cebu – Page 2 – Gizelle Faye Creative Studio

denim + khaki

rose ring – carbon find | orange howlite ring – dane’s giveaway

no…it’s not summer here in the Philippines but it seems like it was. i think it was 36 degrees and it was noon and harry and i were shopping around for a bed. the best place to get good quality furniture here in Cebu is 20 minutes away from the city so imagine how excruciating it was having to drive under the heat for 20 minutes. i needed a laid back outfit and with a pair of khaki shorts, a denim top, a hat and beaded sandals, i felt laid back and like i was out hunting in the safari — just like what furniture hunting is.

now talking about furniture hunting, choosing the right bed is very challenging. actually, everything harry and i are doing right now is challenging because we’re at this phase where we have to decide together because we’re building this life together. with bed shopping, we have to consider the price, the size, the head board design (yes! harry wants something with a cushion…i want the classic wood one), the height, the material…etc. i can just imagine how much challenging it will be when we’re actually married. oh my…LOL.

pandora’s box don’t tempt me

a few of us here in Cebu know of a place where you can find the cheapest and cutest accessories. it’s tucked in a small street in downtown Cebu that not everyone knows about it. i will not divulge the location so to keep the place a secret. what i will divulge though is how the store has a wall filled with cute, pretty and charming rings. there are also racks of bangles, bracelets and necklaces that now also fill my dresser and my own wall. every time i visit there or even just pass by the store, i can’t resist buying a bunch. so i present to all of you the most recent additions to my collection:

isn’t the cat + mouse ring just adorable? i woke up this morning planning my outfit around this ring. the ring just screamed nursery rhymes and i couldn’t help but pick out this dainty lace and tulle skirt that my mom and i thrifted a week ago. of course, with the clearer skies today, i had to bring out my suede wedge booties too.

i vowed to myself though that i will only visit the store every other month. although the accessories costs only range from PHP10 – PHP150, buying a bunch can still do a good amount of damage to my wallet. so see you in two months, tempting accessories store. ♥

lace and tulle skirt – thrifted

egg white tank top – borrowed from sis

chambray top – thrifted

nude suede wedge booties – gold dot

studded green wide belt – borrowed from sis

eiffel tower + star necklace – carbon find

charm bracelet – carbon find

rings: cat + mouse | purse | bowtie – carbon finds

rain or shine: Cebu knows how to party!

purchasing this pair of studded boots despite living in a tropical country is probably one of the best shoe decisions i’ve made in 2009. this pair has gone through two Sinulog festivals and has freed my feet from mud, being stepped on and believe it or not, blisters. Sinulog is always the best excuse to go over the top with the outfit and don as many accessories as you can. as i didn’t have enough time to make my American-Indian head dress, my mom’s floral boho top is the next best thing plus my favorite head dress, the turban. next year for sure, i’ll be donning feather on my head.

Sinulog is also always the perfect excuse to go wild out on the streets even with the heavy rain, paint our bodies with anything that we’ll probably regret when we get to the office on Monday, drink even in the early afternoon, blow on a whistle till’ our friends go deaf and shout to our hearts desire. you don’t believe me? i’ll let the photos do the talking…

i don’t know how i got home but i owe Harry for getting me there safely. next year, i’m not drinking on an empty stomach nor am i stealing any cups of beer from unknowing friends. LOL.

floral bohemian top – thrifted

denim shorts – beads and blooms

studded boots – mongkok, hong kong

purple printed turban – thrifted

brass alligator and scorpion connector ring – carbon find

huge black oval ring – gifted from sweet of pensandlens

elephant necklace – carbon find

elephant tusk – bangkok

brass bangles – carbon finds

wooded bangle – raw materials store, cebu

laziness and the overcast sky

life at the call center was not only difficult due to the nocturnal and ever-changing schedules but a lot of holidays and night outs with friends have also been missed. for five years, it was either christmas or new year and not both. last year, i didn’t even get to spend christmas or new year with my family as i had to work. so this year, i was extra relieved to have had the chance to not only spend both the holidays with my family but get more than a week off from work.

imagine what more than a week off from work can do to an ex-nocturnal person like me. it sure made me lazy! and what’s worst, the skies have been overcast for several days now that it’s even more difficult to
get up from bed. so the past 2 weeks or so, all i’ve been doing is watch old romantic movies, play plants vs zombies, read books, eat and just lie in bed. getting to work has surely been a struggle for the past 3 days exercise and diet is not in my vocabulary and i’ll surely be sorry in a couple months when i can’t fit into all my clothes anymore…haha!

