Pre-Birthday Post: A Wish List

By now, you're probably aware of how semi-obsessed I am with compiling photos of things I want and including them in my *insert occasion here* wish list. And now I did it again since I have the perfect excuse to do so because my birthday is coming up! Here are the things that I would really want to have at the moment.

Four Year Strong Live in Manila tickets. It's no secret that I'm a pretty big fan of FYS and I couldn't pass up the chance of going to their concert even if it's during my (thesis) defense week. The ticket prices cost a bit more than how much I'm willing to pay though.

Nothing screams comfy than an over-sized top. I'm obsessed with these kinds of apparel lately and I don't think it would hurt to own some more.

Dresses. These are all from Forever 21. Just in case you would want to buy me one.

A denim jacket (also from Forever 21) and a nice over-sized cardigan 'cause I never got around to owning another one after le ex boyfriend lost the one my mom gave me. 

New jeans for me, please! You see, I never really own a lot of jeans because each time I attempt buying a pair, there's always something wrong. It's either it's too short for me or the fit just seems a little off. So this year I'm really looking forward to the perfect pair since my favorite ones need to be put to rest.

Acid washed shorts from Forever 21. You might have noticed that I've been putting a lot of stuff from F21 on my wish lists, it's because they have branches here in the Philippines.

Dri-Fit Soccer shorts and these incredibly cute reversible mesh shorts from Nike. Remember one of my new year's resolutions wherein I promised to keep fit / healthy? Well yeah, I'm pushing through with that.

Because I just loooooooove Vans. Jesse Jo Stark's creepers for said brand and a pair of classic, all black Authentics. I was going to get the latter the previous year but I ended up buying the royal blue ones that I've wanted for quite some time just because they didn't have sizes for women during that period. 

Nike Air Max Women's in Grey / Blue Chlorine for jogging. I never had a pair of cross-trainers since sixth grade. Honest.

Girly shoes! The first one might not be too girly seeing that they're zombie flats (Iron Fist) but they're too cute to ignore. I can already imagine myself wearing them with my all-black outfits (default outfit 24/7). The Perfect Platform in Nude from Nasty Gal looks incredibly comfortable. So does the 99 lace booties from Jeffrey Campbell. Gorgeous shoes are gorgeous.

This Zip Satchel from New Look is the perfect size. Not too big, not too small and I'm pretty sure my wallet's going to fit inside! Thank you so much David for scoring me one. Such a nice early birthday gift but the thing is, I'm only getting my hands on it when he gets back from Dubai on May. It's all good, though!

Forever on my wish list. A 15" MacBook Pro.

I've been telling dad that I wanted a new lens for Tyler (My Canon 40D) and I think that Canon's 50mm f1.8 would be just fine. It's small which means it wouldn't make my camera any heavier! The lens I have now is pretty bulky which results to the laziness I feel of not lugging a camera around anymore. Which brings us to this beautiful Leica X1. Other than Canon digital cameras, I've always dreamed of having a Leica. The reviews are good and look at that posh, vintage design! Perfect for everyday use.

64Gig iPod Touch 4G to acomodate my wide range of music selection (LOLJK). I need to upgrade my iPod (I'm still using my 5th Gen iPod nano with the video camera) but I'm too attached to it so I won't be letting it go. The practical side of me would go for a 120Gig iPod classic but when my friends introduced me to Temple Run.. well, let's just say that my thoughts have changed. Oh, and all those cute photography apps! I'm a sucker for those things.

Gold Casio watches and Swatch watches, please! I never knew how good of an investment time-wear is until my mom got me this cute wrist-watch from Bench.

THIS.

I wasn't a fan of red lipstick (at all) but when I discovered how dramatic it made bare faces look, I started working it everyday! And now I feel the need to invest on a good red lipstick. Must save up for MAC's Russian Red. Or you can always get me one, I won't complain. Teehee.

