I SIGNED UP FOR PPP

When I started blogging or having my journal on-line, I did not realize that this new world will open up new avenues for friendship and business opportunities as well. My morning ritual includes reading the newspapers and then blog hopping. In the course of this daily routine, I became friends with Girlie, who first introduced me to sponsored post, specifically PayPerPost. She encouraged me to sign up. So I did. Unfortunately, my blog was turned down. She then informed me that I should develop readership and should have links too. Since I am a little techie challenged, I didn’t even know what links are, I did some research, blog hop more and established links. Of course I got help too. In no time, I have readers and have links in my humble site.

Then some blogger-friends like Julie, Francine, KK and Rachel encouraged me to do or rather try it again. So I went back to PayPerPost. And luckily, my blog was approved the next day after I have registered.

I am ecstatic. Way back in college, advertising and marketing are my major subjects and I have done dozens of ads as our daily homework, few even saw print and aired on television. Now, I can use again what I have learned. I have been raring to do ads and now the opportunity has come. Where else can I do something that I love and at the same time earn from it or simply put, get paid to blog as long as I follow blog ethics.

Now I have done my first sponsored post and it seems like I was just telling a story about my college days, discovering the blogosphere, having friends and making bucks as well. I would be happy to share whatever amount of money I will earn to my kids and the kids in the neighborhood.

Something Stupid

Click, watch and listen to one of my fave songs and of course by my fave singer, the legendary - Frank Sinatra.

Mommy Day

Last Friday, I decided to have my Mommy Day after a tiring marathon teaching- reviewing sessions with kids for their quarterly exams, back-breaking trip to the North and all the stress I had lately, it's time to relax.

First stop is my favorite facial treatment at the Forever Flawless salon. I had a basic facial which includes facial steam, facial vacuum and a relaxing hand massage. While a friend had her facial treatment and diamond peel at Beverly Hills 6750 for P26,000.00. Well...I had mine at P300, wink..


the endorser (LT)


the attendant putting a facial cleanser and massaging my face


getting ready for a facial vacuum

Next destination, the Going Straight Salon for hair straightening. Since I have natural hair wave (my kids have curly hair too), I have my hair straightened twice a year. I used to have it done at the Jun Encarnacion's Salon (managed by the wife) in Laong Laan, Sampaloc near Dangwa but am not sure if it's still operational. And it's far from my place. So I just settle with this salon, which is ok for me so far. The procedure also includes hot oil, blow-drying and another head, neck and shoulder massage. Cost (depends on the length of hair) is P784.00 plus tip


taking pics while waiting at the salon


hair-drying after the straightening procedure


having a pedicure (same salon)- Cost P90.00


the new meeh with son Pio


bloghopping, chatting with Cess and Rachel over YM and watching MMK

How to Teach your Kids to Practice Good Hygiene

Having good hygiene can promote a child’s self-esteem, sense of responsibility and good appearance. Of course, it also plays an important role in staying healthy. Teaching your child to practice good hygiene at a young age will help them maintain the habit throughout their adolescence and adulthood.

Here are some tips to help you make good hygiene a lasting part of your child’s life:

Be a role model. Children will naturally imitate your own positive behaviors. So if you practice good hygiene habits, they will make these their own, too. If you bath regularly, wash your hands before and after eating and whenever appropriate, brush your teeth after meals, and generally take pride in cleanliness and neatness, then you are teaching your child in the best way you can-by example.

Help your child make hygiene a habit. Make sure they do their hygiene practices regularly to the point of making them a routine. Routines are the cornerstones of a child’s behavior. For example, at bedtime encourage your child to use the toilet, wash up, brush teeth, then have a special story time. With your supervision, this simple ritual will likely develop into habits for life.

Make it fun. Liven up bath time with tub toys, puppet washcloths or crayon soaps. You may also use washable dolls to help toddlers practice bathing, combing hair and dressing. If you have problems getting the kids to the bathroom for a shower, try drawing straws to see “who goes in first”; the idea of beating other kids will push them to draw the straw.

Allow them to make choices. When shopping for toiletries, encourage your child to select their own shampoo, toothpaste, or toothbrush. This is fun. More importantly, this will help develop their sense of responsibility for and interest in personal hygiene.

Reward with words. Always compliment your child’s efforts at good hygiene, even if the results are not perfect. Praise the child if he brushed his teeth after breakfast without having to be told to. Positive comments lie “You combed your hair wonderfully” will reinforce the behavior.

Source: Nestle Club website

What to Do with Leftovers

No matter how carefully a homemaker prepares a meal meant to be finished in one or two sittings, having leftovers will remain inevitable. Eating the same food day in and day out can dampen the eating habits of your child or make mealtime less enjoyable for your family.

In today’s trying times even leftovers are too precious to throw away. Almost every family experiences the dilemma of having to eat leftovers again and again. However daunting the task seems, leftovers can be recreated into new and appetizing dishes with a little ingenuity and effort. From reruns of meat dishes to bread, here are some practical tips every household can find useful:

Omelet, the versatile leftover saver. With just a few eggs, you can whip up a tasty omelet with just about any meat, fish, chicken and vegetable leftover dishes! For example, cut up or dice chicken and sauté in onion and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, if necessary, and you have a whole new dish. A dash of MAGGI Magic Sarap will make your omelet extra special. You can also mix in leftovers like fish and shrimp. Taken with a vegetable salad, you’ve got a more healthful meal.

