cebuana style – Page 25 – Gizelle Faye Creative Studio

no sense of relief

have you ever been so deep in work that you feel as if there’s no end? i’m sorry for ranting but i just got home and am feeling very very (one more) very exhausted. it’s not that i don’t like the job, it’s just that the work is piling on everyday. i’ve recently had no sense of relief or satisfaction at the end of the day as i’ve accomplished so little (or i feel as if it’s little).

what is my job anyway? to anyone not familiar with this business, i am one of the “night critters”…i work at a call center and have been for the past 4 years. people may ask if i’m not getting sick and tired of working nights — welp, people will be surprised at this but i actually like the schedule. it keeps me away from the traffic and the heat of the sun.i am actually sleepier when i work during the day (this is based on training schedules where it’s on regular working hours – am to pm). not to mention, the pay is much bigger with the night differential. i’m a supervisor and have been handling teams of 12 – 20 for almost 3 years. what i love about handling people? helping them become better people — not just at work but also how they view and take life. and seeing that light switch in their eyes when they realize they’ve done a good job and that they can actually do a good job. you see, most people who work in a call center as agents are what you call “meantime” people… 70-80% of the agents work there because they haven’t figured out or are in the process of getting what they want to do for the rest of their lives. so some don’t care much and some just come in for the sake of getting a job. i’m saddened by those people because they end up wasting their life away — afraid to take risks, some even afraid to have a goal and aim at career growth. i try as much as possible to help them realize their goals. and when they do, i feel like a million bucks.

don’t get me wrong. this is only my ‘day’ or shall we say ‘night’ job… my goal in life? to start a clothing line and eventually, be a beach bum. LOL. as of now, i’m working my ass off to save enough money for those.

just a quick post of my necklace collection. there’s a quick peak of my earrings but then that’s another story..haha!

white top – mom’s closet

black and white floral skirt – thrifted

black croc belt – props

black polka tights – macua street market

black peep-toe booties – celine

long watch necklace – hk gift shop

gun-metal cuffs – props

rings: orange howlite – dane’s give-away | white – props

ps. i changed my header…what do you think?

be thankful for the sunrise

how big of a mark have i left with people? if and when i leave this world, how much am i going to be missed? melancholy questions from a melancholy weekend. my friend of 13 years lost her papa last week from cancer. and right when i stepped into the room of his wake, i was deeply touched by how many flowers and visitors there were. he was a good man who lived his life serving people. he never asked God to console him in his weakest days but instead continued to ask God to console those around him. he will surely be missed. but he will live on in the hearts of those who love him.

i say, let’s start with gratitude. be thankful that we still have a chance. be thankful that we can go on and touch people’s lives. be thankful that we can put smiles on people’s faces. be thankful for the sunrise as it is a beginning of another opportunity.

photo credits: sunrise by mactan bridge | morning sun at cordova fish market

black eyelet dress – thrifted

grey plaid vest – thrifted

blue tights – leg love by kate torralba

black studded flats – mongkok ladies market, hk

grey leather bag – mongkok ladies market, hk

watch necklace – hk gift shop

rings: white and blue – props

sunnies – thrifted at carbon

ps. make sure to check out the give-away of nina at ballerina’s closet obsession

comfort from the smell of bound paper

i love reading books. i think i’ve talked about this in my past posts. it’s way better than watching tv. reading allows my brain to work and envelopes me into this world far from my own. it gives me a chance to live a life i have yet to live or will not get a chance to. as a kid, i collected paperbacks of the usual — sweet dreams, love stories, sweet valley high..etc. and in college, i lived off the books that my big sister has. it’s only recently (with the adjustment of my salary) that i have begun collecting books of my own. i love books with a twist. something of the unfamiliar. something with sarcasm or wit. but ironically, i hate books that includes horror or ones involving haunting ghosts. they give me too many nightmares!

here are the ones i own:

the wicked series: wicked, son of a witch and lion among men by gregory maguire

kafka on the shore by haruki murakami

time traveller’s wife and her fearful symmetry by audrey niffeneger

the lovely bones by alice sebold

the perks of being a wallflower by stephen chbosky

me talk pretty one day by david sedaris

the little prince by antoine de saint-exupery

and embarrassingly — the twiligh series by stephenie meyer

and if books are not expensive (here in the PI they cost always above P300 which can already buy a person a decent meal), i would be glad to buy them every 2 weeks and just immerse myself in them — couped in my bed, surviving only with dark chocolate and water. but then, real life beckons and most things are easier said than done.

