The A, B, C Tag *

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WOW! It's been ages since I did my last tag, or at least that's what it feels like. I know I still have my award gala to organize, but I am more in a tag mood tonight. Thank you to everyone who has tagged me recently. I'm sorry I can't get to all of them just yet, but I will cut one off from the list right now by choosing a more recent tag to entertain you with. Tonight, I am going to have some fun with the A, B, C Tag from Nick! Thanks for thinking of me with this one Nick and I'll try my best not to disappoint you with my answers! ;)

A. Attached or single? Happily attached to B.

B. Best friend? Oh boy! Are we counting my online or offline best friends?

C. Cake or pie? Hmmmm, I like both but since I just had chicken pie a few days back, I'm in the mood for cake tonight. Maybe I'll even make another Mug Cake later!

D. Day of choice? Like Nick, I too love Friday because then comes the weekend.

E. Essential item? My laptop.

F. Favorite color? Red but I also love Black, Lime Green, White, Blue and Pink.

G. Gummy bears or worms? Gummy bears for me please!

H. Hometown? Selangor

I. Favorite indulgence? Oh boy... for now perhaps the delicious cuppacakes from wondermilk cafe.

J. January or July? I'm choosing August for my birthday month.

K. Kids? No, but I do have three adorable fluffy cats we like to refer to as our kids.

L. Life isn’t complete without? B and my kids.

M. Marriage date? 30-03-02 Nice number eh?

N. Number of magazine subscriptions? None.

O. Oranges or apples? Oranges.

P. Phobias? Dogs simply because I got chased by a stray as a kid and lizards of course! :(

Q. Quotes? Oh I love quotes so tonight I wanna share this beautiful love quote with you. "Within you I lose myself. Without you I find myself wanting to become lost again." - Anonymous

R. Reasons to smile? B, family and friends.

S. Season of choice? Hmmm I love winter cause of all the snow but I also love spring so I'm torn between the two!

T. Tag 5 people. I'd like to tag more than 5 if that's okay and I am tagging my friends from Music Monday!

Jean, Roxy, Bono, LJ, Emila, Debbie, Mize, Bintang, Kim, Rozella, Eric, Jackie, HaaziQ, Metz, Ane and Naomi.

U. Unknown fact about me? I talk too fast sometimes that it's hard to understand me LOL!

V. Vegetable? I'm going with lettuce.

W. Worst habit? Sometimes a procrastinator and sleeping at odd hours of the day and night, depending on my workload.

X. X-ray or ultrasound? X-ray

Y. Your favorite foods? Italian, Chinese, Indian, Malay, Western...he he oh Mexican too!

Z. Zodiac sign? Virgo

So there you have it! Now that I have gotten this out of my system, I can revert to the two new translation jobs I received today. Have a good Thursday! :)



Posted at 4.30 AM

* The first person to leave a comment on any post title that ends with a star will receive a link back to his or her blog for being my first commentator!


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Fancy Your Own Domain? *

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Go with GoDaddy and here's why!


http://www.godaddy.com/default.aspx?isc=socsparkb1


Ever since I got my own domain, my blogging journey feels even more exciting! It feels like I've moved on to bigger times and I have a feeling that this was the best step I could have possibly taken for my blog. Though it took me two whole years before finally gathering enough courage to make that move, I am really glad I did it and that's why I am encouraging all my friends who are still hosting their blogs at blogspot to join me in my glee of knowing that I made the right choice!

Of course, there are so many webhosting providers you can go to for this purpose, but since I opted for GoDaddy, I am recommending GoDaddy for all those who are keen on moving their blogs! GoDaddy.com is the world's leading domain name registrar and largest web host. With a wide variety of website hosting creation tools, e-commerce and security solutions as well as productivity and marketing tools, look no further when it comes to purchasing your own domain name!

GoDaddy is extremely user-friendly and easy to understand. Navigating my way around while making my purchase was a breeze and hassle-free. My main concern was how long would it take for the whole moving process to be completed. I was worried that my readers and EC visitors will not be able to view my blog while it was under the moving process, but surprisingly the move and forwarding of my blog to my new domain address was almost immediate! Seriously, it took less than 2 minutes for my blog to appear using its own domain address, so there was no waiting in line or any major interruptions!

