Category Archives: family

Preparing for a Prom

I am looking at several silver tiara photos to get an idea what to get for my daughter to wear for her prom. She said they were asked to wear tiaras because they will be wearing formal gowns.

This prom is taking a lot of time to prepare, especially since they had to shell out an unusually big amount of money to pay for the venue. My daughter and her batch mates sold a LOT of raffle tickets to cover these expenses. We only shelled out less than a thousand pesos to cover everything.

Good thing we were able to borrow a gown which is exactly in the color she chose since each of them chose a color so there would be little duplication. Rehearsals every Saturdays for the cotillion dance also took up a lot of time and resources.

Prom will be next week and we are all excited.

Here is a checklist of what we needed to prepare for the prom:

  • payment for prom expenses (if this is a bit high like in the case of my daughter’s class, they should think of ways to raise funds for the expenses)

 

  • gowns for the ladies and suit for the guys. If you can rent, then rent. If you can borrow, borrow. If you can afford to buy your children a gown or a suit, then so be it.

 

  • for the ladies, canvass salons who do hair and makeup and set an appointment. You don’t want to go there with a line of ladies waiting to be made up because it so happened other schools are having their proms on the same day. If you can do the makeup on your young lady, then you save on some.

 

  • shoes. Buy or borrow comfortable shoes. If the young ladies are used to wearing 4-5inch heels as fashion dictates this trend, then so be it. But according to my daughter: She’d rather wear something that feels comfortable than wear something in fashion but will make her fall flat on her face and leave her with a broken heel.

 

  • canvass store that sell accessories that go best with the clothes like colored faux gems and stones, sterling silver jewelry, semi-precious stones. Or see what you have in your stash before you buy.

Proms are special events that young people experience. We have to help them make it less stressful by giving them all the help we can give.

Jelly Marbles

Once upon a time, we were so loving jelly marbles that we had them grow in a bottle. The children excitedly took note of how these grew day in and day out. We had to throw these away after a few days due to a reason or two for which I can’t actually remember. Ahem. I think it had something to do with toxicity because these are not the one from Science experiments but bought from the tiangge.

Anyway, I got surprised when I saw an Orbeez Magic Maker while surfing the web. I want one for my kids!!! 😀

I’m sure lots of children are going to love these.

Now, I wonder where we can buy in the Philippines. 

Now I know, I saw these at Toys ‘R Us yesterday when we had lunch at TriNoma before the son’s medical check-up.


Cozy Home

Last month, the interior designer BIL and wife had their newly remodeled unit (at the third floor of an adjacent 4-door studio type units beside the family’s main house) blessed. We attended the housewarming and was surprised at how the place looked so much different. I used to work in this part of the in-laws’ place a few years back.

BIL's living room

It was cozy in the unit. It had one bedroom since they didn’t use the available room (one where I used with my students) and just had it for storage. Maybe when they have their own child they will use that spare room. No room for a clawfoot tub yet in their bathroom which is probably what the BIL’s clients love to have in their own homes.

I know my kids would love to have a tub in our bathrooms too but right now, that is not an option 😉

What I like about their new home aside from being cozy is the simplicity and being clutter-free. If there’s a baby, I’m sure a lot will change, 😀

 

California Berry Ice Ice Baby

Sometime ago, I purchased California Berry’s Ice Ice Baby vouchers for the family.

I know we had these yummy desserts a long time ago, but I’m just blogging about it now.

Anyway, the kids enjoyed the idea of using the vouchers so much so I got another set of vouchers earlier this month. LOL.

gummy bears

Gummy bears and blueberries. Don’t ask, lol.

oreo

Oreo bits and shaved ice ala cookies and cream.

kiwi

Banana and kiwi slices.

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There are so many kinds of vouchers to be bought online from restaurant vouchers (we’ve had a few of these) to vacation packages (no thanks), car cleaning services (we availed of this before too), cakes (I just ordered one a few weeks ago), “beauty procedures” (ahem!) and gadgets (we did too and had ordered another one last night). I wonder what they’ll think of next time: motorhome repair, leaky roof repair, gardening services or home-based pet grooming services?

I saw a house-cleaning services in one of the sites. I think I need more than one voucher, LOL.

Calamansi Love

I harvested, well sorta harvested, today several green juicy and definitely sour calamansi. Will post a better and higher res photo later. Click here for a link on the photo. Here is a photo of the sour babies:

calamansi

These have thin skin (dunno what they’re called) and very juicy.

Rains and used coffee grounds are two big help that had the little tree bear these little babies. Sunshine helped the little tree too of course. Everyday, I mix the used coffee grounds in water for “watering” the two little calamansi plants (the other one didn’t yield more than three of these) and the other potted plants. Still have to get photos of these pandan plants and green onions.

Yes, you can get a lot of benefits from used coffee grounds for your vegetable garden. And if you have a catering biz and Caterer Jobs, having your own vegetable garden will help you save some on your expenses to up your profit. #JustSayin’

Get used coffee grounds for free from a Starbucks near you.

Just one of the benefits of being REAL coffee drinkers. We stopped drinking instant coffee a long time ago and only have brewed coffee in the mornings and sometimes as night cap too.