Honest review: Revlon Just Bitten Kissable in 020 Lovesick

I have been looking everywhere for a decent lip tint as I am always going for the natural look. But when I came across this product I was intrigued by it. Lipstick, lip stain, and lip balm into one?

  

  

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On Cuddles and Closeness

First of all, I am not a parenting expert. We all have our own parenting styles that depend on the culture we live in, how we were raised, and the kind of parenting that you just want to implement in your family. There is one type of parent that I can relate to though - working moms.

As I was browsing through my work e-mails earlier today, I heard my daughter cry in bed. She woke up from her nap and cried for me. This is the part where I drop everything and run to her.

I told her it was okay, caressed her curly locks and her round head, while she sobbed more quietly this time. I cuddled her and she locked me into place. A slight movement and she would cry again. Even my deep breaths would agitate her.

Moment captured.

I then realized that I must be doing something right, being able to keep this closeness with my daughter. As a working mom who is away from her more often than not, it is my fear that someday this closeness would just dissolve.

This is why on weekends such as this, I always want to spend as much time as I can with her. My husband and I go out with our darling daughter at least once a weekend. It could be as simple as grocery shopping, as long as we're together.

We're also planning to spend a few days with her during the weekdays as a family away from our province. The itinerary is in the works and we're excited to have her around. I, especially, cannot wait to come home to a beautiful sleeping baby girl after an exhausting day at work.

With my new job title comes bigger responsibilities, and I hope and I am doing things right at the moment. Work-life balance is a tricky thing and you have to be really careful to not tip over. But all I know is that I am trying my best to give my daughter the very best and I hope these tight hugs and cries for me mean that she knows it.

Changes and Other Things

I am writing this at around 3am using my daughter's iPad mini because I can't sleep and my phone is charging. Welp, it' been ages since I last wrote about something anyway so why not now?

Let me start by talking about something big that has happened to me recently. I have been employed in this company for a year now and it has been quite an adventure. I did not see it coming that I would learn and experience so much -- all of those useful for my career growth. I've grown comfortable in my current position that I started to wonder what else there is waiting for me outside of this comfort zone? And by God's guidance, I was led to a great opportunity that would probably change a lot of things. I made the jump, applied for this new role, and waited excruciatingly for the results. It was hard enough that I was interviewed by someone so highly respected in our company but also I had to compete with 3 friends for a spot.

Then... I got it. I got the role!

I have just been promoted and I couldn't be happier! There will be a lot of bumps along the way considering that the team's structure is about to change and there's still stuff to learn but I'm ready to take on this new adventure and give it my best as I manage and support my team to live up to our stakeholders' expectations.

Now down to update number 2. My dear daughter successfully completed the Nursery level and is now enrolled in a new school, the best Catholic school in the city. This is where I spent more of my childhood and preteen years -- basically it's like I grew up there. My cherubim also received an award for being active plus earning a place as a top performer in her class! This of course is more than enough for me and my husband. At such a young age, our champion has shown a lot of interest and initiative to study and it just wows us.

Update 3: Singapore was spectacular! I'm still thinking if I need to create a separate post for this topic  as there was just a lot of things that happened there. It was a crazy fun experience that I will never forget. My husband and I were in absolute bliss, seeing our daughter enjoy every minute of our stay.

4th Update: I just started a vegetarian diet at work but I go back to my sinful meaty and rice-filled ways on the weekends. I have also been stuffing myself with crackers, green tea, and yogurt to detoxify and lose weight. Fast food happens once a month -- hey I'm getting there, don't judge. I'm gonna start to wean myself off from meat and rice slowly so my body doesn't go into shock and crash. To be honest, I don't use a weighing scale to see how effective this routine has been so far but I look at how my clothes fit me now. I'm happy to say that I don't feel like a stuffed tamales anymore... We'll, so far. Still gotta work on my self-discipline.

Now onto the 5th and last update of today's post, I'm quite excited about the summer event that's about to happen this month. A beach retreat which sole purpose is to celebrate life away from the stress and pressure of work and just unwind. My mother's side of the family doesn't get to do this often anymore and I am absolutely thrilled that we will get to do this again, and on my grandfather's birthday too!

I'm out of ideas so I think it's time to say good mornight. I have a birthday lunch to go to and ride miles to work after that so I'm expecting myself to be on full zombie mode tomorrow. I will probably need to raid the office's sleeping quarters -- forgive me, I know I just got promoted. ;P

Revlon Photoready Foundation : The Most Honest Review Ever

So our company's year end party just happened and believe it or not, it took me a few weeks of relentless research (aka google-ing) to find the most affordable but quality make-up I can use/wear for a night of partying.

I ended up with this look...

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Upskilled and Over the Moon

Busy busy busy me!

