Out Of The House

The Bento Mommas Meet The Alabang Moms #Crafternoon Group

August 31, 2014 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 12 Comments

On days when it’s extra hard to get up early and prepare baon, I remind myself that there’s this amazing group of working moms who not only cook food for their kids, but make sure that the lunch boxes are super cute, too. I first discovered The Bento Mommas on Instagram, and I always look forward to seeing what they’re packing for the day. I eventually met one of them, Kaye (aka @momma_makes_imbento on IG), through my favorite neighborly neighbor, Michelle.

Fast forward to a few months after I first met Kaye. Even though I knew that my creative and artistic levels are quite limited, I jumped at the chance to join the bento session with these amazing Bento Mommas here in Alabang. Michelle organized the class and invited members of our #Crafternoon group to join. I wasn’t sure what to expect, or how I would do, but I went anyway. I had nothing at all to lose and a whole lot to learn after all.

We made two bento boxes that day, one rice box and a sandwich box. Honestly, with all the tools and ingredients spread out on the tables, I was intimidated! But the Bento Mommas are so great at guiding us newbies and explaining what to do, that I was actually able to complete my boxes. And they were cute, ha!

A bento kit to take home, bento tools for borowing during the workshop, and Bento Mommas, April and Monet

I knew right away that I made the right choice to attend when I was greeted by this bag full of goodness right when I arrived at the venue. Oh the joy! GLAD is one of my favorite brands coz their products are all so handy dandy. They’re also perfect for bento making, as I soon discovered.

See, GLAD sandwich bags are the best for molding rice!

I am so proud of myself for turning that rice ball into this cutey bunny bento! That’s my super fave Marky’s chicken on the right side of the box, skewered onto bamboo sticks. My bunny face was made of cut out nori, which was probably the toughest part of the entire lunch box assembly. The “hair clip” stars are made of salami, and as you can see, I quickly discovered the joys of using shape cutters. They make things so easy! If I were to buy one bento tool, it would probably be some sort of cutter. Kaye taught us how to cut that mini carrot out of a big carrot, and finish it off with a food pick. Those are great tools, too. Insta-cute! This rice box also included apple bunnies (mine were ugly, so no photos of those haha) and the cutest sugar cookies made by Michelle and her daughter, Gia.

Galing no?! And look, we used a GLAD food keeper for this! It’s the perfect size.

Our sandwich boxes were made of whole wheat and white bread that was cut and assembled into a bear. We were actually supposed to cut our nori up to define the bear’s facial features. As you can see from the photo, I decided to skip that step. The bunny used up all of my allotted scissor skills for the day. Hindi na kaya ng powers ko. The sandwich had salami and cheese inside, and I added a cookie, some marshmallows and skewered fruits around it. This one was much easier to do than the rice box.

There's my sandwich bear, my packed up rice box, and my bunny bento side by side with Kaye's bunny — Here’s my sandwich bear, my packed up rice box, and my bunny bento side by side with Kaye’s blushing bunny

It was a great first bento-making experience, and while I have yet to really practice and experiment further at home, I’m glad I got to learn how to make these cute baon boxes. As soon as I got home, my kiddo, siblings and parents ate up everything I had prepared. And they really liked it, too. Yun lang, it took all of a few minutes for them to finish something I took a few hours to make. It was worth it, though.

Thank you, super, to The Bento Mommas for coming over to our province of Alabang. We had a blast! And thank you, too, to our generous sponsors, GLAD, Marky’s Chicken, Tabasco, Smuckers and Treetop for our kits and goody bag treats.

Oh the boys were so happy when I unpacked these from my loot bag!

It’s always fun spending time with new and old friends. I especially enjoy hanging out with mommy friends. Plus, our kids get to play together while we do our mommy thing, and that’s definitely a good thing.

We’re looking at having another Alabang Bento #Crafternoon with The Bento Mommas in September, so if you wanna join, let me know!

