TOPAZ HORIZON

Suuuuuper busy! Here's what I've been up to:

1. Just came from a Sony Ericsson event to check out the new Experia phone, which will be featured in Vince's fabulous blog Third World Nerd. I love this blog!

2. Just sent the May issue of OK! magazine to the printers and it should be hitting the newsstands by next week. Meanwhile, we're simultaneously doing the first batch of pages of the June issue. Ack, it never ends!

3. Blogged about beauty stuff in Beauty For A Living. There's a Paul & Joe event this weekend you might want to check out.

4. Got royally pissed off at HPPI, the worst HMO in the world. I'll talk about it more in another post. Right now, I'm feeling murderous.

5. At the same time, I'm also feeling very happy! Finally won a blog giveaway! I won hair accessories from Evita Peroni. I'm so happy!

6. Had a surprise visit from my dear friend Mariel yesterday! She's back from the US of A! And we had a lovely long chat over coffee and cheesecake and chocolate cake. So so so happy she's back.

7. And I have to pay the bills. Will get to that!

Oh, and the baby boy I'm carrying is kicking like he has plans to be the next great football player. He will not stop! I'm like, "Settle down in there!" Of course we're so excited. At the same time, he has such powerful kicks, it hurts!

So I'll blog again soonest with more details. Meanwhile, I hope y'all are having a nice week!

I still haven't bought maternity clothes. I just went to my usual dress haunts and got a medium (I'm usually a small) or a size 6 (I'm usually a 4). From the front, I don't even look pregnant. From the side, well, there you go—the big baby belly bump!

The secret to looking slim while pregnant is black, black, black! Y'all know that black can make you look like a model for weight loss pills, and pregnant Hollywood stars often turn to black to avoid looking too big.

If you don't like black, stick to one color since it fools the eye into thinking there's one long length of you. I like dark green, navy blue, gray and white! I am especially fond of this Karimadon with a big red bow on the chest--makes my new chest look even bigger, but in a sweet way!

Busy patterns, which pregnant women seem to be fond of, just widen you. So avoid them. If you do like patterns (like me!), get the small kind—you know, tiny flowers, little paisley swirls. Do not get clothes with huge circles, big teddy bears, big flowers. Also, remember that you're carrying a baby; you're not the baby. So choose sophisticated touches, not prints that toddlers will wear.

Choose clothes that are tailored—yes, it's possible to wear tailored clothes even while pregnant. Just look at this black dress again.
This is again a Karimadon (which I wore with Vita Fede bangles and Schu flats) and it came with a big belt. No need to wear the belt but after I give birth, I can still use this dress and wrap the belt around my waist, which will hopefully reappear by Christmas!

You don't really need a lot of maternity wear anyway. I think I rotate about 10 dresses. Silk jersey dresses, soft knitwear, comfy cotton—clothes that flow over the body or those that show off just the boobs or the tummy celebrate your new shape without making you look dumpy and fat—even if we are! The trick is to look slim, not be thin. A lot of women just buy maxi dresses—they look so romantic. Some women I know wear jeans and short shorts--they look so damn hot! I'm not that kind, though (wish I were!). If I want to look sexy, I just bring out my mini dresses.

So just because you're going to be a mom doesn't mean you cease to be a woman. After all, you got pregnant because someone thought you were sexy enough to sleep with! Don't forget that sexy creature!

I mentioned in this blog before that some bloggers earn a ton of money from their blogs. Their secret is an understanding of search engine optimization. I have no idea what that means. Well, I do know that it means using words and phrases that makes your blog appear high on the list of search engines. And for me, that's just cheating. I've been to some blogs that have manipulated the SEO and, gee, their blogs are boring.  Why would anyone want to read a blog like that? But because they're clever, they've learned how to cheat the system so that their blogs go up, up, up on the search.

Well, they may be boring but those blogs earn cold hard cash! Well, mine does, too, but not so much so I'm glad I have a job that makes me really really happy, both monetarily and in everything else! 

SEO also means having a lot of links to your blog, which is time consuming to say the least! That's going to dozens, even hundreds, of other blogs and making friends with them so that they'll visit your blog, maybe like it and then link your blog to theirs. You see, the more links your blog has, the more popular it is, and obviously that would make it climb up the search engines. There are some people who bypass this process by using a directory submission service, but I personally prefer making friends, however time consuming that may be!

Of course, since I'm a very busy woman, I really don't have the time to do this! I usually spend my weekends browsing blogs and leaving comments. I've made friends this way (ladies, you know who you are!). But since getting pregnant, I'm sleepy all the time! So thank you for still visiting my blogs and linking up and leaving your darling comments here. You are appreciated! I may not earn a lot of money from my blogs but I've earned friends. And that is priceless.


