Review: Celestina & Co.

I only had one original Barbie doll when I was a kid. I used to have like 4 or 5 dolls from Uniwide Sales (Haha! 90s) but this one from Mattel, Inc. was my favorite. My childhood friend Ikay gave it to me. I wonder where she is right now? Her family manufactures fancy jewelries that can be bought in SM department stores. I never got her full name as I was a careless 7-year-old. Really careless that when I turned 12, thought myself as a full-pledged dalaga, gave all my dolls including that one & only original Barbie to my younger cousins. If I only knew I will have a daughter, I should have kept my toys. Well, at least I made some souls happy. And who cares about that one from Mattel, Inc.! I now have a live Barbie doll. ;)

Sophia Monique is my pint-sized super model. Dressing her up is a privilege. Though when she turned 3, she kept on insisting to wear what she picked. Trust me, her mix & matching was kind of out of this world; but at least she has her own sense of style at such a young age. Now that she's 4, it's a lot easier as long as it's something girly, sometimes floral & mostly pink. Well, she came from a kikay womb. What can we expect? ;)

The only problem is her hairstyle. This is so humiliating. I have a mommy confession to make. I can't do braids --- the one that sticks to the scalp. Sigh. Of course, I can do the easy kind but it looks lame. I might try doing the "fishtail" when Sophia's hair gets longer, but I'm afraid it'll just tangle up. Ugh, what an awful feeling. That's why I keep her hair in medium length so I won't get too frustrated because I can't do anything with her long hair, aside from the boring-super-usual pigtails. These overrated pigtails hairstyle is my last resort especially when it gets too humid to just let her hair laid down. But on usual school days, I love putting cute colorful clips and headbands to her straight & shiny hair. Until I came across Celestina & Co., I suddenly had a change of heart in styling Sophia's hair.

Fashion Friday: Disheveled Ballerina

There really is something about little girls, ballet flats & tutus. LB (Little Bebeng or Little Ballerina) isn't an exception. She now has 3 tutus in pink, violet & red. Since she was a baby, I like dressing her up. She's my little doll. I didn't care about what other mommies have to say about how I dress her up, it was just a joy to see my tiny fashionista. She was one year old when I made her wore a polo shirt from Baleno & white shorts from Moose Girl. She looked preppy. SIL said "di'ba bawal sa bata ang polo shirt?" Smiling but a bit annoyed, I said "sino nagsabi na bawal?" Maybe she meant that regular babies do not wear such clothes as it might suffocate or irritate them. But my then 11th month old Sophia wasn't complaining. My arms in fan mode were in maximum level, you know. I was ready for some serious sweaty armpit challenge. Haha!

I didn't like her top but she chose that.
Pretty hairbow from Celestina & Co.

She'll be turning four this month; for a year whenever we dress up, I always have my combative self on as she manipulates her closet and tells me what she wants to wear. Sometimes I let her wear her boyish shirts from Ninang Suzie's travels (SG & Vietnam souvenir shirts). But there are times that I totally disagree with her mix&match of pants & top. Floral & animal-print together?! Imagine my Toni Gonzaga jaw shaking. I get dizzy when we argue so I've learned to choose my battles. Now I have discovered that it's all about mind-set. I lay down her clothes on the bed before bath time so she has something to look forward to. And I sell my styling to her, a la fashion mavens Liz Uy & Jenni Epperson. Like, "nice leggings no? Cyril (her classmate) will really like it, too." There we are, a peaceful mother-daughter tandem. Until, "Sophia, will you stop moving!?" Sigh. Or so I hoped. Fixing her hair is such a big production number. That's another story to tell.