A Filipina Mom Blogger

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe says that “When a wife has a good husband it is easily seen in her face.” I believe the glow comes from loving herself first. Her contented and happy looks show because she learned to love herself first . When love overflows, there is much love to give and it will show in her actions.

My husband will never get to read this entry but I already thanked him for the small things in person:

1. for putting up with my erratic schedule.

2. for doing the groceries

3. for bringing me chocolates at my bedside table

4. for rubbing my back and neck during my breaks

5. for calling me “sexy” and meaning it.

6. for being proud of what I do even if it means late nights

7. for being the funniest, smartest person I know.

8. for not complaining that I have not cooked a special dish for quite some time

9. for trying to laugh at my jokes even if he doesn’t find it funny.

10. for not staying too long in his cave

Thank you my dear.

No, I do not indulge in retail therapy to de-stress myself. I shop because I need the stuff. They say that shopping is not just simply purchasing what we need anymore. Self-worth is sometimes measured with what we possess. Experts say, we are a potential shopaholic inside.

According to Thomas Hine, author of the book, I Want That! How We All Became Shoppers in shopping, we define ourselves through our relationships to things and to the meanings that our society attributes to them. He also said that, we try things on, and as we do so, we try on identities.

As long as we know our limits, shopping should be a pleasurable experience without going through buyer’s remorse. In my recent trip to Singapore, I already planned on buying an external hard drive with 1 terabyte capacity and a canon battery pack which I purchased at Sim Lim. A visit to Sephora at Ion Orchard and the duty free shops at the Changi Airport was at the behest of my daughter’s shopping list.
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Singapore feels like my second home already. My sixth visit to Singapore in a span of three years and yet there are always new things to discover. My recent visit from July 15 till July 18 was upon the invitation of the Singapore Tourism Board to cover the Singapore Food Festival 2010. Wasn’t it just last year that I was in uniquely Singapore? What’s truly amazing are the changes that are taking place all the time. It is no wonder that the brand changed to Your Singapore just recently. Each traveler has their own reason for visiting Singapore year in and out. Mine is always a business trip, the preferred choice of venue for events. My daughter’s reason for travelling to Singapore is the Great Singapore Sale.

YourSingapore
YourSingapore takes over from where “Uniquely Singapore” left off. The focus is visitor-centricity, meaning the experiences are made wholesome and personal, drawing their allure from the breadth and richness of attractions many have grown to love here in Singapore. I believe shopping is one of the many reasons for visiting Singapore. Others visit for the arts, culture, the fun places, or business.

My tour guide, Wee Toon Hee brought me to the new malls (including a refurbished mall) along Orchard Road that wasn’t around since my last visit in October 2009 and other exciting sights as well.

Here is My Singapore, the sixth time around:

Orchard Malls

Ion Orchard

I enjoyed my shopping at the Sephora. It is the largest branch I have ever been to. Such a pleasure looking at all the makeup and skin care goodies. If you’re a tourist, there is a 5% discount but make sure to bring your passport.

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You don’t need the mirror to tell you that you’re beautiful.

I took the challenge.

Last week, I got this invite for Dove 7-Day No Mirror Challenge! , as part of their global campaign to empower women to embrace their unique and individual beauty, takes one step further by liberating women from dependence on an everyday essential – the mirror.

Come to think of it, I often looked at the mirror as a growing teen-ager. I always thought I was an ugly kid just because my uncles teased that I was “dark”. Dove thinks that “as we gaze at our reflections in the mirror, we expect to see the physical ideal that we have been conditioned by society to accept. And when we do not, as is oftentimes the case, we are filled with a sense of self-loathing and dissatisfaction that cuts deep into our very selves.”

No such thing happened to me. I saw a lovely girl, not the usual stereotype mestiza that was associated with “beautiful girls” back then in Cebu. I smiled and from then on, I believed I was beautiful. Now that I am 53 years old, I have never felt more beautiful inside and out. Even my high school or college friends swear that I look even more beautiful today than I was in my teen years. I believe it is confidence and belief that inner beauty brings out the real beauty in a person.

The challenge
The Dove 7-Day No Mirror Challenge requires me to avoid looking into any mirror for 7 days. I will wash my face with Dove beauty bar at least twice a day – once in the morning when I wake up and once in the evening before I sleep. After 7 days, I can resume gazing in the mirror.

This is the part where Dove promises beautifully moisturized skin that is soft, smooth and radiant. More importantly, the time spent away from the mirror will be liberating, helping us appreciate our real and true beauty, in whatever form that takes. Actually, I don’t need the mirror to tell me if I am beautiful or not but let’s see what happens.

What will I do?

The challenge starts July 14 and ends July 21. What makes it even more challenging is I leave for Singapore tomorrow for a Singapore Food festival and I will need to look presentable to meetings with the Singapore Tourism board and the other food spots that I am invited to. The challenge is also how to put on my makeup.

The kit contains two Dove beauty bars, a white Flip Cam, and a calendar

I believe in hard work. It keeps the wrinkles out of the mind and spirit.
- Helena Rubinstein

I want to take a break and feel good about myself. I have been wanting to write about my “kikay” moments. I often receive comments in facebook that I look young for 53 years old. Not that I had plastic surgery, I explain that it is because I smile a lot. If I don’t wear a smile, I tend to look stern and serious. One can actually look younger in photos with the help of makeup and knowing how to smile for the camera. Here are my Tips on how to smile for a camera.

Some also ask me what beauty or anti-aging products I use. They say that one should keep beauty tips a secret. Well, I will share a few of them here.

See, I only started to become more conscious of my looks when I entered into blogging in 2006. I was then 48 years old. Every time I get invited to an event, there was always a photo session. I started to wear makeup just so I looked good in photos. You can say blogging made me even more vain. If I were not overweight for 13 years, perhaps my facial skin would have been tight. Yet I know it is never too late. Interest in hair, make-up, clothes and fashion peaked now that my kids are all independent. I don’t have the burden of worrying about spending for myself and feeling guilty of shopping expeditions. Caring about appearance, dressing in fashionable, flattering clothes, keeping healthy and active is one ways to pamper myself.

A lot of women are feeling fabulous at 50. Freed from the restraints of dependent, whiny children and the prospect of an end to monthly periods, I feel it is finally time to enjoy without the guilt trip. What is to stop me? Aside from monthly visits to my dermatologist sister at St Luke Dermatology Clinic, here are some of the products I buy :

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A long marriage is two people trying to dance a duet and two solos at the same time. ~Anne Taylor Fleming

The news did not surprise me , that James Yap will fight for his marriage and even tells Kris not to give up . He read his statement in Filipino and in a humble demeanor “I believe in the importance of having an intact family…That’s why I will fight to keep my family with Kris intact whatever happens.

“I know that every family encounters tests like these,” he continued. “Kris and I have made it through such tests before and I don’t think that this would be the right time for us to surrender [to such tests].”

So why was I not surprised? I have told you before that just like Kris, I too gave up on my marriage. Really, I would not have taken a second chance if my husband didn’t work things out. Uh, he literally wooed me back.

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