TOPAZ HORIZON

I love weddings for selfish reasons. (1) I get to wear my gowns, (2) I get a good reason to get away from my kids hehe, (3) because of the sermon and witnessing the couple promise each other a lifetime, I'm reminded of how wonderful marriage is, and (4) I get to eat really yummy food! Weddings are the best!!!


Vince and I were at the wedding of Edward Bugia and Trixie Esguerra. I've known Trixie for years because she was instrumental in launching my career as a blogger ((and every big blogger's, too) and she now has her own agency, Launch and Meet. Edward is the very busy chef behind Pino vegetarian restaurant, BRGR, Pi Breakfast and Pies, Mimi & Bros, and Bean and Yolk. And I am their ninang sa kasal! So I just had to get them a gift from MY MC Home!

Here are a few of the gifts I considered for their marital abode:


While I wish I could've given them a four-poster bed with a pile of pillows, it's medyo over my budget at P39,950 ehehehe. I'm actually referring to the triptych of photos on top of the bed. You can have prenup or wedding photos printed that big on real canvas (not photo paper!) at MY MC Home for just P8,700!


I think every newlywed couple should have crystal goblets. Crystal vases. Crystal candy dishes. Crsytal decanters. WALA LANG! They're so extra. Let me tell you now: Marriage can be full of drudgery. Washing dishes. Doing laundry. Taking out the trash. That's why you need to give married people pretty things that remind them that marriage is actually magical.


Okay, extra not your thing? We can go practical. Here's a useful appliance for those couples who love green smoothies or who like grinding their own coffee beans. Your newlyweds can use the Tefal Fruit Sensation for making smoothies, soups and eventually baby food!


Here's another useful appliance, a toaster! I love toast. Toasting bread not only improves the taste and texture of bread, it also lowers the glycemic index and fat content of your everyday loaf (and then you spread tons of butter on it haha). What I like about the Gorenje toaster is it's so pretty! Definitely will add color and whimsy to the young couple's kitchen.



This bar cart! So sleek. Love it! Perfect for wheeling over your favorite cocktails while you lounge on the sofa or in bed. If you don't drink alcohol, you can put your coffee or tea paraphernalia instead. Or use it as a side table. So useful!


Every married couple needs nice new sheets. Because we need to make them love sleeping together—figuratively and literally. Nice sheets are so lovely on naked skin. MY MC Home has shelves upon shelves of bedsheets! There are printed sets, too.


Might as well throw in pillows! I can't get enough of great pillows. Married couples may have had their dreams come true but everyone needs to go to dreamland and new pillows will send them off nicely.

Okay, enough shopping! Just visit MY MC Home for more gift ideas for your friends and loved ones getting married (or for your own home!). Let's watch Trixie and Edward's wedding video!



Congratulations to my inaanaks! Edward and Trixie, be good to each other. As your sermon verse said (which was the same as mine!), "[Jesus said] 'I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.'" John 15:11-12.

Medyo mataas ang peg that Jesus established, seeing as He is divine and He gave His life for us. But what is marriage but a holy commitment and a giving of one's life every day till five-ever? Congratulations and best wishes!

MY MC Home has 3 branches: Level 3 MET LIVE Mall, Diosdado Macapagal Blvd, 1302 Pasay City, at MC Home Depot San Fernando Interchange, Jose Abad Santos Avenue, 2000 San Fernando, Pampanga, and at MC Home Depot BGC, Taguig. You may also find more furniture and promos on their Facebook page www.facebook.com/mymchome and Instagram www.instagram.com/mymchome.

I visited my friend Ginger Arboleda, COO of Taxumo, at BGC last week (because it's taxes time!). After our nice lunch, I decided to pass by home store MY MC Home, which is just two buildings away from Taxumo HQ. And I promptly fell in love with these dusty rose chairs!


Soooo pretty! But we don't need chairs for the living room. What I need is a chair for my work desk. Check out this beauty.


