38 Weeks & Counting The Days...

I've avoided driving in Manhattan for the longest time. Ok, more of since we moved here to the US. I can drive side by side Manila's jeepney and bus drivers and I even give them the bad finger when they really drive me crazy. Yeah, I can be a hustler behind the wheel. But man, driving in Manhattan really intimidates me. So let me come clean, I've never driven in NYC, until last Friday! On my 38th week at that! Talk about Murphy's Law! Hahaha! See, I had to pick up Dear Hubby at work because we had a dinner date with guests (our wedding photographer Nelwin Uy and wife They) from back home. And these days, Dear Hubby insists that we drive around whenever we go out because Berry might come out any day now and he doesn't want to be caught in a situation where we have to take public transportation, hahaha!

So there, here I am in our garage, at 38 weeks. And I can say I survived driving in NYC! Woohoo!



Tuxedo blazer: H&M
Dress: A.P.C.
Necklace: Kenneth Jay Lane
Tights: Topshop Maternity
Flats: Repetto
Bag: Balenciaga

Had a pretty exciting/nerve-wracking evening actually. Dear Hubby was so worried, he kept on calling me every five minutes to check on me. But nothing excites us more than meeting Berry soon!!! Double, no, Triple Woohoo!!!

Berry Bakes + 30 Weeks!

I know, I should be past the craving stage, but I was craving for an honest to goodness chocolate chip cookie and I didn't want any of the commercial chocolate chip cookies found in grocery stores. I didn't even want patisserie cookies, although a chocolate mousse cake from Financier would have been good too, heehee.

So Berry and I decided to bake some cookies, and the Valrhona bar in the pantry that I bought a month or two ago sure came in handy, especially since we had to use that before it's best by date. We asked my SIL Leslie for her chocolate chip cookie recipe and our initial test was such a success!



We made the chocolate chunks from scratch!


See?


Here's our masterpiece...It was sooooo good! Chewy in the middle and a bit crunchy on the sides! We ate 5 cookies in five minutes! Heehee!


Here's Leslie's Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe:

1 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 350F. In large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar. Add vanilla and eggs. In separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt gradually then add to butter mixture. Stir in chocolate chip and nuts. Drop rounded teaspoonful into greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 mins or until lightly brown.

(In our case, we baked it a little longer, about 12-15 minutes to get that bit of crunchiness to it! We also did not fold in the chocolate chunks and instead added it on top of the cookie dough prior to baking. My SIL Lorr, who is the best in baking, suggests chilling the dough first overnight to make the caramel flavor of the cookie settle in. We only chilled this batch for a couple of hours because we wanted to eat the cookies right away, but it seems using chilled cookie dough instead of freshly mixed cookie dough does work wonders! Enjoy!)

We've been eating so much lately, no wonder Berry/belly has become this BIG! At 30 weeks!




Tunic: Topshop Maternity
Necklaces: La Elegancia, Marc by Marc Jacobs
Belt: Abaco
Zipper Trim Leggings: Topshop
Ballet Flats: French Sole London (For Kelly: I sent an email to them for their HK stockists, so I will update this when I hear from them, but in the meantime, you can check out Lane Crawford as they sell Repettos and they probably have French Sole as well!)

It's so funny actually, because 2 weeks ago, when we had our ultrasound, Berry weighed in at 2.7 lbs when babies her age should be 2.25 lbs. At this stage, she should be weighing 3 lbs., but I have a feeling she's much heavier than that now! Oops!

Mamma Mia!

Three months to go and the Little One will pop out soon!!! See how my tummy is now?



Wait, this is better...


Yeah, I know my belt buckle is skewed, but I did that on purpose. See, I didn't want the buckle to squeeze my tummy when I sit! Smart huh? Heehee!

It's been really cold these days that my usual suspects - tights, leggings, harem/drop crotch pants are not cutting it. Still too flimsy, so I have to wear denims. But I didn't want to spend on maternity denims because after I give birth, it won't be of much use, and it'll just go to waste. So I decided on these boyfriend denims instead which I think are the best maternity denims ever! It sits low below the belly and is super roomy and comfortable! Plus! I can wear it years after I give birth!





Scarf: Isabel Marant
Shirt: A.P.C.
Cardigan: Uniqlo
Jeans: Current/Elliott*
Belt: Abaco Paris
Tights: Topshop Maternity
Flats: French Sole

I've realized, buying maternity clothes can really be kept to a minimum. So far, it's really just my maternity tights, leggings and a tunic shirt that are my true maternity buys. Other than that, any of my dresses and loose tops are still ok, plus all the pants I got (a total of just 4 pieces! All of which I can use after I give birth!). Then again, I don't work so I don't have to spend for career maternity clothes. But my friend Me-an, who was working while pregnant, said she made do with 5 pairs of maternity trousers and that was it! She says, being pregnant made her realize she can actually live with just a few clothes on rotation. Now I know her words ring true. I've really been just wearing the same clothes over and over and over...

