TOPAZ HORIZON

My kids have been going to the hospital one too many times this August. That's because they were sick. Right after Vito's birthday, the kids fell ill. Fever, coughs and colds. Then we found out that half of Vito's class was also absent that week. Poor boys!

But they got better and here they are for their follow-up visit at the pedia, just to make sure they've recovered fully. They got vaccinated, too. Better make sure their bodies' immune systems are strengthened!

(Does Vitamin C really boost immunity? I found out here!)


We've also added a better immunity booster to their multivitamins and we picked FERN-C kidz. Why FERN-C kidz? Okay, you're going to find out a secret: Whenever Vince and I took FERN-C—yes, the Vitamin C for grownups—we got pregnant! It's not a fertility booster haha but we think it made our bodies super healthy so making babies was easier. I don't know, okay. All I know is we were never sick whenever we took FERN-C so when they came out with a Vitamin C supplement for kids, then our kids better take it!

Hi everyone! I'm starting a new series yet again. This time, I want to share with you conversations I've had with the people I've just met, have known for a while but I've always been curious about, and my own beloved friends. They'll all be working moms. This is for me really, because I've been looking for mentors, inspiration and community. So I'm going to look for working moms who inspire me and have a little chat with them... and share those chats with you through Topaz Talks!

For our very first Topaz Talks, I'm sharing with you a snippet of the lives of the 100% Whole Moms Cheska Garcia-Kramer, Marilen Faustino-Montenegro and Rica Peralejo-Bonifacio. They invited me and other moms to a little afternoon of fellowship a few weeks ago and it was hosted by Moleskine journals. We had a fun afternoon of sharing each other's stories as moms.


After sharing our stories and eating really good food at Vask Tapas Room, the celebrity moms that form the trio that is 100% Whole Mom then launched into what 100% Whole Mom is all about—caring for a mother's home, beauty and heart through workshops. Marilen, an interior stylist, shared tips on tabletop decor with H&M Home and flower arrangement with Fiora Manila. Cheska, popular endorser with her family, the social media phenomenon #TeamKramer, gave tips on mommy beauty with help from Inglot and Brow Haus. Then Rica, a devoted pastor's wife, reminded us all about being intentional about our mothering, which could be helped a lot through journaling (on Moleskines preferably!).

Rica's question to moms was, "How are you today?" This is a question no one asks us moms really. Us moms, we're just supposed to be super, to be on top of everything, to never drop the ball because if we do, the whole family will suffer. This kind of pressure is insane! But do we stop to ask ourselves, "How am I today? Am I okay? Am I happy? Am I grateful?" Do we stop to ask other moms this? No one does really.

Oh, but wait. I was asked that by my friend, Jing Lejano of Urban Mom, once at an event. I had stopped to chat with her, me all chipper and bubbly. Then she asked, "Kumusta ka na? Yung totoo?" And I just broke down. Like, then and there. What a mess! I was okay, okay? But the surprise of the question, of someone actually caring enough to ask how I really am, was so overwhelming, I cried.

Rica exhorted us moms to ask ourselves that every day, to listen to ourselves and to our own needs. Write it down! Reflect on what you wrote. Set goals. Take action. Take care of our own needs and dreams. That's how we take care of ourselves, and when we do that, we can truly care for others.


So of course, for Topaz Talks, I talked to Cheka, Carla and Len about journaling. Listen in!

What do you use your Moleskine journals for? 

Marilen: I use my journal to talk to God. Pour out my heart, write what I learn from my Bible reading. Sometimes I've written to people that hurt me, then I throw it away! Haha!

Rica: Everything. I am a person full of thoughts. I might actually speak more to paper than to people. So I jot down everything in a single notebook—from essays in progress, to cinematic lines, quotes from favorite authors or people, to grocery and packing checklists. Hahaha!  

Cheska: Writing my poetry, favorite sayings, verses, my doodles... Just basically my thoughts. 

How does writing down your thoughts, prayers, dreams, goals (or whatever you use your journals for!) help you as a mother? 

Marilen: When I go to the journal, it allows me to really slow down and reflect. It organizes my thoughts and priorities. I create steps to my goals in a journal or planner also. When I am "fixed" inside as an individual, I can be a better mom and wife.  

Rica: It helps me discern patterns of seasons and my life in general. I believe God has written my days already and it's just a matter of finding out which path He has set out for me. I think that when I write down thoughts, prayers and dreams, a certain pattern or message kind of emerges and it partly helps me get to the revelation of God to me about my life.  

Cheska: I grew up where my mother encouraged us always to write our thoughts and to write poetry. It was a form of release for me during the time my parents were separated. I never really wrote "diary style" but wrote poetry instead. So that carried over to this day—now I write my journey, love, sayings, goals that I am going through. Poems for my kids that maybe later on when they can understand better, they will know how much I love the three of them. Always been my way of release and another way to express myself. Sometimes we have a hard time telling people what we feel and it's easier when we write it instead. 