We turned the former dining area into the study area. My desk is there and so are the boys' desks. They need a lamp each. I think this blue jelly-like piece will look perfect.

It comes in sunny yellow, too!

I also want to replace our living room carpet. There are three big piles of rugs and carpets at MY MC Home. They have a lot of designs and are quite affordable.


I found this fluffy white carpet. It's sooo deep and soft! I want it I want it I want it! I want it for our bedroom. I just don't know how to keep it white when I live in a house full of little boys.


Actually, we also need more space for the kids' clothes. Now that they're bigger, their clothes are bigger, too. They don't fit in the baby closets anymore!


In the end, I remembered that what Vince really wants are new pillows. Actually, it's not a want anymore. We need new pillows! Our pillows are as old as our marriage. Sweet? Gross haha So I found these. They're just P300+! And so soft and nice!


But I bought bedsheets instead! I'll go back and buy pillows. As soon as I wash them, I'll show you our bed dressed up in our new sheets - which are on sale until supply lasts! So drop by MY MC Home now and shop!

MY MC Home has 3 branches: Level 3 MET LIVE Mall, Diosdado Macapagal Blvd, 1302 Pasay City, at MC Home Depot San Fernando Interchange, Jose Abad Santos Avenue, 2000 San Fernando, Pampanga, and at MC Home Depot BGC, Taguig. You may also find more furniture and promos on their Facebook page www.facebook.com/mymchome and Instagram www.instagram.com/mymchome.

Well, it's the holidays and what does that mean? Traffic! The traffic is so terrible, it takes away the joy of the season. More and more often, my husband Vince and I are finding ourselves talking about moving away from the city because life in Manila is becoming even more toxic every day.

What gives us pause, however, is we actually really love our home. Our condo is in the middle of everything, it's safe, and has great amenities. That said, even though we're near everything, the traffic makes everything seem so far! Plus, in a few years, it will be really tight because our 3 sons will be teenagers and teens need privacy and that's why we're thinking maybe it's time to look around for a new home.


We have a non-negotiable list of our requirements in finding a good home. It has to be in a safe community, of course. It has to be near an amazing school for our boys. It also has to be near a good hospital because I'm paranoid like that. A mall has to be a short drive away so we can shop for our needs without going all the way back to Manila. And of course, our new home has to look nice, too! So, upon the recommendations of friends and the invitation of Avida Land, we drove to Nuvali to check out the Avida properties there. Take a look at what we saw!

Welcome to the Trista Model, floor area: 85sqm

Light-filled staircase!

One bathroom at the landing for all 3 bedrooms upstairs

Adorable girl's bedroom

Cozy boy's bedroom

Brightly lit master's bedroom!

That's not my voice, by the way =)

Anyway, the floor area is smaller than our condo now but we saw that the other houses in the neighborhood just extended their floor area. That's possible because the lot area is pretty big (check out the first photo of this post). There's enough for a front yard, a backyard, and a 2-car, even 4-car garage. So if you have just one car like us, there's plenty of space for expansion.

Okay ang Nuvali area, mamas! For schools, it's near Xavier Nuvali, Beacon Academy, Brent International School, Miriam College, and Caritas Don Bosco. Then kahit looban siya, it's a short drive from many commercial centers like Ayala Malls Solenad, The Landmark, S&R, Robinsons Supermarket, Walter Mart, and so many more! For hospitals, there are The Medical City and QualiMed. So convenient!

Everything's a short, tree-lined drive away!

Nuvali Sta. Rosa really looks like a fantastic idea! It's urban enough so we won't feel like we're in the middle of nowhere and yet it's filled with fresh air and so much quiet. I can imagine my kids biking on the streets, making sure our rabbit Bunny Blue doesn't devour the garden because of course we'll have a vegetable garden. I'll walk our corgi (I'll have one or two one day!), swim in the nice village pool, hang our laundry to dry under the sun and in the fresh breeze. And our kids can be home from school within minutes instead of the hours it now takes!

