Date Nights

I sometimes miss dating.

There, I said it. You know, that occasion when it’s just me and the Hubby, sipping red wine (or iced tea!), looking at each other’s eyes. We used to do that even when we already had three kids. We would tuck them to bed earlier, pray that the yayas would only be half-asleep, and explore the night. I would look forward to dressing up with fancy, almost sexy clothes and wear red lipstick. Then I would giggle my heart out in the car.

Zara blouse
Guess Jeggings
Feud Maryjanes

We would go to the movies, even if the film was not worth a five star. Now, we would just download from the internet. We would try a newly opened restaurant, and hoping the food was as edible as it was written on the menu. Now, fancy food is synonymous to take out and food to go.

Now I just dress up (definitely not sexy clothes) to attend the mass. The red MACs are all expired, and I only put on beige hues. I don’t know what’s new in the night scene. I don’t even know what people wear, or talk about at night.

Sometimes when I bring this up to the Hubby, he kind of looks at me like I’m talking Swedish, or some alien talk. It’s like his confused stare tells me, aren’t your MacBook Pro and the iPhone and my iPad2 enough to occupy our time until our eyes droop to dreamland?

No, dear Hubby, there are times when they aren’t enough.

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Movie Recall: Date Night (2010)

The Story: Phil and Claire Foster are a couple wanting to spice up their marriage life by doing something different on their scheduled date night. Little do they know that this decision will give them more than the thrill they have expected.

My Review: The combined comedic timing of Tina Fey and Steve Carell makes this film so funny and relatable. In the movie, the couple has scheduled date nights, supposedly to free themselves from the daily grind of work and kids, but they end up being bored with the date nights themselves. Some of the situations in the film may be too preposterous to be taken seriously, but I still rooted for them to conquer the day and save their marriage. While the situation may be filled with tongue-in-cheek moments, the fact that the couple is feeling a slump in their relationship makes for a serious tone. For couples who have been married for a long time (aherm!), this movie is a wake-up call to spice some things up, and not be complacent on the routine of marriage. 

Trivia:

In all of Mark Wahlberg's scenes, he is shirtless. His scenes were carefully filmed at specific angles to avoid showing a tattoo of Bob Marley that he has on his left shoulder.

In the scene where Tina Fey's character is preparing for bed, she is shown wearing a "University of Virginia" T-shirt. Tina Fey graduated there in 1992.

Despite the fact that his character's minimal apparel is a running joke throughout the movie, there is a dedicated wardrobe assistant to Mark Wahlberg listed in the end credits.

The name of the strip joint where the Fosters go to meet the DA (The Peppermint Hippo) is a based on a famous chain of gentlemen's clubs called The Spearmint Rhino.

The erotic dance between Steve Carell and Tina Fey was improvised but to make them feel awkward in character, director Shawn Levy shouted obscure phrases to them while behind the camera.

(http://www.imdb.com)

Breaking Up Isn't That Hard

Topshop Shirt
Club Monaco Skirt
Celine Flats

Let's talk about breaking up. Wala lang.

When I broke up with relationships in the past (pers lab, bes prens, etc), it was not because of unfaithfulness or petty quarrels. Well, these may be reasons that aggravated the drift, but the main one was because I felt the other person was not happy with me anymore. I’m not the type to grovel at someone’s feet just to hold someone to love me back. That would be pity, and I don’t want that. Kung ayaw mo, ayoko na rin. I don’t want to try to please a person every second of our time together just to keep his friendship. Nakakapagod yun--at hindi masaya. Promise, I’ll be the one to first let go.

Not that I haven't experienced crying over someone, manhid ko naman kung ganun. Pride? Sorry, but I call it preserving my dignity. It’s the only way I can respect myself. After all, if it’s meant for me, then it’s meant to be. Otherwise, I let go.


P.S. Kaya KC, okay lang yan. You deserve someone much, much better than Mama P!!!

My Secret Dream House

'Tis the season of wish lists and gifts.


