October 2014 - Mommy Ginger

Ginger Arboleda October 30, 2014

Four Eyes: Online Eyeglasses Shop

My daughter is so talkative. The first time around, she’ll be all shy and sometimes, she’ll just stare at you. Once she gets used to seeing you though, she’ll warm up and she’ll never stop talking. I’m not surprised that she’s that way since both me and Dada Ej are talkative, too. One of her first words is GLASSES (others are BAG, SHOES, HAT, etc. — notice that they are all accessories!). She loves tinkering with my prescription glasses and her dada’s glasses. Both my husband and I wear glasses. All four gradnparents wear glasses, too, so she thinks that this is the norm.

I always hated wearing glasses, because I always thought that I didn’t look pretty and sexy. But recently, I saw this article shared by a friend of foreign celebrities who look “hot” in glasses as compared to when they’re not wearing any. I took a look at my worn out glasses and it was probably because I was wearing the WRONG pair all along. The article (I will try to look for it) said that to look younger, you need to wear dark rimmed glasses. I didn’t know that! I always had these shiny rimmed glasses. I never took the time to change them, because I never had time! When I would think of going to the mall, I’d prioritize a work deadline and then after, I would totally forget to go out to purchase a new pair.

It was a good thing that I came across this brand called FOUR EYES. Four Eyes is an online shop where you can buy a pair of glasses, and they will create one for you with your prescription! This is such a cool idea, right? All you have to do is go to the Four Eyes Website and sign up for an account.

Then you can go to their online shop and try on glasses via the Virtual Try-on feature of Four Eyes. I think I spent two hours trying on different types of glasses. I had so much fun!

Try the Virtual Try-on..

For those who really want to be sure that they get a good pair, you can also ask for Four Eyes to send you three pairs for Virtual Try-on. The three glasses that I wanted to try on was a frame that was a mixture of black and brown (brindled), a blue one and a red one.

Or try the Home Try-on Feature!

The glasses for Home Try-on arrived after a few days! I loved that it came in a sleek blue box.

I had a hard time choosing so I posted both these two pictures below on my social media accounts to see which looks better on me.

My own eyeglasses poll!

Thank you to all those who voted! At the end of this post, I will post a picture of yours truly and the chosen color!

Anyway, after choosing, I sent back the box of eyeglasses to Four Eyes using their logistics partner which was Xend and they didn’t charge me anything for the return. I also included all the information about my grade. For those who will have prescription glasses made, Four Eyes needs to know the following information:

Left (OS)
Right (OD)
Sphere
Cyl
Axis
Pupillary distance (or PD) – Your PD is the distance between your two pupils measured in millimeters

Get this and include key it in when they ask for it online. After a few days, with complete information, you will get your glasses back. What I like about Four Eyes is that they support World Vision.

So want to see what I got?

I got the Red Glasses!

If you want a 15% discount, you can use my COUPON CODE: REWARD-1991-UGYDB-MSGM

Share with me your experience with Four Eyes! I’d love to hear about it.

Ginger Arboleda October 29, 2014

Kerygma Conference 2014: Excited to go!

I am so happy that there are a lot of conferences that people can choose from. I’m still high from the Work-at-Home Weekend Expo from last Saturday! I’m now excited to create and attend big conferences like these. One of the conferences that I want to go to is the Kerygma Conference. I am just so blessed to have been invited by my friend, Anthony and Tina Rodriguez to attend the Kerygma Conference 2014. For those who are not familiar on what the Kerygma Conference is, it is the most popular inspirational learning event in the Philippines. Last year, 18,000 people gathered for four days in Metro Manila and two days each in Metro Cebu and Metro Davao for Kerygma Conference 2013: Be Empowered! Last year, the conference had 7 plenary talks, 20 streams, and 63 classes to choose from, and over 70 speakers who spoke in rooms filled to capacity with participants receiving empowering lessons.

This year, the Kerygma Conference 2014 will be held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), SMX Convention Center, and SM Mall of Asia Arena on November 20 – 23, 2014. An estimate 20,000 participants are expected to attend.

