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5 BOOKS TO SIMPLIFY PARENTING

April 6, 2021

There are so many pregnancy, baby and parenting books out there. IT'S OVERWHELMING ISN'T IT? That's why I made sure to research and look for BOOKS THAT SIMPLIFIED MY LIFE AS A FTP or FIRST TIME . . .

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4 BOOKS THAT SIMPLIFY PREGNANCY & CALM DOWN FIRST TIME PARENTS

September 15, 2020

When I was pregnant and a FTP or First Time Parent, I was very frustrated after trying to the famous book What to Expect While Expecting because it created more anxiety instead of helping me feel . . .

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Crazy Rich Asians Book Review

July 3, 2014

Summer is here! And for lazy days in the park or lounging by a beach somewhere, I love fun, lighthearted laugh-out-loud reads. Normally I like memoirs like these, but I was curious about Crazy Rich . . .

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3 Comments · Diplo Picks

Books written by Diplomats

December 27, 2013

When I arrived in Germany, I was anxious and stressed out from the move. Since misery loves company, I sought out books written by diplo-spouses about their experiences abroad. Sometimes I just want . . .

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5 Comments · Diplo Picks

Trail of Crumbs by Kim Sunnee

September 24, 2013

I was immediately drawn to this book in the store because of the sub-title: "hunger, love and the search for home." I don't know if this book is for everyone because not everyone might be able to . . .

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3 Comments · Diplo Picks

Funny Book Napoleon’s Privates

June 30, 2011

napoleons privates book

This book is not for the faint-hearted or conservative types. Often times history is boring mostly because we get the sanitized version. This is why I loved having Ambeth Ocampo as my history teacher . . .

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The Happiness Project

June 21, 2011

I usually write about book when I finish reading them, but I'm so excited about The Happiness Project that I wanna write about it now. As of the date of writing this post I just finished Chapter 3: . . .

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3 Comments · Diplo Picks

GoodHousekeeping Guides

April 21, 2011

My bestfriend and I have a traveling book (sort of like the traveling pants in that book/movie). It's  The Maid Manual which gives so many helpful tips on how to train and manage maid/s in a . . .

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4 Comments · Diplo Picks

The Absolute Book

March 30, 2011

If you are like me (loves marketing/advertising and has been fascinated with the ABSOLUT Vodka print ads most of my life) then you will love this book. Not only is it a compilation of almost all . . .

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Fabulous Memoirs to Read this Summer

March 7, 2011

Bringing home the birkin book

With summer coming up (in the Philippines anyway), I imagine many of you are looking forward to days lounging on a beach bed, cold drink in hand and reading a good book. These are my recommendations . . .

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4 Comments · Diplo Picks

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Welcome

Hello! I’m Ayessa, trailing spouse to a diplomat, mama to DiploBaby and DiploDog and founder of Declutter MNL. I love talking about how to achieve a minimaluxe lifestyle one step at a time.

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Recent Posts

Tool-Free Bidet Install Hack

Glass Restaurant Rovaniemi

Glass Resort Finland

GENEVA FINDS: Victorinox Souvenirs

Patisserie Sofia Geneva

DISCLOSURE

I am an Amazon affiliate, but all opinions are my own. The content of all my blog and social media posts are products and experiences that I truly enjoy and I only work with brands that fit my life and style.

GOOD TO KNOW GUIDE

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM @UNDIPLOMATICWIFE

One of the things people love about the Philippine One of the things people love about the Philippines is the warmth & heartfelt friendships of the Filipino people.

And was reminded about that when @pattylaurel & her wonderful family took the time to meet up with us on their last day in Geneva.

Though we’ve only seen each other in person once before… lifetimes ago when I was handling marketing for @beautybarph and she was our gracious model for Dashing Diva, hanging out with them felts so warm & natural. 

Even @diplobaby was so happy to have such quick friends and playmates.

Thank you Patty for letting me use your photos. You & @patrickfilart take such amazing ones! Perfect combo of influencer & IG husband 🤪🤪🤪

And thank you for bringing the warmth of the Philippines 🇵🇭 & the Filipino people with you. ✨🤍✨ sobrang saya!

We had such a beautiful day together… the kids (and us) didn’t want it to end so we went from playground/dinner to a walk about in our neighborhood Château & even to the house! 😂

Thank you for the epic day Patty, Patrick, Theo & Astrid. Till we meet again! More adventures in Switzerland I hope!

#udwingeneva #pattylaurel #diplofriends #diplobaby #diplofamily
TOOL FREE BIDET INSTALL One of the things we miss TOOL FREE BIDET INSTALL

One of the things we miss about living in the Philippines & Indonesia is having a bidet in our bathrooms.

Here we have a MUJI TABO & TOTO PORTABLE BIDETS (dm for link if you want), but nothing beats the water pressure & convenience of a handheld bidet that’s connected to your plumbing IMO.

When I was in @jumbo.schweiz recently I saw a bidet that can be installed with the sink.

It only works if your sink is near your toilet so sadly it won’t work on our master’s bathroom.

I wasn’t sure our faucet was the correct size but I took a risk for CHF20.

Today I finally had the time to install it. I was # #mariomama again LOL!

The only time you might need a tool (pliers) is if you can’t loosen the AERATOR to remove it from your faucet.

HOW TO INSTALL HOLDER WITHOUT DRILLING

As a renter, I want to avoid making holes in the walls whenever I can. Even if I weren’t a renter I don’t recommend putting holes on tiles coz they might crack.

