Ibyang
Ibyang

Charmed Life of a Mrs

Treats From Lindt Cafe

Since the start of the year, Chris’ (the Husband) team had been working on several international projects. He would sometimes have a project with their international branches and he would have to work with them, in sync with their hours. Sometimes, that would mean he would be working in all wee hours of the morning because he’d need to exchange emails with people overseas. This does not occur all the time and a project usually lasts for a week or two only.  
Last week, his team surprised him with a gift. Chris was shocked and touched. The card they gave him amused me.


Since they can’t find a card that says “Thanks to a Special Designer”, they improvised by erasing the word “teacher”. Still, I found what they did to him very sweet.  

What’s more sweet were the treats they gave him…a bag full of Lindt goodies.



A box full of chocolates from their Connoisseurs Collection. 24 bite-sized chocolates to be exact.

 
Lindt’s Connoisseurs Collection:
Dark and Milk Almond Roche, Citron Noir
The Truffles: Mint, Milk, White, Dark and Pistachette
Carmelita, Macchiato, V.I.P., Passion, Macadamia and Gianduja



Cute chocolates but rich with flavors. Lindt’s chocolate (as in the their cocoa) is just exquisite.

Other than chocolates, their gift included a box of Delice!!!!! They’re my favorite!!!!!



It’s been awhile since I’ve had them and have hung out at the Lindt Cafe. I’ve been thinking of paying Lindt Cafe a visit soon but was just very busy. But I guess, the universe heard my longing and voila! Delice treats!!!


 

The gifts made my Husband very happy…and it made the Mrs. happy too!


For locations of Lindt Cafe, click here.

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Five Blessings on a Monday Morning

I know, I know…it’s Monday once again.

But before we enumerate the reasons why we’d rather be somewhere else but at work, I’ll share with you one exercise I do in order to help me feel better about going back to work after a great weekend.

As soon as I’m at the office and before I dive into work, I take a few moments to count five (5) blessings in my life.

This morning, the first five (5) blessings that came into my mind were the following:

1. My Husband and I starting the day together inside the train on our way to work.
2. A job that I really love.
3. Monday—I love Mondays because it’s the start of the workweek and I like starting it at the office–yes, most of the time I really do.
4. A new week! A new week means a chance to start fresh, to forget about troubles from the past week, a reminder to move on. Don’t you just love beginnings? I do!!!
5. That I had a great week! I was able to find time to rest, bake a cake on my own for the first time (promise, no help from the Husband), cooked hamburgers that tasted good and did some personal errands. On top of that, my Husband & I were able to accomplish a rush job to create a wedding AVP for Saturday (no sleep on Friday night just to beat the Saturday 10:30am call time–super stress!!!). Busy weekend but I had some down time to rest and relax.

This habit of mine gives me inspiration to face my Monday with a smile. It helps me start the day and week at work in a positive perspective.

Try it! Tell me what you’re grateful for on this lovely Monday morning.

For a few more tips on how to have a happier Monday, please click here.

Wishing you a great week ahead!

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Jeanny in Sydney

I met Jeanny online. A casual encounter via Litratong Pinoy (LP) where Filipinos share photographs weekly based on a theme. From LP, we transcended to being plurk friends and it’s at plurk that I learned that she will be visiting Sydney for three months for work reasons.

On the first week she arrived here, we immediately met up. On our first rendezvous, My Husband and I took her to a quick visit to QVB (Queen Victoria Building), dinner at Pepper Lunch, dessert at Lindt Cafe and a walk thru Darling Harbour before we went home.


She’s a coffeeholic and so I made a point to bring her to some cozy cafes I know. One of which is The Chocolate Room. One Thursday afternoon, we hung out here after work.


This was where she celebrated her birthday and since she likes Korean cuisine, my Husband and I treated her to Korean BBQ!


The place where she stayed had a mini-gym, pool and sauna. Some nights we’d hung out at her apartment, have a good hour at the gym and a few minutes at the sauna. Before I go home, Jeanny and I would eat her delicious pasta dishes. 

Being a photo-enthusiast like me, I invited her to come with us to the Sydney Camera Market one Sunday of March. 

This was held in the morning so for the rest of the afternoon, we took her to the Fish Market for lunch…

let her experience riding a Metro Light Rail…
and have a quick tour of Star City, the casino place in Sydney.

The days passed by fairly quickly as we both became busy for the past few weeks. Before we knew it, we had our last dinner date and coffee klatch.

Friday night (23 March 2010), My Husband and I took her to dinner by the bay, with the view of the Harbour Bridge. As a parting gift, we gave her a Starbucks Sydney Tumbler.

After dinner, we hung out by the harbour. Such a beautiful night. My Husband and I would sometimes just hang out by the bay and just appreciate the beauty of Sydney at night. We wanted to share that with Jeanny before she left.

Two nights before departure for Manila, we had coffee at a cozy cafe I found in QVB called Old Vienna Coffee House (more on that later). 

We gave her one last parting gift–guess what this is????
…..it’s a USB! 🙂


We ended our night on a quick walk thru George Street (main street in the city–it’s like the equivalent of Ayala Avenue in Manila).
 
Saying goodbye isn’t always easy. I know we’ve only really met three months ago but with all the great times and company we have shared, I have found a friend in her. We look forward to seeing each other again–in Sydney or Manila–it doesn’t matter.

Thanks Jeanny…for your great company, for the friendship and for being the true person that you are. We miss you already.

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Affirmation: Value Quiet Moments

Affirmation:

I value my quiet moments
as much as I value
being with
those I love.