My work has been great. My manager has been most supportive and has given me two opportunities to help make my career plans happen. I am constantly working with him, my other boss, my colleague in the same level, and my junior colleagues, and I'm happy to say that even my boss's bosses have acknowledged me for what I have achieved so far. I have been upskilled twice in less than a year and I am motivated to keep this momentum going.

Also, I have finally been regularized and I am not putting the perks to waste. My emergency leaves are paid, I get to spend more time with my loved ones, my health is covered, etc. I'm still waiting for some things to happen but as of now I can definitely say I made the right choice to be with this world-renowned company.

Last week, there were free cupcakes with our company's values as toppers. And with what I've gained so far, I felt like this value suited me best. ;)

First Day of School

I  know I don't write that often anymore, but I just cannot let this pass-- Iaine had her first day of school today!

So to summarize..

Mon-Thurs uniforms and core values

She arrived early and instantly became friends with a classmate. She immediately said byebye to me and her dad, and I take it that she was happy to be there. Jai and I stayed for a while and watched her play, explore her room and speak with her teachers. She participated in the prayer and the body exercises (jumping jacks were her fave!) She stayed well-behaved even though some of her classmates had tantrums. Then class started and the security guard escorted us away, which I completely understood as teaching the children independence. To my disbelief, it was me who had separation anxiety and not my daughter LOL. It was like a hard blow in the head, making me realize that she's really not a baby anymore.. 

her collection of school bags accumulated over time

Few hours zoom past, class ended and it was time to go home. Iaine briefly mentioned that she cried a little because she missed "Momma and Poppa." This is only normal and I am so happy that she was SO brave to face her first day of school on her own. She left the school grounds in a messy uniform, had stories to tell and songs to sing.

Barbie for my baby

Her montessori isn't too far from home and I like the environment. It's not in the hustling-bustling area of the city but it's near the biggest mall in town, the poshest hotel, and one of the biggest private hospitals in the city. It's not polluted and is really easily accessible from home.

Her school itself is also pretty neat. It's a private English-speaking school and the student population isn't as  dense as the others. Sunhill wasn't our first choice and we plan to enroll her in a different school next year, but so far, I like what I'm seeing. :)

I couldn't say it enough-- I'm so proud of my daughter for getting through her first day. I wish I could be the one to take her to school and take her home everyday, but that's one of the sacrifices a working mom has to make. Tuition isn't cheap, fellas! But I really did cherish this experience and I will cherish it forever.

After all, this is only the first day of school, of all the school years to come, in all of my daughter's lifetime...

Preschool

Hello there!

I feel like I've let myself down. Not blogging about my daughter is like not being interested to let her know how she grew up. I really feel guilty about it, so now I've decided to make time for writing again... yet I'm not sure where to start as she has grown a lot.

First, a quick update about me. I'm now working in one of the busiest central business districts in the country, and the environment is great. It's like an everyday Devil Wears Prada setting, only I couldn't care less about branded stuff.

But enough about me, I'm am back to writing mainly because I am so proud of my daughter. My pride is overflowing. I know every mom says their kid is special, smart, etc., but I kid you not when I say that I am amazed at my child's intelligence. You would not believe that she's only 3 when you talk to her. She expresses her thoughts in clear sentences, using the English and Filipino language. She knows how to count from one up to twenty-something. She sings like a gradeschooler and reenacts TV commercial scripts like an actress. She's tall for her age and more beautiful that I ever was, and her presence lights up anybody's day.

We have decided that it's about time that she started school. We have enrolled her in a private montessori in the city and we were thrilled to know that she was overqualified to be a Nursery student and could've been enrolled for the Kinder 1 program if not for her actual age. We have enrolled her just last week for the and we're in the process of completing her enrollment requirements. This is a huge deal for my husband and I, as we realize that this is the very first of the many school years to come.

Tomorrow I plan to get her ID picture taken and on Monday we're taking her to the school to have her measurements taken for her uniform. We still got a lot to buy for her like her first school shoes, socks, notebooks, pencils, and other school thingamajigs. I remember shopping for baby stuff when I was still pregnant, and right now it feels somewhat like that.. It's gonna be an exciting new phase of my daughter's life and I know she would do her best as a student.

Anyway, I'll try to post about stuff that I didn't write about while I was on a hiatus. And it irks me that  my Lilypie ticker is stuck on my daughter's second birthday. Lol. Stay tuned for more details of past events. Just regular stuff like, you know, Christmas, new year, and her 3rd birthday??

Let me just take a moment to take it in... My baby is now a preschooler!

Working Mom

Where do I begin?

As of the moment, my daughter is 3 days shy of being 2 years and 9 months old. Now I can really see how fast she's growing up 'cause I only get to see her on weekends. All the new things she's learned every time I come home to her--- amazing!...