Now, we don’t own a house. The Hubby has been transferred every five or so years from city to city that our dream house has taken a backseat in our plans (although we have a lot property in one of the subdivisions here in Bacolod). Of all the material things that I have been wishing for from my Fairy Godmother, having a humble castle I could call my own is always on top of my wish list.

The bestseller ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne encourages everyone to visualize what you want to have in your life.  ‘1. Ask…..2. Believe…..3. Receive.’ The book says the clearer the images are in your mind, the easier it will be attracted to you. So I’m going to ask and believe more fervently this time by creating visual pictures in my head and putting it here. It will be so vivid that I feel that I’m actually under its roof. Yes, I believe in it so much that this is how my Dream House is going to look like:

1.       The Façade: Modernist. Squarish. No balcony, please. Unless the house would sit at the top of a mountain, a balcony would be a waste for me. I’m not hoping for a Romeo and Juliet Drama, so scratch that overhang.

2.      The living room must have a high ceiling—high enough to put a cool light fixture.

3.      Open Kitchen and Dining. The Fam should enjoy cooking and eating together. The colors should be vivid, like saffron orange, or sunny yellow.

4.      The master’s bedroom should have a zen feel to it. And please, please provide for a walk-in wardrobe leading to the bathroom.

Walk-in closet ala-Barbie..why not?

5.      The Master's bathroom should be themed in black and white.

6. One room for the Daughter and a shared room for the Boys.

7.      A Family/Study/Guest room. Somewhere the Fam could all hang out together.

I WILL HAVE my Dream House in Cebu this 2012. Fairy Godmother...Genie...PCSO...can you all hear me?

Project Run Away

Raise your hands if you are a mom who helps their kids on their homework, especially on their art projects.


I know that they are supposed to be the ones to do these things, talking about honesty over grades. But hey, if you are have a son like my Paolo, who can't cut art paper straight, and he is already a senior high, then for your peace of mind, you are better off to do the project than let him have a go at it, only to find out later that you have to re-do everything.

When I was still in school, although I have a little talent in craftmaking (ahem!), I still called my mother for help (and our helpers)--especially when it was already crunch time, and I was still halfway on the rug project, and the deadline would be the next day. Luckily, I was never questioned by my teacher, nor I felt guilty of submitting the projects. Nagpuyat din naman kasi ako. Salamat, Ms. Sanchez et al,  I almost always got good grades in Art.


But Pao's a different case. He wanted to try doing it on his own, but the results would always be disastrous. Always. So I have to try recovering what can be salvaged from his work to make it more presentable to the teacher and to deserve a grade of at least 80 (yun na lang ang aim ko!). I tell him to let me do it the first time, to save on the materials, time, and space in our trash can. Nowadays, he doesn't fight me on this anymore. 


And his latest 'project'? A Christmas lantern. Anu ba, I asked Pao. Do you have to be assigned to make a crappy project like this which can't even teach you a skill to go to a university, much less to improve the economy in the future? Projects are supposed to enhance a skill  or teach the student something relevant. Why do these teachers still ask their 4th year students to make a parol? Can't they assign them with robots or circuits or some high-tech things like those? While other school children of their age are tinkering with making their own computers or programs, my son is forced to make a parol. Seriously?


Anyway, after my verbal diatribe on how their schools sucks, I still started doing his project. Now take a peek at my latest obra. I wonder what grade WE would get?

Love and Other Drugs

When I met the Hubby-to-be, he was a chain smoker.

Now, I didn’t smoke, never have. Well, if you count one whole stick of Philip Morris when I was in 4^th year high school, then you might say I have tried at least once. But I never liked the smoke coming in my lungs, much less the after taste it gave my breath. So the habit never caught me. Then here comes this guy who smoked, and I fell in love with him. So crazy in love that I’m willing to forget that he smoked.

