TOPAZ HORIZON

Appebon Kid partnered with Topaz Horizon for Nutrition Month, which was July, if you didn't know. I didn't know but now I do! At a special brunch at Italianni's Bonifacio High Street, Appebon Kid invited pediatrician Dr. Florianne Feliza-Valdez to talk to mom bloggers about the importance of good nutrition for our kids.

• Once our kids turn a year old, milk should stop being his only source of nutrition. This isn't a real problem since we give our kids solid food (hopefully meat, fruits and veggies and not junk food!) at 6 months old. But some kids are given so much milk, they don't eat real food anymore!
• Formula milk can be considered junk food if it takes up the majority of what our kids eat. Formula milk has lots of sugar, which attracts bacteria. 
• Other junk food culprit is instant noodles. Some families think it's okay to give their kids lots of instant noodles because it seems like real food. It's actually just carbs and salt.
• There are two types of malnutrition: undernourished (child is not getting enough nutrients) and overnourished (a.k.a. chubby kids).
• Ask your pediatrician for a nutritional assessment if you're worried about your child (too skinny, too fat, too short, etc.). Every child is different and growth is affected by non-nutritional factors like genetics (short mommy and daddy will most likely have short children, for example).

Appebon Kid is a daily nutritional supplement that can help parents meet their children's nutritional needs. Packed with Vitamins B1, B6 and B12, Iron and Lysine, it's in a yummy strawberry flavor that even picky eaters from 2-12 years old will like.

So we give the kids vitamins to ensure they're not undernourished. Still, I would love it if they, especially Iñigo, would eat good food at meal times regularly.

To prove it, let me share with you a few photos of his 2nd birthday party:

I will always remember World Cup 2014 fondly. For one thing, this was a really exciting World Cup. But I'll remember it most because in the sleepless, uncomfortable nights caused by the last few weeks of my pregnancy, the insomnia was made more bearable (even fantastic, depending on the game) with the World Cup. The speed of the players, the great coverage using drones, the funny shoes, the hotness of the players, the drama, the melodrama, the star players, the shock injuries, the humiliation of Brazil, the defeat of champions and the surprise triumph of underdogs, oh, and the fact that my team won! Hooray Germany!

Fashion brand HUGO BOSS sent me photos showing how they proudly outfitted the national football team of Germany in BOSS suits. Very dapper!


Grabe. Ang hot lang naman!

The players wore luxury, custom-made dark-blue BOSS suits to their official engagements. This super fine three-piece suit was paired with a denim shirt and a knit tie, for a modern edge. On their not-so official appearances (like flying and traveling), the team was still super sharp donning casual outfits of comfortable grey knitted cardigans and dark-blue trousers from BOSS. Everything they wore actually—from t-shirts and jackets to bags and luggage—was HUGO BOSS!


Germany's coach and managers Joachim Löw, Hansi Flick, Oliver Bierhoff and Andreas Köpke, meanwhile, also wore bespoke three-piece suits by BOSS MADE TO MEASURE to official engagements. The dark-blue suit was combined with a checked shirt, polka dot tie and a pocket square to match the shirt, which is also from the BOSS MADE TO MEASURE collection. A brown suede belt and shoes completed the look.
Actually, all of the Mannschaft team was outfitted in the designer label, not just the players and managers, but all 130 personnel, even staff! My goodness, is there an opening for duffel bag carrier in the Germany team? I will apply!


If you miss World Cup the way I do, here is an amazing video of it. Enjoy!




*photos courtesy of Hugo Boss and Visions & Expressions


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I have a lot of stories for you, my dear readers, but my hands are full of babies right now. Three little boys to be exact, with the littlest one literally in my arms all the time.

Well, sometimes I get to put him down for Instagram pics haha!

Yes, I've finally given birth! Hence, the lack of blog updates. Please be patient while I get my bearings. I'm kinda madly in love right now. Please check out my new little man and how I met him. The story is written by my husband over at my mommy blog. Mwah!

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Last night, I blogged about listening to sleepy, sad music. What I forgot to share (and it's really worth sharing!) is how I listen to my music.

In style!

But of course. Thanks so much to my absolutely luxe Molami Bight earphones.
You might think that an earphone is an earphone is an earphone. Like, it's all the same. Nope. These earphones not only make listening to music look sophisticated, the sound quality that comes out of its tiny, gold-plated earbuds is also actually sophisticated.

