lookin' crazy for hankies

I just want to share this funny retail experience I had this Monday. So I work in research, right? I had to buy tokens for our respondents and the budget given by the client was only 50 bucks per token. So where do I look for decent token ideas? In SM! Haha! I was looking around the department store, and I was getting a bit worried and discouraged because I didn't see anything nice that cost 50 pesos, until I was at the handkerchief/bandana/shawl section. I was amazed at how pretty the hankies were, and I thought to myself that SM's really improving the designs of almost all its items. I thought the hankies cost around 60 bucks so imagine my shock when I saw that a set of 2 cost 29.75 pesos. YES--29.75. Of course I had to get them already! So I asked one of the sales ladies if they still had remaining stocks of the hanky sets. She asked how many I needed, and I think her eyes almost popped out when I told her I needed 430 sets. Hahahahaha! So she scrambled off to the stockroom to check, while a couple more sales ladies assisted me. They showed me other designs and let me choose which ones I liked so that if ever the designs I chose earlier didn't have available stock, they could get more of the new ones I chose. When the first sales lady came back, she said that there were only a few pieces left of the set that I chose (2 hankies per set). So imagine how crazy we looked when we just got almost all of the pieces that were hanging on the display rack. Of course I didn't get all the sets since there were designs I didn't personally like. I got a total of 78 2pc/set hankies. I still needed 352. I was about to panic when another sales lady showed me another set from the adjacent rack--3 hankies/set for just 39.75. GREAT! So I asked her to get me all the stock that she could get. So while waiting for the new stock I asked for, I had 3 other sales ladies helping me pick out designs I liked from that set. They got 2 pushcarts--one with the 78 sets I already had and the other cart for the new ones. And of course for the purpose of not losing count, they had to separate the new ones from the first 78. Anyway, I looked like a crazy person. People who were walking by looked really dumbfounded as to why this woman was buying so many hankies. Literally A LOT. Hahahaha! To cut the long story short, they had to bring down two boxes full of hanky sets. I didn't choose a lot of pieces since I didn't like the designs (heehee picky picky). Hey, I was thinking about our respondents. I put myself in their shoes. If I was going to be interviewed for an hour, I would want to receive a decent-looking token. Well, our respondents don't know they'd be receiving tokens but when they do receive the gifts I think they would want it to be something pretty or usable. I actually bought 3 sets for myself. Haha!

I spent 2 hours in SM just because of hankies. Of course I had to have all the sets gift-wrapped. I think in the gift-wrapping section, they already had 3 people working on the hankies. Heehee I actually told them they only had 3 hours to wrap everything since I was leaving for Cebu the next day and our interviewers in Manila needed the tokens already for the Manila/Luzon interviews. I have to give it to them, they delivered! I mean, they were able to finish everything in just a little over 3 hours. Amazing!

Segue: I joined a giveaway contest (thanks, Nina!)

this is how I know I'll get married someday

...I can't stay single forever. Why? Because I get lonely easily. Hahaha! I'm here in Cebu, it's just been a little over 24 hours and I want to go back to Manila already. I had meetings until around 4 this afternoon, so I had the rest of the day to just do whatever. The first two hours alone, I was fine. After that, I got really bored...then I felt sad because here I am, in wonderful Cebu, but I had no one to talk to and with no idea where to go or what to do. I wasn't in the mood to go exploring because it was too late in the day already so I opted to go to the mall--good thing the Ayala Center's nearby. I spent 2 hours in Starbucks, 1 1/2 hours in Friday's, and 1 1/2 hours with relatives (I actually have relatives in Cebu...I only found out when my mom told me).

Though I was busy for most of the day, and I was alone for just a few hours, I realized that I couldn't end up this way. I mean, I can't go on just being solely concentrated on work and by myself. I really did feel lonely. Yeah, it's great that I get to go to different places but it's sad that I don't really share the experience with someone else. I'd be happier if I had an officemate or a friend with me right now, but that's not the case. Since projects at work are 1:1, or at times 1 researcher handles 2-3 projects, we rarely have someone accompany us during fieldwork trips.

It's just been a day, and I'm aching to go home. I didn't feel this way when I was in Davao because I was staying with relatives, and I knew that the next day I'd see my dad and little brother in Malaybalay.

