TOPAZ HORIZON

Got invited to the store opening of Muji at Bonifacio High Street. It opens next week and I'm curious to see what's there. I was told Muji sells everything from clothes and accessories to furniture and food.

Typical Muji store in Japan and Hong Kong. I wonder if the one here looks like this, too.

Note that the Japanese brand doesn't have branding. The name Muji is short for Mujirushi Ryohin or "no brand, quality products." Ah, so desu ne! Kinda like the Anonymous store we used to have years and years ago (does anyone remember that?). I used to buy a ton of stuff from Anonymous and then have fun personalizing them. I still have Anonymous stuff in my house actually. Then Anonymous closed down and so I am super duper looking forward to shopping at Muji.

What I find most interesting about Muji is its commitment to simplicity and quality. And I read that they only use sustainable raw materials and use minimal packaging so if you have to be a consumer (and aren't we all?), you're assured that your carbon footprint won't be gigantic when you buy from Muji.

For starters, I'll have to buy some gifts. Lots of birthdays coming up. OK!'s associate features editor Elaine says she wants some pens for her 18th birthday (hehe. Happy birthday, E!). Well, I'll get her Muji pens then!

No need to throw away your pens when you finish the ink. You can also buy gel pen refills!

I'm a sucker for pens, too, actually. I have drawers full of them. In my bag, I am never without a pen and pencil and notebook. Oh yes, notebooks. Vince and I have love affairs with notebooks (Moleskine especially! Remember my giveaway last year?) but any notebook with nice paper is heaven for me. So you can bet I'm making a bee line for Muji's stationery section next week!  

My fashion designer friend Kate will appreciate coloring pencils.

Who doesn't love notebooks? I'll definitely grab a few!

I'm hoping the prices are not too expensive. Well, the store opens on pay day, October 15, so we're bound to have a bit of cash. So I'll see y'all next week at Muji!

Aha! My search for the perfect rain boot just ended today, thanks to shoe designer Loeffler Randall.

Sleek

Understated

Sexy

I walk to work so this is a necessity. Just yesterday, on my first day back to work (huhuhu), my feet and Kenneth Coles got wet. So I need rain boots. This pair is just beautiful. And it's only $195! It's utter perfection!

Mariel, if I buy this and have it sent to your New York apartment, do you think Alvin will find space in his suitcase for this? I'm guessing it's going to come in a big box!

Right now, the OK! International Conference is taking place at OK! magazine's headquarters at Northern & Shell in London. Northern & Shell owns OK! plus other magazines and newspapers. That huge blue building along the River Thames houses the entire publishing empire. It's impressive to me especially because Summit Media, where I work, has about 20 titles and the entire company occupies just two floors. 

Okay, so now that I'm back to my pre-preggy body (except for my jiggly belly and skin discolorations, yuck), I now have the online shopping itch... and I seriously need to scratch the credit card it. Regular readers know I love online shopping, the anticipation and--finally!--the delivery. I love ripping apart the plastic or stabbing at packages with a box cutter and then finally loving my new shoes/dresses/books/gadgets! It's much better than hours walking in the mall really. For lazy me, at least.

Now, thanks to an ad on Perez Hilton, I discovered ModCloth. The dresses there are to die for! Very Mad Men (anyone watching the current season? This show just gets better and better!). And since I know my readers are super stylish women, please help me choose from the following adorable dresses:

Soda Fountain (Ginger)

Soda Fountain (Grape)

Deuce Coupe Darling

Hepcat (Lemon Cream)

Hepcat (Black Licorice)

Well Red

Temporary Secretary (Summer)

Avocado Orchard

Periwinkle Prance

Red-y or Not

Black by Popular Demand

I only have budget for 4 dresses. Well, for maybe 2 or 3 really since I also still want a bag and a ring as a breezing-through-labor reward. So help me choose my new dresses please!

3 days old. Vito is still looking bashed up from the birth--cone head, puffy eyes--but he's still so adorable!

2 weeks and 3 days old. Vince and Vito getting some sun.

3 weeks old. Vito is attacked by infant acne. You know what cured it? Breast milk applied 3x a day. Doctor said so!

3 weeks and 3 days old. See? Infant acne reduced dramatically just 3 days after the breast milk application. Vito always sleeps with the iPad playing his sleepy music.  The iPad also saves me from boredom while I breastfeed him!

3 weeks and 3 days old. My little bobblehead's awake! Vito wears Tushy Wushy cloth diapers. Fantastic invention! Sometimes it lasts longer on him than disposables!

1 month and 1 day old. When Vito wakes from his afternoon nap, he's all happy, then fussy, then hungry, then sleepy. This is obviously the happy part!

1 month and 4 days old. Love that smile! Many thanks to Auntie Anj and Cousin Zo for all the nice clothes little Vito has!

Seriously, I grew up a sickly girl but these past 10 months, I've seen too many doctors and too much hospital (and handed over too much money!) for my taste. So we've finally given birth but that only means even more face time with another kind of doctor: the pediatrician. This is my family at the pediatrician two weeks ago:

Vito is one month old here! I'm still trying to lose the preggy belly!

