Christmas In Baguio: Anika's First Horseback Riding

After having breakfast, we all got ready for a big "pasyal" day ahead of us. While waiting for the others, Alvin, Anika and I (with Jekjek) went down for the free pony rides care of Hotel Elizabeth. This will be the first time ever that Anika will see a live horse and ride one =)

Our baby's outfit of the day:

Long sleeved princess tee from Baby Zara, denim skirt from Baby Zara, pink Havaianas

 There was a gigantic Christmas tree at the lobby. It was beautiful and we couldn't resist having our photos taken there. Hence, our family Christmas photo =)

My outfit of the day:

Mango white sando, denim shorts from Forever 21, blue sweater from the NOEL bazaar and fitflops

The horse arrived after a few minutes. Anika was a little bit scared at first.

But eventually warmed up to Tanzan, the horse. Si Nanay na ngayon ang scared because she kept pinching the horse's ears...

... and then kept on trying to touch its face...

... then poked its nose! Kaloka grabe! Kita niyo my grip sa jacket ni Anika? I was super scared! Haha!

Alvin's artistic shot of the horse boys:

Since I'm afraid of the horse, Alvin was the one who accompanied Anika while she rode her horse. We changed Anika into her leggings before we made her ride it.

Ang Nanay naman nagkapagexercise because I had to run a few meters before them so that I could take these photos:

Look at Anika. She does this everytime there's sun or light in her eyes! =)

I was panting so bad by this time but still managed to smile for the camera =D

Here are the keepsake photos to document our baby's first ever horse ride:

Alvin forced me to have a photo with Anika and the horse. See the frozen smile on my face?

"Nanay, don't be scared. Tanzan is harmless!"

Can you see me?! Lol!

"Nanay! I'm so having so much fun! Don't be scared ayt?"

Easy for her to say! I was scared that the horse might see a mouse and then run like there's no tomorrow with Anika on its back. Parang cartoons lang.

Anyways, Papa and my youngest brother, Noel, went down to take photos of Anika and her horse too! =)

Here we are in front of Hotel Elizabeth

I commend Hotel Elizabeth for preparing activities for the kids like this for the holidays. They also had kids' movies being shown the whole day at the lobby and face painting and gingerbread decorating activities in the afternoon!

Thanks for reading guys! Only an hour left and the year 2012 will be here already! =)

Happy new year to all of you!

Things I Am Grateful For: The 2011 Edition

The new year will be arriving in a few hours and I won't let this year end without making a blog entry for the things I am grateful for for the year 2011. There were ups and downs this year but me and my family have gone through it. This year made me, my relationship with my husband and my immediate family relationship stronger. There were lesson learned, friends lost and gained, experiences treasured and memories to keep this year. So without further ado, here are the things/persons I am thankful for this year:

1.) Alvin

I will never get tired of saying that I have the best husband in the entire world! He's been supportive of me, my career, my blogging and all else that makes me happy. He's a great provider and could rival a saint with his patience. I seriously couldn't ask or even imagine to ask for any other lifetime partner, bestfriend, lover and father of my child rather than him. I have long felt that he will be the man I will marry someday and I am eternally grateful to our Lord for giving him to me.

2.) Anika Summer

My daughter is our joy and our everything. She makes all shitty days happy for Alvin and me. We strive to be better persons for her. We are mighty proud because she's very bibo and very smart. A blog reader commented that why daw all mommy bloggers claim that their babies are intellectually advanced when she read my blog entry about the Educational Toy. Well, one, maybe she's not a mom yet because all moms I know are very, very proud of their babies. And two, I have to mention that a licensed pre-school teacher also claimed that Anika is very advanced for her age so.. take that! Ha! I love my baby! She brings joy not only to Alvin and me but to a lot of other people out there too!