Maybe it has something to do with maturity and becoming a mom? Back in college, I used to take note of all my outfits just to make sure I never repeat the same outfit twice in a month. Then again, during these times especially, it doesn't make sense to be shopping so much. Better to save our money and shop our closets instead! For sure, there are treasures there that are just waiting to be unearthed!

*Here's a tip if you're planning to buy Current/Elliott denims. They are indeed one size too big as most online shopping sites have warned. So you should size down. I'm pregnant so I decided to get it in my usual size which is a 25. Ideally, I should have gotten a 24 as the 25s are very loose on me. But I have three more months to go and I have to have room to grow!

Never Say Never

I said I would never be one of those pregnant women who wear loose or garterized pants. I thought it looked sloppy, if not unflattering. But now that my tummy is getting bigger, I haven't worn any of my jeans or pants because I can no longer zip it up. These days, I'd rather go for comfort than style. Thus, loose or garterized pants are beginning to look appealing to me. Really appealing.

Two weeks ago, I went shopping with my sister who came over for a visit. She was on the lookout for a puffer jacket at Zara, but I was the one who ended up going home with three pairs of loose pants! Stylish ones at that! I got two pairs of dhoti/drop crotch pants and a slouchy harem trouser - all for the staggering amount of $29.70!!! Yes, each pair of pants was just $9.90 each!!! What a steal!

Here's how I styled my loose pants. Not so sloppy right?

Drop crotch pants with side pockets...


Top: T by Alexander Wang
Tights: Topshop Maternity
Flats: Lanvin

Dhoti pants with side waist tie and buttons...


Breton shirt: Petit Bateau
Scarf: Isabel Marant
Sneakers: Converse Chuck Taylor

My harem trousers are in the wash. Since it has a garterized waist, I've been wearing it nonstop for the last couple of days. Now I promise never to say never. I swear these loose trousers are heaven sent. So comfy and my tummy doesn't feel squished at all. There's lots of the room for the Little One to grow into actually. I am lucky that I am pregnant at a time that these are the style of trousers in fashion!

Spin A Win!

I think the Little One gets excited about Fashion Week as much as I do. When my friend Sarj and I went to the Bryant Park tents yesterday to watch the Pamella Roland F/W 2009 runway show, she (yes! we are having a little girl!) was kicking and moving inside my tummy as we stood in line at the McCafe booth (my friend Sarj had to get her coffee fix, I indulged by having a decaf iced coffee heehee!). I think the Little One knew she was inside the tents!



Because we had time to kill, we passed by the Havaianas booth to check out what goodies they had in store. Last season, Sarj said they were giving away free flip flops! But when we got there, they had this wheel of tiny colorful flip flops which we could spin. If you land on a metallic flip flop, you get a sling bag! Well, they say pregnant women are lucky and guess what! I won a red sling bag for the Little One (choices were black, pink and red. Because I think red is lucky, and well, it went with my outfit for the day, I got the red one!)



Check out the strap made out of the same rubber as the flip flops! Cute! The hardware on this sling bag was pretty high quality too! I think this would make a handy dandy bag for summer!


Sarj won this cute keychain with candy, which she generously gave me. She said it would fit the Little One! Hahaha! Sarj is such a hoot!


A photographer inside the tents approached me and asked to have a picture of my bag taken. Silly me handed out the Havaianas sling bag to him and he said, "No, I want to take a picture of you with the bag!" Ooops! So I posed gladly although a bit too self-consciously for him, but forgot to ask where the picture would come out. Oh well!

This is what I wore yesterday...


Playsuit/Romper: A.P.C.
Tights: Topshop Maternity
Boots: Golden Goose

Here's my romper up close...


I love how I can wear this for summer too with sandals or my fave Chucks. Notice the belly bulge? I'm almost 23 weeks now! How time flies!

Oh, speaking of the Pamella Roland show, since the designer is a celebrity fave, Sarj and I did spot a couple of celebs! We had a blast trying to identify them, haha! Cheesy but fun! Nicky and Paris Hilton were easy to pin down, Sarj saw Kelly Pickler, I noticed Kristen Bell and we thought Amanda Bynes was Lindsay Lohan from the side. We also saw America's Next Top Model's Miss J and Nigel Barker (Sarj nudged me and said "Why are they taking a picture of this guy beside us? Who is he anyway?, of course I was like, "Sarj! That's Nigel Barker!" Hahaha!)

Too bad of all the days I would forget to bring my camera to the tents, this was the day! Oh well! I hope my narrative was entertaining enough!

(Photo of the Havaianas booth from racked.com)