*image from the web. can't say which website really since several sites used it!

Yesterday, April 5, was the 11th anniversary of the day Vince and I met. Yes, just the meeting. Normally, people don't celebrate that kind of anniversary but we do because, well, it changed our lives!

We met at the U.P. National Writers Workshop. When I got in the fellowship, I was so thrilled. It's every Filipino writer's dream to become a fellow in this prestigious workshop! And I got in! I knew those two weeks in Baguio, with the country's best writers, will change my life. Little did I know how--I was going to meet the man who would become my husband!

Those two weeks were just magical. I was soooo happy to be with writers and, at the same time, I was falling in love fast with the long-haired quiet guy with the big grin, who wrote heartbreaking stories and played the guitar, and can engage me in the longest, deepest conversations. Yup, we fell fast and hard. In fact, by the end of those two weeks, April 18, Vince and I were inseparable.

So yesterday was our 11th meeting anniversary. We didn't want to celebrate it actually because there's a big anniversary coming up--the wedding one on April 18. But after we visited my OBG and got a private tour of St. Luke's Global City, we figured we'd go have dinner out anyway!

But first, we had to check out the furniture stores. Of course! Vince is such a home decor geek and he really wanted to inspect the leather sofas in Natuzzi and the shelves at Jesse.

After deciding that Italian leather sofas are way beyond our budget now (big sad sigh there), we figured we'd have Italian food instead!


We just ate at Italianni's. Nice big place and we haven't eaten there recently so in we went! I like the old photos on the walls, the murals and the big iron chandeliers reminiscent of Murray Feiss lighting.

We first had a nice basket of warm bread dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Then we had a big crisp salad. See? We're eating healthy now!


Then I had a minestrone soup. I liked it--filled with chunky veggies swimming in tomato goodness. Very hearty!

Then we had this salmon dish that wasn't so good. It was tired and tasteless. Salmon should be firm and fresh and have that hint of saltiness.So I just had a bite since I didn't like it. Vince didn;t either but he ate all of it.
Then Vince finished things off with a big lasagne. These are huge servings, by the way, so I'm mighty impressed with my husband's appetite. I didn't even have the pasta dish anymore since I was happily eating the bread (I love carbs!).

So there! That's how we celebrated our mini-anniversary! Oh, then we went home and had a Big Bang Theory marathon with mugs of Selecta's Hazelnut Brownie ice cream. Burp!

And they're written by old friends!

Well, one of them by my bestest friend in the world who also happens to be my lover! Do check out Third World Nerd and recommend to your techie friends. Vince talks about gadgets, music, TV, cars, books... ya know, nerdy stuff! But he's one of the few people in the world who can talk about the nerdy stuff in a funny and engaging way. So many geeky blogs out there just bore me to tears. Third World Nerd is nothing like that! Hooray!

The next blog I adore is All My Sugar, written by the sweetest girl that ever walked this earth--Mariel! You see that photo? That's homemade noodles. It's Mariel's almost insanely loving attention to detail in everything she does, especially food preparation, that makes her such a wonderful read. You always learn from her--and in this new blog with such a saccharine name, foodies will be blown away!

The third blog I'm currently enjoying is Here, Tishie Tishie by Good Housekeeping's new editor-in-chief Tisha. This girl is the bomb. She's sporty and sexy, smart and funny, stylish and casual... she's the kind of girl you want to be your friend forever, the kind you also slightly secretly envy because she's got it all. Now imagine this kind of girl writing a blog about her life!!!

Do check out their blogs, my friends. They're very new so the posts are not too many, but do give them a warm welcome!

I'm feeling much much better! Been sleeping and eating all day, just resting and getting stronger by the day. Thank you to everyone who wished me well and prayed for my Jelly Bean. If it's not too much to ask, please still include this little boy in your prayers, just a quick little breath of blessing as he's only halfway through his journey out my tummy and I wish him all the love of the universe--yours!

So just a tiny update on the preparations for the little one! One sentence: We've just about depleted our savings for him! While we haven't bought anything for the nursery yet--no crib, no changing table, and definitely no toys like foosball tables --we did splurge on these:
Li'l blue Mazda 2 that Vince named Zoom Zoom. It's blue! Vince can't wait to take his son for a spin in the blue car he bought the little guy. 

An Eames RAR rocker. Its curved runners are made of really hard wood that our parquet floors--made of softer wood--get marked! Hence, the rug underneath it. I guess we ought to replace the floor. Sigh.