black top – thrifted from our manager’s garage sale | skinny jeans – chillypapa

headband with felt flower – props | beige patent pumps – shooz

rings: animal print and amber – props | grey leather bag – mongkok ladies market, hk

now, there’s something that have been put off for a while. i got an award from betz of her armoire and now i’m passing this to these ten amazing bloggers:

diana dye of color dye mode
sonya of so real
lexy of quirky explosion
tuesdai noelle of a reflection by tuesdai
rebecca of the clothes horse
issa of we wear things
jess of wild tortoise
louise of the f word online
diya of in her stilletos
tieka of selective potential

wishing everyone a great weekend! (sunday for the PI readers)

i’m in love…and always will be.

the four mini-cakes that made me smile. and made me forget all my worries and frustrations. one or two is nice but four? i love it! and i couldn’t ask for more. we had lunch at our fave vietnamese restaurant, lemon grass and ordered all the food we could stuff our faces with — spicy and sour seafood soup, grilled spare ribs and pad thai noodles. it’s so funny because harry ordered two bottles of light beer and got tipsy right after! he was wobbling a bit in broad daylight!

i’d like to thank everyone for the sweet advice and comments on my previous post. after letting it all out, i rationalized the situation and decided to take the high road. i am their team leader and i realized that i have yet again expected too much maturity from my team. they need guidance. they need to be seen on the same level. i have decided to not ignore them but to help them. so last night, after hearing them rant (again!), i took a deep breathe, sat beside them and looked them in eye, asking what exactly happened. i wrote a serious e-mail, asking for help from the managers and will be taking it from there.

*crossing my fingers and still wishing they won’t rant so much*

received an adequate amount of tax refund for the year 2009 and had to splurge on shoes. new to my lovies — zebra printed bow flats, tan flats and ‘matthews’ peep toe heels.

striped shirt – thrifted

blue cropped jacket – thrifted

black leggings – ???

grey flats with zebra printed bow – sm dept store

black bag – lil’ sister’s

black belt with animal printed buckle – big sister’s (haha!)

sunnies – thrifted at carbon

rings – props

ps. check out eden of chic in the tropics‘ give-away for those readers in PI!

complaining about all the complaining

mustard button-up dress – thrifted | grey tights – sm dept store | black peep-toe booties – celine

owl watch necklace – thrifted at manalili | bangles – props + gifts | black bag – lil’ sister’s

sunnies – thrifted at carbon

i really hate ruining this day as harry and i turned 24 months today but all the negativity at work has really gotten to me and has somehow brought me down. all because they were all expecting to get something which is not necessarily something owed to them by the company. what i hate is all the complaining. as if they’re just waiting for the answer to fall from heaven — or in this case, the ceiling since we are confined in the office. nobody has approached me about it and even asked for help. it’s as if it’s their fight and complaining and being negative is their way of solving it. negativity really brings me down. it tugs on me like an anchor and honestly, it gives me back pains (from all the stress of being bothered by it)… i mean, not getting involved personally at work is easy to say but i can’t help it — especially when i can hear them ranting all the time. threatening resignation? what the….

there…i’ve let it all out. one thing i learned from my college best friend is patience. and to not complain but proactively step-up and allow things to happen and evolve. to be positive. and think that everything happens for a reason. i wish people can learn to be positive. see, for once, the bigger picture. be damn thankful.

and learn to let go.

to my honeybee, i’m sorry for rambling.

happy anniversary!

the past two years have been a blessing.

overwhelmed

phew! my weekend was action packed! i didn’t get to laze around just like what jen likes of her sundays.

so…here’s my new hair. sported these many layers about 2 years ago and i just couldn’t replicate them not even when i went to the same hair dresser who did it in the first place. it’s frustrating having curly hair sometimes. hair salons are just afraid to mess with them and they immediately suggest getting it straight which i hate because i love my hair. and believe me, i’ve tried having straight hair for a day, it bored me to death. i don’t stand out at all. as it turns out, our manicurist studied hair styling a few years back when she used to work at a salon and when i asked her to cut my hair, she happily obliged. she comes to our house every two weeks to get our nails done and when she did my hair, she was using kitchen scissors…haha!

aside from my new hair, i am very much overwhelmed by the number of visits i got over the weekend and the humongous amount of comments too! thank you so much from the bottom of my heart… all your comments really made me smile. it totally made up for all the frustrations at work. *sigh*

boho top – thrifted

black shorts – zara (thrifted too!)

