TOPAZ HORIZON

Outfit details: gray Gingersnaps dress, Liz Claiborne rose quartz necklace, Wristaker watch, Victoria Marin ring

Belatedly discovered this very popular hole-in-the-wall place recently...


So he got this yummy bacon-covered thingamobob...

I shouldn't be overindulging because...

Yet that didn't stop me from ordering...

With this disappointment...

And we were there because...

Have a happy rainy day!

Ladies, if you're looking for some ravenous male attention then maybe you want to hold off on those quick weight loss diets because I now truly believe men like their women fleshy. Let me tell you something that's really been bothering me lately. Stay with me, okay, because I have a long wind up to my main point.

I've been skinny my entire life. I like it that way--my body's light and I can fit into anything and I can wear low-cut dresses or mini skirts without worrying about looking too sexy. I will also confess that I have never heard a wolf whistle directed at me. Ever. I know that's because I have no breasts, no hips, no booty so I look like a pre-teen or, if my hair's cut very short, I look like a boy even.

So imagine my shock these days! I walk to work and almost every day, I get a wolf whistle, a "Hi sexy!", a lewd comment now and then, and I get to even stop traffic. I'm not saying that to show off, people. I am honestly enraged!!! I am pregnant, for heaven's sake!!! Perverts abound and they give me the creeps.

Being pregnant, I've put on 20 lbs, and my body has definitely filled out. So I understand that the new curves are grabbing male attention. But I'm also sporting a huge tummy. With a child in it. I don't understand why men will find this body interesting at all. It grosses me out. I've already taken to wearing long dresses and clothes that cover me up and it still doesn't help! No matter how much you hide, I guess men just zoom in on "Oh boobies! Oh booty!" 

Truth to tell, I'm just not used to male attention. The perverted kind of male attention. I don't like it. It's scary. The only male attention I love is from my husband, who thankfully prefers skinny girls, but still looks at me differently these days, too! So, much as I appreciate my new curves, I'll be relieved when I finally give birth and lose these breasts and thighs and butt. I just don't want to be scared all the time!     

All the pregnancy books and websites say that when a woman is pregnant, she has the most vivid dreams. Now, even though I wasn't pregnant, I've always been the type who dreamed the most awesome and fantastic dreams. Now that I am pregnant, the dreams have taken on such a realistic quality that I am often awakened and disturbed, wondering if what I dreamed really did happen. So now my memories are befuddled--I don't know sometimes if something was real or not.

Recently, I dreamed that I traveled to a parallel universe. Before you say, "Well, that's definitely a dream!", science has not dismissed this hypothesis and is in fact mulled over by quantum physicists till now. I've always been fascinated with the multiverse theory and my favorite TV show, Fringe, happens to deal with the topic very well. Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy also presents parallel universes in a most spellbinding way but he didn't end that story so well. Anyway, I'm not going to discuss quantum mechanics, TV plot lines and book reviews here; instead, let's go back to my dream.

In my dream, I went to a universe where Vince was an editor for a small-town newspaper. His life was peaceful, he lived in a lovely cottage furnished with beautiful heavy wood pieces. He was very much like my Vince except that he had a girlfriend that was pregnant and he didn't know if he wanted to marry her. That isn't like my Vince at all!

Of course, when he met me, well, you can't argue with destiny--he felt like all the pieces fell into place and he wanted me to stay in his world and marry him. I became alarmed! I said, "Vince, I am already married to the other you." To which the other Vince replied, "Then it isn't wrong for us to be together because the man you married is also me." I shook my head and said, "You have a girlfriend here and you're expecting a child. I don't belong here. I don't belong to you here."


The dream ended there and when I woke up, I felt so sad for the other Vince. He seemed so lost and grasping for happiness. And I wondered, "Where was the other me? Why aren't they together? Was the other me lost and unhappy, too?" I spent the rest of the day grieving for the other Vince and the other Frances, two souls wandering about their universe, looking for each other.

Yes, it was just a dream but I couldn't shake off the feeling that, here in this world, if Vince and I hadn't found each other, if we had allowed petty fights to separate us, if we had been less responsible with our future, we could also have ended up unhappy.

