I discovered the wonderful world of online shopping when I was pregnant with my second child. I scoured through different online stores for baby stuff that I can get the most value for my money. All my blog earnings for about 2 months went there, somewhere around $300. I was so happy then because I got so much stuff. But since these online stores don't ship to my country, I had the stuff delivered to my friend in California. Unfortunately, she had some personal problems, and she wasn't able to send my stuff to me, except for the Ameda breast pump.

After that, I stayed away from international online shopping. I still buy from local online shops, though.

However, after about 4 years, I got this drive to shop internationally again. Why?

Because many online stores ship to my country now. In fact, there are a couple o eBay stores that ship internationally FOR FREE.

How can I resist that?

Good luck to me now. Especially that this late bloomer is finding interests to lot of clothes, shoes, and fashion jewelry. Especially that I have decided to go back to baking as my outlet.

I need lots of luck to restrain myself from buying too much stuff.

Okay.

So I decided to have a transformation this new year.

Nothing major. Just wanted to be more stylish in dressing up. You see, I'm the type of person who goes for the comfy jeans-shirt-sneakers type of get-up. The only heels I wear are those that are attached to my boots. I'm very laid back when it comes to dressing up, and I hate putting on things that would limit my movements.

However, I became bored with what fashion sense that I have. I just woke up one morning and had this urge to dress up. Well, probably not "dress up" in its full sense, but wearing something else aside from a shirt and jeans is definitely an upgrade for me.

My friends even kid me about my get-ups. They say that I'm actually a man in a woman's body because I don't like shopping, and I don't care about fashion. As long as I'm comfortable in what I'm wearing, I'm good.

I told Mr. Frost and my office friends that I'm finally a "woman" because now I like checking out clothes, shoes, bags, and other accessories. "No doubt about it, I'm definitely a woman."

The other night, I cleaned up our closet. This is a task long overdue, but it was my desire to have a wardrobe makeover that pushed to finally doing it. I was planning to take away all the things that I don't want to wear anymore to make space for the new stuff that I feel will complete my so-called transformation.

And what did I realize?

I realized that I used to dress up nicely before. I had "girly" blouses and a loooot of skirts. Well, I did wear skirts before I decided to "transform", but usually with sneakers and boots. I found my skirts that I can only wear with heels or sandals.

So I realized what I'm actually going is not a transformation into something new. More like into something that I was before.

It's kinda hard to explain, but to those who have been with me for that past 4 years or so, it IS a transformation into somebody they've never known. Somebody new.

Oh well. Let's see how this goes.

As part of the transformation I was planning to have this year (details tomorrow, I promise!), I went ahead and got myself a Brazilian wax.

I'm not kidding. I did have one.



Actually, for the longest time, I've been wanting to go hairless down there. Even before I got married. I just didn't have enough courage to actually do it. And I didn't know any place that does it. And I was kinda shy about it because I don't know anybody who actually had a Brazilian wax, much more somebody who has an open mind about it.

To make the long story short, the obstacles to my hairless-ness went away. Thankfully, I am now surrounded by confident women (naaaaaaaaaaaaks! ) who have had a Brazilian wax or two already. Mr. Frost showed our a former officemate's post about her recent "treatment".

I checked her blog yesterday and chatted with her on YM about it. She even volunteered to go with me to the waxing salon where she had hers. I was kinda hesistant at first because she said it's really painful. Then I realized, it couldn't be worse than giving birth to two big babies (considering my body frame) normally without any anesthesia (both times!), right?

Also after opening my legs wide countless times in front of my OB and two times in front of male interns and nurses during my pregnancies and childbirth, whatever inhibition I had about showing my "thingie" (to people other than my husband) completely went away. I was ready to do it.

So my date with Ching at the end of the month is set.

A few more hours into the day, I found out that one of my officemates, Spamderella, has been doing it already, and she does it herself. And another officemate has done it twice already, in the same waxing salon Ching recommended. And she's planning to have another one that night.

So we went to Lay-Bare last night.



What can I say? BRAZILIAN WAX FOR THE WIN! I loooooooove the result!