Being a very new domain owner, I am yet to fully experience the advantages of having one. However, thanks to the comments I received on my last post, I know that bigger and better things are yet to come. It is a only a matter of time and lots of patience, while still maintaining the best in my blog content and marketing of course. Having my own domain translates into more credibility, mobility and exclusivity for me and my blog. Apparently most advertisers much prefer blogs with their own domain names, rather than those hosted with free webhosting providers like blogspot, which was what I was previously using. So that on its own is already a big bonus for me who sometimes writes paid advertising posts here.

Owning your own domain also translates into greater exclusivity for you and the blog you've worked so hard for in gaining readership, followers and ranking of course. When you first move your blog to your own domain, needless to say all ranking associated with your blog will diminish to zero, but do not despair! You will eventually get back that much coveted ranking as long as you persist with what you've been doing previously when you first made attempt to even secure a rank for your blog. You will also have to write in to all the blog programs you're registered under to let them know you've made that switch and you now have a new URL for your site. I've written to all the programs I'm members of and so far, they have all responded almost immediately and my URL is now pointing to my new address.

Having your own domain will also enable you to have your very own email address using your new domain name so for me, it could look something like this - marzie@mymariuca.com. How cool is that? And most of all, the advantage of owning your own domain name is that you can truly establish and maintain greater blog presence and exclusivity by having your own blog name as your domain address. Unfortunately for me, the name Mariuca was already taken up; otherwise my address could have been www.mariuca.com! But www.mymariuca.com is also very cool, so I'm very happy with my chosen name. So for my friends out there who left comments at my previous post, expressing interest in having your own domain, you can now do so with ease and speed!

Now that you know a little bit more about GoDaddy and how easy it is for you to have your own domain, why wait? If you're keen on securing a particular name for your own blog, just click on the banner below and check out GoDaddy. Don't wait any longer; otherwise the name that you've always wanted as your very own might be taken up already! Click below and soon, you too could be well on your way to owning an exclusive domain name for your site and all the other perks accompanying your very own domain! :)


http://www.godaddy.com/default.aspx?isc=socsparkb1



Posted at 4.44 PM

* The first person to leave a comment on any post title that ends with a star will receive a link back to his or her blog for being my first commentator!


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My Own Domain Finally! *

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I finally did it YAY!! After much talking and contemplating about having my own domain, I finally got around to purchasing my very own domain name for both Wishing On A Falling Star and Mariuca's Perfume Gallery! Mind you, it was not planned or anything. As usual whenever I feel like doing something new, it would most likely stem from a spontaneous decision, which was what happened yesterday while I was talking to my buddy LJ! :)

After bouncing off a few emails to each other, my midnight buddy and me got to talking about moving my blogs to my own domain. I do this dance with LJ every few months actually! Whenever one of my friends boasts about having a new domain of their own, I'd surely shoot an email to LJ asking her how to go about doing it LOL! And again, she'd patiently explain to me what all this means and the procedures I'd need to go through in order to move my blog to my own domain. So yesterday, after really understanding the truth behind the domain move and what will happen following that, I decided to take the plunge and make that switch!

Of course, I had LJ to assist me every step of the way, and I decided to go with GoDaddy as recommended by her. I was worried the process was going to get me all confused (which it did!) but thanks to LJ who guided me step by step, the move to my new domain was done in a jiffy, upon purchasing my domain names!

So yes, my PR is now a big fat 0 and I lost all my Techno ranking and Alexa too, which saw me busy writing in to all the blog programs I'm registered under to have my URL changed to the new one. Surprisingly however, I am not too upset about that at all! What I can say for certain is that I am really excited at the idea of finally having my very own domain name and am looking forward to enjoying the greater exclusivity, credibility and mobility that come with having my own domain name. I can't wait to have my own email address too he he! I will of course work slowly towards building up my PR again and I sincerely hope everyone who is on my blogroll for both my blogs will provide me some assistance by changing my old URL to the new one, which I am so proud to present below!

