Online Shopping on a Weekend

We are in the season of buying gifts in preparation for the upcoming Christmas Season.  We love to give gifts, no matter how expensive or cheap our gifts are, it really does not matter. What matters is the thought behind the gift and the person giving it. 

We are in the generation of digital shopping wherein we love to shop online.  My husband's new past time is really online shopping and luckily we have never been scammed nor were not satisfied with our purchase. Reason is that we review the sellers and the reviews they receive (it really helped). 

I recently shared a post about supporting our family and friends who are doing small business, it will definitely help. 

I am sharing and recommending the Online shoppe of my sister, Louise. 

Visit her FB page and look at what you can get for Christmas. For yourself and for your friends.

Enjoy!!

Xoxo

What do you do when you are stressed?

 

It's not always a fairy tale story or a walk in the park. Whether its at home, at work or at a public place - there will always come to a time where we will feel sad, frustrated, annoyed or even angry.

 

One time, Papa and I are bound to Community General Hospital for his Dialysis. We were waiting for a tricycle to bring us there. We had three tricycle drivers who refused to take us to Community General Hospital and I was already irritated by their attitude. Finally, on the fourth try, we were able to take the ride. Then when we arrived at the Hospital, I paid the normal fare because the distance is not even more than 4 kilometers (the same amount I paid just that morning when Louise and I went to Community), but the driver told me that I still lack Php10.00. Since I don't want to waste my energy, I told him "eto ang Php10.00, hindi ko naman ikakayaman ito!"

 

How do we deal with it?

 

 

A lot of studies says that stress does not do any good for our body.

In a study made by Very Well Mind it states how stress is affecting our brain and it's not a light matter.

 

I am not claiming to be an expert when it comes to removing negative feelings or situations, but these tricks helped me and I want to share with you:

 

1. Pause - In a burning situation (like a heated argument or a complicated client), more often than not, the best thing to do is to pause for minimum of 5 - 10 seconds. It will give us enough breathing and thinking time to process the situation carefully. If we need to respond to the person we are talking to, the pause will give us the time to think and answer calmly. Remember that sometimes arguments are heated not because both parties are right but because of raised voices.

 

2. Laugh - after finishing a dreadful or toxic meeting, road encounter and the like, we need to again take a breather. Silence doesn't apply to me much (you know how talkative I am) and so I release this kind of stress by talking to my team (people around me) and just breaking into a great (loud) laugh. When we laugh, we release .... more so when we are laughing with the people we love.

 

3. Eat - this is the last thing that I would do because I tend to over do it -- and please learn from me. I tend to munch a lot of chips or nuts, spicy food which is harmful to my (sensitive) stomach. So when it cannot be avoided make sure that the food you take will not make you ill. Another one, if you have budget, treat your team with ice cream or chips (my previous lead did it and we were so happy).

 

4. Reflect - is the situation causing you that stress is really worth the stress. Sometimes, we over complicate things. I remember one situation when one of my family member is having a small challenge at home and in her mind the problem is so big that it caused her to think so much. Only to find out that the problem is something that we shouldn't be thinking about in the first place. Again, reflect if the situation is worth the stress. Else don't bother to think about it because stress will not bring you to the hospital or even pay your hospital bills.

 

5. Ask Help - whether its from your family, friends or even professional psychologists or psychiatrist. It pays to know when it is time to seek guidance counseling or a person to talk to. There is really no harm is sharing what your feelings are to the people that you trust because we will never know how effective it will be until we try.

 

How about you? How are you coping with stress?

 

Xoxo



Arjay and Anni's Love: In the lense of a stranger!

I have known Arjay for some three years already as my team mate.  We always talk about work because he is so workaholic and I only get to hear something about his personal life when I ask.  Arjay is my exact opposite, he is not talkative and not as open as I am. 

I have met Anni once, as in once, when I attended a Bible Study.
Arjay introduced us and that's it, I was too shy (can you believe it??!!) to start a conversation.

So, in real essence, what I know about Arjay and Anni is close to nothing!
I just know that they have been together for ten years now (which is really something to be proud of).I.  only know some snippet but I dont know the details and the logic behind something.

Arjay, being himself, really didn't talk about his wedding so much (maybe because he is a guy?). Sometimes I would ask him about what's happening and he would answer in a very low voice.

Here comes the day of the wedding.. I don't know anyone except Arjay, Anni, Kat, Kaloy, Sheryl, Pinky and Thea. It was a Christian wedding and a very intimate one with only family and close friends.

