Christmas at Starbucks

'Tis the season to be jolly.. and to again experience Starbucks Christmas :)

I went to SM BF Paranaque today for a meeting and arrived an hour early so I went ahead and entered Starbucks since it opens an hour before mall time. I was excited to see the red menu, the red cups, the new food varieties and the Christmas drink menu. :)

My first 2015 Christmas Drink

Last year, I became a huge fan of the Christmas Cookie Crumble Frap, so this year, I decided to go with the new drink, Christmas Pantone Latte. This drink is inspired by traditional Italian Christmas fruit cup. You can have it hot, iced or frap. I chose the iced version and paired it with Chicken Pastel Empanada.

It had some sort of spice that strongly influences its taste. Actually feels like milktea to me. It's not as sweet as I expected which is just right, and the fruit sprinkles become a little "nougatty" and soft when dripped in the cold drink.

I would still have to try the Frappucino version to taste and see the difference with the iced option.

New Food Options

You have to give it to Starbucks for going out of their way to make sure their Christmas drinks are paired with new and exciting food options. New things in my eyes are the Italian Cheese Pocket, the Christmas cookie, Roasted Chicken and Turkey Wrap and the pasta dishes - Spinach Lasagna and Penne Al Formaggio. 

Of course, the Toffee Nut Loaf and the Peppermint Brownie are still staples to complement to Toffee Nut Latte and Peppermint Mocha drinks.

I also saw new cake options: the Dark Belgian Chocolate Cake, Birthday Cake and White Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake. Excited to try them next time!

Another reason for being excited about Christmas at Starbucks is the Starbucks Christmas blend and have that good ol' holiday coffee cheer at home or in the office.

The Planner

This year, Starbucks came up with a smaller version of the planner. You can choose either the regular size or the smaller (but thicker) size. The 2016 Planners come in Black, White, Red and Green.

Sorry for the blurry photo. Taking pictures of the planner is actually not allowed so I just zoomed in the planner from where I am seated :D

Lucky Day :)

Best part of my visit is that I got the limited edition sticker card with a free sticker. So I now have 2 stickers but only bought 1 drink. Weeee! :)

Indeed, Christmas at Starbucks is here. :)

Graduation Moments with Neenah

Times flies so fast. Neenah Yzabelle Nicolas Mariano, my second baby, just graduated from Elementary school last March 30, 2012 at the Insular Life Auditorium, Alabang, Muntinlupa City.

Of different things :)

Lunch Time

Today, I remembered it's Friday, so therefore, I decided not to eat anything meat during lunch. :-) I had Country Tuna sandwich ordered from The Sandwich Guy. It's been quite a while since I had my last TSG meal so I was quite excited when my order finally came. But sad to say, I wasn't all satisfied. Don't get me wrong, the tuna spread was good, veggies were fresh and all. But I just didn't have the "full" feeling after eating it, comparing it to HBLT or roast beef. It was not that bad tho.

But I still have yet to blog about my lunch yesterday, until I eat it again. :-)

Report

So today is management meeting day, and when everyone uploaded their reports in our chatroom, I was surprised to find their reports direct to the point and plain simple (in MS word docx only). And I fabulously worked on my report yesterday using powerpoint. Haha. To think my report is already toned down because I didn't want them to feel I'm too OA. But so much for that, I guess I'm really destined to shine. :)

Death

I wanted to talk about death last weekend, however I didn't have the energy to write. Two people I know passed away last week, within the week. Shocking so to speak, because they are quite young. Arth is probably around 30, and Christina is the same age as me, 34.

Death is inevitable. We meet someone, then in an instant, they could be gone. And as I quote the timely sermon from the priest who officiated the mass at Christina's wake, the reason God does not allow us to know when we will die is because we always have to live our life as if it were our last.

Life is short. Tell the people you love that you love them and show it to them. Live life to your fullest. Be thankful for when you wake up, it's a blessing coming from the Lord, because you are given one more day to make a difference.

