Stash!

My "kikay" hormones are now back, 4 months post partum. I can remember how I hated putting stuff on my face when I was still pregnant with Sword. My big cosmetic pouch turned into an old camera case which carried the most basic of all the basic makeups: a compact foundation, colored lip balm and a blush cream. On days my face needed a level up, I just fix my brows. That was all.

Gladly, my part time hosting job did the trick of bringing the "new woman" in me. The used-to-be old camera case is now safely kept in the room and cosmetic pouches occupy my bag now. I also opened the window to try more products and became OC-ier when it comes to skincare. My age helped too. At 25, it's possible for our skin to age faster due to factors like stress and pollution. Syempre I still want to look young and beautiful! I want to embrace my motherhood in a way na hindi naman ako mukhang napabayaan, na-haggard, at higit sa lahat ipagpapalit lang kung saan at kung kanino man. Although Audrey Hepburn said that "Happy girls are the prettiest," I must say that we also need to be pretty if we want to be happy. It comes from within and it should start from you. 

Being the sort of beauty junky that I am, I want to show you my current favorites and my most basic of all the basic makeups these days. Yay, goodbye to my boring compact foundation, lip balm and blush! My kikay mantra: "It's always better to be prepared. Bring more shades!"

Beginning from top:

1. Laura Mercier Creme Cheek Colour in Oleander
2. Shu Uemura Fluid Foundation in #764
3. Ben Nye Luxury Powder in Banana
4. Shu Uemura UV Under Base Mousse POREraser
5. Elizabeth Arden Pure Finish Mineral Cheekcolor in Sunkissed Coral
6. Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler
7. Revlon Photoready Two-Way Powder Foundation in Natural Ochre
8. Laura Mercier Lip Pencil in Baby Lips
9. Nars in Dolce Vita
10. Nivea Med Repair -- an essential!
11. MAC (Lustre) in Lustering
12. No. 7 in Siren
13. Nature Republic Smudge-Free Mascara in Black
14. MAC Brow Set Gel in Girl Boy
15. Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Opal
16. Revlon in Coral Berry (674)

I'm trying to update my stash most especially during hosting events to develop more, matured looks. I find a hard time convincing my audience that I am already a mother of 1. LOL. But with all the new things I'm trying out now, some things remain--like my Nivea Med Repair lip balm. I'm a user for yearssss now.

Also, I'm about to update my skincare regimen but unfortunately, my face developed rashes after walking under the sun a couple of days ago. :( Not sure what it is but I do hope this is nothing serious! I'll blog about my new discoveries if there's a day like this soon when Sword takes a calming, unkabogable afternoon nap. I swear you'll love these brands even more.

Enjoy your weekend, loves!

♥,

Marianne

Family Portrait

We have been planning to take Marius out for the very first time so we can visit Pic-A-Boo! When he was still in my tummy, I often daydreamed about it and thought of so many ideas including him becoming Iron Man, because I was pegging it long before we called him our Little Sailor. :) And that time has finally come. Unfortunately, no Iron Man costume was available for infants so we just made him a cutie, chubby football baby! I swear baby, Mom's gonna make you wear an Iron Man costume.

We also took the chance to have our first official family portrait taken there. Oh the joy of having your own family. <3

Sharing you some of my favorites!

Our little Bachingching was all smiles!!! Oh I love you baby so much!!! 

Ok, I looked like a floating momma. My shorts did blend well with the backdrop! Hahaha.

It would be too hard to kick a ball this cute. 

My Bach in a luggage bag. I want him to be a traveler someday!

My Little Sailor is growing up soooooo fast! Would you believe he's already growing his first tooth?!

The Pic-A-Boo package was a bit expensive, to be honest. A three-set package costs Php 550--what you will be getting is 3 copies of 3R prints and exceeding copies cost Php 150. They have bulk prices though, and if you reach Php 3000, which will probably include 15 copies of 3R prints and 2 copies of 8x12 prints, you will be given low-res soft copies of selected photos. I hope they'll be generous enough to provide customers with high-res copies na lang. Okay, kalma. I love the results naman. Hehe!

So these are the two copies we chose for 8x12 prints:

<3

My most favourite. Can't wait to put this in a frame! 

Sana in our next shoot (on his 9th month, hopefully), we'll have Tofu with us! And sana outdoor! :)

And oh, today we'll celebrate our son's fourth month. Ang bilis! We love you, baby!

♥,

Marianne

Ladies' Night

Two Fridays ago, I had my first night out with friends, long after I gave birth to Sword. I recall how excited I was to be out once again, from deciding what to wear to reaching the sky with the help of a peep-toe heels. Oh to be young!

It wasn't really the party-party, dance and drink party, though. We stayed in in a hotel closest to most of the girls, like 30 minutes away from home! You know how much I love trying overnight stays in different hotels and enjoying the free breakfast and use of swimming pools that come with it, so we were glad to lay our backs on the soft and comforting beds of Luxent Hotel. Only I didn't get to try the breakfast 'coz we left very early for an event I hosted the following day--which I am also about to blog the soonest I can. :P

Although I Instagram-ed most of the photos already, allow me to share you more.

