The holidays are here! Everybody is gearing up for Thanksgiving on Thursday and after that most families put their trees up already – it is the start of the holiday season, officially. We are going to spend it at home, as with every Christmas, to be with family and loved ones.

I am helping a friend though travel this Christmas. She just recently got promoted after all her hard work this year and got a hefty bonus so she wants to get away with her family to spend quality time with them. It will also be her treat to her kids since she was away at work for most part of the year. They already have been the the US so she is looking towards somewhere in Europe this time. If only she can afford a European tour – but she will be traveling with her husband with three kids in tow so that might not be within her budget.

Cheap Holidays are easier to find these days, thanks to ULookUBook.com. You can choose from the variety of travel destinations that they offer and decide if you want to book both flight and hotel travel plans or just one or the other. As of this writing, my friend is partial to going to France and she is going to be doing some reading with the France travel guide available on the site.

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As we count down to Thanksgiving Day this Thursday, I would like to list all the things I am grateful for today. Remember I am going to be doing this up until Thursday so do not be disappointed if I post trivial things on my list first

• For work. I am really really REALLY burned out from blogging already (you just don’t know how much!) but last night I am reminded that I still have it good – I get to enjoy the best of both worlds: take care of my kids and still help the husband with bills around the house. The pay is better than working in the office eight hours a day. It doesn’t come with benefits but I still get to shop a little on the side. Thank you for the money you give to me, WORK! It puts food on the table and helps us live comfortably.
• For the internet. Because I got to find work.
• For Matthew’s vacation this week at my in-laws. I needed some time to recharge and miss my kids together. It has been a long hard second half of the year for me, with money and health problems coupled with the husband staying in Manila again to work. It is hard being the only adult in the house with two kids fighting all the time. It can get draining. At least I get to be able to sleep in for five days, spoil the princess and work ferociously (it has been a productive Monday, got so many things done!)
• For friends. Fairweather friends, casual friends, true friends, best friends. I believe you are what your friends are. And I’m glad I can choose who to be friends with
• No sickies nor accidents (Good thing the husband doesn’t ride a bike or else I might have contacted a San Jose motorcycle accident attorney a dozen times)
• Passions, distractions, hobbies. I am saying this again. I am not domesticated. I try to be. But I am more of the artist mom. I love to read, watch movies, tinker with everything and talk and eat out Today I am grateful I still get to enjoy things outside of motherhood and that I am still given a chance to be good at them.

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I didn’t need to off on one of those orlando vacations, all I needed was to make sure I get to see this on its opening day:

Thankfully, I was able to watch it with fellow twi-fan friends. We scheduled to see on its opening day at Greenbelt and even if I was late (I slept on the bus!), at least I wasn’t late for the showing.

I will spare you the reviews for the movie because clearly I am biased and will always be subjective (you can always hover here and here though for my thoughts). It sucked, it rocked, whatever you thought it was, for me, it rocked

New Moon + Mushy Scenes + Hot Men + Good Food + Friends = Very Fun Mommy Day-off!

We ate at Chilli’s for lunch, watched the movie, ate some ice cream, then had cake at Conti’s. Only I got jealous of the pregnant friend’s craving (beside me), I ordered rice too – and the rest of us as well.

Now June 30, 2010 is blocked off our calendars so we can watch Eclipse

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It was my Mom’s 59th birthday two weeks ago, and we initially thought she was going to spend her birthday in Singapore so we made other plans. She cancelled last minute so our Saturday plans were made in haste. It was all good though because we got to go to another place to eat (Kanin Club in Paseo de Sta. Rosa) and had coffee after. No gift from us as usual just love Naks. Someday, we can afford to give her certified diamonds – someday when I finally will be able to practice what I slaved 8 years studying for )

For now – PICTURES!

The Birthday Girl:

Lola is the best:

A cousin commented on my FB that my parents are looking good. I attribute that to my good skills in photography, the nice light and the fact that they both lost weight

Sisters:

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Life has been insanely busy, in a good way.

