Reasons Why Girls Take Time to Get Ready

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Admit it. We girls are vain. Maybe not the same level as everyone else but girls love to look pretty or for some, to look at least presentable. For me, vanity is relative. For example, if you’re used to a corporate surrounding, you are at least expected to look regal and smart. For a housewife, maybe an occasional need to look good springs every time you go out, otherwise, when you know you’ll just have to spend the rest of the day at home, most probably the effort you’ll make is a shower and you’re good, and that’s fine really, just as long as you feel comfortable. Even celebrities are entitled to get laid back whenever the spotlights are off.

My husband always complain about me taking so much time to prepare for some getaway, or even just the daily morning routine that I do on a normal working day. He doesn’t understand why these things always take 2 hours of my time everyday. For husbands out there, I know you have the same sentiments with my husband. So in order to explain the girls’ side of the story, here are just some of the reasons why.

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1.) Shower. Read this. These are the things that girls usually do while they shower: shampoo, condition the hair, (plus hair treatment for some – takes 3 minutes), scrub off dead skin cells. You all know what the male version is.

2.) The “after-shower” ceremonies. After showering, girls moisturize the face and the whole body. Skin preparations usually takes place right here. Facial toner, creams, anti perspirant.

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3.) Clothes. Difficulty on deciding what to wear. Us girls always want to look our best. Sometimes this feeling is associated with the clothes we put on. So if you see us changing clothes 5 times before actually deciding what to pick, that is still pretty normal so don’t fret.

4.) Make up. Well not all of us, but most girls do care about how they look when they get out of home so they usually take time to prep their faces before they actually go out.

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5.) Shoes. Like difficulty in choosing the clothes, deciding on what shoes looks good on that attire is another of girls dilemma, this is specially true for some girls who have a large number of shoes.

6.) Accessories. Not all girls do accessorizing but many of us actually count on accessories to complete the whole ensemble of the look we want.

7.) Hair. Most girls are actually concerned about how their hair looks. And mind you guys, styling hair is not an easy job, although some maybe very blessed in doing it.

8.) The last look. Takes less than a minute though but girls never go out without a glimpse of themselves in the mirror for that final assurance that everything is in place.

So there… I hope you guys are enlightened. Those were just the physical aspect of it. I didn’t include here the things that we girls check on before we go such as, the things in our bags, whether it’s complete or not, and for mothers, if the kids are alright by themselves.

There could be a lot more reasons to girls’ being so late to getting themselves ready, and it boils down to one thing. Girls are very responsible human being, (and I’m not saying this because I’m a girl, or because I don’t think that guys are not responsible people. I know some guys who take responsibility to a whole new level, but I’m talking about girls here so….) Even the most irresponsible girl takes time to do these things, that in fact shows how responsible they are. It’s not vanity (well maybe a little ^.^), it’s like putting their best foot forward. And what is so wrong with taking time to look our best?

If you’re a guy and you’re dating a girl, expect there’s a lot of waiting moments in your dates out. You should be ready for these things, that way you won’t get disappointed. But don’t you ever get yourselves late for a date coz that would totally piss the girls off. What can I say? That’s just us. If you’re married and you still find it annoying to wait for her (even though you’ve been together with your wife for so long), C’mon, really? Just imagine having this special someone in your life, I’m sure it outshines the “waiting impasse”.

Guys might think that this write up is so one sided, but I also have a word for girls out there. Never waste the time of others. You may find that guys just patiently wait by the bay (which they usually do, specially when the two of you has just started dating), but honestly we can reduce this problem by preparing ourselves in advance. That way, you come in on time without compromising our standard for vanity.

^.^ Pink Butterfly

Coffee Break–A Change of Heart

Up until last year, I never had a cup of coffee in my life ever! 

Why? because my mother told me not to. “Makabulok ng kape” (coffee will make your mind dull), that’s her dialogue every single time I ask her about coffee, and being an obedient daughter that I am (*beautiful eyes*), I believed her. Besides, I know she’s just looking after me like every mother does.



Needless to say, I grew up thinking that coffee is bad for my health, I have the facts to back it up; coffee is addictive, contains caffeine, plus I don’t like the bitter taste of it. All that however, has changed when Ms. Kris Aquino, randomly keeps chattering about coffee and it’s health benefits in her TV shows. 

