Red Ribbon Cookies & Cream Moment

Red Ribbon has always been a part of our family, not just on every meaningful life celebrations but also on countless ordinary life moments.

One Saturday morning, we all went to the clinic of our kid’s pediatrician. I knew my kids are striving to be really brave, just holding on to our hands but not clinging too tightly. They knew how important their health is and why they are being vaccinated.

My daughter, Skylah, and my son, Brent, received their vaccine shots after a few minutes of casual talk and check-up with their beloved pediatrician. One shout and two cries was all we heard. There were no more dramas afterwards; and this is just a small proof of how my kids are growing up.

Still, even without tears, I could somehow feel the slight pain that they had experienced. Who would ever feel happy after receiving a vaccination?! Leaving their pediatrician’s clinic with grumbling stomachs, the kids uttered and requested for food. Seeing a nearby Red Ribbon take-out counter, I knew right then that grabbing a bite of pastry is a good idea to satisfy an urgent need. Skylah saw the new Red Ribbon poster with the newest cake - Cookies & Cream Cake with Oreo! She instantly felt delighted seeing the small Oreo cookies on top of the cake, instantly looking at the cake display, pointing and requesting me to buy the junior size cake. Since we’re off to finding a place where we could have our lunch, we settled for two slices that we can share while waiting for our food. This would be our dessert-comes-first moment!

We stopped at the nearest food chain; and while my husband and I were deciding on what we would have for lunch, the kids instantly opened their take-out cake. Skylah seize this moment and hurriedly took her Oreo cookie with her fingers! Brent followed suit scooping the chocolate layers. There was no opportunity left for me to take a good picture of the cake slices. Still, it had been good enough that these two slices of cake had let them forget their pain; and it didn’t even suppress their appetite!

Being a cake-a-holic and cookies & cream ice cream lover, I couldn’t resist taking a bite as well! It was indeed a heavenly delight… a cake that is perfect for my taste! My kids agrees that this multi-layered wonder of vanilla and chocolate chiffon, chocolate cookies, and creamy cookies-and-cream filling, topped with our favorite Oreo cookies is truly delightful!

I was thankful for the feel-good comfort that comes with eating a slice of Red Ribbon’s Cookies & Cream Cake; on how it magically soothe my kids' pain and how it had made their day brighter!

Together with this new product from Red Ribbon is a video that portrays the love of a mom for her kids. Yes, Red Ribbon will always be part of our family and my journey as a mom becomes more serene and meaningful knowing that there’s a cake that works surprisingly!

Birtain's Got Talent 2009 Winner: Diversity

The dance group Diversity beats Susan Boyle in the recent Britain’s Got Talent 2009 Finale! For the final performance Susan Boyle sang her audition piece, “I Dreamed a Dream”; which she sang even more beautifully! This is the song which had made her internationally famous and the reason why the show grabbed the worlds’ fascination. Diversity came up with a new and great performance. The ten dance troupe members from Essex and London really blew the judges and the public with their breathtaking “transformer” dance routines.

Diversity becomes £100,000 richer and would perform on the Royal Variety Performance in front of the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance! Diversity’s choreographer, Ashley Banjo, was shocked with the results saying

“When you said our name I thought I was dreaming. Everyone who has voted - you have changed our lives”.

People have expected Susan Boyle to win this show, but she landed in second place. Still, she graciously accepted defeat. She told Ant and Dec,

“The best people won. They are very entertaining lads - lads, I wish you all the best".

Truly a wonderful lady!

Is this the end of Susan’s dream? I guess not, for this is just the start. I remember her saying that her dream was to be professional singer! Yes she would be, for her album will be out in few months.

News and Controversies in Celebration of my 100 Odesk Hours

It took me more than 5 months to reach my 100 hours at Odesk. Still, I felt good for the additional income and how working at my task allowed me to be more aware of what's happening in the world!

+ The New Dora the Explorer My kids especially my little girl Skylah loves my Makeover at Working Mom magazine, and knowing her I knew that she would love to see the new Dora. Upon seeing the new Dora, Skylah initially says, "she looks like Dora!"... and of course she liked the new image because of Dora's long hair and cute outfit!

When other cartoon characters stays the same and hasn't grown up, Dora had her makeover! Dora is now a tween!

There had been a controversy over this and negative reactions had been raised by several parents when Nickelodeon and Mattel announced this news prior to revealing the image of the new Dora last March 16. As Leigh Anne Brodsky, president of Nickelodeon Viacom Consumer Products, says

"People care so deeply about this brand and this character...the Dora that we all know and love is not going away."

