Sue Wong Mesh Flapper Dress

June 28th, 2006 | Marchesa Ababa | No Comments

NMT0JEH_mpSue Wong
Mesh Flapper Dress

• Blush pink mesh.
• Sequined crochet trim on bust, drop waist, and carwash pleats.
• Floral appliqués on bust and bodice.
• Lined.
• 100% polyester.
• Dry clean only.

NMT0JEH_apto be perfectly honest, i had my eye on this dress even since Valentine’s Day 2006.  I wanted to wear it to a couple’s dinner, but now i’m thinking i would have been very overdressed.  So after almost five months, this expensive dress went on sale, to my great advantage…i guess they’re right, sometimes when you wait, you truly get the best…and what’s better than a sue wong expensive dress(?):  —- a sue wong more than 60% off the retail dress.  word.

how it really looks:
it’s   B E A U T I F U L
it could just be my eyes, but i’m still in love with the dress…it’s one of those dresses you really need to take care of or else strings get loose, sequences fall off, and things get caught and make a run on the mesh.  furthermore, the embroidery on this dress is very detailed. you really get what you pay for though…

how it fits:
the dress is surprisingly heavy, in the sense that you’ve got a lot working within the dress, esp. the embroidery/crochet.  again, like most designer dresses, it’s a bit longer than what i expected. the above model probably has five inches on me, and of course curves that could kill, so the dress will not work as well for shorter women who have no lovely lady lumps.  if you have no hips or bust, i wouldn’t recommend this. 

another down side is its intricate sewing, with all the detailing, so it’ll be a little difficult to have alterations done.  also, you can’t play too much on it, as in trying to alter it yourself. but if you do, you better be good at it or else the mesh will end up destroyed and you’ve resulted in a downgraded sue wong wonderful creation.  if you do get it altered, you better know a good seamstress, not the highschooler endeavoring to become the next Marc Jacobs.

i don’t have the perfect body, and definitely out of shape due to childbirth, but with a dress like this, it still looks great…that says a lot.

Store: neiman marcus
Retail: $300
Status: own

Zem at 11 months

June 26th, 2006 | Marchesa Ababa | No Comments

i guess it’s time for an update on emma since soon, next week, she’ll be turning O-N-E !!

the year seems to have gone by faster than a falling star. The quadrantids and geminids have all passed and she has grown from 5′11 lbs. to 19lbs, with a smile that melts any anger, and with a contagious laugh that brings wonder. despite the hardships that come with parenting, there’s immense joy in every day, even though you’ve seen her smile a thousand times, or stared into her changing eyes that sometimes don’t seem to change at all. there’s always a newness to everything familiar about her. there are things she’s continued to do with each passing month, things so mundane and ordinary, that still grasp you into amazement…things like her voice…like a certain syllable she’s mastered…something so ordinary as her voice. there are times i catch myself stopping to think about what she must be saying, or what her voice will sound like when she learns to put sounds together and form a coherent idea.

Click to view full size imagelovable girl
she learned how to ‘kiss’ when she was around 8 months, but she’s learned what a kiss can do around 10 months. she knows a kiss can heal and is a sign of affection. for example, when she feels sleepy and i’m next to her, she’ll climb up and stand next to me, drawing her head to bow near mine, and offer a kiss before she climbs down again to sleep.

also, she has two best friends: Frog Prince and Penelope cochon (a frog and a pig) who she kisses every time she sees them. It’s also imperative for me to love them equally as she does, so she offers them up for me to kiss after she’s given her own affection.

emma also loves to kiss photos…esp. photos of those she knows, photos of herself, and photos of fellow babies. i believe she kisses other babies because she probably feels they may need love too, seeing grown ups may not understand them as well as she empathically does, which is completely understandable and quite admirable.

so musical
emma is so attuned to music, but is ambivalently a critic. when she hears a song from the tele or radio, she stands up and does her own version of dancing, always with a smile, and always looking for affirmation from those around her. she also has favorite songs, songs that can always without fail capture her attention or catalyze her giggles. her favorites include her favorite artist, and Noggin’s Moose a. Moose Critters song, as well as her unashamed preference to Black Eyed Peas “My Humps.” during car rides, we use music to pacify her. also, she has this play house that has her own little radio that she knows how to work, so she often presses its buttons when she craves some music or the alphabet to dance to. you can’t really blame her; the alphabet has a hot tune and catchy rhythm. i believe that is why every child learns it so easily, which makes me wonder if the person who wrote the tune got any money from such brilliance.

