Ibyang
Ibyang

Tips

Don’t Forget the Honeymoon

15 February 2010 3 Comments Category: The Married Life, Tips

It doesn’t matter where or how you spend your honeymoon, what matters is that you have a break after your wedding.

Preparing the wedding and being the star on your wedding day can be stressful times for you and your future better half–and I mean, stressful in a good way. Whenever soon-to-be married couples ask me advices on how to plan a wedding, one of the things I tell them is “Don’t forget to plan your honeymoon“. I truly believe that is part of planning a wedding. If you look at certain wedding checklists, there’s a part there where it says “Honeymoon”.

Why is it important?
Because it could be one of the things you look forward to on your last leg of preparations. I remember on the last week before my Husband and I were to wed, all we could think about was ‘soon after the wedding, we will be on our honeymoon’. Don’t get us wrong. We loved preparing for our wedding, but there came a point when we got tired especially on the last few days prior to the big day. So during those times, the thought of the honeymoon was of great comfort to us. Not only did we worked hard to have a wedding, but we worked hard to have a honeymoon as well. It became some sort of reward for us.

You need time to relax and breathe. No matter how high with happiness the two of you may be from the celebration of your marriage, sooner or later it will take a toll on you: your body, mind and emotions. The honeymoon gives the couple some breathing space before they face the world as newlyweds. Some couples who never had a honeymoon experienced anxiety attacks a few days after the wedding or have difficulty adjusting to their new role. On the second and third leg of my honeymoon (the first part of our honeymoon we were with relatives), we tuned out from the rest of the world: no internet or phone calls and not much tv. We only texted our parents to let them know that we have arrived safely at our destination. The whole time we just made the most of our time being together. After the honeymoon, we found ourselves with clear minds, relaxed bodies and adjusted to the idea that we are indeed married.

Not enough budget?
A honeymoon doesn’t have to be lavish. It doesn’t have to happen overseas or in a place where all honeymooners go to. You can be creative when it comes to planning your honeymoon. You might have friends who has houses/apartments in the countryside that you can rent for a few days, that’ll be heaps cheaper than staying at a hotel. If you don’t have enough time off work, you can stay in the city at an apartment or hotel and just spend a weekend together.

Some couples delay their honeymoon and just have a mini-honeymoon right after the wedding. That works too because they get to rest for a few days.

So if you ask me if it’s worth planning a honeymoon, I would highly recommend it. The honeymoon will do your relationship good and at the same time help you a lot in transitioning to married life easier.

[image source]

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Life Lessons From The Movie “Julie & Julia”

7 February 2010 4 Comments Category: Entertainment, Tips

“Julie & Julia”, a movie based on a blog by Julie Powell who found bliss and inspiration thru Julia Child’s life and cooking.  This is a true story of two women who heed the calling of cooking and writing which in the process lead them to their successful careers.

I’m personally inspired by the life that Julia Child led.  She’s one charmed woman who was graceful, wise, laughed a lot inspite of setbacks, had an unwavering perserverance and loved her supportive husband dearly. 
Julie on the other hand, although I’m not as enamored by her character, is a woman who changed her destiny by following her husband’s advice to start a blog in order  to document her cooking adventures based on Julia Child’s recipes.  Who would have thought that would lead her to publishing a book and a movie!?!
Two beautiful women, lots of life lessons to learn from their charmed lives:

It makes a difference when you have a supportive husband.  Both Julia and Julie’s husbands were pivotal in the success of their endeavors.  Their husbands were generous with time, support and ideas and were very good at listening to their wives’ rants and raves.  I believe that in marriage, you and your partner should know when to step back on the sidelines once in a while just so one can achieve his/her personal goals.  

It also makes a difference when you have a husband who asks “What is it that you really like to do?”  In any relationship, it’s nice to have someone ask you what you want, what you need and what you love. 

