TOPAZ HORIZON

Remember this photo? It's from our magazine staff shoot that I mentioned in passing last week or so. A reader asked me why I didn't do my usual behind-the-scenes post of the staff shoot. Well, because I've already done that! So I figured you didn't need to see another been-there-done-that story.

But the real reason I didn't blog about the shoot is I forgot to bring the Olympus camera hehehe. I now think that if the photo wasn't taken by our Olympus, it's not worth posting. There is clearly a huge difference, folks. I always discouraged Vince from buying a camera (too expensive--and we already buy our cameras and lenses from Amazon and eBay, which sell far cheaper) until we got pregnant with Vito. After that, everyone keeps commenting on how fantastic our photos are!

Anyway, I did take a few shots with my Blackberry.

Byron of MAC made me up.

That is a face full of foundation and eye makeup!

And this is our "wacky shot." As you can see, what looks like too much makeup is actually just right under the bright glare of the studio lights.

So cute that my staff kids enjoy wacky shots. Being older than the rest of them, I seriously do not understand wacky shots. Whenever the photographer calls out, "Okaaaaaaay, guys, wacky shot!", it makes me wince! But I'm no killjoy so I do the requisite screwing up of the face anyway. For more wacky shots, go check out Elaine's blog, Tralaland.

Okidoki, sorry if I've been MIA again. Been busy with the mommy blog. It's really growing! I have another giveaway there right now so if you're pregnant or know someone who is, join the contest! I've also been occupied with promoting the bedroom Vince and I designed for the Ethan Allen contest we joined. If you haven't voted for me yet, please LIKE my photo! Thanks!

Remember when I wrote about this bed?

Since then, Vince and I have been roaming Manila's furniture shops, department stores and bed boutiques looking for the perfect tufted headboard. We've found a few but they never did quite meet our standards. So when Ethan Allen announced that they had a design contest and a tufted headboard was one of the prizes, it was kismet!

Ethan Allen's rules were simple:
1. Choose one piece from their collection and highlight it.
2. Create a concept about how any space--big or small--can be made lovely with the right furniture and accessories.
3. Design an entire room around the chosen piece. I can use other Ethan Allen pieces and my own furniture and accessories.

Of course you all know what that one Ethan Allen piece I chose! I chose the Jensen tufted headboard!

Here's the concept I came up with (special thanks to the advice and active participation of my wonderful husband, the one with the real taste in design—Vince Sales!):

This is the whole setting up at the Pioneer showroom:

My little wall!

These guys are so fast and efficient!

That's Angel of Ethan Allen arranging my sheets and pillows. Yes, those are really mine!

I brought my steamer so I can smooth out the creases.

My pet peeve is wrinkly sheets and pillows!

Last few touches!

And here's the result!

Except for the major pieces and rug, everything in this set-up—from cradle and sheets to flowers and rocking horse—is really my property!

I think I want that tufted armchair and mirrored chest...

These are my design consultants, Sharon and Angel.

Do you like it? There are more photos in The One Ethan Allen Challenge Facebook page. You can also check out the other challengers' rooms. They're also nice!

But there can only be one winner!

Please vote for MY room! Make sure to like my bedroom in the album called OFFICIAL ENTRIES. There you can vote for my room (yes, my room, ha!). So pleeeeeeeease VOTE FOR ME by "liking" my room! Thank you so much!

UPDATE: I won! Hooray!

I keep muttering about how I am taking on too much and then just last week, I took on yet another project! Insanity!!! I'll tell you more about this exciting new thing I've been up to on Thursday (I want to tell you now but the official announcement is scheduled on Thursday!) but if you follow me on Twitter, you'd know I've joined a contest and the prize is really making Vince and me giddy giddy giddy!

Okay, shhh. I can't say anything about it till Thursday so I'll just post a pregnant photo of me:

Yep, nothing special, just a really comfy dress from Mango that I wore for our magazine staff shoot last Friday. I'm going to have my belly button Photoshopped off--it seriously looks like a third nipple! I also felt very huge beside my super skinny staff--all of them lithe limbs and flat stomachs. Grrr! Even the other pregnant woman in my staff, Joanna, just looked like she has a fake belly because the rest of her is still so slim.

I'll be 8 months preggers this Friday! I am sooo excited! Vince, too. We can't wait to meet Wiggle-y Poo! I guess that's why I'm also just grabbing every opportunity now, despite my overly packed schedule, because I really think that once Wiggle is born, I'm going to hibernate. Just focus on my family, take care of the babies, lovey-dovey the hubby again, maybe redecorate.

I'll miss you an awful lot, though. My blogging friends have always been there for me and I can't imagine not blogging. So we'll see how it goes after May! Oh my, May is just around the corner! Soooo excited!

P.S. Don't forget--I have a fabulous baby footwear giveaway over at Topaz Mommy!

Then

Now

Tee hee. So now you know my secret! I've tried extensions and expensive blow outs but nothing beats good old rollers!

Oh, and that's Vito, the first time he saw me in rollers (he was 8 months old then). He thought the curlers were hilarious. Now that he sees me with rollers regularly, he pays them no mind. Although he always looks amazed when I come out of the bathroom looking gorgeous!

What's your beauty secret?

True.

And then there's him:



I never want to close my eyes, darling boy. I just want to drink you in as I pray that God never closes my eyes and make me miss the wonder that is you.