The hospital bills. Another big sigh! Thanks so much for all your concern, folks. I do want to say that TMC wasn't such a disaster--I am, after all, better so they did their job well. It was just the pulmo and the health insurance that caused us pain.

We've also finished furnishing the house! Well, maybe we need to replace that old sofa, but for now it will do. Here I am, organizing my magazine pile. Vince is very keen on getting the house in order for his son's arrival so, aside from the cleaning, he's also bought pieces of furniture that have finally made our house cozier than ever.

Vince and I really wanted the house to be complete before the baby arrives. Everyone warned us that when the kid's here, it's all going to be about him so we kinda rushed to make sure we've gotten everything we wanted. And now everything's ready!

Well, we haven't started with the nursery. We figured we'd wait till we meet the little guy first. After all, what if we decorate his room baby blue, then he arrives and turns out to be a brooding no-nonsense creature of the brown and black sort? Yep, we'll wait till we meet him!

We've known for quite some time now but I wanted to keep it a secret. Then my hubby starts a blog and he couldn't contain himself. Click here to find out what our firstborn is!

Meanwhile, I will again rest. I'm actually at work, putting to bed the May issue of OK!. Once this is done, off to bed I go. Need to rest! I have lots of stuff to tell you but, right now, let's get this magazine finished and this body rested. See ya around here soon!

Vince is a new blogger and he's really cute--excited and all. Go make sure you give him a warm welcome to the blogging world, okay? Thanks! Now I will sleeeeeeeeep...

If you check out my other blogs (Topaz Mommy and Beauty For A Living), you'll find I've been updating frequently. I've been able to spend a lot of time online this week because I've been stuck at home sick. It's a nasty cough and cold. Being pregnant, I've not been able to resort to my usual pill-popping ways so this bug is taking its slow sweet time leaving my body. And I am miserable.

Well, not too miserable since, in other news, everything's fine and dandy. OK! magazine is doing well, the pregnancy is progressing along okay, the money front is secure, I have fabulous friends, my husband loves me and only me... yep, life is great!

I guess I'm just being a worrywart. I seem to like to torture myself with worry--I spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about my lovely house because a fire or an earthquake might destroy it (I didn't feel the 6.1 this afternoon! That's why when Vince was herding me outside, I was delaying: "Wait, I have to get this and that!"... to his complete annoyance). And that's just one example! If I don't watch it, I'm going to age badly and no wrinkle cream in the world will hide the fact that I'm a worrier!

The Bible says worrying is a sin. First, worriers wouldn't worry so much if they believed that a Sovereign God will see us through everything--good and bad. Second, worriers worry because they've become attached to the temporal things of the world and are afraid to lose them. So you can bet I also worry about this sin!

So I just pray for God to take away my fretting because I believe in His sovereignty (I do! I do!) and I say I am grateful for all the blessings in my life and will accept His will even if it is His will to take them all away. It works, you know. Prayer's like that--it changes me. Slowly, in my case, but there's change anyway.  

You know what else makes me forget my worries? This little creature:

Sad, sick, angry, scared... a little cuddle time with Matilda always cheers me up!

The great thing about being adults is you can eat anything you want anytime you want. So for dinner, I made breakfast: crispy honey-cured bacon, grilled cheese-and-tomato sandwiches and frothy strawberry yogurt milkshakes.

To make the sandwich, I slathered cream cheese on the slices then put mozzarella cheese for that melt-in-your-mouth goodness. Then I seasoned the tomatoes with a little salt and pepper (just a little!). Threw into the sandwich maker and toasted them to crunchy, gooey, golden perfection.

This dinner is still kinda healthy actually. Many nights, Vince and I pig out on take out. Or chips and candy and ice cream. And lots of Coke! Yep, that's how we keep our skinny figures.

Of course, with the Jelly Bean's imminent arrival, this means I'll have to start making real meals. Ya know, the ones with all the vitamins and minerals, like vegetables and fruits and fish and liver. I'm excited to cook the nutritious stuff and yet part of me is sad that I'll have to give up our crazy dinners soon for the sake of my child's health.

Oh well, we all need to grow up, I guess. Besides, bacon for dinner? At our age? Suicide! Gotta get healthy for the Jelly Bean! If we don't watch it, we'll be suffering from obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and needing to resort to--not just a healthy diet and exercise--but also liposuction and adipex diet pills! Plus, judging by the way the kid's been kicking about in me, our child's going to be a whirlwind of action so we got to get fit and healthy soonest!

UPDATE: Before the health police get their panties all in a bunch, let me just assure you that I was describing our meals before I got pregnant. Since the pregnancy was confirmed, I've been really eating healthy, with the occasional sinful food now and then.