Celebrating Every Life Stages at the Sanicare Play Day

Life Lately

A post shared by Pearl Paguio (@shesthemomblog) on Jul 25, 2018 at 1:08am PDT

...is all about balance.

Life lately has been challenging. It's been over 2 months now that we don't have a helper and since I quit my job. So as a stay at home mom, I get to do all the household chores and look after the kids, it seems like the job is never done. The struggles indeed is real and at some point, it feels like I'm on the verge of losing my sanity. Luckily, I still have it 'coz I don't have a choice! Hahahuhu. It's also a relief that the kids are on the stage wherein they are learning about becoming independent so I don't end up being a helicopter mom. They get to do some tasks on their own especially when it comes to their personal hygiene. The last thing I want to think about is dealing with sickness caused by neglect of basic hygiene such as hand washing, bathing and brushing their teeth, or else I might just really lose it (talking about my sanity, that is).

This current situation, especially during weekdays, is so exacting. This makes me look forward to weekends more so I could spend quality time with the family and take care of the small project that we've ventured into. This is also the reason as to why I don't get to attend events as much as I want to. 

So when I received an invitation to attend a mom and kids event for Sanicare (good thing it falls on a Saturday) I did not hesitate, even though June 30 was our 6th Wedding Anniversary. With how things are going, we really didn't have a concrete plan for the occasion. So I signed up for the event and tagged along Athena and Brianna with me. Tristan has Saturday class so Jaear stayed with him, we just met after the event to have dinner.

What is Sanicare?

When you hear the word Sanicare, what comes first into your mind? For me, it's Hygiene without a doubt. Sanicare is a popular household name known for producing quality hygiene products such as bathroom tissues, wet wipes, cotton, cotton balls and the like. These hygiene products are essentials in every home, but Sanicare is more than that, and that's something that I learned at the Sanicare Play Day which I will be sharing with you so read on.

So Much Fun at the Sanicare Play Day

The Sanicare Play Day was held at the Axon in Green Sun Hotel which was set up with booths highlighting different life stages so moms and kids can choose the best fit for them but we actually got to do almost all the activities. 

Alright, off to our first stop, the Lavender and Cotton Ball installation where we had our photos taken. Brianna is being her shy self again, timidly smiling.

Arts and Crafts at the Kids Corner

Next stop is the Kids corner where they showcased their artistic side. Most materials used are Sanicare products which is very creative I must say. 

Athena and Brianna made their own cotton ball sushi.

They also made a flower out of styrofoam ball and cotton buds. They also made a headband stand using the jumbo kitchen towel roll wrapped with a fabric. I forgot to take photos though. 

Athena and Brianna loves to draw. 

Play Hard and Get Artsy at the Toddler Corner

At the toddler corner, Athena and Brianna enjoyed designing their own eco bags.

But one of their favorite was the mini playground area with a wooden rocker/seesaw and obstacle course. 

Next to it is the sand box which seems to be a hit to most of the kids. There were many kids playing so Athena and Brianna didn't get to play for long, though I can sense they liked it too.

Lovely Baby Corner

On the same side of the fence was the Baby corner. It was set up with rubber mats, pillows and squishy plushies as if inviting me to just lounge around. Too bad I didn't get to take any photos of it.

There was also an activity area where the kids got their palms painted, pressed against a Sanicare paper towel and then had it framed. I really love the idea!

Oh by the way, since most of the activities could get messy, upon entering the venue, every kids were given hygiene kits but we didn't get to use one bit because every booth was equipped with Sanicare products and are manned by people who are assisting the kids with all the activities.

My Learning and Discoveries

While kids were busy playing, I together with my fellow mommies celebrated Bianca Gonzles-Intal's first anniversary as Sanicare's first brand ambassador, she is also expecting her second child. We also listened to her as she shared how Sanicare products have been there by her side during most of her life- from living with her parents to becoming a parent herself. It perfectly captured Sanicare's commitment of being everyone's hygiene companion in all life's adventure.

Bianca also shared a hygiene hack that is very helpful and that is to:

 "Keep hygiene fun and teach hygiene by example. Kids follow what they see and will definitely pick up on your hygiene habits!" 

I totally agree with Bianca, that is also what we practice at home with the kids and I'm so glad that it grows on them. Now that 2 of our kids are in preschool and 1 in grade school, they are fully aware about proper hygiene. They would wash their hands when it's necessary but if there's no access to soap and water, they make use of their hygiene kit (which we never leave the house without) containing their hand sanitizers and wipes. That's one less worry for me knowing that they'll be alright in times when I am not around.