And so because little decisions can unravel one's life, I will be more careful and be more grateful. We worked so hard for this happiness and it can be undone just like that! I will treasure what I have even more.

Okay, so I know I've been gone forever! Blasted Internet connection! And darn busy schedule, too! But I am back now with very happy news. This is what's thrilling Vince and me to bits this week:

That's Real Living's latest book and my house is the cover!!! Of course, the photo looks much better than the actual thing (see here). That's because they had to style that little space so that it'll be more photogenic. So they fixed the curtains, grabbed the garden stool from the foyer, the crystal vase and Rustan's orchids from beside the TV, the suitcases from under the coffee table, the felt rabbits from the shoe cabinets, and the editorial assistant's bag from her shoulder... Et voila! Now it's cover worthy.

Grab your copy of Real Home Ideas 5: Small Space Solutions from your favorite bookstores and magazine stands now for only P195 a book. I'm definitely getting a few! My home just became a star!

Update: The book will be officially launched on June 23, Wednesday, at the SM Megamall Atrium at 4:30 PM. I'll try to be there, of course! If you want to attend the launch and get a free book (Book 4, though), do send an email to abigail.pinili@summitmedia.com.ph to register.

Happy Monday, y'all! I haven't been updating here because all my updates are in Topaz Mommy and Beauty For A Living. I wrote about my surprise baby shower, gifts from NIVEA Baby and my 4D ultrasound results; and also the latest offerings from Kenneth Cole, Revlon, Ferragamo and LUSH. So if you'd like to know what's up with me lately, do visit my other blogs. Thanks!

You can also join my blog's Facebook page. Just click on the badge on the sidebar!

Based on recent blog posts, it looks like I'm swimming in money. So I guess it's kinda strange when I start talking about how baby stuff are so expensive, I don't want to spend on baby clothes, and all my gasps and exclamations over the cost of having a baby. Well, I'll tell you a secret: I really set aside a budget for everything!

I'm not an impulse buyer. I will sleep on something I saw in a shop window for days, weeks, even months! If I really want it, I take out envelopes and mark them: "Topaz Ring," "Maternity Dresses," "Sunglasses," "Eyeglass Frames," etc. So, for example, my budget for maternity dresses is 10K. Every pay period, I will slip in 1K or 2K or P500 in that envelope, whatever amount I can set aside after paying the bills. When it finally reaches 10K, BAM! Off to the stores I go and so it looks like I went on a wild shopping spree!

Then when I say, "I don't have money for that breast pump!", it's kinda true. I just mean the envelope marked "Breast Pump" isn't ready yet. 

Here's another secret: When I go on a spree, I don't bring the cash. I usually charge it to the card so that I collect points. I don't despair because I actually already have the cash to pay for my credit card purchases—they're just in my little envelopes. And I always pay the balance in full to avoid fees and other charges. Of course, I can afford to do that because I've already spent a lot of time saving up for it!

I also usually don't get money from my salary. I use the money I earn from blogging, eBay and writing projects. The money that comes from the paid blogging network I belong to is the best because I feel I get it for free. I just write posts and I get $5 for each blog post. It's a small amount but after a month or two, it really adds up. That's how we buy our Threadless shirts from the US and film nerd tees from London. Blogging money!

So though I might appear I'm throwing away money, I'm not. I scrupulously save every extra peso (emphasis on "extra"!) so that I can shop! It takes a lot of discipline and patience but the reward is oh so sweet!

First, let me establish that I love coloring my hair. That's me in October 2009, the last time I had a color job done at Louis Phillip Kee in Greenhills.

When I was a young girl, I absolutely adored supermodel Linda Evangelista because every time I saw her in magazines, she'd have a different hair color. My Mama was the same. In her family, you see, white hair appears really early so she colored her hair in various shades of brown and burgundy all the time. She was gorgeous!

So when I started sprouting white hair when I was 15, I begged for color. My parents allowed me to do so on my 18th birthday and I've colored my hair ever since! I've been blue black, mahogany, blonde, chocolate, chestnut, strawberry, magenta... The only colors I haven't been are green, pink, platinum and purple!