Last year I've been thinking of dyeing my hair an extremely shocking color but decided that a pastel shade would be even more shocking. But since I couldn't find the perfect hair dye here in the Philippines and I still can't get on with bleaching my hair because of school, I postponed it. But I've been looking up good dyes to use just in case the time comes wherein my hair's past my shoulders, healthy and good to go. Manic Panic's Virgin Snow for toning my future bleached hair, and once it's extremely white, I will be using Mystic Heather by the same brand. I really couldn't wait.

So there you have it. My wish list for my *gulp* 21^st birthday. I don't know whether I should be excited or if I should dread this day. But I'm looking at the bright side!

Red Lipstick

It all started on the 21^st of January when Karla and I decided to be productive instead of just slacking off everywhere we go. So I asked her to bring her laptop with her that day so I can at least work on my thesis. She brought her other school stuff too and we helped each other.

The day started with us hanging out for a bit at Shangri-La where we basically did almost nothing except for recording some crazy videos and take pictures. At around 7PM, we decided to head over to Moonleaf to continue our school work. I'm happy to announce that I was able to finish some of the stuff that I needed to do. Karla, too! So I rewarded myself by playing Temple Run (disclaimer: extremely addicting game) on Karla's iPod Touch, and we took a lot of pictures.

This is where the red lipstick comes in. I tried Karla's miraculously awesome red "lipstick". It's the first time I wore red lipstick outside the comforts of my bedroom. It worked extremely well with minimal make up.

With Karla Ynzon.

With my long lost and new found friends, Cody and Leo! You're probably wondering how I met Cody, well I met him back when I was still in high school, and he, in elementary. It's really nice to have seen him again after all these years.

We stayed 'til closing because we waited for someone who we couldn't (almost) last a day without.

Yes, the person I'm referring to is Ruther. It's just weird to not to be with him even for just a day because the three of us are always, always together! We left shortly after he got there, though. Since we basically have nothing to do there anymore.

The following day (a Saturday), I met up with the two (Karla and Ruther) in Trinoma to go around for a bit since it was still quite early. Honestly, I don't like going to that mall because it was congested with people. I mean, I'm not claustrophobic or anything like that and I'm not anti-social, but sometimes (for me), being around with so many human beings in the day time wears me out.

We had late lunch / merienda at Teriyaki Boy wherein Karla and I decided that it was our cheat day.

We had two platters of California Maki (the three of us shared this), Buffalo Wings and rice (Ruther's), my Tempura Sashimi Tartare, and Karla's Salmon Sashimi. Look, I'm not really sure what most of them are called but they're all freaking good.

Bare-faced.

After satisfying our hunger / cravings, we picked Dave up at Moonleaf Maginhawa and then proceeded to Taft. On the way there, we recorded a bunch of videos that we have yet to upload on YouTube. So sorry about that.

We stayed in McDonald's Taft for a little bit and hung out with Willar Mateo who was an awesome designer.

Willar and Dave.

Obligatory group shot.

Sporting red lips like the previous night. I'm loving this look too much. Note to self: Must buy blood red lipstick.

 After staying in Taft for a bit, the four of us headed to Mercato. We played a game in the car wherein you get points if you guessed the title of the song and the artist correctly. One point for each. It got kind of crazy, they were all so into it! I was the one in charge of the songs so I couldn't join, obviously.

Willar.

With Dave and Karla. Willar took this photo while Ruther was in the car, sleeping.

After having a super light dinner (I had peppered corn. Who does that?), we went to Cubao Ex since we haven't been there for a while.

The night didn't end in X, of course. After we dropped Rutherford off at his house, Dave and Willar at Ayala, Karla and I went back to Mercato. Can you guess why?

After having pesto pasta (my favorite) and isaw (Karla's meal) over an interesting conversation plus walking around a bit to sight-see, we headed home. Another fun night, as usual. Too bad Eunice, Paul, Cai and Travis were M.I.A. But there's always next time!

Tonight, We are Young

Last night wasn't uneventful like I usually put it. The fourteenth of January was incredibly epic even if we waited for Ruther and Paul in Taft for three hours, give and take a couple of minutes.