photos taken a pacific cebu resort and are courtesy of armand alforque

white top with lace detail – pratunam, bangkok

floral skirt – thrifted

yellow flip-flops – roxy

bowler hat – parisian, sm dept store

heart necklace – pratunam, bangkok

wooden bangles – chatuchak, bangkok

Blog | Cebu Street Fashion by Armand Alforque

“Above all, remember that the most important thing you can take anywhere is not a Gucci bag or French-cut jeans; it’s an open mind…” – Gail Rubin Bereny

i love you like i love reese’s

after the crazy night we had, my sister and i unconsciously just decided to stay home all day friday and lock ourselves in our room. what with the really painful headache and hangover, we couldn’t really move around. so we spent the whole day watching How I Met Your Mother or taking turns using the computer. we did get bored by 7:00 PM and at one point decided to go to SM and go shopping but we were too lazy to take a shower and dress up. it wasn’t until 10:00 PM that we felt that we needed to go out and since watching How I Met Your Mother always makes me hungry, i convinced Aimee to grab some pizza and hot wings.

so we drove over to Banilad Town Center and visited Yellow Cab Pizza what we needed to cure our hangover was an oily and cheesy pizza and the super yummy Yellow Cab hot wings. and since we were already there, we had ourselves some frozen yogurt from Yo-Go Boy too. if you’re asking what those round toppings on the fro-yo are, those are the awesomely yummy reese’s puffs. the puff just melts in your mouth and the peanut butter and chocolate just explodes in your mouth! perfect combination to the blueberry and cashew nuts! the pig-out was definitely worth the 20 minute drive from our house!

white graphic tee – borrowed from boyfriend (props)

black leggings – random

black beaded sandals – people are people

bangles: gold and pink rhinestones – gifted from india | enamel bangles – HK find

fairy long necklace – props

black handbag – nine west

on aimee:

multi-colored top – marc jacobs (from my manager’s garage sale)

white shorts – props

white oversized bag – celine (gifted from her bf)

twenty-six candles

there really is no turning back. i am not getting any younger and the best thing to do is just to enjoy life as it comes —- making to sure to make the most out of every moment and make a fool out of myself, if needed. so for my twenty-sixth birthday, i dyed my hair to a really light shade of brown, bought myself two books — haruki murakami’s ‘norwegian wood’ and nicholas sparks’ ‘dear john’ (yes, i’m sentimental like that), spent the weekend at the beach and danced under the rain!

harry was so sweet and gave me a bouquet of lilies and three pairs of sandals. just what i asked for! after the 3 hour ride from the beach, my family and i had dinner at a filipino restaurant and ended the night eating frozen yogurt — our latest obsession.

printed boho dress – thrifted

pink headband – torn off from my fringe shirt

necklaces: round imprinted – gifted from gelie | dogtags – custom-made

bangles: gun-metal and blue – props | wooden – raw materials store

the thing with rompers

so i finally know what everyone means about rompers being comfortable. yes, they sure are. but the funny thing is, it is such a hassle when you need to pee! haha!

so spent the day at Drawing Board Creative Studios, just getting the feel of the office and basically, just bugging everyone. this extra energy is making me jumpy and just willing to do any work, even operate the photocopy machine!

i want to write more but this means divulging initial plans for our clothing line. i have to keep quiet until everything is definite. *crossing fingers*

black romper – props

teal cardigan – thrifted

black faux snake-skin flats with gold chain details – parisian

grey bag – mongkok ladies market

elephant necklace – thrifted at carbon

enamel bangles: props | hongkong gift shop | gifted from april

pink rhinestone bangles – gifted from india

what would you do?

on monday, my resignation became official. yes, i know i already wrote about submitting my resignation and talking to my manager but for the last 2 or so weeks, they have been holding on to this hope that i will change my mind so they kept me talking to higher management and have tried postponing my decision by saying, “let’s talk again on monday…just spend the weekend thinking about your decision.” they told me that on 3 fridays. so i just nodded only to come back every monday with the same plan in mind. i didn’t mean to give them a hard time and i am definitely not trying to give too much importance to myself. i am sorry guys, but you can’t hold this girl down.

so i have 6 more working days (counting tonight) until my last day in the corporate world. i am counting the days and have been counting the hours, literally! i have already transitioned all my tasks to the other supervisors that i have ended up not doing anything on my shift. i get home but cannot sleep because i have all these things running in my mind, like what i am going to do with my freedom. two things top my list but that’s it. so out of curiosity, i am going to ask you:

what would you do if you were 25 years old and you just quit your day job, taking enough savings you’ve made over the past 4 years?

grey oversized knitted top – thrifted

black long cardigan – thrifted

jeans – bebe jeans

grey metal-embellished flats – a gift from charm (so fab!)

