a pet in pink ribbons

after being MIA for a few days, of course you should expect a photo-heavy post. i need to catch up. first up, let me introduce you to my blog pet in pink ribbons. he’s not harmful, just a bit temperamental, especially when it rains or if his feet gets wet after running in the rain and accidentally dipping it in a puddle..haha!

so yeah, this is how i rocked the cropped top. i’m not daring enough to show the tummy though so a black tank top is necessary. i love the day this photo we taken. it was raining really hard but then it stopped and the sun came out around 4PM. armand and i haven’t taken a break since that morning so when the bosses left for personal errands, we scrammed and had fun outside. thus, the pet in pink ribbons. we had this idea of him becoming my pet when i whined about him frequently being in my posts and that he should start his own blog. that’s when he told me, “i can be your blog pet then.” we grabbed some ribbons from leftovers from the last invite we made and voila! instant chic leash.

cropped top with black tank top – props
skinny jeans – chillypapa
grey flats with zebra-print bow – parisian, sm dept store
zebra-print fedora – sm dept store
dog tag necklace – custom-made
gun-metal wire cuffs – props

on another note, although i am super delayed in posting this but 2 weekends ago, philip and i attended the annual fashion show of my old alma mater. it’s a show that fine arts students from my old school put up every year as their project. while i was in school, i’ve followed the shows to make up the art school envy. i should have been part of it. if only i listened to my heart. and yes, had enough wisdom to know that it doesn’t matter if the course i’m taking is highly-employable or not, what matters is that i’m passionate about it. oh well, what happened, happened. everything happens for a reason.

anyway, these are just some of the looks i had the chance to photograph. philip and i mustered the courage to ask these models to pose for us despite not knowing us. haha! the designs are done by 19 year olds, can you believe it?


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special discount: what a girl wants!

what a girl wants is one of my favorite stores in the mall. i really love, not just the clothes they sell, but also their interiors and how they arrange all their items. i love their display window too. really smartly done. 
what a girl wants will be having a big sale this october 15 to 31 and is offering all you lucky readers a special discount. just print the coupon below for a discount of P100 for every P1,000 purchase (and this is on top of the discounts they already have on display!). 
what a girl wants is located in the following branches: 

3rd Floor, the Gallery, Robinsons Galleria

2nd Level, Paseo Cuidad, Ayala Center Cebu 

2nd Floor, Main Wing, SM City Cebu

1st Level, West Promenade, Limketkai Cagayan de Oro City

ps. regular outfit posts will resume once i purchase a new keyboard for our PC that has the adobe photoshop to resize my photos. my mac still doesn’t have photoshop sooo…..watch out for it though because i will be showing you my BLOG PET! 



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headache in style

so yeah, i’m totally copying vanessa east of one frozen margarita. i am just totally jealous of how she rocks turbans and scarves. don’t get me wrong, i am totally a scarves girl and have a dozen at home but they only get worn at home or at the beach. but today, with full conviction, i decided to wear them to work. sure i got a few stares from people coming into the office and at one point, when my sister came in, she joked and asked if i had a headache. well yes, a headache in style. *wink*
pardon me for the photo heavy post. this is what happens when the electricity has gone out twice in a day and all work is paused because everything we do is dependent on it. so we opened up the blinds and took advantage of the warm afternoon light. and yup, that’s armand at my back, totally posing as if he didn’t know i was taking photos of myself. haha!
polka dot scarf used as turban – thrifted
striped tee – thrifted
grey shorts – props
beaded sandals – gifted from harry
necklaces: key and fairy – props
bangles: wound brass wires – carbon find | white wood – chatuchak, bangkok
rings: white stone – props | butterfly – gifted from sweet


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fashionably outdone!

so yeah, if you’ve noticed, this is not a post about my outfit but of my sisters’ and cousins’. i have been fashionably outdone. especially my little sister, aimee (on the 2nd photo) who stole my camera to take photos downstairs at the basement parking lot. this was taken almost a month ago on a random friday night with my sisters and cousins at the penthouse. this was also the night i kept stealing  sips from vodka shots that are supposedly for my cousins, handed by aimee, and ended up so drunk, i fell on my hands while crossing the street at i.t. park. i also had to walk barefoot all the way from pent to a food place a block away because my shoes were killing me. saving enough dignity as i used to work in that building where the food place was located, i managed to put my shoes back on before crossing the street only to fall on my hands, causing my nails to get super dirty with mud.  i haven’t gone drinking since then.  i can still imagine the confused state i was in and the hell of that hangover. i want to go on a hunt for that drink that causes zero to less hangovers but then i would have to go on a lot of trial-and-error. and i’m not sure my being 26 can handle it anymore. oh well. 
on me:
embellished LBD – maldita
black handbag – nine west
faux suede black peep-toe booties – celine (gifted from harry!)
stacks of gun-metal silver bangles – carbon finds

on aimee:
floral dress – thrifted
black wedge pumps – leaveland
black handbag – gifted from her friend
chained necklace – pratunam, bangkok
bangles – chatuchak, bangkok