On November 20 – 21, that’s Thursday and Friday, classes will be about how to manage Church activities, community relationships and ministry involvements. Esteemed speakers from church organizations and charismatic communities will be joining the conference for two whole days filled with topics that will bless one’s service and knowledge about the Catholic Church.

On November 22, Saturday, there will be empowering classes about business, leadership, career, wellness, and a whole lot more. They are also introducing the Youth Conference, which will be staged for the first time for youth participants. A free concert also awaits attendees on Saturday. Finally, there will be a Grand Feast on November 23 with plenary talks from international Chastity speaker Jason Evert of ChastityProject.com and renowned lay preacher Bo Sanchez at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Kerygma Conference Schedule

For the past two years, I have been busy creating my business and building it. I know, as a Catholic, that a lot of these blessings are from our Creator and yet, I am guilty of forgetting that He is the one I should thank. In the past months, I have been contemplating on the deeper reason why I am doing all of these things. The first reason is that I want to achieve a good life for my child (children, in the future). But when I looked at all of these things occupying my mind — passion, business, mentoring, legacy, stability, income, community (btw, I’m just throwing words out!), I see that what I really want to do is yes, build a good life for my child, but I realized that in order to do this, I need to help build a “better” community where she could live and love.

And in the Bible, God is constantly reminding us to use our talents, and I know that my talent is really to help others establish a viable business to make their lives more comfortable when they become financially free and when they have their own time. I’m really excited for 2015, since after that long contemplation on what my purpose is, I have finally encapsulated it into concrete action steps that I can do. I am excited for the Kerygma Conference 2014, since I know that this will be a good venue to get that “motivation” that I need. The steps that I will do next year is a bit out of my comfort zone, so I just need that extra push and I think I will get it from this conference.

Are you going to the Kerygma Conference 2014, too? For those who want to sign up, please visit http://kerygmaconference.com/2014/

Let’s lift each other higher!

Ginger Arboleda October 27, 2014

My Bento Box Creation with Cheez Whiz (Part 1)

>When babies grow and become toddlers, they grow longer and more stable legs (Duh!). Why is this the intro statement? It’s because for the past few days, my daughter has become the source of my weight loss. I keep running after her. She has been pretty difficult to deal with lately, since all she wants to do is explore and play. Some moms tell me “Oh, it will get worse!” I remember the time my sister-in-law, Manilamommy.com, used to chase Kuya (my nephew) around the house when it was feeding time. Oh, wait! She still does. I fear for the day when I have to chase my daughter around the house, too, when it’s meal time. Good thing, she still eats a lot. But to give me a head start, I think I will already practice making creative bento boxes and merienda for her using Cheez Whiz!

I loved and still love Cheez Whiz! Amazing that Cheez Whiz has been in the market for 50 years creating delicious moments of joy for both moms and kids. It has always been the number one cheese spread brand for me. So in creating my Halloween Bento Box (practice makes perfect!), I will use Cheez Whiz, so even if the design’s bad, I’ll have the taste to redeem me!

The ingredients that you need for this Bento Box that I made are the following:
– Lettuce
– Bread
– 1 piece of Tomato
– Nori wrapper
– 1 Hard boiled egg
– Cutting board
– A Sharp Knife
– A Container
– And of course, your Cheez Whiz that’s now creamier! Yey!

So for my first bento box, I will create a mummy inside a sarcophagus with bats flying all over! The first thing that you need to do is to line the container with lettuce. My container is quite deep so I had to place a lot of lettuce. Plus, this will be your side salad.

Next, take the edge from the bread loaf. It’s normally in a beige-y or brownish color. Cut little strips. Use these strips to line them and turn them into the sarcophagus.

Next, use the cover of the Cheez Whiz Bottle and cut out the head for your mummy. Do this for two pieces of bread.

Next, spread Cheez Whiz on the top portion of that one piece of bread that you cut off. Cover it after with the other piece to make a mini-circular sandwich.

Next, create the body by cutting off again a portion of the bread to make the triangular shape (with the top off for the neck area) as seen in the picture below. Again, spread Cheez Whiz in between the pieces of bread that you cut off.