sharing is caring
lastly, emma is one of the most caring/sharing people i know. it amazes me because i know children get very selfish over possessions, but she understands what “give” means, and usually complies to those commands to share. when someone says “give,” she will give whatever she’s holding to the desired party. sometimes, she will even give without being told. for example, yesterday at church, she kept giving this girl who sat next to us, pieces of paper from the program. there were a couple of inserts and she would hand them to the girl one by one until perze’s hands were emptied. emma would have given perze’s watch to her if she could.

also, we sometimes give her water pops when it gets hot. she loves sucking on them for a little while. then she looks at us and probably thinks we would definitely need to taste ice so she offers us her popsicle, alternating between her dad, herself, and me. she does the same thing with her baby snacks. for example, she’d pick a few cheese goldfish crackers up, eat one, then feed the rest to us…it’s endearing.

i guess this is it for now…she’s a funny girl. not so much funny strange…more funny ha-ha…

Marchesa (the couture designer line)

June 26th, 2006 | Marchesa Ababa | No Comments

so i was beat…

not saying that i definitively would have started my own clothing line, but hypothetically speaking, if i was to spark a serious interest, my own name is already taken off the market by two european fashion designers who aren’t even closely named ‘marchesa’…now, tell me how unfair it is…

the up side to this is their impecable taste that lives up to such a quirky name.  just last year, many female stars of hollywood showed up wearing Marchesa during the oscars despite their novelty in the fashion mainstream. talk about good…

you can  buy an authentic in the usa like in bergdorf goodman or neiman marcus, as well as some other online designer carriers…

T0QXD Bow-Back Dress 790.00 T0QXA Beaded Ruffled Dress 790.00 T0QX8 Beaded Halter Gown 1090.00

T0QXF Beaded Strapless Gown 960.00 T0QXB Beaded Dress 840.00 T0QXC Beaded Dress 880.00

Our 2nd Year Anniversary and Perze’s 1st Father’s Day

June 24th, 2006 | Marchesa Ababa | No Comments

(in consideration of sunday’s previous conversation,
yes…there’s pictures in this blog…gee…
for those interested to see all the pictures, click HERE…)

hey thanks to those that greeted us a happy anniversary…my brother even got us an awesome lobster dinner directly from maine which was a huge surprise since we usually get maine lobsters on thanksgiving with the family. i don’t know about the next person, but i always look at pictures during anniversaries, so during my odd moments, i’d unconsciously think of what happened that day…esp. funny moments, for instance, seeing genesis sitting at the pews- actually crashing my wedding…SO few were invited to attend, but she slipped by cuz her dad officiated our wedding…so she was one of the very very few who witnessed the emotional day. we laugh about it now, and they’ve even made a movie about her…you might be familiar with it- the one starring owen wilson and vince vaughn…yep…genesis guevarra.

anycase, we did get the chance to celebrate it during the weekend since my brother and parents gladly took care of emma. we woke up early to drive to the beach to catch our parasailing appointment. the guys handling the business were quite young and easily sociable so it was an easy going experience, and we were the only passengers that early so we got the boat to ourselves. they even rode us longer than usual which was good since it felt peaceful being so high up in the air. the only scary part about parasailing is if you’re quite the chicken to heights and if you’re quite the chicken to water…i lean more towards the latter because i have this closet fear of the ocean since 1- i can’t swim, and 2- i’ve seen too many movies where there’s sea animals lurking for prey…for example- i found myself clinging to perze while watching Finding Nemo, during the scene when he wanders way down into some crack and abyss, so far down that there’s scarcely any light…now, in a huge watery expanse of the dark ocean, would one really feel completely safe without their sense of sight? …ex-actly.

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anyway, back to parasailing…i would definitely do it again, granted i have extra cash in my stash. it was a great way to spend one’s morning, esp. a morning celebrating an anniversary.

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afterwards, we drove around to find a place to eat lunch since we were extremely hungry…so we lunched on some seafood which consequently made us a bit drowsy…so we walked around the boardwalk and got some coffee, which dramatically boosted my energy to spend a relaxing time near the water…like perze said on his blog, we did scope out some ‘hunnies’ on my suggestion. we did realize however that most of the people surrounding us were highschoolers or newbie college students who used to go to highschool together, on a day trip to have one of those get togethers that supposedly strengthen your fading friendship that’s still desperately clinging to highschool days, although inevitably, college will replace the friendship and memories years down the road which will manifest itself with trips to the shore with your college friends instead…

so i turned to perze and said, “ya…they’re prolly Pitman students who forgot to call up genesis”

(note; i don’t know why genny is showing up on this blog…maybe it’s due to our talk on sunday)