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Kris is an endorser of Nestle products in the Philippines. It was 2008 when Nestle launched their wellness campaign. Since then, several of their commercials are geared towards the goal of promoting wellness through their products.

I have always been a fan of Kris Aquino, specially when I became a mother myself. Aside from her colorful love life, she’s identified herself as a person with credibility when it comes to products she endorses. She doesn’t just endorse because of the earnings she’ll get, but primarily because, she believes in the product.  (Remind me again to focus on my subject next time ^.^)

Enough of that detour. Because of Kris’s constant promotion of coffee’s health benefits, I started to think that maybe, there really is something good about coffee. So I researched. I want hard, confirmed facts. These are just some fascinating facts I found out about coffee;

1.) No.1 source of antioxidants. Cell damage caused by sun exposure is eliminated through the natural antioxidants found in coffee. So wrinkles are actually minimized.

2.) Contrary to my mother’s belief (peace Mom), coffee actually helps you learn better and keeps you alert.

3.) Coffee also enhances physical performance.

4.) Surprisingly, coffee helps ease headaches. When you have a headache, blood vessels in your head expands. The caffeine in coffee squeezes blood vessels and help offset the painful effects of blood vessel dilation.

5.) Coffee combats High blood pressure. (Follow the link, and you’ll know how)

And the list goes endless…

In short, when I found out these benefits, I started drinking coffee. Among instant coffees, these are is my favorites.

From Nestle:

This one is so creamy, and it really is white. If you love your coffee to be creamier, this one’s for you.

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This too is creamy but it is much sweeter, thanks to it’s brown sugar ingredient.

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Nescafe has just launched a newer version of this, the one with more foam. Watch it’s video commercial here with no less than the prince of Indie Film in the Philippines himself, Mr. Coco Martin

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Mas Yummy!

Another instant coffee brand I love is Kopiko. This one is the Kopiko counter part of the Nescafe Brown Coffee. Still creamy and sweet. I’m indifferent when choosing between the two, I love them both!

Perhaps, the best instant coffee so far is the Kopiccino from Kopiko. Not only does it tastes so good, it also has additional choco granule, if you want your coffee to have that extra choco flavor and a hint of “sosyal” factor to it, this one is definitely my top choice.

What’s your choice of instant coffee?




^.^ Pink Butterfly

GG “the Gentle” Gecko

            I have never seen a gecko before, the only kinds I met from their family were house lizards and Agamids which I encountered almost daily or in the case of agamids, every once in a while.

            Imagine my surprise when I saw this huge lizard-looking thing for the first time in my life (June this year) and in our very own backyard! I literally shout my heart out, out of fear and of shock. I thought that lizards could only grow as long as an average human palm, but this one is so huge I don’t know if it’s still a lizard or a baby alligator – thinking of the latter only creeps me even more!

            Thanks to my ‘get-over-it’ and ‘move-on’ mantras, my shock subsided and my fear was lessened by the fact that the thing almost did not move an inch the whole time I was watching it (and that was like 10 minutes), I took pleasure at taking pictures of my newfound friend.

           

            Introducing GG, “the gentle” Gecko. You may not see it instantly at first, talk about camouflage in action!

But look closely…

It says “hi there!”, (friendly huh).

A much closer and obviously creepier look.

            If I remember it right, it was last year until early this year when I heard tales about rampant but discreet seizure  and selling out of these geckos. Rumor has it that they are priced around P1,000 to as much as P10,000 per gram and that they are used in some medical studies. Others say it heals almost all diseases hence, the pricing. In fact, a whole segment in a local TV show named Rated K has been dedicated to that story. But it has never been officially confirmed. My take on these rumors? Simple. If it’s too good to be true, then maybe it’s really just a hoax. Small talk.

            According to this article in wiki, geckos are unique among the lizard family because they use vocalizations when communicating with others of their kind. And based on my experience, they really are gentle, in fact I have to nudge GG every now and then just to make sure it’s alive and not dead. But don’t take my word for it, you have to exert every care in dealing with animals, you’ll never know when they feel irritated and attack you.

            Life is full of surprises. Sometimes the thing we fear most, may turn out to be nothing more than self-imposed or self-inflicted. How will you enjoy life if you don’t give yourself a chance to discover things? And how do you even fear the things you don’t encounter yet? Remember, fear is not a wall.

            My encounter with GG may have been rapid and short (I haven’t seen it again after that day), but it was all worth my while.

