The weirdest thing happened today. I was listening to the sermon this morning at church when a business idea suddenly popped in my head. I'm toying with the idea of making gift baskets for Christmas, with two options. One would be an herb/bread set while the other would be a cheese-lover's delight type of basket. I could probably start advertising it around August so that orders could be made and I'd have lots of time to prepare. I'll have to continue thinking about this new business but it's something I'm really excited to work on if ever I do pursue it. What do you guys think? Should I go for it or let it go?

missing hiking

My Mt. Pinatubo trek was such a memorable experience for me that I've been encouraged to pursue more hiking trips. I really want to go to Mt. Pulag, but have yet to schedule a trek. For one thing, I don't have the budget yet. Secondly, rainy season's starting soon and it'd be very diffucult and dangerous to go hiking at Mt. Pulag since it's up north in the Cordillera Mountain Range (errr...Northern Philippines). I don't have a picture yet, but I'll definitely post a few once I get to go up there myself :)

retail detox

I have to stop shopping...for a couple of months. Last week, I couldn't help but purchase these two pairs of flats from Ichigo Shoes.

After computing how much money I have left, I suddenly remembered that I have a few payments to be made by the end of the month for earlier purchases. Drat.

photo credit: Ichigo Shoes' site

very first pair of madden's

My mom got me this pair :) Am so excited to get it already! My uncle (who's a pilot) has a flight to LA today so he might drop by my other uncle's place to pick up the shoes and other stuff my mom bought online and had delivered to my Tito Benhur's. YAY FOR SHOES!

Steve Madden's Crosbyy Pumps (brown leather)

Steve Madden shoes are quite expensive here in Manila. I'm not one to splurge more than 3thousand pesos just for a pair of shoes...if it were boots, yeah maybe I would but for a pair of pumps I wouldn't.

photo credit: Nordstrom

I'm usually not easily offended, but today was really just...ugh. My family and I had dinner at Chili's this evening to celebrate Mother's Day. I was with my brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandmother. Before we left the restaurant, the manager approached our table to distribute roses because Chili's was giving flowers to moms. The prick gave me a flower. My initial reaction was, "Why are you giving me a flower? Do I look like a mom to you??". The tone of my voice was humorous, not really pissed...but my face showed it all. I was really insulted. I know it was just a mistake, but hello? Do I look like a mom?? God. 

I was trying to just laugh it off, since my entire family was also laughing so hard and the manager looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him right then and there. Before he left, I suddenly just said (jokingly), "I won't eat here anymore." I was just so humiliated. I've been feeling like crap for the past two weeks, and his mistake didn't help at all. I feel worse about myself, and I seriously cried in my room when we got home. 

Juvenile as it may seem, I can't just deny how I feel right now. 

at least once in my life....

disclaimer regarding the title: I will elaborate further on this maybe next week :)

My cousins and I were at a photo shoot this afternoon. Inside the dressing room, someone from the agency asked my cousin about her cushion thingy (for her injured back) because she needs it after having given birth. The giving-birth part was the only thing one of the models heard when he entered the room. He then asked my cousin if she was pregnant. My cousin answered that she wasn't and asked the guy, "Why? Do I look pregnant?" The guy said the funniest, coolest thing! "No, you look awesome." Hahahahaha! He said it so casually and cool that it just made us all laugh. Mind you, this particular model's totally gay but when he said that to my cousin we were just so impressed with him. It made me think that if he was straight, it'd be easy for him to pick up girls because his delivery's just perfect and he's quite funny, actually.

Anyway, I'm off to lala land after a very, very tiring day.

rainy day blurbs

It's a very rainy Thursday. One typhoon just left, and another one's arriving. GREAT! Errr...no. I don't like rainy days. Unlike most people, I'm not particularly fond of the rain because I can't go out. Why the heck would I go out if 1) it's flooded in some areas 2) traffic becomes even more horrible and 3) you become lazy. Yeah, there are days that I want it to rain because it's so hot but today...well today's not one of those "I-wish-it'd-rain" days.

Anyway, I only have a few random blurbs, like...