Spread Healthy Smiles with Lotte Xylitol Dental Health Gum

August 13, 2014 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 20 Comments

I actually attended a blogger event a couple of weeks ago. You know I’m really picky with the events that I attend because I don’t like disrupting my weekday driver duties schedule. But, when my friend Ginger sent me an invite to the Lotte Xylitol What Makes A Healthy Smile Blogger Meet Up, I knew right away that I wanted to be there. I’m glad I came because I really learned a lot. I think the most shocking thing I discovered that day was this.

Uh-oh! We rank #2 in the world among countries with the highest percentage of caries among school children!

I come from a family where health and dental care are taken seriously, so I really am quite naive to the fact that many people are not the same way. Actually, both Big and Little MrC have gotten annoyed with me at some point because of my incessant nagging about brushing their teeth. I mean, seriously, how can you not see that this is important? Well, sadly many people do take dental health for granted, and so I’m glad that I now have the opportunity to share a little bit of info about kids and tooth decay. This isn’t something that should be taken lightly, parents!

Some tooth decay facts shown during the event

Dra. Fina Lopez, a pediatric dentist here in the Philippines, was the resource speaker for the afternoon. She shared a lot of tips on how to detect tooth decay, how it spreads and how to stop it once it’s there. She said that tooth decay can really have a negative effect on a child. Imagine, if the kid has a tooth ache, chances are he or she will be irritable. The kid won’t want to eat and will have trouble sleeping. In the long run, school may be affected, also interaction with others. And once the effects of tooth decay become visible, this may lead to insecurities, too.Yikes.

Pediatric dentist and resource speaker, Dra. Fina Lopez

Here are a few interesting (and somewhat alarming) facts about tooth decay.

9 out of 10 children in the Philippines suffer from tooth decay.
Tooth decay is caused by infectious Streptococcus mutans bacteria that can be transmitted to others.
Tooth decay-causing bacteria is first transmitted from mother to child from 9 to 13 months of age.

I honestly had no idea that tooth decay was contagious. So that means that if you have it, sharing a spoon with your kid, or even just blowing on their food to cool it down might cause you to transfer the bacteria to them. When I heard this, I suddenly thought of all of the times I shared utensils, cups, water bottles, even lollipops (I know, I was really into sharing) with friends growing up. I’m just so lucky that I never contracted tooth decay in spite of all this.

Now I wonder if my son does the same thing in school? Double yikes.

The thing with tooth decay is that prevention is really a better approach for it than treatment. In order to prevent it, we should really develop good oral hygiene and habits. Obviously, the same goes for our kids, and as parents it is our job to make sure that this happens. And believe it or not, we need to start the moment our kids’ baby teeth start to emerge. That’s because cavities and tooth decay on their milk teeth can cause infections in their permanent teeth.

So, here’s what you and your kids should do to prevent tooth decay.

Eat a well-balanced diet
Brush at least twice a day using a fluoride toothpaste
Floss
Schedule regular visits to the dentist
Chew on Lotte Xylitol Health Gum

Yep, Lotte Xylitol Health Gum can help prevent tooth decay. Chewing on 2 pellets 4 to 5 times daily does the trick. The best part about it is that this is something that even kids can do while at school. All you need to do is pack some Xylitol gum for them to chew on after recess and lunch. In case you were wondering, Xylitol is a natural sweetener that comes from birch trees. While it tastes like sugar, it is unlike sucrose or glucose in that it actually reduces the growth of cavity-causing bacteria. This is why Xylitol is often used to sweeten dental health products like candy and gum.

Lotte Xylitol is the only dental health gum recognized by the Philippine Dental Association. It’s sugarfree, helps fight cavity-causing bacteria, and promotes saliva flow, which helps to maintain healthy pH levels in the mouth. Chewing on gum also helps dislodge food particles that may have gotten stuck in between teeth, removes tartar from teeth surfaces and promotes remineralization, or the rebuilding of teeth enamel through its calcium phosphates component together with saliva production. It’s not hard to see how beneficial Lotte Xylitol gum can actually be, and so ever since the event I’ve started keeping a tube of it in my bag at all times. It comes in four yummy flavors – Blueberry Mint, Fresh Mint, Lime Mint and Strawberry.

