Hubby Grants My Preggy Cravings (as usual..)

I am now almost 36-weeks pregnant and the usual cravings still exist. 4 days ago, I was having a hard time sleeping. It was already 2am and I was still tossing and turning on our huge couple bed alone. Bear is at work and won't be home for his day off till after 3 days. I was thinking of foods.. I was imagining a pure Italian Pizza and Pasta, Chinese Foods like Pork Sweet & Sour, Yang Chao and lots of dimsum. I tried very hard to sleep and kept my eyes close but these cravings kept me awake as if I can smell them. Boy, it drives me crazy! This preggy craving becomes difficult when your food buddy is away. Plus the fact that I can't drive anymore due to my bulging baby belly of course so all I have to do is wait for Bear to come home.

Ha! after 2 days, I couldn't wait anymore so I asked our household helper to buy ingredients. I've decided to cook Sweet & Sour Pork ala North Park style.. That night, past 9 pm, I was cooking and that meal is for the following day. Just in time for bears arrival. He loves Sweet & Sour Pork too. The taste turned our really good!! Even my household helper had this huge smile on her face after tasting what I prepared.

my sweet & sour pork

The following morning, bear finally arrived for his 3 days-off, that afternoon, Me and bear went to Amici di Don Bosco. We've always past by that resto for more than a 100th times already but we always fail to try out their food. This time, we really decided to give it a try as I also have read good food reviews about Amici. And by the way, Amici di Don Bosco located at Pasay Road is the original Amici Restaurant and it has an interesting history, built and founded by an Italian priest of Don Bosco Church. It was formerly a canteen that serves good food etc... anyway,writing the story here would make my blog too long hehehe..

Anyway, it's always funny when me and bear would order food because we always have the same choices. We're definitely soulmates and food buddy! Looking at the menu, we couldn't decide what to order because everything looks mouthwatering! Me and bear chose to order this Pesto di Aglio Pizza and their Spaghetti ala Bolognese, and we had this Chocolate Crumble Milkshake and Pistaccio Almond Milkshake for our drinks.

We were also impressed that our orders were served fast! We were actually expecting to wait for 30 minutes at least coz that's what we normally experience in some other restos but in Amici, they did it in 15 minutes and the food was served hot and fresh, the milkshakes are so sinful and the food were divine!

Pesto di Aglio Pizza or Garlic Pizza in English translation

Spaghetti ala Bolognese

 We'll definitely comeback every week. Amici is now on top of our food resto list. ;)

The Quest To Find The Right Baby Stroller

As the D-day approaches nearer, we're finalizing the things that BabyP needs and one of the most difficult part is finding the right baby gear for our little one.

I was in the quest to find the perfect stroller for our little one but it's not that easy to decide which one to choose. Deciding what stroller to buy is like buying a car. There were lots of things that needs to be considered like the weight of the stroller, suspension, chassi, safety features, design, etc. I am also considering the price range of the strollers available in the market.

There were 3 strollers that I've considered before showing it to bear. 1st is the Quinny Buzz. I got familiarized with this stroller as my two bestfriends who had their first baby two years ahead of me both uses Quinny Buzz. Me and bear really find Quinny Buzz sleek and we're also fascinated with it's futuristic look. 

US price is $580 plus shipping cost to the Philippines will roughly total to around USD700 or around PHP 35k.

Being a net-savvy, I've spent most of my time researching on baby gears on the internet, watching videos and reading reviews, I've come to noticed the Britax B-Agile which is one of the top baby strollers in the US in terms of it's specs and pricing. It's a lightweight compact stroller at only 17 lbs and it has the click and go feature, one-hand folding system. It has parking brake for safety and wheels has suspension.  Britax is known in the US as makers of quality car seats. I've shown this to bear and since we've read good reviews about it and the specifications seems right to what we're looking for, we both considered the Britax B-Agile in our shortlist.

US Price at Amazon is $189 plus the shipping cost to the Philippines would still come cheaper than the price at the mall which is PHP20k++

The 3rd one is Graco Trekko Stroller. It's a 3-wheel stroller with sleek design and is actually the cheapest of all at only $140 plus the shipping cost to the Philippines. It's heavier than Britax B-Agile weighing 29.4 lbs. The price is just right however, upon reading the reviews, I found out that the wheels doesn't have shock absorbers, very bulky and the material doesn't seem like the breathable kind , which means your child will be uncomfortable.

Overall, The Britax B-Agile Stroller won and we've finally decided to purchase it online and have it shipped to the Philippines. We've carefully considered different criterias and we think we made the right choice in terms of price range, quality and design. As the mom-to-be, I am really excited for the delivery of Baby P's stroller! ;)

My Pregnancy Journey

It was in 1st week of March2012 that Me and Bear found out we were pregnant. We both had mixed emotions, we were happy and yet we were scared on how to handle it as first timers. We didn't go to our ob-gyne immediately upon knowing about our pregnancy as we wanted to wait.

