Parlorista Tale: TLO's second haircut

TLO's first haircut was courtesy of Cuts 4 Tots (photos here). Almost a year later, she's ready for her second... and this time around, mommy did it! I rarely read "women" magazines but there was one Cosmo haircutting tip that I loved... you get all the hair, twist then cut! Simple trick results to natural flowing layers that embrace the face and the back of the neck. Oha!

Natural layering effect, love!

Photos taken last Sunday, 04/08/12

Wishlist - House and Home

AK's "Extreme House Dreaming!" post stirred a repressed desire. You know how you try to convince yourself that you'll live one day at a time and then something comes up and you drop all your resolve? Yes, that happened.

I'm not an optimistic person. I try to stay away from things, people, thoughts, etc. that are not SMART for me - Specific, Measurable, ATTAINABLE, REALISTIC and TIME BOUND. So for the longest time, I've repressed any attempt at visualizing my dream house. I'm poor, people. I don't have the means to just look at a brochure and say, one of this please!

Oh well, there are fragments of mi casa in my head. These bits and pieces changed from the time when I thought I'd be a spinster, to the time I thought I'd me married without a child, to now that I have a hubby and a TLO, and yes, to the time when TLO gets a brother/sister...

I could spend so many days viewing the site that AK found... www.thehousedesigners.com. It's great. I just had to remind myself to stop because given my addictive personality, I may just drop everything and spend the rest of my waking hours checking designs and all...

So sans the images, here are my specifications (naks!)... in case Santa Claus is checking this blog. Santa, these are just my specs. Since I'm gonna be living with a hubby and kids, please consult them before you do anything...

1. It has to be in Makati. Both hubby and I work and I love it that we can WALK from home to the office.
2. I need gardening space. I'd like the house to be surrounded by gardening space.
3. There has to be a porch/patio/lanai near the main entrance (and one at the sun deck). I want glass sliding panels (walls) and a "detachable" roof on these areas. I want them to be usable even when it's raining.
3.1. Lotto winner scenario: i want a swimming pool too.
4. There has to be one master's bedroom (for hubby and myself), one bedroom for TLO, one bedroom for TLO's brother/sister, one small bedroom for me and one small bedroom for the hubby.
5. There has to be a big storage room for all the trinkets, souvenir items, etc... I married a pack rat. We need this room.
6. There has to be an actual room for a multimedia library that connects to our entertainment room. I still don't want any TV, desktop, laptop in everyone's bedroom. All tech gadgets should be in the multimedia library/entertainment room.
7. There has to be a small prayer/meditation room. This room should be designed in "zen" and should have a clear roof... I want to see the sky, clouds, stars, moon, etc. when I pray.
8. When we get our own home, there will be pets. Dogs, Cats and Fish! There should be a room for all the pets. But the aquarium can be in my bedroom (yey!).
9. Fine, there should be a garage because it's my hubby's dream to have a family car someday.
10. I need a decent laundry area where I can also hang clothes to dry --- I want it at the sun deck (roof) or at the back of the house.

That's the list for now. Closing my eyes... make it happen, make it SMART.

TLO's 3rd Birthday - Part 3

TLO's 3rd Birthday - Part 1
TLO's 3rd Birthday - Part 2

Our failed attempt at going to the beach led us to this beautiful mini vacation. We wanted water and fun activities for TLO (The Little One) and we got both in delectable bite-size-no-need-to-take-the-bus/plane chunks.

Pool deck view from our room

One kiddie pool (2 ft) and big adult pool (4 ft)

First time for me, pool access but didn't swim... it's more fun in 2 ft! :(

Unlimited FREE access to towels for all guests

Quick-caring thinking... Crowne Plaza set-up a playground for guests with kids

Umuulan ba sa labas?

Chismisan with kumare

Constipated look daw

After a long day of fun activities, free massage. TLO knock out for 13 hours.

TLO's 3rd Birthday - Part 2

TLO's 3rd Birthday - Part 1

Crowne Plaza is the company's brand that caters to business travelers. Our business when we checked in was BIRTHDAY PLEASURE. And we were beyond satisfied... can't think of any other word more apt than "overwhelmed" beyond compare. Luxurious and relaxing are close enough, but it was, for the most part... WOW! We spent the first hour in the room just feeling and saying WOW. The little girl was running, rolling, crawling all over the place. We loved it (thanks again to Buffy for the free VIP upgrade!).

Birthday girl inspecting tissue, planning to do her thing...

For women who have an affair with this, you'll love it

Inspecting the swanky shower room

I couldn't help but think... there are no germs in here,
she can play with the phone ok!?!

Love the beds and lighting

Would love to have this chair at home (three!)

My favorite spot

Even when you're happy, you're not supposed to play with the bread knife...

This maybe his favorite spot? With Jakobo.

TLO's 3rd Birthday - Part 1

Bad parents. Bad. We wanted to have a birthday party for TLO but somewhere in between dreaming, hoping, conceptualizing and working, we forgot about dates (a tendency of our little family) and before we knew it, TLO's birthday week said hi-what-the-hell-i'm-here!

We wanted to go to the beach, as a second option, but rates have soared twice/thrice the usual due to the holy week fever. We've already accepted the fact that we're going to be stuck in our apartment, looking at other people's vacation photos --- teardrops. Then came some good ideas and blessings.

First, Dadda agreed to take advantage of my employer's special offer. Yey! For a very reasonable amount, we were able to book a 3day-2night stay at the Crowne Plaza Galleria. I still maintain that joining IHG was one of the best life decisions I've ever made - not merely a career decision, this is for life!

Second, as I was preparing to leave the office a day before check-in, when I chanced upon a guardian angel through Gmail Chat. Let's call him Buffy. Buffy is a training manager at the hotel. I asked if we'll see him when we check-in and he said no... BUT! He said he'll have a surprise ready for TLO's birthday.

So here's part 1 of Buffy's surprise... we didn't have any cake for TLO's birthday but we found this in the room when we checked-in. TLO loved it. Oh, we loved the cake. It doesn't even deserve to be called a cake. It's a chocolate bar of heaven, with a very thin crust of bread. Thank you Buffy! We can't get over the fact that Crowne Plaza Galleria "knew" about TLO's birthday and did something about it. Thank you Crowne Plaza Galleria. Thank you for making our first hotel experience, fanta-bulous!