Fun Photos taken at Caryl's 1st Birthday

Caryl Guirey Dumlao's 1st Birthday - Don Henrico's Festival Mall, February 21, 2010

YouTube - CSA-Binan Seniors 02272010

Señores rule! The senior class of CSA-Biñan strut their stuff last February 27, 2010.

YouTube - CSA-Biñan Seniors Field Demo 02272010

Señores rule! The senior class of CSA-Biñan strut their stuff last February 27, 2010. Hataw Na!

Cae's Field Demo

Señores rule! The senior class of CSA-Biñan strut their stuff last February 27, 2010.

That's my girl in front!
Location: CSA Biñan

Buying from online sellers – blissful experiences (so far)

I can’t count the number of times I’ve bought from online sellers, not from Ebay but from Multiply, Sulit.com.ph, Buy and Sell Plus Philippines, and Femalenetwork.com/Girltalk. Of course, I’ve heard of and read horror stories on bogus sellers, fake/damaged items and/or items that failed to arrive or are different from the ones shown in the web site.

But so far, my transactions have been smooth and hassle-free, and my sellers have been ok, except for a girl from whom we ordered beaded key chains as give-aways for my parents’ wedding anniversary. She became difficult to deal with after I deposited the down payment. She was always rushing me to pay, reasoning out that G-Gash has a cut-off time, etc.

Anyways, so far, I’ve bought a pair of white Melissa-inspired baby doll shoes, Crocs replicas, an HP color printer (for 500 bucks, which we never got to use), a (not-so-original) Mango shirt, a can of Glysolid cream, Cyleina organic soaps (from two different sellers), plaid watches, books, and more than 20 previously-owned Sweet Dreams pocketbooks.

I remember meeting up the book seller in Festival Mall (she’s a fellow Girltalker) and she was surprised to see me.

“Ang bata mo pa pala, may teenager ka na,” she told me when I said the books were for Cae. “Ang swerte naman niya, binilhan mo siya.”

I think I also told her that I myself was a Sweet Dreams addict when I was younger and I want to share the experience with my daughter (her name CAITLIN is after all from a Sweet Dreams title). The seller gave me free books and a bookmark.

Would you believe, I got Caehl’s nebulizer from a Sulit seller for Php1,600? If you (or your kids) have asthma and you’re looking for an affordable machine, I can recommend him to you. Our Karavision player (which for me is a better deal than Magic Sing) was also courtesy of a seller from the same site (he delivered the DVD player himself to our house in San Pedro). My Christmas give-aways for the past three years were from online sellers as well.

Other purchases years ago included Alex’s Sony Ericsson phone and my Nokia 7250i phone – both were also previously owned. Yeah, we met up in dear old Alabang. They were good and nice guys, actually.

LBC, Xend, 2GO, and Fedex have become acquaintances of mine. When I bought an updated CD for the Karavision player Randy, the same seller, he had it delivered thru LBC. I have become a regular account depositor (BDO, BPI, Metrobank) to pay for my stuff.

On another note, I met a man who later became our SSS liaison person/consultant (for my helpers) through what else, Sulit. Again, if you need someone like him, I can refer him to you.

Or maybe you can refer another online seller to me.

LINKS:
http://pinkfortune.multiply.com/
www.sulit.com.ph
www.buyandsellplus.com/
http://sexylhaine08.multiply.com
www.guiltfreeshop.multiply.com
http://g3rl23.multiply.com/

Whatchama-CAEHL-it IV

Due to his asthma, madaling mapagod, and very beybing-beybi ways, we didn't allow Caehl to join his school's field trip to Subic last Saturday. Aside from the fact that we had another appointment (Cae's UST interview), we find the place too far for him. May tendency pa naman yan na, "I want to go home" bigla. Perhaps, next year, we said.

Friday night, he kept on mumbling, on the verge of tears, "Tomorrow is field trip. But Caehl is not coming. Because Subic is far. Because I'm still young. I want old."

"Mommy, I want old."

Puwede ba naman yun hehe

Pre-Prom

Buti na lang mahilig magdress rehearsal si Cae. On the day itself, it took her only 5 minutes to get ready.

Prom Album 2

Colegio San Agustin-Binan JS Prom at Sofitel, February 9, 2010
Theme: Masquerade
Cae's Gown by: New Creations

Prom Night at Sofitel

Colegio San Agustin-Binan JS Prom at Sofitel, February 9, 2010
Theme: Masquerade
Cae's Gown by: New Creations

(Happy) Valentine’s Day

A day before Valentine’s, we found ourselves in UST, the same place where we found ourselves in love.

It’s actually Cae’s interview at the College of Hospitality and Travel Management.

Another milestone in our life, says Alex, who was, would you believe, teary-eyed as he watched his only daughter standing in line in front of the Albertus Magnus Building (formerly Education Building).

