New Style Peg

Tilda as the White Queen in Narnia

I first saw Tilda Swinton as the White Queen in Chronicles of Narnia and thought she was so cool in costume.  In real life though, she has a very masculine style  and can look androgynous even.  Then I rented the movie I Am Love on iTunes and fell instantly in love with the look.

The film is set in Milan where Tilda plays the Russian immigrant wife of a prominent and wealthy Italian family.  She later falls for and runs away with the chef.  There's a bit more to the movie than that but it's not what I want to focus on on this post.  Unfortunately, the movie was never shown in Manila and I have not seen it in any of the DVD stores hence the rental.

What she wore to lunch with the equally chica  mother in law. 

She wore this with a very light white cardigan. Wish there was a shot of the back of the dress available because it has a  low square back. Very sexy and feminine but not at all slutita levels.

She wore the above ensemble while going around the city doing errands -- picked up the dry cleaning, etc.  Totally un-Manila like.  But super love it!  

Evening gown. Sigh.

Very cool and classy.  Makes me think of Grace Kelly.

 

Casual look

A lot of women can take a lesson in dressing appropriately for your age from this movie.  There's nothing worse than a woman in her fifties trying to look like she's in her 20's.  It IS possible to be that age and still look classically beautiful and well put together.  I think it's great that this classic look epitomized by Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Onassis is making a comeback thanks to series like Mad Men.  At last a respite from the Madonna, Lady Gaga, Nicky Minaj styling.  No offense meant.

Walking Dead

We are right smack into the terrible twos.  This one, kept me up the whole night.  And on a go-to-work day too.  I blame the loopy DVD player.  

First I found her drinking her milk from the bottle cap like an 18 year old drinking beer from a mug.  She had CHEWED through the bottle nipple (it was raggedly cut in half with a small sliver of silicone attached) and was oh so casually pouring milk from the broken nipple into the bottle cap.  All while watching a Barbie Princess Charm School video for the nth time.  So I washed her sticky hands and brought her back into the room with a warning not to chew the bottle nipples (she had already chewed through 5 nipples this week). 

I then realized that the movie had been looping over and over again.  It would reach a certain part and then go back to the beginning of the video.  So I turned it off as it was bedtime.  That's when it all started.  She cried so hard she threw up.  I got her to the bathroom in time, so, okay, no biggie.  But the crying brought on a very runny nose and she woke up intermittently every 10 minutes or so to get me to wipe her nose.  The.whole.night.  She finally stopped at 4:40 am.  I know because the hubby got up to go to the bathroom and I asked what time it was.  Sleep deprivation is the pits when you have to get up at 6am to go to work.  

So if you see a half dead person with sunken eyes staggering into Starbucks for a cup of coffee, yeah, that would be me.

Score!

Yeah, yeah. I know.  I just wrote about my New Year's Resolutions.  BUT.  This one was 85% off.  Are you kidding me????  From PhP8850 to 1650.  Seriously.

2011 Revisited

Photos!  Just some highlights from the past year. 

2011 Family Photo shoot

 

Wacky shot!

Everyone's playing nice

Faith celebrated her 7th birthday

Another birthday shot with her cake

Last year's attempt at Home Organization culminated in the cleaning up of the second floor toy area.  It took four full days (long weekend in August) and another extra weekend where I did nothing but sort and clean up.  

Before

After

I also turned the big 4-0 last year.  No big celebration (yet! ha ha!), just a simple dinner with the people I love.

Posterity shot for my 40th birthday dinner

The hubby and I managed to travel together for a quick vacation with two of my friends.  Turned out to be quite memorable since he got the flu and stayed pretty much in the hotel for the duration of our stay.  So here's a shot of myself in Macau, sans hubby.

Note to Self: Bright red bags work really well in pictures!

Faith participated in a ballet recital of the Sound of Music late in December. I just love this stolen shot of her.

Stolen shot of Faith during their recital photo shoot

I also saw Wicked in Singapore! Love!

Just a random New Year's Eve picture I thought I'd throw in.  Lucia was crying, as I remember and didn't want to go with anyone else. 

I had a really nice holiday season and I'm obviously still in withdrawal.  Lots to look forward to this year.  We'll be visiting Hong Kong again but this time with the kids.  Lucia will be starting pre-school in June.  Another year of milestones to look forward to.

