#MerrySMChristmas in the eyes of my children

Oh Christmas! Is it also your most looked-forward-to season of the year? 

For parents like me, Christmas has long taken on a different and selfless hue when I had children. My first child, Camille was born ten years ago. Since then, it has been all about what brings glee to my children's eyes on Christmas. Decembers have turned into gift lists and gift hunting, Holiday mall events of Santa, show, beautiful trees, carnivals and school parties.It has turned into making the Christmas tree into the kids' Christmas craft making project, bonding over star and snowman cutouts and a constant supply of Santa hats and reindeer headbands.  

I think children sees Christmas in a lot more delightful way than adults. Something that adults could benefit greatly from. Sure, we get busy over parties and gift shopping. But we have a tendency to stop being in awe of Christmas lights, Santas and reindeers, and all the trimmings. We whiz by, hopping from one bazaar or party to another, thinking where to get the next party's costume and worrying how to burn all those yummy pasta and desserts. Adult life indeed!

That is why, this December, I have decided to stare more, to be awed, to live a little slower. Compared to previous years, I took on less work to find more time for the children and to go around the city where we live to see Christmas events and decors. So far, it has been a blast. 

Early morning coffee in my favorite coffeeshops, early mall shopping and more time to think about our menu for Noche Buena and Media Noche. More time to organize our charity donations, yearend general thorough home cleaning and, last but not the least, wardrobe audit! 

It has also given me time to start planning for next year while giving myself a personal and work review of sorts for the year that will soon be over.

Now that I did that, I hope a lot more people could try it too. It surely has been good for my well-being.

You can also give joy this Christmas by giving Bears of Joy. For only P 200, you can keep one cuddly bear and give one away to a child in one of the orphanages supported by SM Cares.  Get love by giving love!

For more details on events at SM, visit this link. 

BDJ Fair 2014: #LiveItUp Dance to the Beat of your Dreams

How are you going to live it up this 2015? Start living it up by going to the 6th BDJ Fair on October 19 at SM Mall of Asia, Music Hall!

Live it up and dance your way through life by making new goals, planning ahead and supporting a new advocacy!

Head to the BDJ Fair 2014 at the SM Mall of Asia, Music Hall on Sunday, October 19, from 10AM-10PM and dance to the beat of your dreams by attending inspiring talks, trying out different booths, activities and workshops from the BDJ Team.

This year, the BDJ Fair is entitled: # Live It U! Dance to the Beat of Your Dreams! The BDJ Fair is a fun-filled event where they will launch their 9th edition of the BDJ Power Planner and raise funds for the advocacies they support. This year, they will support the students of Sulong Kabataang Romblomanon, Inc. (Romblon scholars), and MoveMNL. It's also where BDJ Girls all come together to learn, experience and have fun through our various talks, booth, activities and workshops. It's where they get to interact with their fellow BDJ Girls and gain new friends and learn from each other! Enjoy a fun-filled event of learning and being empowered and get first dibs to the BDJ 2015 Planner for only 500 pesos at the fair

To pre-register for any of the talks, simply visit belledejourpowerplanner.com and choose your top 3 picks from the talk line up.

Talk Line Up:

12:45-1:35 – From GRIT to GREAT with Jonathan Yabut

2:00-2:40 – Life is Your Playground with Ann Jacobe of Project Hardcore Sisterhood

3:00-3:35 – Create Your Own #BeautifulStory with Tricia Gosingtian for Pond’s

4:10-4:50 – From Zero to Financial Hero with Edric Mendoza of ANC

5:10-6:00 – The Fullness of Life with Andi Manzano of GSK

6:20-7:05  – Seasons of Style with Isha Andaya-Valles of Preview Magazine

The event is open to everyone but only pre-registered girls will be allowed to participate in the talks, get a loot bag, and get to try out exciting activities such as zipline and wall climbing!  Slots will be given on a first come, first served basis.

Save the date for the sixth BDJ Fair! Put on your dancing shoes and dance to the beat of your dreams!