• I'm not a fan of Lady Gaga, but I'm not saying I don't like her. The thing about her songs is that even if they don't really make that much sense and have double meanings ("Let's have some fun, this beat is sick. I wanna take a ride on your disco stick"), they are quite catchy and I bet anyone who has heard Poker Face had a bit of LSS (Last Song Syndrome). I know I did.
• I was checking out the site of one of my new contacts on multiply. After checking out her site, I'm having another internal battle as to whether I should buy new pairs of shoes again or not. I saw two or three pairs of boots I just fell in love with, and I saw a pair of peep toe pumps that just made me drool. More than bags, shoes just...gawd. I don't buy impulsively because I really make sure that whatever I buy should last for quite a while and are versatile to suit several pieces of clothing. When I see a pair I really, really like and the impulse to buy is so strong, that means I've been thinking about that pair or that particular style for a long time already.
• Regarding my mission to lose a few pounds, it's just been 4 days but I feel like I'm making a bit of an improvement already. My friend Mishi told me before that I'm so weak because I can't even do 5 sit-ups (sadly, that's true). Now, I can do at least 15 sit-ups without feeling tired. That's such an accomplishment for me, you know.
• My friend Raiza passed her thesis deliberation. Am so proud of her! She put so much into her thesis and all her hardwork paid off.
• I'm STILL encouraging my brother to register at the Commission on Elections so he can vote next year. I don't really know if he just keeps on forgetting, or maybe he doesn't want to vote...which would piss me off even more than if he just forgets to register. My God. We are citizens of this country and we should be responsible Filipinos. If our public servants don't give a damn about the country, well..they're not the only citizens of the Philippines.
• I've been craving for Shakey's mojos 'n dip. And Yellow Cab's Dear Darla Pizza. And Red Mango's frozen yogurt with crush graham crackers, diced mangoes, and sliced almonds. And Starbucks' Chai Tea Latte. And Burgoo's or TGIFriday's mozarella sticks with marinara dip. Surprisingly, I'm not hungry.
• Starbucks' Egg, Spinach, and Tomato wrap is soooo good! I had it for lunch today and it's actually worth the 120pesos I spent on it. Though I don't want to spend 120 everyday just for that. Hahaha! I can make it at home and that'd save me loads of moolah.

If our internet connection at home isn't effed up later, maybe I'll post another entry but I doubt it. Stupid _____ dsl (I can't say the company name :p).

Kamila's mine

The Kamila shoes I ordered arrived today! Of course I had to try them on :)

back in business!

I've decided to restart my baking business. It's not really big...just something to add to my income :) I started baking early last year to destress. More than a year has passed, and I'm still in love with baking. I had to stop for a while due to work, but now I'm really excited to start baking again.

My brother was the food stylist for these shots, and his friend was our photographer.

learning to like soya milk

Since (finally) I've decided to start living a healthy life, to accompany my morning and nightly jogs I have also started eating healthy. I was at the grocery store this afternoon and I bought a carton of soya milk. Now, it's not my first time to drink soya milk but I'm still getting used to the taste and texture. Regular milk's a bit bland compared to soya milk, and soya milk actually tastes a bit like taho.

I jogged last night after blogging, then I jogged again this evening. I wasn't able to jog this morning because I didn't wake up early. Boo. Will be off to bed after posting this so I can wake up early tomorrow.

This is such a far off topic, but it's actually pissing me off that some people wanted Manny Pacquiao to lose. I mean, yeah he's a bit cocky but hello? Beyond his proud persona, people should realize that he's not just winning for himself. He's also doing it for his family. The Pacman has four young kids to support, and his mom's also depending on him. Let him be, okay? Just let him enjoy his money and let him make the most out of his fame and fortune. Nothing's permanent in this life, so let Manny Pacquiao be.

Okay, off to bed.

weight watch

I just checked my weight on the scale, and sadly I'm 123 pounds. Goal for the summer: Lose the 23 pounds I've gained in the past 8 months. Ever since I started working, I've been slowly gaining weight due to the fact that I'm just sitting on a swivel chair almost the entire day, my appetite has gone up and down, and no thanks to my co-workers who don't seem to care about being healthy I haven't been encouraged that much to exercise. Now that I've finally bought a new pair of running shoes, I will start exercising every morning and evening. My diet has to change a bit, and as much as this is hard for me--I have to give up drinking coffee everyday..maybe I can drink it once a week but I do have to sacrifice my morning caffeine fix.

Wish me luck and I'll keep you all posted with my weight watch! Let's all start treating our bodies right and be healthy!

missing Hermione

I've been reading all the Harry Potter books these past two weeks and I'm so excited for the 6th movie. It kinda helps when they adapt books to movies because you can easily imagine how scenes would look like since you'd associate a character with an actual, physical being. Anyway, I was (again) thinking about the Harry Potter books this afternoon and I remembered Hermione and Emma Watson--the actress who plays the character in all the movies. Like my friend , I also love Emma because she has a great sense of style, and she doesn't really give a damn about what people say or think so kudos to her!



photo credit: www.osoblog.tv/emma_watson, www.trendencias.com, www.stylebakeryteen.com, www.aeromental.com

I bought it, and I'm so happy!

I bought the tapered pants at Topshop I've been coveting for a while, and I'm so happy with my purchase!


outfit details: top-greenhills, tapered pants-Topshop, slippers-Havaianas bought at All Flip Flops, Chanel-like quilted bag-bought at the Panay Ave ukay ukay