I also learned that Sanicare is a homegrown, proudly Filipino-owned company that is already 20 years in the market. Also, Sanicare uses 100% virgin pulp that has no artificial whiteners and no elemental chlorine. True enough, they have our best interest in mind. 

At the event, I get to discover some products I never new existed such as the Toilet seat cover. This is definitely an addition to our hygiene kit essentials as I never let the kids sit on public toilets. What I like about it is that it is 100% biodegradable so you can just flush it down at the toilet.

We are also loving the Clean Hands Foaming sanitizer, the kids are fond of the bubbly surprise and according to Brianna it's just like soap! Plus it's alcohol free, another addition to our hygiene kit essentials.

Kudos to Sanicare for providing quality products designed for all life stages, they make sure that every hygiene woe meets its match! For a mom like me, having a go-to hygienic choice is a respite from all the decisions I have to make every day. 

So much fun and learning at the Sanicare Play Day. I'm really glad I brought the kids with me because aside from all the playing they were once again reminded of proper hygiene in the most fun way possible! After a mundane week of just school-home routine, Athena and Brianna really looked forward to the event and they weren't disappointed. It's been almost a month now and they still can't get over about it, that whenever they see Sanicare products, they would start talking about all the fun they had.

Thanks again Sanicare for having us!

Sanicare will continue to aspire to give its customers one less worry at every stage of their life by pursuing innovative hygiene products that will be every Filipino's companion in their life journey. 

To know more about how Sanicare can be your family's hygiene companion in all of life’s stages, you can visit the Sanicare Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/sanicare.ph.

Lazada-Unilever Mid Year Sale 2018

Love Dove products? They are on 30% Off!

Yes, you read it right! Your favorite Unilever products are on sale once again in Lazada. Enjoy heaps of surprises, exclusive treats and interact with your favorite celebrities from July 18-25, 2018.

To give you a glimpse, Here are EXCITING DEALS in store for you:

• Destress your tresses with Tresemme: Enjoy runway ready hair with up to 30% OFF on Tresemme’s styling products &  up to 50% OFF on Tresemme’s Platinum Strength range

• Get your glow on with treats from St. Ives, Pond’s & Dove.
• Feed your skin with our yummy St. Ives deals up to 40% OFF
• Get first dibs on limited edition Pond’s gift sets for as low as PHP 150 & up to 50% OFF on regular items
• Nourish your skin & hair with up to 30% OFF on Dove products

• Get ultimately beautiful hair with Cream Silk:
• Buy the NEW Cream Silk Triple Keratin Range –3x the keratin in one ultimate solution

• Celebrate what it means to be a REAL MOM with Baby Dove:
• Grab new, limited edition Baby Dove bundles with an insulated lunch box for as low as PHP 797

• Awesome deals from Surf, Breeze & Knorr
• Always have a fresh & clean laundry with up to 30% OFF on Surf and Breeze products
• Get a chance to win a Whirlpool washing machine when you purchase any of the Home Care packages
• Whip-up delicious meals with discounted Knorr & Lady’s Choice bundles- up to 25% OFF

• Always have clean & safe drinking water with Pureit. Get 20% on all Pureit Products.

EVERYDAY SURPRIZES!

The first daily 100 shoppers to use the code “ULMIDYR20” will automatically get a prize from Lazada! Which of these freebies will shoppers go crazy over?

• Tresemme Split Repair Shampoo 340ml
• Breeze Rose Gold Perfume 650g
• Simple Micellar Water 400ml
• St. Ives Face Scrub Blackhead Clearing Green Tea 6oz
• Baby Dove Sampling Kit
• Manifesto Box with Axe, Pond’s Men, Clear, Dove Men + Care, Master freebies
• Surf Cherry Blossom 2.2 kg
• o Simple Hydrating Moisturizer 125ml

*Winners to be announced and selected by Lazada

INTERACT WITH YOUR FAVORITE CELEBRITIES ON FB LIVE!

July 19 | 12:00 noon –FB Live with Dimples Romana for Pureit. If you’re lucky, you can win 1 of the 3 Pureit Excella units up for a raffle! Each unit is worth PHP 4,998 !