The two top photos belong to Manila Workshops!

I know I make it sound like the event was so serious, but actually it was super light and fun. The afternoon was filled with great food and great company. I always enjoy myself when I’m with my mommy blogger friends. I love that this serious topic was discussed with us in such a light and easy to understand manner. I especially love how the bloggers were encouraged to talk as well, and it wasn’t just to ask questions, though there were a lot of those, too. I actually arrived late, and got there just in time to listen to a few of the moms introduce themselves and answer a random question, and then it became my turn to speak.

This was the question I got, and my answer was a pig because I feel that I am as fabulous as Miss Piggy.

So guys, now that we know all this, let’s do what we can to spread healthy smiles. We can start by joining the Lotte Xylitol Gum Smile Champions promo, which runs until August 28th. The contest is open to all parents with children aged 5-12 years old at the time of promo registration who reside within Metro Manila. Winners will have their own shining moment when they are featured in the Lotte Xylitol Facebook fan page, and will also receive PHP10,000 in cash and Lotte Xylitol Gum gift pack worth 1,000.

You still have over a week to join, so go and snap that perfect smile with your kiddo already! To see the full promo mechanics, and for more information, you may visit the Lotte Xylitol Gum Facebook Page here.

Dinner By the Beach and a Pico de Loro Morning

May 15, 2014 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 23 Comments

Before you start reading this post, please read my first Pico de Loro entry, just so you’re up to date. 🙂 Indulge me. Thank you.

Okay. After our property tour around the super big Pico de Loro Cove, Celine suggested that we grab some cold drinks at the Sun Coral Cafe, the Beach Club’s Filipino restaurant. Our dinner was to be served by the chef and servers of Sun Coral Cafe at a beautiful table set up right on the sand, so it was a good idea to hang around the area at cocktail hour. Plus, I was never one to say no to mojitos by the beach.

Mojitos and MIlo dinosaurs at cocktail hour

It was here that Tim and Little MrC really started chatting and bonding. After about ten minutes, they were BFFs already. Of course, no one was happier about their new-found friendship than their two mamas! While the boys were bonding, I took the time to chat with Tina and play with my favorite little girl, Baby Anne. I started talking to this little one when she was still in the tummy, and I was so happy that she instantly took to me, played with me, held my hand and let me carry her! I love this baby, I really do.

Dinner on the Beach

After only a few minutes, we were invited to head out onto the beach and get settled in for dinner. The setup was so romantic, just like the al fresco garden dinner we had last September at Taal Vista Hotel. In fact, a few feet away from our long table was a table for two all set up with candles and tiki torches. Yep, they can do this for you at Pico de Loro, so if you are celebrating an anniversary or planning a romantic proposal, keep them in mind!

Because Sun Coral Cafe specializes in Filipino food, we had a Pinoy feast with a twist for dinner. It was a little dark, so you’re gonna have to forgive my blurry photos. We started off with a lightly-dressed salad with apples, arugula and walnuts. I absolutely loved this. We were also served soup, a Batangas-style tinola that had squash in it instead of papaya. The soup was actually orange from the squash. MrC loved this one, and so did the kids. They ate mostly soup and rice for dinner.

Salad and soup, and a really lovely lantern

My favorite part of the entire meal was the rice. It was as if the rice was cooked in nilagang baka broth and topped with bulalo! So bad, but so, so good. There was also pancit habhab topped with egg, lechon kawali, crispy binagoongan, bistek-style fish and gising gising. I hope I didn’t forget anything! Dessert was a warm, gooey chocolate cake cooked on a skillet with vanilla ice cream, vanilla sauce and strawberry sauce that you could smother onto the chocolate. Just thinking about it is making my mouth water.