^.^ Pink Butterfly

What’s with the Hair?

It has been so easy for me to decide cutting my kid’s hair. It was actually a 5-second-er decision. For me it was so not big of a deal, since my kids have had their hair long for like EVER since the world began. Meaning to say, they’ve always grew their hair long since their birth.

Not that I grew tired watching them go all “sadaku” every waking day, it’s just that I want to try something new, and if there’s one thing about hair I know, is that it continues to grow no matter how many times you cut it, so I gambled. Well I’m their mother so for me, they look just fine, but to my horror, others didn’t think so.

Needless to say, their new haircut got rave reviews from people – our folks, my friends, even our shy neighbor (who rarely speak to me coz we’re new in the neighborhood) voiced out her dismay on the matter (apparently she’s not so shy at all). Oh well, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion right?

See? It isn’t so bad, is it? My girls are still pretty. I’m their mom so I’m actually allowed to love them no matter how they look, but really, I don’t think the restyling was bad -  not at all.


Last Sunday, in order to keep paced with the newness of my girlies’ hair, I trimmed my own and settled on getting a little spice in my boring face.



I have never been adventurous when it comes to my hair, I always have it long and straight ever since I can remember. This is my first time to have bangs. It has been rooted to my conscious (and even subconscious) mind that I have a round face so the only style that would fit me is long hair. I can’t reverse the time and attach my hair back, so I’m stuck with my bangs for who knows how long? But, this is me, and no matter what people say, I will always love being me, with or without bangs.

Our hair is the only thing we can change in ourselves in a snap. All other things take time to do so… Getting a good skin, takes months of maintenance, sparkling big eyes needs contact lenses, even changing your wardrobe takes a lot of money, but you only need a scissor and a cunning ability to cut hair precisely and you’re all set to achieving a new look.

Whatever you choose, it’s important that you’re happy with your choice, and if it’s not hurting others, whatever you do is fine, so go ahead take a chance, be fearless, try something new!

^.^ Pink Butterfly

How to Make Cheese Rolls

I know I’m not one of those people who knows a lot about cooking. But surely it doesn’t restrict me to love food. We all do, I mean who doesn’t?

It’s a long weekend, and we have Eid’l Fitr to thank for that. One thing I love the most about holidays is that it gathers people together. And when there’s a gathering, expect there’s a lot of food - and cooking for that matter.

Today, we are cooking cheese rolls. It’s basically so easy to make. And although I’m not the one who’s cooking, I would like to pretend that I’ve contributed a little help in the process - I took the pictures didn’t I?

Procedures;

1.) Slice the cheese, like this. If it's cheese, it's got to be Eden, right?


2.) Coat the cheese strips with sugar (white, para sosyal haha!)


3.) Roll the coated cheese strips into the lumpia wrapper.


4.) Use water to seal the wrapper. It should look like this one.



5.) Deep fry.




And voila!


Ok, never mind the egg in the center, it’s just something to entertain your eyes with…

See? it’s so easy.


^.^ Pink Butterfly

(Credits to Cheryl Villaluna-Gayotin for the preparations and her daughter Alexis who did the actual cooking.)

8 Foods to Help You Lose Weight Without Feeling Hungry

           I love (ok, I think the right word here is "envy") girls who are effortlessly slim no matter what they eat.  Like Leighton Meester and Blake Lively, the girls from my current favorite TV Series, Gossip Girl.

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           Unfortunately, I think we can all agree that not all of us are born that way. In my quest to even just "mimic" the kind of bodies these lucky girls have, I'm always on the look out for different ways of slimming down or just lessen the burden of undergoing the process. You may find this article useful or you may not. Afterall, being slim doesn't necessarily mean, beauty right?

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 Luckily, we don't have to frown, coz there are choices for people like me who wishes to be thin, but still can't stop eating, all you have to do is follow this link:



^.^ Pink Butterfly

Little Scribbles

           I was seriously doing my job of making this strenuous crew schedule for August 16-31 payroll. It was all fine until I realized that I have 4 trainees coming up, and a booth setup for Araw ng Digos (which will be held on September 1-8)! Things went complicated. I have to integrate everything into the crew schedule, I tried hard to do it but my mind got a little fuzzy and went all “?????” So to get my mind organized, I grab my little notebook and started drafting my schedule. And then just like little gift boxes from nowhere, I came across this scribbles in my notebook.

