McDonald's Happy Meal: My Little Pony 2014

My Little Pony lands in Happy Meal boxes once again. Oh happy day! This time, the ponies get the Rainbow Power treatment. Loving their colorful tails!

We saw the TV commerical yesterday. I panicked (my husband said I looked like I was having a seizure, lol) because I thought we heard the news late, and the ponies might be out of stock already. Turned out they only became available yesterday.

Of course we couldn't wait to get our hands on them, so early this morning, we had McDo delivery. Haha. I didn't want to eat 4 meals, so I asked my Lola if she wanted to order something. I ended up only having to buy two Happy Meals, because I requested Lola to upgrade her two orders so Little Moon gets the complete set of all 4 toys today. Hihi.

Little Moon with her "Happy Meals", Pinky Pie is still inside that paper bag.

The little one excitedly said: "Mom, let's show them to the other ponies on the bed. They're famiwyyyyy! (family)"

The new ponies with last year's collection. "Famiwyyyy!"

Apparently, the US got 8 ponies: Pinky Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, DJ Pon, and Rarity. We only got 4 here in the Philippines (the first ones I mentioned). You can get the other 4 on eBay.

I like these Happy Meal My Little Pony toys because they're not as cheap looking as other Happy Meal releases that look like disposable plastic toys. These are actually well-made, as far as Php35 toys go (that's how much you actually pay for the toy, if you consider the cost of the food). For that price, they're a good alternative to the My Little Pony toys you can buy at toy stores, which start Php299 each. 

Some of the differences I noticed: they come with stickers this time around, and not with a comb/keychain like last year. And because of this, they no longer have that unsightly bump on their heads, where the comb used to be attached. This year's Pinky Pie is is a bit darker than the old one, with a slightly different Cutie Mark (that's what the signs on their butt are called, I kid you not. haha).

Troop to your nearest McDonald's ASAP if you're a MLP fan. These will get sold out fast, I'm sure. Better yet, have your Happy Meal delivered so you don't have to leave the house on this hot, hot day!

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose. I wasn't paid to post about this. I just like My Little Pony because it reminds me of my childhood. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Hello gorgeous mommas! I hope you had a wonderful day last Sunday! I gave my own mom a special surprise: a tribute on Smart Parenting Magazine's website! One of the moms in the WAHM (Work at Home Mom) group I am part of on Facebook, writer Tina Rodriguez, was looking to interview 5 mothers for an article on "mom-spiration". I was kinda shy to participate, but I thought it was the perfect opportunity to tell the world about how special my mom is!

And here it is, published just in time for Mother's Day! "I learned from the Best: 5 Moms Pay Tribute to their Moms" tells about how our moms became the inspiration for how we raise our own children.

Thank you Smart Parenting and Ms. Tina Rodriguez for giving me the opportunity to give my Mommy Merilyn a different kind of present this time!

It's been a while

Little moon is now 2 years and 7 months old. I just celebrated my 29th birthday a few weeks ago. We've been busy doing everything and nothing.

These photos were taken one April afternoon, on one of our visits to my sister-in-law's place. I look preggy in the picture. I'm not. Not yet. Haha.

Scrumptious Saturday: Slice's Granola Champorado

I love Champorado. I grew up in a home where my dear mom would cook this comforting chocolate rice porridge for merienda.  I am also convinced that it was probably Champorado that Goldilocks ate at the three bears' cottage. Haha.

A few months ago, my friends and I got together for an afternoon out with the kids. We ate at Slice in Bonifacio High Street. It was my third time there. I'm not a big fan of the place - the food is good, but a bit overpriced. The cupcakes look yummy, but I am still a die-hard fan of Cupcakes by Sonja.

I must say though, that their champorado is worth checking out! They call it Belgian Dark Chocolate Champorado. The name itself sounds yummy already. It's an interesting take on my favorite merienda - they serve granola instead of the usual malagkit rice. There's peanut butter and bananas on the side! What I did was dip my spoon in the peanut butter before I dip it in the bowl, and I get a spoonful of peanutbuttery-chocolatey goodness in every bite. The idea is probably to enjoy the peanut butter with the bananas, but they didn't have bananas that day. Boo. I was determined to still order the Champorado, so I requested they substitute watermelon for the bananas instead, which I figured I could eat for dessert (and share with Little Moon). Yes, chocolate for the main meal and fruit for dessert. Am I weird or what?

The Belgian Dark Chocolate Champorado is a bit pricey at Php200, but it's worth trying. My Little Moon likes the carrot soup. I like it too - it doesn't taste like carrots at all! Yummy! Slice is at the new section at the end of High Street, where Uniqlo and Jamba Juice is located.

Elmo likes sweets

Having a toddler in the house means finding funny little surprises everywhere.  I was putting away Little Moon's toys yesterday when I found this.

So now we know Elmo is a sweet-tooth. Even if he doesn't have teeth. Haha. No wonder one of my polymer clay cupcakes went missing.

Happy shabby chic pendants

I got to play with my polymer clay over the summer. Oh how I missed my clay!

But the super quick time I spent at my crafting table made me realize I'm never gonna be able to get back to work anytime soon. And I don't think I want to anymore! When I was preggy, I imagined doing little projects whenever Little Moon was asleep. Who was I kidding! Raise your hand if you'd rather conk out beside your little one than get back to work! Diba? Haha! I am super duper thankful to my husband for being such a responsible breadwinner. I am able to stay home and care for our baby and not worry about having to get back to work!

So anyway, this latest collection is called Inchie Winchies. They are so me. The colors, the details. I wanted them to look like mini collages of ribbon, lace, and strips of paper. But they're all made of clay. I was inspired by the lacy details on my daughter's clothes, my fabric stash, and by the mini mood board notebooks created by Holly Becker of Decor8, my blogging mentor. Thank you teacher Holly, for the inspiration!

These pendants look so happy and cheerful, don't you think? I'm happy with how they turned out - all the details are handmade, no molds were used! The colors were custom-blended by me too. I imagine wearing them on a thin chain, with a simple sunny dress. Or they could brighten up a plain t-shirt.

These inchie winchies are available on Luna Lollipop on Facebook. Luna Lollipop deserves a separate post, and I'll blog about it once the official website is up. For now, I hope you enjoy these photos.  Follow me on Flickr to see more.

I lost my mojo

I haven't written a decent blog post in months. To be honest, my blogging energy got drained out of me by that post about our MMR scare. After that post, I didn't know how to reboot and be chirpy-cheery again.

Little Moon is okay, thank God! No sign of regression so far, and it's been 5 months. I chatted with my Tita one time, and I was convinced that we did a good thing by getting the vaccine. The result of what could happen without the MMR is much scarier. As they say, the benefits outweigh the risks. So we have proceeded with the recommended vaccination schedule.

I want my blogging mojo back. There are tons to write about. I want to start blogging again.