Beautiful Saturday

How did your weekend go?

Saturday for me was beautiful. My honey and I attended a nice wedding of our friends- the bride was a Filipino girl I've met a few months ago through Dan's friend and co-worker who was her fiance. Anyway, it was a simple but beautiful wedding and although it was one of those quickly put together weddings, it turned out very well. Even the groom's speech was well-said before the champagne toast. Everyone commented how he didn't have any stage fright and how he could very well be a politician for his almost perfect speech. :D

Anyway, here are a few of our photos from the wedding.





Sunday was just all about house chores and laundry. Although I am not complaining about it. Those things are needed to be done and I feel proud at the end of the day when I know I am doing good enough as a mother and partner. ;)

Please share how your weekend went. I'd love to know! :D

Back and again

We got back to the U.S. from our Bahamas trip Tuesday night. It was wonderful and Dan and I had a fabulous time! :D

I will post a few more photos here of our trip later. You know how we all gals think when we go to a beach vacation- we gotta look nice in our swimsuits. I don't know how I look. My honey said I look sexy whatever, but I feel funny with my tummy bulge still showing from post-pregnancy twenty six months ago.LOL. What an excuse, huh? ;)

Oh well, I don't have to look like a celebrity in my swimsuit. I know most of them don't only do rigid exercise training to look good, they also take those diet pills. I just received a head's up on a diet pill that works. But right now, I am motivated to go back exercising again- talk about my old home exercise videos and the treadmill at home. There's also a twice weekly spinning class in our local rec center that I'm planning to enroll in. Let's see how that goes. Hmmm..thinking...

Anyhow, I've posted a few photos of me in my swimsuits from previous posts. I don't care how you all think. And it's not so provocative that I have thicker skin to post them here on Hip Mama Blog. :D

My, I am really swamped! But it's alright...

Swamped. With emails, blog writing assignments (subjects such as wedding invitations, ellipticals, etcetera), housework, errands, things to do for the kids, getting ready for my weekend trip, etcetera, etcetera.

*Beach and Pool View of the Hotel where we're staying in Nassau Beach Resort, The Bahamas Islands

But it's all good. I'm supposed to take a deep breath and congratulate myself. At least I'm getting there. Tonight will just be about packing for my weekend trip to beautiful Nassau Paradise Island in The Bahamas Islands. Nothing too personal. But I'm really very, very excited. For the first time in almost four years since the kids were born, I have not travelled leisurely. I mean, don't get me wrong. My kids are my world. But I believe in giving yourself time alone- to relax...to do something really refreshing for yourself. Like travelling to a beautiful sunny place, relaxing at the beach, sipping a cocktail, mmmm... this trip is going to be that for me. :)

So I don't mind being swamped this week. I am really, really fine. I am a happy human being. I have beautiful treasures (my kids!) and I am travelling to a beautiful place in less than 48 hours! :)

My Sister Lourdes And My Upcoming Trip

My younger sister Lourdes came to visit here in the US since September last year. She stayed with me in Virginia for about two weeks and then went to New York City to stay with a friend who needed help managing her jewelry business.

Anyway, my sister loves New York City. She likes the fast-paced everyday life and she told me the shopping there is just great. Indeed.. a city that never sleeps. The whole time she was there she did a lot of sight-seeing and took tons of photos of herself and her friends. The recent photos she showed me were the ones where she and her friends stayed in a nice New York City hotel. I was a little envious. I wish I had the luxury of time like she does.

So this coming Friday she is coming back to Virginia to get ready for her trip back to the Philippines. She will also be helping me out with the kids while I go take my leisurely weekend getaway to beautiful and sunny Bahamas in the Carribean Island. Think white sand beach, sparkling blue ocean, beautiful hotel room accommodation..aahhh. I just can't wait! :)

Isn't it time I go do something really, really nice for myself? Well, for me that will be on Valentine's Day weekend. Go figure. ;)

I'm Back

Whew. This past week had been really tough for my family. The boys were sick again. Gosh, I can't tell you how many times they've seen their pediatrician for the last five weeks. Then the ER visits- that's a different story.

