TOPAZ HORIZON

Since the start of 2012, Vince and I haven't gone on a date. A "just us" date. A romantic date. A date that allows us to flirt, eat food at a leisurely pace. Nope.

Then last week, I remembered I had bought coupons from Deal Grocer, a really good deal for a lovely lunch at Lu (or more popularly called as LuLu) at Rockwell. I had bought it as a surprise gift for Vince, for our 5th wedding anniversary. But when that special day came along (April 18), I was very pregnant and very tired and just couldn't imagine going out. But I'm no longer pregnant! So Vince and I had an impromptu date last week.

Look at how happy we are haha!

We left Vito at home with the yaya. Vito naps around noon so we figured he wouldn't miss us. We literally stole away for lunch! But we brought Inigo along since I'm breastfeeding him. He's 4 weeks old here. Ya, so it still wasn't a "just us" date but since Inigo slept throughout lunch, it was easy to pretend Vince and I were "alone." Haha!

While waiting for our food, we perused the books on the shelves.

We started with pumpkin soup.

This Napoleon salad was a revelation!

We had the basil-strawberry shake. The basil's strong herbal taste was a jolt at first but this quickly became quite refreshing!

This is a goat cheese-and-mushroom open-face sandwich. It's very good but I shouldn't have had it with the salad since they taste almost the same.

Vince had this chorizo pasta dish. It was very tasty!

Oh, this cheesecake is divine. I dunno what that sauce is but it definitely added a sublime freshness to the creamy dessert.

Yum yum yum! I want to go on a date again. Where should we go to next? We haven't been out in such a long while, we really don't know which restaurants are great to visit!

I've been telling everyone that I'm selling everything in my closet. Nearly everything I have is for my pre-pregnant body, which was a size 4. Now I'm a 6 and, with my birth-widened hips and milk-filled breasts, I don't see myself shrinking back to 4 anytime soon (or ever). So I need to sell everything so I have money to buy new stuff for my new body.

Then I remembered that for Christmas, Pinky, my old old friend from way back in third grade at Assumption, gave me GCs for Unarosa. I wasn't familiar with the brand. Pinky said the clothes are nice and I'll like them. So I went to their website (but their Facebook page was much better) and she's right, I do like the pieces! Here's what I loved:

Top- P 1,795.00, Pants- P 1995.00, Shoes- P 1,760.00

I love pussy bow blouses. And lace. Vince doesn't like lace (he's reminded of doilies) but I really like that top. I also like the pants. But since I still have a post-partum belly bulge, I don't think I'll look good in it. Yet!

I knoooooow. I've been neglecting ze blog. Forgive me, my dearest readers. I hate to admit it but "superwoman" me ain't super at all. I'm having a very hard time juggling the needs of a new baby and a toddler, on top of managing my house, and my work as editor and writer! Stress Drilon araw-araw!

But I'm happy. Yes oh yes!

Don Draper and Joan Holloway. Two of the sexiest people on TV (and in the world)!

Anyway, does anyone here watch Mad Men? I never get to talk to anyone about Mad Men. It seems like no one I know watches Mad Men. I seldom get to feature the show in the Hollywood magazine I edit either. So I only have the hubby to talk to when it comes to all things Mad Men.

Such a shame since the past couple of episodes have been astounding and outstanding. But I'm not going to do a review today; I'm going to explore the decision that Joan made two episodes ago and how it's affecting my marriage (hala lagot!).

Joan, played by the lusciously curvaceous Christina Hendricks (who deserves an Emmy dammit!), got an indecent proposal. The ad agency needs Jaguar to hire them and the creatives, pushed by Don, are busy coming up with a fantastic campaign. But the head of the dealership association tells Pete that the deal would be made much sweeter and surer if he gets to spend a night with Joan. Yuck.

Pete and the agency's partners are shocked and then aren't shocked (pfft, men!). Don walks out but the others tell Pete to offer Joan $50,000. Joan is mightily offended, even though she admits that the money--four times her annual salary--is huge. Lane comes in later and tells her to not settle for the money; she should ask for a partnership plus 5% of the firm. Now, she's going through a divorce and is raising a baby boy all on her own. This is the 60s. A broken marriage was a shameful thing. What's a single mother to do?

She slept with him, of course.

Did he have to be so icky?

You have to watch the episode to see that it isn't as sleazy as it sounds. And to see the utterly magnificent acting of Joan as she plays the role of desperate mother, resolute seductress and ambitious career woman.

Now how is this affecting Vince and me? Well, Vince labels what Joan did as prostitution. That's very Vince--he calls a spade a spade, everything is black and white for him. That's what makes him a good man. I, on the other hand, am a believer in context. Shades of gray, if you will. So in my mind, unpalatable and despicable as the deed was, I saw it as something that Joan needed to do to secure the future of her son. Vince, of course, is beyond shocked when I said that. He exclaimed in dismay, "Thank God we don't have daughters!"

Well, thank goodness I wasn't alive in the 60s! What Joan did really didn't strike me as prostitution. For me it was a desperate act of a mother. Matthew Weiner, Mad Men's creator, says:

"Honestly, I think that if I had not mentioned the word 'prostitution' in the episode, I don't even know if the audience would have really realized that that's what it was. It's more complicated than trading sex for money because it's really about this woman getting into a position of power." 

And getting into a state where she won't need a man to provide for her and her son. When you're a mother, all your choices are defined by your children. Even Christina Hendricks says:

"The question is, what would you do to protect your family? Joan is raising her son all on her own. She has no help from anybody. So is it noble? Is it slutty? I don't know."

Ya. I don't know either. I do know that I'm a mother. I understood. I think I'll never do what Joan did but I won't judge her or women who had to make choices like that. So Vince said, "We have to let our children know that they will always have us, that they can always come home, so that they'll never have to do anything desperate."

And this is when I pray to God desperately that we stay alive and healthy, leading abundant lives, so that our sons will always have enough. Maybe sometimes even plenty. So that, as their father fervently hopes, they'll never have to do anything desperate.

*images from The Hollywood Reporter