Santa Claus is Coming to Town

I didn’t grow up with Santa Claus. Being raised Catholic meant that we focused more on the Birth of Jesus as the reason for Christmas. Add to that, coming from an Asian country, the idea of a white bearded man dressed in red and bearing gifts was a bit foreign. Plus we didn’t have chimneys.

When my eldest son was born, we made sure he had all the traditional Christmas trappings – Jesus born in a manger, and yes, Santa Claus. Our house in Southern New Jersey had a chimney so surely Santa had a way into our home to deliver presents – and to get to the cookies we had lovingly baked from scratch. We prepared reindeer food out of oats and tinsel and scattered it outside the front door. We even had a picture taken with Santa at the mall!

My boys with Mr. and Mrs. Claus at a private home. You can have Santa visit your home for a fee and it's all for charity.

I stuck Christmas cards and photos onto the fridge and one day my then 2.5 y.o. son observed that the Santa in his photos was different from the Santa in Amanda’s photo. That was tricky. I explained that these were “assistant Santas” and that the real Santa was in the North Pole. He wrote a letter to Santa but I don’t think my explanation really satisfied him. It seems he went on “believing” for our sake and naturally, for the presents. I didn’t think he “believed” again until his baby brother was born two years later. It was as if Santa became “real” again and sharing the customs and traditions with his brother brought this mystery back to life.

So if you are looking to get a photo with the Man around Orange County one of these days, you could go to the mall or you could check out one of these cool events.

Take the night train and meet Santa. At the Irvine Park Railroad, activities include riding the Christmas train, storytime with Mrs. Claus, games, and more.

Take the night train with Santa

This event is in Long Beach but my fabulous friends Laura and Tracy organized it and it’s for a good cause. It’s more intimate than the other Santa sightings – with lots of activities beyond the usual photo op. The fundraiser is Sunday, December 6th from 6 – 8 PM. 100% proceeds go to Breast Cancer Angels. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.AnEveningwithSanta.com.

An Evening with Santa
http://www.aneveningwithsanta.com/

Santa for a Cause

Another cool Santa sighting will be at the Orange County Market Place @ the Fairgrounds. On Saturday November 28th, Santa Claus will arrive in a red 1929 Ford Roadster assisted by “Twinkie the Elf.” There will also be a toy and clothing drive that weekend. Bring a new toy or new clothing (unwrapped) for free admission, and a free 4X6″ photo with Santa on day of your visit.

Of course, if you want to meet the man and the Mouse, hop on over to Disneyland and head on over to Big Thunder Ranch to hang out with Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

And with that I leave you with this little ditty.

Thanksgiving Dinner a Week Early

Last Sunday, avid home “chef” and my fellow blogger at OC Family, Priscilla invited me over for an early Thanksgiving Dinner. We had hoped that the Costa Mesa Big Foot would join us but apparently the Sasquatch had other obligations. Yay, more turkey for me. Here’s a little slideshow from that day.

To get the recipes for Brown Sugar-cured Turkey and Roasted Vegetables with Balsamic-Lemon Vinaigrette, visit TopMomBlog.

Good food, great company = an awesome Thanksgiving!

The new mommy uniform according to a celebrity stylist

This weekend I got the chance to meet celebrity stylist Sam Saboura at a meet and greet/makeover event at Coldwater Creek in Seal Beach. Okay, so Coldwater Creek isn’t top of mind when shopping for me but when Sam started making over store shoppers, I watched with admiration. Many of the women I met at the event were over 70 and they looked amazing. It wasn’t the clothes they were wearing but their youthful spirit. But it took Sam’s style suggestions to TRANSFORM them – with a little color here and an accessory there – the change was instant.

I didn’t get a makeover myself but I did manage to ask Sam for some style tips for mommies. (Here’s a video – which I so painstakingly edited myself – woot! Let me know what you think.)

Do mothers lose their identities?

During our “meeting” at Peet’s Coffee Sunday morning, we thought of making a video to No Doubt’s “I’m Just a Girl” after seeing these guys belt out the Backstreet Boys.  I don’t know how we’ll pull it off exactly but it’s one of those crazy things that come up when you get some mommy bloggers together.  I feel so fortunate to be part of remarkable group of creative, intelligent and funny bunch of women!  Oh yes, it so happens that we are all moms too.