I am happily swamped with work. Too bad my work stops where this blog should be. Hopefully, with the new web updates, you will be reading more in the blog soon.

I sleep when I am sleepy and have been trying to get out of the house as often as I can. It’s good for temperament, giving me a little more dose of patience when I get cooped up with the kids during weekdays.

I am going to be bombarding you with little updates in the next 24 hours so no need to feel rejected and unloved.

Aside from little home improvements here and there, I am trying to make sure that our holiday checklist (that doesn’t include cattle supplies) gets checked off one by one.

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The month of June seems to be the most favored month for weddings because its gorgeous weather and the availability of families to go on vacation. As such, destination weddings like the famous Caribbean hotels  seem to fall on the month of June. Who would not want to hit two birds with one stone? You can get married, have a honeymoon AND travel and enjoy your vacation all at the same time by getting married at the beach.

For weddings, there are Caribbean vacations and all inclusive vacations being offered by cruise ships and all-exclusive hotels and resorts.

For example, the Breezes Resort offers a wedding package that includes:

• Free Wedding with minimum 3-night stay (any category)
• Marriage license
• Minister fees
• Preparation of documents
• Affidavits
• Wedding planner
• Recorded music upon request
• Witnesses if needed
• Champagne or Sparkling cider
• Decorated wedding area
• Wedding cake
• Bouquet & boutonniere
• 4 Complimentary off-property wedding guest passes
• Candlelit dinner for bride & groom
• Continental breakfast in bed, morning after wedding

Breezes Resort has a full line of resorts across the globe but I like the one in Nassau, Bahamas the best:

The beach + Divine swimming pools = HEAVEN!

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We have pregnancies again within our circle of friends! Two of my friends from way back made the announcement that they were expecting last June and now a few months later, two of my friends are also expecting! Every year there is a baby boom!

There is even an ongoing joke around the group that since babies were being born every year, we should be practical and just sell pre-loved items especially since most are stopping at baby number 2!

I have done that to both kids – I don’t have their baby stuff with me anymore except for a special layette I used for the two of them since they were babies and their baptismal and birthday outfits (including their shoes then).

Baby Bedding Sets are preserved though. I cannot believe how expensive baby stuff are these days – they can go as high as the normal (and larger) bed linens! Good thing we found great stuff at affordable prices at Baby Bedding Palace. This is where most of my friends order so they can give gifts at baby shower parties!

Look at what you can get:

~BRAND NEW~ 12 piece 100% Cotton Nursery Baby Bedding Set:

* 1 Baby Crib Quilt (41 inches x 32 inches)

* 4 piece Baby Crib Bumper (2 long pieces: 55 inches x 9 inches and 2 short pieces: 27 inches x 9 inches)

* 1 Baby Crib Fitted Sheet (51 inches x 28 inches, can fit matresses from 4-6 inches deep)

* 1 Baby Crib Skirt (Dust Ruffle, 74 inches x 51 inches)

* 2 extra wide Window Valances (82 inches x 11.5 inches)

* 1 Diaper Stacker (27 inches x 14 inches)

* 1 Toy Organizer (19 inches x 12.5 inches)

* 1 Decorative Pillow (13 inches x 9 inches)

* *BONUS GIFT* Free matching high quality hand made zipper bag with handle

* (Fits all standard size baby and toddler cribs)

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Matthew (and Edil) got lucky during Dom’s party because they were able to see WanLu perform. We saw him on TV because we watch Talentadong Pinoy and I heard about him from fellow n@wies in e-mail threads.

Matthew was such a huge fan – and it got better because he was called onstage to assist in one of his acts. WanLu was hilarious (he didnt need acne treatment as I initially thought when I saw him on TV *wink*), my stomach hurt too much from laughing especially from this scene:

Kudos to the nannies because they were so game!

Edil was starstruck, really – he would not admit it pero he really loved WanLu, hahaha!

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