Unfortunately for me, I could not get the name Mariuca or MPG as my domain names seeing that they've already been taken, so after much thinking, I purchased the best one available. Allow me now to present my new blog address for Mariuca - http://www.mymariuca.com and the new URL for MPG - http://www.mariucasperfume.com! YAY me ha ha ha! Excuse me for being excited, but I just can't help it! After countless times seeing many of my friends moving their blogspot blogs to their own domain, I too can finally join in their excitement and let me tell you, the feeling is simply awesome! :)

So PLEASE kindly change my current URL at your blogroll to the new address mentioned above, it will hopefully help me get back my PR by the time Mr. G does another round of PR update! THANK YOU so much for your time and cooperation peeps, Mariuca loves ya! :)



Posted at 3.29 PM

* The first person to leave a comment on any post title that ends with a star will receive a link back to his or her blog for being my first commentator!


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166 Comments

Emila Meets the Kids!

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When Emila came over to my place, I bet she did not expect the real life Benji to be so chubby! It was her first visit to Mariuca's place actually and as usual I tried to make my home as spic and span as possible, but that was not the case since I've been busy commuting to and fro the hospital to visit B.

Emila arrived pretty early and I had just finished checking out Zenni Optical. I've been contemplating on getting a new pair of eyeglasses for B. The pair he's currently using was a birthday present from me, and though it's still in good condition and what not, I like the idea of getting him a spare one. I figured Zenni would be a great place to shop, especially since the eyeglasses offered there are so cheap, starting at a mere $8 per pair! Zenni also offers a wide range of stylish frames including single vision lens, sunsensor lens, tinted sunglasses lens and bifocal lens. You know how glasses can be so very expensive nowadays, but Zenni makes it possible for everybody to own a cool pair at a very low price! In fact, Zenni is fast gaining recognition in the market and was recently featured in the Chicago Tribune.

Anyway, the first thing Emila did after removing her shoes was to say hello to my fluffy kids! All three were surprised to see a new face in the house and as usual, Chubbs immediately ran for cover. He is the most shy of my three cats and will run and hide whenever an unfamiliar face comes over. He ran behind the TV shelf first and later when we tried to drag him out from there, I ended up in a little game of chase with Chubbs, who ran as fast as he could, away from Emila and me! ;)



Benji on the other hand was his usual friendly and adorable self! Benji is the most affectionate of all my kids and he loves receiving guests, familiar or otherwise. Whenever someone comes over, he'd be the first to say hello, by sniffing my visitors' feet. Then he will lick and kiss their feet and finally he'd roll his fluffy fat self all over their feet! See Benji greeting Emila in the picture below?



Next it was Phoebe's turn to say hello to Aunty Emila! Phoebe isn't as shy as Chubbs but she just doesn't like to be carried and hugged by strangers. But since she is so tiny, it is so easy to catch her and bring her over to say hola to Emila LOL! Emila couldn't help but squeeze and hug my adorable baby Pheebs! She truly is irresistible, that much I can vouch for. All visitors to my home will definitely exclaim delight when they see just how tiny yet so fluffy Phoebe really is. Her flat face and snub nose just makes her all the more adorable and no one can resist grabbing Phoebe for a big fat hug MEOW! :)



Thank you for visiting us Emila, we'd love to have you back here again! :)



Posted at 4.54 PM

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Back from the Hospital *

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Hello everyone! We are finally back home from the hospital! After his confinement at the hospital these last few days, B is well enough to be released. However he will be on medical leave until the end of the week, to regain his energy and allow his body and system to get accustomed to the new medication prescribed to him by the Doctor.

His discharge from the hospital went very smoothly. While waiting for the paperwork to be prepared, B had his last lunch on the hospital bed while I watched some FRIENDS on the DVD player. The nurses were very efficient as usual and as I stood by listening to them explain the necessary procedures he is to strictly follow at home; I was once again convinced of the hospital's efficiency and professionalism.

Immediately after signing the papers for his release, a hospital staff came up to his room with a trolley to bring down our bags. Though it was a mere three days being away from home, we did have a lot of stuff to bring home with us including the beautiful bouquet of flowers for B from my parents.

I am glad to have my baby B back home and the kids really missed him, so it was a sweet welcome home today. He'd still need plenty of rest to regain his strength, so I'd still be busy looking after my patient at home now.

