Cute Baby Costumes for Halloween

It's Halloween time once again! Time to garb the little ones in adorable costumes. Look what I found!

 My favorite? I'm digging the lobster costume. It can pass as a cockroach costume don't you think? :) I really thought photo no. 5 is a cockroach costume until I saw this photo.

Whooah, so it is a red lobster. How very creative. All ready to be cooked. What fun costumes are your kids wearing this season mommies?

Punchdrunk Panda

I love PDP's flats. I was talking to hubby and hinted that we MUST try their shoes because they look cute and possibly will last long even on hubs' feet which are known "killer feet". Haha. Luckily, like the norm these days, we can purchase them online, the problem is hubby is not so sure of his shoe size. The good thing about their shoes is that they have a female version and a male version of their shoe designs. So lovey doves can wear matching shoes. I was eyeing their flats which look great by the way. Hmm..which one?

I'm normally a flats lover. I disliked having to trip and tumble on heels especially now that I have kids to chase. I only wear slightly higher heels when we go to church and just let hubby and other "assistants" do the chasing. Going back to Punchdrunk Panda, they recently released their camera straps. Still fresh and piping hot. Check out these babies.

I like the first and last one. Oh well, might as well love them all. Check out other Punchdrunk Panda products here. Proudly Philippine made. :)

Sissy's 23rd Birthday

We had Sunday lunch over at my parent's house for my sister's 23rd birthday. It was just a simple get-together but my dad made sure that he prepared sissy's favorites. I took some photos of the chow although not all. I think I got so busy and then forgot to snap the rest.

Happy Birthday Sis! Thanks for the hearty lunch.

The Four-Hour Work Week

Let's face it, we all want to take control of our careers while being financially secure at the same time. Now what to do? We can either slack off and pray for the day that it will happen (which don't usually happen anyway) or take initiative and do something. Enough of that hectic lifestyle where work gobbles you up alive. There's a book which actually asks you what you want out of your work and life. The 4-hour Work Week is the compass for the new and revolutionary world. It's like a blue print, a map, a compass, a guide to living your life to the fullest. There are times in our lives when we desperately want to take the time off, have a vacation and spend time with family and let's not forget an ample bank account. But sadly, a few of us have so little opportunity to achieve that. I'm so happy that I came upon this wonderful book. It's like refining your lifestyle with all clarity. This best-seller's brilliant author is  Tim Ferriss who was nominated as one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People of 2007,” is author of the #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and BusinessWeek bestseller.

He has been featured by more than 100 media outlets, including The New York Times, The Economist, TIME, Forbes, Fortune, CNN, and CBS. I've read the book and I was in awe with so many things I could do with my life without being labeled as plain workaholic. My adventurous soul can soar high and this can be possible through The Four-Hour Workweek. This is an inspiration. A must-read! Check 4 hour body for more info.

Inside the book, you will find:

This step-by-step guide to luxury lifestyle design which teaches:
•How Tim went from $40,000 per year and 80 hours per week to $40,000 per month and 4 hours per week
•How to outsource your life to overseas virtual assistants for $5 per hour and do whatever you want
•How blue-chip escape artists travel the world without quitting their jobs
•How to eliminate 50% of your work in 48 hours using the principles of a forgotten Italian economist
•How to trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and frequent “mini-retirements”

Maasinhon Trio

Last night was Pilipinas Got Talent results night and the verdict? MAASINHON TRIO won by a large percentage of the votes. Normally, I would whine a lot on unexpected results most especially if my bet didn't win. But you see, I live in Maasin City, I'm a Maasinhon. Therefore I'm one with the trio. Living in a little city where everybody knew almost everyone, we treat each other like family. We're united in almost everything. It's hard having to go through a lot of negative feedbacks coming from other people. Other people who belittle our capacity to win, other people who never even knew a city such as ours ever existed. When you think about it, and as I've said on my Facebook account, I understand the outrage but at the end of the day, the contest mechanics still say that whoever has the highest votes is the winner. And we should all learn to accept that. I honestly didn't expect that they would win. But I guess the votes weigh a LOT. The support coming from our city and provincial government were tremendous. Contrary to what others were implying, we were not forced into voting. We simply felt that if there's anything we can do to help our fellow Maasinhons, we need to vote for them. And vote we did. For the semis, hubby bought 2 vote cards and we also voted during the Grand Finals. EVERYONE really voted. It's amazing that with a city as little as ours, we really made an impact. Our votes outnumbered the rest. I'm proud that I live here, I'm proud to be a Maasinhon. I understand that people have different opinions regarding this one, and each of us have different favorites, but let's just congratulate the winners. I know they must have waited for this moment for so long. The dream is now a reality, let's just give it to them, let us just give them the spotlight and learn to be happy for them. I disagree with what other people were saying that the Maasinhon Trio didn't deserve to win. The 12 Grand Finalists were all deserving in their own right. They were all winners. Let's just quit dragging each other down and ditch the whining. No wonder our country remains in the Third World. Congratulations Maasinhon Trio!!!

