family – Page 2 – Gizelle Faye Creative Studio

drunken, foolish and vain: Friendster days

[WARNING: really photo heavy. you can go back if you want. that way i’ll be saved from embarrassment too. haha!]

great panic surged everyone on April 26, 2011 when it was reported that Friendster will be deleting all data and users by May 31, 2011. my Facebook friends immediately downloaded the images they had there. some of us were reminiscing the good ol’ testimonial feature that they had. i’ve owned an account since 2003 but i deleted it last year. i can’t, however, help but remember the funny, foolish and drunken days that my old Friendster account held. so following Aisa’s footsteps, here’s a look back at the old Friendster days:

this was at a bar in Ayala (i can’t remember the name) and was taken on New Year’s Eve. oooh i love this skirt. i wonder where it is now. and oh, the beret is an ode to my old hip-hop days.LOL.

lorymer villareal and me in 2004, styling and coordinating the pageant for the Computer Engineering department. lorymer didn’t go to our school then but he was kind enough to help me with the pageant.

the tres marias. my sisters and i at the resthouse in Daanbantayan that we frequent every summer. this was in 2004.

i told you i was gangsta! LOL. now i can’t help but laugh at my humongous rock and corn rows. the corn rows happened on the night before a flag football game and were done by a friend, in their boarding house.

and then i’m all out rock! LOL again. my friends, kim, deanne and i goofing off while waiting for classes. now that i remember it, we were always waiting for classes then. especially when we were almost graduating.

richard, me, armand and my little sister, aimee. we were waiting for the rest of our friends at Starmart, Banilad (the place to be! LOL) for our Daanbantayan trip.

my old singing days. i wish i learned how to play a guitar so that i can still do gigs. *sigh* (ps. due to being under the sun for most parts of my weekends, i saw dark as beautiful until i realized i could easily get skin cancer.)

so down with jennifer lopez! this vest was thrifted at only PHP 15.00 in our local market. i still have it after 6 years. the shoes? pointed to the pointiest. this pair was my favorite pumps.

my first job after graduating and my first set of friends after of school. incidentally, we all had the same knack for laughing, embarrassing each other and just whiling our lunch making our brains smaller. *korean peace sign*

drunken nights at the back of my friend, Ingrid’s pick-up truck. rides at the back are best done when drunk! we were on our way to the beach at 3AM, after hitting a local bar and i can’t remember this photo was taken. they say, i peed at the side of a dark street. i didn’t believe them until i saw the photo. but nuh-uh, you’re not seeing it. LOL.

karen and i on christmas 2006. we were looking for a pair of shorts to give our guy friends and we found this pair!

the day i brought Cooper, our golden retriever, to a game. i HEART you, Cooper!

goofy face time with my nieces! this was on the summer of 2007.

stacey. my first car that i inherited from my dad. my training car. my bump car. i miss you, Stacey. wish i didn’t have to sell you.

at my friend’s sister’s black and white party. as you can see, i’ve had a knack for polka dots even way back. this was taken on June 2007.

the defensive line waiting for our turn. flag football will always have a place in my heart.

aimee and i pretending to frolick in Malapascua in July 2007. our big sister was taking our photos so we pretended to walk and run around. but no, my love for her is not pretend.

the injured drunkard. this was taken almost a week after my sports accident. i was in denial that my knee injury was serious so i went with my team to Bantayan island and braved the 3-hour land trip and ferry ride, in crutches! when i got back home, i learned i could never play football again — i tore a ligament on my right knee and it required surgery. :,(

this night was when Harry met Yapi. i don’t usually go to office parties but was forced by my friends to because i just shunned Harry a few days back as i was too insensitive to notice he was making a move on me. one of the nights that i will never, ever regret!

my second Etelecare team. these guys are goofballs and pains in the ass but i loved and coached them to death to be better performers.

