Showing posts with label Daphne Paez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daphne Paez. Show all posts

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Daphne Home Scents at Bench & Dimensione

When I got home, I just had to open the package right away and use my Daphne Home Scent in mint jasmine

You know how sometimes finding a hostess gift can be such a chore? That's how I feel sometimes when I am pressured to come up with something for a friend who invites us to their home. We often end up bringing a bottle of wine or some yummy specially ordered dessert. But food & wine, they don't really last long enough to make an impression. The fun in it can be fleeting, if not forgettable. 

That's why when Daphne Osena-Paez launched her line of home scents at Dimensione on Bonifacio High Street, I knew I found myself a winner. Because scents don't just linger, they leave memories too.


The scents, which come in lavender, mint jasmine and homemade lemon tart simply smell divine, are prettily packaged (reminds me of Jo Malone scents, in that simple but striking clear glass bottle with a black cap) and are special and thoughtful enough to give to hosts as gifts for housewarmings, play dates, or as a little something extra during pot lucks. I think these make great presents for our children's teachers and tutors too, or for colleagues at work!


While you can never really go wrong with any of these three scents "or flavors" as Berry calls it, if you are worried about choosing the right scent as a present, my suggestion is - simply get all three! At Php348 a bottle, you've got something that will surely please, at just a little over Php1000.

Meanwhile, for all of us especially, who read Daphne's blog, you may be well aware that she started her eponymous furniture line sometime back. Her first piece, which also debuted at Dimensione, is a range of chairs fashioned from farmed mahogany wood. Considered her signature piece, the Daphne chair is "whimsical yet rooted in practicality".


Apart from the red, white and blue you see above, the Daphne chair comes in an array of ice cream colors, like yellow, pink and lavender, as well basic black.


Daphne Home Scents retail at Php348 each and are available at Dimensione stores and selected Bench stores nationwide. Daphne chairs are available at Dimensione.

Friday, March 18, 2011

My Breastfeeding Story

"Welcome to the first Milk Mama Diaries Carnival (March). To celebrate National Women's Month, our participants share how breastfeeding has changed them as a woman. Please scroll down to the end of this post and check out the other carnival participants."

For me it was a no brainer. Even before I gave birth to Berry, I knew I was going to breastfeed her. I had done my research, and I knew all the benefits of breastfeeding that no one could persuade me otherwise.

It also helped that my friend Tet was such an advocate of breastfeeding. She attributes her daughter Eliana’s good health to breastfeeding. Eliana never got sick until she was a year old, and only because she caught colds due to their constant air travel. And well, a huge convincing factor was that my friend Tet was so skinny, no one would have guessed that she had given birth at all! So yeah, breastfeeding appealed to my vanity too! Hahaha!

I continue to breastfeed Berry until today. She is 21 months now, and what I can guarantee is this:

* Berry is a very healthy baby! The first 18 months, we only went to the doctor for her scheduled immunizations, that’s it! Like Eliana, she only got colds around the holidays because we were flying in and out.

* It’s true what they say that breastfeeding helps the uterus contract. Whenever Berry would drink her milk, I could feel the inside of my tummy throbbing and contracting. In two weeks, my baby belly was gone. I lost all the baby weight in one month. Without any exercise, if I may add!

* Breastfeeding is so convenient. If Berry needs to feed any time, any where, I don’t need to prepare a bottle. I would just lift or unbutton my shirt, and voila! Instant milk!

* No bottles mean a lighter diaper bag too!

* When I think of the amount of money we saved by not buying formula, I really can't help but get a kick out of it. That's a start-up fund for  Berry's college education right there.

Proponents of breastfeeding also believe that breastfeeding strengthens the mother and child bond. Berry and I are very much bonded I would think, and at this point, we can really pick up on each other's cues even with just eye contact. When something funny happens, or when she gets naughty, even without speaking, when we look at each other we just both know how to react. It's like an unspoken bond. Especially precious now because it's how we communicate, given her limited vocabulary.

The only real challenge to breastfeeding was of the sartorial sort. I had to find clothes that were stylish but breastfeeding friendly! I eventually found the perfect pieces for nursing, which you can read here. Here's my typical breastfeeding outfit (i.e. button down shirt & jeans, don't forget the breast cover, I think a big shawl or huge scarf is a stylish alternative):


Judging me from my "cover", no one can really guess I still breastfeed right? I just look like any girl on the street! LOL.

So yeah, about all these supposed physical and lifestyle changes - you know, breasts sagging, mastitis, cracked nipples, crazy sleepless nights, I was lucky that I never went through that. My mom is very spiritual and I just took her advice to pray while breastfeeding, recite the rosary or read the bible. This isn't spiritual mumbo jumbo. I would like to think it was my faith and belief that I would have an abundant milk supply that kept the milk flowing. Especially since Berry is allergic to dairy and still wouldn't take soy or goat's milk.

Did breastfeeding change me? Both yes and no. I am still me, in fact, even better.

P.S. A couple days ago, Daphne Osena-Paez, breastfeeding advocate and UNICEF Special Advocate for Children, asked me to help spread the world not just about breastfeeding, but EXCLUSIVE breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life. No water, no baby food, no formula. She says this practice alone can save the lives of thousands of babies. I've tweeted this and continue to share this with all the moms I speak with, but let me use this  post as a platform to spread her message as well.

P.P.S.- Thanks for inviting me to join this Carnival, Cai

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