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anyways, i would talk about the present i got for perze and what happened to me while trying to get it, but for some reason, i’ve grown not to blog about specifics of presents, so i will say this about it: i just wanted to thank 2 people who’ve given me input on it. and…after all that, i really feel like a south jersey girl.

the real day of our anniversary, perze surprised me by waking me up with a funny bag of random presents, with two of everything- two being our second anniv…two as in 10…such as two bags of dunkin donuts ground coffee (for my coffee diet)…ect….. dinner we spent at this recommended themed restaurant near convent station which would have been very nice, sans psycho baby demanding to roam around bumping into waiters and staring while waving hello to seated customers. after dinner, we went to barnes and nobles because i had a craving to buy a book, as well as continue to introduce emma to such a children friendly book store where they allow kids to read at the reading stage and surrounding tables…emma loved the experience…a little too much since she walked here and there to this and that, picking up books and toys, and bothering the guy working there. she would constantly give him books she picked up, which meant he had to return and reshelve them. after the first or second cute times, i guess he found it bothersome…so we took her home because she was getting too worked up, which is completely understandable when one goes to barnes and nobles.

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father’s day was nice. i did the powerpoint…again…it was hilarious having pictures given to you during service in hopes to include them in the already finished presentation. i guess people thought all i had to do was say “cheetos” and they’d easily appear custom animated into the presentation. but like the doof that i am, who has a hard time disappointing people, took the pictures and clicked like a madwoman on the laptop, getting everything in in an hour, ready for the anticipated presentation. i always tell myself that i’m going to pass the torch, or teach someone my tricks but it always happens that months pass by and i find myself nodding to another favor.

despite my nervousness though, it always brings me joy when the congregation is moved by what i do, or what i write, or by how things are sequenced in the presentation. i secretly admit that during those times preparing the powerpoint, working with all the pictures and remembering a lot of what has transpired in our church and in people’s lives, i’m also humbled emotionally…(stop laughing genesis)

but, yes, it was Perze’s FIRST father’s day! i’m so proud of him! it’s really hard being a first time dad…as it is being a first time anything…since you really have no prior experience, and everything is so new…and with something so important as another life, it’s amazing we get through it at all…with all the sad or tragic stories i hear, i feel VERY blessed that emma’s ok and somehow we did an ok job taking care of her and her needs. i know it seems so normal, so everyday mundane, seeing parents and people having babies, but despite it being normal, having a baby…parenthood is always a miracle. so to all the parents out there who are dutiful to the blessings you’ve been given, truly hats off to you, because i know you hardly receive credit.

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which leads me to say thank you to my own dad who has really raised me to be a respectful individual who cares about my reputation as well as my integrity. i also need to thank tatay perlen, who raised a beautiful person- my husband…who taught him to place heavy importance on his education and on God, as well as how to treat his wife and family…honestly, without these two men who have given us such a rooted foundation, i don’t think perze and i would have been as compatible, and as individuals, we would have been as grounded. and lastly, of course, happy father’s day to perze. our daughter is that loving reminder of you, who gives me such pride to be a mama…and you as my husband gives me equal pride in being a wife.

Family Trip to Poconos

June 21st, 2006 | Marchesa Ababa | No Comments

extremely cold weekend…

we went to my dad’s annual company poconos weekend trip last weekend. this time, kris and samsam got to join the rest of my family. like last year, we got our own cabin which we totally rearranged so we could put beds together and huddle around a mini-heater which did an ok job heating up a huge cabin, although if next year is similarly chilly, i’m going to have to bring an oven or a dragon. the day was tolerable, but the evening wasn’t as comfortable as it could’ve been. i bundled emma up in a kajillion layers which seemed to work since she really slept soundly, unbothered by temperature…but then again, she was between two giants who generated enough heat for her to sleep comfortably. it’s nice to be a baby.

click on any pics to enlarge
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despite the cold, we did manage to have a good time…taking advantage of all the activities planned for the families…and the place is expansive- with a huge central lake with boats going in and out…a huge obstacle course and mini-bungee line…snack stands and mr. softee…minigolf, basketball, and volleyball…and funny inflatables…so, ya, we went all over trying various activities- in the cold…i also filled up on funnel cake because i do firmly believe funnel cake spells f-u-n in any event or party…funnel cake also spells y-u-m…so i did manage to frequent the funnel cake truck 4-6 times in one day. that’s 4-6 times of f-u-n and y-u-m…i really don’t know why i love funnel cake, must’ve dated back to middleschool days when my friend michelle took us to the infamous clementon park of south jersey…only south jersey people would know this place…and only those from south jersey who are reading this right now are laughing…