So my chief agony all the time I've been pregnant is I have been forbidden to color my hair! I've been complaining complaining complaining nonstop about my roots. While other mom-to-be's are happily busy with shopping for bottles and baby clothes or worrying about their health and asking around for medical insurance quotes or even maybe exercising and taking Lamaze classes, I've been obsessing over my roots.

I'm normally not a whiny girl but these past few months, I've been whining about it constantly. My OBG and my hubby refuse to be moved by my whining, however. They are adamant: You CANNOT color your hair!!! So after agonizing over recent photos like this...

... I went to a salon and had most of my hair chopped off! I now look like this:

I actually wanted a Carey Mulligan crop so that all the colored hair will have disappeared but the hairstylist said gently, "You're hormonal. Let's do this gradually." So we agreed that I'll drop by every month for a trim so that by the time I give birth, I'd only have an inch or two of blonde tips.

Argh, il est vraiment horrible! I swear that my first beauty act after giving birth is a complete hair color--deep magenta with strawberry red highlights and mahogany lowlights!

There are benefits to reading this blog, people. Most say they get entertained, some say they are moved and cry, while others get to win prizes! Now, if you're a fan of Topaz Horizon's Facebook page, then you know I held a raffle for the first 150 likers. These were the prizes:

Tani Villamora won the bag. Very lucky girl! I said on the FB wall that it was a Kenneth Cole Reaction; it's actually a Kenneth Cole New York.

Kristine Dianne Millet won the Body Shop loot. She was super delighted!

Mina Gonzales-Politte won the NARS stuff but since she's based in the US (and I specified that the winners have to personally claim their prizes from me), she graciously said that the next name on the list can have her prize.
So Bea B. Panti-Gonzales won the makeup by default. However, she hasn't claimed her prize and I really have become too busy now to go meet her so I don't know what to do.

I met up with these beautiful ladies in Red Mango at Greenbelt 3 so that I can get to meet my readers. I chose the yogurt place because I've heard about how yummy the froyo there is and I wanted something healthy so I wouldn't need a Lipofuze after I give birth!

Anyway, it was so nice that we hit it off immediately, like we'd known each other for years! Well, they have an advantage since they've been reading my blog so I will confess that I felt a little shy to meet them. If you're a regular reader, you'd know I'm a bit of an anti-social most times. But I must say Tani and Tin made me feel so comfy that we were soon sharing stories--from heartbreaks to Brazilian wax!

Congratulations, Tani and Tin! Thanks for reading my blog and for making the time to meet up with silly old me. Enjoy your prizes!

I'm the sort of girl who appreciates gifts like a clothes steamer, a top-of-the-line blender or a 7-piece all clad copper core cookware set, but hey, I won't say no to these beauties... Presenting the Tiffany & Co. Filigree Heart pendants!

This design is actually resurrected from 18th century French and English jewelry. In Tiffany’s version, a delicate heart is filled with a pattern of seven petals around a keyhole. Of course, there's a key attached to the pendant.



Now, if you prefer a bigger key, or maybe just a key, then nothing can trump Tiffany's Keys Collection. The keys here are from the new collection, and these range from the simple to the intricately bejeweled!

Now if you're wondering why anyone would have a key for a pendant, here's the history: In the olden days, people locked away their jewelry, photos, secrets and other precious possessions in beautiful boxes. Even albums and diaries had locks! And of course when people traveled, they had steamer trunks and train cases. The safest place to put your keys is around your neck! 




I adore them all but my heart is set on a certain topaz ring that I want for my 34th birthday. I have 6 months to save up for that ring. So these pendants will be for another occasion... maybe when I'm super duper rich!

Tiffany & Co. is exclusively available in Rustan’s Makati and Shangri-la Plaza Mall. 

Photos courtesy of SSI and Visions & Expressions.

It was the deadline week of OK!. The last week is always deadly for me and my staff but I made it more stressful by penciling in my OBG and facial appointments, too.

