of a prenup. The idea is that this is going to work out and we're going to be together forever. I am the type of guy who doesn't have a plan B because plan B distracts from plan A."

Those are wise words for marriage and for life. Dream big. Let go. Jump in. Commit. Don't think about second chances. Think: This is it!

Life is about commitment. Freedom comes only with commitment. When I married Vince, I finally became free from insecurity, jealousy, doubt and fear. I know he feels the same way. We are free to love each other, to kiss, to make love, to get pregnant, to live the way we want because we committed our lives to each other. Why would I want to give that up? That is also part of our vows: To not just cherish but also to protect our marriage. So believe you me, if anything dare threaten my joy, I will rise up and crush it.

Monday, January 18, 2010

And the big beauty cream contest announcement is finally here!

I know this announcement is 18 days late. That's because only 8 people joined my OK! contest so I figured that I'll reward all 8 ladies with an amazing beauty cream each! While I'd really love to give away grand prizes like a trip abroad (I hear that a stay at the Outer Banks rentals is exquisite in the summer), I'll have to content myself and my readers with the best face creams on the planet! Not bad, not bad. Et voila--I finally have them all here (with my amazing January issue!), and they are yours, my dearest ladies!


The prizes are (I arranged them with the most expensive product on top):
1. La Prairie Creme Cellulaire Platinum Rare


2. Lancome Renergie Morpholift Nuit Overnight Regeneration Cream


3. Lancome Renergie Morpholift Advanced Contour Serum


4. Shu Uemura B-G Reinforcing Gel Cream (with lotion and essence)


5. Kiehl's ACAI Damage-Repairing Serum


6. L'Oreal Paris Derma Genesis Cellular Youth Creator Day Creme


7. Avon Anew Rejuvenate Flash Facial Revitalizing Concentrate


8. Kiehl's Rare Earth Pore Minimizing Lotion



And the winners are (just match your name with the numbers above!):


Congratulations! Kindly email your your full name, shipping address and contact numbers to frances@topazhorizon.com so I can send you your lovely prize soonest.

Again, thank you for joining my contest and for being ever so patient with me. I hope you've already gotten the January issue of OK! magazine. It is our first and super fantabulous offering for 2010 and it's so super juicy! Grab an issue now while there are still some left!

Winners of Sun Life 2010 Planner!

Hello, hello, hello! I didn't forget my Sun Life Planner contest, kids!


And I must announce it now while it's still January or else you won't want a nice planner anymore from my favorite insurance company (oy, plug! Do I get a free accident/health/pension plan now? Or can I just ask for the sweet ka-ching of gold coins in my account? Joke! Eww, so jologs to say, "Joke!").

Anyway! Five winners! Here they are (the Top 5 names):


Congratulations! Kindly email your your full name, shipping address and contact numbers to frances@topazhorizon.com so Teeyah can send you your planners asap!

P.S. OK! contest winners up next!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Travel plans for the summer

Last night, our friend Neil had a few beers with Vince here at home. Neil has three fabulous kids and he was telling us that kids are a great joy... and a great pain in the neck! Harhar. So he was urging us to go and have adventures now, while Jelly Bean is still not around to take over our lives.

Well, that's been exactly how we're feeling so I've booked a nice weekend at 8 Suites, this lovely new boutique hotel in Tagaytay.



We're also spending another weekend in Cebu at Be Hotel, which is a lovely place but I think they went overboard with the pastel colors.



Then I want to go see Disneyland in California (regular readers know I love Disneyland!) but Vince wants to go to Vegas. And we also want to go to Singapore to buy that camera I was telling you about, the one Vince now wants to buy for the baby. It isn't available here (boo!) but Singapore has it so we're thinking of flying there to check. Then I also want to visit my friend Kat in NYC but I'm waiting for summer to decide since I hate the cold.

While we have our nice matching Echolac luggage (we bought them for our London honeymoon), I've started browsing travel accessories sites for Samsonite luggage. I really like my little attache case and I was wondering if there was a matching suitcase.



