WAHMderful Life Workshop: Real Ways to be a WAHM (The Rerun)

It has been four months since I haven't had a full-time job (yes, I did count). Do I regret my decision? Not in the least. Am I bored at home? At times, I admit. Am I enjoying being a work-at-home mom? SUPER!

I cannot count the number of times that I have said that I am thankful for having been given an opportunity to work from my favorite space (no, it's not the mall, although who's stopping me from working there?). The first time I heard of the term WAHM (work-at-home mom) was through Martine's blog. I was just doing my usual blog-hopping when I was pregnant when I landed on her blog. I have to say, her posts prompted me to look for other working options. So since I was pregnant, I have been working at the university in the morning and working online at night. You can just imagine the stress Laika and I were getting from that! Luckily, we're pass that stage and I have since resigned from my job.

I have to say, I had a difficult time looking for writing gigs at the beginning. And then I heard that  the Manila WAHM's group is going to be holding a workshop for WAHMs and WAHMs-to-be that October. I wanted to join but then I thought I would have a one-month old by then. And then, they had another run that I was able to attend. I have to say I learned a lot and met women who have been inspiring me through my journey. And now, I want to invite YOU to attend the rerun of the WAHMderful Like Workshop.

From the WAHMderful Life website:

The WAHMderful Life Workshop is the ONLY workshop for women who want to work from home while making a home. An original Dainty Mom event, this workshop features a series of interactive workshops geared towards the encouragement and empowerment of women who are working from home or would like to do so.

Our primary audience comprises stay at home moms, moms who want to start a home-based business, moms interested in working from home whether as freelance professionals, telecommuters, or entrepreneurs.

If you’re working, already a WAHM, or are thinking about becoming a work-at-home parent, the WAHMderful Life Workshop is here to help you make that possible.

This rerun of the workshop that I attended will be this Saturday, April 13, 2012. Please click this link for more information and to register.

Pinterest Challenge: How to Make a Decoupaged Decor

Who here can remember the MTV Asia from way back with Mike Kasem as one of the VJs? If you do, high five to you because we're both old!

Now, if you're familiar with that, I want you to chant the following to the tune of Request of the day. Request of the day. Request of the day.

 I highly encourage you to sing with me. Pinterest Challenge. Pinterest Challenge. Pinterest Challenge. 

This is the time when, if Laika can already understand what's going on around her, I am sure she will be beaming with pride. She has the funniest mother in the world! *waving SARCASM flag to Sheldon Cooper*

Anyway, before we get anywhere else, I would like to say that I am a Pinner (Pinterest-er?). 

One of the images I pinned is this decoupaged letter from this site made by the Petersiks.  

I am here to challenge myself to make my own decoupaged letter. I also challenged myself into doing this without spending a dime.

First thing I did was to look for things I can use around the house. Good thing for me, somebody gave my daughter some puzzle mats, a magazine that is a freebie (a complete affront to my principle of refusing anything free if I can't find a use for it), and a glue stick (because I thought it's the least messy glue around).

This portion is brought to you by the letter B (I am such a couch potato 90's kid) which stands for Basman. I detached it from the puzzle and tear some pages from the magazine.

Here comes the fun part. Tear the pages up to the acceptable size. I learned as I went and realized that I should have cut some pieces smaller for the nooks and crannies. The bigger pieces where useful for when you are covering everything entirely. For detailing, use the small pieces. 

I went on and put glue on top of the page to create a protective seal. It's the poor man's Mod Podge (because I don't think Mod Podge is available here).

Wait for it to dry and cut the edges. Et voila! I now have my own version of decoupaged decor. Now to look for a place where I can hang this. 

This challenge is completely unofficial (Pinterest does not have anything to do about it) and is a product of imagination of a few people who wants to stop pinning and start doing. Feel free to go to the pages of the hosts to look at their own versions of this challenge: 

Sherry of Young House Love  
Katie of Bower Power Blog  
Megan of The Remodeled Life  
Michelle of Decor and the Dog  

 PS. I am contributing to this fabulous site about calendars and it would be great if you can visit through this link on my post about kitchen office ideas. 

Pops of color on the front

Ola!

I would like to share some inspirations to you through this blog and let me share my first post on this to you.

If you are like me who used to be so afraid of colors, I would like to suggest one fool-proof way to, little by little, introduce pops and bursts into your life.

Are you ready?

Here it is.

Bold-colored door.

Yes! Yummy, yummy facade :)

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 I started my love affair with colored doors when I saw Daphne Osena-Paez' door through her blog. Her red door attached to their vintage bahay na bato family home really brought tingles down my spine. Isn't it lovely?

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I can think of one person who would readily color her frontage pink. That, plus the whites make the otherwise boring bricks interesting, don't you think?

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Yellow is the winner for me. I will definitely put this in my future home. Sunshine-y yellow brings sunshine-y disposition, don't you agree?

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I'm sorry for the repetition of the color red but look at that shape! And the oil-rubbed bronze accessories seals the deal for me. Makes for one interesting door.

photo source

I know that this is not bold-colored but it is the great combination of different colors. It helps that it also lets light in. No other words for this. Perfect for any narrow doorway.

Now that you've seen some samples, are you ready to take the leap? What color can you think of? Bonus points if, aside from making your door colored, you can also add interesting details.

Why "Pocket-Friendly"?

You might have seen on my domain name that I have a little phrase there. Pocket-Friendly.

Well, let me tell you a little something about me.

I was raised by a frugal person. So much so that when his office made him choose what car to drive, he chose a simple Toyota.