The pregnancy is going very well and my OBG prescribed these new vitamins that are so frakkin' expensive but are supposed to have all the vitamins and fatty acids and minerals my baby and I need. Then I also have to do birthing classes, a 4D ultrasound and the usual lab tests. Drain my blood away now, why don't you? It's a good thing the hubby and I have jobs!

So even though I'm already spending a lot on this pregnancy, I went shopping! Bought three dresses from Tango, a dress from Warehouse, sandals from Celine, new eyeglass frames (they're red!) and yet another dress from Kamiseta. It's so adorable! But I have to bring it to the seamstress because the shoulder straps are too long. Will have a decent photo taken as soon as that dress is ready.

Oh, and I bought a new cellphone, too, from the Big Sony Sale. It really is a big sale! I love my new phone. Had to buy a new one because my old Sony Ericsson is more than 5 years old and it's dying on me. Will write about the phone soon.

Oh, and I finally put the Facebook Like button in my blog! It's soooo cool! If you wanna know how, let the Third World Nerd teach ya...

And you can also join my Facebook fan page. I'm meeting a few "likers" tomorrow--they won my FB Fan Page raffle. So fun!

Last night, OK! managing editor Lana Chan and I attended the Sex and The City 2 premiere at Power Plant Mall. It was thrown by Solar Entertainment and I had a lovely time seeing old friends.

You see, unless my job requires me to go out (for example, to an advertiser's event), I haven't really been socializing since I got pregnant. Three reasons: I'm terribly sleepy, I had really bad acne in the first trimester, and I'm more susceptible to infections and diseases. When I got pneumonia, for example, that happened a week after I attended an advertiser's event. So I'm pretty much cloistered lately.

So last night was fun. There was a plethora of style--I had fun checking out dresses, bags, jewelry, heels, boots, hairstyles. Really, I think I've been cooped up too long! Thank goodness for Facebook (and this blog!), people I haven't seen in months (some, years) were not shocked to see me pregnant. We were all pretty much up to date with each other's lives!

I didn't go in the theater to watch the movie, however. I always seem to get sick when I'm in a crowded enclosed space! So I bid my friends buh-bye and went off to Sango to buy my yummy husband his dinner. 
Vince and I have always loved Sango's burgers, but after two pregnancy-induced nausea fits, we haven't had any. Thankfully, last night, my nose was cooperative! When I got home, Vince just also arrived from work (and he was soooo happy to see me! So cute!) and we had a grand time munching away happily.

So that was my night! How was yours?

Last week, Mariel made me the most delicious carrot cake in the world (read why in my Topaz Mommy post). Just look at it!

Yummy yummy yummy! Even Vince said it was amazing and Vince does not eat vegetable confections!

Then a few days ago, Nicole sent me red velvet cupcakes that she also baked for me! Wow! These were such a lovely and tasty gift.

Truth to tell, my OBG will send me off to get a colon cleanse if she ever finds out I've been stuffing myself with sweet stuff. Because, contrary to what people say, pregnancy is not the time you can eat anything and everything you want. This is the time to eat healthy and in small portions throughout the day. Which is driving me totally crazy because I want to eat, eat, eat all the sweet, fat and salty food in the world and I can't! That is why I am not a fat pregnant woman, by the way, because I am really trying to follow my doctor's strict diet regimen of vegetables, fruits and other yucky healthy stuff.

But how can anyone resist the goodies above? And the love of friends? I mean, they didn't buy those cakes--they baked them for me! Thank you, Mariel and Nicole. You are the bestest friends a girl can ever have!

*Mariel posted her carrot cake recipe! 

I don't believe it! I wasn't part of the hordes of women who watched HBO's Sex and The City but it was such a huge pop culture hit that I knew Sarah Jessica Parker, or rather, Carrie Bradshaw may have worn a different fabulous brand every week on the show but she used just one and only one computer on every episode: a Mac!


But for the upcoming movie sequel, Carrie will be typing out her thoughts on a--gasp!--HP Notebook.


