Chuvanice!

In August of last year, Chuvaness' products were available in collaboration with National Bookstore. I wanted them all but what would I do from almost 10,000 miles away? So, I emailed Cecile. She's the lady behind the famous blog, Chuvaness. At that time, the products weren't available online yet and didn't know if it was already available in National Bookstores in the Visayas region where I can ask a few people to buy for me.

I wanted all 17 different items of them. I told the mister, my sisters, and my daughter about it. It was sooo hard to decide especially with a very tight budget.

There were 2 other famous people that had collaboration with NBS that I know, but I didn't really like their products. My heart didn't paboom paboom when I saw them.

I got a reply from Cecile the same day I emailed her. She said I could order from her and just pay extra for shipping to Bohol. Shipping directly to the US is just too much, so I opted to ship it domestically.

Final decision were getting the carryall, baby bag, organizer clutch, multi pouch, coin purse, round clutch and utility kit.

carryall and baby bag


organizer clutch, utility kit and coin purse


round clutch and multi pouch


I was ecstatic when she emailed me that my order was on its way to the island of Bohol at my parents' house. The problem was how to bring them all to Maryland. My friend Lea's niece, Pinky who's based in Bohol from North Carolina was planning to visit her folks near Baltimore in April. Thank God she agreed to bring them with her.

OH MY GAWD! Cecile sent extra items. She gifted me the items that I didn't order! No wonder that my parents' house caretaker told my sister that there were a lot inside the package.

Of course, there were a lot because I ordered 6.

It was really a surprise when I got all 17 of them.

2 giftwrappers, notebook, and memo pad


shoe bag and notepad


note card set,  2 packs of sticker tags


I still couldn't believe it. These came in time for my birthday last June.

Years ago, she gave me a copy of a book authored by the late Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. I got the copy way before my friends in the Philippines got theirs. I blogged about it here.

I sprayed all the canvas purses and pouches with Scotch Gard right away. It's a fabric protector. I use this in all of our light colored canvas shoes and bags.


I used the carryall when we went to Cape Cod in late June. I also used the coin purse and utility kit. I used the latter as my pharmacy kit (as a bag for our emergency medications).


And also, the baby bag was a new addition to my LL Bean minis. The red one was the 100th LL Bean Anniversary bag. The smallest was one of two that I acquired from the thrift store. They were new with tags. What I love about the Chuvaness mini is that it's zippered.


Thank you very mucho, Cecile. All the items are chuvanice. Loved all of them.

Thank you Pinky for bringing all of these from the Philippines, to California, Texas, and then to Maryland. Thanks to your Auntie Lea too.


#ChuvanessxNBS  products are still available online ---> here and at the National Bookstore in the Philippines.

Liver vs Armpit

I was chatting with the young lady yesterday. I have learned that she's slowly learning Filipino (Tagalog) from her friends in college that still speak the language fluently. That same afternoon, she was hanging out with Gaylord.

I thought of sharing a pick-up line from the book that Cecile of Chuvaness gifted me last Christmas, Stupid Is Forever, written by Philippine Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Read about it--> here.

I was thinking that because it's short and easy to understand, it wouldn't be difficult to share the joke with her. I asked her to share it with Gaylord too.

I sent her this photo I took via Viber.


I even translated it for her. I said,

Tagalog         Bisaya               English
kili-kili          ilok                    armpit
malapit          du-ol                   near
puso              kasing-kasing    heart

She: Ilok ka ba? (Are you the armpit?)
Me: "kay doul ka sa akong heart." (Because you're near my heart!)

She: Pero, Ma, di man duol kaayo ang ilok sa heart. (But, Ma, the armpit is not really near the heart.)

Me: Huh?

She: Better ang "liver ka ba?" kay closer ang liver sa heart than ag ilok. ("Are you the liver?" is better because it is closer to the heart than the armpit!)

Hahaha!

FAIL!

Atay ka ba? 

Malapit ka kasi sa puso ko!
(Are you the liver? 
Because you're near my heart!)

Based on the illustration below, which is nearer to the heart? Is it the liver or the armpit?

(photo source)

...and she's right! 

The next time I share a joke or a pick-up line with the young lady, I better make sure that it'll work.

Sorry, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, your pick up line didn't work for Yna.

Christmas Isn't Over

It was snowing most of the day yesterday, so the boy and I just stayed indoors all day. I didn't even attempt to get the mail from our mailbox which is located at the end of our driveway since it was so cold. But I sent a message to the mister and asked him to check it. When he got home, he handed me a bubble mailer. I was surprised since I wasn't expecting a mail from anyone. And then I saw who it was from.

Oh my gosh! It's a copy of Philippine Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago's Stupid Is Forever that Cecile Van Straten aka Chuvaness gifted me. I didn't expect to get a copy this soon.



The last time I heard, this was sold out, and in some parts of the Philippines, it isn't available yet. Thanks Cecile for the gift. You're the best! Thank you too to her friend, Grace of Divasoria for mailing the book from San Francisco.