the gondolier

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore.

striped top from Zara
jeans from True Religion
clogs from Zara
boater hat from YRYS

Put this together in a rush yesterday without realizing I looked like a gondolier. Ohoho, well.

Went to get my hair trimmed yesterday. Just had a few centimeters taken off and had my bangs fixed. I usually cut it myself, but I've been genuinely lazy lately, so I went to James, who has been doing my hair since high school, bless him.

Right now, I'm waiting for my boyfriend to get back from Laguna, while listening to stereomood's nostalgic playlist. I'm incredibly bummed that summer's coming to an end in this part of the world. April and May flew by so quickly, but I suppose I've to let go of all the negativity I've been feeling and make the good times of the past few months push me forward.

Hope you all have a good week ahead!

move you

lala-lalala-lalala-la

pink top/mini dress from Promod

thrifted high-waisted khaki shorts

thrifted lace cover up
leather belt from Zara
2-tone fisherman hat from YRYS
boat shoes from Renegade Folk

I'm glad that different kinds of hats are coming out nowadays and that more people here [in the Philippines] are actually wearing them. They used to be such an underrated accessory. Just a few years ago, wearing a hat meant getting stared at like you've done something wrong, when you're actually the one making sense, especially with the intense heat in this country. Filipinos are generally shy, I guess, and at times afraid to stand out. But now, I think the increasing public appreciation of hat-wearing proves that we're slowly coming out of our shells when it comes to fashion.

I collect hats, and I've been going out of my mind lately because I seem to be seeing a lot that I like and have been finding it hard to control the urge to buy them all. Still, I ended up with three new hats to add to my collection that I probably won't be able to wear regularly, but ah, what the heck.

hats from YRYS

new laptop!

After months of persuasion, my dad finally got me a new laptop last Sunday! Yay!

I'm not particular when it comes to specs or brands. As long as I have a working laptop, I'm good. My old one had been relying on life support for over a year, and I could barely work on it anymore because it ran extremely slow and kept shutting down. I'm very happy with this one so far.

What I really wanted was pink, but the store didn't have any on stock, so I opted for blue instead, which is a good color too. My boyfriend and I added clouds and a boat for fun. Also, MACARONS! Teehee.

Help me think of a name! I've decided to name her Cielo, which means sky or heaven in Italian and Spanish. (Yes, I name my things. I'm a dork.)

Potipot Island, Zambales

After more than a month of constantly nagging my friends and flooding them with angry Facebook messages, the beach trip I had planned for us finally happened last weekend (and with zero casualties!). Because we're all cheap asses, Boracay, Cebu and Palawan were not options, so I took us to Zambales instead. I had been curious of Potipot Island anyway.

Getting there was long and a little tiring, especially since 13 of us crammed ourselves in a van. We spent almost seven hours on the road, because of heavy traffic and four stopovers, but we got to Candelaria, Zambales in one piece. Although there was a tiny complication when we got to the resort (MY NAME WASN'T ON THE RESERVATION LIST), everything turned out okay, thank goodness, or else I would've blown my top off. In the end though, the stressful planning and the heart attacks were worth it for those two days of sand, sea, booze, and awesome company!

And because I was too lazy to whip out my cameras throughout the whole trip, and also because I have the right to for being such a wonderful travel agent, I've stolen pictures from my friends.


P.S. I look so dark and macho. I'm like an amazona.

hey, boo-boo

white button-down top from SM Department Store

floral shorts from Crossings Department Store
white belt from Cintura
tan oxfords from Pill
red & white hat from Peppered Cherry

A few of my friends and I went to La Mesa Ecopark last Friday for a picnic. Never thought I'd appreciate the place, because I've heard a few bad reviews about it before and expected it to be crowded and dirty. But as it turns out, it's actually kinda nice!

We were supposed to go boating or biking after eating, but ended up just walking around and taking pictures (some of which are too embarrassing to post here, haha), which was fun too. (I don't know how to ride a bike anyway.) The park was starting to close as we were walking around, so we weren't able to explore the whole thing, but all in all, the park wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Maybe I can drag Convi to go back there with me when we feel like going on a cheap and adventurous date.

new shoes

Bought three new pairs of shoes in a week. Ugh, I know. I panicked, okay! But in my defense, I've been searching for these specific styles for a while now, so when I saw these, I thought why the heck not and went for the kill. Most days, I'm usually told that my size has already gone out of stock, so I was really stoked to find out that, this time, I got to them first, and took it as a sign from the heavens that yes, I'm meant to buy them. Also, I've been needing some cheering up lately anyway.

Yes, I am justifying myself.

both pairs of oxfords from Pill

white clogs from Zara

motivation, where are you?

Been feeling crappy the past couple of days, so I've been out of the loop lately. I think I'm all right now and will try to update this thing more. Looking forward to a relaxing week ahead, and hoping I won't have to worry about professional and personal deadlines at least for now.

It was quite an eventful long weekend for me. One, my sister came back from her 5-month stay in France. She brought home a few stuff from her trips around Europe, like chocolate and cheese for the whole family and this lovely mask for me. She only stayed here for four days and left yesterday for INSEAD's Singapore campus. She's already halfway through her MBA, so yay for her!

Next was Mother's Day. My boyfriend and I tried to recreate my mom's carrot cake recipe to give to his mom. I thought we did a really bad job at first, but after we took it out of the fridge, it looked so much better. Convi's mom said it was "the most perfect carrot cake" she's ever had! She's even asking for the recipe, but my mom would like to keep it a family secret. Hee.

And then, yesterday! It was a historical day for the Philippines with her first automated elections! It was my first time to vote too, so it was very exciting. Voted first thing in the morning, and was in awe as I was feeding my ballot into the machine. Ooooh. Soon, we're going to have a new set of leaders, and all we can do now is pray that they don't eff it up.

welcome back, Enzo!

long white knitted vest from Preview

pink top/mini dress from Promod
brown shorts (hidden) from People are People
my relentless rolled down thigh highs from Mango
leather boots from Hong Kong
bag from H&M

The other day, I watched Iron Man 2 with a bunch of friends and mutual friends to welcome our good friend Enzo back from Canada. I really enjoyed the movie, considering I didn't watch the first one and could care less about anything related to comic books (much to my geeky boyfriend's dismay). It was pretty good based on my low standards and zero expectations. Then again, RDJ is always entertaining to watch, and, I must admit, Scarlett Johansson was very hot. I guess I can understand my boyfriend's sharp intakes of breath each time Black Widow showed up on screen.

We all trooped to Enzo's house afterwards for a sleepover. This involved snickering over Pirates 2 (the one that doesn't star Johnny Depp, HEHEHE), an intense game of Cranium, and some rum and tequila. I didn't drink much, but I woke up zombified the next day, because I stayed up listening to the boys talk till 5 a.m. Interesting stuff. When I got home in the afternoon, I went straight to bed without showering and still in the same clothes I was in the day before. Ewww. Really fun night though!

(You can tell how incredibly mature we are in the next photo.)

It was a great end to the month of April. Now, it's May and halfway through the summer. I'm starting to feel anxious about the impending decisions I have to make in the near future, but till then, I hope I can have more fun!


Some photos courtesy of Cai and Favis.