The messages given by both Arjay and Anni to their parents were heartwarming and I can relate to them.  When Arjay and Anni exchanged their vows, you will definitely feel the love!
Everyone got emotional when they continued with their vows and it proves to show that love was really in the air! Both Arjay and Anni's sincerity were felt!

To Arjay and Anni - I may not be the first person that you'll ask if ever you both have some Questions about married life but I will always be here to give my POV when you need one.  I am sure that your Love for each other will be more than enough to withstand any trial or challenges.  Like what I said in my written message to both of you -- No one is ever born perfect but you both can definitely be perfect for each other! 

Ps: I have attended many weddings and this is the first time that I saw a pure white wedding cake! You both are unique and pureness of your hearts really shows!! Muah always!! 

Xoxo

Corporate Functions Gantimpala 2018



Photo by Borj Toribio

I have been with Accenture for a total of eleven (11) years now and through the years I have seen how people work and deliver.  I grew up (in Accenture) hearing the tag line of "High Performance Delivered" and i have experienced how high performance is delivered.

When I moved to the Corporate Functions HR People Advisor Team (three years ago), that's the time when I was exposed and have been part of different Corporate Functions Events. One of which is the annual CF Gantimpala Awards night and this is what I want to highlight in this post.

I was privileged to be part of Gantimpala's Core Team because I am able to learn and do Project Management! Project Management is something that I didn't have any training and managing Gantimpala is a great opportunity to learn.  More importantly, I am surrounded by people and leads who are very supportive to give guidance.  My leads, Ira, Uzzal and Mai, who really empowered me to deliver!

Photo by Borj Toribio

This year, our event was held at Shangri-La at the Fort (Bonifacio Hall).  It was our first time to have our Gantimpala Event there and it the venue and food were excellent.

Photo by Borj Toribio

While we were waiting for the event to start -- the guests were delighted about our 180 degrees Spin shot care of Pose and Print.  In the three Gantimpala events that we led, this is the first time that we have this.

Photo by Borj Toribio

Photo by Borj Toribio

This is how the 180 degrees Spin Shot look like.

Our masters of ceremony were Ojay Fudalan and Rowie Zamora -- both of them were amazing at how they hosted and appeared to be experts in this field!
They already have an alternative career option :)

My sincerest "Thank You" to both of you, i hope you enjoyed the night!

Photo by Borj Toribio

We were serenaded by our Band and String Quartet - it made the event even more elegant! They have set the mood to an awards night.

Outside the ballroom - and to make sure to keep the momentum we also had Red Carpet correspondents and they interviewed some of our nominees.

Photo by Borj Toribio

Thank you Randy and Francine for a job well done!

You will also see a lot of people taking selfies and seeing them makes me smile.

Photo by Borj Toribio

While the rest of being interviewed, taking selfies and photos, listening to our string quartet and band, our registration team is so ready to get the ball rolling!

Photo by Borj Toribio

You all rock!

Another thank you to our Usher Lead, Arjay and Emman!

Photo by Borj Toribio

Photo by Borj Toribio

Usher duties with Ayie -- Thank you Ayie!

Then we have our beautiful Trophy Girls -- their name may be so "girly" but they filled a big shoes for the event!  Thank you Joy, Rhia and Jen for sharing your beauty with us.

Photo by Borj Toribio

We also had Airdance to grace our event.

Photo by Borj Toribio

Thank you Ambe for giving a wonderful message to all Corporate Functions people! We appreciate your presence.

Photo by Tek Altura

I will never get tired of Thanking my Leads, Ira, Mai and for the empowerment and continuous support! Without these opportunities, I will not learn. 

My supportive and ever patient counterpart from Marketing, Karen! 

Photo by Ojay Fudalan

Thank you also CMC for partnering with us and making yet again a successful event! 

Thanks Joan for the trust and support! 
Thanks Jane for the literal backbone support, your team (Ivan and Jen) were awesome!


Lastly but definitely not the least, God Almighty for giving everything that we have. Without His Grace, we will not be able to execute such wondrous event. 

Xoxo

Dessert Buffet for Joseph Austine!

One of the things that I love is preparing Dessert Buffets! I seldom do it because it really takes time to prepare and set up but when I do I put all my heart to it. Especially if the Dessert Buffet is for the people that I love.

I was asked by our best friend Tin to create a Dessert Buffet for the first birthday of his second son.  I can't say "NO" because I haven't seen this baby since he was born a year ago. Tin also told me that Ochen already agreed to help me out. This was our Birthday gift so Tin won't get stressed and remove the Dessert Buffet from her worries.

Of course I can't do it on my own and I am so blessed to have my best friend helping me out on this.. she actually designed how it should look like.  I took care of blowing the balloons (haha).