black tank top – dorothy perkins (sister’s closet)

beaded sandals – DIY (beads from an old people are people sandals + finickee)

black bag – lil’ sister’s (notice how she more bags than me?)

bangles – props + aunt’s gift

rings – props

don’t disturb the neighbor

presenting…harry. the man behind the camera. i have other shots of him but they were too goofy!

so the gate is not even ours. it’s our neighbor’s. i’ve always found the color interesting and it has always been my favorite shade of blue. he was trying to tell me to look candid and just move around but i was too conscious, thinking of the neighbors..haha!

this has been a hard week at work. i swear, i’ll soon get a heart attack because i keep breathing in my frustration and anger. i’m a very loud person and i sometimes can’t notice my volume. but due to constant feedback, i am trying my best to hold it all in. so these days, i’ve been keeping my voice soft. and trying to calmly tell someone that they messed up and should start pulling their act together. i’d take a deep breath and slowly answer a very annoying question. i think my sarcasm still shows with my eyebrows though. they are very expressive. my closest friends once laughed at the thought of imagining me as a team lead and how i’d roll my eyes. i tend to do so when i’m annoyed…LOL.

i’m really looking forward to just unwinding this weekend. will be reading ‘lion among men’– the 3rd book by gregory mcguire, listening to ‘the honorary title’, ‘the nationals’ and ‘regina spektor’ over and over again. and will definitely get some more zzzzz’s….

lace top – thrifted | skinny jeans – chillypapa | brown suede shoes with rhinestone details – celine |

vintage car necklace – thrifted at manalili | rings – props

and before i forget, nina of ballerina’s closet obsession gave me this award — happy 101. i am supposed to list down ten things that make me happy and forward this award to 10 stylistas. so what makes me smile?

my family. my mom. dad. my best friends — sisters: aimee and charm.
h-a-r-r-y. and his goofy antics.
thrifting. and the thought of finding unique and incomparable clothes!
that song that is forever linked to a memory — ie. ‘folding chair’ by regina spektor will always remind me of that double decker bus trip from ocean park to the train station.
vanilla ice cream. it’s my college drug. sometimes my friend and i would cut class just to eat vanilla ice cream at mcdonald’s. stupid but really made a difference then.
flag football…or the memories i’ve had of it.
the beach — the sand on my toes. the smell of coppertone.the salt on my hair.
new comments from my new friends in this blog. reading all your comments really makes my day!
our dogs — snickers the dachsund puppy, cooper the golden retriever and chloe the jack russell terrier.
pizza. any kind. any restaurant. even mom’s pizza…haha!

so i give this award to: toni of perfumed red shoes, my good friend deanne of one step at a time, kate maggie of postcards from..., jen of jennifhsieh, eden of chic in the tropics, leah of leah taas in focus, megara of fresh brownies, katrina of pugly pixel, julia of the song of the exile and eunice of hey fancy pants.

hush now

this is me trying to be quiet since my sister is sleeping. i’m on her bed as it is near the window (better light, better pictures). she got mad at me for this because i eventually woke her up…haha! and yes, at 25 i still share a room with my sister. here in our country, it is not necessary to move out of the house after turning 18. we stay with our parents yet we do pay the bills..hehe. they took care of us and bore with our craziness, so it’s our time to take care of them. of course, i’ll soon get married and have a home of my own but i’ll always stay close. i am one those lucky people who not only are close to their parents, but we share a real friendship too.

i had to make do with a shoot inside our room as i was too lazy to find a good spot outside or ask our ‘manang’ (our house maid who has been with us for 10 years — i love her so!) to take a photo of me..i just got home from a 4-hour OT at work because we had to close a lot of work queues. it was the least i can do to support my team as they have been working their asses off. i hope we get through this week. so far, this has been the longest week ever..and i can’t wait for the weekend!

printed top – props

black blazer – thrifted

jeans – chillypapa

black studded flats – mongkok ladies market, hk

long chained watch – hk souvenir shop

dog tags – custom-made

ring – props

smile despite the pain

harry and i went to visit the dentist today — my dad!hehe. harry was nervous as hell, letting my dad take a look at his teeth but he had no choice as he had to have his wisdom tooth checked. it was killing him and he couldn’t pronounce well all week — which was affecting his work as he has client calls everyday. i won’t describe what my dad did to his tooth but what i can tell is that he can now pronounce the letter ‘s’…hehe. i also had my teeth cleaned — after 25 years! ironic huh? my dad’s a dentist yet we hardly visit his clinic…haha! so, what better reward than to have ice cream right after the visit…yes, the cold ice cream does relieve the mouth but the extra toppings give more cavity…LOL.