Fish bistek, pancit habhab with egg, our sinful dessert and the yummy gising-gising

The kids were served their own special dinner set. They had pizza, mac and cheese, mini burgers and huge scoops of ice cream for dessert. We were all so stuffed after this meal that we ordered pots of TWG tea to sip on as we chatted and digested.

Time to Say Goodnight!

Before long, we all started to get sleepy and it was time to head home to Pico Sands Hotel. The boys and I were pleasantly surprised with the good night “notes” and sweet treats we found in the room when we entered. The turn down service at this hotel is superb. Shades now covered the big windows, the bed was ready for us, and the room was super cold. While the little boy cleaned up, MrC and I ate some of the cookies and pastillas. Yes, more eating!

I was more than excited to take a shower after being outdoors all afternoon. The fluffy bath robe and bedroom slippers were calling out to me!

It’s important to note that the water at Pico Sands Hotel is not potable. They actually provide guests with bottled water in the bathrooms to use for tooth brushing. I was really happy about that. I usually make sure that we gargle with bottled water when we’re out of town just so I can be sure that we don’t end up with upset tummies.

We set an early alarm for May 1, so that we could be sure to make the most out of our one full day at Pico de Loro. The view outside our window was so beautiful that I literally had to take a photo from bed. We eventually managed to get ourselves off that cozy bed and out of room 627, so we could go grab breakfast at Pico Restaurant.

View from my pillow, and the boys from across the hall

Breakfast buffet, yay!

The breakfast buffet at Pico Restaurant was simple, hearty and filling. The usual pancake and egg stations were located in the garden, each within their own nipa huts. Super cute.

They served both steamed and garlic fried rice, plus a mountain of bacon, fried fish, beef tapa, and sausages. There was a small bread selection with peanut butter and jam, a cereal station, soup and salad. The juices were nice and refreshing and the fresh fruits at the buffet were really juicy and sweet.

We enjoyed breakfast. Yes we did. The only thing I didn’t like was the barako coffee, but that’s just because I really don’t like barako. I prefer arabica from the mountains, thankyouverymuch.

After breakfast, it was time to hit the pool! Unfortunately I was hormonal during our visit and so I had absolutely no pool action whatsoever. Argh. I really need to plan our return to Pico de Loro soon, just so I get to swim there. I’m still not over it.

Here you see the face of impatience as I slowly walked back to our room, slowly applied sunblock and then had him pose for a photo before swimming. I was stalling so that he could digest his breakfast!

Since I was stuck sunning by the pool, I took the opportunity to catch up on my reading. A few chapters in, and it started to get too hot for my rash-y skin, so I decided to order a watermelon shake to cool off.

Cooling off with a drink while they cooled off in the water

I like that the water depth in the pool of the Pico de Loro Country Cub is clearly marked, so the kiddo knows where he can and cannot go. The pool is also divided into sections, so kids can be confined in the shallower areas while adults and bigger kids are free to do their thing in the deeper areas. It makes for less paranoid parents, really. Plus, there are a lot of lifeguards around the area, and they are easy to spot in their red outfits. Safety first!

The boys took a break from swimming so that Little MrC and Tim could play in the video game room. After sitting by the pool for a couple of hours, I was also really looking forward to staying in a cold place for a bit and so I said yes to the digital distraction. I thought that after the game the kids would agree to just go to our rooms, shower and then have lunch, but I was so wrong. Tim and this little boy asked for more pool time, and of course us mommies had to say yes. Tina, Anne and I hung around and bonded instead while the two big boys swam with little Rysse.

We were all so tired after that second swim. We said our goodbyes to the Rodriguez family before we went to our rooms, because Tina and I were worried that the two little boys might ask to do more activities. Unfortunately, it was almost time to get ready to leave. We decided to order room service for lunch instead of going down to the restaurant because we were lazy (lol), and also so that we could have a little more time to pack and clean up.

