New Job, First Day

It has always been a dream, and is now a reality.

How God moves and orchestrates all the events leading to his purpose. All I needed was to keep still and wait, for no one knew then how long will it be.

Six years in that job with my boss ended yesterday, and today I find myself in this new workplace at last!

The setbacks and lows may have hit hard in the past, but they all worked together in bringing me to where I should really be. Had I been stubborn and had my way anyway, I don’t know where I would be right now.

Yet here I am, thanks God for sustaining me and my husband as we awaited for His perfect timing.

It’s never going to be easy, as this new job posts greater challenges for me. But that’s not what’s important. It’s God’s leading and provision every step of the way.

Silk Secrets Oil Control Sheets

We know how oil-blotting films play an important role before re-touching makeup as I experienced and shared in one of my posts.

But it’s essential to distinguish oil-blotting films from sheets.

Here’s my encounter with oil-blotting / control sheets:

I don’t want to rant much about bad products so I am going to do this just once in a blue moon I promise.

I thought I would make a lot of savings as this product costs about 50% less than the Clean & Clear oil-blotting film.

So I went to buy this Silk Secrets Oil Control Sheets from Watsons.

So there are the details of the product.

The sheets. They look and feel like Japanese papers. Stiff, would crumple and make a sound when touched and used.

When used? They do so little in absorbing the oil and shine that I feel I’m just pressing the oil back into my skin. I used several sheets already but I’m not satisfied.

With that I’m going to buy my good old Clean&Clear. What will I do with the 90+ sheets of Silk Secrets? Any suggestion?

His First Proper Pee While Asleep

One of the perks of raising a child is getting to witness their firsts and milestones. Those who raise their kids full-time enjoy a hundred percent of this, but to working moms like me, witnessing my son’s firsts (a few of which would luckily fall on weekends, holidays or evenings) is a total gem!

Just like today during his after-lunch nap, after an hour of snoozing in the living room, he cries out “wiwi” and consciously arose and found me taking his peeing container to him. I pulled down his totally dry diaper and made him pee to the container until his bladder is empty. He then went back to his pillow, puffed out some odorous (but to me,funny!) fart, and closed his eyes back to sleep. What a relief for a 2-year old!

That was his first time peeing properly while asleep!

While he already got the training to pee propery while awake, it has been my question how we would train him to tell us that he would go pee while sleeping. And now this.

I’m one happy mother!

Cold Spot

It was a quick visit along Maginhawa Street, Quezon City during lunch break and I had to grab something to eat. Just a few meters before turning right to Claret is a little ice cream house called Cold Spot.

The shop is just 4×5 meters, with a few more tables outside.

Basically they offer ice creams, with some other products coming soon as they are on soft opening.

I ordered Banana Split (soft serve) that costs Php110. It’s a sweet treat!

I love it! I hope to try their other offerings next time.

ELF Eyebrow Kit

As I ran out of my Ever Bilena Eyebrow Kit, I had to contemplate whether to buy the same product (because it really did well in giving me gorgeous brows all the time) or find another (because the 2 pans for the darker shades are left unused while the wax is all gone). Okay I hope Ever Bilena will just make a palette of 2 pots: 1 pot for the colored powder and another for the wax.

So off I went to SM North department store at the make-up counters and searched for eyebrow kit that contains just what I need.

I came across the e.l.f. stand and their eyebrow kit caught my attention. After having a trial application and accepting its price of Php250, I purchased this new buddy.

They have three variants but the only available is the “Light”.

After three months, here it is:

You see there are two pots within the palette. The one on the left is the colored eyebrow wax, which you put directly on your brows using the left side end of the applicator. It’s actually good to use alone and you’ll get the colored brow like you just used Ever Bilena Brow kit. The second pot contains the powder which you dust over the eyebrow wax to give you a matte finish. You use the other end of the applicator for that. The result?

Nice one! And it comes with its own little mirror so you can conveniently do your brows anywhere! It also occupies very minimal space in my makeup pouch because of very reasonable packaging.

The only thing I don’t love is the scent. Maybe because the product is a little old upon purchasing?

Will I repurchase? Of course.

Buy and Sell at Shopee.ph

I came across shopee.ph last year in my search of a cosmetic product. I downloaded the app via google play and created an account there.

About Shopee (excerpt from the website: shopee.ph):

Shopee is a fun, free and trusted way to buy and sell instantly online. We are a leading mobile-first marketplace platform in Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines) and Taiwan. Join millions of others on Shopee to list products and shop for deals online. Shopping online on Shopee is safe and we make sure of it. Get the item you ordered or get your money back with Shopee Guarantee. Create and browse listings for free, at no extra charge. Join our Shopee community and start shopping today!

Not only is it a platform to buy, but to sell as well. So I posted my first product during that time, and only after several months did I add other items.