We headed straight to The Fort to meet up with the rest of the gang and had a very light dinner at Mercato Centrale. Honestly, I was pretty hungry but didn't really notice anymore after eating one serving of those incredibly delicious cheesy potatoes and half of Ruther's red velvet cake.

After eating, we finally got reunited with Dave, Eunice, Cai and her boyfriend, Travis. We played our favorite songs in Cai's car, cranked up the volume and danced on the sidewalk. #ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines

Karla, Ruther and I imitating Crystal Castles.

Eunice, Karla, me, Ruther and Paul. This photo is very Skins (Season 1-4 only LOL)

Cute people are cute. (Cai, Karla, Dave and Ruther)

With Eunice and Karla.

Travis, Cai, Karla, Dave, Eunice, Ruther and Paul.

Mother and son.

Black shoes for us four. (Karla, me, Ruther and Paul)

By the end of the night that all the dancing made me burn some fat and not jogging wasn't really a very bad idea (yes, we were supposed to jog around The Fort).

I wish for more nights like this. Let's make a repeat.

PS.
Kudos to Paul who I, Eunice, Cai and Travis just met on this night. It was as if we all knew each other for ages!

Resolutions

I had to blog about this one way or another. And since it's 2012, I decided to list down twelve things that I want to accomplish this year.

1. No hair cuts for 2012. Yes, this is it.. I'm actually going to give growing my hair out a chance. Just in case. I mean, I've had short hair for as long as I can remember and change would be good for my so-called image or lack thereof.
2. Spend less, save more. During the past year, I've been an impulsive buyer - so out of my nature! I used to be thrifty and I think about each and every one of my purchases. But then something clicked and I just started to go on a shopping rampage!
3. Lose weight. This one is probably included in every girl's resolution. I'm posting this blog post a little late but my friends say that I have been getting thinner. But I haven't weighed in ages! Now, I must buy a weighing scale to keep track of them pounds.
4. Keep healthy. Lessen cigarettes (and other vices), eat food with more nutrients and minimal to no preservatives, yoga and jogging at least twice a week. I really hope I can keep this one. Even if my thesis, family and friends are taking up all my time (I'm not complaining), I hope I manage to find some free time. I only need a couple of hours for it anyway.
5. Halt procrastinating. Could be the hardest thing on my list since I work better under pressure but it just has to be done.
6. Stop letting my fears get in the way of my dreams. Being safe doesn't take a lot but being happy is a different story. 2011 flew by so quick that I only realized now that my fears have gotten in the way of achieving what I truly deserve. So for this year, I'm all about taking risks. It doesn't matter if I get hurt because it's a part of the whole idea and the learning process is what's important. So this year I'm living fearlessly; fix my issues, my problems.. myself. Move on from events that have truly affected me in the past year and start living in the moment. And guess what? I'm doing just that.
7. Make things happen. Plans are only plans if you don't take action - I have so much of this in my head but I have to admit that I'm not really doing anything to make any of these happen.
8. Time management 101. I really suck at this that's why I tend to do things at the last minute. Just like what my mom says, there's a time for everything.
9. Be nicer to my mom. My mom's a nagger and is overly dramatic - I blame it on the hormones. I've been really stingy towards her because of what happened before (her and my dad splitting up) plus all the teenage drama in my life (not like I'm still a teenager but whatever, I'm expecting you to know what I mean.) and she deserves some credit. So this year I will be sweeter, nicer and all things positive towards the woman who bore me in her womb for nine months and went through labor for hours.
10. Travel more. If you've read my previous post, it's no secret that I've been dying to leave the country but how can I leave something I barely even know? Makes sense, right? Therefore, I decided that this year will be filled with out-of-town travels. This year I missed Sinulog Festival in Cebu so me and my friends promised each other that we'll surely make it in 2013. Also, we've already made plans for several trips for the summer which makes me quite excited.
11. Surround myself with the right people. In the process of reinventing myself, I have made different sets of friends, most of them weren't exactly for keeps but I was blessed enough to have met people who stuck around despite my moodiness, and I want to meet more people like that.
12. Get to know myself. I know that somewhere down the battlefield, I lost my identity. I went through so much shit last year that I didn't even notice how much different I am now from how I was before. Don't get me wrong, I like the new me better than the old me (high school days) but I suddenly don't know exactly what I want. This 2012 will have more me time.

