another bag

Yes, this post is about a bag. Again. In my previous entry, I shared that I went to Davao City for work. Of course, I did find time to do a bit of thrift shopping while I was there ;) It was fate that led me to this lovely bag. You see, right after I did a bit of fieldwork I hailed for a tricycle and asked to be brought to wherever it would be easier for me to get a cab. It was a long trike ride, but the driver brought me to Ag-Dao market. While in the trike, I couldn't help but notice the ukay ukay stalls beside the market. I was quite torn if I should go down and check them out or go back to the hotel and start packing for my flight back to Manila. Decided to do the ultimate shopping sacrifice...I asked the trike driver to drop me off where the cabs were :| Thinking that I was being a responsible shopper by saying no to temptation, I was quite proud of myself. This didn't last, haha! I crossed the street since most of the cabs passed by the other side. As I hopped on the side walk (to dodge an approaching trike), of all the luck I'd see a sign saying "BAGS FOR SALE". I was in front of an ukay ukay store selling bags. Just bags. I took it as a sign that I really did need to buy something. Well, I was still trying to convince myself that I'd just look around. After just five minutes of browsing through bags of different colors, materials, and sizes, I found this....

I've been looking for a bag like this for sooooo long I just had to buy it the moment I saw it. I love the color, I love how simple it is, I love the price too :p I got it for Php 200 (roughly US$ 4). I was also able to buy another bag, but I'll post about that some other time. This baby is the star of this entry. I'm trying to keep my brother from getting this bag. He couldn't believe it that I bought this from a thrift store. He's been reminding me that his birthday is just 3 months away. Whatever. I told him he'll never get this bag and I'd just find him something similar in my next ukay trip. Crossing my fingers that I will find another one as nice as the one I got in Davao.

In case you didn't notice ze blingage on my shoes (haha!), the ballet flats I was wearing are blue, and fabulously sparkling! My aunt gave me those for Christmas and I've only worn them twice. They're really nice, yes? Yes! I'll try to get better shots of these fab shoes next time :)

sorry, I don't understand why it's sideways even if the original picture isn't :|

top: thrifted

pants: Giordano

bag: thrifted

ballet flats: gift from my aunt

It was only last night that it dawned on me that I'd be having a relaxing 2-day spa trip with my family to Tagaytay. Days before, though, I was sulking (deep inside) that our trip to Sorsogon was replaced by a trip to place that I can't even consider as an escape since it's relatively near Manila. And I would've loved it if we were at the beach right now. I really don't understand where I got my love for the Sun, Sand, and Sea. Both my parents don't like going to the beach. My brothers aren't beach lovers as well. Anyway, I'll be getting spa treatments later which is making me a bit excited now since I also love going to the spa and getting massages, facials, and what not. And ooooohh...I convinced my mom that we should also go thrift shopping in Tagaytay as well. I love the thrift stores (ukay ukay as we call these) in Tagaytay because there are a lot of good items there. Most of my fab finds are from the thrift stores in Tagaytay, actually.

Later, my family and I are off to this place....

via

I'll post pictures when we get there :) I've heard good reviews about the place and I'm dying to get a massage already. Oh!!!! I haven't packed yet! I must cut this entry short or else I'll end up just packing things I don't need.

random.

I love notebooks!

As much as I can't live without my phones, sometimes I wish I could just completely ignore them and not reply to every SMS sent and calls

Reading's such a joy :)

Quirky accessories are cool

I find the design on my bed's headboard really pretty

...and now, for my super late outfit post!

dress: thrifted

belt: I forgot where I got it haha

dress post

Can't think of what to write about now, but will just leave you with an outfit shot. Didn't really wear this today, and I don't know when I'll be able to wear it because it's too formal for the office (which thrives on business casual to too casual haha). Would you believe this is a thrifted dress? Got it for a steal, I think 120 pesos (roughly US$ 2.55!!). The shoes are Steve Madden, though ;) My brother calls this dress the Rhythm Nation dress.