christmas day 2007. i was heart broken, losing hope and drunk (yet again). my friends and i drove to gas station in the north reclamation area, bought a few bottles of beer and goofed off on the street. i remember drunk crying on this night too. *hush*

Vudu party on new year of 2008. this is the last time my sister Aimee and I, together with our friends, attended the open bar new year’s party at Vudu. the red dress started my polka-only new years too.

my first time in Boracay on February 2008. i haven’t been back yet and i plan to do so this year. is it just me or is the sand in Boracay really annoying? it’s sugary fine that no matter how you wash off, they stick to your body until you get back home. it settles into uncomfortable areas too. haha!

the last time my old flag football team, Dark Angels, got together before i officially retired (after my injury) and dived deep into work. one of the best times of my life.

trues humbly united gather souls. my best friends in the whole world. we have been friends for more than a decade and i’m so lucky to have them. this was taken on September of 2008.

the crazy Vonage retention parties. a retention account is crazy hell but the same effort we put into working hard, the same effort we put in partying. as they say, work hard, party even harder!

my family on the New Year of 2009. one of my last Friendster photos. hello Facebook!

so there you go. i have tons of photos in my disk drive but i wouldn’t want to bore you. it was weird and awesome browing through old photos. i had to delete a few to officially erase the foolishness but one thing i realized from browsing through them is that life should have no regrets. i’ve always had the Meet Joe Black line as my motto: ‘run the risk…if you haven’t tried, you haven’t live” and i can tell, i have lived!

[NOTE: photos were taken using camera phones, my sister’s trusty old canon ixus or armand’s old DSLR.]

more afternoons like this please

before heading back home, we spent the night of Easter at Dipolog City as our flight was scheduled on Monday afternoon. we visited the new Dipolog boulevard which was almost 3 kilometers in length and just whiled the afternoon taking photos, watching the sunset and relishing the last hours of breathing fresh air before heading back to our slightly polluted city. we also had dinner there in the form of pork and chicken barbecue and the uber-yummy fresh water crabs in Dipolog. too bad i wasn’t able to take photos of the food. i was just too hungry to remember.

it’s only been a mere 5 days since i’ve been back and i’m now longing for more afternoons like these. i don’t know, i might be unmotivated to work or am just lazy. i think i’m just lazy..haha!

photo details:

1) the Barlas (my cousin and me) in our matching crocheted beanies. these were not matched intentionally for us but i nabbed the brown one from her when she showed me that she had two beanies in her bag.

2) just a moment of vanity.

3) the extra long boulevard. if we had something like this in Cebu, i’d totally bring over our dogs and just hang out here all the time. it’s the perfect spot to watch the sunset.

4) my mom and my dad. we were teasing them for still being so sweet after more than 30 years of marriage. i love them to death.

5) this was supposed to be a candid shot until my cousin and i saw our other cousin trying to take the shot.

striped top with sequined pocket – bangkok find

denim cut-offs – shopyapi.com

blue striped ballet flats – shopyapi.com

brown crocheted beanie – custom made by my aunt

white sunnies – random

church dressing in humid weather

for four days in our province of Sindangan, these were the only photos i took that were..uhhh..for the lack of a better term “presentable..” no, i’m not saying i didn’t have fun nor that the other photos my relatives and i took were not fun or were ugly. by “presentable”, i meant that i was fully dressed and doesn’t look like melting. Sindangan is located in Mindanao, which is the southern island group in the Philippines. southern, meaning it’s very near the ecuator, which means it’s hotter and more humid.

photo details:

1) this what i wore on the first we attended Mass, on Holy Thursday and it is the only outfit i brought that was comfortable in the humid weather. made me regret not bringing more cotton or shift dresses.

2 – 5) food, food, food. eating fish everyday may be daunting but not if you live just 2 blocks away from the beach and the seafood is fresh everyday. fish and other seafood is softer and creamier in your mouth. so i present to you, grilled tulingan, fish ceviche in coconut milk (kinilaw na isda in coconut milk), the fresh and delicious steamed rock lobster and my uncle’s grilled steak blue marlin. YUM!

