The Young House Love Macklemore Thrift Shop Challenge

Before I begin, I just want to apologize for not having the chance to update this blog for over two weeks except for the occasional posts here and there. Life happened and Instagram came. Dub me the Latecomer as I have just discovered the beauty of this social network.

Because of that, I installed a good plug-in so you can still be updated with my life. Yes, I'm talking to you, my three loyal readers.

I have also just devised a way to organize my schedule without compromising time with family, work deadlines, personal enrichment and blog-writing (in that particular order). Allow me to explain: My day starts at 5:00 am after Laika's crying for milk, then I start pumping milk, praying, sleeping a little until husband wakes me up for breakfast. The whole morning is dedicated to Laika until she takes her morning nap and in the afternoon, I enjoy lunch with the husband (who conveniently works in the hospital right in front of our apartment), take Laika for a bath, and play with her until her afternoon nap. That's when I get some work done. Evening is for dinner, exercise time (because I really, badly need to get back to my pre-preggy weight), and then that's when another round of work is done until I sleep by 12 midnight, if I'm lucky, or 2 am, if insomnia strikes.

Phew! That's a whole lot of explaining for an I'm-sorry-I-don't-post-as-frequently-now post. That is to say I hope to be a better blogger next time. I'll be lucky to get a post done a week now but I will try.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, where was I? Right, the Macklemore Thrift Shop Challenge. Remember my favorite bloggers, John and Sherry Petersik? Well, they are the bloggers behind Young House Love and they are the awesomest dork bloggers ever!

John and Sherry posted a Macklemore Thrift Shop Challenge in their blog and I heard myself thinking, "challenge accepted!" So I dragged my sweet husband to the nearest Thrift Shop. As in five-blocks-away-from-the-house near.

The challenge says to bring $20 and because in the Philippines, that means P814.30, I prepared myself to bring in stuff for the house.

See, I have never, for the life of me, thrifted for things for the house. Clothes, sure I have. Other than that, nada. Zero. Zilch.

On the drive there (yes, five blocks and we still brought the car. What? I don't know if we were going to buy something massive), we heard, for the first time might I say,  the Thrift Shop by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, on the car radio. True story.

When we got there, as it was after office hours, we were clearly losing natural lighting. That is to say, "sorry for the crappy photos, I did not think to set my camera to the correct settings".

As soon as we got there, the first thing that caught my attention was this beautiful cabinet made of rattan. I would marry it if I could. Sorry, Saud. Good thing for him, it costs P4000 (about $100) and that's about 5 times more expensive than what I brought. So, goodbye, gorgeous cabinet. I wonder what could have been?

I continued browsing, not even knowing what my P815 can buy. Saw a lot of things with potential. And then it happened. My husband's jaw-dropped.

Yes, that's genuine and pure awe. I stole this shot and I heard him say, "if I see a Gameboy and a Pokemon here, I am going home with them." Gotta love that despite having our own, he is still a child at heart.

Unfortunately, he found none.

I was also in dreamland as I found a place with lots and lots of furniture. I always had to remind myself that we had barely a 50-square-meter apartment.

To make the Macklemore Thrift Shop Challenge turn into a genuine Young House Love Macklemore Thrift Shop Challenge, I photographed two things in the list. Two, because I cannot bear to do silly things in front of the camera (bonus points for that?)

But! Unlike my husband, I did not go home empty-handed.

 

Two wonderfully-patterned vases for P300 each and a nice oriental tray for P200 (I haggled from P250). Oh yes! Challenge done!

And here they are in our dining table.

photo from my Instagram. Yes, I'm an addict. Get me to the rehab.Fast!

And to prettify our new kitchen stuff, we bought flowers from the nearby Dangwa. I love our neighborhood!

How was my Thrift Shopping? I had fun! Too much fun that I swore I will come back. This time, I want to sell stuff. Goodbye, clutter-in-our-house!
 

Birthday and Anniversary

Today is my husband's 30th birthday and tomorrow is our 2nd wedding anniversary. Let me reflect on our two years of marriage because I cannot possibly sum up his thirty awesome years of existence here on earth in just one blog post.

Our marriage is not an uncomplicated one. We've had bumps here and there. You can say I've had my most thrilling roller coaster ride in this game of life because of him. When we first got together, it was a big, big adjustment for both of us. We were not ready in the sense that, a week before our wedding, neither of us knew we were going to get married. It's a long story and I would rather keep it private. What I am ready to share is the awesomeness that Saud Basman is.

When we got married, on the first three months of our togetherness, we lived in a small studio apartment. So small that we cannot buy a decent dining table as it will not fit in the room. That was my husband's dorm room when he was single. But since we got married unexpectedly, we had to live there temporarily.

