TOPAZ HORIZON

All over the world, Heart Health Month is February. Now, I know it's September but Welch's 100% Grape Juice asked me to share with you, mamas, some tips that I do for a healthy heart.

Healthy snack while putting away the laundry: tomato, lettuce and cheese on whole-wheat bread. And Welchs'!

Simple, delicious, nutritious!

Fish and Welch's again! Must start eating brown rice, though.

PRESS RELEASE - One of the most challenging times for Filipinos would be the rainy season. Flooding, heavy traffic, unpredictable loss of electricity connection, and of course, a hard time to sun and air-dry clothes. What people may not realize is the convenience a dryer can provide for the entire household.

My kids had such a wonderful treat this weekend. We got to watch Harry Potter in Concert! It's like watching the movie but with a real orchestra playing the music. Yes, a real live orchestra accompanying the movie. They played the entire musical score from opening scene up to the end credits! It was fantastic!

My kids just discovered Harry Potter this year. We're now reading Prisoner of Azkaban. It's slow work but I guess that's better kasi nasasamsam talaga nila lahat ng details. Reading Harry Potter aloud to the kids is very tiring (their Papa does most of the work) but it's nice to revisit one of my favorite stories with three of my most favorite people in the world. Imagine watching it on the big screen with a live musical performance! We had such a fabulous time and it was also so nice seeing my other mommy friends at the Theater at Solaire!

Me with my little Harry!

Aliza Apostol

Marie Field-Faith

Harry Potter in Concert is produced by CC: Concepts, a really young music production company with a mission to make music mainstream. I like that they chose Harry Potter because its fan base is kids. It's good to introduce orchestra music to young children. My father, grandfather, and my grade school music teacher did that to me and I developed a liking to identifying instruments while listening to classical music.



It sounds hoity-toity but it's not really. I think it made me smarter and calmer. More human. I'm not like my husband who can identify composers and symphonies and operas at a drop of a hat. He's obviously more sophisticated than I am, but we share the same love for music and how it sweeps through the soul. I think every human being should know how that feels, and if we start our kids young on a steady diet of music, it will strengthen their mind and soul. I really believe this!

I should apply it more, though. I'm always too busy to be more mindful of my kids' music education. But Harry Potter in Concert was a great experience for them. They loved hearing the music live. The performance was actually so good, the kids didn't realize the music was actually being performed right in front of them. Fantastic job to conductor Gerard Salonga and the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra!


And congratulations to CC: Concepts for such a successful show. Please produce all 8 movies please! Then do a Disney one, too. And Avengers. And Star Wars. And Lord of the Rings!!! Omigosh, please do Lord of the Rings!!!

For upcoming CC: Concepts shows, please visit their Facebook page.

*mommy-and-kids photos from CC: Concepts Facebook page.

Colorful stools
My husband will disagree and of course he's right but I kinda want these stools. I want them for my kids because our dining chairs are so nice and comfy, the boys slouch and even lie down when they eat! It's so annoying! Yes, I'm a mean mama when it comes to teaching my boys good manners and right conduct. Since they can't seem to stop themselves from eating like Roman emperors, lounging about the dining table, stools suddenly seem like a great solution.


Rolling crate.
Also known as the f@cketbucket* in our family. It's where my husband and I throw in all the mess we find around the house, like Legos, plushies, crayons, homework. We don't organize our kids' stuff anymore. We just throw those things in that crate and when the kids go, "Mama, where's my...?", I just nod towards the crate and they'll know their stuff is in there.

We already have a crate obviously but at the end of the day, the kids still have to sort and organize their stuff and they walk to and fro from the living room to their bedroom and this can take forever! But if the crate were on wheels... Brilliant!

*We didn't invent this, by the way. It's a term that means you don't want to care anymore about something. Then we saw a Scary Mommy article about a mom who made a literal bucket of stuff she doesn't want to care about anymore and it was a lightbulb moment for us!


Laundry drying rack
Here's something else I super need! My Loyal Readers know I love doing the laundry. Well, my current clothes rack is almost at the end of its useful life. Which of the above drying racks do you recommend? I'm thinking of the one on wheels so I can drag it around the house and wherever the sun is (#condoproblems). What you think?


