On Anonymity

As on online seller, I have been exposed to press releases, TV appearances and frequent exchange of calling cards with strangers. It was at first exciting to meet new friends, but there were times that I came across some obnoxious people who would send me offensive messages through my phone or via my site. It hurt me in a way because I work very hard given my thrust of giving back by positioning myself as a social entrepreneur. It was hard to trust business contacts on Multiply or take calls for orders, but for more than a year I was able to maintain a level of confidence regarding the sincerity of most clients. A lot actually became my friends.

That changed though when I got a "dugo dugo" sort of phone call on my mobile. I knew it was meant to scare me. Could it be a former driver or a serious threat? I would not know.

Hence after that experience, I just wanted to keep myself anonymous and deflect my hunger for a little fame as entrepreneur. As a finalist for an international business plan competition, my profile was all over the web. My name is easily searchable via google. I have videos on youtube during my pitches. There were several articles written about me on magazines. Let's just say, I had my share of fame during my stint as entrepreneur. I detested that for a while, hence my indefinite leave on Multiply and the mompreneur scene. An after effect of my baby's death, my battle with my own mortality and my fear of personal security.

My doctor called it anxiety attack. My husband viewed it as ka-praningan. But whatever it's called, I prefer this sense of freedom. I read a post of an up and coming blogger Tina Tagle, a regular housewife discovered by big timer chuvaness.com. I can sense her panic about her new fame.

Hence for My Magic Wand, I prefer anonymity.

Panic Mode to Use an Eye Cream

I spent the last 2 weeks worrying about aging. My mom, who managed to look very young with just water to clean her face, told me bluntly that I'm starting to have fine lines and crow's feet around my eyes. I noticed too the night before that.

I started using a moisturizer seriously when I was around 25 years old. At that time, I could already afford the L'oreal product lines, and I could already graduate from Eskinol. I have been a loyal Eskinol user since high school. As my income increased, I then switched to Murad and I even got regular diamond peels from my dermatologist (plus had my underarm laser done 10 years ago).

Everything changed when I became a housewife. I sometimes sneak in a bottle of Murad cleanser in the budget, but later on switched to just Dove soap. My moisturizer became Physiogel, which I share with my hubby. My face was never the same again. It was dry and lifeless. But I did not care much because I just stay in the house most of the time.

Last Christmas, my sister in law gave me a Murad Pomegranate Cleanser as a gift. I was so happy! That was also the time I got so bothered about my skin-- I started using this moisturizer from Face Shop. The old me would have bought something pricey at Rustan's but then again thought that I wanted a routine that I can sustain.

Now for the eye cream. I went to Face Shop again and found this serum for the eyes. I think it worked because my eyes do not look as tired when I wake up in the morning.




I read in some forums that women at my age should also start taking vitamins. I have been taking Conzace/ Vigor Ace during the last six months as prescribed my my doctors for tissue repair after my surgery. Lucky me, it had Vitamin E in it.

Ok, I'm 33 and I guess it's time that I embrace my age. I took a picture of myself last week and realized that I still don't look that bad. I think happiness or a sincere smile is the best facial of all. My husband agreed. He showed my pic to his officemates.

My next mission: get more sleep. I am an insomniac and my blood pressure is so low that I'm starting to worry.

Fixing the Closet ala Sex in the City

We don't exactly have a huge closet space in the house but I devoted half of my day fixing it. I was a party the other night at a bachelorette friend and I drooled at the sight of her closet. It was quite big, very organized and was in fact air conditioned. Not that I am complaining!

Remember Carrie's walk in Closet that she shared with Big in Sex and the City 2? That was the ultimate! (*drooling again*)

I share the closet with my hubby and it was also divided into his and hers. Since hubby is working, his space is a lot bigger than mine. He also owns a lot of jackets so I sacrificed my own space. As I have plans to work next month, I'm sort of worried where I will put my work clothes. I'm planning to invest in clothes again. Actually, we really try to manage our closet by putting away clothes we no longer wear by donating them to charity. As a last resort for clothes we rarely wear, we bring them to our parents' house for storage!



I think the secret to a more organized closet space is compartmentalizing. What I do is put the less worn clothes in the cabinets. As much as possible, I re-organize my accessories drawers quarterly as they tend to become cluttered. I think this works no matter how much space you have.

Decluttering: So much wasted space in the house!

Last year, my mission was to make our living room and helper's room clutter free. So I decided to throw and donate a lot of stuff to charity and to people who might put these items into better use. Fortunately, my cousin who just had a baby girl needed hand me downs of clothes and baby gadgets, which I suppose was a relief because somehow I knew that my daughter's old things will go to a deserving recipient. We also donated 3 boxes of old clothes and toys to 2 charities last Christmas.

After giving birth, I felt that I became so forgetful of where I kept my things. Our house has good storage but the items are not organized. Decluttering is quite draining, so what I try to do is do it one step at a time. One by one, I'm beginning to locate where I kept some of my goods.