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posing 101 by armand | after hours

i feel like i have wasted the effort in dressing up for the the past few days because i tend to forget to take outfit shots. i love the late afternoon sunlight and its warm glow so i always plan to take photos by that time but due to the rush at work, before we know it, it’s already sun down. and for the past 3 days, sun down has been darker than usual with the consecutive power failures. apparently, our city is running low on electricity supply so they have to do rotational power cut-offs.

this time i made sure that before going home, i do an outfit shot. i simply love this shirt and i got it from the streets of bangkok for only 110 Baht. the doodles are just the perfect creatures and monsters inside my doodle-head. i did pair this shirt with a short floral full skirt but i failed to take a photo of that outfit too. despite not being a fan of my camera’s flash, i had no other choice and had to find an interesting spot — the washroom beside the office’s cluttered bookshelf. i had to ask armand to teach me how to pose so that’s him demonstrating a pose for me. i tried to imitate it but couldn’t resist smiling. do i look like i needed to pee??? haha! my favorite photo is the last one which is directed by my sister charm and mind you, my feet got wet here when i accidentally dipped it in paint wash water…oh the trouble we go through for a good outfit shot!

graphic tee – bangkok night market
denim skirt – thrifted (one of my faves)
grey vest – thrifted
grey flats with zebra-print bow – parisian, sm dept store
stacks of gun-metal bangles – carbon find

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i always go back to you

i always go back to this dress. it’s what i call my fail-safe dress. it has mixed patterns and prints. it’s belted on the waist. it’s very comfortable. it’s breezy. it’s blue. and yes, it’s very forgiving. why? because it’s a tent dress and it can fit me when i’ve gained weight or lost weight. and this time, i’ve gained some and my mixed print dress is always there to catch me when i’m in an outfit dilemma.
i’ve mentioned this on one of my very few posts when i started my new job — a day job. i’ve had this heightened appetite and have been eating non-stop for weeks now. other than a new pair of shoes, food cheers me up. vanilla ice cream cheers me up the most. i would love to have a new pair everytime i get stressed or restless or bored but it’s an expensive habit. whereas, food is there..haha! so yeah, i know i have to control this appetite or else my clothes won’t fit me anymore (which will be such a waste of money) but for now, i’m going to enjoy actual lunch at 12 noon, afternoon snacks of turon (banana and nangka fritter wrapped in chinese wrapper, coated with brown sugar then deep fried to perfection) and ice candy, little munchy breaks of yogurt or crackers, dinner at home at 7PM and dessert with dark chocolate or ice cream. 
mixed print dress – thrifted
blue embellished sandals – khaosan road, bangkok
heart and clock necklaces – carbon finds
brass tangled bangles – carbon finds
work watch – swatch
brown sunnies – carbon find
ps. i should learn how to pose like armand. isn’t he fierce?

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not what i expected part one

turns out, i was super late in posting these as i wasn’t able to get the photos from armand’s camera until the middle of the week. this was during a fashion show / anniversary party we attended for one of our client’s, bong’s wedding essentials and more…lorymer villareal, our good friend and former cebu young designer’s winner and philippines project runway contestant, is currently the in-house designer for the shop. the night was not what i expected not the in the sense that the show didn’t go well or that the designs were unfabulous — because they were and i would love to don the tiered dress for my own wedding (if only i was taller), just that i didn’t expect the night to be an intimate dinner with their clients. it was still fun all the same. 
armand and i also visited oxygen’s model casting call in penthouse just to check the folks there and yes, as you guessed, it was not what we expected too. we expected a fashion show of some sort or an event filled with activities and stuff but when we got there, it was just a party where everyone was awkwardly standing around. we were there for only 5 minutes then we bailed. armand and i ended up having green tea frozen yogurt at coffee cat — a perfect way to end an unexpected night. 

tiered leopard dress – pratunam, bangkok
blue oversized blazer – borrowed from sister
navy blue embellished flats – parisian, sm dept store
grey bag – mongkok, hongkong
bangles – carbon find
rings: fox – platinum mall, bangkok | orange howlite – dane’s giveaway
leaf necklace – carbon find