We also don't have a car when we first got together. That was our first big buy. A second-hand sedan. Up to now, we are using the said car. We have also experienced buying groceries and as we were to pay in the counter, we had to remove some items as our money in the wallet is not enough. Saud taught me to laugh through it all. We always tell ourselves, "one day, this is the story we will be telling our children and we will just be laughing it off. That we had to return items in our shopping cart because our money is not enough. That we had to use a car with a busted light because we cannot afford to have it replaced". And you know what, he is right. Alhamdulillah (thank God), all those things are a thing of the past.

Just last week, my sister and I were talking. The topic went to contentment in life. And I told her, we, Saud and I, are at a point where we are happy. We have a happy family, our parents love us, Laika is well provided for, our siblings are at peace, nobody is sick, we get to eat well, we have made a home that is comfortable for us, there's nothing really we can ask for. We may not be rich but we are blessed. I can't say Alhamdulillah enough that day. I wanted to cry as I am not a good Muslim and yet He has been blessing us too much. We wanted a simple life and He granted it to us. I have found a partner who is really very kind and very selfless. He won't even buy good clothes for himself unless I tell him he deserves it. I really could not ask for more.

Saud is the greatest love of my life. My biggest rock. My shoulder to cry on. My bestfriend. My partner. Happy 30 years of your awesome living. I love you very much. Thank you for giving me Laika.

Eid'l Adha Long Weekend

When Malacanang announced October 26 a national holiday to celebrate Eid'l Adha, our little family planned on having our own weekend rest. My husband is a big traveler while I am all for staying-at-home. When there were just the two of us, we used to always argue on whether we will be traveling when opportunity comes or we will just be watching TV in the house. Now, as Laika is only a little over a month old, there was no arguing, we can't go somewhere too far.

On Thursday night, as soon as Laika's daddy got home from the office, we visited baby Nash, our youngest nephew. What a cute baby! Can't believe she was as small as him when she was born and now, she can hold her head and try to climb on our shoulders while we burp her!

And then, we went straight to my parents' house as they live in front of a mosque. We celebrated Eid'l Adha with them on Friday morning. Unfortunately, I can't pray as I still have postpartum lochia (I know, TMI!). We spent the rest of the weekend with them.

You can see the people if you just squint a little

As for Laika, she chillax-ed the heck out of the vacation. We are so much grateful to my mother and siblings as they took care of our baby while we were there.

It was a pretty laid back weekend. Come Sunday, my husband and I went to our future home. We will be moving in a year from now there. Seeing the showroom, we got excited of the development. This is the reason why we are saving up. We bought it last year. It seemed too faraway then but now, we can't wait for our unit to be done.

Not ours. This is just a model unit.

So that's how we spent our long weekend. Another long weekend is coming up. I wonder how we will be spending it this time.

Who is the Mister of Mrs. Talia Basman?

In the spirit of over sharing, let me share our story.

Before I became Mommy Talia, I was Mrs. Talia Basman first. And before I became Mrs. Talia Basman, I was Ms. Talia Basman. Huh? How did that happen? Let me explain.

Many people have asked how come I did not change my last name when I got married. Some even asked if I even got married at all.

I am married to my cousin. Not to a distant cousin. To my first cousin. As in, we-share-the-same-last-name kind of cousin. As in, our-fathers-are-brothers kind of cousins. Incest? Nah. Not to my religion Islam. In Islam, we can marry our cousins. It is legal. And we live happily together.

Some people, upon finding out about this, are quite disturbed. Some are even asking if the marriage was arranged. In a way, it is (although I have nothing against arranged marriages, provided both parties are for it). Did we fall in love with each other? Yes, we did.

Before we were "arranged", we were best friends. And you know what they say about friendship being the best foundation.

We used to talk and laugh about everything under the sun. Even up to now, we never run out of things to talk about. We even tell each other about everything we think of. We believe that trust is vital in any relationship. We value it so much.

We are married for almost two years now. Do we regret it? Of course not! Although I would love it if I will not always be questioned on my last name especially during interviews and filling out of government forms. But I can honestly live with it. I am at my happiest at present. Especially now that we have our cute baby girl. And that is a big thank you to the Mister of the House.

Laika and Yarrah's Aqeeqah

Upon finding out that we were pregnant, my husband's older brother called us and we planned on having our babies' Aqeeqah (name-giving ceremony) on the same date (because his wife is expecting that time, too). As they are living in another country and they had to plan their going home here ahead of time, even if we haven't given birth yet, we had the date penciled in already. It has to be on the 14th of October, the same date of their first child's 2nd birthday. It is going to be a triple celebration.

