ressed in the season's skin-is-in shades, Charlene Gonzales bares her love for shopping, white sheets, a full set of condiments and every minute of her life as wife (to actor Aga Muhlach) and mother (to win toddlers Atasha and Andres)

Can I join you?" Charlene Gonzales asks me, armed with a cup of coffee and a fresh, radiant face free from makeup, and looking slightly relieved.

She's broken away from the small crowd of agency representatives, stylists, the makeup artist and various assistants who are talking about the agenda for the day. I start to introduce myself and she waves her hand, exclaiming, "I remember you!" Considering the hundreds of people who clamor for her attention, it was nothing short of a miracle she recalled a face from a shoot several days earlier. Settling her statuesque figure on the cushy sofa in the photographer's studio, she did not look like she spent the last week or so in shoots for the massive ad campaign as SM Department Store's new image model. Not letting our acquaintance of seconds faze her, she started chatting about her very good friend, designer Joe Salazar, who had passed away a weekend earlier. "There is no one who will replace him," she says earnestly. "Not so much for his skill, but as a person, he was… there's no one like him."

It is testament to Charlene's down-to-earth and friendly nature that she is able to converse about a topic dear to her heart with a complete stranger. Considering her many obligations-host to ABS-CBN's At Home Ka Dito, commercial endorsements, mother to twins Atsha and Andres and wife to Aga Muhlach-the demands for her time are enormous. The fact reared itself strongly the day of the MEGA shoot, where she was also in the middle of the campaign shoot and a pictorial for another magazine. They'd begun at nine that morning, and many, many hours later, she still looked alert and ready for whatever the photographer had in mind for her-which included several more layouts for SM after the MEGA shoot. There were no whiny, prima-donna antics coming from her, though. In fact, there is no uncertain amount of gratitude. "I was quite flattered, actually," she comments on being offered the endorsement. "This is the first time they got an image model." And despite the late hour, she found things to smile about, like her hair, the Nicole-Kidman-like curls holding up. ("My hair's really straight, and no matter how it's curled it'll always fall," she explains, touching her ringles happily.)

Perhaps her attitude about simple things like curls is from the many blessings she relishes in other aspects of her life. Her show enjoys good ratings, and with the slight change in focus it means "wherever you go, you take the feeling of home with you. You're not just limited to the house, so it kind of opens your doors to something different." Her excitement is obvious: "It gives me an artistic outlet, I get involved in the creative brainstorming and it's really in a team effort," she explains. "[You still] have the basics of a lifestyle show, and it's also more interesting for me."

Ultimately though, what gives her the most joy, and perhaps defines her the best, is her family. "My husband and my kids-I guess they're really the source," she laughs. "[They are] my happiness." When she's not shooting huge ad campaigns, she admits, "When Aga and I are not working, we just hang out in the house. I love to cook… I love to pen a cookbook and just start cooking." She also confesses being finicky about her condiments. "My spices have to be complete. And then I have my little herb garden. I really need to have my ingredients there, because when I don't, I get frustrated." So frustrated that if she's cooking at two in the morning and missing basil, "I'll go [out] looking for it!"

She and Aga also have another reason to plan quality time for the family. "We have a little farm we're fixing up. It's an ongoing project and our kids are with us, and it's just fun."

And fun indeed, is what encapsulates her smile. It takes more than a beauty queen to make a celebrity, and Charlene embodies that in full. Thinking about when she first drew public notice, "When I was younger I was a bit courageous in that aspect. It meant a lot to me, but I felt like I was playing-I was only 17! I was just enjoying it," she muses. Then she smiles again. "I guess that's just way I am-whatever moment's been given to me I live it to the fullest. I just enjoy it. You have life and just live it."

Charlene's Summer Shopping List

"A nice swimsuit. "Colors are more playful now, and I like that!"

"Tank tops in pastel colors. It looks lighter and especially since it's so hot. It's a mood I'm in-colors are more playful now, and makes you look fresher"

"Sunglasses. Definitely have to have a pair!"]

"Sandals. That you can wear even when it's not summer time."

"A pair of either khaki shorts or cropped pants."

Charlene's Home Shopping List

White sheets. "I like our bed to be very soft and fluffy and all in white-very clean and easy to sleep in. Just plain, with lots of fluffy pillows"

My condiments and spices.

"Fresh flowers. I usually have casablanca's in the house, or fresh eucalyptus, it smells so good. Sometimes I mix them together and it looks really, really nice."

Picture frames. "I tend to take to the silver tone ones. I like to have pictures of people special to me wherever I go."

Must-Buys For The Twins

For Atasha: Dresses. "She's such a girl! More than me, really. She's really into the whole thing, fixing her hair, makeup!"For Andres: Athletic shirts

Educational toys: "I'm into that now, I want anything just to stimulate their brain, the creativity. I want them to create things, to help their imagination."

Shoes for them both.- -