Gosh, I wonder how much my phone bill is right now...while at the mall, I called up a few friends already just so I'd have someone to talk to.

I'm going back to Manila on Friday, and I can't wait! ...I hope things will get better tomorrow..

I'M LEAVING FOR CEBU!!!!

I'll be back on Friday....

I'll try to blog from my hotel :)

Will post pictures as well...

randomness

If you've been reading my blog for a while now, you know that I have bouts of random blurbs. I have these when I have a lot of things on my mind and I need to unload, so to speak. So here goes...

- We have a new puppy at home. Yay! I will post pictures of it soon, but I have to take really nice ones. It keeps on moving so most of the pics we've taken are a bit hazy.

- I really want to go on a week-long vacation doing nothing. I just want to sleep and stay holed up in my room. Maybe get a massage? I dunno...I just need to relax.

- I'm beginning to second-guess myself again at work. I know I shouldn't, but there are just those days that I tend to be so anal about my job that I end up not being content or happy with the results of all my hard work. I know, I know..I'm being too hard on myself. I'm just scared to be complacent, that's all.

- I don't like being made to feel like someone likes me but then I find out that the person doesn't. I'd rather that you be clear with your intentions. Don't make me feel like this again then I'm going to end up out in the rain soaking wet with a bruised ego and jigsawed heart. Someday, I will be the choice and NOT an option.

Happy quotes, anyone?

"...you should be a stylist"

Heehee :) That's the BEST compliment I've received about me and my style of dressing up. My aunt told me this evening that she really likes the way I dress and I should style people as a side job. Hahaha! I dunno about that...I believe that you are your own stylist. You don't need someone to dictate what you wear, just put on whatever you feel like wearing. Being a stylist must be fun, though.

I felt like going a bit casual at work today so I wore ....

button-down shirt dress: I bought it at a thrift store :)
my d-i-y leggings
ballet flats: CMG

Cute ring :)

All of the bracelets I'm wearing are from both my grandmothers


I love the buttons on the dress. They're made from coconut, I think.

So I'm leaving for Cebu next week. It's a quick trip, though. I'm taking the last flight out of Manila on the 26th, then I'm taking the first flight out of Cebu on the 29th so I can go straight to the office from the airport. Busy busy busy next week.

kick ass kick off meeting

We had our office's Kick Off Meeting for 2010 today. Things went really well. I helped organize it with our Corporate Communications officer. Our office is so small we have to multi-task most of the time. It's okay, I actually like organizing events and other OC-related activities (hahahaha!).

Anyway, I wasn't able to get ANY sleep from Sunday until yesterday...so I compensated by dressing up for work.

dress: from Azu (a store in HK which I absolutely love. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it)
booties: Zara
stockings

Heehee I just love wearing these boots to work :) Not a lot of people in Ortigas have discovered the magic of wearing boots, I dunno why...considering it's a business district and people are supposed to be more open to fashion. Or maybe there's no logic in what I just said, haha!

My friend Mishi is going to Hong Kong in a couple of weeks for a business trip. I want to go with her but then I have work and I'll be really busy by that time :( Oh well... I just really want to go back to HK.

About going abroad...please please pray for me that I be sent to Singapore or Shanghai for training. I really want to experience being trained by our company's product champions for Marketing. Sorry, am being geeky about it but I really do want to learn more about my field of work. It's a high stress high demand job, but I love it. It pushes me to further improve in research and I'm learning so many things. I've been in marketing research for almost a year and a half already, but I know I have a looooong way to go.

Stress with a capital "S"

I have no plans of sleeping tonight because I have a 7 a.m deadline tomorrow. I knew I should've gone home early last night. But nooooo...I was having too much fun with my Ang Apat friends. I wasn't able to do anything for work the entire day today too because I attended a relative's funeral.

I just wanted to post a short entry tonight before I resume working on my presentation. Can I just say, how I wish this particular client of mine would give us freebies. But no. Hahahaha! I am excited, however, because I have another project (for the same client) that would require me to go to Cebu, Iloilo, Davao, and/or Cagayan de Oro! Yay! I'm hoping the project would start as scheduled but knowing this client of mine...hay...I'm praying it won't be delayed.