Last week I received a notification that somebody purchased my item – the very first product that I posted. I was so happy and the transaction went so smooth by just working within the app. Right now the item is being delivered by the courier, which is the LBC Integrated.

What you will need:

• A good internet connection.
• A computer or mobile device (shopee.ph can be accessed via web or app)
• A verified account
• You will also need to provide the following for full functionality of the transactions
  • address (for pick up and/or delivery of items)
  • bank account (for crediting of the payments)

It’s important, and as indicated by shopee.ph, that you make all transactions (conversations, payment, shipping confirmations) through shopee.ph to avoid fraud and untoward experiences.

Pros of shopee.ph

I find this app a lot better than the other buy-and-sell platforms like olx because of the following:

1. It’s very user-friendly. Whatever you do in relation to selling or buying something, the app has something for that. From defining your product up to delivery/courier options, they have it!
2. Transaction can be completed within the app. You see you don’t need to text your customer (although this functionality is available) or make a deposit somewhere else or even go out of the house to send or claim your parcel. I was able to sell my first product by just using the app.

 

Because of this I’m inspired to maximize this app and sell more items online. Indeed it’s a great partner in making business at the tip of our fingers!

Popo Army made of Play-Doh

When my son was in the hospital, it is important and very challenging to keep him in a steady position while awake when his two-year old self is naturally up and about.

My smartphone and data plan played a great role in giving him videos to watch on youtube. We were able to watch lots of Play-Doh videos, until he fell in love with the toy and can even pronounce it well! “Wow, Play-Doh!”

The moment we were back to normal routine we bought his first Play-Doh sets of four colors. One set costs Php100 at Toys R Us, SM Fairview, and that is on-sale when we bought. We bought two sets, so he has a total of 8 colors.

Several months back we had this Popo mold that came with a Jollibee Kiddie Meal. We then decided to keep it since the little boy can’t play with it yet. Now is its time to shine. (See left-most item, that’s the mold). We used it to make lots of Popos, as my son enjoyed watching us! Soon he will be the one doing this all by himself. Such happy and sweet memories to cherish with Play-Doh!

Cross Stitchin’ Fruit Basket

I started this project over two years ago while waiting for my due date of delivery. I was able to do the basket part and the fruits in the basket, and then i gave birth and nothing was the same again. So this project was kept sitting somewhere in our storage room until I pulled it out recently and made some progress (below the basket).

In this post I will keep track of the progress.

I don’t intend to rush this, but instead to continuously give time for this while relaxing.

August 22, 2017 Update:

Life as usual becomes busy and all and if ever you come back to the things you love to do then you’re lucky! This is how my masterpiece-in-progress looks like now:

Have you noticed, much have been added below the two orange slices. I dwelt much on that although it’s more of a background. Moving forward I’ll focus working more on the fruits.

Spices in the Yard

It all started with that sprout on my ginger as we returned from almost a week’s Christmas vacation away from home. I thought it was good to put it in some soil and give it a chance at life, rather than cook it right away.

I have lots of distilled water containers which I converted to flower pots. The soil is unrefined, and is just a mixture of our front yard soil, some stones and a few rubbish. No extra preparation was done really. I decided to plant some garlic and an onion in the other pots.

Just this weekend I got the chance to take their pictures…

That’s the lone onion. It’s so pretty!

And here are the garlic sprouts:

I’m so glad that they sprouted even with little attention. They give me inspiration that one day it is possible for me not to buy these spices anymore.

Human Heart Nature Deodorant Stick

Several months after proving that the Human Heart Nature deodorant roll-ons do not work for me, I gave this All Natural Deodorant Stick a try. I bought it online together with my other Human Heart Nature staples.

Its tea tree oil scent is very prominent upon opening the product (which is good and promising), but I find it a little too hard to be glided easily on the skin. I noticed that my skin turned a little red due to the difficulty in applying. Maybe the formulation can be softened a bit for better spreadability. My technique to improve its spreadability is to make a streak using my fingernails backwards. That way the product’s surface is already vulnerable to give away the product to my skin upon contact.

Guess what I’m on the 2nd week of using it today and I still smell powder fresh!!! Considering I commute to the office, I’m so happy with this.

I think it also worked well especially because I let my underarm dry well first before applying. As in no hint of moisture before applying this. Maybe that’s what I’ve been doing wrong when using the earlier deodorants: applying to a damp armpit.

I hope to use this product for life because of its benefits and I would now essentially give up my Lady Speed Stick. I hope this won’t fail me in the future!

Update as of August 2017: it was within the month of May when this product lost its effectiveness on me. I started smelling terribly again due to my excessive sweating. In June I started using Driclor, which tamed my sweat glands and consequently the odor.