Molami is the baby of industrial designer Maria von Euler. While developing Molami, Maria wanted headphones for women—nope, she didn't mean cute and pink. She wanted a marriage of fashion and beauty, a stylish accessory for us women that also flatters our face and neck, and complements our hairstyles. Yes, headphones that complement our fab hairstyles! A big reason why I never used headphones, for example, is because they're ugly. Seriously. They either look juvenile, clunky, plastic, boring, obvious. Ugly. I have never met a headphone that I liked.

Until I met Molami. Just look at their headphones:

The Pleat. Light, sleek and made to flatter our jaw.

Made of napa leather and gold. Covers ears for complete sound isolation.

The Twine. It's designed to mimic a scarf/headband for a sound-surround experience.

Bandeau design is made of silk, satin and chiffon.

The Bight. For discrete style.

The Bight is the one I own. At first glance, it's all black napa leather and cord with gold. The earphones are designed to attach to the ear at two points. All other earphones just plug into the ear canal. After a while, the ear canal tires of the pressure.
The Bight has the EarClick System. The gold lace part goes into your ear canal while the soft nub (removable and washable) goes into the groove above the ear canal. Two support points! This way, my ears never get tired to listen to my music!

My earphones are made of black napa leather and gold. Other versions are white napa and gold, black stingray and silver, and black napa and black hardware.

Woven black cord and gold hardware. So simple, so classic, so luxe!

My earphones pack into a canvas pouch. Can't keep them in plastic because plastic deteriorates leather and I have to also protect the gold parts from getting scratched when I put it in my tote bag.

The Bight is meant for commuters so it doesn't completely block out the environment. In my case, I work from home but I need to keep an ear out for my little kids and the doorbell and all the house stuff that can't be ignored. And yet the sound that comes out of my tiny Bight speakers is strong, clear and whole. Not tinny or scratchy or hollow.

I especially like the Bight because it makes voices sound so distinct—very important to me when I'm transcribing interviews. In fact, when I posted this on Facebook, it's my writer friends (not my music-lover friends) who got really curious!

Thanks to my son, Vito, for taking these photos of me and my Molamis!

Molami headphones are exclusively available at Rustans. For more information, like Digits Trading on Facebook.

Product photos from Molami website's press page.
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I'm 38 weeks pregnant. That means I'm exhausted and excited and sleepy and can't sleep. So I'm listening to Bread to relax me before I go to sleep.


The sadness of the surprise at the end. So heartbreaking!


The longing and wistfulness of his voice and the devoted love when he sings, "If I can't have the one I want, I'd do without the best." That's selflessness. That's real love.


Right after my Mama died, this played in a taxi I was riding and I wept, yes, wept right in that taxi. The driver just looked at me and asked, "Ma'am, boyfriend?" I said, "Hindi po. Namatay nanay ko." And he nodded and said, "Masakit talaga yan."


"And when my love for life is running dry, you come and pour yourself on me." I always think of Vince when I hear this line. Always.

Good night!

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Remember when I tried out the eyewear online shopping site, Four Eyes, last week? Well, my glasses are finally here!

I picked the Cat Whisperer frames because I looked really good in them! Or they looked really good on me.

After trying out the three frames I picked, I asked for the glasses to be picked up on June 13. They were picked up by courier service Xend on June 17. Again, there's a wait. I finally got my glasses on June 24. So from the time I ordered on June 2 to the time I got my glasses on June 24, it's 22 days. Three weeks. That could've been shorter since I really kept the trial frames for 5 days before I scheduled a pick up.

To be fair to Four Eyes, they never said they'll deliver or pick up the next day. So the process does take time, but if you're in no hurry, I think Four Eyes is much better than going to the optical shop. A big reason why I dislike optical shops intensely is the fact that they hide price tags. So you go around the shop, you pick your frames, you try them on. The sales person says, "Bagay! Bagay lahat!!!" Which really doesn't help. Finally, you pick your frame and then realize it's out of your budget range and then the salesperson looks at you with a sigh, and then you feel small and sad and poor, and then you just hurry out or pick something else that you don't like. Haha, I'm so melodramatic! But I think you know what I mean!

With Four Eyes, I had the convenience of picking out frames at my leisure (it took me an entire afternoon doing the virtual try-out, then a whole five days trying them on at home), and all of that in the privacy of my own home. Then my new gorgeous glasses just cost P3,495! I mean, look at them. They look so chic, not cheap!

THE GOOD CAUSE
Here's another reason why you should totally buy your glasses and sunnies from Four Eyes: The eyewear shopping site has partnered with the charity organization, World Vision Philippines. For every pair you buy from Four Eyes, they will donate another pair to someone in need of prescription glasses.

Buy yourself glasses for just P1,495 and another person benefits from your shopping!