Well, I'll be honest with ya--it's pretty much discombobulating. It's like watching Transformers and seeing Bumblebee is now a GM, not a VW! Weird. Hewlett-Packard's marketing department did its darndest to partner with the franchise (and successfully so) but I dunno. It's just not right!

The Mac is the computer designed for creative people--that's why we all have Macs at the editorial department (mine is a mighty impressive iMac). Macs are used by musicians, photographers, copywriters, art directors, fashion designers, writers. I really can't explain why (I'll let the Third World Nerd do that) but Macs just seem to be designed in such a way that creative people intuitively know what to do with it. I knew from the moment I switched one on that a Mac and I had something beautiful going on. It's like love!  

So writer and design-crazy Carrie Bradshaw and the Mac were just the perfect partnership. They made sense. But Carrie and HP? Hmmm. This I gotta see.

Of course, I'm not putting PCs down at all. I am, after all, typing this blog post on an HP Mini. I got a Mini because it was cheap. And I wanted to keep my computer-related stuff at home simple--surfing, blogging, photo storage, emailing, eBaying. I didn't want to take work home--which is what the Third World Nerd does, hence his MacBook Pro, iPad, iPhone. He has nothing against PCs, too, since he also used one for gaming and downloading. I chose a PC for home because I wanted my online doings at home to be simple, no fancy stuff. After all, that's the HP promise: The computer is personal again! But when it comes to doing creative things (from simple to heavy duty!), there's only one baby for that job: a Mac.

Read more about this shocking new partnership from Popeater and The Guardian UK.

UPDATE: It's not what we think! Spot.ph has the story here.

If you've visited my husband's blog lately, you'll know that we have an exciting new gadget in the house, which is driving the Third World Nerd crazy happy. He's so cute really.

This, of course, means we should slow down on the purchases with the impending arrival of Mr. Jelly Bean. Actually, that would be "purchases unrelated to babies" since I just got a list of stuff we supposedly need for a kid and that list is mighty long. I've already looked at how much things cost and am seriously upset.

For example, an Avent electronic breast pump is about P13,000 here, but if I buy from the US, it'll just cost me $140, or P6,200. Same goes for a lot of baby stuff--they're cheaper from online shops so I guess this means we'll use Johnny Air again.

We really really love Johnny Air! I think from now on, we'll buy our things from the US because Johnny Air ships absolutely anything and everything for an inexpensive shipping fee! We've already bought books and toys and gadgets and we really love the service. Although, we bought small and light stuff so maybe for big stuff, like a Sony or Samsung HDTV, we'll have to get from here!     

So there. Must save money now. And yet, I still want to buy this yellow topaz ring I saw in a jewelry shop last week. It's been haunting me every day! And we also saw these cute puppies for sale from Project Lightning!
Awwwww! Cute little critters! I can totally see my son with a beagle! Vince wants Jelly Bean to own a dog. Research has shown that children who had pets were more responsible, healthier, more compassionate and--this is the interesting part--were less likely to get pregnant/get someone pregnant out of wedlock. Well! That's a good enough reason for me! Thing is, we live in an apartment. With a rabbit. So maybe we'll get a beagle in 5 to 7 years' time, when we'll maybe live in a house with a big garden!


*breast pump photo from Philips online shop. Puppies photos from Project Lightning's Facebook page. Don't forget to "like" Topaz Horizon's FB page!

I just realized that when the GoDaddy reminder came in my inbox. Time to pay for another year's domain use!

While this blog has been up since May 24, 2006, I actually started blogging via Friendster in May 2005. So I've really been blogging for 5 years now. But my blog used to be too honest, too raw, too... me! Har de harhar, not that I'm saying I'm fake now; just saying that I've learned to edit myself and not to spill every little emotion on cyberspace. That, my friends, is a very bad idea, and I can say that with conviction because I've hurt a lot of people and got hurt myself just because I was careless.

Anyway, on to the present! To celebrate, I created a Facebook page!!! I really dunno if I did it right but this link should get you there. If not, just type "Topaz Horizon" on your FB search and the page should come out. Pleeeeease like me!


