Yuri's Study Table is All Set - Thanks to Rinadesign!

Yuri is only 16 months old now, but our study table for future schooling is already ready. Talk about excited. Here's the story.

Almost 2 months ago, Ms. Patty Laurel-Filart promoted a contest on her blog for Rinadesign. That was right during the time when I became obsessed in designing Yuri's future study table. Super advanced lang, no? Wala kasi akong magawa that time. Haha! Anyway, I have heard of Rinadesign before. I've seen Ms. Rina Albert-Llamas's products on Zalora and Lazada but found them too expensive. Well, they're not actually that expensive. Cheap lang talaga ako. Hahaha!

Without much ado, I joined the contest. Agad agad. Three winners of 1k gift certificates and one winner of a 3k gift certificate will be chosen. You only need to post the Facebook page why you deserve to win the prizes. Here's what I posted on Rinadesign's Facebook page:

I'm such a drama queen, but what I wrote was true. Almost an entire month passed by without hearing news about the contest. I wanted to think that the winners were picked in private already, but my gut feeling tells me I will win. Swear! I joined the contest on June 15, and on July 11, I received this surprise:

ZOMG! I'm one of the three winners of the 1k gift certificate! I did not win the grand prize of 3k (fellow blogger, Tin, won - congrats!), but it's seriously fine with me. I'm super thankful! After the surprise died out, I panicked because winners need to claim their prizes in Manila. Oh no! 

I immediately messaged Ms. Rina on Facebook, pleading her to please allow me to shop online instead. Ms. Rina is super, duper bait, because she immediately said yes! No questions asked! Of course, I immediately browsed the albums to look for what I should buy. I already know that I need to buy wooden craft for Yuri's future study table, though.

I think I'm a difficult client to deal with because I keep changing my mind. But Ms. Rina is undoubtedly a woman of grace because she was really patient with me. Because my orders were heavy, there would be a bigger shipping fee. I volunteered to pay for it myself.

A day after I received my Instax from Jollibee, I received another LBC package. This time, there was no element of surprise anymore because I knew exactly what was inside the box:

All of the following are for Yuri, save for the last two photos.

I think you already spotted a pattern. Elephants! For Yuri's personalized water bottle (which he will use in, well, 5 years???), I originally chose an elephant design. However, I thought that by the time Yuri will be using it, he might not be interested in elephants anymore. So I chose a design that mirrors his favorite objects - cars and trucks.

The following are for my sister, Chelsea:

My sister has a fascination for notebooks. Well, don't we all? She seriously likes this notebook because the pages are all very makinis. I love it, too!

The following is not actually Yuri's study table. We have yet to buy one. Instead, that's my bedside table. I just removed my books, notepads, and planner, and made way for Yuri's new stuff:

Cute, isn't it? I told you we are excited. Now, I can't wait to buy Yuri a proper study table!

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The Story of How I Got an Instax Camera

Exactly two weeks ago, I became a proud owner of a Fujifilm Instax 210.

Fujifilm Instax Wide

Some of you asked how much I bought it. No, I didn't buy it. No way, I'm too cheap to buy myself an instant camera when I already have a digicam. Here's the story of how I got my first Instax.

Last month, I was invited to a Jollibee event, where they launched Jollitown Season 6's premiere. I was invited by Ms. Kezia Romblon of Stratworks PR. Of course, I got to meet her on the event itself.

Around five days after the event, she called me on my phone. She said Jollibee is hosting a blogger's challenge where they picked 2 bloggers in Manila, 2 in Cebu, and another 2 in Davao. I was fortunately picked as one of the Davaoena mommy bloggers.

I said yes, of course, thinking wala namang mawawala. Then, she asked for my address because they will be sending the contest "kit." Take note that she wrote the words enclosed in quotation marks! Haha! Frankly, I did not know what I was signing up for! Then, a week later, this package arrived at home:

It's so big! And it's marked Fragile! What in the world could it be???

Here's the box inside the package. Looking back, this should have been a dead giveaway! 
However, I was "in-denial," thinking there could be something else inside. 
I honestly thought may costumes inside!

The box was a bit hard to open, so I pulled the contents one by one.
This was the first thing I saw when I opened the box. 
Yay, GCs!!! I was already super giddy that time!