With the advent of blogs, apps and smart phones, why do you still use pen and paper? 

Marilen: I really still prefer paper because I am a visual person. I delight in writing. In creating different strokes with different colors. I retain more when I see it.   

Rica: Retention is still better when there remains to be something physical and tangible, I guess. I also cannot completely give myself over to the virtual way of things. It's hard to feel fully when you have nothing but an image and no materiality or spirituality. 

Cheska: I never really got the hang of technology... I always have my husband to tell me! Till this very day, I write it first and then start typing everything when done writing my thoughts. A lot of work but I'm really most comfortable with a pen and paper. A pen and journal at that!

Thanks for the little chat, Whole Moms!


To sign up for 100% Whole Mom workshops, join the community on Facebook.

I wanted to focus on journaling because that's something I can't seem to do well. Mostly because I noticed I become really negative when I write and it's only myself that's the audience. When I blog, of course I'm always honest but I rein in the negativity that overwhelms me sometimes because I have to think of my readers. People think I'm a sunny person but I'm actually quite the pessimist. I'm very critical of myself—that's why on this blog you'll see me write stuff like, "I'm gorgeous! I'm amazing! I'm a supermom!" mostly because I need to tell myself that or else I'll drown in my personal drama.

So, like Cheka, I don't journal in a "Dear Diary" way. But, like Marilen, I've found that when I write my prayers instead, that helps me a lot. Prayers take my focus from criticizing me to how God sees me—and God sees me so lovingly. Prayers make me write down my weaknesses, sins, and problems but I can't stop there because then I offer them to God for Him to make them right. Prayers turn my negativity to positivity because when I see myself, my life and my sorrows in God's light, then they are diminished and they disappear. So prayer journaling works!

I won't share my prayer journals, though! Instead, I'll share with you my new project: the bullet journal! I'm using the Chapters journal from Moleskine. I'll do a separate post on that soon... and maybe we can do a bullet journaling workshop together! BuJo is super fun!


*workshop photos by Sheila Catilo

Before this wonderful month ends, let me share with you a few photos from my eldest son's birthday party a few weeks ago.

I wasn't supposed to post the party actually. I had decided a long time ago that when my kids turn 6, I won't post photos of them on social media anymore. But one day, soon after Vito's party, he came up to me and said, "Are you showing my party to your friends?" When I said no, he exclaimed, "But I want your friends to see my party!" So here it is, folks, a little peek at Vito's 6th birthday party!

Look at the wonderful boy! Happy birthday, Vito!

For once, no one was fighting over blowing out the candle. Huhu, my boys are big boys na!

We know what his wish was. He's been wishing it for months!

Drowsy mama and baby with the long-awaited gift!

He can read now, folks. He read my loooong card all on his own!

And here's the birthday boy with his wish come true: a LEGO Dimensions game!

Wow. Six years. I can't believe I've been a mommy for 6 years. It still feels like yesterday. I still feel like I don't know what I'm doing. Well, I have a lot to say about this part but I'll save that for another day. For today, we celebrate Vito. And I celebrate you, my dear Loyal Readers, for being here all these years!

Thank you all so much for being there for Vito, even before he was born. Thanks for the gifts, the warm wishes, the friendship, and the love you've shown Vito. Thanks for saying hi to him when you see him in the mall, in the supermarket, at the pedia clinic, on the street, and in football stadiums. We really truly do feel your love and we are so grateful! Apparently, Vito is grateful, too, because he wanted you to be a part of his birthday celebration. Thank you and God bless you for making him feel so loved!

Let's take a walk down memory lane! Here is Vito's...
5th birthday: Vito is 5 and that is a most wonderful thing
4th birthday: Vito is 4
3rd birthday: Vito is 3!
2nd birthday: Vito's 2nd birthday party (part 1, part 2, part 3)
1st birthday: Vito's 1st birthday party madness! (part 1, part 2, part 3)
birth day: Vito's birthday

Now that I'm fetching two kids from school, I no longer live in heels. Well, okay, I've stopped doing that when my eldest started walking in 2010 haha but I just wanted to stress that I now live in Skechers sneakers (I have 7 pairs!) and that's just a snippet of how my life has changed. For the better, too, and I mean my feet feel better. They even look better, to be honest.

But I'm still maarte when it comes to shoes and that's why I'm so in love with my new Skechers GO STEP, which I got early this month. Look at it!

I actually asked my followers on Instagram and my friends on Facebook to pick a pair for me when I was at the store shopping. The pink was the crowd favorite but I picked the black (so bakit pa ako nag-crowdsource, no???) because my feet looked slimmest in them.

Seriously, I'm giving style advice here: Don't wear rubber shoes that look like space ships unless spaceman is the look you're going for. Choose styles as sleek and slim as possible. When the sneaker is sleek, you can wear it with more outfits and look casual instead of sporty. Yung tipong people will say, "Ang cute mo!", and not, "Saan ang laro natin?"

