MedelaMoms Launches "Seeing Doubles": A Support Group for Moms with Multiples

Whether you are a first-time mother or consider yourself a "veteran," MedelaMoms Maricel Cua and Beng Feliciano have your best interests in mind, especially when it comes to making sure you are able to give your child the best nutrition, i.e. breastmilk.

Committed to being more than just the Philippines' authorized distributor of the most well-known and trusted brand of breastfeeding products, MedelaMoms is all about supporting mothers and babies in their breastfeeding journey. This is why they organize learning events related to breastfeeding and parenting, provide breastfeeding counseling if needed, and help coordinate breast milk donations whenever necessary, among other things. MedelaMoms wants to be one with you, moms out there, in breastfeeding.

Everyone knows that breastfeeding can be challenging and nursing multiples -- twins or more -- may be even more demanding. At the same time, nurturing and raising multiples has its own set of "rewards" and sense of fulfillment. MedelaMom Beng knows this firsthand, having her own set of double blessings.

It is with great pleasure then that MedelaMoms invites all couples expecting multiples to come to the Medela House on February 8, Saturday, 9 a.m., to the launch of the "Seeing Doubles" Multiples Support Group. Different mommies with twins will share their precious time to talk about their experiences carrying, giving birth to, breastfeeding, and raising multiples! This is the time for all parents with multiples to ask their questions and satisfy their curiosity, and maybe even find the answers to all their concerns and worries. The "multiples moms" who have been invited by MedelaMoms to speak are ready to help parents for the arrival of their own sets of multiples.

Alongside the launch of “Seeing Doubles,” SweetPea, a cocktail/formal nursing wear company will also be launching its line through a fashion show. Walnut Melbourne PH will be providing the shoewear of the children in the show. Celebrity Moms Amanda Jacob and Marilen Faustino-Montenegro and children will be dropping by, too, to share their own modern day mom breastfeeding experiences.

Amanda will also be conducting a book signing and a limited number of her book, Project Mom, co-authored with Bianca Araneta-Elizalde, will be on sale that day.

The event is free of charge but attendees are required to pre-register by texting or calling MedelaMoms at 0917-8110821 or sending an email to medelamoms@gmail.com. Sign up now to experience the first support group for mommies of multiples in the country! Giveaways, special promos, a candy buffet, and other treats are in store for participating mommies.

To get the latest updates from MedelaMoms, connect with them through their Facebook page (Medela Breastfeeding Products) or better yet, add them as a "friend" on Facebook (http://facebook.com/medelamoms).

Starbucks Philippines' Christmas Treats

Starbucks Philippines recently gave a sneak peak on the new and exciting items to watch out for this Yuletide Season. And this will truly leave you salivating in front of your screens.

First, it brings back the favorite Christmas beverages, Toffee Nut Latte and Peppermint Mocha. At the same time, it introduces the latest addition to its handcrafted drinks: Cranberry White Chocolate Mocha.

The red cups are back: Starbucks Cranberry White Chocolate Mocha

Next, it launches its limited-edition food items -- some new, some doing a comeback. Savory fare includes Sun-dried Tomato and Basil Roll, Chicken Alfredo Turnover, Texas Chicken BBQ Wrap, Glazed Ham with Apricot Spread on Multigrain Bread, and Turkey and Chicken with Apple Stuffing on Whole Wheat Walnut Bread.

Glazed Ham with Apricot Sauce

Texas Chicken BBQ Wrap

Turkey and Chicken with Apple Stuffing

The sweet ones are the Pecan Butterscotch Twirl, Hazelnut Stollen Bread, Smores, Triple Decker Cheesecake with Snickers, and Warm Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake.

Triple Decker Cheesecake with Snickers

Pecan Butterscotch Twirl

Among the returning favorites are the Chocolate Toffee Nut Loaf, White Chocolate Cranberry Cookie, Peppermint Brownie, Gingerbread Cookie, and Molten Chocolate Cake.

Chocolate Toffee Nut Loaf

Gingerbread Cookie

Starbucks also releases is Christmas Blend, in bean and VIA ready brew variations.

Starbucks Christmas Blend (whole beans)

And the best part of all: the launch of the Starbucks Coffee 2012 Planner.

The Starbucks 2012 Planners

With the theme, "Starbucks Shared Planet," the planners are made with materials reflect the company's commitment in doing business in ways that are good to each other and the planet. This year's collection comes in 5 variants: Bamboo, Cherry, Oak, Poplar, and Spruce. Each comes with a small burlap bag that can be used for things other than storing your planner.

To redeem them, all you need to do is collect stickers by buying 9 Christmas beverages and 8 core beverages (except bottled). Another option is to purchase 23 core drinks. You can start collecting on November 3, 2012 until January 28, 2012.