Our trip to Pico de Loro was just what this little family needed this summer. We were really looking forward to a nice vacation, and I am so grateful that we were granted one. I overheard my mom telling my cousin, actually, that I have a good thing going on with this blog (her exact words were “Ang gand ng raket nya“). I may not earn much from it as far as money goes, but the things we get to see and do together as a family, all thanks to blogging, are simply irreplaceable.

This, my favorite smile, is the ultimate reward

Thank you so very much to the wonderful staff of Pico Sands Hotel, Pico de Loro Beach and Country Club, and to Celine and the team. It’s always a pleasure spending time with you guys. We are so excited to comeback to Pico and to Taal Vista real soon.

Pico de Loro Cove is located in Nasugbu, Batangas. For inquiries, please call Pico Sands Hotel at + 632 46478888. Visit their website at http://www.picodelorocove.com and stay connected at facebook.com/picosandshotel and instagram.com/picodeloroclub.

Perfect Pico de Loro

May 13, 2014 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 19 Comments

May has always been a month to look forward to in our family. MrC celebrates his birthday in May, and I also get my celebration on Mother’s Day. It’s the middle of summer, so the little boy is often in high spirits, and, best of all, the month begins with a holiday. What’s not to love about May?

Well, this year our wonderful friends from Pico de Loro (who happen to be our same wonderful friends from Taal Vista Hotel) gave us one more reason to love May. I had been wishing, hoping and dreaming about a summer getaway ever since school closed at the end of March. Finally, sometime mid-April, I received an invite from Celine Arenillo, Area Marketing Communications Manager for Pico de Loro and Taal Vista, for an overnight stay at Pico Sands Hotel. Happy, happy, joy, joy! Even better, we were scheduled to visit the place at the same time as my bloggy mommy friend, fellow WMB contributor, seatmate, group mate and dance partner, Tina Rodriguez and her family.

The Cuyugan and Rodriguez families with our super gracious host, Celine.

We left Alabang at a little past 2pm on April 30, a Wednesday. MrC had to report to work in the morning, and that’s why we weren’t able to head out until after lunch. It was a quick and easy drive along familiar roads. While most people take Cavitex on the way to Pico de Loro, that route is actually out of the way for us. Luckily, Pico is only a cove away from Patungan, home of Lolo’s Fishville, and we know how to get there via Imus, Trece Martires, General Trias, Ternate and Maragondon. Yup, it’s a tour of Cavite!

Pico Sands Hotel

We arrived at Pico Sands Hotel at just after 4pm. Celine greeted us at the reception area and explained our 2-day itinerary as we checked in. Of course, my curious little boy asked question after question about the food, the amenities and the activities available to us.

Check in was super quick and easy. We were given our key cards, a map of the grounds, a checklist of activities that we can do while at Pico, breakfast and beach towel coupons, and waterproof wrist tags that we had to wear in order to access all of the amenities. See, some areas are exclusive for members, and so non-member guests are given a different color tag from members and sponsored guests.

Everything we need to find our way around the hotel and country club

We were booked in a Corner Deluxe Room, which was really big and super cozy. Little MrC is at that age where he can still squeeze into a big bed with his dad and I, and we were happy that the bed was roomy, the pillows soft and the blanket fluffy. I knew right away that I would sleep like a baby at Pico Sands, just like I did at Taal Vista Hotel.

I love how light from the big windows flow into the room

Because we were in a corner room, we had a huge balcony. It was actually wrapped around two sides of the room. We also had lots of windows so the room was always bathed in light. The windows and balcony also gave us access to the gorgeous view of the man-made lagoon and the country club grounds.

I find that balconies are the best places to read or write, especially when the weather is pleasant. Because this summer is scorching, though, I hardly spent time outside. I opted to use the large writing desk inside the airconditioned room instead. I also didn’t bring my laptop on this trip because I just wanted to go on vacation so badly and so I decided to leave work at home. I think that was a super good move.