But why can't they let her be Dora the Explorer that the children had loved. Why couldn't they just leave her as she is, knowing that this is what made Dora famous? Does Nick wants a new target audience for profit? Maybe they should just have made her a bigger sister, just like Barbie who got a 5 little sisters - Skipper, introduced in 1964, Tutti, a twin introduced in 1966, Stacie in 1992, Kelly in 1995 and Krissy in 1999.


+ News on TV
There's an ongoing Senate investigation on the controversial Video Scandal of Dr. Hayden Kho with actress Katrina Halili. From the breaking news we've heard that a former cop had just threw water over Hayden while at the senate probe! Which follows Hayden's revelation that Katrina had asked him to take drugs!

This is indeed the most talked about celebrity news right now and the hottest celebrity scandal. Even the song "Careless Whisper" had become a LSS for almost everyone who have seen the provacative dance of Katrina while the doctor sings -

"I’m never gonna dance again, guilty feet have got no rhythm. Though it’s easy to pretend, I know you’re not a fool..."

Hearing this song will always remind people of the scandal and the controversial sex videos. More people are even talking about this than swine flu.


+ 4 More Pinoys with Swine Flu

The Department of Health had announced that there's a total of 6 confirmed cases of Influenza A(H1N1) in the country.

The other 4 new cases includes the 1-year-old girl who arrived from the United States last May 19, the 13-year-old boy who arrived from Hong Kong last May 23, a 26-year-old woman and a 55-year-old man who contracted the virus from the Taiwanese mother and her 5-year-old daughter who attended a wedding in Zambales last May 17.

Read more details about this on Philstar.


+ American Idol's Mysterious Voting System


Even the American Idol is not spared from controversies. Questions had been raised on whether American Idol's program sponsor AT&T had violated the Idol rules of voting. American Idol producers defends the integrity of the voting process. In a joint statement, FOX network and producers released this statement -

"Fox and the producers of American Idol are absolutely certain that the results of this competition are fair, accurate and verified."

There was nearly 100M votes FOX did not release the vote difference between Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, which could have provoked fans to see the voted unfairly.

Still, there's no foul play and Kris Allen is the American Idol!


+ Obama Nominates Hispanic Judge to Supreme Court

This is indeed the first! The nomination of Puerto Rican Sonia Sotomayor is a historic one which was celebrated by the Latino community.

For the Love of Scents

I often choose wearing my favorite fruity or floral fragrances and smell baby scents on my kids. I also love smelling the combination of cucumber melon and cocoa butter and vanilla. Maybe this is the reason why I’ve grown fond of Victoria’s Secret Body Mist line and Bath& Body Works. Still, Marks and Spencer body sprays, floral and nature collections tops my list.

I am truly in love with light refreshing fragrance of Isis for Women Eau De Toilette of Marks and Spencer. It’s a fragrance which exudes with sophistication and style but still gives me a great value for money. As described, Isis is a sparkling fragrance of the sea which combines the flowers of rose, violets, rose and lily of the valley.

+ Time for Talk Perfume

I’ve also tried and used Miracle Forever by Lancôme which comes out strong and with a very great staying power. A perfume which comes with a hint of vanilla, oriental touch and of almond tree flowers. But it won’t be my daytime or summer fresh fragrance. I still have an unopened bottle of Hypnose by Lancôme, and I still have to check if this scent will work on me.

How good it would be to find the perfect perfume or cologne scents for you. How good it would be to talk and check out perfume review sites and find out which one suit you best.

Reflections and Lessons Learned for the Extras in Life

"Put your heart, mind, intellect, and soul even into your smallest acts. This is the secret of success." ~ Swami Sivananda.
From Wikipedia: Swawi Sivanada is a Hindu spiritual teacher, the proponent of Yoga and Vedanta, and the founder of Divine Life Society.

I found this quote moving; and maybe this is one reason why I view life my life as a continual success... simply because I place my heart, my mind, my soul and intellect into every thing that I do. I may not be a company manager nor a person earn billions of money, but still I am successful. I am satisfied knowing that I am able to accomplish work-related functions in the best way I can, even without proper training. I am fulfilled knowing I can be all that I can be! I am successful because for me life is worth living and I am living a fulfilled life!

+ The add-ons in my life

I am fond of magazines, treats, free event and online promos.

I already have a compilation of my kids published pictures in almost all parenting magazines in the Philippines, and newspaper appearances as well. I have joined online contests and promos and won some too... there are even prizes which I had left unclaimed. My kids had already enjoyed free kiddie events. My daughter Skylah had already experienced being photographed for a magazine and a booklet; and experienced her first fashion show as well... same goes for my little sister Jalysa. I have attended free concerts and movie premieres. I still have lots of unused gift certificates and items. And the list goes on...

