A Sentimental Freak Once Again {Day 8 : 365}

Just a week ago, she turned seven. Turning me once again into one totally sentimental freak. Birthday after birthday.

I reached for her just as I usually do on lazy weekends, to enjoy some tight hugs and cuddles. 

You see, Ysabella is our youngest daughter who gives the tightest of hugs, the sweetest of kisses. One who reaches for my hand at 3am and never lets go till sunrise. 

But today, the baby who usually reaches for Mommy’s hand was no longer there to do just that.

Instead, she got up first among everyone else, changed her clothes & grabbed a book, sneaked in a corner and amazingly, read her first chapter series.

Right before my eyes, she was telling me that she is no longer a baby. 

She is seven. 

Secured in her time alone. 

Ready to read a book on her own.  

Ready to walk out that door and say with much pride “ Bye Mommy, of course I will be ok”.

And I?

I will be that one sentimental freak looking forward each afternoon to see my baby walk through that door and give me the tightest of hugs again and again. 

Even if she is already seven. And ready to read her books on her own.

And just in case she still reaches for my hand at 3am?  I shall never let go. Till sunrise. Till forever.

Happy 7^th , my Ysabella. You will always be my baby.

bliss♥, pinkmother

Vintage Bloom {Day 7: 365}

Still  *S W O O N I N G*

(an understatement!) 

over these oh-so-dainty outputs 

from hubby's 1st 'un'-planned

yet unexpectedly amazing photoshoot!

This all started on the first week of June just before our next scheduled buying trip, when hubby and I found ourselves casually cooking up a fun shoot in time for the fresh new collection.

saddlebags!

dainty lace, pearls and tulle!

So when all the kids were gone for school on a not-so-busy Wednesday, up South we all travelled --

some 3000 feet above sea level 

-- to do just that....a fun afternoon photoshoot that amazingly gave us this: 

one heavenly billboard shot that is now up!

Yay for this first one and definitely more more more to come!

So, here are BTS (behind the scenes) of that creatively fun & productive afternoon:

Don't you just ♥ how angels D & G carried this sweet collection with so much ease?

I adored how D trekked the bridge in this mini dress in all its lace,tulle & romantic glory 

and despite the chilly breeze & light showers, 

how gracefully G posed in her wide-legged sheer pants

Thanks to everdearest Dexie & Georwyne who were such angels. 

I hope the outputs are well worth missing out a class :)

And to Pat and Ina...who missed one busy grooming day at One Fab Pooch to graciously carry stuff for the shoot, to patiently hold the reflector and be equally enthusiastic stylists!

Plus, thank you bigtime to the mad mentor...

who came all the way with us to give inspiring insights to hubby and not only to shoot a few BTS, but who managed to click some fantastic ones for another upcoming collection which we are soooo excited to tell you about sometime soon!

Cheers to hubby for an oh-so-professional output...such a beautiful first!!! (Too bad everyone's hands were a bit too busy that no shots were taken of hubby behind the lens. Better luck on this next time.)

and oh by the way, the pinkmother had equal fun doing this: 

MUA in the making ( i'm tempted to take formal classes. *wink*!!!)

and concept stylist ( the part I ♥ most!)

Back home that night, we tuck all three kids in bed and 

thank the Lord for the countless, boundless blessings. 

The past days have been good & beautiful. 

How have yours been?

bliss♥, pinkmother

Love Stories are For Real { Day 6: 365 }

I should have posted this a few weeks ago, as my parents celebrated their wedding anniversary.

June 22nd would have been a blissful 49th .....if only Papa would've still been here.

It is the 4th year since he had been gone and every June 22nd of each year, I feel a thorn in my heart imagining how lonely it is for Mama to be celebrating it alone. Their 49 years of building a family together was a little bit of drama & comedy, romance & action each unfolding day. Theirs was a love story so real.

So real and inspiring that I somehow felt like posting this today ---  the 11th of July, as we, dear hubby and I celebrate our own.

14 years and thankfully still counting till our own 49th & beyond.

This post is to celebrate that blessing and to thank our parents for the fact that dear babe and I keep counting the years because of the inspiration they both have etched in our hearts.

Forever, their love story will be a constant reminder. Of love & endurance. Of respect, sacrifice & the joy it brings despite of, and inspite of .

Of having the Lord in the midst of it all, and perhaps unconsciously trying to live each day at a time following the Simple Rules of Marriage from the heirloom frame that now sits on our shelf -- the very same vintage frame that sat on top of their beds all 49 years!

Thank you Papa & Mama. Happy 14th, Babe.

bliss♥, pinkmother

She Has Arrived! {Day 5: 365}

Fresh out of the box and on to my Scrapbook Corner...my newest BFF has arrived!

Meet Miss Sazzy Silhouette, an amazingly beautiful robogirl

 that can do this, and this, 

and so much more! 

See how precisely it cuts my favorite letter? 

Now tell me, despite 240+ waiting days 

and all the superpowers that come along with this fabulous tool, 

who would not want to have her as a BFF?

Yay, this is the beginning of happy days in Scrappyland :) 

bliss♥, pinkmother

Sitting Pretty [Day 4: 365}

From my bookshelf this morning, there you were. Calling out my name.

Calling out? Oh thanks for the correction. Fine, SCREAMING must be the appropriate word.

For several months now since I first called you MINE from the racks of Kinokuniya, you have been sitting quietly along with several more from my pretty-books collection. Never been touched, never been read.

How To Be Adored, so the title said. Not that I needed tips on how to channel the Hollywood Glamour (or do I?). Not that I wanted another beauty & style guide that won't only make me feel uglier & heavier, but will also make me buy more stuff i won't really need. But there you were, sitting pretty among racks after racks of boring covers  --- your baroque pages just so irresistibly beautiful, your cover in all its  pink & velvety glory.

You were mine that minute.

And after months of sitting pretty on my shelf, this morning you were screaming to be read...so I picked you and started leafing through.

Chapter 1. What is Glamour?
Chapter 2. Skip.

Chapter 3. Blah. Blah. Skip.
Chapter 4. Glamour on the Inside. Hmmm. Interesting. Click.

Chapter 5. 6. 7....Skip. Scan. Scan. Skip. Skip.

Chapter 8. Those adorable little extras. More Scans. More skips.

I somehow never got to Chapter 9, nor onwards.

Nevertheless, I pause and think. At 33 and 3 kids, how do I define Glamour? Did I have 'Glamour on the Inside'? In retrospect, did I constantly make a conscious effort to be Glamorous & Adored?

Or did I let all 33 years pass me by without lifting a finger?

Not that it matters much to me now. But if in all 33 years being consciously glamorous in the efforts to be adored would have meant following a formula of Do's and Don'ts, then I better take another route.

But if being adored meant a loving hand on my stretchmarked tummy, a kiss on the forehead after giving birth, soiled little hands on my cheeks and cuddles as precious as this...

Then yes, I am the most glamorous woman on earth. And so would be many of us.
That to me, in all of life's beauty, pain & sacrifice, is how to be truly Adored. No bag, no shoe, no amount of hair flicking could ever replace that.

So, Pretty Little Book -- in all your soft & velvet glory, thank you for screaming my name this morning. You have truly inspired me in a different way.

For now, there you will be. Sitting Pretty.

My girls might just need you someday. Or not. With our without you, the lovely little angels that they are will be truly....Adored.


bliss♥, pinkmother