All these abovementioned items are available in your favorite Starbucks stores come November 3. Excited? Head to a branch near you and grab these superb treats!

Join the Garfield Runner's Cup 2011

Are you looking for a great activity that you could do with the family and your friends? Then join the Garfield Runner's Cup 2011 happening on November 12, 2011 at Manila Ocean Park!

Organized by Garfield Apparel, this event is bound to be different from all the other fun runs and marathons that have been held in the country. Joining in the fun are Garfield and other cartoon characters, as well as celebrity endorsers like Mutya Orquia (of "Mutya" fame) and Louise Abuel (from "100 Days to Heaven"). Adults and kids can participate in the different race categories, ranging from 500m to 5K. After the fun run, there will be a show called "The Garfield Zone" where participants are treated to fun, games, activities, and a concert.

Not only is this event beneficial to one's health -- the Garfield Runner's Cup 2011 also benefits Filipino children, as proceeds from this fun run go to a children charity organization.

Registration is open until November 10, 2011 at selected Chris Sports branches: SM North Edsa Annex, SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, Festival Supermall, and ROX Bonifacio High Street. You can also register online at the Garfield Apparel website.

For more information and to join in the fun, visit http://garfieldapparel.com or go to their Facebook fan page.  You can also e-mail them at garfieldrun@yahoo.com or call 0917-5746323 / 0923-9347332.

Shamcey Supsup is 3rd Runner-up in the Miss Universe 2011 Pageant

Beauty and brains: Shamcey Supsup in her long gown

Well, she may not have bagged the much-coveted crown, but Shamcey Supsup, the Philippines' representative to this year's Miss Universe held in Brazil, manages to finish 3rd runner-up, a notch higher than what Venus Raj achieved in the same pageant last year.

I think the Philippines is once again inching closer to winning Miss Universe. And I'm pretty sure a lot of Filipinas are inspired by this feat that they'll be lining up for Binibining Pilipinas. :)

Of course, a big congratulations to Miss Angola, Leila Lopes, for being this year's Miss Universe.

Leila Lopes strutting her stuff in her stunning long  gown

Okay, now back to work, everyone! :))

Support Team Azkals!

Show your love and support for the Team Azkals! Join this activity tomorrow, June 10, at the TriNoMa Activity Center.

However you want it: Starbucks Personalized Frappuccino

Starbucks Philippines recently launched the "However You Want It Frappuccino Blended Beverage" wherein you can customize your Starbucks frap by adding or removing components. Now, coffee afficionados can create a blended beverage that suits their taste and reflects their personality.

Customizing your Starbucks Frappuccino can be done by:
- choosing your milk: regular, non-fat, soy;
- choosing your coffee's strength: regular or decaf;
- adding the special Frappuccino Roast or getting an extra espresso shot;
- adding extra syrup or drizzle;
- doing away with the "calorie-adding" stuff: no whip, sugar-free syrup, etc.

To help spread the word, Starbucks held a blogger event where they launched their new concoctions, the Extra Coffee Caramel Frappuccino Blended Beverage and Soy Green Tea Cream Frappuccino Blended Beverage.

Starbucks Extra Coffee Caramel Frappuccino

Starbucks Soy Green Tea Cream Frappuccino

They also encouraged the attendees to customize their favorite Starbucks fraps -- and actually make them!

(Disclaimer: crappy quality photos from my phone. My camera was "indisposed" that night, hehe!)

Love from Starbucks' marketing dept. assists Jon of Blogger Manila in writing his personalized frap on the Starbucks shirt.

My own beverage: Single Tall White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino Blended Beverage

Carmi of Starbucks teaches guests the steps in making the frap.

Yuri of Lost Tsinelas whips up his customized Starbucks frap.

My personalized White Chocolate Mocha (no extra espresso shot, though). Too much whipped cream, eh?

After creating our own personalized frappuccinos, Starbucks served us their new food items that are great complements to their coffee:

Left: Mango Peach Cream Pie. On the plate: Coffee Brownie (made with Starbucks VIA), Five Cheese Turnover, Chicken Galantina and Fontina Cheese on Pandesal, Chicken Buffalo Bleu, Tiramisu Cheesecake (made with Starbucks VIA).

At this point, maybe you're thinking, "I wanna make my own unique frap, but I'm not quite sure how to start." Good thing there's frappuccino.com.ph to give you a guide on creating your own frappuccino concoction.

So what are you waiting for? Visit a Starbucks branch near you and order your own customized frappuccino.

Oh, Baby! All Natural Baby Food

I attended a press conference yesterday at Je Suis Gourmand at The Fort for the Oh, Baby! All Natural Baby Food Press Launch. You can read the details of the event here.