Meat Magic. Save the meat from your nilaga or the pork from your sinigang and make an exciting adobo with MAGGI Savor Garlic. Or, concoct a delicious soup by adding beans, vermicelli, celery stalks and MAGGI Broth Cubes for that extra flavor. Meat from mechado or afritada may be cubed and saved for sautéing with vegetables.

Leftover beef or ham is excellent for hashed potatoes. Mix the meat with boiled potatoes and onion. You can also turn leftover cold cuts, sausages, or chicken into sandwich fillings. Top it with NESTLÉ Cottage Cheese and you have a delightful sandwich.

Healthful vegetable reruns. Save excess vegetables for a soup medley later. You can have your soup from meat and chicken bones or chicken neck, gizzard, and wings. If these are not available, make an instant soup by dissolving MAGGI Chicken or Beef Broth Cubes in water. It has the same great taste of chicken and meat broth. If you have a blender, use it for better results. Puree vegetable leftover; perk it up with MAGGI Magic Sarap and some CARNATION Evap for a sure-winning soup.

Give your soup from leftovers a bistro touch by adding cheese or croutons. Another excellent soup enhancer is a tiny piece of leftover ham leg. You can use the ham leg two or three times before the flavor runs out.

Try a complete one-dish meal with soup. Add canned creamed soup or dissolved MAGGI Broth Cubes to leftover rice. Put in leftover carrots, potatoes, diced meat, leftover chicken, etc. Dishes like these are quick, hot, and nutritious TV dinners the children can get accustomed to.

Delicious fun with bread. Keep your bread’s freshness and prolong shelf life by putting it in a plastic bag and then refrigerate. When you have enough, you can make them into puddings by adding egg and CARNATION Coco Evap plus raisins, nuts, or fresh or candied fruits.

Old or leftover bread can be made into crumbs often used for frying. If you have plenty of crumbs, mix them with eggs and form into balls. Fry, then while still hot, roll in sugar and you have a different snack kids will love!

Cut up slices of baguette for croutons on salad. Create instant mini pizzas with any leftover bread: put tomato sauce on top, beef or ham on top, sprinkle with cheese, bake at 375°F for 10 minutes, and enjoy!

Try these unique ideas and discover the ease of recreating.

Source: Nestle website

More Awards

When I arrived from our family's short vacation in Cagayan and Ilocos, I am so excited to open up my computer, read mails and see my blog and bloghop as well. I haven't been able to surf for 5 days because there's no internet access in the resort where we stayed in. Much to my delight, awards are waiting for me. I am so thankful to my dear friend Rachel - Heart of Rachel and My Soulful Thoughts for giving me the First Class Friendship Award.



And Rachel stated,

Rowena ~ "Thank you for your regular visits and all the kind comments on my blog. I appreciate when you send me text messages to wish me a good day ahead or to tell me of a great update . I think of you as a dear friend and hope before the year ends, we can make time to meet one another in person. I know you're on your way home from Tuguegarao and you have missed blogging for several days now. Have a safe trip home and see you on-line later."

And then another Halloween treat from Francine (La Place De Cherie) and two awards again from the lovely lady in France.







Thanks so much Rach, I hope we can finally meet soon. I am so thankful I've discovered the blogging world and gain so much friends. My life becomes more colorful with friends like you.

To you Francine, Merci Beaucoup. And best wishes again. Hope to see you in Manila soon. Prends garde!

I would be posting soon the blogs and blogger-friends whom I want to share these awards with. In the meantime, to spread some cheer, I'm sharing the Creative Site Award to all the blogs in my blogroll. Cheers!

ONE WORD MEME

I was tagged by Belle (simplybelle)to answer the following questions with just one word. Here are my answers.


• Where is your cellphone? dresser

• Relationship? passionate

• Your hair? short

• Work? sahm

• Your sister? three

• Your favorite thing? shopping

• Your dream last night? issues

• Your favorite drink? tea

• Your dream car? mercedes

• The room you’re in? bedroom

• Your shoes? sandals

• Your fears? heights

• What do you want to be in 10 years? entrepreneur

• Who did you hang out with this weekend? hubby

• What are you not good at? budgeting

• Muffin? chocolate

• One of your wish list items? laptop

• Where did you grow up? Manila

• Last thing you did? bloghop

• What are you wearing? house-dress

• What aren’t you wearing? jewelries

• Your pet? goldfish

• Your computer? busy

• Your life? fabulous

• Your mood? cheerful

• Missing? Tagaytay

• What are you thinking about right now? business

• Your car? 4runner

• Your kitchen? organized

• Your summer? colorful

• Your favorite color? green

• Last time you laughed? yesterday

• Last time you cried? Monday

• School? Stepping-stone

• Love? Cloud-9

I am not tagging anyone, feel free to do it and have some fun....

