Friday, January 30, 2015

Our Luxe Photoshoot

I love taking pictures and of course, having my pictures taken too. Hubby hates it though and gives me the evil eye whenever I ask him to take anything more than 3 times (hey, may slight differences ang angle and poses lol!).  How I wish I can have my photos taken professionally all the time, if it just wasn't that expensive! It really is an investment and I've indulged in it after my kids were born so we can have nice family photos we can treasure forever (see our Stork Studio shoot HERE and our Picture Company shoot HERE).

Anyway, I'm always on the lookout for new photographers and a few years ago, I saw my friend post gorgeous photos of her baby on Facebook. I checked and found out that they were taken by Luxe Photography. When I got pregnant, I was seriously contemplating on doing a maternity shoot but then decided to just do it myself (check out my DIY maternity shoot HERE and HERE). I figured it would be better to have the photos taken when the baby was born. Personally, I prefer taking baby pics when they're a few months old versus newborn since I think they're definitely cuter and their personality will already show. So fast forward to when Skyler was 8 months and we finally had our much awaited photo shoot!

Anyway, what I love about Luxe was their amazing set-ups, and it was honestly my first time to see that in kiddie and family shoots back then. Most of the other studios just use plain backgrounds and simple props (which I also like for the classic look). But now, having a stylist is the norm not just for pre-nup pictorials but also for baby shoots! When I was emailing with the photographer, Wilvin, I said I wanted to do a vintage travel theme. He was suggesting doing it outdoors, but I wanted it in the studio to get the full styling effect. Besides, the weather can be so unpredictable too. We're from the south but we trooped all the way to Quezon City on a weekday just to do this pictorial!

You've probably already seen a snippet of our shoot from our 2014 Christmas card and only now have I finally gotten around to sharing the complete set with you guys! The cost of our shoot was P9,500 and what I liked was that the package came with 50-80 edited hi-res photos. This was such a good deal since when we had our shoot from Stork Studio (which cost about the same), it only came with 10 hi-res files (plus a few print-outs). Can you imagine how hard it was to choose only 10 pics??? Plus, Luxe was more flexible with the time (3 hours) versus Stork Studio which only gives you 1 hour. So even if it was expensive, I felt like I was definitely getting more bang for my buck. :)

When we had our shoot, it was literally just in the living room of our photographer Wilvin. From all the previous pics I saw in Facebook, I wouldn't have guessed it was just taken in someone's sala! Anyway, he was in the process of building his studio then (also in his home), which I know is currently done already. It was kinda weird at first taking pics in the living room with people popping in and out, plus his kids were also there. I guess that would be my only complaint from the shoot if any. It became a challenge tuloy to get Miley and Sabe to pose properly since they just wanted to play with Wilvin's daughter. ;p

Shooting with children is definitely a challenge and you just have to learn to go with the flow. I wanted a pic with all 3 kids together, but we couldn't get a good one since no one wanted to sit still. I had 2 outfit changes planned but by the 2nd change, no one was in the mood anymore! I was expecting Miley to be game and Sabe to be the more difficult one, but it ended up being the opposite. Miley's smile was so "pilit" most of the time so we only had about 5 good shots of her. Sabe meanwhile completely hammed it up and modeled like a pro! Skyler was crawling all over the place and even bumped his head. So I was super happy when I finally got the CD after 3 weeks and saw these gorgeous pics! You wouldn't think by looking at them how hard it was to take haha!

Anyway, sorry for the super long intro! Now brace yourself for a LOT of pics!




And out of all the pics in the CD, there was only ONE family picture! Miley isn't smiling but at least it looks nice. Thank goodness we were able to get a good shot!


I'm super happy with how the pics turned out! Super sulit too since I was able to use the pics for our Christmas card and also Skyler's party. I would definitely love to have another shoot done in the future and I'm getting excited just thinking about what theme to do. I think I should make this a yearly thing, don't you think? ;p

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Sen Lek Thai Noodle

One restaurant in BF Homes Paranque that seems to be always full when we pass by is Sen Lek. There have been many restaurants that have come and gone in the space right beside it (it's currently Urban Farm), but Sen Lek has remained strong despite lots of competition in the area.


Here's their menu which is so completely affordable:


Anyway, we usually end up ordering the same thing when we eat here. Everything just smells so good and tastes really yummy! :)

Fried Spring Roll - P110
Flaming Fried Kangkong - P95
Panaeng Curry Beef - P195
*this is really spicy so we usually ask if they can make it as mild as possible ;p
Chicken Pandan - P65 / piece
Sen Lek Fried Rice - P270

They also have other non-Thai desserts but we chose to go with the more traditional Mango Sticky Rice. The mango was really sweet and I liked the consistency of the sticky rice.

Mango Sticky Rice - P100

This place is definitely a favorite of ours and for the taste and price, it's no wonder people keep coming back. :)


SEN LEK THAI NOODLE
#4 President's Ave. cor. Adelfa St.
Tahanan Vill., BF Homes Subd.,
Paranaque City

Friday, January 23, 2015

Post-Christmas staycation at Crimson Hotel Alabang

We booked an overnight stay at Crimson Hotel Alabang right after Christmas to maximize the holiday season with the family. We've already stayed here before, and you can read more about it HERE.


Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Flying High With Sky!

Our dear baby Skyler just turned 1 earlier this month and we marked the big day by having a travel themed party! To be honest, it crossed my mind not to have a party anymore (by the 3rd child, all you can think about is how to save money hehe) but hubby and I decided that a first birthday is really a milestone that should be celebrated. Besides, both his Ate and Kuya had big parties so we felt Skyler should have one too.

Of course, we had a budget and I made sure I was able to stick to it. I wanted to DIY everything, but I knew I couldn't do it given the size of the venue and the number of guests. And this was just after the Christmas season, which was such a busy one for me, so I didn't have time to prepare. Hindi talaga kaya ng powers ko haha! Thank goodness I was able to find a great stylist who was able to exceed my expectations with the decors. I'll be blogging more about all the details from the party but for now, here are some bits and pieces from Skyler's special day. :)

with mommy and daddy
kiddie area
everyone captivated by the show
with Sky's beautiful lolas
fun games
with our yaya, who has taken care of me, my sister, and now my 3 kids!
Skyler's amazed with his whole party! WOW daw! ;p
more games
special participation of daddy in the magic show
distributing the giveaways
Thank you for all your gifts!

Watch out for my supplier ratings, coming soon! :)

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