Next, cut the egg whites of the hard boiled egg into strips and line it all over on top of the bread. Take the nori wrapper and cut a small rectangular shape for the eyes. Next, take two small pieces of the egg whites and place it on top of the nori wrapper to turn it into the eyes of your mummy.

Next, cut the nori wrapper and create two bats (although my bats have huge heads! Haha!). Next, get the piece of tomato and this will be your pumpkin. Create eyes and a mouth using the nori wrapper.

Tada! This is my bento box. I’m not a creative mom and this is only the second time that I tried to create my own bento box. I’m so happy though because when I showed my daughter the box, she couldn’t stop pointing at the mummy and laughing, so I’m happy. She also ate the head already, so now, I have a headless mummy.

At first, I didn’t believe that a creative merienda’s can actually entice children to eat them, but since my baby took a bite at the head immediately, then I guess it really helps! Cheez Whiz, which is perfect for merienda, made my bento box even yummier, especially now with it’s new formulation!

Don’t forget to fun up merienda with Cheez Whiz! Sign up at http://cheeseanything.com/ to get recipes. Share with me the Halloween bento boxes that you create! ‘til my next creation. Ciao! Happy Halloween!

Ginger Arboleda October 27, 2014

Taking Mommy and Baby Selfies with the Canon IXUS 265 HS

My bag is so heavy. What’s inside? Basically, I have my kikay kit, a fan, my calling cards, my iPad my alcohol spray, my mosquito repellent spray for me and my daughter and my wallet with thousands of discount cards. Occasionally, I carry other stuff for my daughter and my camera, when I have to cover important events. If I were given the choice, I would bring my camera every time, but the thing is, the one that I have now is really very heavy.

I still prefer carrying a camera around since I really prefer the quality of the pictures that a camera gives over mobile phones. I got to try the Canon IXUS 265 HS and I loved it! It’s so sleek and light-weight. I could not believe that this slim contraption gave me really clear images with its 16 MP HS System and its 12x zoom lens. I was so surprised also to find out that it had many other features which is really relevant to moms like me.

I love my Canon IXUS 265 HS!

First of all, I love the ultra-wide angle since I can capture pictures of my huge family and group pictures of my workshops. I also love the zoom in to distant subjects using its powerful optical zoom and ZoomPlus, since I don’t have to run to get close to my uber-ly active toddler.

A picture of my uberly active toddler!

Also, it has become a habit of mine to update my social media accounts with the photos that I take on a daily basis, so I was surprised to see that the Canon IXUS 265 HS had a Wi-Fi and NFC feature for easy connection to your smartphone so that you can easily share images.

I also discovered today that this compact camera has a Create Shot feature that’s so cool. I am not gifted with that eye for detail so I’m really fascinated with the pictures of those gifted with creativity. With this feature, the camera creates creative shots for me but just taking one click. The Canon IXUS 265 HS gives me various options to choose from. Check out these photos of my grandma’s garden:

Also, I really appreciate the Image Stabilizer as I love taking pictures of my daughter. It’s so hard to take pictures that are not blurred especially now that she loves to run around. At 1.5 years old, she can’t keep still and it’s so frustrating since I’m the type who loves to document each moment in her life. With the Canon IXUS 265 HS, I don’t have to worry about having blurry shots.

The other features that this camera has is that it has Smart Auto that takes care of all the camera settings so you don’t have to worry about adjusting things like ISO, shutter speed and aperture. Another cool feature that I haven’t encountered before is the Hybrid Auto that helps you get a movie summary of your day. When you’re in this mode, all you have to do is shoot pictures then it gets both the short video and stills of what you have shot. The camera is so smart that it creates this visually amazing compilation of the clips.

Also for those who love taking selfies, the IXUS selfiepod makes this camera more amazing. My baby and I love talking selfies. Check out our selfies using the IXUS 265 HS special “selfie features”.