ps. i love the details of this top. it’s linen, plaid and has pleats and pockets on the front. grabbed it and never let go of it while thrifting 2 weeks ago.

plaid top – thrifted

skinny jeans – chillypapa

black peep-toe booties – celine (gift from harry!)

owl chained watch – thrifted at manalili

black bag – lil’ sister’s

aviator shades – lil’ sister’s

rings: animal print and clustered cubes – props

viva pit senyor!

it’s the 30th sinulog in cebu! to know more about this festival — click here!

it’s grander than new year’s here in our place and i swear, every year more and more people flock to cebu! it’s not a mob but a tidal wave of people and all you can do is let the waves take you… even the rain this year couldn’t stop the people from partying…

the family and i had our annual lunch at my tita’s (aunt’s) house in talamban and the above photos were taken on their steps. i couldn’t eat much because i was sick the whole night and had painful stomach spasms — almost had myself hospitalized if it weren’t for the thoughts of sinulog motivating me to get through it. i mean, i don’t want to miss the fun on the streets and stay couped up in a hospital room…after lunch, my friends and i hung out at a bar on the streets of mango, right near the actual sinulog parade… we did our own body painting (as seen below: my own painting of our group name right on my arm)… i took a few photos of the parade and the people (as much as i could manage since it’s very crowded)… then we walked to ayala cebu to have a picnic on the terraces grounds and watch the fireworks…i’m very proud to say that i got through this year’s festival SOBER…haha!

printed top – roxy

boho skirt – thrifted

flip-flips – havaianas (make your own)

black studded boots – mongkok ladies market

black bag – lil’ sister’s

dog tag necklace – custom made

reindeer in gun metal (necklace) – bubble bee gift shop

rings – props

gun metal cuff – props

pink sunnies – thrifted

"it’s a small world…after all" (repeat 3x)

rain or shine, january 15 was a date to mark. my good friend, edu, got married to kathi last night. and although i was hours late and didn’t get to see the cermony nor catch most of the reception because of the crazy – insane traffic, it was still very touching for me. my friend is happy. my friend is smiling. and most of all, he has found someone who can laugh at his jokes — when all the time we were making of fun of his humor in college..hehe.

and of all places, i bumped into eden of chic in the tropics at the party! we were laughing at how it could be a mini-(very mini) blogger meet-up…haha! we’re wishing dane was there. eden emceed at the party and is a good friend of kathi since high school. we took a few photos before she left but couldn’t really strike poses as it was pouring really hard. i swear, we were crowding ourselves inside the tents. eden sure knows how to do the smokey eye. while i almost got soaked in the rain and forgot to bring my make-up bag.haha! (i should have asked eden what she’s wearing…anyhoo, just check out her blog! it’s really good..)

while i loved the heels, i couldn’t bear wearing them to work because i had to run through the parking lot and it was raining all day. so i brought my trusty boots.

i work the night shift and always look forward to 6:00am and see the sun rise from our window. however, today was as gloomy as it could be. (i think this is the jinx from all the people who say they’s jealous of our sun…haha!) so i had to make do with whatever light i can find to manage a good photo inside the house. believe it or not, the light is from my sister’s reading lamp…LOL. so how did i do with my photos?

floral dress – thrifted

black blazer – thrifted

strappy heels – so fab!

black boots – mongkok ladies market, hk

chained watch (with floral design) – hk souvenir shop

pink shell cuffs – props

blue ring – props

black bag – lil’ sister’s

braving the blue

i had asked for these blue tights of Leg Love by Kate Torralba from my manito (Secret Santa) for Christmas…and luckily, he found it. and now, when i think about it, it is such a bold shade of blue. an eye-catcher you might say. i wore this once with dotted tights over them (here!) and they looked subtle then — and that was for a vudu party.

so…i gathered all my courage and decided to wear them for work as i also needed a boost of confidence from the effects of work blunders last Tuesday. people stared. people were shocked and nearly dropped their jaws…i even had one agent ask me why i’m wearing such blue tights. and it kept me smirking the whole time because some people looked so funny trying not to stare in the elevator (in such a small space!)… nevertheless, i loved wearing these tights. despite everything, i stood out and i was myself again. who cares if they can’t understand.

i want to talk some more but my puppy is on my lap and has his head on my right arm. he gets mad when i type too loudly..haha!

printed top – thrifted

black jacket – thrifted

blue tights – Leg Love by Kate Torralba

black flats with bow tie – leaveland

rings – props

bangle – props