6) the sole reason that we come back to Sindangan every year — the carro for the Resurrected Christ. this has been in our family for generations and every year, our responsibility is to dress up the carro to ready it for the re-enactment of His meeting with Mary and to serve breakfast to the church members and the little angels that sing in the re-enactment called, Sugat.

ps. i helped decorate the carro. my mom did the top parts, i did the bottom ones. what do you think?

printed dress – thrifted | turquoise belt – robinson’s dept store, dumaguete |

multi-colored gladiator flats – khaosan road, bangkok | elephant necklace – carbon find

back to the provincial life

there’s a week in every year that people take to disconnect and go back to the basics. i’ve taken that break and am currently in our small town of Sindangan, the one place we go back to every summer for the holy week. i haven’t been here for 4 years due to work and am very glad to be back. we go back here every holy week to fulfill our obligation as a family to prepare the carro for the ‘Sugat’ — the re-enactment of the meeting of Mary and the resurrected Jesus Christ.

the place is not the same as before, what with our grandma and grandpa gone (may they rest in peace) but the memories still linger. it’s not an ideal summer home here, oh not not at all. our house is just the right size, we have no cable tv (no TV at all), we only have old songs played over and over (think, frank sinatra and elton john), we all sleep in the big room with our beds on the floor and this is the first summer i’ve brought internet over. despite the lack of modern technology and activities that are supposedly ‘productive’, we are definitely satisfied by simply sitting down in the living room after meals and just talking and joking with each other.

try it. disconnect, sit down with family and just talk. you’ll find more connection than expected.

(photo credit here)

there’s no place like home

i must have watched ‘Wizard of Oz’ a hundred times as a kid especially when my mom left for a vacation in Hongkong in 1991 and i had to watch over my little sister, Aimee who had really high fever from separation anxiety. we must have replayed the movie a dozen times over the course of 3 days because it’s the only movie that could calm her down and stop her from crying. of course, right now, she can’t recall the memory because she was just 5 years old at that time. i miss taking care of my little sister and ironically, i hate doing it too. we spoil her too much.

printed pleated chiffon dress – props

turquoise belt – robinson’s department store, dumaguete

black studded wedges – ebay find

stacks of bangles – gifted from Sweet | carbon finds

skull ring – carbon finds

black stone ring – props

turquoise ring – www.shopyapi.com

dotted and sober: how i met 2011

LIFE CHANGING — this is how i sum up my 2010. i left a high-paying job that made me unhappy and immersed myself in the world of the unknown, visited Bangkok and finally rode an elephant, invested a bit in the retail business which is enough to sustain my savings for the year and by the end of the year, both my sisters moved out of the house leaving me as an only child to my parents. i must say if this was how my 2010 went then God must be preparing me to conquer the world by 2011. so 2011, bring it on! ♥

as with the many changes in my life last 2010, my family and i celebrated new year’s eve differently this year too. my mom and i finally got over the melodrama and were well-prepared for our new year’s eve feast. instead of eating at home though while counting down for the new year, we ate early and drove up to one of the mountain subdivisions here in Cebu to watch the fireworks all over the city. the city was in a fog of firework smoke and looked like it was on fire with all the lights. it was amazing.

my friends and i then met up at penthouse to party til’ sunrise. unfortunately though, the party ended a little early at pent and the dance floor was half empty by 4AM. we headed straight to vudu and danced til’ the sun had risen and our feet got so sore they became numb. original plan was to drink til’ we drop but we were so sober when we got home that we ended up eating home-made sushi at our place before packing up and sleeping at 7:30 AM.

i hope all of you had a blast on your new year’s celebrations! have a great year ahead!

ps. aren’t my sister’s aldo strappy sandals just beautiful? so jealous.