The second thing I pulled out was this piece of paper. Contest mechanics!
That was the time when I saw what the remaining content would be, 
so I hurriedly opened the box...

To find this!!! I had to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming. #OAgirlproblems

Side Story:

For months now, my sister has been bugging me to buy her an Instax camera. It's affordable, but I couldn't bring myself to buy one because of the price of the film. That day, though, I surprised her with the camera. She was seriously jumping up and down, hugging the box!

Here it is with Jabee!

Another camera-selfie

It is a bit bulky and heavy, but I like how handsome it looks. Sure, it's not as cute as the Instax Minis out there, but one thing I don't like about the Mini is how small its film is. The film of Instax 210 is wide (just like what its name says) and reminiscent of our old 4r photos (tama ba?).

I read reviews over the internet on how to use it. It's a bit complicated because the viewfinder does not reflect what will be printed on the film, so one should really practice focusing the camera.

Here's my first attempt at a shot:

Welcome to the Laxa residence!

The house filled the viewfinder completely. However, when I took the shot, putol ang bubong! That was a learning experience, though, which we were able to use in the 10 Instax shots we took for our contest entry.

And that's the story of how I got my first Instax camera. :-)

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Never too Late to Start the Year Right With Sulit.com.ph

It's almost the end of February (gee, it's easy to forget that February only has 28 days!), but guess what? You can still begin your year right with making the right purchases to suit your needs. 

If you have been following my blog, you may see that recently, I started a goal to lessen my unnecessary expenses and make way for more investments. However, that doesn't mean I will live as a stingy miser. No, no, no!

On the contrary, I will still spend my money, but only for the stuff I really need. For example, last night, I had a conversation with my mom. I told her to keep my camera because I'm planning to buy a new one. But here's what my mom said:

Don't you have a new home to take care of?

I thought, Well, a cheap camera won't go in the way of the mortgage. But that's when it hit me:

How can we transfer into our new home without any furniture or appliances?

We won't be transferring until another 2 years, but time flies fast. I needed to start looking for appliances, ASAP, not to mention the money to buy them. Good thing it's so easy to look for things nowadays. You can just look for merchants on websites; you don't even have to step outside the house!

That's a double plus for me, who is a work-from-home mom. It's another thing that we have a lot of Philippine-based websites for merchants, and one of these top websites is Sulit.com.ph. I started scouting for home appliances and furniture right away! Here are my top 10 Sulit must-haves:

10. Picture Frames

I plan to fill our walls with our photos in a stylish way. That calls for stylish picture frames such as these super-cute collage frames:

9. Bookshelves

I love, love, love reading books (can I emphasize it more?), so it's a given that I'll be bringing a lot of books with me when we move. I don't plan to stack them on the floor, so I need a good bookshelf, like this display shelf:

8. Lamps

We also need lights for the new house, don't we? Of course, we will install light bulbs (fluorescent for eco-friendliness), I would also love to have lampshades to prettify the house. Here's a quirky-looking lamp that would spruce up any space:

7. Camera

I didn't forget the camera. I know I will be buying one, but not before I buy the things I really need. However, it's nice to look for cute cameras that will suit my un-photographer needs. Haha! I'd like to buy this Samsung WB100 camera:

6. Queen-sized bed

Alright, now we're talking. Now, I'll present to you the top 6 things on my list, AKA the things we really need. What about a queen-sized bed for starters? Here's a gorgeous wooden bed with drawers:

5. Work Desk / Study Table

If everything goes according to plan, God-willing, I will still be working from home years from now. Also, I plan to homeschool Y when he grows up. That's why a couple of desks is a vital addition to our home. For mommy, this practical Narra table will do:

4. Television

Go ahead and tell me television is unnecessary. I thrive on media and entertainment; I even graduated with a major in Media Arts! So my house will have a TV. What about this LED TV from Samsung?