It's not the wax-paper strip-pull kind that I'm familiar with. They have rubbery stuff kneaded in their hands, the color of contact cement, or "rugby" to you Vasecans , and the texture of clay. The attendant spread a part of it on a small area of my, uh, bikini area, and pulled. She kneaded the stuff again, put it on another part, and pulled. Wash, rinse, repeat until the whole area is as smooth as a baby's behind.

All I can say is that I enjoyed my "first time" because I had friends with me. Good thing also that we were the only customers left so we can laugh about it all we want. And laugh is what I did, literally.

For every painful pull that the attendant did, I laughed. I mean, really laughed. I don't know, but I kinda felt that the pain went away faster when I laughed, when I just tried to enjoy the experience.

I even said we were lucky there were no other customers around because I would have freaked them out and they'd think I'm a crazy masochist bitch.

I wasn't enjoying the pain, okay? I just find it... funny. It's like, I can't decide if it's painful enough to make me cry, or just enough to make me scream or curse. So I just laughed. I burst out a curse word three - JUST THREE - times. And that's because the attendant pulled when I was answering her question, completely off my guard, the bitch.

To describe the feeling more accurately, for those who are considering to have a Brazilian wax too, it's more like a burning sensation kind of pain. As what Ching said, it's like having a lighter on yout thingie for 5 seconds. With about 50 repetitions. The more hair you have, the more reps. Something like that.

All in all, I think I did well on my "first time." I didn't cry, nor called for my "Mommy", nor got even with the nice attendant for giving me pain. I laughed, cursed a little, almost torn a page off of the magazine I was holding. I did fine.

Yep, Master Jedi, I did well. I made you proud.

My Fonts folder in my PC, both at home and at work, is about 300MB. For a graphic designer and anyone else who NEEDS to have a lot of style in stock, that's probably small. But for everybody else, it IS big.

I sort of collect fonts so I have a lot of choices whenever my design-something bug bites me. As my good fugitive friend Qadaffy puts it, "It's cheap, and useful."

Anyway, that same friend shared this hilarious video to me, when we were talking about my fascination with fonts. Her better half, who shares my fondness over stylized alphabets, discovered it early this year.

Whitout further ado, I present you, The Font Conference.

Labels: fonts, friends, hobbies

I know, I know. I haven't been around for a while.

Pardon me, but I was trying to get the hang of caring for a toddler and an infant.

Issen has turned two recently, and Kobe has grown to be a very handful baby at seven months. It's been a crazy ride, but at least Issen has been a really good big brother so far and has been making it easier for us to deal with them two boys.

We didn't get much new stuff for Kobe since Issen's baby things are still in very good condition, especially the clothes. Once Mr. Frost has decided that Kobe is big enough to bring with us whenever we go out, we knew there are things that our boys couldn't share or at least, use at the same time.

Strollers, for example.

We bought a second-hand stroller for Issen when he was younger. And since we don't go out that much, it's still in an excellent condition. We needed to buy another for Kobe, but since Issen has practically outgrown the old one which we will call "Blue", we decided to pass it on to Kobe and buy a new one for Issen. Thus we bought "Green".

Getting a new stroller was not an easy feat, mind you. There are several types of strollers to choose from. We have limited budget, but so many requirements, mostly related to safety, so it was kinda hard for us. Lightweight and umbrella strollers can be convenient, but if you have a big kid like Issen, you might think twice about it's durability. Of course, there are those that can be durable enough, but they can come to be expensive.

We considered all terrain strollers, but they can be very bulky and heavy. If you travel with kids by yourself, it can be pretty hard. If you have other grownups with you, it's fine so somebody can watch your kids while you put away the stroller to the trunk of your car.

I wanted to get one of those tandem strollers, so the boys can sit side by side, in line, or face to face. Unfortunately, there aren't much tandems in our area. The ones we found are quite pricey. Like I've said, we have limited budget, so even a five-thousand stroller can still be expensive for us.

We settled on one of those full-featured, single strollers. It has a roomy basket, a canopy, easy to fold, it reclines, and most importantly, it's big enough for our 20-kilo two-year-old boy.

So now we go around, mostly when we bring the kids tothe doctor for their check ups, with two strollers. It's fun when Mr. Frost and I walk side by side, one stroller for each, and seeing Issen trying to reach Kobe from his stroller.