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such a tease

..life that is. small challenges or hindrances tend to show up just when the one thing i’m excited about is nearing as if i have to learn to be more patient than ever or that it’s some kind of test, determining whether i deserve it or not. i don’t know with you but i’m the kind of person who easily gets excited about something — like buying shoes, an upcoming family trip, starting a new job, waiting for harry’s home cooking or getting my new mac. i sometimes lose sleep over something i’m excited or anxious about and my mind can run like crazy. like when i’m about to sleep, already comfortable under my sheets and i suddenly think about potentially setting aside money for a pair of shoes or for plans of buying a new camera, i’d turn on the lights, pull out my calculator, notepad and pen and get going at the computation. i know, i know, i’m crazy. *wink*
what i’m saying is, a lot of things lay before me now that i am all too excited about. and if it weren’t for my past life-teasing experiences, i would have flailed my arms with desperation now with all that’s happening to me. something big is up and despite my little mess ups, i hope that in the end, life grants me this. after all, i’ve taken deep breaths, pulled myself back up to roll with the punches, firmly having faith that it is for me. 

skirt used as tube top – thrifted
mustard cardigan – thrifted
skinny jeans – chillypapa
gold flats – sensini, bangkok
rings: blue stone and gold leaf – carbon find | orange howlite – dane’s giveaway
bangles – all gifted
cutout pattern necklace – gifted from ivy
work watch – swatch
brown sunnies – carbon find


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we’re supposed to be in color

remember when david and mary-sue fought over the remote and they got warped into the black and white world of pleasantville? that movie has got to be one of my most favorites. not only are the era costumes amazing and fun to look at but i also loved the plot and message of the movie. i was and will always be amazed at how pleasantville slowly turned technicolor as they discovered and loved incredible things about themselves. fiona apple’s rendition of ‘across the universe’ made the movie even more memorable.
on to another awesome subject, i want to thank everyone who joined my 300 followers giveaway. it was really fun reading your questions and challanges and since i got so many interesting questions, i’ll answer them 5 at a time. here goes:

where do you see yourself in 5 years? (holly koochitt) whoa! just my first question and i all of a sudden feel i’m in a job interview! well, although it hurts to think, i’ll be 31 by then. if things go according to plan, i will have had successfully established a ready-to-wear clothing line while raising a 2 year old. i plan to still continue to maintain this blog and yes, i’d still do outfit posts in maternity clothes. 

do you wanna go back to bangkok with me? (aisa ipac) yes! i would love to go back to bangkok with you…it would be amazing to have such an awesome shopping buddy especially since we have similar style choices and love finding cheap stuff!

how much did you spend in your bangkok vacation? (penny ilagan and ladawan) since we booked our flight 5 months prior to our trip and with a seat sale promotion at that, we got our round-trip tickets for only P6,700 ($149). with the help of my sister planning our trip to the tee, our hotel accommodations + tours (elephant tour, elephant ride, floating market, safari world and temple tours) + food and travel expenses cost us only P14,000 ($311). shopping expenses were only around P6000 ($111) and yes, i shopped til’ my feet hurt like hell that i had to give up walking to the street corner to taste these awesome, humongous crepes (biggest trip regret..hehe).

can you name top 5 cities you want to travel? (elle gomez) can i name non-cities too?hehe. if i had all the money in the world, i would love to visit ho chi minh city in vietnam (or all of vietnam for that matter), go back to hongkong and just enjoy the buzz, the food and the street fashion, lounge in santorini, greece because ever since i was a little girl i have always found that place to be so enchanting, be in constant awe in paris, france because who wouldn’t right? and of course, visit the most famous city in the world, new york city!

if you were to raid one’s closet, whose closet would it be (eunice) this is without a doubt mary-kate and ashley olsen’s closets! okay, okay, the question asks me to choose only one so i would have to say mary-kate olsen. here style is just amazing —- vintage and bohemian with a pinch of rock and she has this effortless bed-head look that i wish i can attain (but then sadly, i’d look like a dog who just got dried off from the rain). i love her shoes, her clothes, her oversized bags, her unexpected accessories (ie rhinestone curtain necklace over a worn-out vintage tee), i love her in the lace alexander mcqueen dress and that she and ashley have established such incredible clothing lines.

this is it for now. don’t want to bore you with more stuff about me. *wink*

polka dot fifties skirt – thrifted
sheer top – linea italia
beige camisole – borrowed from sis
braided camel belt – pratunam, bangkok
camel military booties – forever 21 courtesy of karla bautista
bangles: orange with splattered print – DIY | yellow wooden bangle – chatuchak, bangkok
necklaces: charmed + vintage car – carbon find
brown sunnies – carbon find


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not what i expected part two | giveaway winners!