While I've been blogging for a while, it's only now that I really feel like I'm a blogger. For one thing, bloggers now are recognized as the new media. Events and press conferences now aren't complete without bloggers. I feel a bit weird sometimes because I'd get two invitations to the same event addressed as "Frances Amper Sales, OK! editor-in-chief" and "Frances Amper Sales, Topaz Horizon" (or "Beauty For A Living")!

I'm glad that my blogs are getting popular. I feel like I'm being recognized as a person. What I mean by that is, as an editor of a magazine, I'm usually addressed in the context of my work, usually very politely and in a very business-like manner. With my blogs, people see me as a wife, a friend, a daughter, a sister, a homemaker and now a mom-to-be. People see the person behind the editor-in-chief, and this is really okay with me. Because when I'm no longer editor-in-chief (let's face it--this gig can't last till I'm 60!), I don't cease to exist in people's minds because they already know my other roles. And that's a big relief! 

How about you? How long have you been blogging? And how do you feel about blogging as the new media?

Weekends are much more precious now. In a few weeks, it won't be just Vince and me anymore. There'll be the baby, the maids, the friends, and relatives... That's a good thing, of course, but Vince and I happen to be loners. We're quite anti-social although when we're forced by our work/family/friends to attend events, we do try our very best to be friendly! So the prospect of not being alone for the next 20 or so years is quite mind-boggling.

So today, one of the last few Sundays where it's just him and me, we spent it just reading, playing video games, eating, and chatting. Such fun! When the kid comes, we'll have to spend more time with family and the community. Weekends will be spent for the kid's entertainment--educational trips to museums and zoos, fun trips to amusement parks... I'm already tired just thinking about it.I am not being resentful here, not at all. It's more of I'm marinating in the time Vince and I have alone but, at the same time, anticipating the little one's arrival. It's so strange and scary and happy all at the same time!

Speaking of family trips, here's one we had last November at Tagaytay:

I found two really cool gadgets online today (scroll below). And this reminded me of another issue concerning us Filipinos--our energy bills.

I've been keeping quiet about my electric bill even though every Filipino I know is raising a huge fuss about theirs... and with good reason. The bills people quote are shocking! How on earth did their bills get that high?? I just nod and agree and say, "Yeah, my bill doubled, too." What I don't say is, "My bill doubled from P900 to P1,900." Yup, I have shoes and dresses that cost more than my spiked bill.



I know why my bill went up--it's because my energy consumption went up. But Vince and I have always been energy-savers so what we consume is probably less than the average Pinoy household. Here are just a few things we do:

• All our appliances are energy-efficient. They cost more when you buy them but they really do pay for themselves. Every month, I see the proof in our electric bill.
• All our light bulbs are energy-efficient, too. 
• Our window panes are tinted to decrease the strength of the hot hot hot sun. When that fails, we have triple-lined curtains to block the sun out. These curtains cost more than regular ones but they instantly cool the house.
• We open our windows. There's no need to turn on the A/C or even the fans because the winds that flow around a high rise are quite cool and powerful. We just open the windows a crack and the entire apartment is like a wind tunnel.
• We turn off and unplug everything in the house when we're not using them (except the ref!). It's an extra step when we do want to watch TV, use the computer, etc but we think every little thing helps!
• Oh, and baby powder helps big time! I'm usually powdered everywhere because the heat is unbelievable but baby powder saves me from getting sticky!

Another tip I can share--though this isn't mine--is to call an electrician and have your meter and wiring checked. My parents used to get huge electric bills no matter what they do. When they finally called in an energy auditor, they found out that there was a "ground" so the appliances were continually using energy even though they weren't in use. The electrician fixed the ground and the bills went down.



In this terrible summer we're all experiencing, it's really difficult to think of saving energy when the heat is enough to drive us insane. To be honest with ya, I've been turning on the A/C almost every night. It's just too hot! But energy can be saved--invest in new energy-efficient gadgets, find ways to cool the house without using electricity, dress in light clothes and use baby powder!

Photos and product descriptions from FastCompany.com's article: Can Designers Save the World?