The girls and I decided to have a theme to make the night extra special. Special because our dear girl friend Anne is back from Spain/Portugal. :) So guess what our theme was? Of course, dresses and heels haha!

The night also became a baby bump shoot for Rachel, who's now 6 months pregnant, and a slumber party only in dresses, not in pyjamas!

More pictures!

When and where our next hotel escapade will be? I hope by then, Phoebe, Cheenee, Cha, Susie and Miles will get to join us! Love them girls! 

♥,

Marianne

My Best Friend's Wedding

Phoebe has finally tied the knot with his long time boyfriend, Ruffy! Yay I love weddings! It makes me fall in love over and over again! 

The beautiful bride. What is payat! <3

I love cakes!

Her wedding served as a mini reunion for us girls, too! We rarely see Miles and Cheenee is back from Macau. We still hoped Anne, who's based in Spain, was with us since she's also in the Philippines for a vacation.

iPhone photo since Cheenee's not yet uploading! Meh!!!

Mommies' day off este day out!

Congratulations and best wishes, my dear best friend!

Hmm I wonder who's next! We're getting O-L-D!

♥,

Marianne

Palawan 2013

O haiiiiiii, Superlovers! I am back! :)

It's been more than a month since I updated my blog. I owe my readers an explanation--Sword and I stayed at my in-laws' place for two weeks for some medical(?) issues. Roddick and Reesha's yaya got chickenpox and Rafael's got HFMD which are both contagious. I brought my laptop with me but we just watched movies non-stop and Globe signal there fails big time. And then a week after we went back home to my parents' place Paolo and I impulsively decided to go to Palawan to visit my grandmom and all our other relatives there. It was also his first time to hit the place, I happily escorted him. Now that I'm back (and trying to finish this entry before Sword wakes up--again!), let me share you our sweet journey: our first ever out of town trip as husband and wife aka our honeymoon. Hahaha I kid, I kid.

As you all know, our Boracay trip last October 2012 was canceled due to my pregnancy... so imagine my excitement to ride the airplane again (zoom, zoom.. broom, broom) and to relax a bit and of course, to spend a quality time with my husband who's very, very busy because of work. Everything's changed since I gave birth to Sword and just like everyone says, being a wife and being a mother are both different roles to fill. I keep on thanking my parents for taking care of our baby while we were out but trust me, half of my heart was left here in Manila. WeChat video call and FaceTime helped but still, I longed to kiss and cuddle our little sailor.

Moving on (intro pa lang napakadaldal ko na)...

It was my first time to go to El Nido despite my numerous trips to Puerto Princesa (PPS) in the past. I never had the chance to travel 5 hours to see the beauty of the island. I missed the beach so much so I insisted to include this little getaway in our short trip. I felt guilty, however, because we left Manila when Maring was devastating the rest of Luzon. It was sunny in Palawan but Mother Nature played its trick on us. Right on time when we were about to start our Tour A, the rain started pouring big time we had to cancel it. So to those who were wondering why I never posted a #selfie wearing two-piece bikini, I am sorry. The beach waves were crazy we didn't bother to go near the shoreline anymore.

But I am so happy to reunite with the sand and the sea sans the sun once again.

Cloudy, eh? Behind me are Seven Commando and Helicopter (mukhang Chickenjoy sa left side) islands.

I missed traveling with him. <3

The rich flora (and fauna) which is Palawan.

On our second day, the clouds became cloudier, heavier. It rained cats and dogs the night before that the sea turned brown. The water from the mountains joined the sea + southwest monsoon + high tide = STILL A BEAUTY.

Mr. Sun finally shone when we were about to leave the island. What is timing dibaaaa

:)

Back to PPS, we headed straight to my lola's house, fetched our cousins and had late dinner at Bona's Chao Long. We also had a few drinks at Kataboom, a resto-bar similar to Boracay's Bom Bom and Pat's Creek Bar--reggae!

It was my first time for a long time to drink beer again. I only limited myself to two bottles, and a glass of mojitos. :D

Cousins! :)

Finally, on our fourth day, we toured Paolo around the city. We went to Crocodile Farm and Mitra's Ranch. Our flight back to Manila was delayed, from 12:55 PM to 6:50 PM due to the non-stop rain in Manila, thus more time was spent with my cousins. Unplanned, we had the entire afternoon chilling at Pristine beach, which is just a few-minute walk from my cousin's house and 10 minutes away from the airport. 

And ladies and gentlemen, a stretch of white sand beach in a city, with an entrance fee of only P20 (P5 when we went here last 2001). Still not bad! 

L-O-V-E-L-Y!

And if you're still wondering why I was not in bikinis, we went here two hours before our boarding time. We didn't swim, we just chilled. Hehe and nako naman, I just gave birth. I still weigh 120 lbs! :( Also to quote my friend Cham, "Pag nagiging nanay tumataas ang panty!" Oh well, yeah, that's my undies showing. Lumuwag po kasi shorts ko. <3 <3 <3

I'm grateful for that 4 days spent with my relatives and my husband. Bringing Sword with us would be perfect but now isn't the right time. Eventually we'll travel with our little sailor! See you again, Palawan, especially you, El Nidowwww!

♥,

Marianne