The perfect blogging spot + more photos inside the room

After we got settled and unpacked, I had to leave the boys for a bit to go on a property tour with Celine and the other bloggers in our group. They said they would go and explore on their own too, then sent me off. Back at the ground floor of the hotel, I saw Pico Restaurant where we would be having breakfast the next morning, and Pico Bar where I would have loved to grab a cocktail if we were staying longer.

Pico de Loro Country Club

Our first stop on the tour was Pico de Loro Country Club, which is only a short walking distance from the hotel. Guests staying at Pico Sands have access to the pool at the club, as well as the locker rooms, which are big, clean and nice smelling. Yay for that!

The Country Club also has bowling lanes and billiard tables, and it super reminded me of the resorts and country clubs I visited during my childhood. For the little kiddos, there’s Club Pico, a play place with tunnels, a ball pit and other fun activities. My kid is too big for this already, but Tina’s girls had the best time playing inside Club Pico.

For older kids who aren’t big enough for billiards or bowling yet, there’s always the Game Lounge, or, as Little MrC calls it, the video game room. At the beginning of our mini-vacation I declared that there would be no video games on the trip. But then on day two, something about the mid-day heat made me say yes to an hour of Plants vs Zombies on the PS3. I guess I was just really happy that my little boy and Tina’s son, Tim, really hit it off. They were so in-sync, it was as if they had already known each other for years.

I really would have wanted to try the videoke rooms, but later on decided that I would just save that experience for another visit. The Country Club has a restaurant called Lagoa, a Cafe Lounge and a Lanai Bar. There is also a large ballroom for corporate or social functions. In the same complex, there’s a really nice sports area with tennis and badminton courts, a basketball court, ping-pong tables, and even a squash/pelota area. This is really perfect for company team building or sportsfest activities. HR friends, take note!

There is also a convenience store at the lobby of the country club where members and hotel guests can buy things like food, sunglasses, and various other things. If you are looking to buy flip flops, beach bags, swimwear or cover-ups, though, you can actually visit the Kultura boutiques, which are located at the lobby of Pico Sands Hotel and the lobby of the Beach Club. I only got to take a quick peek at the convenience store before the shuttle arrived at the Country Club driveway, and it was time for us to go and check out the chapel.

Wouldn’t you want to get married here???

I love this chapel! It gives you a beautiful ocean sunset backdrop, just like what we had during my sister-in-law’s Bohol wedding, only with the added perk of airconditioning! It’s the best of both worlds, if you ask me. Celine said that this chapel has been used for a celebrity wedding, and also for the wedding of one of Henry Sy’s grandsons.

See that beautiful view? (Photo belongs to Tina!)

Meanwhile, in MrC land…

We caught up with the boys on our way to the Beach Club from the church. They were trying to catch a shuttle and ours just happened to drive by. I was so curious to know what they did while I was on the property tour. The photos I found in the camera were just so cute that I thought I’d share them here, too!

They checked out the country club, the beach and the grounds around the lagoon during the afternoon. That’s a lot of walking! No wonder they both looked tired when we picked them up.

Imagine, we did all of that in only a couple of hours, and day 1 of our vacation wasn’t over yet. After the property tour, we had cocktails and then dinner on the beach. And then day 2 was filled with lots of family fun and bonding with the Rodriguez’s! So much to write about and so many photos to share, but I will save the rest of the story for another post.

Have you been to Pico de Loro? If you haven’t yet, you really should add it to your list of vacation prospects. Honestly, I can’t wait to go back!

PICO SANDS HOTEL
Pico de Loro Cove, Hamilo Coast,
Barangay Papaya, Nasugbu, Batangas
+632 2147800 / +632 2147888 / +639178091289
reservations@picosandshotel.com
http://www.picodelorocove.com/
http://www.hamilocoast.com/
#/picosandshotel

For membership inquiries, call +632 9458000

Our Spiderman Movie Date with PLDT Home DSL

May 11, 2014 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 15 Comments

The boys and I rarely catch a movie on opening week because I don’t like crowds, and I’m not fond of crowded movie theaters. I was more than happy to make an exception for The Amazing Spiderman 2, though, when my friends Millie and Janice asked if the boys and I would like to attend a special screening that PLDT Home DSL was setting up. Of course our whole family said yes to that! I love family-oriented events like this one, and I love how PLDT Home DSL is an enabler of family-sized connections.