 

Isn’t it sad that too often women who have children forget that they were, CAN be and ARE creative, intelligent, funny and awesome.  Those sleepless nights and shower-less days take its toll and you look into a mirror and you don’t recognize the person staring back at you.  On bad days like these, you feel like a shell of your former self. On a good day you catch a glimpse of your child and suddenly you realize your purpose and you see life full of endless possibilities.

 

Motherhood is one of those things that despite all its wonderful aspects shakes you to your core – and makes you wonder about your identity. It makes you want to find, redefine and assert who you are inside.  “What were you in a previous life?” I often ask mommies I meet – and of course they launch into their previous jobs – BK (before kids).  But we are more than our jobs.

 

In my past life, I’ve been a teacher and TV producer. I’ve worked in the fields of fashion, publishing and radio.  And through it all I’ve felt what kept me grounded was knowing what it was I was good at and what it was I enjoyed.  My own struggle has been more about finding my purpose rather than discovering my identity.

 

What was it all for? What am I working towards?  In a nutshell, I want to be the best wife to my husband and the best mom to my kids. But don’t we all?

 

In the words of Wanda Sykes, “I’ma Be Me.”

It’s not too late to give…

Thank you to everyone that attended RISE AGAIN. If you missed it and would still like donate to help the typhoon victims in the Philippines, you can send check donations via snail mail.

ALL CHECKS MUST BE PAYABLE TO: “Ayala Foundation USA”

Please indicate in the note part that the donation is “for the Victims of Typhoon Ondoy” and mail it to AF-USA office at 255 Shoreline Drive, Suite 428, Redwood City, CA 94065.

Please let us know that you donated so that we can track how much we raised. Email. marciemarketing[at]gmail.com or jbonoan[at]peddlerscmg.com

 

Acknowledgements:

Photo by Leonardo Arnacibia Photography

Paradise Perks Cafe

Etnies

Goldilocks

Laguna Playhouse

Peddlers CMG

Marcie Taylor Photography

Kababayan at University of California Irvine

FilAmNation

Ayala Foundation USA

 

 

My latest project.

Coming Soon: Blogging with other mamas for OC Family

Shadowy Figures

When did breast cancer awareness become trendy?

Yes October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month – in case you haven’t noticed all the pink ribbons on EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE. I do not begrudge the cause, but I think all the pink merchandise is now bordering on overkill. I mean I, of all people. (and I’ll explain in a bit) appreciate that people want to find a cure. But sometimes I wonder how much of the “proceeds that go from buying such and such item” really does go to breast cancer research.

The thing about BC is that it ain’t pretty. And it certainly ain’t cute and pink. I should know. My mother died of it, her mother before her. I am high-risk and my younger sister had a scare before she was 30 and several cousins have had either lumps, cysts, even breasts removed! It’s a DISEASE, it hurts those that are afflicted and their families. When my family was living with the disease, there were no support groups or races or pink ribbons. It was a noose hanging over all our heads, and despite the best care, cancer took my mother. My siblings and I were in our teens and our lives were never the same. There were dark times but as they say, time heals all wounds… and so we live with the memory, the memory of pain and suffering. I haven’t ran the race (for a cure), I’ve never purchased a product JUST because it had a PINK ribbon on it. When breast cancer research has all beautiful people (celebrities) singing, dancing parading for “awareness,” and companies jumping on the bandwagon turning their products PINK for a month — you start to wonder if these people aren’t exploiting others’ misfortune. I FEEL NUMB.

When you THINK PINK, everyone is chipper and smiling – but come on people, it is an UGLY disease. Ask anyone who’s gone through chemo if they feel like wearing that shirt with a PINK PONY or buying a pink can of soup. I believe that some companies are only put ting out pink products without actually donating any money to research and are just taking advantage of people’s innate desire to do good – or put another away, they are cashing in on a “trend.” That being said, I still do support people and organizations that really do what they say and give to the charities they claim to support.