Firsts and Lasts

It's been quite some time now since I actually blogged about something.. with sense. During the past weeks, I did nothing but rack my brain for some decent topic to talk about or discuss and whatnot on this poorly updated online journal. What have I come up with so far? Oh dozens. Dozens of blog entries created in my mind that I cannot put into words. Now here I am, typing randomly.. aimlessly. Since it's already 2012 (can you believe that? What the hell happened to 2011?!), I just thought it would be appropriate to write something about the past year.

December 21, 2011. The day I was kidnapped by Karla Ynzon and Rutherford Perez. I just finished work (as an events photographer for the Quezon City Government) when Karla sent me a message via BBM asking where I am. So naturally, I told her that I was in QC. Apparently, she was there, too. So a little background story here, Karla and I were already together the day before (we went to Shang then ended up in Rockwell) but I had to go home a bit early because I had a photog stint the next day with my dad in QC. And then when I was done with work, she surprised me (and not to mention, my dad) by saying that she'll pick us up and drop us off at home. I really wanted to decline because papa and I were so tired (we worked the whole day), all we wanted to do at that very moment was to go home, shower and take a nap for a while. But she was so persistent and I couldn't say no to her so I said yes. Wanna take a guess where we ended up? Well we ended in Maginhawa Street. Apparently, we were going to hang out first before she brings me home. Dad didn't want to join (obviously) so he left the moment we got there (Sorry, papa!). From that point, I knew I didn't have a choice anymore so I just went along with it. Ruther (our other friend who was with us) had to leave early because he had this dinner thing with his block mates so he left. And like always, Karla and I decided that we were going to The Fort. Okay, we didn't have to decide. We both knew that we always, always end up there. It almost never fails. But before going there, I begged her to pass by Tiendesitas so I can buy a shirt because I was still wearing the same shirt I wore to work and it was already freaking stinky! Good thing she said yes. One shirt became two. I couldn't resist! They were so cheap. Anyway, I got this aztec-print cropped top that I wore for the rest of the night (the other shirt I got was a sheer leopard-print button-down).

So anyway, after successfully buying two shirts, we then headed to The Fort where Cai (our super cute friend) and Eunice (our other kaladkarin friend, hehe) followed. Cai, Karla and I had a mug of beer at Roadhouse. This is what the mug looked like.




Oh, that's Cai in the background. Those liter draft beers were just too much. I had to share mine with Eunice and two other people.

And before you get ahead of yourself, we saw Ruther in The Fort too, with his blockmates this time. So we told them to join us. The other people who drank from my beer are from their group. Cai and Karla finished theirs. Damn.

Once we were done with those monster-sized mugs, we left and headed over to Cable Car. I saw some of my friends who were there with me the last time and I wasn't surprised at all. Anyway, we played an intense game of foosball. Actually, I played four games. Won most of it. I feel so proud of myself.


Karla and I.
With Rutherford. Excuse my face.

Rutherford, Karla and I (plus Ruther's friend). Don't judge us please.

That's it for the 21st of December. We had other escapades, of course. We just didn't have pictures.

As for the Last Friday Night of 2011, I was kidnapped again by Karla and Ruther when I was supposed to do my thesis. They tricked me into saying yes by telling me that Mercato was open. It wasn't.










Would you like to know where we ended up in?

This is SLEX. Hmm.

Okay we ended up in Nuvali. Just at the foot of Tagaytay. Only to buy some overpriced frappuccinos from Starbucks. Well done. We went to Cable Car after to have a bottle of beer. Not bad.

I'm pleased that this is what I did on the last Friday of 2011, knowing that Saturday was for my Family. All in all, I must say that the holidays have been great. Thank you so much to the people I spent it with. So happy that I got to spend time with you guys!

Tell me about your Last Friday of 2011!

PS.
I was going to include some New Year stuff here too but I got too lazy. Mehehe. I'll save that for the next entry.