For my daughter's toys, I decided to make our attic her new space. It used to be that she plays at the helper's room because it's near the center of all the activities in the house. However, the helpers have this tendency to dump all my daughter's toys everywhere. So what I did was organize the toys according to function or make. For example, all art materials will be in one plastic box. Other classifications included: wooden toys, mechanical toys, coloring books/ paper, and role play toys. Since there's a TV in the attic, my daughter also gets to watch Playhouse Disney there, then at anytime she can shift to coloring when she pleases.


Inside cabinets that my daughter can safely open.


All art materials here!

Today, I'm cleaning up our guest room. There's a nice bed, but the mess is embarrassing. We kept our old magazines and a big bulk of the inventory of my toys business there. I'm still trying to figure out how to clean up the mess. I have the whole day today to sort and throw away the stuff. I just realized that a lot of our things are just not in their proper places. So what I do now is make different centers in the house. That I'll share in my next post.

Off for lunch then declutter time again.

One Adventure A Month

As part of my 2011 plans, I proposed to my husband that our family will enjoy at least one adventure a month (my husband's resolution was to watch one movie a day, which I also get to do because we usually watch together). These adventures may be as simple as visiting a zoo with my daughter or going to a restaurant that we have always wanted to try.

I'm having qualms of going out of the country and plan it so much ahead. Last year, we had to suspend a trip because of my pregnancy, which came earlier than expected. We also have a new mantra, which is to SAVE, SAVE, and SAVE! So I'm taking the plans one quarter at a time.

I am yet to see the new Philippine Science Centrum in Marikina. I am a graduate of Manila Science High School and I remember going there frequently on Fridays at their old location in Faura with my other friends. What a geek I was! My daughter enjoyed the Science Room at Museo Pambata and I hope she'll appreciate the one located in Marikina.

Of Pictures and Frames

For a couple of years, we lived in a minimalistic themed house. It looked good at night with warm lighting, but if felt dull at daytime. It's cold, lifeless and looked like a furniture store. My husband and I would always tell ourselves that we will wait until we have the budget for the perfect painting, that conversation piece, etc. The walls deserve a work by a national artist.

Mid-2010 when I was in and out of the hospital that my husband finally heeded my requests. I have always wanted some color and warmth in the house. Finally, we made some minor repainting works, and such changes made a lot of difference in the overall mood of the house. From cold to hot! Hot in a good sense-- calm, inviting, friendly.

During the holidays, I braved the watchful eye of my husband by putting pictures on our bar (which we never use) and the console table. I meant "brave" because he's the artist in the family. Very discriminating. But the pictures gave the house a better feel! I love looking at the pictures whenever I can-- while cleaning, moving from dining to kitchen, running after my toddler. Oh yes, the pictures deserved to be printed, not saved in my hard drive.




Though I'm generally stingy, I opted for the UMBRA frames, which are quite pricey. Regular frames from bookstores are fine but the neutral colors might be the ones that might work. My pictures need a better house.

This month's issue of Real Living was quite timely because it had features about pictures. So my mommy instincts are right! I'm not a national artist, but my pictures will outlast even their work both in my heart and in my mind.

Pinakurat and Pinoy Kurat

My family loves fried foods, although we have shifted to the use of olive oil completely when it comes to frying. This was since I found out that my cholesterol level is quite high. Just like other Pinoys, we love to use dipping sauces to make fried foods more exciting.

I am not exactly a ketchup person, but I am definitely a fan of vinegar! When I started managing the household in 2008, we only have the Del Monte Red Cane Vinegar because I can use to it to make Pinoy vinaigrette for my salads (just add patis and sugar). Although lately I also started using Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar for my Honey Cider vinaigrette.

About last year, my neighbor from GenSan introduced Sinamak to me over "pulutan" of chicharon. Sinamak, from what I know, hails from Iloilo/ Bacolod and is made up of different spices. It was also last year that my family started using Pinakurat which we got from Salcedo Market. Definitely, Pinakurat makes fried foods really yummy.

I remember during my corporate days a specific medrep from Iligan who would always give me a bottle of Pinakurat. I think that happened twice but I would always give the Pinakurat to my driver because I thought it was dirty. I was fooled by the packaging which is quite similar to Tanduay and the "pampa-regla" concoctions from Quiapo. Little did I know that it was a legit company.

Pinakurat is made of fermented organic coconut sap plus chilies. I learned during a beach trip that Doritos and Pinakurat can be a good combination.

Anyway, about a month ago, I discovered that SAFI, makers of Datu Puti, just launched Pinoy Kurat. I gave it a try and to be honest it was a good match with the Pinakurat. However, I read somewhere that the company that manufactures Pinakurat and Safi are into a somewhat Intellectual Property battle. But I hope that the Pinakurat business will continue to flourish. SMEs help grow the economy.



Now I'm feeling hungry.