3. Dining Table

This is very important because I believe in family conversations during dinnertime. That's when everyone gets to share what happened in his/her day. I believe that's in a Lucky Me commercial, but yes, it's right. That's why I choose to invest in a good dining table, such as this modern-looking dining set:

2. Living Room Set

As I mentioned above, I thrive in entertainment. I also thrive in conversations. Well, we can't be eating in the dining room all the time, so most of these conversations would certainly take place in the living room. I can already picture out all the talking we will do in this theater-worthy set:

1. Refrigerator

And finally, my utmost priority: the fridge. Please don't laugh at me. More than entertainment and conversations, I love food. Because of this, I need to get a good fridge. I'm such as a sucker for refrigerators. In fact, that's usually the first thing I see when I visit a home! When someone visits me, I think this sleek and stylish Samsung refrigerator would really look nice:

Gosh, I'm getting excited to buy all these stuff! What about you? What do you need to buy? Or as Sulit puts it, anong hanap mo?

PS: Five lucky readers/ commenters can also have the chance to win P10,000 worth of Sulit.com.ph gift certificates each! That's a lot! Here's how to win:

- Make a comment below and make your own list of ten things with just the name of the item and the link of the ad from Sulit.com.ph (i.e. LED TV – http://sulit.com.ph/1234567).

- Provide all the following information: full name, Facebook profile URL or Twitter ID, and, of course, the list of the ten items with the links.

- Help me win the contest! :D

This is my official entry to Nuffnang's and Sulit.com.ph's contest, which has been extended to March 5. View this for the official mechanics.
Please also visit Sulit's TWITTER account and FACEBOOK page. :-)

Got my prize - finally!

November of last year, I decided to try my luck out at Nuffnang's Benetton contest. A month later, I found out I'm one of the winners. More than two months after writing this post, a million follow-up emails to AJ of Nuffnang, and ultimately a tweet, I finally received an LBC package.

And yes, the people from LBC know our house already. Okay, photos!

If you're a blog reader, you would know that this is the millionth photo I have of LBC packages. Okay, sa sunod, JRS naman!

 

Sino ba si Marie Maan Laxa? Hahaha. Sige na nga!

Woo, suspense!

Yey! My bottle of Benetton Paradiso Inferno is finally here!

But it's a male fragrance. So, standby ka muna Benetton, okay? Hintayin muna natin yung gagamit sayo. :-)

Now that I finally received my prize from Nuffnang, I'm thinking of joining their Sulit contest. Bet?

The day when I finally won something

Remember my post for Benetton's contest? No? Let's Move, Let's Love? From Nuffnang? Still no? Poor me. But it's okay because I got something out of it. I won!

Well, I am not the grand prize winner, but it's okay; it's a start. I was actually planning on winning a Benetton bag (plan talaga?), which was the consolation prize, since I'm not expecting to win or anything. I mean, I have a history. I never win raffles! On the other hand, this was not a raffle, but a writing contest. But I still wasn't expecting to win!

What do you know, I actually got a Paradiso Inferno perfume from Benetton:

This is the description on Benetton's website:

"Blue paradisiac hell"? Who writes these things? Interesting, hahaha. But it's for men! And besides, I don't wear perfume much. Hmm, I wonder whom I can give it to?

J: Mie, tamang tama, pasko na.

Che!

The 2012 Belle de Jour Fair

I’m super excited for the 2012 BDJ Fair at the SM MOA Music Hall on October 14! :)

Check out their activities and GET A CHANCE TO WIN Free BDJ 2013 Power Planners and many more special prizes from their lifestyle brands! TO WIN! --- Play an active role in the fair’s festivities. Pre-register in any of the following activities below.  Please note each activity is limited to a certain number of slots :) First come first served.

10:00AM-11:00AM Kick-Ass Krav Maga (50pax)

Unleash that Strong Bella inside you as you learn self-defense techniques from the expert coaches at IKMF-Philippines.  Be proud and confident in the knowledge that you can protect yourself!

11:00AM-11:30AM Style Me Over! (50pax)

Give yourself a style update with this mini-workshop by Jasmine Mendiola as she shows the ways you can look even more amazing!

1:00PM-3:00PM Bloggers Extraordinaire (200pax)

Listen in as Tricia Gosingtian discusses how she has kept her blog current and relevant amidst the constant changes of the blogging world; while Patty Laurel talks about her love for travel and her lifelong goal of visiting a new destination for every year she’s on this earth.

3:30PM-5:00PM Beauty Bootcamp (200pax)

Know the essentials of Georgina Wilson’s skin care routine as she shares how she keeps her skin fresh and glowing all day.  Erica Paredes teaches us the basic items we need for our kikay kits and demonstrates how to use them. 

