Christmas is a great season to exercise one’s creativity. Both for making something with your hands and for finding a gift that will not burn a hole in your pocket. This recycled mayonnaise jar is not just earth-friendly, it is also easy to make and, most importantly, inexpensive. Put nuts, candies, cookies, bracelets, hankies, socks, small make-up items, hair clips and anything that will fit inside. Be resourceful, be original, be peso-wise.
.

A date has been set. And it's that first date that makes you all giddy inside. Uuuuuy, your friends tease you to no end. It's just an informal date, you say, but you hardly hear yourself say it because of that incessant drumbeat (ay, it's your heart pala). Anyway, the outfit is solved - informal chic (meron bang ganun?).

Parenting is tough enough even if you have a husband to share the burden with. When you suddenly lose that other leg to stand on, your world is overturned – inside out, upside down. Getting through each day is like running an obstacle course in boot camp carrying a fully loaded backpack.
For mothers who are newly single or for those who have been struggling for years as a solo parent, here are some survival secrets that have helped keep my sanity over the years.

Dessert. It is like a tiara that crowns the end of a beauty pageant. A great meal is not complete without it. Especially for those afflicted with a sweet tooth.
But if you’re a diabetic, meals have to end minus this delight. My friend, Maan always goes without cakes & pastries for dessert to curb her sugar level. Or, if she’s lucky, some restaurants have a handful of sugar-free variants she can make do with. Otherwise, it’s fruits for her.

Whoever said that Halloween is exclusively for kids? As the spookiest time of the year once again looms over the metropolis, there is another reason for you and your friends to "eyeball" for a spirited fright night together! Here are some terrifyingly terrific party ideas, for you and your fellow witches to cackle the night away with!

“Disgustingly delicious!”, is what my son, Jakey would say each time we whip up this horrifying dessert. Scoop after scoop, my kids deliriously squirm for more. You too, can watch your kids wriggle with glee.

You will need:

• Any chocolate ice cream of your kids' choice Rocky Road, Double Dutch or Classic chocolate. Our favorite is BTIC’s Dark Almond Chocolate.

• Whipping cream

• Wafers

• A pack of gummy worms

Turn your otherwise chillingly typical Halloween Celebration into a warm SOULful occasion!

Everything we celebrate nowadays has gotten so manufactured and mainstream. We buy everything off the shelves and tend to just go with the motions just to get the proceedings done.

Heartfelt celebrations are now replaced with by-the-book steps on how an occasion should be celebrated. And since Halloween is fast approaching, I would like to share some tips on how to make your halloween an out-of-the-ordinary occasion by giving it the warmth of home-grown flair!

• Third of a series

Would you believe I had coffee with Vicki Belo? (Well, she had coffee and I had tea.) Yes, THE Vicki Belo, the one who can turn flabby stars curvy. And flat ones into buxomly sirens. And make aging celebrities look like they’ve been photo-shopped. The one you read about in the celebrity or showbiz section of the newspaper.

Do you have guests coming over for dinner? Are you too tired from a hectic day at the office to make something fancy and complicated? Try this easy recipe that's a stand alone meal.

For our overseas ka-pinays, here is a good guide on remittance which I learned during a International Women's Conference held recently.