chillin' on a Sunday

Spent the afternoon with my fab friend Seppi. Went to a bazaar near her place then we spent the rest of the afternoon at a coffee shop just talking about random stuff. Yeap, we are getting old haha! By 5:30, I wanted to sleep already. Ergs. So sad, Seppi's leaving for Singapore in less than a month for work. Seriously, she's one of the funniest people I know EVER. Anyhoo, this is another outfit post so yay :) I'm wearing gray again, haha! The dress I'm wearing is one of my go-to dresses, like if I can't decide on what to wear and I just want to feel comfortable I'd automatically go for this dress or either of the two other go-to dresses I have. The Ichigo sandals I wore it with is just so cool--haven't worn it in a while so I decided to take it out today. I think it made the outfit cooler. The shoes plus my Hardy Amies bag I bought from Dy at the Ukay Buffet= ♥.

dress: thrifted

bag: Hardy Amies from The Ukay Buffet

sandals: Ichigo Shoes

ring: H&M

shades: Forever 21

lots of gray with a pop of color ;)

Haven't done any outfit posts in a while, so here's one from this past week. Been extremely busy with work so I've been too tired to post anything, thus more backlog entries haha! Anyway, here's what I wore last Tuesday. Felt like being just a bit boyish that day so I wore tapered pants, folded twice just to make the look a bit more casual. My top was loose enough for that evening's pig-out session with my good friends Annick and Sidelle at Ninyo (which deserves another post). Wore two huge ass rings and a vintage-y necklace to add a bit of color to the outfit. And yes, I had my hair cut last week :) Loving my new do! It's been a while since I've had my hair this short, like almost 2 years. Might maintain this look for a while because I missed it. Note to self: must either fix the camera settings or get a better camera for better shots. Haha!

loose gray top: thrifted find

tapered pants: topshop

rings: Forever 21 (on my right), H&M (on my left)

necklace: bought from an online seller in facebook, hehe

shoes: melissa jelly flats from an online seller

dress obsession

I am seriously obsessed with dresses. I only wear jeans when I've run out of dresses to wear, and I only wear slacks to the office if I have a meeting. I usually wear summer dresses, dress shirts, corporate dresses, etc. Yeah, I like dresses. Hahaha!

This weekend, I went thrift shopping and bought FIVE dresses for less than a thousand bucks. That's actually more than what I usually spend in thrift shops, but the items weren't on sale yet. Yes, thrift shops do have sales and sell clothes for ridiculously low prices. For that particular shop, the next sale will be in August so I'd have to cross my fingers that the items I didn't buy will still be on the racks when I go back. I don't really have any problem with thrift shopping. I do splurge once in a while but I've always loved going through clothes racks in thrift shops and coming out with fab finds. I've bought dresses and blouses that look like stuff from Zara and Topshop for a fraction of the price. There are times that we do have to be practical about shopping, ladies :)

Anyway, I had one of the dresses I bought washed already so I could wear it to work today. I particularly like this dress because it looks like something I saw from Mango about two months ago but I decided not to buy it since the price was pretty hefty that time (I just spent my hard-earned moolah on a trip and bills). What I like about the dress is that it's made of satin, the print's nice, and the length's not too short!

I'll be posting more of my great finds this week and next week. I might even go back to that store again this weekend, and possibly another one ;)

can't wait for the tea party

I'm watching Alice in Wonderland later with my cousin Nancy (who I haven't seen since January 1st!! Too looong!). One word: EXCITED! I've been waiting for this movie to come out since I heard about Tim Burton making a film about Alice. I was expecting it to be different, because hello--it's Tim Burton! Then I found out the cast included Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. That just affirmed it for me. And then, I found out that the story was about Alice going back to Wonderland when she was a teenager already....perfect!!! Totally different from what I was expecting, but awesome nevertheless.