I texted all my kumares and kumpares that it was Cae’s interview, feeling proud and at the same time, nagpapalakas ng loob.

An hour after she went inside, it was finally over. She told us she wanted to do it all over again, fearing that she was not able to give it her best. I reminded her that such were instances that we will never have a second chance. Her dad asked her if she thought she would ace it. Eh sana daw.

Afterwards, we decided to go to SM San Lazaro to do some grocery-shopping and to catch a movie. Cae wanted to see Valentine’s Day or Love Happens. I left it up to them to choose although deep inside, I was curious to see Valentine’s Day (if only for Taylor and Taylor).

With two Taylors (Swift and Lautner), and two Jessicas (Alba and Biel), how can you go wrong?

And there were Patrick Dempsey and Ashton Kutcher, too.

And Anne Hathaway.

And Jamie Foxx.

And Queen Latifah.

And Jennifer Garner.

Yes, how can you possibly go wrong?

Yet, it only took one scene with Julia Roberts towards the end of the movie, and my tears just fell.

I was trying not to relate to the theme (pinnacles and pitfalls of finding, keeping or ending relationships in a day in the life of love) because I didn’t want to become emotional. Movies like this always make me cry.  I particularly loved the scene with Shirley Maclaine (Estelle) and Hector Elizondo (Edgar), an old married couple making up after battling with a ghost from the past, and the one with Anne (Liz) and Topher Grace (Jason), after the latter knew what she really does for a living. You should see the pain in Liz’s/Anne’s eyes when Jason was horrified upon learning the truth.

Although not really original and “outstanding”, Valentine’s Day is simple, funny, and warm.

Like love is. Like love should be.

Whatchama-CAEHL-it III (The Organizer)

Yesterday, Caehl didn’t want to go to his OT session. When I asked him to pick the clothes he will wear (which he usually does), he won’t.

“Do you want to wear this,” I asked, showing his Pinoy Lab shirt.
“No.”

“How about this?” This time, I pointed to his gray “summer” shirt.
“No.”

When I showed his green Tazmanian Devil shirt, he said no again. “Mommy will just pack (them) away,” he said. But I laid them out on the bed just the same.

When it was time for him to dress up, his Nanay Ev said Caehl put the clothes back in the drawer. “I don’t like to go,” he said. “I want computer.”

I told him Teacher Dana will look for him. “Teacher Dana will miss you. Di ba, you will cut paper, you will have massage…”.
 
Knowing how he likes organizing things, I asked him instead to enumerate the activities he was supposed to do that day. “1. Building Blocks 2. Go to Festival Mall 3. Buy book…” and so on and so forth.

That seemed to pacify him. He asked for a paper, saying he will write them down. “Marker please.” (Pentel pen pa ang gusto.)

My mom and sisters always say he takes after me when it comes to organization. He likes having a schedule and following it exactly. He hates unplanned things and he wants everything organized.

Here’s what he wrote (or maybe you can just read it from the photo):
CAEHL SATURDAY
BUILDING BLOCKS
FESTIVAL MALL
BUY BOOK
BUY CAKE FOR MAMA
GO HOME
EAT
SLEEP
WAKE UP
COMPUTER

And we left home in peace, ready to take on the day’s activities.

 

 

Prom Time

It's the most wonderful time (read: expensive night) of the year... It's my daughter's JS Prom night (at Sofitel) on Tuesday. As usual, Alex and  I are taking the day off for the preparations in the morning and to make hatid-sundo. Her gown (cocktail-length again) this year is black and fuschia. The design is actually a rip-off from a mall boutique (no names please, lest we receive a complaint). Looking at the image from my cellphone, the dress shop's (yeah, the same as last year's) designer-owner just did a few sketches and we nodded at the striking likeness. She just added a headpiece (we requested for a small bird-cage veil, we didn't know it was the "in" thing this season), a mask (the prom theme is Masquerade) and petticoat to complete the outfit. When Cae had her fitting a week ago, I thought it was too short and too plain. I told her that her gown last year was prettier. But when we picked it up from the dress shop last Thursday, it turned out to be a lovely gown after all and Cae looked lovelier in it. The other week, we picked out a black pair of sandals to go with it. Luckily, her Ninang Joy gave her a black purse and so we didn't have to buy one. For her hair and make-up, she said she and a friend would go to a local salon and to another for her mani and pedi. For her accessories, aside from the headpiece, she bought cocktail rings. Which reminds me, I  have yet to buy her a necklace and bracelet. We’re still arguing whether or not she’s going to join her friends overnight at Sofitel. Last year, we didn’t have a good experience with their Manila Hotel adventure. As much as possible, we want to skip the hotel part, and just pick her up after the prom (which ends at 12mn).. Well, we are still arguing…

Whatchama-CAEHL-it II

This morning, as I was getting ready for work, Caehl, with eyes half-open, gave this order, "Turn off the lights. Close the door. Caehl is still sleeping."   Then, "Dede."