The plate is full, that's for sure. I am happily busy. It's my magazine's deadline week. There's a lot more happening at work but I won't discuss anymore. I'm just glad I'm really enjoying work!

Lovely lunch with Kat of Kat Dy Finds

I've also been seeing friends almost every day. It's been lovely, having mini dates with women I admire and miss. I've been feeling out of sorts this past month, and being with friends and feeling their encouragement... Well, I feel much, much better now!

On the blog front, well, obviously I haven't been blogging here. Well, I had a contest to run over at Topaz Mommy and that kept me occupied. I've been getting a lot of requests to sponsor a giveaway of their products on my mommy blog and I usually say yes (I have to like, love, believe in the product! And I have to be convinced that the promo will help my blog) but it really isn't easy to do a giveaway. For example, checking the entries alone takes time. Plus, the raffle, then the coordinating with the winners, then the sending of the prizes. It's not a joke. I don't have an assistant.

I do have a maid/yaya. I pay her more than the usual rate because I like to keep my help happy. Well, I wish the help felt the same way about me. Last night, after I sent Vito off to sleep, I got up very carefully from the bed so as to not disturb my slumbering toddler and then have dinner. No dinner. Maid was already locked in her room. So I set the table, fix dinner, and she comes out of her room sleepily, annoyed at the (very minimal) noise. She asked if Vito was finally asleep. I said yes as I set out plates and utensils. She said, "Okay. Good night!" Then tonight, as I was telling her to prepare dinner, she tells me that she has to go out and meet someone and that she'll be back by 10. Then she left, without even saying good-bye. She just got back now, at 11. And don't get me started on the daily annoyances. I pay this woman to do what again?

Oh well. No rest for the weary. But I can't complain. I'm very grateful. I have a little boy asleep in this same room and a wonderful man writing in the other room, rooms in a house filled with lovely things and love. I'm a very lucky girl!

Halloo, halloo! Been incredibly busy this week! Magazine deadlines, meeting old friends, restarting an online sideline biz, enjoying the entries to my Topaz Mommy book giveaway (join now!), and all that on top of being wife and mommy!

I also updated my dormant beauty blog with an event I attended recently, the double launch of Pond's Age Miracle Cell ReGEN and Flawless White with GenActiv. Here's what I wore:

Tint dress, shu uemura makeup bag used as evening bag, tiangge and Vita Fede bangles, suede peeptoes from eBay

And this is what happened. See you again here soon!

Elaine, Kabbie and Paola have been raving about the Goody Spin Pins for weeks now but I couldn't bring myself to get a pair because I have the thinnest, finest hair in the world and one regular-sized pin sticks out of the bun. So no point, right? The three girls gave one solution: the Goody Spin Pin Mini!

The coin is just so you know how small the pins are.

I hardly ever put my hair up in a bun, though. So I found another use for the minis--make my hair all soft and wavy!

A kit comes with 3 pins but since my hair's so thin, I usually just need to part my hair into two ponies, twirl into buns and secure. One pin each!
I wait for about 15-30 minutes for the curls to set (this is when I usually apply makeup and dress up) then I unspool the pins and voila! Casual curls that float around my face. Happiness! Perfect for relaxed weekends like today.

Outfit details: Gingersnaps T-shirt maternity dress, my favorite plastic earrings from the tiangge and Get Happy charm bracelet

I usually spray on Kiehl's Stylist Series Super Thick Volumizer first then end with Matrix hairspray after. If I want body, I use thermal curlers from Watsons. If I really want sexy waves, I bring out the curling iron!
This hair tutorial (naks!) was shot at Midas Hotel last week, by the way. I was there as a guest of Pond's. More about that event in the next post!

The first ever photo of Vince and me! We didn't know each other yet when this was shot. Yes, it's destiny!

I surprised my Valentine this morning. Left little gifts on his desk and waited for him to wake up. When he did, I hid in our bedroom as he ambled sleepily to his study. Then--aha!--he made a (very satisfactory to me) delighted, surprised sound and then we kissed and hugged and the world is a place filled with love and happiness!

How was your Valentine's Day?

If you're expecting a baby or a new mommy, I have a Valentine's Day surprise for you, too! Head on over to Topaz Mommy for the details!

Happy Monday, everyone! Here's a pregnant fashion post to start the week.

On Friday, I'll be on the 27th week of my pregnancy with wee Wiggle. That means I'll be 7 months along, which means in a few weeks, I'll be cradling a little baby again! Vince and I are so impatient and excited. Vito, not so much.

The pregnancy is going along extremely well, which is a relief and a joy considering how awful and tenuous it had seemed for the first 4 months. That's why I wasn't as open about this pregnancy as I had been when I was pregnant with Vito. But now we're entering the third trimester and it's all excitement and anticipation from hereon.

And fashion! I've posted a few photos recently of my pregnant self. Here's more of my preggy body in the glorious 6th month!

SM Dept Store dress, Kenneth Cole suede and satin heels

Gingersnaps dress, Anthology tweed flats, Kate Spade tote

Gingersnaps dress, Longchamp clutch, handmade multimedia necklace, Anthology tweed flats

This belly bump is waaaaay bigger than my Vito bump. I was this big at 8 months' preggo back then! Now, at only 6 months, I'm huge. I can't imagine my 9th month. Scary!

I'll post more pregnant fashion photos soon! Meanwhile, have a lovely and stylish week, my dearest readers!