polka maxi dress – platinum mall, bangkok

black studded wedge booties – ebay find

white fedora hat – pratunam, bangkok

necklaces: round engraved – gifted from gelie | angel wings – carbon find

bangles – carbon finds

rings – platinum mall, bangkok

the best things in life don’t come in wrapping paper

♥ merry christmas everyone! ♥

i hope all of you had fun and memorable christmases — whether they be with your immediate family or families you’ve found in friends.

mine surely was different this year. for one, we were missing one family member as our little sister is in australia. our christmas decorations were put up a little late and cooking our christmas dinner was different in a sense that we were missing a few ingredients — in short, we were all over the place. it took my mom and i some time to realize that we should stop being all melodramatic and start moving our asses to make this christmas still memorable even without my baby sister.

despite the semi-melancholic way we prepared for christmas this year, i still have a LOT to thank for and thinking about those things sure made me smile all throughout the season.

photo taken behind our office by harry (with my blog pet, armand alforque..LOL)

black and white dress – chatuchak, bangkok

chambray top – thrifted

black tights – metro ayala dept store

black wedges – parisian, sm dept store

necklaces: round engraved – gifted by angelie | angel wings – carbon find

beaded bangle – chatuchak, bangkok

skull bracelet – carbon find

brown sunnies – it park bazaar

teenage excitement

although this has caused a little argument with harry (which has been resolved so don’t worry), i miss my teen years — the ‘kilig’ and excitement that came with it. i am not specifically talking about my love life as there are other important aspects of life other than that. i am talking about the general feeling of being a teen. being filled with hopes and aspirations. being all set to conquer the world. having this determination to be the best that we can be. reality takes a huge bite out of these things and certain dreams have to be set aside. i was never in denial that growing up is easy but i also never thought that there are times that it would be really hard, like having to accept that people i love would eventually have to live separate lives from me. it’s inevitable and i should have had this wisdom now that i’m 26 but it’s still hard.

in my usual way of dealing with things, i am looking at the bright side after wallowing in the confusion. immediate plans for the last 2 months of 2010 are: canvass and window shop for a bigger bed for my room and a new shelf for all of my books (and the books that i have yet to buy), search for interior design inspirations for the room that will now be all for myself, plan a family getaway and finally, learn how to control the waterworks when we do have to be at the airport come december.

ps. thanks to everyone for all your thoughts, wisdom and opinions on my last post. fashion is indeed a tricky business and if we’re not careful, it can draw us into a world of materialism and vanity instead of art and self-expression.

cotton printed dress – chatuchak, bangkok

green tunic used as cover-up – mom’s closet

brown peep-toe platforms – CMG

necklaces: charms – carbon find | fairy – props

bangles: wooden green and blue – props | brass ones – carbon finds

rings: brass skull, burnt orange stone – carbon finds | oval blue stone and green stone – props

zebra-striped fedora hat – sm dept store

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

where i am + what i can afford

ever since i was a kid, i have been reading fashion magazines (even late copies of U.S. seventeen magazines) and just absorb all the fashion in it. i’d take in all the details in editorials and try to emulate them in real life. i was not born rich and did not grow up rich so we always had to make do with what we have. i am not saying that we couldn’t afford good shoes or clothes too as special occasions do call for special clothes but growing up, we always had the ‘i can do that’ attitude. we’d admire a piece of accessory and if it’s too expensive, we’d tend to say, ‘well, i can make my own anyway.’ it may not be apparent now that i know how to make my own accessories but i’ve had far too many DIY projects while in school to save me. my mom and aunts have introduced us to ukay-ukay (thrifting) and scouring our lola’s old closets at a very young age that we learned to admire quality clothing and materials over synthetic ones found at the malls or retail shops. my dad has also instilled in us the value of saving up for what we want so we have grown to pay in cash and not by plastic.