I was so happy about being invited to this event that I actually made the super mega effort of driving to Makati with the kiddo on a post-football afternoon, and with a fussy stomach, to pick up MrC from work so that we could make it to Eastwood Mall by 7pm. Oh, and I forgot to mention that we were really pooped because we had just arrived home from our Pico de Loro escapade the night before.

One of the highlights for me was seeing little Diego and his mom Lara, members of the Ledesma family who are featured in the PLDT Home DSL TVC. My son loves watching families and kids on TV, and I noticed that he really is influenced by them. He picks up jokes, shows an interest in things that they have and do, and even wants to try out the activities that he sees them engage in onscreen.

I like that Little MrC sees Diego interact with people online in these commercials through his Ask Diego Fan Page. See, we have a lot of family members who are abroad, and it’s only through the internet that they get to watch him grow. We’re on Skype often, and we make an effort to share photos and stories on Facebook also. I share stories here on the blog. MrC and the little boy like to shoot short videos that they share on a secret YouTube page that family members can access. Yep, we like to keep our kiddo’s videos private as a sort of protective measure.

Similarly, Daddy Paolo and Mommy Lara screen Diego’s page to be sure that the stuff he gets to see are all age-appropriate. Before he sees the questions, Paolo and Lara delete offensive content, and sometimes answer the more difficult questions themselves. Then they help him type out answers, especially when he asks about how to spell words. On occasion, Diego also gets ideas for answers from his Ate Trisha. I think that monitoring the age and answering the questions also provides their family with a fun bonding activity online.

In this sense, we can totally relate to the Ledesmas, who are a tight-knit family that enjoys doing things together online using multiple gadgets simultaneously to help one another out. And for us to be able to keep up with our online lives, we need limitless sharing with the strong reliable family-sized connection, exactly what PLDT Home DSL provides.

To sign up for your own strong, reliable family-sized connection of PLDT HOME DSL, visit pldthome.com.

Oh, and no, I’m not posting about the movie because I don’t want to be a spoiler in case any of you haven’t seen it yet. Just know that we LOVED it, and we are so glad we came to the event. Since you won’t get any movie info from me, #letsaskdiego about it on Facebook if you really wanna know!

Gourdo’s Scrapbooking Yard Sale

May 5, 2014 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

Wait, oh my gosh I should have posted this a week ago. Haynako, momnesia strikes again. Anyway…

Gourdo’s is inviting everyone to come and shop at their Scrapbooking Yard Sale, which actually started last May 1, and will go on until May 18. This is happening at the Gourdo’s Fort Bonifacio store. They’re offering a lot of great scrapbooking items at 50% off. Crafty friends, I think that you guys would totally go nuts here.

Gourdo's Scrapbooking Yard Sale — Gourdo’s Scrapbooking Yard Sale

Apart from great deals, there are also exciting activities lined up on the weekends. Bonus: There are gonna be lots of freebies, too! On Mother’s Day weekend, May 10-11, they will be having the I Love Mom Because… A Mother’s Day Craft Weekend. This is perfect for you guys who have no plans yet for mom’s day.

There’s going to be a mom and kid crafting activity, the Make n’ Take Activity by Mom and Me. The mom and me pair gets a free photo from Fuji Instax, which they can use to create a card or a scrapbook layout when they purchase a Make n’ Take kit.

If you do visit, don’t forget to check out the free demos from 1-5pm on May 10-11. There’s Calligraphy by Imma Frias, Punchers and Stamps by Ime Oranga, and other demos on Paper Flowers, Project Life and Smash Books.

Sounds like a lot of crafty fun!

For more details, visit the Gourdo’s website or Facebook Page.