Hampers
Because mine are not pretty anymore. These are light but sturdy and super affordable! The small ones, by the way, are better as stuffed toy organizers or maybe a towel holder for your bathroom. They're too small for a hamper (unless you like doing the laundry daily!).


Art
I adore these little sculptures! I believe every home should have art. It doesn't matter if they're pricey paintings or clay sculptures your kids made in school. Your home needs a soul and the physical manifestation of that is art!

To find out more about these unique sculptures, check out the MY MC Home blog post about them.


For more home finds, visit the store! MY MC Home has 2 branches: Level 3 MET LIVE Mall, Diosdado Macapagal Blvd, 1302 Pasay City, and at MC Home Depot San Fernando Interchange, Jose Abad Santos Avenue, 2000 San Fernando, Pampanga. You may also find more furniture and promos at their Facebook page www.facebook.com/mymchome and Instagram www.instagram.com/mymchome.

*This post is brought to you by My MC Home.

I can't let August slip away without sharing with you the costumes my boys wore for Buwan ng Wika. Proud mama me is happy to report these were inexpensive and partly homemade. Also, blogger me is disclosing I'm blogging about this because so many people were saying they were Googling "Visayan costumes for boys" so - lightbulb moment! - nakakuha ako ng idea for an SEO-friendly post hehe!


August was super busy so I really wanted to buy a costume first kasi wala talaga akong time! But everything I found online were either Katipunero/farmer costumes or Igorot and Muslim costumes. For my older sons, their assigned costume was Visayan. When I asked a costume maker about that, she said, "Naku, ma'am, ang mga Bisaya, mga nakahubad ang mga yan. Example po, si Lapu-Lapu. Bale, bigyan ko na lang kayo ng bahag at pambalot sa ulo tapos hubad na lang yung mga bata." 

Is this true??? She sounded condescending.

But this is what I found on our hero, Datu Lapu-Lapu so baka nga totoo:

Anyway, Visayans are also known for their fierce tattooed bodies. From the islands of Panay to Leyte, there are people called Pintados. Even Lapu-Lapu had tattoos. So we Googled Pintados and a lot of fabulous photos from festivals came up! As in. Nakakatuwa sobra. But here's the one in Wikipedia:


My sons weren't so hot about going naked and wearing a diaper. But I figured since taga-Leyte mga magulang ko and the fact that Visayas were their assignment, we should just commit to it. By this time, our costume supplier was fully booked so hindi na raw siya available so off I went to Megamall because "Here at SM, we've got it all for you!"


At the tourist-favorite shop Kultura, there were lots of parents buying Filipino costumes. And grabe ha, hindi sila mura. Basically mga P1500 kada costume. Parang OA naman. So I figured I'd buy a nude shirt, make a Pintados design, buy tela na may traditional print (kahit hindi na strictly Bisaya) and gawan ko ng paraan yun.


Sa SM Department Store kiddie section, nakahanap ako ng nude undershirts. If you're looking for the same, sabihin niyo naghahanap kayo ng pang-barong. Mga P150 lang sila. Yey! Sa Kultura ko nabili yung tela. P800 siya. So lumabas na wala pang 1K per costume! Super kuripot me was so happy!!!


The kids helped with the design of their shirts and, armed with permanent markers, sila na ang gumawa ng sarili nilang tattoos. Ayaw nila ng bahag so binalot na lang namin yung tela around their waists and they wore shorts sa ilalim. Super happy sila sa costumes nila!!! These photos were taken at 5:30 in the morning and buhay na buhay sila sa excitement haha


Of course, my bunso also had his own Buwan ng Wika celebration sa school niya. With him, sabi ng teachers niya na okay na yung Katipunero costume that he wore when he was in Nursery last year. We just needed a bigger shirt and binaba namin sa hips niya yung pants para hindi bitin. We just used a straw fedora instead of the usual straw hat para mas cool siya haha He's sooooo cute, diba???

So, mga mamas, I've been super enjoying all the Pinoy costumes I've been seeing on social media. Medyo nakaka-stress maghanap ng costume but the results are always worth it. Parang motherhood lang!


*Lapu-Lapu monument photo from Country Within a City; Pintados photo from Wikipedia.

Last week, a video that Vito and I made for National Book Store debuted (naks, debut talaga haha) on Facebook.


I love working with my son. This is the second video we've done for National. Last year, Vito and I starred in a back-to-school marketing campaign where we hawked lunch bags.