Blogging Tips

Few weeks ago, I was tagged by Julie on some blogging tips. Although I'm a newbie blogger, I am happy to give some tips as well.

Here’s how it goes: When this is passed on to you, copy the whole thing, skim the list and put a * star beside those that you like. (Check out especially the * starred ones.) Write your own blogging tip for other bloggers. Try to make your tip general.

Tag as many people as you want.

*1. Don’t let money change ya! http://www.therandomforest.info/

*2. Look, read, and learn.http://www.neonscent.com/

3. Be, EXCELLENT to each other. http://www.bushmackel.com

*4. Always reply to your comments. http://chattiekat.com/

* 5. Blog about what you know & love. http://sugar-queens-dream.blogspot.com/

6. Don’t use filthy language-buy a dictionary. http://shinade.blogspot.com/

*7. Blog about something educational. http://climateofourfuture.org/

*8. Be yourself; others will follow. http://sfgirl-thealiennextdoor.blogspot.com/

9. Don’t have too many blogs that will become a chore to maintain.
http://cubicledenizen.blogspot.com/

*10. Keep it simple, user-friendly, interesting and organized! http://erishaling.blogspot.com/

11. Keep the blog simple and sweet!! http://www.leslieho.com/

12. Share with others your thoughts and don’t be shy! http://groovy-olives.com/blog

13. Never ask for link exchange. Blog hop to increase traffic. http://www.jessieling.com/

*14. Don’t clutter your blog with ads all over the place. IT’S IRRITATING. http://oliviasy.blogspot.com/

15. Don’t comment for the sake of commenting. Some looked too fake and its a big turn off! http://sashablablabla.blogspot.com/

* 16. Share something interesting and you will gain more readers. http://judychow.blogspot.com/

* 17. Show that we care to all bloggers, treat each other as friends. http://mummyinvain.com/

*18. Pictures say a million words. Keep them coming! http://familyfriendsnfood.blogspot.com/

*19. Blogging should be fun or you’ll get tired of it pretty soon. http://justmyrambling.com/

*20. Don’t think people will come to your blog if you’re not willing to pay a visit to them. http://joshualai.blogspot.com/

*21. Everyone loves read short posting and best, illustrated with a picture. http://www.demoments.net/blog

* 22. Try not to publish more than 5 posts in one blog a day. Even if it’s from feed reader, it’s quite hard to digest and catch up reading everything. http://montessorimum.com/

*23. Blog, the other window to peek into people’s life, minus the trouble. keep a certain level of privacy to yourself. http://www.babyshern.blogspot.com/

**24. Use simple words, not like the ones that require your readers to consult the dictionary. Girlie of http://www.hipncoolmomma.com/

**25. Take time to visit your friendly links WITH OR WITHOUT SPONSORED POSTS, probloggers are required to update their blogs so expect they always have something new. Marie the Vanidosa http://mariegvergara.com/

*26. Be kind and appreciate your readers by taking time to really know them. Take time to read their blogs and comment with your heart. Even if you’re into problogging, don’t forget to blog with your heart not just for the sake of the money.
Emmyrose http://www.emmyrose.com

*27. Share your blog awards to blogger friends whose blog inspires you and open your mind to another perspective in life and even to less-visited blog which you think their blog and thoughts are unique. Arlene of http://sunshineforlife.wordpress.com

28. Be factual and do not rely 100% on gossips/hearsays especially if you are writing about sensitive topics. Back up your facts with links from reliable sources, if needed. Julie of http://www.teacherjulie.com/

29. When you blog hop, leave sincere or witty remarks, the author would check you out for sure. Try to post useful tips for mommies, career women and students as well so you’ll have varied readers. And make lots of friends thru your blog.
Rowena of http://www.thesweetlife-rowena.blogspot.com

I am now tagging Ann (Me and My Angel), Chats (imomonline) and Cookie (ScroochChronicles).

Our Cagayan/ Ilocos Trip

nicole by the waterfalls


the cottage near the falls


the Portabaga waterfalls, Sta.Praxedes, Cagayan


cascading waterfalls


kids with the view of the windmills


windmills in bangui, ilocos norte


kids playing at the pagudpud white sand-beach


typical cottage near the beach, pagudpud


kids playing


my nephews


the pagudpud beach


the view on the way to Ilocos Norte


the big catch, Taggat lagoon, Claveria, Cagayan


the newly arrived boat at the Taggat lagoon


Nicole still at Taggat lagoon, waiting for fishermen


nipa hut (bahay kubo), Claveria


Minanga Beach, Claveria, Cagayan


hanging bridge, Magapit, Lallo, Cagayan


FIL's tomb


visit at the cemetery, Tuguegarao, Cagayan

MMK Shoot in our Home

me and direk jerry lopez sineneng



direk giving instructions


viewing the scene (of valerie concepcion)upstairs


another take


fixing a clearer shot


the lights set up in the hallway


direk falling asleep


my kid nicole with some abs-cbn new talents


the crew outside our home


staff fixing the room


direk reviewing the shots from the other camera


crew fixing up the trolley and the lights in our sala


me with ms. daria ramirez


crew on our roof, fixing more lights


some equipment


more lights set up