Birthday Blast!

The following days will be birthday galore.  My grandmother will turn 88 tomorrow. Yep, 88! Isn't that amazing? I love my lola and sure wished I could be there. But unfortunately can't. I really feel bad not being able to come and celebrate her birthday with her. I miss her and her yummy native delicacies. Yummers!

 My grandfather died many years ago and since then she's been living alone with a temporary companion everyday. I can imagine how lonely that must have felt when you're so used to living with a lot of people. I've been convincing my mom to just let her live with my mom, my dad and my sister so she won't be as lonely anymore. But lola is just stubborn about it saying that she gets bored where my family's at and prefers to stay in her place. I can't blame her, it's her home and where her fond memories lie. Happy 88th birthday grandma!!! And wishing you a lot more good years to come.

Lovely grandma and Khym

The other birthday celebrant is my sister who's turning 23 on Monday. Aaaww little sister is all grown up. She's now a teacher. She teaches Grade 2 pupils. How time flies. I've been saying this again and again because it's really true. My little brother died when he was 4 due to a mysterious illness that up to now we're still not sure about. So growing up, it's just the 2 of us, sissy and I. We fought a lot, some were really bad physical fights but stopped when I got married and moved out of the family home. I miss sleeping with my sister because we share the same room and talking to her til the wee hours of the morning. Good thing, my family visits them on weekends for catch up bonding time. Happy birthday my dear sweet sissy. Here's to another year of your kick-ass life! I love you lots!xoxo.

Sissy and me

Ocean Lover

Throwing pebbles. Kliven loves the ocean. :)

Free Online Insurance Quotes

I'm pretty sure everyone knows how it can be very hard to choose a good quality insurance company. Not to mention that there are various insurances for almost anything nowadays. For every given category, there are quite a lot of companies competing for your attention,money and the opportunity to work for you. We are lucky that we live in a generation where our options are limitless. With that comes the quest for that insurance company that best cater to our needs. But the hunt comes with a price, it usually is expensive and exhausting. The solution? Online free insurance quotes. Comparing quotes and rates for insurance online is simply one of the easiest ways to save money. The user never has to leave their home to get free insurance policy information and quotes. The internet is a powerful tool. While some people do things manually, there are many people that have opted to use this great service not only for its convenience but also because it really can save a good amount of money. Most people by now have heard about websites online that offer free insurance quote comparisons. This is a great service that allows the user to view multiple quotes at once without having to jump from website to website. And ending up confused! It's that easy. To help you make informed decisions, and for free cheap insurance quote, just click the link. Companies that provide free insurance quotes strive to put the most appropriate insurance news and valuable information for your convenience right at home.  You can just sit back, and let them take matters into their own hands. They recommend guidelines on saving money, finding the best analysis, picking out the best provider and a whole lot more. Companies like FreeInsuranceQuotes.org offer you the opportunity to get multiple insurance quotes from competing insurance providers. All you have to do is fill out their online forms and choose your current state and you can just sit back and wait for the results which usually don't take long. Comparing insurance quotes online for free is effortless, no stress and is a clever approach to finding the best insurance at the lowest possible cost.