my over-used grey bag – mongkok ladies’ market, hongkong

pearl and bead necklace – DIY-ed in college

stone ring – thrifted in carbon

cuffs – both from props

work watch – swatch

a weekend of nothing

nothing to do. nothing productive. this is exactly what i needed this weekend. it’s been raining intermittently all weekend and it’s just what our city needs. saturday morning after work was spent blog surfing and just discovering more awesome fashion blogs (ie. grunge manners). if i have schizophrenia, she would be my other personality — i wish i have the guts to dress like her and don’t give a shit about society. being a fashionista is already defying certain rules here in our small city and being grunge will definitely be a cause for more raised eyebrows and head-to-toe look-overs. the next hours of my saturday were spent sleeping and waking up to harry bringing over mcdonald’s cheeseburgers, large fries and an apple pie — major junk food fest, while watching karate kid which was good but so predictable.

here’s my sunday, so far: waking up next to harry, making my sunday even better. a breakfast of eggs, spam and leftover dinner. 2 episodes of how i met your mother season 1. sunday mass at 7:00 AM. caramel sundae and pancakes. and ongoing DVD marathons with harry. he says this may be a glimpse of sundays in our married life. if this is, sign me up as i’m packed and ready to go!

ps. it’s funny two competing fast food chains in the philippines are just right across each other. if i have to choose, i’d choose mcdonald’s over jollibee. i hate mayonnaise in my burger. haha!

floral electric pleats dress – thrifted

gun-metal layered necklace – props

silver cuffs with pink shells – props

oval stone ring – props

grey bag – mongkok ladies market, hk

the game of tag

i was tagged by lee of spunk and glam to answer a few questions.

1. What do you do for a living?

I work for a call center as a Team Leader.
2. What is your blog name and why?

My blog name is ‘Vanilla Ice Cream’ because when I started this blog as a personal blog back in 2007, I was at a time of my life where I was undecided, fearing too much about my future and mostly heartbroken. Vanilla ice cream always made me feel better. The feeling vanilla ice cream gives me is actually on my very first post of this new blog.
3. Who is your favorite singer/band and why?

This is a really tough question…I have lots of favorite singers and bands. I simply cannot make up my mind. I’ve always loved Jewel, Natalie Imbruglia when I was growing up. Then I found indie rock and pop punk rock and brit rock and I fell in love with music all over again. I love the killers, the cure, the strokes, the smiths, the honorary title, imogen heap, regina spektor, the national, john mayer, jack johnson and lots more. I love these kinds of music because they take me out of my daily routine and give that ‘soundtrack’ to what I am doing or experiencing. More about my love for rock here.
4. What is your favorite restaurant and your favorite thing to eat there?

I would have to say Krua Thai or Siam (I think they have the same owner..haha!) I love Thai food because I love peanuts or nuts in my food and they combine the sweet and spicy in one dish. Harry and I also love the Pad Thai in Lemon Grass.
5. What is your favorite item of clothing?

Oh my, another question which I cannot give a specific answer. I have this black vintage shirt that I thrifted in college that has vintage cars all over the front. It’s kinda’ loose and very comfortable. It’s my go-to shirt when I just want to be comfortable or just don’t care about dressing up. I think I’ve paired it with shorts, skirts and jeans.
6. Who is your favorite fashion icon?

drew barrymore | janis joplin | mary-kate olsen | nicole richie

7. What is your personal fashion style?

i like to be comfortable (but maybe a little sacrifice on shoes). i wear lots of bohemian stuff — whether i just wear accents or really boho tops or dresses. i love the idea of not caring too much very my clothes match. as much as i love earth colors like blues, tan, browns and nudes, i also have a share of wearing neons too. i have to say, i dress according to my mood.

8. Where do you usually go for ukay-ukay or bargain shopping?

there is this store right beside a hospital that has new stuff every end of the month. my mom, sisters and i make it a habit to go there every month. i hardly buy in malls — only to buy shoes. and my shoe price limit is P2500.

i want to post who i want to tag but i’ll do that on monday. i’m in a hurry because i need to catch some zzzz’s to wake up at 2:00 PM to prepare for my friend’s wedding.

by the way, thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. i took a sick leave on thursday to allow myself to rest and i slept for 16 hours! whoa! i felt better when i woke up but still very much decided to leave this career. i hope i get called up for interviews soon!

since we were 12 years old

i never get tired of this place. daanbantayan is the ultimate haven for me. not because it’s has the perfect white sands or untouched waters but because it is quiet and is really a place where i can just unwind and not think about all life’s problems. the funny thing is, the rest house is not even ours. it belongs to my dad’s kind high school friend who has always allowed us to use the place whenever we want to — save when they want to use it for themselves. so for 7 years, we’ve been coming back here as a family or with my friends. every time, always as fun as the last.

blue green printed kaftan – thrifted | yellow green bikini top – props | brown sunnies – thrifted at carbon

this memory of time spent with my long time best friends (since we were 12 years old) will remain forever in my mind. believe it or not, but this is the first time in a long time that we’ve been able to go out of town where majority of us are present. good friends, good food — really good food like grilled pork, fresh crabs and fish and yummy kinilaw, good music, hilarious and challenging game of taboo, good drinks in the name of tanduay and kool-aid, never-ending laughter — what more could i ask for?