July 20 | 3:00 PM –FB Live with Jessica Wilson for Tresemme. Lucky fans will receive a special surprise Tresemme and Jess herself!

But wait, there’s more!

Shoppers can get an additional 20% OFF on their basket* by simply using the voucher code "ULMIDYR20"

*Minimum purchase of PHP 1,000 worth of participating Unilever items. Valid for one-time use only

All roads lead to the #ULMidYrSale#LAZxULMidYrSale! Remember to visit this page from Jul 18-25, 2018: https://pages.lazada.com.ph/wow/i/ph/PHCampaign/brand-of-the-week-unilever

Moist Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Thank God it's Friday! For a mom like me, I am thankful for Fridays because it's the last day of the school week which means, I don't have to wake up early the next day to attend to 3 kids for school. I am really not a morning person, I struggle to get up from the bed every day. So, yay for Fridays!!!!

Anyhow, last Friday, June 29, I planned a last minute little surprise for the husband for our 6th Wedding Anniversary (June 30). Just a short kwento, several months before our anniversary, we planned on having an out of town celebration, and Cebu was on top of our list. Good thing though that we weren't able to book airfare tickets right away, a lot of things had happened, Tristan has some troubles at school (which I would like to write about some other time), we are now a household without a helper (for more than a month now) so I have to quit my job and  become a stay at home mom again. 

So technically, we didn't have anything planned out for our anniversary because of how busy our household is and also few weeks prior, I have already committed to attending an event with Sanicare on the day of our anniversary. We just had dinner after the event. But, I was feeling extra and surprised Jaear with a banana with cream cheese frosting cake that I personally baked. 

No, I am not a kitchen diva, I cook because I don't have a choice (hahaha) kidding aside, I love cooking but I only know a few recipes so, thanks Google! Aside from cooking, Google also though me how to bake. 

This is not really my first time baking banana cake, I began baking 2 years ago but it sure is my first time making one with the frosting. So on the 29th, I searched Google for the easiest recipe for the frosting then whipped it that night so it could be ready when Jaear gets home around 1AM of June 30, 2018.

And as promised, whenever I learned something new, I'd gladly share it with you mommas. So here's an easy recipe for a banana cake with cream cheese frosting.

Banana Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white or brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter or 1 cup cooking oil
• 2 eggs
• 4 medium-sized bananas, 3 if large
• 2 cups cake flour or all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 crushed almonds

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 190 ℃

2. Mash the bananas

3. Beat eggs in a mixing bowl

3. Add the bananas and oil on the beaten egg. Continue to mix until the ingredients are well blended. Set aside.

4. On a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and almonds. Mix well.

5. Gradually add the flour mixture to the banana mixture. Continue to fold until all the ingredients are well incorporated.

6. Add the vanilla extract.

7. Grease a 9x13 pan (Two 9-inch round cake pans or two 8-inch square cake pans) then pour the mixture on it.

8. Bake for 40 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test

9. Remove from the oven and let it cool down. 

Take note that if you are using a disposable aluminum pan like this, you have to adjust your baking time 10 minutes shorter, perform the toothpick before 30 minutes because it may already be baked.

While waiting for the banana cake to cool, prepare the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, beat softened butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer, since I don't have one I made use of Tupperware Brands Speedy Chef- it's like a manual mixer.

2. Add vanilla, then occasionally stir in powdered sugar until frosting is a thick spreadable consistency.

3. Spread or pipe frosting on cooled cake.

4. Top with crushed almonds.

That's it! It's super easy and it tastes good. Though the banana cake was a bit dense however it was moist. Actually, this is not the original recipe that I used to bake. My original banana cake recipe was more fluffy than this. The thing is, I wasn't able to back up the recipe when we reset my old iPhone 5s. Since I am not a baker, I can't figure out which ingredients should I lessen or add more.  Could it be because I used a different pan size? The recipe calls for 9x13 pan but since I don't have one I used a smaller square pan which I guess was around 8 inch. And, instead of using 2 pans I poured all the cake batter in one pan. Lol! I'm going to try this again with some changes and will update this post. Nevertheless, it turned out to be a decent cake which the whole family enjoyed! 

I'm so glad that I was able to pull off this little surprise for the husband for our 6th Wedding Anniversary instead of buying a ready-made cake. Something with a personal touch and baked with love, that makes it special. I am really happy whenever I do something for my family. I guess that's our nature as a mom, noh?

Do you have a different banana cake recipe to share? Would love to hear about it!