That's why I love my Skechers GO STEP! It's a slimmer version of Skechers GO WALK, which I love and use in the gym or when I'm going to do a TON of walking. But for everyday outfits, I wanted something just as comfy but not too heavy-duty. Skechers thought of people like me and designed the GO STEP. Thank you, Skechers! Here's what the other GO STEP shoes look like:

Ang ganda ng legs nila. Grabe!

What I like about the GO STEP:

• More styles like slip-on flats for a casual look, lace-up for a more sporty look, maryjanes for preppy #ootds, and bright colorways for a more youthful and fun vibe. 
• You can wear them with skirts, dresses, shorts, jeans, and, yes, with athletic outfits, too.
• It has GOwalk 3’s platform, which was specifically created for athletic walking, but slimmer so it isn't as bulky.
• The shoe’s midsoles and outsoles also have the GO Pillars technology that absorbs shock and supports arches—very important to me because I have high arches. 
• There's the Integrated Ortholite anti-microbial® sockliner so feet don't slip around inside the shoe and feet don't become stinky either!

Here's what to expect:

1. Two whole days of beauty workshops!!! I'm going to the contouring workshop because I cannot, for the life of me, understand how it's done. But I want to learn!
2. A BDJ Box of luxurious products from prestige beauty brands, Guerlain, Shiseido, and Elizabeth Arden. The box is filled with P4,000 worth of products!
3. Pampering services! A makeover and a hand massage!
4. Shopping discounts galore! There's a beauty fair, ladies, and the kikay goodies will be on sale. Up to 70% off, I saw on the BDJ Box website. So get ready to do some serious shopping!

The BDJ Box Beauty Bootcamp: Luxe Edition is still offering tickets. The ticket is just P1500. That gets you all of the above so it's a pretty sweet deal. I mean, sa workshops alone, sulit ka na. So CLICK HERE to buy a ticket!

But if you want to go for free, you can join my contest! Please note that BDJ will give each winner a free ticket and a free pamper session. The BDJ Box Luxe and workshop aren't included. If you'd like those anyway, join me next weekend! Just leave a comment below answering any (or both!) these questions:

• What beauty tip did you learn from me?
• What beauty product or beauty service did you try because I recommended it?

That's it! I won't publish the answers until the end of contest (para walang gayahan ng sagot haha). Contest ends on August 31, Wednesday. I'll announce the winners that day, too!

Have a happy and beautiful weekend! Next weekend will be even more beautiful... as long as you go to BDJ Box Beauty Bootcamp!

For more beauty news and reviews, follow BDJ and BDJ Box online: 
BDJ Planner Community website
BDJ Planner Facebook page
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Last Sunday, my second son Iñigo and I trooped over to Glorietta 5 to check out the Mommy Meet Up event thrown by the new Pampers Baby-Dry Pants and Gymboree. At 4, Iñigo has long stopped wearing diapers but he tagged along anyway, as proxy to his baby brother Piero, who was napping that rainy afternoon and so stayed home, snug in bed.

What Iñigo and I saw:

• A mom-and-dad-and-baby-packed event! 
• A cute play area plus fun activities for kids by Gymboree, which was celebrating its 40th anniversary. Happy anniversary, Gymboree!
• Pampers Ambassadors Andi Manzano and her baby girl Olivia demonstrating the powers of the new Pampers Baby-Dry Pants.
• Gymboree moms Andi, author Teresa Dumadag, and actress Say Alonzo talking about motherhood.
• Snacks like sorbetes, pop corn and fries for everyone!

And here's what we learned about the new Pampers Pants:

1. When baby becomes a toddler, changing his diaper can become an Olympic event! I've been chasing after naked toddlers since 2011! That's the secret to my slim physique haha. 
2. After catching your toddler to put on his diaper, the struggle to strap him in is again a Herculean challenge! All you want to do is put his diaper on while all he wanst to do is play! Now playtime is vital to baby’s development so let's keep the diaper interruption as brief as possible!
3. This wasn't talked about at the event but I'm adding it: Pants help our kids signify their readiness to potty train. How? If they can start pulling down their pants! That's one of the markers that a child is aware of the need to go to the toilet. So put him in pants! 

Even though the event was to launch Pampers Pants to the public, Piero's actually already been using the Pants for a weeks now. I'm writing a review for EverydayMe.com so watch for that review there. Meanwhile, here's a step-by-step guide on how to use the new diaper:

• Step 1: STRETCH IT! It features an all-round stretchy waistband and flexible leg cuffs that ensures a snug and comfy fit so baby can move around without fear of spills! The Magic Gel absorbs liquid 30x its weight while the Soft Touch-Dry Layer and breathable back sheet keep baby's skin free from irritation.
• Step 2: PUT IT ON FAST! Just put one leg at a time and pull up. Pants!
• Step 3: TEAR OFF QUICK! Just tear off at the sides and throw away.