Because my husband and I are the ones in the Philippines, we were tasked to prepare for the ceremony. With only two weeks to spare (and a budget to work with), we had to look for the perfect location.

Our first choice was Balay Kalinaw. All four of us, the parents, were from the University of the Philippines Diliman, which makes it the perfect location for the celebration. The place is also rented out for a very cheap price. Unfortunately, the date we wanted was not available.

photo source Balay Kalinaw

Our second choice was Betty's located behind Sto. Domingo Church. It looks nice for a decent price. But then, October 14 is the Feast of La Naval. The place will be very crowded that time and so we had to scratch the idea again.

photo source Interior of Betty's

I was beginning to lose hope. That plus a crying baby is a deadly combination. I texted my husband and he asked from his officemates for suggestions. One medical representative suggested Rustica located at Scout Reyes corner Mother Ignacia Avenue (Tel. No. 415-3558). I searched the internet and they had positive reviews. We visited the place, we liked it, and we booked on our preferred date.

photo source

Days before the feast, we witnessed the slaughtering of two goats (one for each daughter) which is the sacrifice to be offered. It was held in Taguig City, my hometown. The goats had to be healthy and has to have complete sets of feet and nails. After which, the meat of the goats are to be distributed to people, preferably to those who are in need.

During the feast, most of the guests were complimenting us on the food. Some of the meat of the goat were also served that day. Unfortunately, that dish wasn't available anymore when it was my turn to eat. On a normal day, I don't eat goat meat. But for my daughter's aqeeqah, I wanted to have a taste of the dish.

These are the things our daughter wore for the occasion. We also had a hard time looking for a dress as Laika is only a month old and most of the dresses sold in malls are for big babies. Good thing we were able to see one in SM North Edsa.

photo source

We ordered cakes from Estrel's. They have the yummiest caramel cakes with just the right amount of sweetness.

One cake for each girl

The ceremony was hosted by a dear friend, Jane. And it was officiated by the same person who led our wedding, Ustadz Hamjatin.

First, the Ustadz explained what happened days before during the slaughtering of the goats and the ceremony that will follow as well. And then, he recited verses from the Qur'an.

Yarrah being older, first went through the ceremony. After her, Laika followed.

Cutting of the celebrants' hair

Feeding of honey

Putting on perfume

All in all, it was a simple and fun celebration. We wouldn't have it any other way.

On breastfeeding and bottlefeeding

Even before we had a baby, heck, even before we got pregnant, my husband talked me into breastfeeding exclusively. He is a strong believer in providing nourishment that has been given naturally to a mother. Being the good wife that I am (hahaha), I knew from the very start that I will be breastfeeding my soon-to-be-born child. But don't get me wrong. I don't judge people who decide to formula feed their babies. I believe in doing whatever works for you and the baby. I do judge, on the other hand, people who judge formula-feeding mothers. Does that even make sense?

Anyway, my baby is now 3 weeks old and I am proud to say that she has only taken in milk that came from me. That is, except for her first 2 days in the world when the nurses in St. Lukes Global City, where she was confined for the first 3 days of her life in the NICU (more on that on other blog posts), took it upon themselves to feed her glucose water. Upon finding out about this, my husband told the nurses to stop this and we started visiting her every 3 hours round the clock since then to stimulate my breasts to produce milk.

I regret not having read much about breastfeeding as much as I did about pregnancy. Husband told me I should stop regretting and instead look at this as an opportunity for me to share what I know now. I've listed some of them below:

• I didn't know I should have started having baby latch to me as early as possible to stimulate milk production. 
• I didn't know it is okay to not have milk the first few days as baby has food reserves from when she was in my belly (milk came in 3 days after baby was born). 
• I should have known having a supportive partner is essential in this (of which I am very lucky to have). 
• I should have known and read about engorgement and how much it hurts like hell!
• I should have purchased a breast pump before I gave birth. This has been a very worthy investment for us.

After reading much about breast pumps when I was pregnant, we decided on getting an Ameda Purely Yours Breast Pump because of the great reviews.  But because it is not readily available in malls here and to have one, I would have to purchase it online, we weren't able to buy this one.

photo source

Because of engorgement and my postpartum condition, my husband had to buy one immediately after we were discharged from the hospital. He went to Market! Market! and I asked him to buy an Avent Isis iQ Uno Breast Pump. It also had great reviews but it is more expensive and it only has one pump. The good thing is it can also be used manually and can be battery-operated. At present, it is my best friend in the world!

photo source

Just yesterday, for the first time ever, we gave in and bottled-fed Laika using my expressed milk. We believe breast milk is still good in whatever form it comes in. We use Philips Avent and Tommee Tippee bottles. Before then, we tried giving expressed milk through medicine dropper. We originally didn't want to introduce bottles yet to avoid nipple confusion but we had to as Laika and I had latching issues. It also hurts too much!

photo source

photo source

Of the two, I prefer Tommee Tippee more as it is slow-flow. We also had zero problems on nipple confusion as I still feed her directly from time to time and she has more efficient latch as compared to before. I noticed that she also feeds more now that we introduced bottles to her. My problem now is my milk supply can't keep up. I ordered lactation cookies from Mommy Treats and it will be delivered tomorrow. I will be making a review once it gets here.

