Mommy Pehpot, Author at Mommy Pehpot

Let’s Talk About REAL Talk

Most people agree that our friends and family are the most important part of our lives. But the way we interact with our loved ones has changed, thanks to technological advances such as texting, skyping, online messaging and social networking. Even the way we find new people has drastically changed, thanks to advances such as online dating and social media.

It used to be that when you wanted to catch up with a friend, you’d pop round her house or call her on the phone. Nowadays, you’re just as likely to ping her on Facebook or drop her a tweet. But are you really connecting with your friends? Is a smiley face emoticon the same as seeing your smile for real?

Only around 7% of our communication is conveyed by the words we use and the rest is in our body language, facial expressions, and gestures. So it’s clear that we are missing a lot when we rely too heavily on online messaging and neglect the real time communication that everyone enjoys. Hugs, smiles, and just spending time in another person’s company are all fundamental human needs.

On the other hand, texting and messaging can have a positive influence on relationships of all kinds. Many people have met the love of their life online, and when you look at the facts about online dating, it is nowhere near a scary or mysterious concept as it used to be. I am a witness to an online love affair. My high school best friend met her partner through online and it worked really well with them, now they are happily married for 5 years!

Before mobile phones, organising a night out or meal with friends and family was a lot of effort – nowadays, it’s much easier to send a text around or set up a Facebook invite to get everyone together. It’s much more convenient if you want to change plans at the last minute, too.

Keeping in touch is easier too. If your loved ones are far away, you can still keep up with their daily lives through social media, email, messaging, texting and video calls. Staying close with people even when you’re miles apart is a wonderful gift that technology has given us.

Of course, it’s important to keep a balance between time spent online and time spent with your friends in person. As long as you use it wisely, technology can be a way to enhance and deepen your most important relationships and stay close with those you love.

Jollibee Maaga Ang Pasko Goes Online

I am really glad I brought my two boys along with me during the launching of Jollibee Maaga ang Pasko at SM Marikina. It was perfect timing since it was their last day of exam..also, the day before that, me and my two younger kids went out.. saktong event, para ilabas naman ang mga big boys 🙂

Now on it’s 19th year, Jollibee Maaga ang Pasko has grown to become the country’s biggest and longest running toy and book donation drive. And with the launch of Jollibee Maaga ang Pasko microsite, more and more family, not just around the country but also worldwide can participate in this donation drive and help bring happiness to less fortunate kids this Christmas.

And before I give you a walk through on the microsite, here’s a photo story during the launch at SM Marikina:

School and company partners started this year’s Maaga Ang Pasko by placing their donations to the Maaga ang Pasko box

An oath taking with Jollibee on being a Toy Scout

The Voice finalist Morissette Amon entertaining the guests with a very upbeat rendition of Roar.

—– 0O0 —–

Here’s the microsite info:

Go to http://www.jollibee.com.ph/
Click on the Maaga ang Pasko banner (below)
Click the button that says DONATE NA DITO
Choose a donation: Toy or Book?
You will be redirected to Toy Kingdom website if you choose to donate for a toy. For book donations, you will be redirected to Goodwill Bookstore website.
Choose what you wish to donate and pay.

I still don’t know how the toys will be delivered to Jollibee but I will update this post as soon as I got info about it.

Meanwhile, Maaga ang Pasko boxes will be placed in Jollibee stores at United States, Middle East, Hongkong and Singapore.. Filipino Communities from the said countries can bring their donations personally to Jollibee branches near them (if there is any).

Mahat’s 10th Birthday Celebration

My first born celebrated his 10th birthday last October 24. It was also the day where the UN Parade was held and the Halloween party. SO what better way to celebrate his party but with a Halloween theme haha

Photo story:

Just like our New Dormer’s party, I used the Red Ribbon Birthday Budget Planner to plan for this party. They were 40+ in class (2 sections) and including the teachers and the school crew, that’s about 70 people to feed. My budget was 8000 PhP including the food, 3 dedication cakes, giveaways and game prizes.

I have a story to tell about the giveaways.. since hubby was arriving from Indonesia one day before the birthday, I asked him to buy TimTam since it is cheaper there.. at first I thought of asking him to buy chocolates at Duty Free for giveaways, kaso naman, mahihirapan pa ako mag pack.. so we opted for TimTam since it is cheaper nga and I don’t have to repack it…. the thing is, since we need 40+ of TimTam, he had to buy a new luggage bag for that.. there goes my kuripot moment hahaha (good thing he didn’t charged me the luggage bag he bought)

As for the cakes, we had 3 dedication cakes, one birthday cake for Kuya (he loves Mocha flavor), one Happy Halloween cake for Grade 4 (his class) and another Happy Halloween Cake for my Grade 2. At ang nakakatawa, sa dinami dinami ng cakes na binili namin eh wala pa lang kandila! woohoo! Hubby was the one who picked up the cakes and the food haha

For the food, we had Spaghetti and Palabok from Red Ribbon. We had Tetra pack juice for the drinks and a few bottle of sodas for the teachers.

All in all, I think I spend a little over 7000 PhP.. and yes I didn’t overspend again! That’s the good thing about using Red Ribbon Birthday Budget Planner . I am very prone to over spending, even if I plan it very well.. I don’t know why but with two parties I had using the Birthday Budget Planner, I didn’t over spend and may sobra pa!

It really helped that the planner gives you an idea on how much to allocate on the food, the drinks, the giveaways and of course the cake.. may party ba na walang cake? haha

Another that I like about the Birthday Budget Planner is, it is very easy to use. Even a non tech user can navigate very well with the lay out and the theme of the micro site.

And lastly, it makes partying very easy because of the suppliers listed on the website. You won’t have a hard time looking for suppliers and their contact details as it is already listed there (or you will redirected to a directory listing).

I think I will be sticking with the Birthday Budget Planner as my party partner (um except with the princess’ birthday….which is just around the corner.. err we’ll be going out of town for her party .. she already have a plan for her birthday..and I can’t insist my own plan, hay nako this little girl has a mind of her own.. at a very young age sobrang articulate na!).

How about you? Have you tried using the Birthday Budget Planner? How was it? Share with us your party planning story!