I would like to take this post to say THANK YOU to everybody who dropped off their get well wishes for B and to me as well. Though I didn't specify the nature of his illness in my previous post, there were some of you who knew the real reason behind his hospital stay and immediately came to my support with your e-mails, visit and even virtual cards to offer me your words of comfort and encouragement. Allow me to give recognition by saying a very special THANK YOU to Jean, Emila and LadyJava, my three wonderful ladies who stood by me during this time, offering me much support, comfort and even assistance should I need it. I was so touched by what you have done for me and will not forget your gesture of kindness during this stressful and tiring week I had with B being in the hospital. Thank you so much for your concern and for making me realize that I can definitely count on you in times of need as such. So a very special HUG goes out to my three lovely ladies, thanks so much! :)

I also went through all your comments and well wishes with B and it was really nice to see him smiling at your lovely thoughts and kind words for him here at Wishing On A Falling Star. So I'd like to say THANK YOU to everyone who has commented and left some words of encouragement for B and for me too. I thought it would be cool to see where all the comments came from so I'm going to list you down by your respective locations.

Malaysia
LadyJava, Emila, Nessa, Bokjae, Anny, Farah, Foong, Dhiya, Jean, Rizal, Zunnur, Debbie, HaaziQ, Monica, Rozella, Adrian, Marvic, TH, Nick & Shemah

Philippines
Naomi, Ruby, Liza, Metz, Lainy & Sean

USA
Jackie, Roxy, Bobby, Grandy, Eric, Lynda, Karen & Diamonds

Indonesia
Bono

Australia
Kim

Singapore
Janice, ECL & Ms Sheepy

Egypt
Hicham

India
Sandman

UK
Shiela

Portugal
Mize

Again, thanks so much for taking the time to visit B here and making him smile with your funny comments and well wishes for him. I have not had the time to respond to all your comments just yet, but I will do so in due time of course. :)

And last but definitely not least, a big THANK YOU also goes out to our family and friends who came to visit B at the hospital as well as our family members and Facebook and close friends who offered much comfort to the both of us this week. Thank you to DD, Elina, Azri, Intan, Zeff, Hans, Zue, Shyam, Cal, Moira & Maya.


Posted at 4.01 PM

* The first person to leave a comment on any post title that ends with a star will receive a link back to his or her blog for being my first commentator!


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B in the Hospital!

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My darling B is in the hospital boo hoo! Since I like to keep certain parts of our life private, I shall not divulge more details than necessary on the reason he's being admitted. Suffice to say that it is for observation purposes and this visit is way overdue. Ever since he found out that he will be admitted for a couple of days, B has been nothing but depressed! Well you would be too if this is your first time staying in a hospital and you don't have a say in it because the Doctor said so! ;)


Sad at the thought of being stuck in the hospital!


I took the day off today, and got up early to accompany B to the hospital. The night before, I emailed my clients, informing them that I'll be on leave this week. So it was really annoying when I kept receiving calls from some of my less thoughtful clients, who refused to take no for an answer and insisted I check my email right there and then, which was impossible since we were already on our way out. My cell phone kept ringing off the hook and I even got one of those much-hated telemarketing calls, asking me if I'm keen to purchase a new timeshare program! Seriously, today was not a good time to be soliciting anything from me as my top priority was making sure B gets settled into his hospital room with as little fuss and as much comfort as possible. It was then that I wished I had access to one of those services where you can Report Annoying Callers so they will never bother me again! ;)

Anyway, we got to the hospital on time and after his check-up, he was ready to be warded. I did my best to console him, assuring him that a couple of days won't be that bad. He was not easy to convince however and even when we entered the admission area to his ward floor, he was still skeptical!




Upon stepping inside his room however, his mood did change for the better and we both exclaimed in delight at the spaciousness of his comfy "home" for the next couple of days! I gave myself a quick tour, camera in hand of course, crying out excitedly whenever I saw something cool in his room. ;)




I have to admit that this is definitely one of the best hospital rooms I've ever visited! Aside from the luxurious space for him to enjoy, it is also brand new and has not been occupied by any other patients before. Everything is so clean and fresh, which bodes well with me of course!