         These are writings of my eldest daughter. I can’t help smiling at it. It’s just so innocent-looking, and uplifting at the same time. I can see that some letters were written incorrectly like the little “a” and the little “d” of the first line, but it didn’t stop her from writing another line and this time correct the wrong ones she did.

            Come to think of it, life’s like that you know, when you did something wrong in the past, you don’t have to dwell from it, you just have to move on and learn from your mistakes. (I’m not actually sure if the drawing and what I’ve just said are related but well, it’s just a thought.)

          Moving on to the next picture….

So these are actually shoes, in case you are wondering what these drawings are.



         And this is her, trying to write her name. Admit it, we all love to write our names when we’ve got nothing to do, children are no exemptions so it seems.


            Instead of pushing myself to make the schedule, I decided to blog about this scribbles – what a way to take a break from whole day of auditing sales report from 2 stores for August 1-15 huh. Yeah, that pretty much took my whole agenda for today and nope I’m not complaining, I love this job!

           We all have that moment of difficulty sometimes. Problems arise every now and then, that’s why we need a little detour. Maybe you’re in a bad situation right now and you think that things are hopeless, they are not. For all you know these things are but scribbles of a bigger picture. We just need to have faith and take courage knowing that EVERYTHING will be alright. Go back to that time when we were kids and didn’t know a single thing about writing, maybe we thought we will never gonna get through it, and we thought writing letters is the world’s hardest problem, obviously, we grew up and realized that we actually did well… And God is always, always, bigger than your biggest problems, keep that in mind.


(I better get back to making my crew schedule)

^.^

My Civil Service Exam Experience

         Back in college, I remember my classmates talking about taking the CS exam. I don’t really know what it’s about so I just shrugged it off, I didn’t even bothered asking them what it was. Honestly speaking, I still don’t  know what Civil Service exam is even until now. All I know is that, it is a ticket to having a career as a government employee – it’s that plain to me. I have been working for private companies since I graduated college, so working for the government doesn’t really appeal much to me. I just feel like I want to take the exam for leisure (chos!) or for future use, or to add some spice to my CV.

For the first timers out there, I want to help you out and give you a little help about the ways of applying for the Civil Service exam. Here's how to apply;

1.) Fill up application form (CS Form No. 100, Revised 2012)
2.) 4 copies identical passport size pictures like this one.
 
3.) Original and photocopy of any valid ID with your picture, birthday, signature and signature of the head of the issuing entity.
4.) Examination fee of P500.00.
 
For more details, check out this link.

           Examination day came, I didn’t know that there were thousands who applied for it, I was really shocked to see the crowd, it’s like college days all over again. I haven’t been around school campus for so long and being in the middle of it all at present, brings back so many memories.

           Not to scare people or anything, but I think the exam was gruesome. You sit with people you don’t know plus the passing score is 80%. When I saw the questions, my intuition was confirmed. I find it very hard, specially the Math part, I don’t know about you but I’m usually slow in math  (haha!), and I’m not bragging, just saying. Right after the exam I thought to myself, “oh well, at least I tried, no hurt feelings”.

           2 months later, I checked the result through the Civil Service Commission’s official website www.csc.gov.ph, and to my surprise my name is included in the passers list! Yahoo! I just felt so happy about it, although I feel for the people I know who took the exam and didn’t make it to the list. But I know there are plenty of chance to still pass the test, you just have to reapply for it, and maybe study a little (or a lot), and pray.
          
          The next step is to claim your certificate of eligibility, which will be available in your local CSC office about 2-3 mos. after passing the exam. That eligibility is your voucher for your application to government jobs, or for those employed with government already, it will pave a way for a promotion. Congrats passers!

^.^

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Lucid Interval

It’s been 2 months since I last blogged, I feel awful about it really, I’ve skipped so many things to write about but I guess I’m a little lax this past few months when it comes to writing…

So anyway, in a span of two months I’ve had several experiences I wished I have written something about, so to catch up with it, I’m making this list;

1. I took the civil service exam – and passed it, yay!

2. Kid’s start schooling

3. My girlies got a new haircut – which everyone went frustrated.

4. Celebrated T’nalak festival along with many South Cotabatenos.

5. I’ve registered as a voter – for the very first time.

Ok, I thought I’ve missed a lot but apparently I only got 5 items to blog, yahoo!

I swear to myself, I will never be sloppy again.

^.^