MNG blouse
MNG Skirt
Celine Wedges

Then we got married. Had the Daughter. When she was a baby, she had a cold and when I brought her to the pediatrician, the doctor asked me if someone smoked in the house. That brought the discussion with the Hubby to stop smoking. For the Daughter’s health. For my health. More importantly, for his health. I tried all kinds of strategies—persuasion, calm talks, threats. I told him if he got sick because of smoking, I wouldn’t take care of him. (Mean ba?) I even swore to start smoking myself if he didn’t stop. (Of course, I didn’t!) But nothing worked at that time. Although he promised me he would quit the habit one day. In his time.

Well, one day I woke up not remembering when his last cigarette was. It has been—what?—almost ten years since he last touched a lighter. He said he even hates the smell of smoke now. So I guess he wouldn’t be backsliding anymore.

Now he has decided not to drink Coke. Just like me. And his kids. I don't know what got into him, but he just decided--just like that. Hey, no one's complaining.

He is in his two weeks. And counting.

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Movie Recall: Love and Other Drugs (2010)

The Story: 

Maggie is an alluring free spirit who won't let anyone - or anything - tie her down. But she meets her match in Jamie, whose relentless and nearly infallible charm serve him well with the ladies and in the cutthroat world of pharmaceutical sales. Maggie and Jamie's evolving relationship takes them both by surprise, as they find themselves under the influence of the ultimate drug: love.

My Review:

Why do silly  love stories always get me? Is it Anne Hathaways’s enormous puppy eyes, or Jake Gyllenhaal’s boyish charms? Anyways, these two great actors made good chemistry on the screen that I was convinced that they were meant for each other, in spite of the Parkinson’s disease looming in between them. One of the most challenging hurdles a relationship could have is if one of the parties is sick and unhealthy. And the main character realized that living with someone sick that he loves is better than all the promotion, money, free girls, and a Jaguar in the world. Aww, so what is there not to love in this sappy movie?

Trivia:

The film is based on a book ('Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman') by a former Pfizer rep. He says the book is a "jumping off point." In the book there is no love interest. The author, Jamie Reidy, says he left all of that out because he thought his mother would read the book.

In designing the sex scenes, Director Edward Zwick had the principals watch romantic comedies and sexually charged films (everything from "Pillow Talk" to "9 Songs" to "Last Tango In Paris") and talk about what turned them on. Then some of those shots and ideas were incorporated into the making of.

To prepare for their respective roles, Jake Gyllenhaal spent time with Jamie Reidy, the author of the book this film is based on, and Anne Hathaway spent time with Lucy Roucis, an actress stricken with Parkinson's disease, who has a role in the film.

Some of the clothes Anne Hathaway wears in the film come from costume designer Deborah Lynn Scott's own wardrobe.

Patti Podesta designed Maggie's loft to be in stark opposition to the cold, sterile, medical buildings Jamie works in.

(http://www.imdb.com)

Art Attack Ep.3

Sporadic inspirations yet but come...

Trina, my niece

Lisa, my pretty Korean student

Would you believe she still wants to have plastic surgery? Kainez, di bah?

And my fave, our birthday card for the Hubby. 

Issa admitted I got it this time!

The Hubby's gonna hang me for putting this here!!! Ha ha ha!

Pawee!

It's a different feeling when you have a son. You want to get close to him. Know what he is thinking. Know how he is feeling. But somehow, you don't want to pry too much. You don't want to make him a Mama's boy.


I am now living with Paolo, my elder son. (Well, my two other kids are living separately from me.) On some days I feel I have a strong connection with him. Sometimes I feel he's miles apart. Sometimes he's very thoughtful. Sometimes he couldn't care less.


One day, it was drizzling while the two of us were coming out of a mall. He removed his polo shirt and put it on my head (Thoughful!) There was another day when he let me wait for him outside his friend's house for a long time (Thoughtless!) On other days, when I pick him up from school, he buys buko juice from their canteen and gives it to me. (Thoughtful!) Ahay, teenage boys!


Happy birthday, Pawee! I love you very, very!

Twilight Scare

I don't know which one is more frightening. The thought that the most famous vampire is procreating, or of what Bella and Edward's children would look like.


See for yourself.

http://www.dailymakeover.com/blogs

Wazzup, Wazzup Maria Salome Herrera-Villaruel

I first met Bing at…

               at the office through her sister, Ben who was my friend and officemate.