I think it would be sooooo cool to have pink bags. For one thing, they'd really pop out on that conveyor belt. But don't worry, Vince (I know you're reading this!), I won't buy new luggage. It's enough you agreed to go on a travel spree with me!  

I'm back!

But I won't be around for long, I think. I just had lunch and now I'm sleepy. I'm catching up with my blog updates and I am really missing blogging, too! Maybe I'll blog again later.

So what have I been up to? Well, it's been a super busy week at work, which is just how I like it. The nausea is almost gone and I can eat a bit better now--as some moms out there know, morning sickness, dizziness and fatigue can be some of the best appetite suppressants ever, which is kinda ironic since this is when we need to eat more and be healthier!

Now that I'm feeling better, I visited my facialist yesterday at Murad so that my pregnancy acne can be managed and I also went shopping. That was fun! Today, I will sleep. Then later this afternoon, my sister and I will have our nails done and do some shopping. Sisters are the best thing in the world really. Okay, after husbands and maybe kids (I don't have an opinion about that yet, okay?) Then I'll blog again tonight! I promise a more substantial post!

Have a nice weekend, everybody!

Monday, January 04, 2010

To do, to do

Today, people are back to school, back to work. I am in bed. Sick to my stomach and reeling from morning sickness. It's 2 PM. So let's just call it all-day nausea.

I have tons to do:
1. pay bills
2. pay property taxes
3. steam clothes
4. do the grocery
5. buy electrical supplies (two chandelier lights are busted and we need an extension cord for my cute new retro pink fan--thanks, Vince!)
6. look for a cleaning lady
7. announce the winners (yes, plural!) of my OK! contest.

Oh, and I also have to make the cover of the February issue of OK!. I am exhausted just thinking about what I need to do!

What I did do is make a mommy blog. Yup, I figured that since a lot of my readers are young and single, you'd get bored silly of my preggy stories. So I'm keeping this blog fun and fabulous and I'm putting the pregnant/parenting experience in the other blog (it's called Topaz Mommy) for my other readers who happen to be cool mommies already. So all my readers are happy!

Sunday, January 03, 2010

What's your financial goal this 2010?

My blogging friend, Teeyah, asked me this question and the only answer I can come up with is "Have enough money to pay for the baby!" But that's kinda dumb because Vince and I already have enough saved up for the baby. So what we really need to do is find ways on how we can make our money work for us. Our savings are all in the bank but we know there are other ways to make money grow faster, like stocks, bonds, treasury bills, time deposits, etc. But we're not well-versed in matters like that so, for 2010, our financial goal is to understand what money-growing tool we should invest in... and invest in it!

We're also thinking of buying medical insurance and pension plans and college education plans. But maybe the college plan is dumb because what if the kid doesn't want to go to college (I don't believe in college)? As for life insurance plans, we already have those--we bought policies when Vince and I were in our mid-20s, which means the life insurance rates we pay are really low. I suggest that you buy a policy, too! Mine is the Sun Milady Plus from Sun Life and I pay just P3,000++ every 3 months. So affordable!

How about you? What's your financial goal this year? Leave your answer in my comment box and you can win your very own Sun Life Daily Organizer!





You have until January 15 to join this contest and win that planner. Five readers get their very own planner delivered right to their doorstep!

This is out of Teeyah's generosity, by the way! Thanks, T, and I promise to announce the winners of my OK! contest this week!!!

Saturday, January 02, 2010

On real and made-up reputations

In my job, I always come across glamorous stars who say that they're really boring in real life. Style icon Victoria Beckham says she's happiest when she's home with her boys or watching DVDs with hunky hubby David in bed. Then you have stars like Tiger Woods who have an impeccable reputation but an unbelievable secret life!

So let's talk about reputations and what's really the truth. Now that I'm going to have a kid, my fear is—irrational though it may be—my fear is that when my kid accuses me one day of being the most boring person on earth, I'm afraid that will be the honest truth. I am boring. I don't have a secret sordid past. I don't have any exciting adventures.


