Little accomplishments

Oh how I miss blogging! At first I thought the long holiday break would give me time to tend my much neglected blog huhu, boy was I wrong. I wanted to do a lot during the vacation but I don't know how time just simply flew by. I guess that's really the case when it's spent with the ones you love, which I don't regret.

Nevertheless, I was able to squeeze in some to dos or should I say little accomplishments specially when the kids were asleep. Allow me to indulge you a bit if you don't mind. For memories' sake narin ;)

1) Replenish my freezer stash - because unli-latching kami ni JD during the holidays, my milk supply improved and I was able to replenish my depleting freezer stash upto 3 days (just enough for quick out-of-town assignments at work).

2) "Sort of" finished my playroom project - as I've mentioned in my home decorating/decluttering posts here and here, I plan to do a simple storage project for the kids' room. This was my mom's idea actually. We were window shopping in SM and saw these little easy to assemble tables (parang Ikea lang) in various colors. I wanted really a parang bench with drawer bins underneath to store toys. But she said it's more expensive to have that custom made. At least these tables cost Php500 each only (if you have an SM Advantage card). Then we just covered some used cardboard boxes with scrap fabric, and voila! I also placed the wall decals we bought at SM Baby company for only Php45. Just two more boxes/bins to go. Hope I get to find the time.

Before

After

3) Manage our finances - Daddy A and I were able to take short trips to the bank during our leave to manage our funds and investments. Also, I chanced upon this great buy from National Bookstore at Php115 only. I vow this year to complete this monthly bill organizer and keep track of our expenses. It really helps kasi nakakakonsensya when you see how much you have spent the past month, and you can point out which are really necessities and which ones you can do without.

4) Post some blog entries - okay, at least there are a couple of entries, but the list of backlogs is still looong (see post). If only our internet isn't acting up, there would have been more.

Anyway, like I said I'm quite happy with the little accomplishments along the way. What's important is that I get to spend more time with my loved ones, those that matter most.

Mandaue Foam and Shangri-La East Wing

Dahil may hangover pa ko sa home makeover project ko (see post here), last Saturday, we decided to check out the newly opened Mandaue Foam showroom in Shaw Boulevard. Ang gondoh! It's much bigger than the one in Quezon Ave. Three floors siya but closed pa ung third floor. Nevertheless, our eyes feasted on home eye candies. Let me show you through the pictures below.





At home lang naman si R dito:







Here naman is the second floor:



R couldn't resist the playsets.




Mama availed of the mebership card for P500. Lifetime na un, which gives you a 10% discount on every purchase. Sulit na to specially for interior designers like her.



Our loots for the day were our shag carpet for the living room, a folding chair and cute clock for one of Mama's current projects.

Here's how the sosy carpet looks in our sala:



Sulit ang talaga ang prices dito. I could say they're much cheaper than in the malls. Enjoy talaga kami ni Mama dito.

Afterwards, we hopped over to Shangri-La mall ng masilip lang din ung new wing nila - The East Wing. Pang donya levels ang ganda. Kaya we just browsed through the home stores then had meryenda at Wham Burgers sa main wing.



Syempre hindi matatapos ang pasyal without R's usual arcade rides/games so go kami sa Quantum sa basement level before going home.

Project Clean House slash Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

As I've written in my previous post here, I took the opportunity last long weekend for some serious spring cleaning. Thanks to my two very efficient helpers, medyo umayos na ung bahay namin.

Short kwento, before kasi, my mom's interior design shop was in our garage. Our house literally became a storage unit for furnitures, textiles and their other supplies. So when they finally moved out last week, we did some general cleaning. Please note, I qualified na "medyo" umayos lang, kasi it would really take more than a weekend to fix all the clutter accumulated in four years and some pictures below would show that. Plus, when this bungalow was purchased, it wasn't brand new. Before Daddy A and I moved-in back in 2009, all we could afford was some painting and fixing of the roof/ceiling. The bathrooms needed new tiles, but we just had to make do with re-grouting and a lot of Zonrox/muriatic acid hehe. For furnitures naman, we were fortunate to have hand downs from my father's ancestral home. We just had them re-upholstered/painted. Papa was in-charge of the renovations back then.

Oh how I miss him terribly, lalo pa now na hawak na namin ni Daddy A ung titulo ng bahay. He would have been so happy. He would also be happy to see na maayos na ung bahay namin.

So to proceed with house cleaning, ung living room na dating tambakan ng tela at furnitures ng mga client, eto na:

Ung dining table na dati sa dami ng nakapatong, kalahati nalang ng space ang nakakainan, eto na:

Ung kitchen, medyo may clutter pa, but working on it. Dami kasi stuff ng mga bata (bottle holder, sterilizer, baunan etc.)

Pinaka favorite ko ang bedroom namin. Loving our shabby chic bed! Actually kung may budget lang, I would change our dining set into a shabby chic type (light beige paint with sweet floral upholstery).

Here's where I blog, may clutter parin hehe. And I have to do something about those exposed wires:

JD's corner:

Here's R's room slash playroom. Eto ung mahirap solusyonan, kakaayos mo palang, magkakalat nanaman si R. Tinatambak ko nalang tuloy ung ibang toys sa loob nung playhouse/tent sa gilid. Pag nagka budget din, I'll make this room neutral for sharing, siguro with double-deck beds and lots of storage space. Dami kasi stuff ng kids, lalo't different genders pa.

Here's our bathroom. Nakaka shala talaga ang new curtains, rugs at towels. Also placed a glass shelf below the round vanity mirror. Budget nalang talaga for re-tiling ang kailangan.

Here's the common bathroom naman. Same here, needs re-tiling and perhaps a new sink:

After all these sabi ko kay Daddy A:
Me: Ang sarap umuwi sa maayos at malinis na bahay noh? Paano kaya natin mapapanatiling walang kalat toh?
Daddy A: Madali lang, wag tayo tumira dito.
Ayus!

Seriously, here are some tips to maintain a clean/clutter-free house:

1. Simple lang - magligpit kagad and teach your kids to do the same. Don't procrastinate dahil tatambak yan.
2. When buying something, think first. Do I really need this? Do I have space for this?
3. Post a list/schedule of cleaning chores for you or if you have househelp (e.g. dusting/sweeping - daily, clean CR - weekly, wash curtains - once a month)
4. Wag mag sentimyento. Tiny keepsakes are ok to keep, pero kung pati ung first piece of appliance or furniture na binili niyong mag asawa na hindi na gumagana (e.g. TV), wag na please. Same goes with documents, files, and pictures, try to keep softcopies nalang.

I thank God for blessing us with our starter home. I trust He will continue helping us with our next project, to have a second floor. Like I said in my previous post, ang sarap ng feeling pag pinag hirapan mo ang isang bagay. You get to appreciate and treasure it more, specially pag labor of love ng buong pamilya.