5:30PM-7:00PM  Life Lessons (200pax)

PJ Lanot will get you all charged up and raring to go as he guides you toward the self-realization that the Power is in you all along!  Fitz Villafuerte from the Ready To Be Rich blog shares with us why we need to start planning for our future now.

7:30PM-9:00PM Fierce Fashion! (200 pax)

Watch as BDJ Girls sashay down the runway in stylish outfits from SM GTW, Ladies Wear and Parisian. Learn from stylist extraordinaire, Donna Cuna-Pita as she talks about the ways you can infuse fun, bright colors into your everyday work staples. 

BE A SUPERMODEL: Strut your Sexy Self! (24pax)

Walk the runway in styles that that are bold, daring and fun! Be part of the 24 models for the BDJ 2012 Fashion Show showcasing the trendiest ensembles from SM GTW and SM Ladies Wear.  You must submit a full body photo wearing fitted clothes with your vital statistics (bust, waist and hips size), height, weight, and contact no. Please send by October 3. We will pre-select models for a go-see on October 6.

To participate, email them at bdjfair@viviamoinc.com with the following details:

SUBJECT: The 2012 BDJ Fair: LIMITLESS!

Name

Email Address

Mobile

Activities/Talks to Join: 

1.       Top Choice -

2.       2nd Choice -

3.       3rd Choice -

What are you waiting for? Send them an email at bdjfair@viviamoinc.com  NOW!

Visit their website at www.belledejourpowerplanner.com  

Like their facebook account (facebook.com/BelledeJourPlanner)

Follow them on twitter! @BDJBuzz

See you Bellas at the BDJ Fair! :)

EDIT: If I were in Manila on October 14, I will certainly see you there!

Let’s Move & Let’s Love

This is my official entry to Nuffnang Philippines + Benetton's "Let's Move & Let's Love" Blog Contest.

I was an extremely selfish person. I could not bear to part with what I have and all I cared about was having more and more -- until I became a mother.

I didn't become a generous person overnight. It was a long process, actually, that involved me having to accept that life isn't just about myself. Now, I had to take care of a stranger in the form of a baby, who is helplessly dependent on me. I suddenly can't buy the things I usually buy for myself. I suddenly can't do the things a normal person does -- read books, take a shower, eat on time, brush my teeth. I suddenly had to prioritize a screaming baby over my own wants and needs.

But what I realized is that life owes me nothing. I realized that this is what I am made to do: become a good mother. What encouraged me to work on becoming a good mother is the generosity of other people.

My boyfriend, although he is not here personally, never fails to communicate with me even in the wee hours of the day so that I can have company while I rock my baby to sleep.

My family, whom I utterly neglected and disobeyed, supported me in all aspects of baby-raising.

My friends, even though they didn't need to, would always ask how my day was.

Friends of the family would drop at the house bringing stuff my baby can use: from small things, such as baby clothes and shoes, to bigger things, like a crib and a stroller. I saved a lot just from these "donations!" Haha!

I can only return this heaping dose of generosity with a hope that I can give a part of myself to others:

I give a part of myself to my baby daily by breastfeeding him. I may have selfish reasons on doing this, but my primary reason is that breast milk is the best for him. And I don't want anything but the best for my baby.

I try to become a better, more understanding girlfriend. Admittedly, I am the one who always likes picking fights, but I realized I cannot be so selfish to only think about my own issues. Even though he doesn't say it out loud, my boyfriend has problems, too, which outweigh my own.
 
I give back to my family. Last year, even though I was working, I hardly gave them anything. This year, I don't care if I can buy anything for myself because I will treat them to a vacation in my father's hometown in Cebu.

Finally, I pray harder now. I pray for more people: my baby, my boyfriend, my family, his family, friends, strangers, people on the news, people who need help. I realized that I simply cannot be selfish with my prayers. If all I can give is my time to pray, I will gladly do that.

 
How can I not do these things if I am so blessed in life? I have so many people around me who support and love me unconditionally. It kills me not to be able to give back. I commit to becoming a more generous person who is not afraid to give.

I have been a mother for only almost six months, but I can say that I am a better, more generous person all because I was moved and am loved.