3.) My family

My family may be far from perfect and we each have our own hangups but I would never ever trade them for anybody else. My dad has been a great provider for all of us and I can say that I would not be where I am now if not for him. My mom's been my bestfriend eversince and she continues to guide me now that I am a mom too. My brother Toots and Noel may now be living apart from me but we are still close and we'd do anything for each other. I am thankful for LT for taking care of us especially during the hard days. She remains to be my most favorite aunt ever. Faye is the sister I never had. I love her to bits because of her selflessness and her love for Anika. I would remain always thankful also for Girlie and Jekjek who make my household life easier (and funnier) at home.

4.) My Turnover Group

I admit I'm not an easy boss. I strive perfection and I am grateful that I have the best group of people to work with. I love each and everyone of them. I value their loyalty so much and I do my best to make sure they learn from what they do. Thank you so much guys from the bottom of my heart.

5.) Career 

I am very happy I found a company to work for who share the same insights and values that I do. Customer service first above own profit. I am thankful that they saw my potential and have recognized it. I feel valued and more inspired to work. I am grateful that I am learning from the some of our country's best.

6.) My friends

I have often been teased that I have so many friends but the real ones can only be counted by my fingers. My bestfriends, you know who you are. Thank you so much for being there when I needed you most. We seldom see each other but distance and time apart never changed the friendship. I love you guys.

7.) Mommy Fleur Blog

This started as a hobby that turned into an instrument to put out my thoughts, entertain people and sometimes help my fellow shopaholics and new mommies out there. I am grateful for the friends I made: Frances, Martine, Benz, Rone, Cai, Aimee and other mommy bloggers out there na walang sawang nagbabasa ng blog ko.  Thank you so much for your friendship =)

And last but not the least, thank you so much to...

8.) All My Blog Readers

Kayo na! Kayo na talaga! Without you guys, walang Mommy Fleur. Thank you so much for all the support, help and comments that you leave here. I may not reply agad but everytime I read the messages that you leave, it really warms my heart. You are my inspiration here. Everytime something nice happens to me or when I discover a good find or Girlie and Jekjek banter with each other, I immediately think of you guys. Kailangan ko ma-share sa inyo yun! Thank you so much!

I couldn't end this blog entry without thanking our Lord Almighty for being generous to us, for keeping us from harm and being there when we need him. Thank you so much!!

Happy New Year guys!

My New Hair by Regine's Salon

I will interrupt my Baguio series muna because baka ma-umay kayo. Last Wednesday after putting Anika to sleep for her morning nap, I headed to Regine's, my trusted parlor since my high school days. I was going to have my hair make over na. It's gonna be my birthday on Monday and I didn't want to turn 25 with a haggard hair.

Choz.

I was there very early and was told that Rexie (my and Mama's hairdresser) will be arriving at 11am. I decided to head to Glorietta 3 muna to have breakfast at Subway restaurant.

Tamang tama, Php 99 lang ang roastbeef sandwich on Wednesdays!

For those of you who don't want the cheap sandwich for the day, here's a tip on how to order:

I love my sandwich! I put everything on it except onions with honey something dressing. I feel so healthy! I could it this everyday. Ok, I'm kidding. I have to have ice cream every now and then.

I made it into a meal. You just have to add daw Php 60 ata yun.

Healthy na sana eh noh? =)

I now enjoy eating by myself. When I was younger (and a lot more insecure), I hated eating by myself. I felt that people around me were staring at me. It comes with age siguro. Now, keber sa iba. I can be alone with my sandwich and my thoughts. I am able also to people watch =)

After brunch, I headed back to Regine's. I have been going to Regine's since high school and it was Rexie who has been cutting my hair all these years. I tried other salons (Garon of Toni and Guy is good too. Better than in Henri Calayag. That's for me ha?) pero I keep coming back to Regine's.

Regine's is located at the second floor of The Link in front of Landmark in Makati.

I love the chic interiors.

When Rexie arrived, the first thing he said was, "Nagka-anak ka lang, dumalang na punta mo sa akin ha!" I said, "Pasensya na. Wala talaga akong time, promise!". He said, "Che! Ang tagal mo na sa akin noh? Naalala ko pa dati, broken hearted ka. Ang haba ng buhok mo. Tapos sabi mo new look. Tinapyasan ko nga ng bongga ang hair mo. Gumanda ka naman!"

