I’m almost done with the phase 1-14 days of SBD and I am happy to note that I am 6 pounds lighter!!!! Yipee.  I should celebrate I think! lol Still undecided to continue for another cycle as I still have a long way to go for my desired weight.  No more craving for carbs too.  The only thing I’m battling still is not eating sweets.  I admit, I sometimes cheat. I think it is something I would rather compromise not to give up at all.

August is just around the corner and with just about four months before the holiday seasons strikes again, i am already looking for options for christmas gifts and souvenirs for families and friends. Yes, I am getting ready for the holidays. Can’t believe that we are done for half of 2010 already. For our relatives abroad, i am thinking to send out holiday photo cards just like what we used to do before. Ofcourse, it would be nice too to show a picture of our family now so they could see how the kids have actually grown. Hmmm, this calls for a famiy pictorial.

I went to the mall yesterday to check out some designer ties for one of clients who was asking me to get those as gifts for his principal sponsors but i ended up in Zara trying different dresses. The prices are like 30-40% off so I was able to get about 3 of those out of 7 i fitted. Why? because it doesn’t look nice on me as I am still working on a slimmer tummy. I love the dresses I got! Those are just like a little over a thousand.  Nice deal right?

It was a well-spent weekend with the family.  Two days of just plain fun of being together, eating, watching TV/DVD and even played some board games and outdoor games like badminton.  Kids went swimming this morning.  Read a book and heard mass too.

Now back home and tired already.  Husband and kids are now sound asleep.

Looking forward to a brand new week.  Good thing, I got recharged.  It’s a busy coming week.

Hope everyone had a great weekend too.

I am in need of VIP security for our upcoming event this August. The client requested me to check rates if we can hire extra security personnel to facilitate traffic flow in the church and reception, to check on the guests and give extra protection for VIP guests. Apparently, she told me that she prefers the calibre of those like the ones from Security Guards Southport. Now, it’s making my search complicated since there are very few qualified security agencies I do trust for our events. Tomorrow, we would meet with two agencies as I am letting her review the credentials and decide eventually who to get. Hope we could resolve this requirement already for one of my big events this coming month.

and contemplating again to get another B bag! This time from UK since I found out that the Gold Giant Hardwares are no longer in production starting this year. The stores in UK like London, Cannes and Paris have few stocks of the Balenciaga GGH. I emailed the stores and get some feedback already on their stocks availability. Cannes has the more GGH available currently but they don’t have anything on the color that I like. Thank goodness. But London has a very nice color which I have been contemplating to get. I even phoned already the store using the 0871 Numbers. Oh, it’s not really within my plan to get another Bbag soon so instead, I asked my friend from UK to just get me this…

Need one badly. It’s a professional jewelry cleaner that cleans even precious stones and metals. I hope the temptation to get that available bag in London will stop haunting me!

While having our quick vacation this weekend, I got few unnecessary and annoying calls from some marketing companies offering me different kids of services. One call is about a pre-qualification to some personal loans, another one is about hotel membership and last was about some “free” cleaning services for mattresses. I wonder where these companies got my contact numbers specifically my mobile number. Do you also get these kind of unnecessary calls?

I know of a certain company like TransUnion, who sold some confidential credit information illegally from some marketing companies in the US sometime 1987 to 2000. A number where affected by that disclosure of personal credit information and many have filed a TransUnion Lawsuit. I hope these companies calling me are not getting it from such illegal sharing of personal information like what TransUnion did. Otherwise, this should be consulted to some known lawyers who handle such expertise. I wish there is something like O’Hanlan, McCollom and Demerath lawyers here who have experiences handling the case.

this morning. We would stay there for the weekend. Looking forward for this quick getaway with the whole family. I can’t wait to just lounge around and read a book. Brought with me “Eat, Love, Pray” book. Also bought a number of DVDs with us. I’m sure it would be movie marathon as we enjoy the cool breeze of Tagaytay weather. The kids though are hoping to go swimming on the clubhouse on Sunday. I hope I can survive SBD while there. But I am taking a break from my regular menu order on Sunday. Just one cheat day for the week.

Now, got to pack our stuff…

July is already close to an end and it would just be 5 months away to Christmas Season. I wanted to plan ahead this time and already look for options on what to give out as gifts/souvenirs for our suppliers and clients. My staff recommended to me to check out the customized promotional mugs she saw online. I think it would be much appreciated especially by most of our suppliers who really love to drink coffee. And oh, I thank my staff for letting me know about it since these promotional mugs she saw online are all on sale.  We can definitely grabbed this deal.  That’s a good thing on planning ahead.

Finally, I was able to make an appointment with the insurance agents of the insurance companies we are considering. We are already set to the health insurance we are getting so it is a matter of finally drafting the policy. The husband agreed to get the dollar policy as it offers more protection since it is accepted worldwide. We still need to finalize another insurance policy with another company. Glad we are done with all these insurance thing and the husband would stop bugging me to process it already.

Next thing I know that he would ask me to review is the option to buy silver bullion. He learned from a friend that at this time would be the best time to invest on this precious metal since the world demand for it now exceeds annual production. I learned that silver can be available in either coin or ingot form. I haven’t really know much yet about this investment but a number of our friends told us already about it.  So I have to make more research on it.  So after the insurance talks, it would probably be investment talks on the other hand.

have their Mabuhay Miles YFlyer cards already…

Happy to note that they’ve got their miles from our recent US trip with a bonus of 3000 miles since we booked during the travel expo. Their miles are possible for a round-trip HK getaway! I hope the husband is reading this! lol! But I would probably pass that up since we are saving for another great trip. As for me and the husband, our miles are getting bigger. Thanks to credit card points! I am even wishing our miles can be converted to round-trip air travel to Europe. Wish! if our ultimate plan of going to Europe by 2012 pushes through, I would probably go nuts calling all those stores with 08 numbers! Know what are those? Yes, designer bag shops!!!! Woohoo! Gotta save real hard for that trip!