These could just be some life "extras" that we take pride in. Maybe this is nothing compared to the huge successes of many other kids and mommies like me. I remember a fellow mom asking me all about these magazine appearances and winning moments, I just advised her to submit pictures based on what the magazine’s theme is and to keep on joining online promos. But of course, I am not the best person for this things, I only have a few dashes of luck. What about my kids on VTRs and commercials? Honestly, this is one thing I had never thought of exploring yet even if there had been agencies and talent scouts asking me and my kids for a go-see.

I simply want my kids to enjoy and live life to the fullest as well. I want to do things that they also love doing. And I am happy doing all these too. I have succeeded because I placed my heart into it.

But this month of May, I had chosen to give only a few minutes of my time to all these life extras, maybe because I had them all or I still had too much.

I decided not to take part and attend events and I can count the number of contests I had joined... but what about the ongoing contest at EYP? This is a promo wherein the top 10 people who had made a successful referral will have a chance to win a laptop. I knew I have a chance at winning this too, but I guess a lot of my energy have been drained from the previous Nido Fortified video contest. This is a contest that we’ve won because of the family and friends support and because I never thought of giving up. Still, it doesn't hurt to make a few referrals at EYP and help the site be known all throughout.

All these maybe the "extras" in my life; still, these things continuously kept me sane and make me whole!

I don’t live to please people and I had always experienced people envying me for reasons that should not be... from my college days, to my work, to what I love doing and even all these simple moments. Some had struggled so hard wanting to achieve what I had, but failed. One had kept on struggling to be like me and do the things that I love, she might have gained a few because she had chosen to imitate mine. This imitation could be flattery, but why hate me because of this?... Is it because she can't think of her own and she always wants to make her like similar to mine? Can she just be happy for me?

Packages and Prizes

+ Friday, May 22

I've received a Kenneth Cole Reaction wallet from HSBC which was delivered in my lola's house. It had escaped my mind that there's a package that I was about to receive from the previous months HSBC promo. It's a credit card promo wherein you'll get to receive a freebie from them once you've used your credit card for a certain amount of purchase. I already have the same wallet and decided to give this Kenneth Cole wallet which costs $50 to my mom!

+ Friday night, May 22:

I was still in the office when the kids yaya informed me that they'll be receiving boxes of Nido Fortified from Nestle. Whew! At last, we had received the complete prize from our winning Nido Fortidied video. The milk products is worth Php 46,000. I already had shared the first 6 2.5kg cans of milk to my family members and to the kids of our yaya. Now that we've already received a total of 504 150g boxes of milk, there'll be a lot more milk to share with other relatives and close friends.

+ Saturday, May 23

We woke up and find packages of Nestle's Chuckie Burst, which yaya had received early in the morning. This is a free package from Nestle's Chuckie as past of their online promotion. It is where kid members have to update their profile and the first 200 members will get to receive a package from Chuckie! It was fun seeing my kids and my sister open their packages!

Lovely Blog Award for A Woman Remembers

I've seen different blog awards being given and passed around the blogosphere. I have never realized how good it would it feel to receive a blog award until I received one from a mommy blogger, Crystal. Her blog site is really worth visiting! This is my indeed my first blog award and really appreciate this. I am deeply honored.

Lovely Blog Award Rules:
1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I've seen a lot of blogs that are really lovely and I could have passed this on to every blog that I had visited, but I have to stick to the blog rules. So now I am passing this badge to my list of newly discovered blogs... and I'll be adding them in my blog links too!

Heart of Rachel
Straight From the Heart by Mommy Elv
Pinay Mom Blogs!
Sassy Mom's Corner
Bitz 'n Pieces of my Life
Chicken Heart
The Power of Housewife Word of Mouth
Femme Power
It's a Woman's World
Homebody.com
Mom's Place
Basic Bloganomics
From This Side
Life of a Filipina Blogger
JC in da House

It was May 11 when I received this blog award, and I should have posted this as soon as possible. Whew, I really need more time!

Plagiarism in the Blogosphere

Plagiarism also exist even in the blogosphere, maybe even more. I decided to grab this tag when I happen to pass by Mom's Place blog; followed where she got the tag and learned more about a situation regarding plagiarism on Basic Bloganomics of David Funk. These are the situations where I couldn't help but feel upset. I wonder why some people make use of another persons post or article and claim that it was theirs; more so, get paid and take credit for having it published. It is just right to give credit where it is due and let other people know the source of the article or material.