Initially we were planning to go to our ob at 8 weeks but before the 8th week of my pregnancy, I started experiencing severe nausea. I felt really sick and couldn't get out of bed. So we decided to visit our ob-gyne, Dr. Cleofe Medina at the Makati Medical Center. 

The duration of my 1st term was really difficult, our toilet bowl was my bestfriend as I would always run to the bathroom like every 10 minutes and almost hug our toilet bowl for throwing up. I felt like dying and I wasn't enjoying my pregnancy, very opposite as to what I see on other pregnant women. I started to get envious with pregnants who can eat whatever they want, and can go to places and travel. I had zero energy, and I couldn't eat anything because I would always throw up whatever food I eat. I was just inside the house!

At exactly 13 weeks, I finally re-gained myself and my energy were back. I started to feel happy again.

at 15 weeks -- baby bump rising

Come the start of my 2nd term, I felt freedom! Me and Bear can go out on a date once again and I'm able to eat good food. However for some reasons, I suddenly don't like the taste of anything that is sweet. I don't like the taste of ice cream, chocolates or cakes. I just love eating normal food like lots and lots of veggies, fish, chicken. What's odd is I loooove to eat anything that is white. Suman, Vanilla Ice Cream, Congee, Egg. anything that looks clean.

 My belly bump is quite big and I started gaining weight

We're on our 3rd term now and a few more weeks to go till BabyP pops out. I feel totally normal now except for the big belly bump and the difficulty in getting a good straight sleep cause BabyP is really active.We've already started our baby preparations and shopped for baby stuff as well.

Soon, a little fellow will come running around our house! All the challenges of my pregnancy were all worth it knowing that Me and Bear will soon meet our little offspring bebe!

Interior Decorating Our New Home

Months before our wedding, Me and Bear were in a house/condo/townhouse hunt where we can move in right after our wedding and start our own family. We've decided to look for a place in the Makati area because of it's proximity to our work. I was working at Salcedo Village and Bear goes to airport everyday.

Eventually, we've crossed out the house and condo options because houses in Makati would cost at least P15M and a condo has very limited space and so we've decided to look for a townhouse. Lucky enough, there were lots of townhouses that were being built during the time we were on a hunt. We found this brand new, sweet 3-storey, 4 bedroom, 3TB with 1 car garage townhouse at San Antonio Village. We did an occular visit and right there and then, felt good with the townhouse, good vibes, good lightings and it has spacious rooms. The neighborhood is very peaceful and has wide guarded streets.

We chose the townhouse, and bear's parents, my in-laws were so kind and generous to buy the townhouse for us as a wedding gift. As soon as the payment were settled, we started the interior decoration the townhouse.

I never knew I had this keen eye and skill for interior decoration till I started with our house project. I handled everything since bear is too busy. From the color painting of the house, to the installation of the pin lights, garage roofing and selections of the furniture and fixtures.

To be honest, it was indeed stressful because I had to personally deal with different contractors and engineers and it was my first time unlike if I have hired an interior decorator. I've tried inquiring on hiring an interior decorator's service but they are way too expensive so I just scratched out the idea and decided to be hands-on with the entire project. Thanks to my persuasiveness and patience, I was able to handle different contractors attitude.  Most of the fixtures and furnitures of our humble abode were customized to fit the odd shape of our townhouse.

We love our entertainment cabinet installed in the living room, We had it wall-mounted to save space.

customized entertainment cabinet since we have a small living room, it should be wall mounted

We bought a 3-seater brown leather couch for the living room to match the color motiff of our house which is white, mahogany and maple. The other part of the living room needed to have a customized couch since it has limited space. We couldn't find a nice couch that would fit our small living room so I had this couch custom-made. I intentionally had it done in a light beige color in contrast to our dark brown leather couch to break the monotomy of our living room.

Our 1 1/2 seater couch. This one is customized and perfectly fits our living room.

My favorite part of the living room is the understairs cabinet. I call it the pull-out multi purpose understsairs cabinet. Anyone who sees this understairs pull-out cabinet is fascinated with its uniqueness. We were able to maximize every space available in the living room and yet our living room looked spacious too.

The pull-out understairs cabinet

For the masterbedroom, I had the front window installed with wooden blinds. A wooden blind is better than faux wood blind because it lasts longer and it's easier to clean. It's quite pricey as compared to vinyl and faux wood blinds but since it's for the masterbedroom, we chose to have a wooden blind to cover the direct sunlight coming in during daytime. We just used curtains for the 3 other rooms.