okay, so i need to grab friday night’s photos from armand’s camera but since i won’t get them til’ monday then i’m blogging backwards. it’s saturday night (actually, early morning sunday since it’s already 2 AM). came from dinner with my best friends and a quick stop at taproom, banilad with armand, his boyfriend derrick and philip of fashion toy gun. it’s philip and mine’s first time to meet and i thought it would be a perfect time to get together, what with a fashion show at taproom, banilad. philip and i talked about so much on the drive to banilad and it was refreshing to talk to someone mostly about fashion — someone who can relate to me and know other style bloggers and my need to have the jeffrey campbell ticks. disappointingly though, the night ended with our outfits smelling of smoke sans the chance to catch the fashion show. we waited for 2 and a half hours. nuff’ said, i was disappointed.
nevertheless, it was nice spending time with friends, both old and new. i wish we could have ditched the fashion show and just had some dessert at fudge. the cheesecake delight sure sounds better than 2 hours of waiting. this makes me resolve to only attend events that are highly publicized. but i don’t know, i’m all for second chances. will still visit taproom soon, only since ladies get free drinks.

white top with lace detail – pratunam, bangkok
brown denim acid-wash shorts – props
camel braided belt – borrowed from sister
gold ballet flats – sensini, bangkok
brown bag – platinum mall, bangkok
bangles: amber bangle – props | faux gold layered bangles – gifted | blue polka – hongkong
necklaces – props
ps. philip says his outfit is all thrifted. amazing. i think he’s way better than me in finding awesome stuff in thrift stores.

on a brighter note, here are the winners of my 300 followers giveaway both on the blog and in facebook:

congratulations guys! i will contacting you soon. thank you for your support for vanilla ice cream. hope to see you more here! mwah!


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regrets over ample coverage

i don’t have too many regrets in life. sometimes i wonder what if, especially for unfortunate events like a falling out with a best friend or a tragic accident but i manage to brush them off, comforting in the thought that everything happens for a reason. one thing i do regret though is cutting off all of my maxi skirts for shorter ones to wear for the super sunny days here in our country and when i say sunny, i mean really really scorching hot. coincidentally, just as the weather here in the Philippines is getting a tad colder and i’m longing for my maxi skirts, the long garment has also graced a number of runways for fall/winter 2010. i have always loved the bohemian and feminine feel of maxi skirts. it gives me a reason to be lady-like but still be allowed to tuck a part of it in when i sit down, just like how we used to do in high school. those girls who went to an all-girl catholic school, admit it,  we were taught social graces in classes but in classrooms when the teachers are not around, we sometimes sit with our legs apart or tuck in our skirts in between them. haha!

yellow floral-printed maxi dress – props
black cardigan – thrifted
black beaded sandals – people are people
brown bag – chatuchak, bangkok
long necklaces – carbon finds
rings: rectangle jewel stones – carbon find | round white stone – props
bangles – chatuchak, bangkok

a thousand years ago (in college actually), i made a maxi skirt out of a pair of denim jeans. it took a seventeen magazine DIY, a pair of strong scissors, a huge-ass needle and all the free time in the world. this is the end result. please excuse the scruffy face of a chinky-eyed morena who doesn’t know how to smile then. paired my denim maxi skirt with a pair of chuck taylors, a black studded belt, simple black tee and the used-to-be amazing hoop earrings. i was ghetto back then okay? LOL.

anyway, there’s two more days left for the 300 followers giveaway — a chance for you to win a denim acid-wash polka dress and a pair of multi-colored stone earrings. enter here!


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classic never goes out of style

to resolve my dilemma in picking out the grey and camel-colored shoes i needed, i asked two friends if i should go with the clogs or the classic booties. one told me to choose the clogs as they are very much on trend right now and only a few people are wearing them here in Cebu. i thought about it and realized that yes, clogs have hardly touched cebu — well, not the cool kind, at least. the other friend told me to choose the booties as it is more me. i wondered if my friend thought i couldn’t rock the clogs and defensively asked, “so i do you mean i won’t look good wearing clogs?” he was surprised by  my question because that’s not what he meant at all, to which he explained, “choose the booties because you have more a classic and timeless style.”
when i shop, i always look for something that i can wear again and remix with my other clothes. i’d look for something that i can still see myself wearing in maybe a couple of years. for shoes, i always look for a pair that i can pair with a dress, jeans, shorts or a maxi skirt. with being overwhelmed in choosing among so many amazing shoes, i almost forgot what my real style is. shame on me. i have nothing against clogs. in fact i am so amazed at how other style bloggers rock them. i must admit though that i was very much surprised at how far the clog went and i think it will go farther than expected, it not having reached most of the philippine stylistas yet. maybe by january and the next months leading to summer. however, the clog is not for me. in the end, i chose a boho strappy pair of camel shoes with wooden heels and a pair of grey booties. it took me hours to pick them out and my sister even called me out for choosing similar styles for my shoes but that’s me and at the end of day, it’s about how i feel wearing them. 

polka dress – platinum mall, bangkok
black peep-toe booties – gifted from harry
long black cardigan – thrifted
white braided double-length belt – pratunam, bangkok
necklace: leaf and small clutch bag – carbon finds
gun-metal bangles – carbon finds
rings: clustered white beads – chatuchak, bangkok | owl – carbon find
brown sunnies – carbon find


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