I was Ate Bing's maid of honor;-)

I’m now based in…

Cebu City

I’m busy with…

         my kids

I can cook…

         oh no! I can't cook unless cooking rice and frying fish count 

My closet is full of…

clothes and journals and greeting cards from relatives & friends

My most fave me-place is...

Ayala Center  it's my happy place, my second home.

My obsession is…

obssessed with watches, shoes and bags

Life is…

not fair. Ha ha.

I don't mind having more…

watches

Now, Mimi is…

             I can't believe I am now a stay-at-home mom! I am still the same old moody but funny Mimi, maldita when provoked 

I Wish I Were Big...

Or older. Or better yet, taller. These were the wishes of my childhood past.

When I was a teenager, I wore clothes that made me look double my age. In UP, I can’t forget my BFF Babs asking me why I wore frilly dresses and laced blouses for school. All my female classmates in Eng’g wore staple jeans and simple cotton shirts. I don’t know if she was embarrassed walking in the campus with me because I looked like her mom, but she stayed by my side anyways, so I guess she thought I passed as her younger tita, so keri na rin. Honestly, I felt jeans and t-shirts would make me look juvenile (ok, yagit na rin!).  I wanted to appear more sophisticated, less innocent perhaps?

UK Babydoll Dress
Keds Sneakers

Fast forward to my mid-forty years. The Daughter often scrutinizes the way I dress up. She thinks that sometimes, my choice of wardrobe is skewed to the teenybopper era. No, I’m still not your T-shirt kinda gal, but my eyes light up when I see babydoll dresses and short skirts. I always think that I can still pull it off, but Issa snaps her fingers at me and says,  “Mom, wake up. Not age-appropriate!” Sensya na anak, nagdadalaga ulit! Ha ha.

Now that I feel old age creeping behind me, I’m wishing and singing a different tune. I wish I were as healthy and as supple as I was twenty years ago. No wrinkles. No sunspots. No fibrocystic breasts.

Fairy godmother, will this wishing ever end?

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Movie Recall: Big (1988)

The Story: Josh, a thirteen-year old boy, makes a wish at a fairground fortune telling machine to be big after he was told he was too short for a carnival ride. He wakes up the following morning to find that his wish has been granted and he is 30 years old overnight. Inside, he is still the same boy. Now he must learn how to cope with the unfamiliar world of grown ups including getting a job, and having his first romantic encounter with a woman. In the end, he decides to do what is best for his happiness.

My Review: This movie is officially one of the most memorable comedy movies for me. First of all, I watched it on a special screening sponsored by my first ever org in UP, the IE Club. Second, Tom Hanks was still the gorgeous and cute young actor who perfectly portrayed a twelve-year old boy trapped in a body of an adult. Third, it was the time that I realized that the mantra, “Be careful what you wish for” should be taken seriously. After watching the movie, I couldn’t help but feel thankful of the blessings that I have, and just wished that the blessings would not come pouring down, but just trickling in.

Trivia:

Tom Hanks was the first choice to play Josh Baskin but was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts with the films Dragnet and Punchline. Robert De Niro was then offered the lead role, and was rejected because his salary demand ($6 million) was too high. Tom Hanks then became available and accepted the lead role for $2 million. David Moscow was originally cast not as young Josh, but as Billy, since he didn't look like Robert De Niro. When Tom Hanks was given the role, David Moscow was recast as young Josh.

To give star Tom Hanks an idea of how a 12 year-old would behave, director Penny Marshall filmed each "grown-up" scene with David Moscow (Young Josh) playing Tom Hanks's part, who then copied David Moscow's behavior.

According to actor Robert Loggia, on the day they filmed the famous keyboard scene at F.A.O. Schwarz, he and Tom Hanks noticed that doubles dressed like them were on hand just in case the two could not do the dance moves correctly. It became their goal to do the entire keyboard number without the aid of the doubles. They succeeded.

This is why I've always regretted not taking piano lessons!