Photoshop Actions

I used to do things manually when tweaking my photos. But later on, I discovered the magic of Photoshop Actions.  It really does wonders to plain looking photos. I like the way they enhance my photos almost instantly while I switch from one effect to the other. Some websites give out free PS actions. It's happiness in a click knowing that PS actions can sometimes be expensive. The web is literally teeming with actions. The choices are endless. I found really good ones at THE COFFEE SHOP BLOG and they're free! My personal faves are BRIGHTEN ME, GOLDEN VINTAGE, JOHNNA'S TEA PARTY, LOMO, SIMPLY VINTAGE and SUNKISSED. I'm using Kliven's "jealous" photo for comparison. :)

SUNKISSED

BRIGHTEN ME

GOLDEN VINTAGE

JOHNNA'S TEA PARTY

LOMO

SIMPLY VINTAGE

See? Gorgeous.. They give your photos the added oommph. But if you hate long methods of photo enhancements, try PHOTOSCAPE. I'm pretty sure I'm a big fan of ADOBE PHOTOSHOP but I'm starting to love Photoscape too.  But.. I couldn't completely abandon Adobe PS. I realized that if you want enhanced photos in a flash, Photoscape is the way to go, I usually use this when I'm in a crappy mood to go through lots of layers in PhotoShop. If you're a digital scrapbooker or graphic designer, Adobe PS is still the best option. I mainly use Photoscape for my TUMBLR photos to give them a dreamy vintage effect. I loooykkkk it. :)

Hassle-free with Tracfone

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of TracFone for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

With phone providers sprouting like mushrooms, it is understandable to be confused. I asked my uncle who resides in the US about his cell phone provider, and he has only good words for his mobile carrier of choice: TRACFONE.  I asked him to give a detailed view as I was comparing our mobile providers here in the Philippines like Globe and Smart.  While my service provider here is Globe and I'm satisfied with its whole package, uncle said that TracFone offers the least expensive way to own and use a cell phone in America. There are no contracts, no credit checks, no activation charges or cancelation fees. No surprises! Plus, it has great nationwide coverage and excellent reception/connectivity.  Uncle swears that he has actually found the right phones at affordable prices at that to give my younger cousins.  With its affordable and flexible plans, any family who's on a tight budget can actually get a taste of the good life for less. Uncle could actually Get into Everywhereness with Tracfone.  With its Senior Value, they offer such cool features on their monthly plans: You can pay as you go online or with cards available at thousands of retail stores across the country.  Their 1 year service cards give you so much more. Receive double minutes for the life of your TracFone, and 800 minutes, for only $119.00.  “Double minutes for the life of your phone” is a feature that can be purchased separately for only$19.99, but some phones include it!  You can also choose monthly plans with 200 minutes for under $30.00, and as low as $9.99 for 50 minutes.  My uncle who's an avid caller, pretty much stays on the phone burning his ears most of the time.  He loves keeping in touch with us and friends from everywhere.   Lucky for him, there's no more burden when it comes to over-priced phone bills.  This is the only wireless service where you can call internationally, for the same price as any other call.  In fact, you can call over 60 international destinations directly from your TracFone at no extra cost!  With the International Neighbors program, you can provide family and friends in Mexico or Canada a local phone number in those countries to reach you at your TracFone in the U.S.  Uncle raves about Tracfone so much but I think I know why my cousins are beaming from ear to ear.  They must think that uncle is way too cool to give them great phones packed with features like camera/video recorder, web access, app capabilities, mp3 player, and full QWERTY keyboard, for only $29.99!

For more information on other things TracFone offers, check out these videos!

Tracfone Can Be Everywhere... - The most amazing home videos are here

Pigtails!

I am a self-confessed graphic artist wannabe.  I think it kind of developed overnight because of my constant search for blog templates and later on digital kits for scrap-booking. From curiosity sprang my love for graphic designing.  But I still don't think I'm very good at it though.   There's just too much to learn.  But in time, step by step, I'm getting there somehow.  There were days when I toiled my heart out facing the laptop working on endless things on Adobe Photoshop.  I somehow made a few stuff..not really the best ones but at least...

                                                   


But I also have my personal favorite graphic illustrations and webbie: PIGTAILS!!  It's really kawaii in a lot of ways.  Pigtails is illustrated by JAZMIN CRUZ who's a graphic designer and a Pinay like me. :))  Her site is loaded with freebies.  I recently downloaded wallpapers for my laptop because I just couldn't resist.  Her illustrations are just adorable.  I'd like to share the wallpapers that I've downloaded but if you want more, it's better if you check out her site for loads of free stuff.

Amazing Baby Photos

Anne Geddes takes such beautiful baby photos, I just want to post them. Her photos are so artistic, it captures the beauty and innocence of our babies. It's absolutely brilliant!!! Here are some of her masterpieces. I like the way she blends the babies with other earth elements and making them look serene and  heavenly.

Her website has a wide array of baby galleries. If you're a sucker for cute chubby cheeks, you should visit her site HERE.