Yes, today is my first day for South Beach Diet as I previously blogged.  Nothing fancy, just plain healthy eating.  No sweets, no carbs, no fatty foods.  Will eat food that are low in glycemic index to stop me from craving.  I weighed this morning, let’s see what happens after the 14 days. Hoping a healthier me after this.

According to Wikipedia, here’s what’s written about it…

The South Beach Diet is relatively simple in principle. It replaces “bad carbs” and “bad fats” with “good carbs” and “good fats.”

“Good carbs” vs “bad carbs”

According to Agatston, hunger cycles are triggered not by carbohydrates in general, but by carbohydrate-rich foods that the body digests quickly, creating a spike in blood sugar. Such foods include the heavily refined sugars and grains that make up a large part of the typical Western diet. The South Beach Diet eliminates these carbohydrate sources in favor of relatively unprocessed foods such as vegetables, beans, and whole grains. Carbohydrate sources are considered “good” only if they have a low glycemic index.

“Good fats” vs “bad fats”

Given that South Beach Diet was designed by a cardiologist, it should be no surprise that it eliminates trans-fats and discourages saturated fats. Although foods rich in these “bad fats” do not contribute to the hunger cycle, they do contribute to LDL cholesterol and heart disease. The South Beach Diet replaces them with foods rich in unsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acid which contribute to HDL cholesterol and provide other health benefits. Specifically, the diet excludes the fatty portions of red meat and poultry, replacing them with lean meats, nuts, and oily fish.

Phases

Agatston divides the South Beach Diet into three phases, each progressively becoming more liberal. “Phase 1″ lasts for the first two weeks of the diet. It eliminates all sugars, processed carbohydrates, fruits, and some higher-glycemic vegetables as well. Its purpose is to eliminate the hunger cycle and is expected to result in significant weight loss. “Phase 2″ continues as long as the dieter wishes to lose weight. It re-introduces most fruits and vegetables and some whole grains as well. “Phase 3″ is the maintenance phase and lasts for life. There is no specific list of permitted and prohibited foods. Instead, the dieter is expected to understand the basic principles of the diet and live by the principles.

Yes, I love Bare Minerals to bits! Need I say more? I swear about the product and I actually bought few pieces again last month even I still have tons of stock at home. I have special fascination for everything mineral make-up. I love how flawless looking it comes out on my face after putting it on. The Mineral Veil of Bare Minerals is my regular staple in my cosmetic kit. I recently talked to a friend who is taking her cosmetology course from a known beauty school in Minneapolis called Jacksonville Cosmetology School and also swear about the product. My friend told me how they also value the use of mineral make-ups during their classes. She showed me their campus and I am surprised to see how upscale their facilities are. They are known also to actually provide community service since they offer discounted salon services. My friend is actually hoping to land a job in modelling scene after her course and the school is even helping her out for that. How cool is that?  I heard make-up artists do get discounts also when purchasing make-up.  My friend promised to extend the discount for me once she’s certified.  Of course that is to buy Bare Mineral make-up again

The husband had his birthday party at home from friends from his former company. We were all taking about how to lose weight including those quicktrim reviews and how to keep ourselves healthy. The discussions were brought about after learning that one of our friends had to undergo bypass surgery at a very young age of 38 years old. It made all of us scared!  But that night was not totally spared because we had a great meal which I ordered from a good caterer. Everyone raved about the food!

Grilled Chicken and  Roast Pork with Caramelized Apple

Red Snapper with Mango Salsa and Lengua Estofado

to lose those stubborn fats so I decided to take South Beach Diet (again!) seriously. This time, I wanted to do it for a minimum of one month. I am hoping I can survive it. I am enticing the husband to join me so let’s see. But with multiple invitations from hotels this time, I would probably start next week instead! lol! Ok, I am not yet ready psychologically so I’m giving myself a week. Do check on me next week if I have started already (wink!)

The above photo was taken during one of our stops on our road trips. This was in Hoover Dam. It was a tourist attraction once known as Boulder Dam, that is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado Rover. It is actually a state line between Arizona and Nevada. This was just about few days after we landed in Los Angeles and look how much weight we gained already just looking at our picture. That made me think to buy diet pills then. But instead of looking for one in Las Vegas as we were headed there after this stop, we ended up eating mostly buffet in Vegas hotels. So don’t ask how much weight did we gain from the trip ok?

It’s been incredibly crazy week since monday. Actually i was a totally busy bee since last week. I am thinking I need all the supplementing I could take. I need some health supplements to keep me going. Last week was husband’s party as well so I was crazy preparing for his birthday party in less than 2 days! But glad I was able to pull it off. It’s already middle of the week and I hope work would get better in two days time.

are growing so fast. So i don’t take any chances not to cuddle them. I actually miss them being so tiny and little, so helpless and so dependent. But I just can’t stop the hands of time so I am just making the most of it. Spending time with them is always precious and something I wouldn’t trade off. A number of our friends were asking as to when will we get pregnant again. We still want actually. Hopefully a boy this time? But how could we be so sure of the gender? I hope the chinese calendar is really effective. But for the meantime, I am considering to take some diet supplements so I can be in better shape and weight first before I end up being pregnant again!