I can't wait when Kobe is big enough to try and reach for his big brother. But by that time, Issen is probably big enough to walk on his own for long periods of time and we won't need a stroller for him anymore.

Labels: sideline, stroller

Yesterday, Mr. Frost sent me a link with the words "Maghanda ka na dito." (Prepare yourself for this.)

What did I see on the link he gave?


see more pwn and owned pictures

I could already imagine Issen and Kobe. But instead of white paint in cans, they'll use Mr. Frost's spray paints in Gunmetal.

"Look, Daddy! We painted your Gundams!"

The horror. The mess. The chaos.

Good heavens help me that time comes. I expect worse things.

Labels: funny pics, Issen, kids, kobe

Got this tag from Doc Joey.



INSTRUCTIONS

1. Copy and paste everything to a new post and Add your name next to your profession (or profession-to-be for undergrads) in the list. Make sure your name is linked to your blog/webbie.
Tip: For easier capture of links, paste into your blog using the “Visual” (for WP) and Compose (for Blogger) modes (not Edit HMTL or HTML).

2. If your profession is not in the list then simply add it to the correct alphabetical place. For example, if you want to add PLUMBER then it should be placed in between ONCOLOGIST and QUEEN.

3. Tag as many people as you can and witness how your technorati will explode!

4. Don’t forget to link back. In your case, link back to http://ambush101.blogspot.com.

THE WORLD CLASS PROFESSIONS

Accountant - Eds

Blogger - Mary, Michelle

Doctor - Joey

Operations Analyst - Meng

Nurse - Mckhoii, Aggietha

Stay-at-Home-Mom - Mai, Aggie, Alpha

Technology Consultant - Thea

Now I'm tagging Rica, Liz, Con, and Myla

Labels: tags

Not just yet.

I can handle having super powers. I can handle the skimpy leather suits. But I can't run on high-heeled boots. Not yet.

You see, for me, boots are one of the best things that man ever invented. I love them so much that if I have the money, I'd buy every single pair I'd fancy.

If I were to be a superhero, I would need to be very agile. I could probably fly, but I've gotta be the lamest superhero ever if I can't run.

Majority of the supoerheroines I've encountered (Yes, I've met them, we're closefriends, textmates if you will ) wear high-heeled boots. And I've got to be the most boring superheroine if I don't wear one also.

One of the pairs of boots I love wearing at work

Even if your answer is no, it's okay for a superheroine to go barefoot or wear flats or pumps or mary janes, I WANT to wear high-heeled boots if I were to be a super hero.

Gotta wear my boots during my morning runs from now. Wait, I don't do morning runs.

That's why I'm not yet a super hero.

Labels: about me, boots, superheroes

So today was my first day back at work.

My day didn't start well. Or maybe I was just expecting too much. I don't know what to expect, really. I probably just wasn't ready to go back at all.

To start with, I wore the wrong set of clothes. Wrong boots, wrong pants, wrong blouse, even the wrong bra. I don't feel "me" because of what I'm wearing. And I realized that when I was already at our office building.

Then, when I got to my desk, my computer wasn't there, which is understandable since they had a renovation while I was on leave. When I got my PC, there was some issues that made me unable to access my account. For one, I had to restart my password because I forgot my old one. Then I still can't log in - something about my IP being locked because I haven't log in for a long time. Talk about security measures.

Around after lunch, when they finally fixed my server access, things went on smoothly for a while. I sorted my emails (please don't even dare ask how much I got), sorted my files, etc.

Then around 4ish in the afternoon, I started feeling queasy. I can't describe what's wrong, but it felt like I was dizzy because of hunger and I wasn't hungry at all. Well, I didn't feel like eating. I drank lots of water because I thought I must be dehydrated. Nothing changed. Now I'm munching on some crackers, hoping I'd feel better. That remains to be seen.

Oh well, so much for my return.

Technically, today is the last day of my maternity leave. I go back to being a corporate slave employee on Monday.

That's another reason, actually, why I haven't been able to update regularly. I'm trying to make the most of my time with my kids while on leave because I will be missing them terribly when I'm back at work.

I still have a couple of days, but I miss them so much already.

Labels: about me, family