So I used the strongest @tesa_de  double sided tape on the bidet holder. You can see how I did it step by step on the video. Be sure to use Teflon scissors so they don’t get damaged by the adhesive. Clear monster tape will also work well for this.

*** Amazon affiliate links on my bio under BIDET HACKS ****

WHY CANT YOU INSTALL IT IN YOUR TOILET

The toilets here are all built in. There are no exposed tubes to connect bidets to like in Asia. 

That’s why this hack is a God send! No plumbing experience or tools needed! YAY!

WHERE TO BUY

https://undiplomaticwife.com/bidet-install-hack/

Feel free to dm me if you have any questions!

#DiploHome #diplohomegeneva #diy #bidet #bidetlife #expatlife #expatliving #genevaexpats #genevaexpat #genevaexpatwomen #expatinswitzerland
HUMIDIFIER HACK Did you know that each home shoul HUMIDIFIER HACK

Did you know that each home should have humidifiers whether it’s in winter or summer?

Yes! It should be in
- closets
- caves
- storage lockers
- basements
- attics
- bathrooms
- any other area that doesn’t have through air or air conditioner 

To prevent molds from damaging your property!

Here’s the hack: Don’t throw the container because you can buy refills. 

DM me on where to buy wherever you are!

#diplohome #homehacks
WHEN’S THE BEST TIME TO GO TO SANTA CLAUS VILLAG WHEN’S THE BEST TIME TO GO TO SANTA CLAUS VILLAGE?

The concern going to Rovaniemi is that it’s too cold 🥶 I’ve heard of people going in winter & didn’t enjoy it coz they felt like frozen popsicles. You have 2 options:

1. Go in SPRING like us so prices are lower, no long lines/crowds & no need for super thick snow suits, but low chance of seeing Aurora Borealis & some places might be closed/melted. 

3. A friend who lived in Scandinavia told us for Aurora Borealis, the best time is SEPTEMBER coz it’s not too cold yet. Though some resorts might only be opening in OCTOBER like @glass_resort.

FOR US:

❄️ End of first week of April: We didn’t really know  that we picked the perfect time. We were there for only 3 days & 2 nights because that was all our budget would allow. The lows were -3/5 C but the week before it was literally -18C YIKES! 🥶

❄️ At lows of -3/5 and 0-3 highs it’s manageable layering our @uniqloeurope Ultra Light Down Jackets. We didn’t end up using our waterproof snow jackets.

 ❄️ bring waterproof shoes/boots so you don’t get sick if melted snow gets in. 

❄️ If you will touch snow/have snowball fights, waterproof gloves are a must

❄️ Ask hotel if sleds are free to borrow

❄️ Bring SPF coz snow reflects sun

❄️ As you can see in the reel on our first day it was winter wonderland. The day after things started melting. On our last day things were starting to puddle. After I imagine rivers!

❄️ there was this gigantic snowman & I was too tired to take a pic. It disappeared the next day to my disappointment.

❄️ The SNOWMAN WORLD was already closed when we arrived. It would have been so cool to see the ice resto/bar, slides & disco!

❄️ We found out that the day we were leaving was also the last full day of our hotel. So though Santa Claus Office is open 365 days a year, check with the hotels to see which ones are open.

☀️ Summer activities are different. For example the huskies pull sleds with wheels.

🌈 BONUS TIP: If you pick a resort inside @santaclausvillage_rovaniemi, 3 days is enough. Because of the perfect location of @glass_resort we were able to make SO many wonderful memories in such a short time.

#udwinsantaclausvillage
PARTIES & PLUMBING #diplolife + OUR FIRST TIME TO PARTIES & PLUMBING #diplolife

+ OUR FIRST TIME TO HOST AMBASSADORS IN OUR SWISS #DIPLOHOME
(Except for my FIL of course)

This has to have been the most hectic weekend in recent memory here. Each day @diplobaby had a kid’s party to attend. (Thankfully here you leave the child for 2-2.5hrs & parents can do errands while waiting)

TD & I also had commitments for both days. We were hosting a lunch, attending a lunch/ playdate with #diplofriends & meeting up with a fellow Pinoy @remfelrem who has just arrived in Switzerland. 

Last Saturday, TD and I were hosting a lunch for his boss & also a little farewell for the boss of the other mission. And as you guys know we were really stressed with a clogged kitchen sink drain. Not the most convenient or sweet smelling when you are having people over.

So thankfully with the help of a friend I got tips on how to dismantle the pipes to clean them. Guess what? It was still clogged in the pipes inside the wall!

Cleaning the pipes under the sink might NOT HAVE RESOLVED the problem, but at least our home did not smell! Also I learned to do something new! Win-win! 

TD told @diplobaby that I’m #MarioMama (from Mario Bros) 😂🪠

And I am quite relieved that TD & I managed to pull off a lunch in our little home with not just one, but TWO Ambassadors. Having one’s boss is always somewhat nerve-racking right??? I’m so happy we finally did it! 

We had pork adobo with mango, tomato & cilantro salad. And our fave spaghetti bolognese. I bought small cakes from our favorite boulangerie in the little French town next door. 

P.S. 
For those of you were asking if we finally had to call a professional for our kitchen sink. In a way yes we did. After all our best efforts, we finally had to ask for help. We feel so lucky to have such a lovely landlord who came and had the knowledge to remove the clog from the pipes that were built into the wall. We are ever so grateful to him for coming on his weekend.

This is #diplolife guys… PARTIES AND PLUMBING! LOL!!!

#UDWinGeneva #undiplomaticwife #diplofamily #thediplomat #thediplomaticwife
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