In life and cooking, never ever give up.  We all know a lot about not giving up when it comes to life in general so I won’t go there anymore.  But let me emphasize on the cooking part.   What I notice most about women who says “I can’t cook” is that some of them (take note: some of them, not all) tried cooking but failed so they never tried again.  Some women come to me and say “I’m not good at cooking” and I always say, “So what if you’re not good with cooking?  Just cook, later on it will get better.  It doesn’t have to be perfect, it only has to be edible.”

No one is too old to learn.  I never believed in late bloomers.  What I believe is that we are entitled to learn and bloom at our own pace and liking.  Forget numbers.  Forget age.  If you find yourself wanting to learn how to draw at age 40, go and just do that.  Julia Child started attending cooking lessons at aged 37–amazing, yeah?

Find balance in managing family life and attaining personal goals.  Actually, for me, there should always be balance in everything–which is something I always try to attain in my everyday life.  But for the purpose of learning a lesson from this movie, let’s focus on what Julie Powell forgot to maintain during the time when she had a fight with her husband over her being a self-absorbed bitch just because she had a deadline on her blog–and that is balance.  Balance is hard to attain AND maintain but it is a vital value in keeping up with a woman’s role as she manages a home and achieve her personal goals as well.  It is that value that will keep you grounded and wise when you face setbacks in your goals.  It is that value that will make you say, “Hang on a second, this is not worth losing my husband/family for.” 

Remember to have a sense of humour, laugh a lot.  So what if thing are not falling into place right now?  Don’t get too disappointed too long because tomorrow (or maybe even in a short while), the sun will peek thru your window again.  When something goes wrong, just laugh it off.  No one is spared from challenges anyway.  What makes a difference is how we react and deal with situations.

 
“Julie and Julia”, an uplifting and inspiring story.  And to end this post, let me leave you with this sweet words of Paul Child to Julia:  “You are the butter to my bread, you are the breath to my life.”
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Say “I love you” All The Time

2 February 2010 9 Comments Category: The Married Life, Tips

Say “I love you” daily, many times.

Especially when you wake up and before you go to sleep.
Say it before you say goodbye on the phone.
Say “Thanks honey, I love you” when you want to express your appreciation to your partner.
Say it even if there’s no special reason, even if there’s no occasion. 
Say it during your most trying times.
Say it in the most unexpected times.
Say it for the rest of your lives together.

Never ever, take love for granted.



Express it verbally as well as in action. We all need to hear that magical phrase–it can heal, soothe, comfort. It reaffirms how we feel at any given moment. So, fill your lives with millions of moments of love by saying: “I love you.”

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Breakfast during Weekends

Breakfast on weekends are sacred. It is the first meal of the day and for my Husband and I, it is a chance for us to re-connect to each other after a whole week of working at the office. A way for us to start our weekend right. For us, breakfast, like a new beginning, is a celebration.

On Saturdays, we usually have a heavy breakfast. Fried rice, eggs, ham, sausages, bacon or corned beef–the works! Stuff we never get to eat during breakfast on weekdays (when we have work, we just have cereal and milk) so we make a lot of effort during Saturday mornings. On Sundays, we opt for a lighter breakfast like pancakes, ensaymada, champorado or oatmeal. On both mornings, we share our meals with a cup of coffee…always with a cup of coffee. Two of the things we like: Breakfast and Coffee.

Other than enjoying our meal, it is during this time that we talk of our dreams and plans, of things we want, of chismis (hehe), of places we plan to go or things we want to do for the day or the weekend. Sometimes we’d watch cartoons if we’re both in the mood to see something while we eat. Sometimes the Husband will play songs we can listen to while we enjoy our meal. It varies. But always our breakfast starts with a kiss (no, that is not meant to sound cheesy at all, I meant that to sound as a fact).

Sometimes we’d have breakfast in our balcony. Yesterday, we did just that. We only had oatmeal and coffee so it was easy to bring it outside. The Husband brought out our camping chairs so I can be more comfortable.

It was one of those perfect start to an unhurried day. And it is probably the next best thing to having a picnic at the park with trees surrounding us while we watch the city come alive in the morning.

What about you? How do you celebrate breakfast at home during weekends?

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