I really like that lunch bag. I still have the pink and purple of it. Vito's blue and Iñigo's red were so well used and abused for an entire school year, nabutas na haha. I was really hoping National would sell them again this year.

Anyway, we also did an unboxing of our shopping.


So some moms who watched our video this month asked, "What did you buy po? Sana may unboxing din!" Oo nga naman! Well, it's not very exciting kasi we bought ball pens, Spider-Man pencils, highlighters, bond paper... you know, school supplies!

But Vito and I did find a very nice and affordable journal. As in sobra kaming tuwang-tuwa sa kanya. Are we mababaw to get all excited about a notebook? Maybe. Pero sa pamilya ko kasi, we are writers and artists. We love to write down everything. As in everything! The kids love to draw. They draw every single day! So notebooks are a HUGE deal here in our home. So, mamas, check out our favorite National Book Store find: Limelight Dotted Journals!

The blue has subtle gold flecks.

Love the cheerful color and lines!

The journal is really thick. I can do 12 months plus notes and drawings pa!

Pocket at the back cover.

Empty pages excite me!

Vito uses his as a planner, gaming notes, and writing his stories and comics.

Vito's dotted journal is already used but I'm saving mine for my 2020 bullet journal. Actually, we both want to buy more because there are more cover designs and P220 lang siya! Sobrang affordable!!!

We found this at the Glorietta 1 branch. The two branches near our house are small so very limited ang items available there so I think, if you want to buy this dotted journal, you'll have to go to a big branch like in Glorietta.

Now remember: Everything you need for school is at National Book Store. You can shop at their hundreds of branches nationwide or you can shop online at nationalbookstore.com. You can also call 8888-NBS (627) to order and have your shopping delivered! Follow @nationalbookstore on Instagram, and @nbsalert on Twitter, Viber, and YouTube.

*This post is brought to you by National Book Store.

PRESS RELEASE - Admit it, more often than not, what you have in your pantry would be hassle-free instant food. As any person who’s lived independently (ahem, alone) knows, instant food is pretty painless and requires minimal to no cooking. That means not only do you get to eat faster, but you also lessen the potential damage you can inflict on your kitchen. 

I spent one of the long weekends of this month at new home store MY MC Home, looking for stuff for my home office. I also went there with a special mission from my mommy readers: report on good sofas that are perfect for a small condo. Here's what I found for you! 


I especially like this living room set for your home office, if you have one. Its gray color recalls the professionalism of the corporate environment but that gingham print definitely puts a playful and homey feel, right?


Here's another option that will do well in your living room and also your home office. I like the Scandinavian design of sleek lines and simple wooden frames. They're quite comfy, too! But they're not long enough to accommodate your whole body so you won't be tempted to lie down and nap.


If you do like taking naps in between work deadlines (I indulge in power naps a lot!), then fold-out sofa beds are also available at MY MC Home. I found a streamlined piece that will fit into a small room and then fold out into a comfortable bed. Great for you and for guests!


Here's a multi-functional piece, mamas! It's a desk and a bed! It has tons of space for storage, too. Here is a closed one...


... and here's what it looks like when opened! The desk is specially designed to stay level so that even when you pull down the bed, you can leave your laptop or notebooks on the desk and they won't fall off. Love it!


Speaking of desks, we all need organizers to make sense of the mess that inevitably piles up when work gets crazy. Here's a desk organizer I found. Lots of compartments for pens, highlighters, folders, paper clips, et al. I was hoping for more feminine variants, though, like florals or pink.


There are other desk organizers that aren't black, don't worry! They come in different materials, too, like faux leather, wood, and wicker.


Another fantastic find for the office (or your living room and bedroom) is this corner shelf. Definitely a great space filler and perfect for books, picture frames, and scented candles to calm your frazzled nerves.


Last but definitely will be the pièce de résistance of your home office—this unique bookshelf!

For more home and office finds, visit the store! MY MC Home has 2 branches: Level 3 MET LIVE Mall, Diosdado Macapagal Blvd, 1302 Pasay City, and at MC Home Depot San Fernando Interchange, Jose Abad Santos Avenue, 2000 San Fernando, Pampanga. You may also find more furniture and promos at their Facebook page www.facebook.com/mymchome and Instagram www.instagram.com/mymchome.

*This post is brought to you by My MC Home.