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anyway, that saturday night, they also had huge fireworks, so we packed up the kids and went by the lake to awe at the firework’s bravura. this was also samsam’s first time to witness what emma experienced last year. afterwards, we headed up to the mess-hall to get some coffee and hotchoco, to notice groups of people gathering around the huge bonfire near the cafeteria, so after getting our caffiene, we lingered to see the entertainment…somehow i got dared to approach the entertainer and ask if kristie can sing a song or two, so i did take the dare instead of the physical challenge and went to talk to mr.so&so who said he’ll call up kristie in 30mins. or so to play his brand new taylor. so we stayed to hear his cover songs, his raspy voice…we also stayed to stock up on the free hershey bars (about 20 bars or so which we took back to the cabin)…and after 30mins. or so, we were getting too tired to wait so we headed back to sleep and battle the night’s cold breath.

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the next morning, after packing up, eating, walking or so, we headed back to our place to make use of the rest of the day to just spend some family time together…if there’s one thing emma loves, it’s when people come to her territory- esp. family…she just laughs and plays more…the saddest part of the day is when everyone left; she went room to room looking for people, but no one came to surprise her or pick her up…knowing she was searching for something made my heart drop just a little…it made me think of the future a lot for some reason…i’m always praying that the time will not come early when she is searching for something and we cannot be there…i don’t know why, but i think about that every now and then…i think that happens when you become a parent…

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Frog Prince

June 9th, 2006 | Marchesa Ababa | No Comments

so yesterday, we went to Babies’ R Us…
…to pick up a few items for my sister-in-law Zen because her baby’s birth day is quickly approaching. Subsequently, we bought her the Advent package because the bottles in the Phils. cost about $12 each, and like most moms know, you need about 5+, plus the stage nipples and sterilizer. That would have cost them a pretty penny, and since i am not as keen to do math so early in the morning without having had any supplementary form of stimulant like coffee, so i will just say that it’s a whole lot of money.

while perusing all the possible sale areas, i finally met up with perze who was watching emma walk the toy area, being stimulated by all the buttons she could press, and all the colors that only invited fun. we watched her try out toys and leave them like fickle relationships. to our amusement and surprise, she finally settled on the baby dolls, esp. the one that was lying down with bashed eyelashes. at first she patted the baby as if to signal sleep, when we saw her bend down ever so gently towards the plastic object to give it a loving kiss. perze and i laughed out loud because she continued to do this several more times as if emma thought the baby must be so affection-deprived being in such an impersonal box. while i was about to say how loving my little 11 month old was already, we then saw emma reach her loving finger down to poke the baby’s eye. she continued this several times like a science lab experiment, trying to discover how the baby’s eyes open and close. our little Ghandi turned Mengele in almost 2 minutes and we concluded that maybe she’d be best categorized as loving and a scientist.

my concluding story is when we went to checkout to pay for everything. perze held emma while i chitchatted with the cashier. they came carrying a toy stuffed lion, which emma seemed to like, but they chose another- yet better friend for emma. they came back to the line with Frog Prince by Wendy Ballissimo, and emma wouldn’t let go of it. not only was she obstinate to part with it, but she also kept kissing it. when we tried to take it away from her to give it to the cashier, she screamed in protest so the cashier had to extend the scanning gun to the item to appease her fears of separation. even in the car, while fastening her in her seat, she was obdurate and held fast to it. who knew we could buy love for $13? sadly, she prefers Frog Prince to Penelope Cochon, but like a faithful friend, she makes room for PC by her side when she sleeps. But then again, what girl wouldn’t choose Frog Prince?- a potential hottie and heir to an opulent future with great hair and probably with all the town’s chicken you could eat…

h er e ‘ s F r o g P r i n c e

Plush

a white dwarf

June 7th, 2006 | Marchesa Ababa | No Comments

so beautiful…i never knew stars were initially encased in a cocoon-like structure…then it breaks open. here is a picture recently taken from nasa of a white dwarf. they say that in 6 billion years, the sun will also undergo a similar action:

Planetary nebula NGC 2440

from what i’ve read, a star’s final exhaustion of its nuclear fuel begets the white dwarf as it rids of the outer material, with its hot core remaining. after a few billion years, it begins to cool down and is compacted to form a star with very heavy mass.

it’s funny how huge stars can be, how intense its heat can reach, yet we are so absent from the magnanimous happenings of something so grand as a star’s transformation. somewhere in the heavens, stars are burning and some are reaching its final phases until it has burned out. while i perform the most tedious chores to make my life function and exist, an expansive star lives and moves beautifully and wonderfully. it makes me feel small yet huge simultaneously…huge because the star completes its life to praise its creator, while the creator is more concerned about the tedium of my life…