Looking Young

Looking young has both advantages and disadvantages… I realized…

The advantages:  (1) You can easily blend with young people without making them feel uncomfortable or you, feeling out of place, (2) you can wear hip clothes like those worn by young people, and (3) it truly does feel good to look younger than your age, yeah?

The disadvantages: (1) There are people who think that older people know better than the younger ones, and then (2) there are people who respect other people not for what’s between their ears but for the wrinkles on their faces (how condescending and stupid is that???).

I often get compliments for looking younger than my age. But I guess, I only look young because I am petite and people have this tendency to mistake small people for being young or younger than their age.  Personally, I think I look young because I feel young. My disposition radiates through my looks and yes, I admit it, I am really vain. I take care of myself. Specifically, I take care of my skin and my hair. For me, these are the two most important factors that tell of a person’s physical age. If you have glowing skin (whatever skin color you have) and you have soft, shiny hair (again, whatever hair color that is) you definitely will look younger than your age.

Now, here’s what I find funny. When I was about 12, I thought that my 30-year old aunt looked ancient… 11 years ago, when I reached 30, I could not help but think whether I looked like my aunt when she was in that age… And deep in my heart I wished I did not, hahaha! Hey, don’t get me wrong, I so love my aunt and she is very pretty, she remains so even with a few wrinkles deeply etched on her face.

It was when I reached 30 that I began to appreciate the looks that God gave me. I felt younger, I felt beautiful, I felt confident and different. No, I did not feel that way when I was in my teens and definitely not when I was in my 20’s. I hated my 20’s. I was so unsophisticated, so naïve, so insecure, so trusting and so engaged in a battle with pimples. It was not a good phase for me. I look terrible back then, except for my skin and my hair, there was nothing more in me that I loved. So shallow, eh?

Speaking of looks, I am actually wondering what I’ll look like 9 more years from now when I’ll be 50. Argggh, THAT, this time, actually sounds ancient to me, lol.

Unconditional love

“I thank my family for loving me exactly the way I am.” These were words of Diablo Cody, the screenwriter for the movie “Juno," when she received the Oscar Award for Best Original Screenplay back in 2008. 

Some people are lucky to be loved unconditionally, some are not, and I believe that majority of us, unfortunately, belong to the club of the conditionally loved. I say it because I see it around me. Many of us are not loved exactly for who we are. There are always appendages, conditions, warnings. People try to change us and people are only happy with us when we conform to their ideals. Tough!  I am not trying to pretend I’m clean because I am guilty of this, too, and it sucks, I'm telling you... It sucks because I know exactly how it feels. It sucks because many of us would really give everything to be accepted and loved for who we are, not for what people expect us to be or what they want us to be. 

But I take my hat off to those who just don’t give a damn. I believe they’re conscious about it but they go on with life unmindful of it. I salute those who change on their own for the better. To them who live their lives and whose being becomes the source of their own strength.  To them who is capable of loving themselves and being completely happy sans love from other people. To them who do not live under the shadow of other people. To them who just don’t care so long as they do not violate any law or step on other people’s toes. These people who are their own persons are carefree, free spirited, risk takers. These people are happier, too....or are they?

.

A fetish for a clean bathroom

I told you, I am a sucker for clean bathrooms. I can spend a good enough time inside a bathroom and won't mind at all. When I stay in hotels, the BR is the first thing I checked. It has to be clean, it has to be scrubbed well, the faucet should be gleaming, the floor and wall molds-free, the toilet bowl pearly white, the sink and countertop spotless. I just can't stand a grimy, messy bathroom, especially a dirty toilet bowl, it totally puts me off. It's not only unhygienic, it's repulsive too.

I personally clean my bathroom. I don't mind at all because I feel so satisfied staying insidea squeaky-clean BR. Here's a peek at my favorite spot at home and what's inside it:

My bathroom is not really big but I like it a lot. And if you noticed, I'm into natural, organic bath care products, too. I won't go into the details of that, as that requires a separate blog space. Suffice it to say that natural, earth-friendly products go well with a squeaky-clean bathroom :)

D-I-Y Body Scrub

When you personally do stuff usually done by professionals, you're DIY'ing. Meaning, you're Doing It Yourself. Doing stuff yourself has pros and cons. Let's start with the Pros:

1. No one tells you how to do things, you do them your way
2. You're sure that the materials you are using are of quality (if that's the objective of your DIY'ing)
3.  You can do stuff for less - meaning, DIY'ing is inexpensive compared to finished products in the market or to services done in professional shops

The Cons:
1. You'll have to do everything yourself
2. It can be laborious and tiring
3. It takes time

There are stuff that I leave to the experts but there are others that I prefer to do myself. For one, I don't go to the spa for a good body scrub. I do it myself and I concoct my own scrub. For my hair, I go to a professional hair specialist on special occasions but on regular days, I treat my hair myself.