Now, when it comes to Vince, that's a different story. Here he is at our joint bridal shower/stag party with hot Brazilian models. Though my husband is now very well behaved, he has mighty impressive tales of debauchery and seduction, of wild nights and days of drunken stupor, of exciting travels to exotic places... whereas I don't. My husband is the craziest, funniest, most exciting, most fascinating person I know even though he looks like a saint. Me, I'm a saint. Well, depends on who you ask, I guess, but more on that later.

Soon after Vince and I started dating, he asked me what kind of girl I was in college: what orgs was I a member of, which bars did I hang out in, how many guys have I slept with, and all that shit. I very proudly told him how saintly I was. He kinda guffawed in disbelief. So I asked him, "If you had met me in college, would you have asked me out?"

He laughed, "Church youth leader, curfew at 6 pm and you don't drink? No way!"

"So why are you so interested now?!"

"You're the smartest girl I've ever met. That's why I love you."

I'm the smartest girl he's ever met. Not the most beautiful, not the sexiest but the smartest. Hardly what a girl would like to hear but I'd take it.


This is me, still at the bridal shower, but see how conservative I am? I refused to have my photo taken with the boys without Vince because I was scared photos of me alone with strange men might surface on the Internet (see Exhibit A: Vince and Brazilian models) and people will gossip about me! How square is that?! 

The truth is I'm a girl who studied in a convent, then in a special science high school, then took up writing in college, then got a coveted fellowship in a national writers workshop (where I met a long-haired hungover Vince), taught preschool, wrote a senator's speeches, did PR work, then made a magazine. I fell in love with Vince at 22, married him at 30, got pregnant with his baby at 33. I'm the girl who usually made the right choice and played it safe. I've never gotten drunk, never did drugs, never slept around, never kissed a girl, never ever did anything fun! The dirtiest thing about me is my language. I try really hard not to swear (especially when I'm around my family, little kids and my Born-Again friends) but if you ever meet me and I say, "Fuck you!", that's just my way of saying hi when I'm very happy.

If you ask people from my high school, however, they'd tell you I was a slut. I have no idea how that rumor came to be. Let me remind you that I was a Bible-thumping, church-going nerd with a 6 pm curfew (okay, and a potty mouth). I remember in college, I met this old high school classmate. She was studying in UPLB and she was visiting friends in the Diliman campus, where I was. She looked at me with worry and said, "Hey, how's your kid?"

"My what?!"

"I heard you have a three-year-old daughter and you don't know who the father is."

I just stared at her. "Weren't we seatmates in sophomore year?"

"Yes."

"You saw me every single day when we were 15. Did you ever see my tummy grow?"

"Er... no."

"Did you ever see me look pregnant? Hear I gave birth? Did my flat chest ever blossom to breastfeeding proportions?"

"No."

"Then why would you believe I have a three-year-old kid, you idiot?! And it's a girl, too! And there's no father! Unbelievable! Those details! Who makes up this shit?"

So I was a good girl with a bad reputation. I always hated that. But now, with a kid growing in me, I somehow wish that I did have a few tales that would make my kid's eyes widen and that he/she would see me in a different light, that mom isn't just boring old mom but a woman of mystery and unbridled passion, a woman who took frightening risks and hid explosive secrets. Well, I'm not that woman.

My kid will just have to look at Vince and think, "At least I have a cool dad!"

CLARIFICATION:
Thanks for all the sweet comments but I think I was misunderstood, I don't mean that I wish I had done some bad things. I mean I wish I had traveled the world, written a few books, climbed a mountain, seen more things, met more people... really LIVED, like my husband. He's truly had an amazing life. Me? I've lived through books and movies but basically spent the last 30 years at home. Tragic! And lest the people who really know me start laughing their heads off, maybe I shouldn't have used the word "saint" to describe myself since I, well, I've done stuff that would make saints blush. In the words of my hubby, "You aren't bad enough, but when you're bad, you're really good."