Top right photo shows host, teacher and blogger Patty Laurel-Filart helping distribute the glasses.

New glasses for all! What a happy day!

The World Vision and Four Eyes team with the happy Caviteños!

THE GIVEAWAY!
Four Eyes would love to extend their services to one lucky Topaz Horizon reader!

Let me see. I've been wearing prescription glasses for my nearsightedness since I was 13. My first pair was this monstrosity of pink frames that cradled thick glass lenses I was forever afraid would shatter.

Me at 14, with my baby siblings Theodore and Jacqui.

Later on, when I was in college, I asked for anti-reflecting, ultra-thin plastic lenses that have UV protection, too. These were expensive lenses but my parents allowed it because they didn't want me to look too nerdy. Papa said nerdy girls never attract any boys. His fears were unfounded. Boys do make passes at girls who wear glasses! The best boy turned out to be the guy who'd marry me! (Yes, my husband has a thing for girls with glasses.)

Now you all know I love online shopping. So naturally I loved FourEyes.com.ph! Here's my review:

THE ONLINE SHOP
The shopping site is very easy to navigate. It's simple. No bells and whistles. Just the way I like it. You get presented the frames available. You pick the ones you like and you get more product details. You even get to try the glasses on virtually.
Just upload a photo and that's it! I was worried pa nga that I'll need a photo na full frontal, parang passport ba. But even this semi-side, semi-looking down shot of me with my boys was okay because there's a tool that helped me position the frames perfectly. It allows me to make the glasses bigger or smaller and move them around on my face. So easy! So fun! So easy and fun that I virtually tried on dozens of frames! Look at some of them:

I ended up picking Vanilla Wafer, Cat Whisperer and Sing Me A Lullaby. The frames are just Php 1,495 each. Super affordable! Like, crazy affordable! If you pick regular lenses, too (yes, even prescription ones), the lenses are free! But since I'm maarte and my grade is pretty high (which means if I pick out regular lenses, they'd be super thick), I chose the ultra-thin lenses, which is an additional Php 2,000. Still, the whole pair of glasses will come out at just Php 3,495. Still waaaaay cheaper than buying from a shop! You can buy two or three!

Ordering the glasses was super easy. You just fill in the information needed, like if you want prescription lenses or just lenses without a grade. If you need prescription lenses, you'll need to know what your prescription is so you'll really have to see your eye doctor first. Since I have a prescription from last year, I already knew what my grade was, the distance between my irises, and the types of lenses that I like (ultra-thin, non-reflective, with UV protection).

After filling out the info, just tell them if you want a flat-out purchase or if you want to try out some frames at home first. I chose the Home Try-On service.

THE SERVICE
I placed my order on June 2, Monday. The box of glasses arrived on June 7, Saturday. So there's a bit of a wait there.

Inside were a sturdy blue box and the return envelope addressed to Four Eyes. You can keep the glasses for 5 days. I imagine that's enough time to try them out, and ask your friends and family which ones look best on you. After the five days, you're supposed to contact Four Eyes and tell them to pick up the glasses again.
Helpful instructions on the inside of the lid.

My glasses! Which one is really for me?

Let's start with Sing Me A Lullaby.
I picked it because I wanted colored frames. I already have a black one and a red one so I figured I'd try blue. While I liked it, I thought the blue brought out the shadows under my eyes and the blue-green veins on my cheeks. You don't notice it on the photo here because I increased exposure/brightness so that my flaws will disappear. Hehe, vain!

Just saw Jolibee's new ad for Independence Day called #SarapMagingPilipino, and it made me tear up a bit. You see, over at Facebook, a lot of the people I know are on trips abroad and they keep saying things like how horrible it is here in the Philippines. Look, I'm not blind to the ills of our country but if it's that bad, then don't come back, diba.

Whenever I see or hear people talk about how it's so much better in other countries, my first thought is always, "Then help make life better for us here."A lot of us always just talk about how everything is so bad here (and always over cups of designer coffee or something like that!). But it's the same all over the world. There are good things, there are bad things. Nothing is ever perfect.

When I go abroad, I think, "Oh wow, the public transportation system is so efficient. But, wow, the train is almost P80 a trip? So expensive!""Oh wow, the people here are so disciplined but, wow, they're so frikkin' rude, too!" "Oh wow, the streets are just as filthy as Manila's streets but at least here, it's cold so it doesn't stink." "Oh wow, no traffic at all but there's a rule you have to replace your car every 3 years? Kaya naman pala walang kotse nyek."