So what is Oh, Baby! All Natural Baby Food? As the name suggests, it's baby food that's made from fresh, natural ingredients. It's packed with the vitamins and minerals your toddler needs -- and without any preservatives, additives, or other stuff that can be unhealthy for kids. They are created by chefs Tina Trillana-Lagdameo and Rebecca Disini-Gomez who, as moms, wanted to give their kids healthier food options than those currently found in supermarkets.

Mommy chefs Rebecca Disini-Gomez and Tina Trillana-Lagdameo with kids

The product line consists of Stage 1 and Stage 2 food. Stage 1 is for babies 6 to 9 months old and are just starting on solids. The Stage 1 food of Oh, Baby! are more like pureed vegetables stored in glass jars. You can feed it as is or mix it with other vegetables or fruits for added flavor.

Potato and Apple, Stage 1 food (6-9 months)

The Stage 2 food has more texture, great for toddlers 9 months onwards. Items included in this line, aside from the jarred variants, are teething biscuits and cookies.

Banana Grow and Go Cookies, Stage 2 food (9-12 months)

Aside from being nutritious, their prices are friendly on the pocket. The jarred food costs Php70.00 and the biscuits and cookies are priced at Php90.00.

As a reminder, though, the Oh, Baby! All Natural Baby Food line is to be consumed immediately. Because it has no preservatives, it has a relatively short life. If unopened, it can last for about a month. But when opened, they should be consumed in about 2 days and stored in the refrigerator. But I don't think you'll have a problem feeding these to your kids, because these are delicious -- I've actually tasted the Tomato variant and it's great when mixed with meat and other veggies.

If you want to know more about Oh, Baby! All Natural Baby Food, you can visit their official website.

Mexico wins Miss Universe 2010 crown

Miss Mexico Jimena Navarrette

Yeah, I know I'm no model employee for getting online updates for the Miss Universe 2010. But I can't help it.

And after some hours of checking Tweets and updates from friends, I got the news: 22year-old Jimena Navarrette, Mexico's representative for this year's Miss Universe, won the much coveted crown.

The runner-ups are:

1st runner up: Miss Jamaica Yendi Phillips
2nd runner up: Miss Australia Jesinta Campbell
3rd runner up: Miss Ukraine Anna Poslavskaya
4th runner up: Miss Philippines Maria Venus Raj

Go, Venus!

Venus, even if you didn't get the crown, you're still a winner. You made it that far, so congratulations!

Celebrating my daughter's birthday at Jollibee

I distinctly remember telling my husband that my child's first birthday won't happen in Jollibee because she would be too young to remember it. Well, what do you know, I ate those words.

Maybe I was just a bit too excited, but about a month before my daughter's first birthday, I was looking into holding her birthday in a fast food restaurant, complete with banners, balloons, cake, giveaways, and a mascot appearance.

Taking into consideration the location (we live in Pasig), we inquired at Jollibee Greenmeadows and McDonald's El Pueblo. Side by side, Jollibee seemed to offer more bang for our buck. So we opted to go with the big orange bee.

Jollibee Greenmeadows had 2 party rooms: the Hetty Room that can occupy up to 60 guests and the Jollibee Room which accommodates up to 100 guests. We picked the Jollibee Room because someone else has reserved the other room for the time and date we wanted. We also picked the Yum Food Package (good for 70 guests) that had the burger, spaghetti, fries, sundae, and softdrinks. We also included the loot bags and medium cake in the package. Jollibee's appearance was a sure-ball upon reservation of a Kids Party Package.

And so that Sunday, we went to Jollibee Greenmeadows for the party. It was scheduled at 1PM, and we arrived 30 minutes earlier. Unfortunately, the venue wasn't prepared yet because there was a reservation previous to ours. I think they started late. But it was a good thing the crew acted fast, and so by 1:15, we were welcoming guests in.

By 1:30, our host, Kuya Ton, came in and started the program. Prior to that, we talked and I told him to hold less games for the adults and more for the kids -- primarily because it was a children's party. He agreed.

The only game for the big ones (meaning kumares and kumpares) was a draw-yourself-without-looking-at-it kinda game. It was fun and not corny at all, unlike the ones that I've seen before. The other games were purely for kids (longest line, etc.) and a parent-kid game (bring things in pairs).

This is the medium-sized cake that came with the package. If you remember the birthday cakes of the 80s, the icing's pretty similar to that -- egg-white based.

After the games, 30 minutes was spent for the meals. After which came the most awaited appearance of that day. Yeah, that big orange bee!

On the photo above, you can see the host, Kuya Ton, fixing up Jollibee. As soon as the mascot came in, all the kids stopped what they were doing and came running towards the bee. Heck, even my daughter was enamored by Jollibee.