Enjoy the weekend!

Quick and Easy Ulam Idea: Tuna Nuggets

Hi, there momma! Surely, your search for the easiest and quickest ulam ideas possible got you here. I feel you, momma, I guess meal planning is every moms' trouble, right? I can cook but I am no expert and the number of ulam recipes I know is very limited. With that, we end up having a certain meal for each day of the week and then just repeat the same menu every week. Boo! Hey, that's better than nothing right mommas? A mom's got to do what a moms' gotta do to keep the family alive. Lol!

I was searching the world wide web one day for new ulam ideas that I can add on my list and got overwhelmed with the number of searches that I got. It surely took up a lot of my time and energy. Hah! And, among all the recipes I was able to search this one is the easiest one to whip plus we have all the ingredients readily available in the pantry so Tuna Nuggets it is. 

And of course, sharing is caring so I'd like to share the super easy peasy recipe with all of you mommas.

TUNA NUGGETS

Ingredients:

2 packs of any brand of saltine crackers

2 canned tuna - any brands

minced garlic and onions

2 tbsp of flour

1-2 eggs

cooking oil for frying

salt and pepper (optional)

Instructions:

1. Crush the saltine crackers

2. Mix all ingredients together

3. Add salt and pepper according to your taste

3 Heat the pan and fry 1 tbsp of the mixture until golden brown

4. Placed cooked tuna nuggets on a kitchen towel to drain excess oil

5. Serve with your choice of dip and rice!

That was easy! Then I just paired it up with Knorr's Crab and Corn soup and we already have a decent meal. Most importantly, the husband and the kids liked it. 

Not only is this recipe easy to prepare but it also tastes good and affordable. So the next time that you are time-crunched or just want to try something new, try this Tuna Nuggets recipe. 

I'll try other recipes and will share it with yo again soon mommas. Do you mind sharing you ulam ideas too? I'm desperate! Haha!

The RealReal Combines Luxury With Consignment

Authenticity is one of the prime elements missing from the second-hand clothing industry. Sure there are good authentic products to be found but most people would rather not spend the time to sort through the mess that most stores have on display. The RealReal attempts to redefine this under-appreciated industry by transforming second-hand consignment into a boutique experience.

The authenticity of leather bags can be determined in multiple ways and it mostly comes down to the quality of leather. Even the smell of the leather, in which fakes have a strong chemical smell, can determine a fake item. An article in the New Yorker had detailed their workshops on how to spot fake luxury goods. The RealReal has been conducting free workshops for customers and fashion enthusiasts to get educated about knock-off products.

The idea of fakes being present in everyone's closet is not entirely absurd. It is easier than ever to import fake products from China to resell online and unsuspecting people end up buying them. Many RealReal locations will be swarmed by fake items coming in and many of them are from regular people. If you received a gift from a friend, it still may be questionable.

Julie Wainwright has been behind the RealReal since 2011 and had mostly been an online business. This high-value entrepreneur had luck with other e-commerce ventures in the past and her knowledge took this brand sky high in no-time.

Second-hand shops will typically have to sell mass products to make a profit since most people come in with the expectation of spending very little. This is why you see piles of unkempt clothes and racks without labels for low-budget shoppers to sort through. Boutiques that deal with high-value luxury items certainly is not common.

What Julie's company does is take luxury brands, authenticates them and puts them on display in the best light possible. You can see their passion for quality by browsing through their website. Each item is professionally photographed and a lot of love is put into the description. The quality is so great that most buyers are normal retail shoppers looking for a good deal.

According to Julie, trying to offload luxury goods on eBay, Amazon or local consignment shops is a pure nightmare. There are so many risks and you will be left with underwhelming bids on your product. The RealReal chases high-value customers to get higher profit margins for their clients.

Since the founding of their website, over 8 million users have registered and at least have been active.

It is harder to get online users to cosign their items on the internet, which explains them expanding to brick & mortar locations in New York and California.

The RealReal may not be for everyone but there is certainly a factor of convenience by not having to dig through clothes at regular second-hand stores. Their stores offer a unique experience of boutique displays that match many high-end fashion stores in New York.

It will be likely that more stores will be popping up under this brand since hundreds of millions from venture capital companies have been invested. A recent example is a large venture capital company had pumped an additional $50 million into the company in 2017. The previous year was rather successful with over $500 million in revenue for just a second-hand dealer.