I leave you with that. Happy lunch, friends! :)

Dealing with Intellectual Disability

When a parent is faced with the realization that his or her child has special needs, one would have a multitude of emotions. Instant reaction is shock, sadness, anger, sometimes in denial, pain, and worry. My Nukie doesn't look like he is special. He looks like a normal boy, as you can see in this picture. But if you talk to him, observe him and spend time with him, you'll find some of his characteristics are just out of the "norm." While I am also noticing different actuations, I was still in denial that Nukh had issues that needed to be addressed. To me, he was just a boy who had slow developments and I know it would eventually be ok.

After gathering the courage and upon the recommendation of his "big school", Holy Rosary Academy during his Prep year, we transferred him to ARE Playschool, a smaller school. And we were also advised to seek the assessment of a Developmental Paediatrician. We went to Dra. Cielo Malijan. After an hour of tests, imagine the shock when I learned that Nukie has Broad Spectrum Autism. While I didn't feel really good after hearing it, I have already prepared myself for that meeting and it didn't really take a long time before I finally accepted the findings. Dra. Malijan immediately recommended for Nukh to undergo occupational therapy weekly.

After about 8 months of taking occupational therapy, we went back to Dra. Malijan for another consultation. This time, she recommended occupational therapy twice a week, and to start speech therapy as there are already signs of improvement. I won't enumerate all the changes, but I know that from the time we entered Dra. Malijan's clinic, he has significantly improved his discipline. It's not abrupt. But small, slow changes excited us and made us more inspired to push with Nukh's therapies.

After Nukh graduated at ARE Playschool, we transferred him to Las Pinas Montessori School, and yet I was faced with another sort-of "bad news". Nukh won't be accelerating to Grade school yet. He was placed in Juniors class, wherein he will be given one-on-one lessons with other SPED students. But I am very thankful this the decision of the school because I felt he really needed more attention in class. As he continued his occupational therapy and speech therapy, it was also noted that he needed behavior modification therapy.

My family is also a key player in Nukh's improvement. While I have to admit that it's really hard to be consistent, we really do our best to do our part in ensuring Nukh's improvement in education and with his behavior. Now, we can bring him to the mall without much distractions on his part. We are even able to take him to mass now. Weee! :)

According to Dra. Malijan, the findings can still change. But as it is, the team that works together to help Nukh improve works non-stop.

Like his other sisters (blame it on the genes - ahem!), Nukh is a fantastic dancer. And he can carry a tune. He's really awesome with computers and Lego blocks. He's very sweet and kind, and obedient at times. We love him dearly, and we consider him our biggest blessing and our lucky charm. :)

Welcome to my blog :)

This is the first time I am blogging as a mom, because I was really inspired with the symposium I have attended earlier on handling the social stigma of people who have intellectual disability. It made me realize that it's about time I become an advocate of disability, and at the same time, talk about how proud I am of my kids. <3

Let me tell you about my 3 kids.

Natassja Danielle N. Mariano
Tashi is my first tender care baby. Born on August 12, 1997 in Muntinlupa Medical Center, I had her when I was 20 years old. Great dancer, singer, speaker, volleyball player, and potential event coordinator haha. I really think she's my mini-me.

Neenah Yzabelle N. Mariano
Neenzy is my youngest daughter. Came into the world on December 3, 1999 at Perpetual Help Medical Center, 2 years after Tashi. Also a great dancer, singer, tennis player, and volleyball player. A lot of people say she looks like my mom. But Neenzy is our "lola" because she is more matured. But she's supposedly the more responsible one. :-)

Nukh Rafael N. Mariano
Nukh was born in November 19, 2003 at Las Pinas Doctors Medical Center. The only boy in our family - as we are two girls, and my 2 older children - so he is king of the house. He is diagnosed with Broad Spectrum Autism, but regardless, we love him very much. He's mucho handsome and English-speaking so better be ready for some nose-bleeding conversations when you go talk to him. :-)

If you notice, all of them have special name spellings. It was really what I wanted because I was kind of frustrated with having one short name. Since I named Natassja after Nastassja Kinski, I named all of them starting with the letter N, and because I started Tashi with a second name that ends is "elle", I followed suit with Neenah, and "el" for Nukh.

It's pretty difficult to raise three kids without a partner. But I have no regrets having them. They are blessings and I love them dearly. This blog will be dedicated to our life's adventures and misadventures, so I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing about them. :-)