Did I say enamored? Look at her reaction! :)

Anyway, he performed 2 dance routines, after which came the candle blowing and the opening of gifts. The giving away of the loot bags followed. Everything went on the dot: all in 2 hours. We didn't have to pay extra for overtime.

And I didn't have to worry much about preparing for my daughter's birthday: cooking, wrapping lootbags, buying balloons, renting chairs and tables, and cleaning up after. Everything was done for me by Jollibee. And I just had to pay around Php12.5K for the hassle-free party.

I've had my share of cheesy restaurant birthday parties, but I actually enjoyed my daughter's party at Jollibee Greenmeadows. I guess one of the things that added to our positive review was that the host was also really engaging and lively (we overheard the host on the other room doing her spiel -- she sounded more subdued compared to our host), and Jollibee was a real wacko. Hahaha! I guess it's because the guests are pretty much game in everything.

If you're considering holding your kid's birthday at Jollibee, I'd actually recommend this branch. Fun, affordable, and most importantly hassle-free.

Weekend events: Avenue Q and Pacquiao-Clottey Bout

Hmm, it's been a while since I last posted. My apologies, I've been very busy, not to mention that I didn't have a Net connection during the weekend -- which meant I failed to post the Iron Man 2 Toy Launch by Toy Kingdom and the Nescafe event at Trinoma that I went to the other Sunday.

But at least I get to post about two events that marked my weekend. First up, Avenue Q!

^Got that photo from their website.

Anyways, I've heard of their songs before, that's why when I learned Avenue Q was having another run in Manila, I really wanted to see it. Good thing my hubby scored tickets for us for last Friday's show and we were on our way to a rollicking musical night.

It's a story of Princeton, a new graduate in search for a place to rent. He lands on Avenue Q (because the rent meets his budget) and meets a motley crew of puppets and people: Kate Monster, a pre-school teaching assistant; partners Brian and Christmas Eve; roomies Rob and Nicky; Trekkie Monster, the porn addict; and former child star Gary Coleman, who now works as the building superintendent of Avenue Q. The plot is quite irreverent, think Sesame Street on drugs. But it's basically a tale of finding love, purpose, fulfillment, and contentment, only told in a quirky kind of way.

Hats off to the cast, especially to Rachel Alejandro, Felix Rivera, and Joel Trinidad doing double (even triple) characters. Rachel Alejandro was really great especially during dialogues between Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut (which she both voiced). Avenue Q also affirmed my admiration for Frenchie Dy -- I so love her singing! And I must note that it kinda was funny for me getting Aiza Seguerra, a former child star, doing the role of a former child actor. But boy, did she do it well.

--------

Last Sunday was Manny's big day. Pacquiao, I mean.

But I must say, the hype was, well, just hype.

Entitled, "The Event," the Pacquiao-Clottey fight lacked exactly that -- an event. A big event that would make me cold and nervous and ecstatic at the same time. Made me realize that missing a few rounds (coz I had to tend to the baby) was okay.

Must admit, though, that one of the highlights would probably be this:

Pacquiao, maybe out of sheer frustration, because Clottey's fists were always on his face, made an FPJ move -- which earned him a warning, of course.

But if you're a certified Pinoy, you'd just have to laugh.

Still, congratulations are in order. Once again, Manny Pacquiao, you have made your countrymen proud. And you have done a great job in creating order in the Philippines, even for just a few hours.

And now, I will wait for NHI's verdict on Arnel Pineda's singing of the National Anthem...

The Killers Asian Tour -- cancelled?

Just heard that The Killers aren't coming to town. And not just in Manila, but they've also decided to cancel the rest of their Asian tour, so fans in Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul, and Tokyo would have to wait for another announcement when they'll be really coming over.

They've released a statement on their website, saying that one of the members' relative is suffering from a serious illness. Let's hope that family member will be on the road to recovery soon so that their fans in the Asian region would get to see and rock with them live.

Avenue Q returns to Manila

I failed to watch this show during its run some years ago. But this time, I hope to catch it.

The wacky puppets and cast of Avenue Q are back, and they're on a limited run this March 21 at the RCBC Plaza. You can go to their website and buy the tickets there.

Now I'm waiting when Wicked will come to Manila... :D

World Pyro Olympics 2009 at The Fort

Time to witness a grand spectacle of lights once again -- this time in another venue.

The World Pyro Olympics 2009 is happening tomorrow at The Fort. Germany and China starts the show at 7PM and 8PM, respectively.  Other participating countries are Canada, Australia, Japan, Italy, South Korea, USA, and Philippines (are we competing as well?).

Hmm, I wonder why they changed the venue? The fireworks look great when reflected in the waters of Manila Bay -- you won't notice how murky it is in the evening, so that's fine. Hope I could go to this year's Pyro Olympics.

For the schedule of pyrotechnic shows, go to their official website.