Anyway, I'm posting my Thursday outfit since I wasn't able to go online for the past few days due to work :| Workaholic...tsk tsk...

Both my black sweater and sleeveless mini shift dress are fab ukay finds! The sweater, I bought about 4 years ago during one of my college buddies' ukay adventures. The dress--I bought at the Tagaytay ukay with my officemates. ♥ ♥ ♥ fab finds!!

Without the sweater, it doesn't look like something decent to wear to the office...so for a night out, I'd wear this!

fab find#2

I noticed that the clothes I bought in my recent ukay trip are either gray or black. Hahaha! I always end up buying these colors. My colorful pieces are more casual and can't really be used at work so my officemates seem to think I don't have anything colorful in my wardrobe. So, it was to their shock that I wore a floral printed blouse and jeans to work today for Casual Friday. Yeah, I don't usually wear jeans :p

Anyway, this is my fab find #2 from the Tagaytay ukay ukay..

Gray shift dress; necklace (my grandmother's); gray ballet flats from CMG


The necklace up close...I just added the funky ribbon pin to add a bit more spunk to it...something old and something new :) The pin's actually from a dress I bought in HK.

Totally off topic--it's my baby cousin's baptism tomorrow! And I'm one of her godmothers, haha! My aunt told me she's getting me as one of the godmothers since I'm old enough to be my cousin's mom. Okay...I still haven't bought her gift yet! I have the entire morning tomorrow to look for a nice present since her baptism's in the afternoon. Eeeep wish me luck! :)

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ukay heaven

Sorry for the late post. I've been super busy at work this past week. Majorly busy. I actually went home at 12:30 a.m yesterday (Tuesday, right? Hahaha am confused already) and continued working at home until around 4 a.m. As much as I want to slow down, there are too many projects at work. We can't really afford to decline project offers since our quota is quite big. The Paris office raised our quota a bit. Our motivation is that if we hit 55% of our quota by May, we'll have an appraisal. If we hit more than that, we'll get an appraisal AND an out-of-the-country office outing!

I'm excited about a few things...lemme just list these..
1. My Mt. Pulag climb with my cousin Diwa and her friend Solo
2. SUMMER!!! Even if it's disgustingly hot (not even humid...dry heat, my dears :|), I'm excited about Summer because it would mean my friends/cousins and I hitting the beach!
3. Pahiyas Festival this May. For the first time, my little brother Joaqui will be tagging along. He was only a year old when we went to the Pahiyas Festival so he doesn't really remember it.
4. (Official) promotion
5. Plans to start my new business...will blog about that some other time :)
6. MY BIRTHDAY!!!!! Sooo happy it won't fall on Holy Week...not that there's anything wrong with my birthday falling on Holy Week...it's just that...well, can anyone hold a party during such a sacred time? I don't think so.


I have an outfit post today! :) My officemates and I went on an ukay ukay (thrift store) adventure last Saturday. I bought quite a few items, heehee :)

Fab find #1: striped polo dress (got it for 90 bucks!!). Love at first sight for this one. The fact that it looks like something I saw in Zara--winner!

Sorry, I had a loooong day at work hence the haggard look (haha!). My mom was wondering why my leggings were quite sheer. I told her they were really stockings but I cut off the tips. I love my 3-toned heels :) Custom-made! :) I forgot where I ordered these, though.

My version of 'Ode to Leah'

Leah, here's my outfit today! I went all black and gray today--even my scarf was gray!

black long-sleeved dress: thrift store
gray stockings: from ever-reliable SM, haha!
ballet flats: Rubi from Cotton On
scarf: Cotton One

I don't want this week to end. My boss is out-of-town and the office has been relatively NOT stressful...and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Come Monday, back to reality for most of us at work...oh well.

I was supposed to write a longer entry tonight, but since I got home around 12 midnight already my brain has shut down and I need to drift off to lala land now.

Need moolah

One thing: I miss going to ukay ukay shops (thrift stores). Seriously.