For my body scrub, here are the ingredients I use (these can be found in your kitchen, sweetie)

1. 1 tbsp. ground coffee (I use Batangas coffee)
2. Honey (I use CEM, Palawan honey)
3. 2 pcs. kalamansi (Philippine lemon)
4. A few drops of Australian Emu Oil (optional, but this helps a lot to moisturize the skin)

Very affordable honey from Palawan, 
you can find this at any SM Grocery Store

I just mix all these ingredients and voila! I only mix a small amount, just enough for my need. This means, I am using not stored or store-bought, but fresh scrub! I scrub once a week. But for days in between, I just use my fabric body scrubber.

My own coffee body scrub

I do take care of my skin not only because I want it to stay healthy. I take care of it for a very good reason. I take care of it because I have chicken skin condition (keratosis pilaris - got this when I was pregnant with my twins, and no, it's not contagious) and in order to prevent it from spreading, I need to exfoliate and moisturize my skin regularly. 

Oh, I must not forget to mention that freshly-made coffee scrub leaves your bathroom smelling good, too!

So there you have it, have fun concocting your own body scrub, it's more satisfying doing it yourself and it's wayyyy cheaper compared to what you pay for in spas and salons.

Good luck!

Brokenness

How do you deal with brokenness? Someone said, learn to create a beautiful mosaic out of your brokenness, but how do we do it? How can you create a beautiful mosaic out of something painful? How can you "create" when the pain is too much it feels like your chest is going to burst and you feel like howling no end?

What can break you? Many things, and sometimes bad news does. You try to avoid bad news but bad news has its way of getting to you. Bad news = problem. A wind carries it and lands it on your lap without you asking for it or even wishing for it. So you face it and not without a fight. You deal with it, and accept it, for your own sake. Bad news is ugly. Bad news brings pain. Bad news is.... just that, bad news and bad news contribute to your brokenness. And sometimes, bad news, no matter how small has the capability to break you further down to tiny pieces, tearing your soul apart.

But instead of succumbing to it, you deal with it. You face it and you fight it and you tell yourself you are stronger than the world thinks...You cry to wash away the pain but that's only temporary. Your crying will eventually end and after a bucket of tears and puffy eyes, you feel better. Broken but not fed up, you stand up and fight. Because that's what life is all about. Life will defeat you if you give up but life will reward you if you accept that pain is part and parcel of living, you relish in the moment of your brokenness, you fight back and pick yourself up again. And when you do that, you see light and when you see light, you become creative and when you become creative you learn to create something that's beautiful in your eyes and you start to feel and become whole again.

Re-landscaping my garden

I bought plants and organic fertilizer at Calinan a few days ago to add to my garden at home. Got them for a measly P200.00! Check them out!

 Cheap at P200.00, yeah? Those stalks at the back are horsetail plants

I want to hire a professional landscaper to redo my lawn but I am financially constrained at the moment so I'll have to do it within my means. Translation: I will have to do it myself, hahaha!  I have very little idea about landscaping so I'm browsing the internet for inspiration.

I have always liked to have plants around me. In fact, I have plants indoor, too - in my living room, in my dining room, in my bathroom. I also have one in my office. A few years back I tried my hands at dish-garden making but without success, so I plan to take up formal studies this time. Hmmm, I'll see what I can do about this. I have way too many plans in the my head! I guess this is what happens to a single mom who is left to her devises every Sunday.  Yeah, kids are out with their dad almost every Sunday leaving me home alone. It's not really bad, I am accustomed to this arrangement already and I actually like it. It's quiet at home and the silence allows me time to think and plan, sometimes work on some bring-home office stuff, or do some DIY self-pampering. Ok, got sidetracked there....Let's go back to gardening and landscaping, lol.

This is how my lawn looks at present:

Very dry, right? Lifeless :(

Look, there's a banana tree there! Nobody planted it. 
I decided to let it grow to provide contrast. I actually like to see it there

There's a swing in my lawn that needs repainting, it used to be very blue, 
now it's partly rustic brown, lol

The trunk with few orchids on it belongs to my very sweet Rambutan tree

I want to improve the overall look of my lawn but I cannot do this in a single sitting because for one, I don't have the resources, and two, I don't have the luxury of time. I can only work on my garden during weekends, specifically, on Sundays.

For this plan to materialize, I will need the following:

1.Flower pots, pots, and more pots in different sizes and shapes
2.Garden stones (I hope these are not expensive)
3.Garden soil (the soil in my lawn is silty and compacts very easily, not really ideal for gardening)
4.A shovel
5.A pruning shear (my good old one broke down last week)
6. Cement, sand and gravel, white paint (if necessary)

Purchase of these stuff will depend on my available resources, overall however, I think I am good to go. So, good luck to me!

Help anyone?