A couple of weekends ago, I attended a breast cancer awareness fundraiser organized by my friends from a team of women who are doing the 3-day walk in San Diego. Their team is called Boobs on the Move – according to the website : a grassroots effort to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research (And have fun while we’re doing it). That night, they were having a pub crawl in downtown Huntington Beach. Booze, boobs and cancer awareness made for an interesting night. The idea was to go from one pub to another to schmooze and get people to buy these $20 tickets that entitled them to prizes and special drink offers. I didn’t win but I had fun watching. Some people mistook me for one of the organizers so I helped out, answered questions and listened to their stories. One man, came in oblivious to the event – but when he saw it was for cancer, he gave us a crisp $20 saying his wife had died of cancer. What do you say to that??? Then came a tipsy woman who gave me a hug—told me her lifestory practically: ”I’m a survivor she said,” and I looked , gave her a hug. She partied on into the night and it was good to see her living it up.  The Boobs on the Move gals accomplished their goals: raised some money for breast cancer research and had some fun.  I’ll drink to that.  But please – don’t make me wear pink!

PS. If you share these sentiments, you should check out   Think Before You Pink™, a project of Breast Cancer Action, launched in 2002 in response to the growing concern about the number of pink ribbon products on the market.

TYPHOON ONDOY: Victims and Heroes – how you can help

Donations welcome.

I remember rainy days in the Philippines. We stayed home and traffic would get crazy.  We were never allowed to play in the rain when we were kids, my grandmother thought it would make us sick. It usually rained on my birthday in July. This was the rainy season after all, July and August. But we got used to it… as school children we delighted in those signal number 3 typhoons that meant classes would be suspended.  (There are many shanties in the City and I often wondered how these little shacks made of thin plywood of cardboard and  galvanized iron roofs held down by an old tire survived the monsoons. But they did. My people are a tough lot and we manage to survive – earthquakes, volcano eruptions and corrupt politicians.

By August the rains would’ve died down and we entered the joyful “BER” months – joyful because September meant Christmas was just 3 months away, October even better because that meant Christmas was around the corner (Yes, Filipinos are said to celebrate Christmas the longest).  So when Typhoon Ondoy hit last Friday, it was a surprise.  People were ready for rain – but not the torrential downpour and flooding that followed. And now over 300,000 families have been displaced, the death toll is rising.

Over here, I feel helpless.  I cannot volunteer to pack food items or join a rescue team. Never have I felt so far away and yet so close to the Motherland. So I tweet, email and blog – trying to see how I can get people to make a difference.

I am in awe of the great spirit that is now filling the city – people offering their time, services, whatever they can – the spirit of volunteerism,  and  heroism are an inspiration.

So what can one do being so far away?  Pray, send some money — every little bit helps.

Ayala Foundation

Philippine Aid

Internation Federation of RED CROSS and Red Crescent Societies

WE International

Memories trapped inside my Cellphone

Remember the shoeboxes stuffed with snapshots that you promised you’d put in a scrapbook or album? I think the cellphone is the 21st century equivalent of that. I mean, how many of you have snapped some precious “caught in the moment” pix with your cellphone camera? How many of you have downloaded those photos onto your computer or even printed them? Uh-huh. That’s what I thought.

Of course, if you had an iPhone and a MAC this wouldn’t be much of an issue because when you update your itunes library iPhoto automatically downloads your iPhone pictures. But then I use a regular phone, it’s a SAMSUNG PROPEL and I love it. It’s great for people who text a lot and has a decent camera too.

Propelling

I took the time to download some pix via email — because I do not have an SD memory card in my phone (geez, another accessory??), I do it old school by emailing the photos to myself. From there I open the files and save onto my hard drive. Still wondering how to download pix from your phone- check this out.

So what did I find? Scenes of a life. Lots of pictures of my kids of course – my kids at the beach, at the park, on a tree, after their haircuts, after their accidents… and then there are the random-oh-so-cool-I-gotta-take-a-photo-of-this scenes: a sunset, a weird tree, a duck… well here take a look….

WHAT’S in YOUR cellphone?

Nature’s wonders

Naturally it was more breathtaking in real life, also it's hard to take a picture while driving.

This was a funky bumpy tree at the Butterfly park.

I thought this was funny- a duck in our pool

HAVE TREE, WILL CLIMB seems to be my kids’ motto.

Milo up a tree on his 4th birthday

...another day, another tree.

And finally, even when it hurts…

A whack on the head with a nerf gun brought us to the ER. My poor baby in pain.

Our first broken bone - the clavicle.

Okay 75 more images to download… ahhh…feels like the shoebox all over again.