Selfies taken with Canon IXUS 265 HS

Here are some selfie tips from yours truly:

Guide to Ultimate Selfie-Style for Mommy and Baby

1) Make sure your baby is in a comfortable position.
2) If you want to hide that double chin, shoot from a higher angle.
3) Take a shot of your baby’s smile by just shooting and shooting. You’ll eventually get one that’s nice! Haha!
4) Oh, for baby and mommy #ootd’s, do plan your outfits ahead of time. Make sure that your baby is comfortable with the clothes that you have chosen. Also, shoot in a background that would take the focus away from you and your baby.
5) Last, but not least, make sure you use a quality camera like Canon IXUS 265 which comes with a selfiepod too, so that you can concentrate on holding your baby!

Show me your mommy and baby selfies! Join the new selfie craze and use #IXUSStyleSelfie #ishootwithcanon #canonphilipines when you post on Facebook, Instagram, etc.

Can’t wait to see your baby and mommy selfies!

Ginger Arboleda October 16, 2014

The Work-at-Home Me!

I remember the time when I was contemplating about leaving the job that I had. I was (how I felt) at the height of my career. I knew that I could have really been one of the top executives of the company that I worked for. My job was easy to love. Even if it was in a financial institution, my job was really product management and product development. I loved it because I got to practice and use my strengths, which was marketing and to some extent, sales. I also have this innate passion for innovation and a love for learning about technology which made my job easy for me. The work environment also helped me love every single day. I had friends who I loved dearly, a very supportive boss and people from other departments who were easy to work with. So you see, everything was going great for me.

I know a lot of you have that little voice inside your head telling you that you need to start your own business and you need to take that leap. But also, you are in the same situation as I was in — good job, great friends, great life! Well, although my personal advocacy is to help people create and build successful businesses, I would not jump the gun and tell you to go ahead and make that leap! On the contrary, I will advise you to check if going into business is really something for you. The same goes with working from home or freelancing. You have to check if freelancing or working-from-home in general is for you.

I won’t tell you how great my life is when I decided to work-at-home and be an entrepreneur (since I freely and openly share that in other posts in this blog), but I will tell you how I came to that decision of finally working from home and starting my business.

My decision was such because it was really because I wanted to spend more time for myself (I didn’t want to be stressed, since I was giving birth) and more time for the baby. Yes, we, as a couple went through those logical things that you do when you’re weighing things, like listing the pros and cons in each side of a notebook, doing a spur of the moment budget and spending analysis, doing an immediate check and inventory of assets and liabilities, but then again, the decision was made really because I wanted to be there for my daughter during the first years of her life.

And how was it like for me? It was really scary at first. I didn’t know if this business (ManilaWorkshops.com) would fly. I had businesses prior to this one, but of course, at that time, I had my stable job to help me sustain those businesses. But with this leap, I had nothing. I only had my blogging career, which I didn’t think I could rely on to sustain my expenses and the business (knock-on-wood if it went bad).

What really helped me establish and help my business succeed is the support group of work-at-home-moms in the WAHMderful Life Community. I owe a lot to the ladies in the community. They were there supporting the workshops, for moral support and for marketing support. I love how the WAHMderful Life Community has grown and had really become the support group for women who have decided to take that leap towards working-at-home.

Before you make that decision, think about it and expose yourself and hear from the ladies and gentlemen who have made that decision. See if this is what you want for yourself. See if this is the life that you want.

This is the reason why we created the Workat-Home Weekend Expo. This is for you to be able to learn from the experts. And I’m not just talking about technical know-how, but I want you to learn from what they have gone through. I want you to be open and I want you to mingle with these speakers and freely approach them. I will be there, too, so I want you to approach me and let’s talk. I might be busy in setting up the event, but I’m sure I will have the time to talk to you and listen.

If you haven’t signed up for the Work-at-Home Weekend Expo, please do so at this link:
http://manilaworkshops.com/2014/07/the-work-at-home-weekend-expo-2014.html

Thank your to these companies who have supported this workshop as co-presentors:
Insular Life
Unilab
Uber
VOffice
88db.com

Love lots,
The Work-at-Home Me (MommyGinger)

The Work-at-home me!

Four Eyes: Online Eyeglasses Shop

Kerygma Conference 2014: Excited to go!

My Bento Box Creation with Cheez Whiz (Part 1)

Taking Mommy and Baby Selfies with the Canon IXUS 265 HS

The Work-at-Home Me!

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