I've also added a customized worktable with cabinet and wardrobe cabinet for bear in light mahogany color since I am already occupying the existing wardrobe cabinet in the masterbedroom. (didn't take a picture anymore)

This nice chest drawer is also made-to-order together with bear's worktable and cabinet. I would recommend having cabinets being custom-made since it is more durable and the quality is really good as compared to those being sold at the mall. Ours is made of hardwood with Mahogay Ducco Finish Paint. Made to last for so many years.

smooth finishing of the chest drawer in Mahogany Ducco Finish Paint

We still have to add a few more pieces in the house. The two other rooms at the 3rd floor is still empty and I'm still thinking of how to design and decorate it. The 2nd room at the 2nd floor will be designed as a nursery room. Soon......

The Greenery Pre-nup Photoshoot

I think it was in July of 2011 that we had the Pre-nup photoshoot and boy wasn't aware that it was one of the difficult and tiring and yet the most enjoyable part of the wedding preparation. Me and Bear doesn't want a place that's too crowded or people would watch us kiss??? or hug??? or do the mushy stuff??, We don't want to go out of the country coz definitely we don't have time for that, We don't want a place that's too fairytale-ish, No to indoor place and we don't like to act and have a theme like vintage or something that the other couple does. 

Well... Yes I believe we are both lazy to think of something extra-ordinary haha! With me and bears personality, we both know that we just want something that would look natural and would show how we are as a couple. No pretentions, no acting.. Nada.. 

I researched a lot of places online, inquired, and finally I found this great place. 
Hail and behold! the place called The Greenery .. Never thought a site like this would exist and it's just a few hour drive from Manila. It's so solemn and I instantly fell in love with the place. I showed bear the website and I knew that he was also impressed!

I immediately inquired and booked this place for our pre-nup photoshoot day and called my HMUA Gio Lazaro-Flores. 

Here's some of The Greenery's scenic view:

The day of our pre-nup came, and it was raining but we couldn't postpone our schedule. It was like getting married on a rainy day and we had no choice but to push through, the entire team went individually to Bulacan to gather for the shoot. Good thing, by 10am of that day, I still clearly remember, the sun finally showed up and we're able to start the shoot. There were rain drizzles in between the day but it was already tolerable to catch good shots. 

Here's some of our pre-nup shots, all raw, taken by Bob Gonzales and team. 

 Our photoshoot ended up at 5pm and by that time, the entire team including us were all exhausted and yet happy at the same time as we were able to capture a lot of awesome and natural shots. 

It was also the first time that I witnessed and proved that bear can be a better actor than me despite his timid personality hahaha!! Mind you, bear is so silent that he only talks with me and he hates crowd but he's too professional that during our shoot, I was in awe with how good he can pose and gets the instructions so easily. Way to go bear! I'm proud of you ;)

The Greenery

# 80 Rio Vista Subdivision
Sabang, Baliwag, Bulacan
Tel no: 044-766 6325
Telefax: 044 – 766 6326
Sun Mobile: 0922- 827 5122
Email: info@thegreenery.ph

Getting Married, Wedding Preps

This topic has been long overdue since I got married last year of Nov2011 but because I got super tied up with work, business travel, wedding preparation and making our new abode a nice place to live in blogging has been the last thing on my mind then..

The wedding preparation was tough! I mean really tough but at the same time enjoyable, that is if you have enough money to spend cause you get to hire the wedding suppliers that you prefer. It's also a tag team project for me and bear. Since bear is always at work with no definite days off, meaning I had to adjust my our sched and appointments base on his availability.

It also proved my bears patience and dedication to me. (yey!)

We got married at Sanctuario De San Antonio. We chose this church as it has really beautiful altars.

After the church, we had to find the venue that is still available on our ceremony date. We researched several places, asked for so many quotations. Hotels, Garden Venues until 1esplanade crossed my mind. I asked bear if  we could check out the place, and as soon as we saw the venue, we instantly liked it! It was not a mushy place, we don't like an open air venue, and at the same time, it feels like you're in a hotel's function room but you're really not in a hotel. Just right for me and bear's personality.We booked the place as soon as we found out it was available.

We hired Hizon's Catering for the food and we had a good experience with them. all worth every penny we spent.

We hired Edward Teng to create my wedding gown, bear's tuxedo and mommies' gowns.

Max Tiu for our wedding host, oh by the way.. Max Tiu is well known in the chinese wedding industry. He's bilingual and knows how to handle audience and guest well. Our reception was not boring because of his unique games! I love Max Tiu :)

I got Gio Flores-Lazaro and his partner Gelanie for the HMUA. He's quite pricey but his work really amazing. He made us all beautiful on the wedding day itself.

Over all, I think we made a good choice on suppliers. Our wedding turned out to be simple and yet elegant which is what me and bear envisioned. 

Sanctuario de San Antonio, Mc Kinley Road, Forbes Park

1esplanade

Edward Teng during the actual sketching of my wedding gow

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My Blogsite's Revival

Just realized that my blogsites both multiply and my blogspot have been sleeping for 3 years now!

My blogsites came across my mind while I was taking a bath. And with lots of things that happened and experienced.. I think its about to time to update it. 

Will post blogs again in the following days..