I also had my share of these experiences as well, with my words being copied and imitated. Never did I gave much thought to it, instead I have chosen to let it pass and think that I had just been an inspiration. Just recently, I've read an issue of a fellow mom who had a plagiarism issue with one of the magazine, Moms and Kids. It's the same magazine issue where my blog post got published too. Plagiarism is indeed a big issue!

What is Plagiarism?

According to Dictionary , Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own original work.

To all Bloggers who exert effort to create noteworthy entries and who continue to maintain a Blog which is a reflection of who she / he is, ” Good job! ”
To those who have the desire to Blog but are merely scraping contents from other people‘ s materials, ”Whether you are monetizing your site to help you with your basic needs or to satisfy some of your wants, do it the proper way. Stop making money out of someone else’s work. Otherwise, you are nothing but a common thief! ”

Thank you!

Feel free to grab this tag and post this in your blog site as well.
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... which reminds me that I still have another blog tag to post and blog links to update.

Working Mom May 2009: My Makeover

I got featured at Working Mom's magazine May 2009 issue's makeover session! This is what I am waiting for. This is the first time that I got the chance to be "model-for-a-day". I had a great time at Piandre salon and it was such a very wonderful experience! Thank you Ms. Leah and Ms. Romina for this opportunity!

I didn't realize that a photoshoot could be tiring, maybe because I am not used to wearing makeup and high heels, and of course, it was really hot outside! But this is nothing compared to the what I've learned from this experience.

Backtrack: I got excited when I received the email from Ms.Leah San Jose (managing editor), informing me that I am the first reader who got chosen for the makeover session. It had been a 2-day makeover session. The first was an image consultation with the stylist and image consultant, Ms.Romina Urra-Gonzales and the second part is the makeover and photoshoot session.

I had been really thankful not just because I got to appear in the magazine, but more so, I learned a great deal about myself even more. I learned to complement my body shape and know the clothes perfect for me and my lifestyle. It was indeed a transformation! Few months from now, I'll be turning 30... there'll be more changes to look forward to and I am glad that Working Mom had started it all. True enough, this makeover is perfect in time for my 30th birthday!

Here I am, gracing the pages of Working Mom Magazine:

Image consultation with Ms. Romina and My Before and After Photos

Hair and Makeup at Piandre Salon, Quezon City

the transformation - wearing a white dress

wearing jeans and pants
Credits: Styling by Sidney Yap, Photos by Stan Ong of Stork Studio

This is the finale! This is also the reason why I blogged about my Image Awareness and why I'm Sporting a New Look. I've previously chosen to keep information on hold until such time that this magazine was published.

Wolfram Alpha: The Knowledge Search Engine Goes Live

Wolfram Alpha is now live!

Prior to the much-awaited launch of Wolfram Alpha, there’d been hype over the past weeks that this would be “the engine that would rival Google’s”. But definitely, it won’t be and it won’t be a competitor! Wolfram Alpha is different from the traditional search engine; it provides new approach to search which they call “computational”. Google lists web pages relevant to the search term, whereas, at Wolfram Alpha, a user inserts a question which is then digested and the answer is computed based on its collection of data.
This is a site for answers to factual questions, but with lesser detail. Could it possibly be a Wikipedia contender?

Wolfram prefers to call it a “computational knowledge engine”. It tries to answer diverse questions or calculations from the simplest to the most complex ones. It can handle mathematical questions, physics and chemistry. It can generate and compare statistics, and build charts and graphs based on the data. It could really act like a giant scientific calculator. Indeed, it is an amazing and powerful tool! This would definitely be a huge help for most students, educators and academicians, scientists and the inquisitive public. This is a great supplement and research tool repertoire.

Wolfram Alpha’s Goal:
WolframAlpha's long-term goal is to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone.
WolframAlpha aims to bring expert-level knowledge and capabilities to the broadest possible range of people.
WolframAlpha is an ambitious, long-term intellectual endeavor that we intend will deliver increasing capabilities over the years and decades to come.

I've tried using Wolfram Alpha to see for myself what it can deliver; and this is the coolest response I got -
Question: Where are you?
Response: I live on the Internet

A few other simple queries -
Question: who is wolfram alpha?

Question: $2000 to Philippine Peso
I've tried a variety of queries such as getting information from an airline and a URL; calories and nutritional value computation; weather forecasts, population and unemployment rates, stocks analysis, gravitational computation, statistical analysis... and a whole lot more!

