We have hosted two Christmas parties at our house already. The first one was last December 10 with my embassy friends and former colleagues.

We have long been planning for a get together but since everybody is busy, we can’t seem to find one date where everybody will be free. Thankfully, we were finally able to agree on December 10 and since they haven’t been to our new house yet, we all decided to have the party at our place so it turned out to be a house warming cum Christmas party.

We just ordered food from CCME (we ordered Beef Roast, Baked macaroni, and Buco Pandan) and I asked my aunt, as per Dennis’ reques, to cook Crispy Pata.

They arrived a few hours late than what we agreed upon because of the Saturday holiday traffic but I am glad that they were still able to make it despite all the hurdles.

We had dinner as soon as they arrived and we have a good chat to catch up with the old times, especially with Timmy whom we haven’t seen for a year already. We had our exchange gifts after and a little boost.

It was a fun party and I am glad that the long-standing Christmas party of our group finally pushed through.

I was at the house of my friend the other night and she was so excited to give me the good news about the soon-to-be opening of her daughter’s small boutique.

It is just the hobby of her daughter to design and make clothes and since she really has the talent, her mom helped her with the funding and so she was able to create her first clothing line which she will feature in her boutique’s grand opening.

Her boutique is just located inside the compound of their property and it is just a small space, as they don’t want to rent a bigger place for now as they are just starting. Good thing they were able to maximize the space by putting Clothing Racks where they hang some of their stocks with the use of Wooden Hangers. This created an additional storage area which they really need ay they have a limited space inside the boutique.

They also checked out mannequins for sale as they would like to setup up a small display to showcase her daughter’s clothing line.

My friend is a real stage mom as she is giving her 100% support (time and money) for her daughter.

I wish them good luck and we know that she has the talent to make it big someday.

I have posted in my previous entry about the Kids from Ulingan village. Ever since I met them during the party of the daughter of my good friend Peachy, they have occupied a special place in my heart.

As much as I wanted to help them, I really can’t do much as I can only give a small monetary amount so the organization helping them, Project PEARLS, can sustain the projects that they have for the families in Ulingan. All I can do is volunteer my help during the Saturday reach outs of Project PEARLS (which I still have to do), and spread the awareness about Ulingan village to my friends and family so they can help too.

The families in Ulingan village need lots of things. We might think that they just need storm shelters, but they don’t even have a decent house to live in. For this coming Christmas, while we have our Noche Buena with our loved ones, the families in Ulingan doesn’t even know where to get their meal for the day.

Every child deserves to feel the magic of Christmas and so Project PEARLS is appealing for our help so they can distribute Noche Buena Gift Pack to each of the families in Ulingan village and each gift packs contains:

• spaghetti noodles and sauce
• sandwich spread and bread
• powdered juice

They will also be giving out Healthy Kid Gift Pack for one child per family which contains toiletries like shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, food and vitamins, and a small toy so the kids can feel the spirit of Christmas.

Each Gift pack will cost $20 so they are appealing for donations. The gift packs will be distributed to the families during their Breakfast with Santa project on the morning of Christmas Eve.

Please check out the website of Project PEARLS for more details: www.projectpearls.org