Just to share--my friends and I had a fun time last night for our Christmas/New Year dinner at Tin's house. We left at 2:30 in the morning already. Finally, we discussed our Malaysia 2010 trip! We already know what hostel to book, what flight, and how much to save. I'm opening our "Malaysia 2010" bank account so we'll be depositing our monthly savings for that trip. I am sooooo excited!!!! The trip's going to be on the last week of October until the 2nd of November. The Malaysia trip would, however, mean that we can't go on a lot of out-of-town trips like we usually do. Though this summer, we really want to go back to San Pablo and go on the 7 Lakes boat ride thingy...will get back to you on the details :) It's either San Pablo or Capones in Zambales.

I just realized I have an out-of-town trip this summer...to Palawan! :) I'm going there with my high school bestfriend Val. We haven't really discussed where we're going to stay and other travel details but we are sure that we want to stay in Coron.

Are you planning any out-of-town trips this year?

I thought it was Thursday already

So I decided to be a bit corporate and a little bit grunge for work yesterday. And in my mind, it was already Thursday so I thought of wearing something office-ish before Casual Friday. I guess I'm that tired that I forgot that it was only Wednesday. Great. Hahaha!

Before leaving for work...

Bolero-type jacket: Urban Outfitters
White sleeveless shirt: a gift from my friend Val
Pants: Actually, that's a jumper :) Hahaha! I did something with it so that it would look like I was just wearing pants
Shoes: Steve Madden
Bag: Mango

When I got home...at 11 p.m :|

Pumps by Steve Madden

Ugh...too tired so I sat down :)

so as not to be obvious I had no sleep...

I dressed up for Manic Monday! Hahaha! I barely had sleep yesterday, like I slept around 3 a.m already and woke up 3 hours later for work. So....

dress: Topshop
scarf: Cotton On
"leggings": those are really stockings. Hahahaha! One day, I discovered I had no decent pair of leggings to wear so I cut the tips of my stockings. A sort-of DIY but not really. Hahaha!
black ballet flats: Rubi from Cotton On

I love this detail of the dress--the zipper at the back! It adds character to the dress, I think.


I didn't really want to overdo my outfit for work yesterday since I wasn't sure if we had a meeting set for that day. People at the office are used to me suddenly showing up wearing stockings or something colorful, or something that would make people think I'm in Marketing not Marketing Research (a not-so-fashion enthusiastic field, believe me). But, thinking about our clients--I tend to be quite safe with my client call outfits. So, I opted just to wear a scarf and a few rings, and my ever-reliable pearl necklace (my grandmother's, actually...she doesn't use it anymore so I'm the proud new owner) to add a bit of character to my wardrobe.


So what do you wear on a "not-feeling-fab-but-I-want-to-look-fab-not drab" day?

Before I forget....please, please, pretty please cheer me on as I save up for this beauty as my Christmas gift for myself....

TADA!!! The Leica C-lux 3. Isn't she gorgeous? Heehee

For more info about Leica cameras, go here. If you want to find out more about the C-lux 3, go here

Although I think I can buy this in 3 months, that would mean I won't spend my entire paycheck for those 3 months so no thank you I will just distribute the cost so I don't have to blow all of my hard earned moolah.

Sitio de Amor

Finally posting the entry about Sitio de Amor. A few weeks ago, I made an entry about it. I went to San Pablo with my lovely girlfriends Esther and Tin to enjoy the day away from the city and relax at a private resort of sorts. Sitio de Amor isn't really a resort but more of a hacienda where you can just relax and enjoy the privacy of the George and Amor Bondad's farm. We weren't able to fully explore the place, but with what we saw we will definitely go back hopefully this summer.

I want to share with you a few of my favorite photos we took of Sitio de Amor.


After spending the entire afternoon at Sitio de Amor, we had dinner at Kusina Salud--which is owned by renowned designer Patis Tesoro.



For more information about Sitio de Amor, you can email your queries to sitiodeamor@yahoo.com.

Check out Kusina Salud's site here or you can check out its multiply site.

I know it's a bit early to ask, but....Where do you want to run off to this Summer?