More Reason to Celebrate...

After my sister's Gift-Giving project, I found that there's more reason to celebrate this season...

1. My brother Denver surprised us with his arrival last Dec. 22nd. He flew in from Dubai, UAE which makes it 4 Kamp Braza siblings in Manila. Our parents would be very happy in heaven as this is the first time in 2 years that the 4 of us were in one space and time. Wish we could make it 5 Kampers but there's still a next time...
2. My purple world grew..much more! Pics to come. =)
3. Seeing old friends in the old neighborhood. Christmas Eve was spent hearing the traditional mass at our old neighborhood's open air chapel. It was great to see old family friends and exchanging quick updates on our respective lives.
4. Spending 3 days at the beach with my whole Kamp. Loved that we got to spend time to bond with each other and just be together.

This season is fast becoming one the best for me...

Oh and lastly, 3,000 + visits! Thank you to all my friends who bother to drop by and check up on purple-crazy me. I love you all! & And keep coming back please!

And before I get mixed up again in the merry activities leading to New Year - Happy, Blessed 2009 to all of you out there!!! May your Kamp flourish and be continuously blessed in the year to come.

Indeed the season of giving...

My youngest sister Maria (Tatsi to her 9 nephews and nieces) came home for a month-long vacation from Dubai and one of the things she has planned is to do a gift-giving to the slum area near our community. She raised funds from her generous friends in Dubai which she used to prepare 500 bags of basic staples like rice, coffee, canned goods and noodles.

She enlisted the help of the whole Kamp (our pet name for the Dimaano family and relatives) from shopping for the goods to packing them assembly line style into individual bags and giving away claim tickets to each family in the squatter community she chose.

And finally on Sunday, December 21st, Tatsi rented a closed van, packed the whole Kamp into a couple of SUVs and we're off to distribute the goods.

The day was extra special since Kamp Braza Shanghai (our other Maria in the family and her husband Ramon and son Joshua though not in this pic) also flew in for the holidays. They were promptly recruited and were just so happy to help out.

The line was already long when we arrived. Tatsi, Ramon and our uncle Jolly took the front. My husband Butch, sister-in-law Pam and nieces Selina and Ysabela took the middle while my sister Teng and my nephews, Joshua, Spade and Juan took the rear.

Our youngest "volunteer" is only turning 3 years old. And what did I do? Took pictures, patrolled the immediate area to make sure only those with claim tickets get near the gift giving line.

It was such a humbling experience for all of us. It made us happy to be of help even with just this little thing and made us appreciate the many blessings that God has bestowed on our family.

It made all of us proud of our dear Maria Lourdes to have thought of doing this project. She was able to really bring the meaning of giving to each and every member of the family down to littlest member.

We hope that we could do more next year and do it together with our dear family members who are far away and who we miss so much.

From Kamp Braza (the children and grandchildren of Paterno Braza Dimaano and Erlinda Dimaano) to all the Kamps in the world, may you all be happy kampers this Christmas and for the rest of 2009.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

MALIGAYANG PASKO AT MANIGONG BAGONG TAON!

I'm in BAG Trouble!!!

Yes, i am in big bag trouble! I was not into luxury bags before but this year, two bags caught my eye and I just could not say no to their purple beauty..

I saw this bag in the Ferragamo store in Dubai last June just a few days before I was leaving for Manila. I fell in love with the shape and the color (obviously..LOL!) and said to myself that I will save up to get me one of these soon.

A couple of weeks later I received a call from my sister with only just this question "Ferragamo is on sale, am i buying this for you or not?"... never before was I subjected to shopping pressure than this! With a deep breath, a huge swallow of air and 2 seconds of thought, I said, y-y-yess!

I had to wait for my precious for almost 6 months and finally just a few days ago, it is now in my hands! I am loving it. Though it looked small, it is roomy and could fit my humongous wallet and make-up kit.

And when I thought that would be the only expensive handbag that I would buy, never did I expect that one day in September, I would find another precious again.

Kamp HQ (my family in Manila) went to the cemetery to visit my Maming's grave to commemorate her birthday and voted to have dinner afterwards at the Alabang Town Center. After dinner, we all broke into mini groups to do some shopping. I was just tagging along with my sister-in-law Pam when she called me to join her in this store and pointed this Kate Spade beauty.

Once again, I was stunned and awed! I already imagined myself going to work with the beauty in my arm. I sat down and shook my head. I was going to Shanghai in a few days and does not have the budget to spend. But they have a credit card 3 months to pay interest free promo and my sister-in-law Pam is the biggest BI (bad influence for y'all who are wondering..hehe) in the world so a half-hour later I came out of the store with a new bag.

I'm broke but I'm happy... I have been humming this Alanis Morissette song Hand in my Pocket for the last two days. Hahaha! I have accepted my handbag fate. That I will probably add more and will eventually have a tiny collection.

I know my sister Maria/Des will protest and ask why do they have to be purple. I will try NOT to buy all purple bags... I will really try! :-)

Twilight, The Movie..Lessons from/because of/as a result of..

I had to add "the movie" because I have not read the book and will probably not read it just like the Harry Potter books. But the late bloomer that I am does not close doors because who know..2 or 3 years from now..:)

So anyway I went to see the movie today at Trinoma and here are some of the things that I have learned from watching the movie and events that lead me to watch it.

1. I have learned that husbands, the likes that thrive on action movies even the B-ones, may like and anticipate this kind of movie. I cannot forget the face of playmate Butch when he was watching the movie trailer the other day. I guess it's the "action" in what Edward can do in the movie that made him turn to me (a non-fan of the vampire genre) with pleading eyes and asking me if we can watch.

2. I have learned that as one grows a bit older, one's energy can get zapped after a trip to the supermarket and then on to the movies. So what better way to regain your energy than sleep and snore your way through the tons of trailers and commercials before the actual start of the movie! And don't forget to tell your movie partner to wake you up when the movie is about to start.

3. I have learned that Och, my best girl who went with us to the movies does not like the movie as much as the book because a lot of the girls who are crazy about the book were crazy about the movie as well. My fangirlfriends basically stalked the movie theater and watched more than once! I thought I was the only one who thought Edward was either constipated or drank animal blood turned bad for breakfast at that scene where they saw each other for the first time in class. Hahaha!

4. I have learned that I will never be cured of being a hopeless romantic and a sucker for plots that also portray strong family relations. Nevermind that I saw this nice touch in the movie with the Cullens. Concepts such as unconditional love, accepting who your family member loves as part of the family, and distance never becoming an issue as long as you reach out and talk to family members often - always top my list.

5. And finally I've learned that this sentence that I picked up from an email forward is so very similar to Bella's character (and to some extent mine) that the words kept repeating in my head especially after Bella said her last narrative in the movie.

Email:

"As I mature, I learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is stalk them and hope they panic and give in." - author unknown

Of course the word "stalk" is taken under the context of hounding, bugging, begging (?), conniving, etc.

Bella:

"I know what I want" (when Edward refused to turn her into a vampire).

I suspect without reading the rest of the books that Bella would do her best to stalk Edward to give in to what she wants.

And so in the spirit of hoping someone's object of affection gives in one day, I accompanied Och to the salon yesterday. Because my personal take on this matter is that one must look nice while one "stalks" because one must be ready if the object of one's affection does give in. Hahaha!




Twilight, the movie website - http://twilightthemovie.com/