Femme Power

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Three weeks after the devastation of Ondoy, the people of Marikina are still trying to get up. Basic services like water and power supplies are slowly going back to normal although there are still areas without electricity until now. Businesses are gradually coming around again after what seemed like a bad dream.

The clean-up drive done by the MMDA with the help of the flooded residents ourselves, helped a lot in ridding the city of the piles of garbage. Cleaning our respective homes, meanwhile, was a challenge because it was only last week that we had clean water supply again. With the mess that Typhoon Ondoy left in our humble abode, I had to buy new cleaning materials like pails, rags and rugs, disinfectants, brushes, and a highly efficient mop, among others. We also needed to buy other items like bedsheets and pillows, and some hardware stuff to repair our cabinets and chairs. Yes, it’s that costly when you’ve been flooded. If I only have discount coupons for all these, it would be a lot of help to ease the budget. One of the stores that people went to after the flood was ACE Hardware in SM Marikina. I noticed that most people flocked there to buy airbeds, mops, flashlights and emergency lights. And I was one of them.

I woke up to a rainy yet wonderful day. It’s our 9th wedding anniversary today.  Time flies so fast, I hardly even noticed.  No big plans but a simple dinner tonight.  My hubby and I are not used to hosting parties but we celebrate important occasions together as a family in a more personal and inexpensive way.

I’ll update this post with a few pictures later.  For now, let me greet you all a good day.

Update:

As promised, here are pics from last night’s dinner (Forgive me for the poor resolution).  The food was good and the ambiance was cozy.  We had stuffed crabs, beef with broccoli, and a famous Filipino dish called Bulalo in a nice restaurant in Glorietta 5, Makati.  Nothing fancy, nothing extravagant. Just a warm, cozy night full of fun conversations.

Thanks for all your greetings, I  truly appreciate them!  We had a fun chat with my soon-to-be sister-in-law who joined us to celebrate last night. She’s my older brother’s fiancee. It’s our first time to meet last night and yet we talked like we’ve been friends for a long time.  After the dinner, we had a quick trip to the department store to give in to Bianca’s request - a new pair of sandals.  Kuya’s fiancee let Bianca choose her own pair of sandals and bought it for her plus she gave Bianca P500 (around $11) for her to keep.   She’s a wonderful, generous woman (and a dedicated community doctor).   At the end of the night, Bianca was clinging to her new tita (aunt) instead of me and her dad.  Talking about a sudden shift of loyalty, lol!

Mention 3-Day-Sale and you got my attention. These are the magic words that alert a bargain-hunter like me. So when I learned that SM Marikina was having a big sale on their first anniversary from Friday to Sunday, I didn’t have second thoughts of going. Last Friday, I only had less than two hours to shop around to avail of the additional perks for those with SM Advantage Card, the mall’s loyalty card.   Within 10 am-12 noon, all SM Advantage card holders were entitled to an additional 10% discount on top of the regular discounts.  For one,  I was able to buy a new set of queen-size bedsheets at 70% discount (60% less plus another 10% discount on top because of my Advantage Card).  I was able to buy the much-needed items in my list but nothing at all for me (Why do we, moms, tend to shop for everyone else in the family except for ourselves?). But no regrets, I wouldn’t have felt fulfilled if I only shopped for myself.  The other items I bought had 20%-50% less on their tag prices.

The queues at the counters were long especially when it was nearing 12 noon. Evidently, a lot of card holders wanted to avail of the 2-hour promotion which would save them a lot of money while earning points. There was this woman ahead of me who was scouring her wallet for something. Turned out that she lost her SM Advantage Card so she was bound to miss the additional 10% discount.  Looking at her items, the additional discount would save her hundreds of pesos.  Realizing this, she almost begged asked me to lend her my card.  Since the card is transferable and that she was a nice woman, I obliged.  She thanked me profusely several times, I was getting green.

But the best part of that day was probably the McDonalds event which my daughter and I had the chance to attend after I bought a ticket for P150 (a little over $3).  If I didn’t pass by on that part of the mall, I wouldn’t have known about it.  There were food, freebies, games, lots of prizes, singing, and dancing.  The kids also got the chance to have their pictures taken with their favorite mascots - Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie, and Ronald Mc Donald.   I was surprised to see that Bianca has grown almost as tall as Grimace, the violet mascot we got for her birthday party when she turned one year old, seven years ago.  Now, you can hardly see Grimace behind her in one of the pictures below.