Papa never raised us to love material things. Even if he was entitled to it, he never bought flashy things for himself. Credit cards? Unheard of. Mortgages? Never had them. He never bought a property, be that real estate or vehicular, unless he can pay for it in cash. I'm not saying we have much. It's just that Papa believes in delayed gratification. If you can't afford it, then maybe you don't need it.

Growing up, I only heard of Polly Pocket from classmates. Lisa Frank, who is she? Toys are not given to us. It was earned. I got a hundred pesos when I topped the honor roll. It's up to us how we will spend it. Same with buying school supplies. We are given a certain amount. If you want to splurge, so be it. But you must know the consequences of that.

Maybe that's why I am so in love with gadgets. I had none when I was young. I am not saying I was deprived. It made me realize that my parents worked so hard to get us where we are. My father is a simple man who made us shop in Tutuban at times and made us dine in Cafe Jeepney in Intercontinental Hotel during others.

Until his dying days, he chose his family. He was offered by his office to be sent to Netherlands for treatment but he opted to stay here and be with us. Family is numero uno to him.

All my frugal ways, I learned from him. I hated him for it before but I am so full of admiration for him now.

Makes me miss my Papa during times like these. He, to me, is the epitome of contentment. And I love him for it.

Home Office Evolution

Hi, I'm Talia. I'm a mother and I work from home.

Family Picture 2008

A little background for you: Being that I grew up with seven siblings, I have always craved for a place of my own. Eight kids means one room for boys and one room for girls. In our case, that means I had to share a room with four of my sisters. Eventually, my older sister had her own room and I then shared a room with three.

The one on the left was my workspace when I was sharing room with three of my sisters. I was a landscape architecture student then, so yes, a drawing board is in order.

And then I got my own room (although my older brother will disagree because that's his room. I just loved claiming it when he moved to the room downstairs) which is colored aqua blue and is much too masculine in my opinion. Too long a story but the point is, I wanted to have my own space that I can decorate. 

Please ignore the face. Pretty please.

When I got married and my husband and I rented our place, I asked him if it would be possible if each of us had our own workspace. One table for my things, another for his. It was a luxury given that space in the city where we live is precious. Think goldmine. That's how I would describe it.

There are times when I would bring my computer (no matter how heavy it is) to the bedroom temporarily just because that's where the air conditioner is. I would like to think this happened around summer time because there is no way I will lug the computer around unless it is scorching hot. But then again, I am known to push around humongous cabinets as a hobby so I guess, never say never, right?

And then me, the biggest-furniture-mover in the world, the one in charge of space layout in the house, I changed my mind. Not just once. More of a hundred times. We don't need a table for each. One is enough for both of us. 

After giving birth, I was tired of sticking to a color palette. Motherhood made me crave for different bursts of color. Red is my favorite at present. It shows. Oh, yes, it does show.

But who am I kidding? I am a mother now and I enjoy being with my kid. So I was demoted to working on the floor with my daughter in front of me. Total joy. Except when she's crying her eyes out and I just don't know what to do. In that case, I whisper to myself, "you love your daughter, you love your daughter, you love your daughter".

How about you? How has your home office evolved? Is red your style? Do you love working on your bed?

PS. Take a look at my new domain name. Isn't it awesomesauce? (Name that TV show!) Gives you a clue on what to expect in the future, huh? The site is still on the works so stay tuned.

My "Me" Time

I have always valued my "me" time. When I was in college, whenever stress overwhelms me, I would jog around the university to take a breather. Or sometimes, I eat out alone and window shop by myself.

Now that I have a little family of my own, having quality time with myself has been difficult. It may be hard but I make a conscious effort to make it possible.Otherwise, I don't know if I would still be sane now.

My "me" time happens every night when my husband and my daughter have already fallen asleep. That's when I get to write or read blogs. Other times, when the husband is at work and the baby is in the dreamland, I get to have time for myself, too. Or there are times, I force myself to wake up early even if I'm the last one to sleep so that I can have my quiet time alone.

How about you? How do you spend your alone time?

Renting sucks! (Or should it?)

The master bedroom when we first moved in (March 2011). Yes, I thought it was acceptable to curtain of just one side of the window.

We all know that renting is discouraged by many. You are paying for a property that will never be yours and more often than not, you allot the biggest chunk of your budget to rental fees.

But for some (read: us), it is the only possible way to live. Unless of course, you can think of a way where you can live by yourself without paying for rent and buying a property. In that case, please tell me how you do it.

Living room circa March 2011. I put contact papers to an otherwise blank white wall. I am in love with contact papers! I think it's the answer to everything. Blank wall, dining table, computer table, world hunger. Seriously. Except for the last part.

Husband studying in one part of the living room then.

My husband always believe in looking at the positive side (must be why he's been with me for so long. Good luck looking for my positive side! HAHA). We may be wasting our money but he told me to look at it this way. Renting allowed us to be experimental. Had we bought a property early on, I may not have had the courage to always, always, always (don't ever think I'm exaggerating) change the look of our house. 

Because my solution to a leaking ceiling then was puzzle mats, garbage bags, and pails (June 2011)

Aside from being experimental, we, at least, have an idea how to manage a house if ever we bought one now. Leaking ceiling, dripping faucet, tangled extension cords--not foreign to us anymore.

I know you're tired of this picture. It's what the master bedroom looks like now.

What our living/dining room looks like now

Thanks to renting, we also know what our house style is. We used to think brown, black and white is our style. All neutral, no excitement. But now, pops of colors everywhere. Having a child really does make ones house an exciting place.

 

Because every post looks cute with a Laika on it

 How has your place evolved?