Femme Power

Archive for the ‘Shopping’ Category

You’ve probably heard it a gazillion times over that a bathroom says a lot about your personality, hygiene, and financial status, among others.   Be it squeaky clean or otherwise, well-adorned with bathroom furniture and ornaments or is simply stripped down to the bare necessities in it, you show a piece of yourself through your bathroom.  Whatever you handpick for your bathroom says a lot about you.  Mine is simple and small yet the pale pink tiles are sparkling clean and the only luxuries you’ll see are body baths of different shapes and sizes. Others would have plants, or candles, or colorful tiles in their bathrooms while others go for modern bathroom accessories without so much decors.

Whatever your personal preferences are, you can find awesome choices of bathroom suites at BetterBathrooms.com by clicking on the link above.  They have a Bathroom and Tiles Sale going on until Sept. 21st and a Bathroom Suites Stock Clearance wherein you get up to 55% discount. So hurry before promos and stocks run out!

You can easily find the items you’re looking for by checking the product categories on the left sidebar of their website as well as the sale items on the right.  I also noticed the positive comments from various customers, telling of excellent quality and service.  BetterBathrooms.com boasts of speedy delivery because majority of products are in stock and their website is always updated.  You can even get your orders the next day for all their stocked items.  Their website is so user-friendly, it’ll guide you how to order, calculate the delivery cost for you and let you track your order too.

If only finances were not a factor, I would have chosen a house with a sprawling bathroom that has a floor-to-ceiling mirror and linen cabinet, and a complete set of bathroom suites including a nice jacuzzi bath.  I guess it means that I can be awfully luxurious. Lol! Well, what does your bathroom say about you?

You raid a woman’s closet and chances are you’ll see a good number of clothes that just lie in there forever, especially dresses that have outlived their season or fad.  Since it’s not everyday that a regular woman receives an invitation to a formal dinner or a cocktail party, it would be wise to choose classic designs and neutral colors in buying dresses so that they’re safe to be worn again in other appropriate occasions.  But if you have the moolah to actually accumulate dresses of all shapes and sizes, i so envy you lucky you! Lol!

But for those who are in a budget like me, don’t fret because there are actually elegant dresses that won’t cost us a fortune.  Elegant Mart features a wide array of evening dresses that suit any body type and style preferences at affordable prices.  (Read: Prices start at $45.88 now that they are on sale so take advantage now.) Plus the website is easy to navigate since the items are well-categorized.

I feasted my eyes on their catalog where I spotted a lot of favorites.  One of them is this little black dress (Tony Tonal Cocktail Dress) that’s simple yet classy, it’s a must-have for any woman’s wardrobe.  It’s made of an elegant shiny material so even though it’s black, it’s not gonna drown in the crowd.  It has a fitted waistline and a skirt that glides on fully to give you that hourglass look.  Perfect for those with not-so defined waistline and with narrow hips.

You may have heard it many times over from fashion experts that you can never go wrong with a little black dress.  It’s so versatile, you can wear it to a formal dinner, a prom night, a concert, a play, or what-have-yous. You can even pair it with a blazer and wear it to the office then for an after-office ensemble, just spruce it up with accessories like a pair of dangling earrings and you’re good to go.  And the best thing about it is that it’s on sale too!

Click on the link above to avail of the huge discounts at Elegant Mart.  Shipping is free for purchases worth $100 and above.

Backpacks are still one of the most preferred bags in school today due to their affordability, versatility (can be used for school supplies or for extra clothes during games, field trips, etc), durability and style.   I myself had a penchant for backpacks during my school days (Forget the number of years that passed, lol!).

So with my daughter possibly getting infected with my being bag-crazy, she asked me to look for a cute kids backpack that she could use for her dance rehearsals.  One that’s dainty and soft, she’ll want to carry and hug it.  With not much time to scour the mall for such a description for a backpack, I chose to check online if something fits the bill.  Indeed I found a stephen joseph backpack that’s cute and colorful, quilted and soft.  It’s 100% made of cotton, no worries about scratching my daughter’s skin on the bag’s edges unlike her previous bags.

This backpack can be personalized by having your child’s name embroidered on it.

I also found a nap mat that’s perfect for sleepovers and picnics as well as for daycare, preschool and kindergarten.   The good stuff? It’s foldable into a bag for easy storage, and it’s machine-washable.

Five days to go and it’s Valentine’s Day.  Have you thought of anything special to surprise your partner?  Flowers are among the the best sellers during this time of the year, as most women love to receive flowers.  If you have loved ones here in the Philippines and you wanna send flowers to them or a cute teddy bear or anything else special, there’s a website that can help you with that.

Send Gifts to the Philippines through Island Rose, the company that pioneered the cut flower industry in the Philippines back in 1983.   Their flowers are of great quality, they’re always fresh no matter where they are delivered in the Philippines.   And anybody will be awed by the impressive presentation of their flowers and other products — at amazingly affordable prices.   Plus, you can take advantage of a 10% discount by using this valentine code: VDAY022010 valid until February 20.

Flower Delivery to the Philippines has never been this cost-effective and hassle-free.   Check out Island Rose’s website on the links provided so you’ll know why I’m impressed.   You could find gift items for as low as P250 and up.  The website is very easy to navigate, with elaborate details of their various gift packages.

So if you wanna send Flowers to the Philippines, let Island Rose do the walking for you.

What’s with weddings that they make you cry however hard you try to fight back the tears?

I’m finally back from Mindanao after attending my big brother’s wedding.   Unlike my own wedding nine years ago which was full of bloopers, my kuya’s wedding was awesome, well-budgeted, well-planned, and well-prepared.  I and my cousin Rouan had our hands full in hosting the program at the wedding reception so we barely enjoyed the food.

The event was instrumental in gathering our immediate family and relatives after a long time.  We had the chance to catch up with each other even as we lost our way to a resort in Bukidnon and blew up our planned adventure after the wedding.  I had a serious talk with my younger brothers and my daughter had a short but quality bonding time with her cousins.

But looking back at kuya’s wedding, I failed to stop myself from weeping while looking at him who was then waiting for the ceremonies to start.  He was finally having a family of his own.  I felt like I was being dethroned as his little princess, me being his only sister.  Even during the reception, I failed to hold back my tears in front of the guests when I gave the acceptance speech on behalf of my parents.  My kuya… Did I just lose my kuya?  Did the marriage mean that he abandoned me and our family for his new family?   No, of course not.  I should know better, I married nine years ahead of him.  But why was I crying?  I was happy to see him happy.  I was happy that he finally met his woman, and a woman of good character at that.  But still, I was crying. Maybe for the possibility that he wouldn’t have as much time and attention for me anymore like when he was single.  If that’s so, then it’s so selfish of me.

Like I said in my acceptance speech, I wouldn’t be like Kris Aquino to her brother Noynoy when it comes to this.  I wouldn’t rob my brother of his happiness.  I’m still my kuya’s princess.  Only now, he has a queen.

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.

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!