I learned later that McDonalds gave away free Big Macs to their first 100 customers that morning.  Had I known earlier, I would have rushed to McDo first before heading to the Department Store, lol!

We all have sweet tooth in the family that’s why there’s not a single month that we don’t have anything sweet either a cake, some fruit salad, pastries, or ice cream in the fridge. This month, my hubby brought home two boxes of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.   It’s more costly than Mister Donut and Dunkin’ Donuts but the taste is, no doubt, par excellence! Happy days are here again, teehee! Come, take a bite.

If you’re a Colgate user and you live in the Philippines, I’m sure you’ve noticed the absence of Colgate from SM stores.

It’s been several months since Colgate toothpaste disappeared from the shelves of SM Supermarkets and Hypermarkets, including Save More.   Whenever I’m in SM, I hear a lot of SM shoppers ask around for Colgate like I do.     Whatever happened, all the SM merchandisers can say is that it’s going to take a long while before they could sell Colgate toothpaste again.  There are talks that Colgate and SM have some rifts about payments so if this were true, it would take some time indeed to iron things out.

For now, I will have to buy my groceries again at Robinsons even if SM is much closer.  While I could settle with Close Up, my husband can’t. After trying other brands available, my hubby developed some tooth problems which he claims only happened when he stopped using Colgate.  So I’m left with no choice but to look for Colgate somewhere else as hubby requested.  Sigh.

Though my daughter is all grown up, I still love looking at cute Baby Clothes.  They never fail to put a smile on my face.

Here are some of the adorable designer baby clothes I found online that I couldn’t help but admire:

Pupa soft dress with diaper cover by Estella

Choosing clothes for our kids and babies do not only center on being cute and stylish but also on comfort and durability.  Being a practical mom, I personally like tops that are easy to match with any bottoms.  And even though I scrimp on a lot of expenses, I put a premium on baby clothing.  Having learned from experience, I wouldn’t go for cheap yet of poor quality baby clothes - those made of fabrics that stink, bleed, and shrink so bad (worse, with buttons and threads dangling after a few washes).

When you choose the right stuff for your little ones even if they’re a bit pricey, they can actually last for years and be handed down to your next baby or your niece/nephew.

Babies can’t complain about their getup. When garbed with uncomfortable clothes, they either get itchy, sweaty, develop skin rashes and allergies or they simply cry. That’s why comfort is on top of my considerations more than the cuteness of style.

I normally go for soft and comfy materials.  I also prefer fabrics that let the clothes breathe especially that my daughter is prone to respiratory problems.   When choosing a baby outerwear, it’s a no-brainer to take into consideration the weather condition and/or the climate to help you decide what material to choose and how thick or thin it should be.

Babies and kids are able to sleep better and play more freely when they’re wearing comfortable clothes.  No stress for the baby, no worries for the parents.

I was doing my long-overdue general cleaning yesterday when I saw these two P100 bills tucked inside a tiny box.  Teehee!  I’ve totally forgotten about them. It’s my nature to stash a few bills for emergency purposes but I have them organized in labeled envelopes that’s why I was surprised to see these bills that seemed to slip off my accounting eyes.

To account for the monthly budget, I rely on my envelope system.  One envelope contains the monthly rent for the house, one for the electricity and water bills, another for the broadband connection, one for food and transportation allowance, for miscellaneous/emergency expenses, and of course for groceries. I also stash a few coins and small bills in the piggy bank. But a large portion of my salary goes to my daughter’s savings account (my hubby’s salary takes care of the household expenses so mine is meant to be saved). My online earnings stay in my own bank account.  So as to how this P200 ended up in the box of my daughter’s recognition medal, beats me.  My hubby doesn’t know about it either. I say, finders keepers? Lol!

I’m enticed to do another round of thorough house cleaning today. Who knows, I might be able to find some more hehe.  Apart from the bills, I also found the extra screws for my CPU that I’ve been searching high and low for, some old photos that I thought I’ve lost, and lots of expired makeup that I really needed to dunk into the trash bin.

By the way, I’d like to say happy 36th birthday to my older brother, Ryan!  He’s a dedicated military officer and I love him dearly.  He’s the eldest among us, seven siblings.  One big happy family! Happy birthday, Kuya Ryan!