When we saw the flat screen TV on the wall, we looked at each other and smiled. B's smile got even wider when he discovered that his favorite sports channel was also available! At least he will not miss out on his important football updates. The room also comes with a DVD player and Wi-Fi access, which is awesome since we packed some DVDs and his laptop in his suitcase as well. Otherwise, he'd definitely be bored, completely cut off from the outside world!


My bed and resting area




I quickly inspected the bathroom, which was spotless and everything from toiletries to fresh towels were provided for. It almost felt like being in a fancy hotel room! After seeing all the wonderful facilities surrounding him, and finally convinced that his hospital stay might be okay after all, B was smiley once again, which made Mariuca smile too of course! :)




As you know, I'm a stickler for excellent service so I was quite impressed at the efficiency and politeness of the nurses in the hospital. They were all very friendly and helpful and any questions we had were immediately answered.




After getting his second shot for the day, dinner was served. I know it's only hospital food, which is supposed to be bland and yucky, but this one sure looks yummy! Perhaps it's the fact that I've been on my feet the whole day. Or maybe it's because I hardly touched my lunch today or I'm simply worried about the many emails from my clients waiting for me at home. Whatever the reason, I am simply ravenous looking at his dinner and will have to end this post here to start thinking of dinner for me too!




With B being in the hospital, it looks like another busy week for Mariuca. I do hope B will feel much better after his hospital stay and will get a clean bill of health from the Doctor. But until then, I know he'd LOVE to hear from you, so send him some love will ya cause I do so wanna see that smile on him a little bit longer! :)


Posted at 10.17 PM

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Busy Bumblebee! *

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Being a freelancer means that my work schedule is never fixed! Sometimes I can be bombarded with tons of projects that will leave me too busy to sleep, eat or even watch my favourite soap. Other times, I'd be really free from work, giving me space to breathe and do my regular bloghopping, EC dropping or having coffee with the girls.

This week falls into the former category, which saw me concentrating on my real work as a freelance copywriter and less blogging. Hence the lack of update here or at MPG, although I secretly liked the idea of having my Mariuca Teddy Bear as my main post this whole week LOL! ;)

Now that the weekend is upon us, I'd like to wrap up this week by thanking the 12 participants who have entered Mariuca's 2nd Blogversary Contest so far. Thank you for being a true Mariucan by subscribing to my blog and for putting on your thinking caps to conjure the best name and reason for wanting to bring this adorable Mariuca Teddy Bear home. Of course this is only the first week into the contest, so there's plenty of time to join in the fun if you have not done so. :)



Subscribe to Wishing On A Falling Star and YOU might WIN this adorable Mariuca Teddy Bear!


Contest Entries

1. Bono - Mariuca Baby Bear
2. Jackie - JonahBear
3. Adrian - Marzipan
4. Nessa - Randy Rover
5. Emila - Wentworth
6. Ken - Donnie
7. Saffa - Choco
8. Roxy - BEAR-iuca
9. Dhiya - Ali
10. Kim - Little M
11. Janice - Love
12. T.H. - Brown Mariucan
13. Debbie - Macario aka Mac
14. LadyJava - True Blue
15.

I've also been meaning to have my award post out since I have quite a number of them to give away, but work has been my priority last few weeks, especially this one. So I'll have to wait for another day before inviting you to another one of my Award Galas! I do however want to say a quick thank you to Jean for all the lovely awards she's given me, especially for the special Top EC Dropper award you see below. Apparently both Wishing On A Falling Star and Mariuca's Perfume Gallery were tops on her TD list for September and October YAY! Thank you for the lovely recognition Jean and this will definitely inspire me to continue being TD at your awesome blog! :)


Top 5 dropper: Sept 2008 Top 5 dropper: Oct 2008


A special mention also goes out to Kim, my talented artist friend from Australia! Thanks to my daily EC rounds and consistent commenting at her 3 wonderful sites, both Mariuca and MPG are currently featured at all her blogs YAY! :)


Posted at 7.11 PM

* The first person to leave a comment on any post title that ends with a star will receive a link back to his or her blog for being my first commentator!


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