Our trip to Avida Nuvali made it really obvious that we can do more every day in the right community. SIGH. Please pray for us! We really do love our home and we truly wouldn't mind staying here forever. But maybe one day, God has a bigger home planned for my family and it may be waiting for us in Avida Nuvali.

*This post is brought to you by Avida Land. For more information, visit their website, https://avidaland.com/laguna/nuvali.

Hello, fellow mamas! I have exciting news for you! A few weeks ago, The Metro Stores invited me to their Market! Market! store. Why? For a sneak peek at the insane discounts they’re giving at their Metro Crazy Sale on Nov. 30, 2019! Normally, I don’t get excited sa mga sales but ibang klase ito kasi nakakaloka talaga ang mga presyo. Ibang klase ang mga discounts! Kaya when I made my video below, talagang enthusiastic ako. Totoo yan!

What is a sorbet? It's a frozen dessert made from fruit juice or wine. You can add sugar to it. If you add milk or cream to it, however, it's now called sherbet. It's an excellent way to refresh yourself on a hot day. And if you use Welch's 100% Grape Juice, it's a great way to get your vitamins, too! Let me share with you my grape sorbet recipe!

In our home, I cook and my husband does the dishes. This year, because I was juggling 3 jobs on top of motherhood, I've relied on a meal delivery service so I won't have to cook anymore. So I don't cook but my husband Vince still does the dishes hehe. So he's decreed that he wants to outsource dishwashing, too. He wants a dishwasher and I found him two!


I was at the opening of the BGC branch of MY MC Home last month and I literally stumbled onto the dishwasher. I was trying to get a photo of a beautiful dining table and backed up into the dishwasher. And it was like a scene from a movie. I turn to say, "Oops!" And then I saw the words TABLETOP DISHWASHER. And I breathed, "I've been looking for you!"

The little one and the full-sized one.

Since I was at an event, I didn't get to investigate so I went back this week to really learn more about it. Here's what I found:

1. Dishwashers wash at very hot temperatures killing bacteria. So it's more hygienic.

2. Because the dishes aren't held by soapy hands, they don't slip and break. So less breakage!

3. Dishwashers actually use less water than when you handwash plates. I had a hard time believing this but the designers said they made sure to use as little water as possible.

4. Best thing about dishwashers? They save you time and energy. We are a big family and my kids eat a LOT. And often. The sink is always full. Because Vince and I have work during the day, the dishes pile up and only after work can he wash up. He spends up to an hour or so washing dishes, pots, pans, utensils, glasses, cups, bowls, everything!

I should get this instead since our kitchen appliances are all stainless steel.

I also found out that MY MC Home is the only store in the Philippines that carries Maximus tabletop dishwashers. There are the big dishwashers available in other stores but we don't want to install those big machines. We don't want the hassle of destroying part of our kitchen, you know. A tabletop dishwasher just sits on the counter. You just plug in one tube to the faucet and let the other tube run down the sink and it's done.

The tabletop dishwasher can fit enough dishes used for one meal.

The big one can fit a lot more. Hmmm.

Maybe we should get the big one instead...

I LOVE IT!

It's a bit over my Christmas gift budget, though. So maybe if I buy this for Vince, I'll have to tell him it covers Christmas, Valentine's, birthday, anniversary, and Father's Day haha.


How about you? Would you like a tabletop dishwasher, too? Go check it out at MY MC Home!

MY MC Home has 3 branches: Level 3 MET LIVE Mall, Diosdado Macapagal Blvd, 1302 Pasay City, at MC Home Depot San Fernando Interchange, Jose Abad Santos Avenue, 2000 San Fernando, Pampanga, and at MC Home Depot BGC, Taguig. You may also find more furniture and promos on their Facebook page www.facebook.com/mymchome and Instagram www.instagram.com/mymchome.

Join the MC Home Depot Build & Drive Raffle where you can get a chance to win a Toyota HIACE GL Grandia. Just a P2000 single-receipt purchase earns you a raffle coupon. You have until December 31, 2019, to shop and join!