Anyway, so much for sad stories. They are staying home today with their dad. Hopefully tomorrow they will both feel better enough to go back to daycare. Ugh.

I barely have time for myself these days. Last night, I took a somewhat leisurely shower right after the kids were in bed. This was like 1AM. Then I realized I haven't applied on my face moisturizer for like three weeks now. Gosh. The wrinkles are starting to show. I told myself I got to keep up with the beauty routine. :)

Speaking of beauty routine, I saw this show on TV yesterday about women talking about feminine issues like beauty, makeup, fashion. One woman was asking about feminine hygiene and vaginal dryness. Pretty interesting. Sometimes watching shows like these gets me motivated at checking my own beauty routines again.

Anyhow friends, I hope everyone is well. I will be visiting your blogs again. Very soon. I promise! :)

How was your holiday?

The holiday with the family was nice. I didn't cook a lot since it's just Joe, me, and the kids. No guests or anything.

On Christmas morning, we try and make it a tradition to gather around the Christmas tree (although we didn't put up our Christmas tree this year) to unwrap gifts and take pictures of the kids. I managed to save money buying toys this year since I get a lot of free toys for my work on Hip Mama's Place. I saved up some of the ones I randomly get in the mail, wrapped them up for Christmas and voila! I had some really nice toys for my boys' presents and I didn't have to buy them. ;D

Anyway, here are a few pictures I took on Christmas Day- some at our house and a few at my friend's house. My boys are growing big and strong, aren't they? Something I'm very grateful and thankful to God about. ;D










For Joe, I got him something nice to wear for work. I would have bought him a couple of those trendy-looking silk ties that I saw on a men's fashion mag recently, but I never got the chance to order them online. Oh well..maybe next time.

For myself, my 'special friend' got me just what I've been dying to get for myself: a Garmin GPS tracking system for my car. Awesome, huh? Since I am really, really bad with directions, he gave this to me for my Christmas present. I gave him a big hug and a kiss for this. ;D ... I love it! Now I don't have to go to freakin' Mapquest all the time, write down my directions (since our printer is broken), and glance at my sorry scribbly notepad with my directions while I'm driving somewhere new. Gosh, I know it sounds pathetic but you should know I don't really drive long distances and I am a still a scaredy cat driving in state highways and such, even after nine years of driving, LOL. I could literally picture myself getting hit by somebody and vice versa glancing at my directions while I'm driving. Ugh! So I am glad I finally got my GPS tracking system. It's absolutely heaven sent! :D

Anyway, how was you all's holiday? Any special event or some really wonderful gift you received that you are truly thankful for? I would love for you to share it in your comments. :D

Eye Checkup

A few months ago, I went to an eye doctor to get my eyes checked up. I used the computer a lot throughout the day and I've been noticing myself straining my eyes a lot more than before while reading a book or while staring at the computer.


Well, good news for me. My eyes are fine. The eye doctor just prescribed me a reading/computer eyeglass to use especially while I'm on the computer. The eye doctor advised that it is not good to stare at the computer screen for longer than ten minutes. The computer glare is bad for one's eyes, so I was glad to get a pair of glasses that I can use for that purpose. :)

Back to the Gym

I am really excited that I get to go back to the gym and work out. Last Tuesday, we signed up for a new gym membership at the local gym right down the street from our apartment.

The gym is really nice and fully equipped with all kinds of exercise machines you can think of. They got a hot sauna, exercise rooms with free classes, even a hair salon. Most of all, they got a great daycare where I can leave my kiddos while I'm exercising.

So last Wednesday was the first day I went. Then yesterday, I met with a personal trainor named Christine. She was really nice and very helpful. I felt more motivated to get really fit. This morning, I woke up a little sore in the lower leg and hip area but it felt good. It made me remember back when I was in high school and tried to get into the girls' football team. My, I was very sore from the waist down right after a few football practice. I found out from our family doctor later that I could't play football because I had a mild anemia and I could get dizzy doing strenuous activities- including playing football. I was of course, very disappointed. I swear I was always feeling jealous whenever the team won and awarded football trophies. I could have been part of those victories. But oh well...

Anyway, I'm very excited about going back to the gym I couldn't help but write about it.

Been A Little Lazy...