I'm not saying the systems of other countries are bad. I also believe that the ticket prices of the MRT should be raised way up, just like in other countries, so that the MRT can make money to buy more trains and therefore accommodate more passengers. That's called running a business. But that's also called anti-poor. A lot of what makes other cities in the world so nice and clean is because of their anti-poor policies. Parking in London for a month? USD 950 (almost P41,000 or P1,300 a day) vs around P120 here. To drive around London in your own car? You have to pay GBP 10 (P730) just to enter the city. Kung ganyan din dito sa Maynila, imagine spending P3,650 a week para lang pumasok sa office!

Krispy Kreme asked me (pretty please with candy sprinkles on it) if I'd like to treat my readers to something sweet. Of course I said yes! So if you're in the mood to treat yourself (or your family, friends, co-workers, etc) to a sweet treat with an even sweeter message on top, why don't you give them #JoyInABox from Topaz Horizon and Krispy Kreme?


Yes, my dear readers! I'm giving away 10 boxes of #MessageDoughnuts from my family's favorite doughnut shop, Krispy Kreme! But you get to pick the message you want on it. Here are a few samples:

So without further ado, let's get on with the giveaway!

The prize:
A whole box of doughnuts with the message you want to tell anyone. It can be a "Happy Dad's Day!" to your father, an "I love you!" to your boyfriend, an "I miss you!" to your friends, "Congrats!" to a new mom or a friend with a new job, or encouraging words to your staff at work. Kinda something like this:

The details:

1. 10 readers will win a box each of #MessageDoughnuts from Krispy Kreme. 
2. Contest is open to anyone near a Krispy Kreme shop! So this is a nationwide contest! (Philippines only!)
3. My contest runs from today till June 12, 12pm.
4. I'll pick the winners on June 12 and announce on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Winners must reply to my announcement by June 13, Friday 12 noon!!! If I get no feedback, I pick new winners!
5. Winners will then send me their name, the message they want on their #JoyInABox, and which Krispy Kreme store they'll claim the box from. Bring a valid ID to claim your box of #MessageDoughnuts!

How to win:

1. Like Krispy Kreme's Facebook page, and follow them on Instagram and Twitter. 
2. Like Topaz Horizon's Facebook page, and follow me on Instagram and Twitter. Ya, you kinda have to because that's where I'm going to announce the winners! 
3. On Instagram: Post a happy selfie and say this: "I want to get #joyinabox from @KrispyKremePH and @FrancesASales!"
4. On Twitter: Post a happy selfie and say this: "I want to get #joyinabox from @hotlightgirl and @FrancesASales!"
5. On Facebook: Say this: "I want to get #joyinabox from Krispy Kreme and Topaz Horizon!" Make sure Krispy Kreme and Topaz Horizon are tagged!

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I'm pregnant so I haven't been wearing heels for a long while now. It's not safe, I know, so don't worry about me! But I'm writing this post because I still remember how it feels to be on heels all day and then your feet start to swell up in pain and suffering, and all you want to do is wear comfy flats.

Yung tipong pumuputok na ang mga ugat sa paa mo na pain.

Here's a cute solution from proudly Pinoy brand Ni-QUA: the Ella Foldable Flats!

I love that it comes in a big nylon pouch. Kasi other foldable flats in the market come in these tiny pouches, which begs the question: Saan ko lalagay yung heels ko??? With the roomy polka-dot pouch, that's not an issue.

Kasya heels ko!

Of course, the best thing about the Ella Flats is it's very comfy. The sole is flexible but it's not super thin. Other foldable flats have soles that are super manipis so your feet have no protection from the ground. As in, nararamdaman mo lahat ng groove, crack, bato at basura when you walk around. So sure, you may not be in heels anymore but yung paa mo naman is in another kind of pain.

Look at how relaxed my feet are! Super comfy and really fun on my feet. I love it!

No more ugat!

The Ni-QUA Ella Flats come in neon pink, neon orange, neon blue, neon green and neon yellow. If you're not into blinding brights, the Ella Flats also come in brown and red, capped at the toe by animal prints. Really cute! Shop now!

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Our income may not be regular and it's not even near the same level as when we were employed, but God's provision comes from many places. We get free trips, free gas, free clothes, free diapers, free food, free toiletries, free almost everything! Sometimes, when I'm feeling stressed out with the kids, flowers from strangers just suddenly appear at the door and I'm cheered up. It's funny because sometimes I'll run out of mascara, for example, and I'll go, "Dear God, I need mascara but I don't want to buy because our money should go to the groceries and the bills." One week later, three tubes of mascara from Lancôme, Avon and L'Oreal Paris arrived! God is good and faithful (and generous!), as promised!
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