This is actually my 3rd Dessert Buffet and it was by far the best.  The caterer were glad we didn't have any Choco Fountain because it may look so nice (for photo) but it's such a mess! Haha! Good thing I didn't bring my choco fountain (actually I don't know where it is now).

For this Dessert Buffet, all I needed to do was:

1. Look for themes online (what's the easiest thing to do)
2. Buy candies and cookies (a lot but not too many)
3. Buy some colored theme balloons - in this case it's blue and yellow to match the Minions Theme
4. Buy some banner and crepe paper and cartolina for more designs
5. Make sure that there are enough jars, plates and cupcake holder to hold the goodies.  We needed to improvise actually and the caterer were kind enough to lend us some plates and glasses.

After preparing all of these - let your imagination bring you to your design!

Here it is!

I loved how it turned out. For me, whatever it will look like for as long as it was made out of love, its beauty will shine!

Ps: Told Ochen to wear something Blue or Yellow, wala daw siya, ayan out of theme siya! Haha

Thanks Chen for this!!

Xoxo

Today: How do we deal with Fear?

It's a whopping 9 months (parang nanganak lang!) since my last blog post! It was very long considering that I am very outspoken and loves to share a lot of things to people.

Several things and I don't want to explain in detail. *wink*

Let us just say that "A LOT" has happened in the past months that I had to prioritize the things that matters the most - MY FAMILY!

A LOT Means:
A - Amazing
L - Life Changing
O - Overwhelming
T - Tremendous

Events had happened!

After 9 months, I found the perfect blog post to start sharing again and it's very timely. I didn't think about it but it was given to me. It was given to me last Sunday, during mass and I feel blessed. 

Last Sunday's Responsorial Psalm it said:

 "The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with Joy".

The past months has literally been a roller coaster ride and it was not your smooth roller coaster ride. I meant: 

1. Real quick turns along the way
2. Some lose screws that had to be fixed
3. Rusty railings that made the ride slow
4. Unstable base
5. Unreliable coaster operator

And a lot more!

But despite those miseries and frustrations, the Responsorial Psalm reminded me (us) that after all that happened, hey, we should all be grateful because indeed the Lord has done great things for us.  When I thought about it, yes indeed, I received a lot of things from Him and to share the bigger ones: 

1. My family and I are all alive
2. We know how to take care of our health concerns
3. I have a very secured and stable job (bonus: that I love what I am doing!)
4. I have a great support system from my family and friends
5. I still see Life as a Journey and I have faith in humanity

My list is endless and I can't thank Him for making me and my family strong! 

Another thing that I would like to share was some of the things shared by Fr Randy Baluso (we had mass at Padre Pio Eastwood) and he shared a line from the movie After Earth. 

"Danger is Real, but Fear is a choice" 

This is so true! I can say this because of the circumstances that my family and I experienced.  No one will ever help us conquer fear but ourselves and so my take away is we have to be Larger than our Fear. 

Fr. Randy even shared two abbreviations od FEAR. 

Forget Everything And Run.
Face Everything And Rice. 

I would go with the latter. How about you??

Xoxo

Baguio 2018 Teaser: With Louise and CJ

It's 16 degrees and its a good temperature to spend some quality time in Baguio.  Another great reason is that my sister and I celebrated our Birthdays together (as in same date of January 4)!

So it's Louise' first time in Baguio and I am very excited for her! We went up together with her beloved CJ.  Of course they will never miss the famous landmark in Baguio which was the Lion's Head - we arrived there at around 3am so it's dark but it did well because there weren't a lot of tourists taking pictures.

We stayed at our favorite place in Baguio (I think it's our 4th time here), at Mountain Lodge.

We chose to stay here over and over again because we always felt like Home everytime we are here in Baguio.. Let me share more about this place in another post..

First stop was at Cemetery of Negativism.

More about this Cemetery will be created in another post.

Then to Philippine Military Academy.
PMA is one of the most visited tourist spots here in Baguio.  Aside from the cool breeze, there are a lot more to see on how our PMA'ers live their lives here with a lot of Discipline!

When I was about to graduate High School, Papa would tell me to go to PMA and be a Police Woman because he knows I can handle it.  Fast forward to many years from there.. I may not be a Police Woman but I am serving my country in the very best of my abilities.  

One of the qualities that we are looking for a person, for our family and friends is also one of the core quality of a PMA'er.  LOYALTY!

More about PMA in this other Post.

After we took our rest and lunch, we went ahead to Wright Park.

Know what you can do in Wright Park in another post.

Shortly after we went and had our visw of The Mansion. 

Let's end it for now.. see you in my nex post!!

Xoxo