An Update to the "Gadget Itch" post

Husband gave me a little something today. And it is not included in my last post. Let the picture do the talking :)

my new Lumix LX5!!! :)

I owe a lot of posts. Just a quick update, I gave birth to a cute baby girl last September 11. Please pardon the delay. Still getting used to the baby's schedule.

Gadget Itch

Let's veer away from the baby topic for today's blog post.

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My husband and I are two opposite poles apart. He is an orthopedic surgeon, I am a landscape architect. He loves basketball, I hate listening to the rubber shoes' sounds from the TV. He loves staying at home, my idea of fun is going to the malls.

But if there's one thing we discovered early on we can meet eye to eye on, that is our love for gadgets. Shallow, we know. But that's our only indulgence. When we were young, both of us save our allowances to get the gadget of our dreams. My first salary went to my purchasing of my iPod classic.

photo source

When we got married, we had to let go of our addiction to gadgets. Paying for bills is something new to me. Saud is used to it as he has been living on his own for a while before then. But add me to the equation and major budgeting had to be done. One of the saddest days of my life is when we had to sell my first iPod and his PSP because we had to pay the bills.

More than a year after getting married, I hope we never had to go through that again. We have also learned to live within our means. And we have learned to invest and save every month.

Before Laika gets here, we told ourselves we will be making purchases we would otherwise not be able to buy once the baby comes in the picture. My husband, maybe out of his missing his gadget, bought a PSP (yes, just like the gadget we sold) two days ago. I am very happy upon seeing the twinkle in his eyes every time he plays.

BUT BUT BUT...I am thinking, now is my turn. I haven't bought a gadget for myself. So this morning, out of boredom as I am still on leave from work, I researched on gadgets and brainstormed on what it is I will buy.

(note: Saud does not know about this. I still have to sweet talk my way into getting any of the items here. Hehe...)

• Laptop. My first laptop was able to survive for 4 years. It was an Acer. But then one day, it conked out maybe because of old age. It was gifted to me by my parents for my thesis.We had it repaired but then, we forgot about it. So we weren't able to get it from the repair shop. Yes, out of our own stupidity.

photo source

 So now, I am thinking of getting a laptop. At present, I am still loving my iMac and I get to borrow my husband's Macbook Air. But it feels good to have my own. Saud promised me a Macbook Pro in the future. Maybe the future is now? Hahaha...and then, I thought, I don't need a new computer. Plus Saud's new gadget is lots of times cheaper than a laptop. So I had to scratch this idea.

photo source

photo source

• iPad. But then, Saud wants this, too. Plus I don't need it. So this, too, has to be scratched. 

  

  photo source

• Camera. I have a DSLR (a very old Nikon D50). But it is so outdated and it is heavy to lug around especially when we are traveling. It's like an additional baggage on its own. 

photo source Photo from when we went to the Great Wall of China and me lugging a very heavy camera (from Cathe's facebook)

I was thinking I need a compact camera. I looked at Canon G12. But, boy, is it not cheap! 

photo source

I looked at Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS19. It has Leica lens. Leica, Laika. Get it? Hahaha...plus it costs as much as husband's PSP. And its cost justifies its specifications. FOUND MY GADGET!

photo source

But then, when I was about to tell Saud about it, I thought to myself, I don't need a new gadget. It was just an itch. And now, the itch is gone. It may be good to have a new camera. But I can live without it. Plus, Laika comes first. 

(But of course, if my husband gets to read this, he knows what to get me :D)

Excited!

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I am a person who is always easily excited. Too excited that I got my college diploma in 2008; my professional license in 2009; my postgraduate diploma, another professional license and my marriage certificate in 2010; got pregnant in 2011.

And speaking of excitement, here I am again, excited for the arrival of our new little bean this 2012! I have been the baby machine, the shopping-for-baby maniac, the nesting momma. My husband, as always, has been too kind to me. But I know he’s going crazy as well.

From a small household of two, we are preparing for the arrival of two other persons in this house. Our little bean and her fairy god angel, Sharon. Sharon is going to be her sitter and she is currently having her “internship” in my mother’s house.

This now here is my attempt to document our day-to-day life. Join us in our journey!