On technology and the Tooth Fairy

My kids wholeheartedly believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.  I actually go to great lengths to perpetuate this belief because I think this is one of the most enjoyable things about being a child.  Last year, they got a personal video message from Santa.  There were also email exchanges and handwritten notes from the Tooth Fairy.

Sadly, the advent of technology also translates into more smartass sophisticated kids who question everything.  Case in point, Joshua had a friend over for a play date a couple of days before Christmas.  He very excitedly asked me to show the video from Santa to his friend and so I did.  Imagine my dismay when while the video was showing, said friend told my son in a deadpan voice -- "you do realize that people make this up, don't you?".

To his credit, Joshua stood up to his friend and said no, it's real.  Gulp.  To end the magic for Joshua would mean ending it for Faith and little Lucia too!

So my son is a little bit naive for a 9 year old.  He doesn't get to surf the net (only for homework and he is supervised).  He plays computer games but with limits on time and what kind to play.  He doesn't have a PSP or a WII or whatever techy gadget kids are into these days.  Most of the grown ups in the family own an iPhone and/or iPad which the kids can borrow for limited periods.  But that's it.  I suppose, compared to his friends in school, Joshua is still a little bit sheltered.  And I like it that way.

I don't know how long I can keep this up but I'm hoping for a few more years.  I've already told Joshua that I think Santa stops giving presents to kids when they reach the age of 13.  I still don't know how I'm gonna go about it but there's still time.  Meanwhile, I'm already bracing myself for a slew of visits from the Tooth Fairy this year.  

Pretty Baby

With Daddy at the company outing

In one of her Halloween costumes last year

My pretty baby at her cousin Sophia's birthday party

Playing with her zhu zhu pet from Tita Lara

I've written a couple of times on this blog about my two older kids but not much about my third.  Poor Lucia! Apart from the birth post, I don't think I've written much about this little girl of mine.

She's growing up to be quite a character, this one.  The naughtiest and funniest of my brood.  She makes me laugh without even trying and is a joy to watch.  When you find yourself bored, just quietly watch her play and be entertained for a good long while. 

A very good eater (16+ kilos and counting!), she eats by herself and chooses her own clothes (most of the time).  Loves wearing pretty dresses like her older sister and likes sharing Mommy's lip balm.  She's stubborn and very articulate and can understand Tagalog very well.  Loves babies and kittens and Goodnight Moon.  A chocolate monster after mommy's own heart. 

Has all the members of my family wrapped around her little finger, especially her kuya Joshua.  She's also half toilet trained by now, which, according to my mom, happened when I was away on business travel. So, fine, maybe another ten days in Singapore and she'll be fully toilet trained mommy?

Maybe it's the birth scare, the thought that we almost lost this little one, that makes me want to hug her all the time.  I cannot imagine our lives without her.  Out little family has grown thanks to her and it's not always easy to manage three kids and a full time job but so totally worth it.

Post Christmas

Pardon the bedraggled look in this photo.  This was taken after a swimming session at a get together with friends.  This was one of my favorite days in December -- it was the day after the last day of work for the year and was mostly concentrated on spending it with the kids.  So apart from catching up with good friends while they were swimming and enjoying their presents from their titas and Tito Maroy, it was a completely gremlin inspired day.  We had ice cream before I let them play some video games.  Then Lucia happily hopped into the carousel.  We ended the day with the light show at Ayala Triangle.

It was still a busy holiday season though, with all the get togethers and ballet recital for Faith.  Thankfully, none of the kids were sick this year except for a little sniffle or two.  New Year's Eve was a fun filled videoke night. 

I didn't get to reach my reading goal of 150 books for 2011 but I came pretty close at 130 books.  I don't think I will do this again this year -- I much prefer not having any pressure to finish a book.  Plus one of my 2012 goals is to take up something creative like knitting or crochet.  Other goals --  think of a possible business venture.  Get more healthy. Spend less. More quality time with the gremlins.  Play outdoors. 

Seems like I'm being tested on my the strength of my New Year's resolutions as we speak.  I just got a confirmation from a friend that the Zara sale is starting tomorrow.  Aaaaarrrrgggghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!  Hyperventilate.  Deeeeeeeeeeep breath. 

I can do this.  (I think).  Help me God!