Stay tuned for more details regarding the BDJ Fair! For more information on the Belle de Jour Power Planner, other products and events, log on to belledejourpowerplanner.com or join their Facebook Fan Page, or follow @BDJBuzz on Twitter and Instagram.

Stay-at-home mothers, this is for you

Are you a full-time mother? Do you have a few hours to spare in a day for cerebral work? Or are you thinking of working part-time to spend more time at home?

If you are one of those and if you have acquired some skills like writing, web design, html, marketing and others, you have a good chance of getting online work. One of the sites offering online jobs is elance.com. Currently, I have an account with them. It's totally free to get basic membership. The jobs you get from elance range from writing to proofreading to web development. These jobs are all monitored, submitted and accomplished online. Some jobs may have to be done at client-specified time but for most other jobs, they are at fixed rate which means that an agreed delivery date is what will matter.

Click here to start signing up at Elance.  I will share more online work websites in my future articles.

2 Reasons why Filipinos should switch to a half-cup rice diet

Filipinos, like most Asians, are rice eaters.  All our meals have to be accompanied with rice. This is, because, pairing-wise, our viands taste best if eaten with rice, in our opinion. When you talk about adobo, kare-kare, sinigang and other FIlipino fares, eating them without rice seems like a mortal sin.

In fact, if you are a Filipino, you would have acquired the "talent" of eating rice and your viand in a way that whether or not one is lesser, you finish with just enought rice and viand ratio in your last mouthful.

However, the Philippines is now going through an alarming situation wherein a serious look at the Filipinos' diet should be required. This is both for health and economic reasons.

Reason # 1: increasing number of overweight Filipinos
While the survey data available from FNRI or Food and Nutrition Research Institute is from 2008, it shows that there are 26.6% of the Filipinos who are overweight (Obese Filipinos 5.2% of the population). And apparently, there is still an increase in the said rates.

As I was reading online about overweight Filipinos and rice, I learned that there are actually bills filed and campaigns initiated to curb this concern. 2013 was
National Year of Rice and Sen. Bongbong Marcos, Butil Rep. Agapito Guanlao and Batangas Rep. Mark Llandro Mendoza filed anti-rice wastage bills. These make me wonder what ever happened to these initiatives. Obviously, there is no major campaign to teach us not to waste rice and we have not really heard about the bills in news. 

Unlimited rice meals in restaurants only worsens our situation. Marketing campaigns stimulate diners to choose these restaurants. In my opinion, the government should start with these restaurants. In 2013, the campaign asked restaurants to serve default half-cup rice. I personally have not seen any restaurant do this.  

Reason # 2: Rice is getting more expensive

To put it plainly, Filipinos should seriously think about cutting down on their rice consumption because it will be healthier for them and for their budget. In previous months, the rice we purchase was at P 36 to 38 per kilo. It is now P 50 per kilo. This might be a blessing in disguise. Filipinos should seriously, seriously consume less rice.

The irony of it all
According to studies, we waste an average of 2 tablespoons daily. For a nation where poverty is prevalent and minimum wage earners scrimp to fit rice into their budget, we still waste 2 precious tablespoons. 

Admittedly, rice is our carbohydrate of choice. We feel lethargic when we don't eat rice. However, I have learned that while it all depends on our energy requirement, the need to eat rice (or cups of it) is all in our minds. If we seriously think about how healthier we could be and how much we will save, then maybe, our rice concerns will be addressed.

Suncity Suites Night FunRun 2014

Suncity Suites stages its 4th Night Fun Run in celebration of its 5th anniversary on July 19, 2014.

Assembly will be from Veranza Mall at 5PM and ending in Suncity Suites with the awarding ceremonies. Route will be dependent on which category a runner will register to. Categories at 3K, 5K and 10K.

Registration fees and prizes for each category are as follows:

10% of all registration fees will go to the projects of GSC TYuna Capital Foundation, Inc. You may register at Suncity Suites front desk, Bench Robinsons, KCC Mall 3rd Floor near Japan Home Center and Mitchy's Car Accessories , Magsaysay Avenue.

Suncity Suites Night Fun Run is supported by Bench, Roxy, Quicksilver, DC and Cebu Pacific.