Sweet World of Joan

I am constantly trying to try out new things for my business and throughout last year there are inquiries about edible giveaways for weddings and birthdays. At present I am in the research and development stage in producing edible giveaways for weddings and birthdays. Maybe other events would follow as I improve my skills in crafts and arts. I receive suggestions encouraging me to join Philippine Wedding bazaars and events so showcase my products and that is my target for this year. Weddings have become a big industry in the country and many business opportunities are available if you know how to tap the market. My main focus my wedding giveaways is to showcase the Filipino culture in my designs, that is why I am looking for materials that shouts “proudly pinoy” as guests would see them. My dream wedding was to have a Filipiniana theme wedding but I did not have one. Wearing a gown made of Piña, maria clara styled of course and have to whole entourage wear Filipiniana inspired designs...

We are going to a birthday party this Sunday, he is a playmate of my son and is the son of my husband’s boss. My son loves to play with him and always asks us when can he play with him again. The only issue that my husband raised when I was thinking about what to give for a birthday gift is what do you give a child so basically have “everything”? or can have any toy he wants. Obviously we are in a dilemma then my husband suggested “why not give him one of your delicious chocolates? But not the ordinary ones, make it something special” So I decided to give him one of my chocolate bunnies, it is made of pure solid chocolate and what kid would not want to have a special chocolate just for him. The tricky part was, where to put it, so I looked around for a water bottle for kids and got just the right one, a Bugs Bunny water bottle. Everyone should be given special chocolates once in a while and to receive them on your birthday make it even more special.

Lorenzo’s final exams are coming up, and making sure that he is ready to take his exams is one of my responsibilities as a parent, even a working one. My son at his age is not an easy child to study with, there are times he gets distracted or stops at the middle of our study time and decides he is already finished studying and would like to do another activity. Lucky for me I had the foresight to allocate a quite corner for our study time and they were told at school to study their lessons before going to sleep at night. Strategies I have to help Lorenzo study: Have a routine – we have our study time after dinner every night even on weekends. Giving him a set activity where he can study his lessons or learn new things helps him form good study habits. Make studying fun – Lorenzo does poorly in writing, as this is his weakness I make up stories or sound effects while teaching him/practicing to write to make the activity fun and interesting for him. Have supplementary activity books av...

Having children is great but sometimes it takes its toll in the relationship as husband and wife. My husband always complains about the lack of privacy and time spent for just the two of us. We even spent these valentines day with our son, “how romantic” hehehe. I just promised him that our anniversary is coming up and we can make up for the lost opportunities then. One luxury we give ourselves as a couple is checking into hotels even once a year. We love the sense of privacy it gives us, gives us a break from the hectic activity as a family. It is the time we renew our love for each other and or simply put it gives us a chance to just be us, as a couple, as husband and wife. Even just for a day or two we focus on romance, keep the love burning so to speak. We just check in the hotel then go out to enjoy the day as a couple, watch a movie, window shop and eat at our favorite restaurant. We don’t go too far, because you never know what emergency will pop up on your absence, there was ev...

I have just paid my son’s last quarter tuition fee and I felt an overwhelming feeling of achievement. I gave the Lord a heartfelt thank you message as I receive the final permit and receipt. I have finished paying Lorenzo’s tuition for this school year and coughing up twenty nine thousand pesos for a whole year in nursery is no joke. As any parent would understand, giving your children the best education that you can provide and afford really matters. I believe that the primary years of education is important, it is you child’s educational foundation. Once your child have these strong foundation you can be assured of your child’s performance in school till college. It is also one of the gifts my parents gave all of us kids. They sacrificed so that they can send us to a good private school in elementary and then let us loose in high school and college to public schools. We even graduated in state universities. I love every minute I have studying in all my schools; I am even the one that...

It’s February again, the love month. It is the time to reach out and tell people that they are important and they are loved. I remember when I was in grade school my mother has this gift wrapping paper full of small hearts and I asked her what she is doing with it, she replied that she was cutting the paper into small half-inch sized hearts and come valentines day she gives them to her friends at the office. Mostly, the small hearts are pinned on the clothes to let everybody know that it’s Valentines Day. Since then I also started giving those small paper hearts to friends and family but nowadays I give chocolate roses. Chocolate roses can be considered a 2-in-1 gift this valentine, instead of just giving roses and chocolates separately your can give both. I remember the thrill in receiving a bouquet of roses during Valentines Day but those roses wilt after a day or two, but receiving chocolates gives me an all time high. Chocolates are my passion, even the smell of them makes me happy...