Well, time to shop for a good health plan. I actually have health insurance courtesy of my employ but it's not the same as the one I grew up with. It's a huge shock to me since I had amazing health care growing up as the beneficiary of my Mama (she used to work in Meralco)--All medical conditions covered. All dental work covered. If the procedure is cosmetic, 25% covered. I used to go in and out of hospitals with not a peso on me and the insurance paid for absolutely everything. So when Mama died and I had to avail of the health plan at work... well, let's just say it's not the same.

So now that we have this fascinating young man in our lives, Vince and I need to get a good, solid, reliable Medicare plan. Soon. Do you have a health plan? What is it? Are you happy with it? Help!

Last week, I mentioned in my Facebook status that I believe I deserve a reward for breezing through labor and surviving the first month of motherhood. I asked my friends, "Bag? Shoes? Jewelry?" The resounding answer was jewelry! And you all know I've been lusting after a certain topaz ring!

But this week, PR company Visions & Expressions sent me the photos of the Fall 2010 collection of Marc Jacobs handbags and now I'm having second thoughts. Just look at these beauties!






I like these bags because they're classic. I'm really not a trendy girl. I tend to wear a lot of black and gray these days and my bags kinda are the same. Even my shoes have become more sedate! I just pile on the accessories like bangles and necklaces to make my look more interesting.

Anyway, Marc Jacobs really did want his latest collection to be very classic. I was told that "instead of trying to outshine his past distinguished extravaganzas, [Marc] came up with a rhapsodic, toned-down collection, a sound choice for today’s economic situation. Gone are the tassels and funky embellishments of last season’s bag collection. The only embellishments we’ll be seeing this fall are in the form of classic push-lock closures and attached padlocks... The simple, minimalistic shapes of the many purses highlight the luxurious materials with which these carry-alls were made."

Love them! There are many more styles--in quilted leather, metallic tones, and in vivid aqua. But no space, no space. So just check them out at the Marc Jacobs store at Greenbelt 4.

Oh, but there's this one bag that wasn't all about toned-down style:
Wabbits! Wacky! Whimsy! So... I love it, too!

Since getting sick of pneumonia last March, all I ever pray for now is good health, safety and protection of Vince and myself. And since the day Vito was born, I pray for his good health, safety and protection, too. I told you before that I'm such a worrier and now that I'm a mom, the worries have multiplied.

Vito and me at the pediatrician--always a nervous time for me.

Every day, when Vince goes to work, I ask God fervently to keep him safe and bring him home whole. Every night, as Vito goes to sleep, I ask God to keep my son breathing. In other words, I am a nervous wreck. I guess what that really means is I don't really believe that God will keep us safe and healthy, right?

Then today, after I prayed that God keep my family safe and sound yet again, I was going through my Facebook updates when this phrase on someone's wall caught my eye: "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow."

No more worries! Everything will be okay because God holds the future!

And just like that, I knew that God rebuked me and assured me at the same time. "Because He Lives" is an old Christian hymn that my mother used to sing. Sometimes she sang it, her voice triumphant with joy and conviction. Sometimes she sang it, her voice quivering with hope for a better tomorrow. And now I find myself singing it.

How sweet to hold a newborn baby
And feel the pride and joy he gives;
But greater still the calm assurance:
This child can face uncertain days because He lives!
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living just because He lives!



Amen, Lord. I will trust and believe!

Quick nonsensical post! After my very serious posts on my mommy blog, I figured we can talk about something a little less serious (but still important!)--body image.

The week after I gave birth was hard not just because I was adjusting to life with a newborn but also because every time I looked at the mirror, I saw a body that still looked pregnant but was much flabbier and with all these horrible discolorations and stretch marks. I looked absolutely awful and that mirrored how I felt. I was very afraid I'd never be attractive to my husband ever again. Of course, Vince assured me I'd always be hot to him but he did ask when can we start on a fitness regimen!

Well, I shouldn't have been so fearful. Because I'm exclusively breastfeeding, I lost all the pregnancy weight in just 2 weeks. Two weeks, people! Yep. I'm now back to 110 lbs. No diet, no exercise. Actually, I'm eating a LOT. Breastfeeding makes you really hungry. As in, kain karpintero. I have to eat a lot and take vitamins because I'm feeding another person and so when the scale says I'm losing weight, I don't see that as a good thing. So eat eat eat I go.

Just another day in the life of a new mom. One week, you worry you'll never lose weight, the next week, you worry about losing too much weight! Well, my body image is now controlled by how it affects the people I love. All I care about now is being attractive to my husband and also being a good source of nutrition for my child. Health is now my top priority, if I haven't spelled that out clearly enough. Geez, for the first time in my life, I care about my body's health. I am old, people. I am old!

Okay, I know I've not been blogging as often but that's because of my little critter, Vito. He's been demanding quite a lot of my time! I may not be writing but that doesn't mean I haven't been reading. So I just wanted to say that today is the last day to nominate blogs for this year's Emerging Influential Blogs and I am rushing to nominate these blogs to the honor roll simply because these blogs deserve some love!