This is the most amazing so far - calculate the derivative of a function derivative of x^4 sin x. Here's the complete results and you can even check on the steps on how it arrived to that solution:

Wolfram is officially launched and is now available. With its pros and cons, I am still off to exploring Wolfram Alpha while the engine is still hot!

Best Free Traffic

I am the Top Referrer at Best Free Traffic!

This is odd. I've joined this traffic site, maybe 3 years ago when traffic sites and PTC interests me. I haven't really given much time referring people to these sites, let alone know its usefulness. It was that time when I started to become interested on how to earn online. I only have a blog site and I didn’t have much time to spend on these PTC and traffic sites; and these are the reasons why I deserted my goal to earn money online. I concentrated on becoming a full time employee and give much of my time to my own family.

Still, I kept on receiving emails, once or twice a week that I have a new referral at Best Free Traffic. I was surprised when I got to receive emails more than 5 times a week. I start to wonder where these referrals are coming from. It was then that I start to check on the Best Free Traffic site.

Amazing! I am on their Top 10 Referrers and I am even on the number 1 post! I logged in and checking my credits tells me that-

You have 18425.8 Auto and 9738.59 Manual credits in your account.

Now I am thinking what to do with all these credits!

What is Best Free Traffic?
At Best Free Traffic, you can Manual or Auto surf all day and receive targeted traffic for your sites. You earn credits thru Paid to Click Ads, by visiting other member sites, referring others to join the site, and as well as reading the newsletter.

Official Nido Fortified Video and Screenshots

Here are the official video screenshot from the Nido Fortified MTV. The Nido Admin also informed the winners that the video will also be shown in selected supermarkets nationwide. See the video the MTV at Nido Fortified multiply site.



Prize Update: I already received 12 2.5kg cans of Nido Fortified. Like the other Nido winners, I am still waiting for the prize balance. Total prize is worth Php 46,000.

It's Mother's Day Today, Watch ASAP!

This is a newspaper clip from yesterday's Manila Bulletin Entertainment Section which features the Mother's Day celebration on ASAP.

Today, our Nido Fortified video will be shown in ABS-CBN Channel 2's afternoon variety show ASAP as part of the Mother's Day celebration. The ten winners of the Nido Fortified You're My Number 1 video contest are part of the 60 seconds MTV. We are all excited to see the video!

Happy Mother's Day!

All About Books!

Books have already made a huge impact on my life and my kids as well. Skylah is just starting to read a few words yet, and maybe Brent could read after a year or sooner. At an early age, they are already fond of books and this means frequent visits to Powerbooks or National Bookstore to buy a book or two.

It was good enough that we've been given the book-reading theme for the Nido Fortified video shoot. If we've been given a different theme and my kids will do an activity that they do not really enjoy, our photo shoot would surely be a disaster! Good thing, our photo shoot had been naturally captured.

And there's the Book Buffet! I didn't know that book buffet also exists; I thought buffets are just for food. Until I read about this event from Kidsahoy! We're not really active part of the Kidsahoy community but I knew that my kids would love to be there and grab books. True enough, my kids had a great time choosing and buying books!

We dropped by the Scholastics Book Fair Warehouse Book Sale at Pasig City around 12 noon. We grabbed books from the book buffet section; it's where you only have to pay for P495 pesos for one bag and you can fill it with books that you like (just make sure that the bag can still be tied-up). My sister Jalysa filled her buffet bag with more than 35 books! My kids shared in one buffet bag and filled at least 40 books. We also got to picked a few books from the red, blue and green section wherein books costs from 30-95 pesos each; as well as the regular section that gives only 10% discount. It was definitely worth spending money on books.

I hope my kids would continue to develop more interests on books and grow up with passion for reading.

Jalysa, Micko, Skylah & Brent with their book bags

books and items from the red, blue & reg tag section and the regular section

Monday Hot List: 5 Interesting Topics for the Day

Listing top 10 my personal choice for Hot Trends, after coming back from a 3-day family vacation in Baguio City. This is my own version similar to Google Hot Trends which lists the top 100 hottest searched word or phrased in real time. Google Hot Trends is a way to know what interest people right now.

Five topics that made me interested:

1. The unveiling of Wolfram Alpha, the British search engine that could rival Google's
2. May 4th is Happy Star Wars Day! It's a play of words from Starwars May the force be with you" which becomes "May the 4th be with you!"
3. Manny Paquiao's win over Ricky Hatton in the second round of their junior welterweight title boxing match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas
4. Swine flu cases continue to rise, pandemic alert raised to level 5!
5. BlackBerry Curve overtakes Apple iPhone as the most popular and top-selling smartphone.