i am writing this after reading my favorite Philippine fashion magazine, Preview. although they occasionally do features on outfits that cost less than a thousand or have recently done a feature on department store buys, most of the items and products they print all cost above P1000. they have bags or shoes that cost P10,000 – P500,000 and i always am at awe at how people in a third-world country can afford this. i say i am lucky for having had sufficient values on money growing up, but i fear for the other girls like me (yes, the ones in the middle class) who desperately want to attain such luxurious items. i believe credit cards were created for the middle class only so we can ‘seemingly’ afford what we really can’t by having the ‘virtual’ purchasing power even when we don’t have the actual money for it.

oh no, i am not against those Filipinos who can afford Louis Vuitton, Hermes or Chanel. if they can afford it and can easily shell hundreds of thousands without fearing for their lives and worrying about not being able to eat or afford fare to work, then i am happy for them. i will not deny that i dream of being in that state one day. i will also not stop subscribing to Preview just because they print uber-expensive items because i have learned to use my envy and channel it the best way i know how, to use these items as inspiration. all i am saying is if we can’t afford it, let’s make do with what we have. i am perfectly happy conquering ukay-ukay (thrift) shops for all my clothes all for less than P300, buying my ballet flats and flat sandals in SM department store for only P500 and accessories at the shops downtown and i will continue to save up for the P2000 high-heeled platforms that i spotted at CMG (until i can afford it!).

mixed-print dress – thrifted

purple blazer – linea italia (borrowed from charm)

tan cut-out heels – le donne (gifted from harry)

white braided double belt – pratunam, bangkok

bangkok tales episode five: buddha maxi overload

due to the pressure of Thailand buddha temples’ dress codes, we had to overly prepare for this just to make sure we get to see all the temples planned for the day. the dress code says to not wear shorts or fitted jeans (it’s too humid to wear jeans anyway), no short skirts or mini-skirts, no sleeveless tops and no slip-ons for shoes. well, if we have to wear such conservative clothes then we might as well have to dress it up right? and dress up we did. this has got to be my most fave outfit during the trip — mainly because i did get to wear layers, accessories and a studded belt.

we had a super funny and green tour guide for the day. everyone called her ms. bangkok and we thought it was a joke until she introduced herself to be ms. bangkok 20 years ago. my favorite line from her right at the start of the trip? “if you have questions, you can ask me anything just not my body…” LOL.

i wanted to tell you about all the temples we visited but then i’ll just let the photos do the talking.

on aimee: black and white striped maxi dress – props | blue cardigan – pratunam find | white fedora – pratunam find | black faux leather bag – sm dept store | black sandals – night market find

final and huge shopping post tomorrow! check back for two items for sale and a giveaway!

bangkok tales episode three: a dream come true

when we were planning our trip to Bangkok 5 months prior, one of my wishes was to ride, hold and feed an elephant. it came true on our second day in Bangkok! right after the floating market, we visited a place where we can ride an elephant for 30-40 minutes for only 600 Baht. our elephant’s name was Nhuong Nuon and she’s 25 years old. she’s really sweet, kind and didn’t give a fuss at all. she made the ride worth while because she kept stopping to pull out grass to eat and had to poo-poo 3 times! LOL. our elephant driver was really kind too as he got off Nhuong Nuon and volunteered to take photos of us while Nhuong Nuon followed him. i had the time of my life on that 30-minute ride!

we also dropped by Samphram Zoo to watch an elephant show — which was equally fun as well as the elephants were sooo adorable! one young elephant wouldn’t stop dancing, bouncing his head and wagging his right leg every time there’s music. at the end of the show, the elephants lined up and we had the chance to feed them. of course, i immediately jumped at the chance too! other than the elephant show, we also fed a line (or bunch) of crocodiles with chicken meat and took a picture with two tigers! oh how i love animals!

the day ended with scrumptious and cheap thailand street food — coconut and corn fried dumplings, sesame pork (my fave!) and grilled pork & fish balls. we also hung out across the nearby 7 eleven for a bottle of drinks — bacardi for aimee and me and singha beer for the rest.

shopping post tomorrow — 3 items for sale so do check it out!