This haircut was the one he was talking about:

Grabe, panahon pa ni kopong kopong but he still remembered!

Anyways, I told him that I wanted a haircut that would give life to my hair. I also wanted to try to color my hair. I have never, ever had my hair colored in my entire life. Rexie suggested to have it cellophaned (whatever the spelling is!) na lang. He chose the color. I doubted for a second but gave in because like I said, I trusted him.

Here's me with my dull and lifeless hair, pre-makeover.

Goodbye pangit hair!

They put a dye and wrapped it in cellophane. I guess that's why they call it cellophane. Duh! =/

Pansinin ang scarf watch ko. Ganda diba? =)

 And then they placed me under this revolving machine. Parang alien lang.

Punyeta, I panicked because my hair was red!!! But Rexie calmed me and said that pagtinamaan lang daw ng araw ganyan.

After 30 minutes or one hour siguro yun, they washed my hair. The scent of the shampoo and conditioner that they used makes me remember the good old days. I bought one bottle of their conditioner tuloy. It smells really good! Then Rexie came over to cut my hair.

Here's the finished product. Pagpasensyahan, au natural ako ditech. No make up.

I LOVE MY HAIR!!!

I love you so much Rexie!!!

A short kwento. I just have to post our funny conversations here.

ME: Alam mo Rexie, madalas din sayo nagpapagupit si Mama ko. Kilala mo siya? Winne name niya.

REXIE: Winnie? Ang dami ko kasing ginugupitan ateh eh. Ang kilala ko yung officemate mo.

ME: Si Peachy? Oo bestfriend ko din yun. Pero impossibleng hindi mo kilala Mama ko. Ang dadal nun eh.

REXIE: San ba nagtratrabaho Mama mo?

ME: Sa blah blah blah.

Rexie was silent then he got his phone.

REXIE: Eto ba ang cellphone number ng mama mo?

ME: Oo noh!!! Yan na nga!

REXIE: Punyeta ka! Mommy mo pala si Ma'am Winnie! Nagtatawagan kaya kami nun!

Kayo na. Kayo na ang close. Haha! After 15 years, it was only last Wednesday that Rexie found out na magnanay pala ang dalawa niyang suki! =)

Anyways, I highly recommend Rexie of Regine's Salon. Two people have already told me that the dye of the cellophane will make hawa sa towel but I have washed my hair twice already and so far, hindi pa siya naghahawa sa towel =) Bonggels right? =)

The cost:

Cellophane: Php 1,700
Haircut: Php 400
Tips: Php 150

Advance Happy New Year everybody! -From me, Alvin, Anika and my new hair! =)

Christmas In Baguio: Breakfast at Hotel Elizabeth

Waking up in Baguio is one of my highlights of this trip. I love waking up to the cool, fresh air and pine trees smell. How I wish this could happen everyday!

This is the view outside our balconies. I know I've said this a thousand times but the smell and feel of Baguio reminds me a lot of Amsterdam. Now, with Papa with us, it seriously look and feel like we were in Amsterdam. Lol!

This is almost the same view as outside Papa's flat in Holland.

We all had to make tambay outside haha!

Cutie patootie!

We were torn for breakfast. Inside our suite, there's coffee and warm cinnamon rolls that Faye's boyfriend's mom baked. It was so freaking good!

We didn't want to make sayang the free breakfast so some of us went down to eat in their restaurant. Toots went down first but went back up because there were no bacons served downstairs. Nagpaluto na lang ang lolo mo ng German sausages that Papa brought from Amsterdam.


Here are photos that I took before eating:

Cornflakes and bread with butter and strawberry jam.

 

The pancakes were normal. I find it weird they serve salad for breakfast.

Egg omellette! I always order mushroom, ham and cheese! 

Garlic rice and pancit. Normal.

Bangus, longanisa and tapa. No bacon. What is a hotel breakfast without bacon?!

 After eating, Papa went outside to take some photos. Who could blame him? The scenery was so beautiful!

Stand by for Anika's first ever horse back riding! =)