 
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Personal Reflection:

As a wife that juggles several roles (sometimes, even in just one day), life can be pretty overwhelming. It is of normal occurrence that a friend would tell me, “You are always on-the-go” or “Ang dami mong racket/gimik! (you have a busy social life)”. And I agree, I do have an active life. Other than being a wife, I manage a home, have a full-time job, I have relatives and friends that I regularly see and parties that I organize with them, I blog and maintain friendships online too, I read a book and watch TV everyday, my parents and I talk on the phone every weekend (one to two hours) and my husband and I have our projects (photography and graphic design) as well. I have a full life and I’m happy that everyday, I’m productive as I can be.

Do I get tired? Yes, once in a while I do get tired. But almost always, being with family and friends and doing things I love, never really exhaust me. They are actually the source of my joy and adrenalin.

However, I have one big secret that I will share with you—and that is how I’m able to manage my time well and not end up exhausted with all my activities.

On top of all the things I do on a daily and weekly basis, I’m able to allot time for myself (that’s why I sometimes blog about my “Me” time). Time for myself is a sacred, sacred, sacred thing. I have my daily quiet times and I have my weekly “Me” times.

A few years back, doing all the things I love made me feel very tired and sometimes I hated going to work. Then I learned about the value of having quiet moments and having “me” times. It did wonders to me physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually when I started allotting time for myself on a daily and weekly basis. Nowadays, I rarely experience PMS or get depressed and I like going to work even on a Monday.

Here are some ways I’m able to have my quiet times in day:

1. I wake up a few minutes before the alarm and just stay in bed for awhile. Eyes still closed, I’d say my morning prayers and count my blessings.

2. In the afternoon, I’d sometimes have an extra 30-40 minutes of walking. I get to de-stress and exercise when I do that.

3. I go home early and have a quiet moment at home while cooking dinner and waiting for my Husband to come home from work. The first 15 minutes that I arrive home, I spend sitting down while I sip a glass of warm honey lemon juice or a glass of wine.

4. On Fridays when I’m off from work, I spend a few hours at a cafe, have a cup of coffee while I write on my journal.
Those are just a few usual things I do to achieve a more balanced and stable spirit. You can be more creative and adjust the activities so that it’ll suit you more.
 
The best thing I learned in having quiet moments is that I never run out of energy to fulfill my duties, I’m more at peace and I’m able to give more quality time for others.
Wishing you all a great week!

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Hen’s Party at The Tea Room, Drinks at The Royal George

I had one of the most fabulous afternoons with my girls on Saturday (10 April 2010).

In celebration of our good friend Hilda’s birthday and upcoming wedding, we organized a Hen’s party for her at The Tea Room.
It was a High Tea affair so we all dressed up to the nines as we sipped our choice of tea/coffee and enjoyed delicious cakes, pastries, sandwiches and scones.
The pastries and sandwiches were served in three-tiered serving racks on very classy English-inspired plates. Not only did our table looked so alive with all the food but the dining ware and glassware made it more vibrant and abundant. It was so lovely.
The food was a winner. Not only did they looked inviting and cute but they tasted great too. Worth every penny spent. 
My plate: a slice of egg sandwich, a scone (it’s big!) and a mini-cupcake.
Since we were in a celebratory mood, we had champagne!!! Happiness is drinking champagne at 12 noon with your girlfriends haha! :).
I was the official photographer of the event but my Husband also came with me to the restaurant so he can take photos of the group for a few minutes. The minute the food were being served he left me to my own devices.
This was my first time to shoot a Hen’s party and I’m very challenged by the fact that the star of the day is a friend of mine. I have seen Hilda in so many different light and we have gone thru a lot of good and bad times together. There is a certain level of familiarity between us already because we practically treat each other as sisters. I was afraid that familiarity will make me take some things for granted when I’m taking photographs of her.


Days before this event, I had to think of different scenarios inside my head. I came up with a very concrete idea on what I want to capture that day. Other than the food, the place and the scenes that will take place, I wanted to capture her–her glow, her peace and her happiness.
And this was what I have captured. Here’s the lovely and glowing bride-to-be. I’m so so happy for her. 
The group gave her a tiara and sash to wear.
This was not the usual hen’s party where you have strippers or naughty games but nevertheless, we played a couple of games and we enjoyed it. Rachelle won on the first game, while I won during the second game. 
As a token for everyone’s presence, I made Girly Loot Bags and gave them to the girls. I called it a Girly Loot Bag because each bag contained body wash, lotion, lip gloss and nail emery boards.

After High Tea, some of the girls went home but some of us decided to have more drinks at a bar. My Husband joined us so he took care of taking photos so I can just focus on having fun with my girls.

Rache, Yons, Hilda and I walking in the streets of Sydney.
(This photo reminded me of the Sex in the City girls walking in the streets of New York. I love it!!!!)
We found ourselves a the Ivy (yes, that’s the name of the place). The Ivy is a compound of bars and restaurants. It’s one of nicest places to dine here in Sydney.
 
We had drinks at The Royal George. Talked some more…laughed some more.

It was one of those perfect Saturday afternoons with friends. We all had a great time especially the Bride-to-be.
Acknowledgements:
To all the girls, for the great time, the laughter and for joining in all the fun. We shall continue this party on the wedding.
To Michelle, for organizing the whole event and for bringing all of us together.
To Rachelle, for the bubblies.
To Abby, for the games that made the afternoon more exciting.
To my husband Chris, who helped me in preparing the Girly Loot Bags, for helping me take photos and for patiently tagging along with us after the High Tea Party. I know you don’t mind helping out but I’m truly grateful that you chose to spend your time with us instead of stay home and rest.
To Hilda, thank you for spending your Hen’s Party with us. Your friendship means a lot to all of us, no matter what happens, we are always here for you.

All photos by Chris and Ivy Sanchez, Copyright 2010
Canon 7D with 17-85mm lens and Canon 400D with Fujinon 55mm lens
Flash: Canon 430EX

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