I don't know if it's laziness or just the lack of motivation. But some days I just want to be easy on myself and forget about blogging.. even for a few days. I mean, not that I don't keep with the demands on my review blog. Just.. I'm having a little "blogging withdrawal" I guess- if there's even such a term.

Do you feel this way sometimes? I mean, some days I think blogging is cool. Other times I think I can do better with my time. No regrets though. Blogging has been great for me so far- extra money in my pocket with paid postings, tons of free stuff for my whole family, and most of all, the satisfaction that I get making my readers happy with all the giveaways I host every week on Hip Mama's Place. I mean, what else could I ask for? ;)

I can't say for sure if it's blogging that makes me feel a bit burned out these days. I guess the key is to take little breaks here and there. Speaking of breaks, I indulged myself with an absolutely sweet, sweet treat the other day. Guess what... I went to have a very relaxing, tingly-to-the-skin, feeling smooth-all-over aromatherapy body scrub and massage..ahhh... my whole body never felt soo good in a long time!

Now tell me if after reading this post, you weren't tempted to leave your Blogger account for a bit and Google the closest spa salon in your area (LOL). :)

Some Sweet TLC For Me

I needed to get my annual woman's exam done so yesterday I took a few hours off from work in the afternoon to see this ob-gyne that was referred to me by my PTA group where I live. The doctor that was recommended that was recommended to me was not going to be available until February but the scheduling lady told me I can still be listed as a new patient with that doctor and just see a nurse practitioner for my first visit. So I went ahead and did that.

The doctor's office was small but clean, modern, and organized and not crowded at all. There were only about two other women besides me waiting for their turn at the waiting room when I signed in. Then I only had to wait ten minutes at the most. Wow, I was impressed. The fact that it's very convenient for me, and it's only like ten minutes drive from my house. :)

So anyways, going back to yesterday. After I got my woman exam done, I had a little time to burn before I had to pick up my kiddos. I've been needing a good pedicure for a while, and I was in the mood to give myself a little break and give myself some TLC, LOL. So I went to Starbucks and got me a tall white mocha, then headed over to my favorite nail salon and had me a very nice spa pedicure with all the works! "The Works" meaning, a pedicure that included a sloughing cream all over my legs and feet, followed by an aloe vera mask on my legs, a paraffin wax treatment on my feet, then followed with a tingly foot lotion massage and a girly light, sparkly pink nail color to finish everything off...ooohhhh, my idea of a sweeeeeeeeettt treat indeed.:)

It relieved my stress and fatigue from working all day at home and in the office, LOL.

What about you? What is your idea of a sweet treat to de-stress you a bit? :)

Diet Thoughts...

So I am serious about losing weight these days. I still got about 20 lbs to lose, since my now seven month old baby boy was born. So I went and bought the South Beach diet book and also their recipe book on Amazon last week. It came in the mail yesterday and now I am studying the recipes. A friend had recommended it to me, whose husband lost 50 lbs using the diet for a few months. I got inspired. So I'm going to try.

Ugh! I know it's going to be a challenge. I don't know. I just love food a lot now. I think I'm stress eating too and I know this is not good. I have to find other ways to turn to when I am stressed, besides thinking of food, LOL.

Sometimes I wish I'm rich though. I could just go to a famous Beverly Hills liposuction surgery clinic like the celebrities and rich people do and wham! it's gone. I don't have to work too much, LOL (that's the lazy me talking). It's really my belly pouch that's a big problem right now. I probably won't look too bad without it. ;)

"Me" Time

Tonight, I am going to have a 'me' time. In our household, this usually means I get to go out by myself (no hubby and kiddos)--usually I go to my favorite store to, ummm... what else--shop! LOL..or sometimes just window-shop, depends on the budget of course...or when I'm up to reading or checking out the latest cd's, I go to Borders or Barnes & Noble. Or give myself a little nice treat--like a spa pedicure or Starbucks coffee! Yummmm! It makes me feel like I'm still connected to the outside world, lol..I mean, not that I don't. My own moms group has been a great social avenue for me. I've made friends here in Dallas mostly because of it.

So anyways, I am trying to decide where to go or what to do tonight on my 'me' time. :)