1. Topaz Mommy - this is my brand new mommy blog! Of course I had to nominate it! I started it just last December when I confirmed the biggest surprise of my life--I was pregnant! I chronicle my super duper honest-to-goodness feelings about pregnancy, marriage and motherhood. And I was again surprised that so many people relate to my experiences. It's a true adventure and I'm so happy to find fellow travelers with me!

2. Christian Homeschooler - I've heard about homeschooling in other countries but never did I expect that my own childhood best friend Jennie Aspacio would grow up to homeschool her son, Jed! At first, I was skeptical but as I've watched Jed grow in intelligence, charm and confidence, I now think homeschooling is a wonderful option. Need to know more about homeschooling? Let Jennie tell you in her educational blog!

3. Lucky Janie - Jane Kingsu-Cheng is always on top of the city's hottest news and events, having been a former magazine editor and now holding a top spot in Forever 21 (she was responsible for the viral marketing of its launch and wasn't it the year's most exciting shopping event?!?). She's also a devoted wife and doting mommy. And she does this all while looking so glamorous and stylish all the time! She's truly lucky!

4. My Style Kit - This blog is also by Jane Kingsu-Cheng (yep, the same girl above) but this blog exclusively talks about all the beauty and fashion news any Manila girl needs to know! If you want to find out what's hot and stylish in the city, head on over to this blog!

5. The Painter's Wife - Yes, the beautiful painting on Eli Santiago-Ypon's banner was done by her husband, Orley Ypon. Eli says she's the reluctant muse of the man but what she's not at all reluctant about is sharing her insights on motherhood and marriage! Her blog is filled with her thoughts on breastfeeding, parenting and even reviews on products for the home and baby. Really good read for new mommies like me! 

6. Dainty Mom - Martine De Luna's personality shines through in her dainty blog. She's a sensitive soul who loves everything about her life--and it's a blessed one at that! She's a stay-at-home mom so she can be with her son, Vito (yes, our sons share the same name!), 24/7. She also earns through writing. Perfect life, if you ask me!

7. Here, Tishie, Tishie - New wife and new Good Housekeeping editor-in-chief Tisha Alvarez-Angluben is living the life! Her blog is filled with all sorts of fun stuff--dance, food, sports, prizes she won in raffles--reading Tisha's blog is like reading about the girl-next-door: familiar but she always seems to have more fun than you! 

8. Kat Dy Finds - This is the newest blog on my list and it's by my friend, former Cosmopolitan fashion editor Kat Dy, who's now a fashion merchandising student in New York City! Kat's new blog is about fashion (obviously!) but don't be intimidated! Just because she's in NYC, that doesn't mean she's forgotten her Pinoy cash smarts. Follow Kat's glamorous style adventures on a Pinoy budget in her fab new blog!

9. EMS-Express - It's funny that just very recently, Emily Sia-Koa was telling me about how reluctant she was to become a blogger. She said she was shy and asked, "What am I going to blog about?" Well, her new blog sure surprised me! In just a few short weeks, Emily has written quite a number of posts on fashion, beauty, events, celebs, and has even sponsored a contest!
 
10. Third World Nerd - Being married to a certified nerd, I am more than a wee familiar with tech stuff and gadget news. And you know what? I have not found a blog that talks about gadgets, games, apps, and what-have-you's quite like the Third World Nerd does! Vince Sales is the only one who can make techie sound fun, witty and clever! Hop on over to his blog to find out what I'm talking about!

There you have it! The new blogs I enjoy reading. I hope you check them out and begin to enjoy them, too. And I also hope that these blogs be included in the final list of the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs 2010. They truly do deserve it!

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You've got some stiff competition.

Really. Who can resist that face??? Love ya, Vito!

I just want to say to preggy mommies that you should add bottles filled with water or cold tea infusions to your hospital bag list. Spent the entire day at the hospital today. Thirsty. I had to keep asking for water from the nurses, who would comply with little paper cups of cold water that never quite quenched my thirst. So mental note: Bring your own water bottle! 

Yes. I am in the middle of labor as I type this. I swear the pain is driving me insane. Why am I still blogging? Because I'm waiting for the contractions to become 5 minutes apart--the OBG sent me home. Yes, after I spent the entire day at the hospital with too few and irregular contractions, she decided to send me home! Just my luck, this evening, the contractions are coming and they are fast. And they are painful!!!

It's 1:56 in the morning of Friday the 13th. I always believed Jelly Bean is a lucky child. I had told him to come out on the 9th (so that his birth date will be 08/09/10) or on the 15th (so that his birthday will always fall on a payday) but my son has other ideas and instead has chosen a most curious day to make his debut. Well, dear readers, wish us luck! Include us in your prayers!

Okay, contractions coming at 10 minutes apart. Time to fill that bottle... I don't know when I'll be back in the blogging world but I wish you all well and may the Force be with you!