polka dots – Girl Gone Cuckoo

in keeping with old superstitions

as with all other new years in the past 5 years (here, here and here), i make sure to wear polka dots to greet it. not only am i a fan of polka dots and that these have a gravitational pull to me whenever i see them but old superstition say that wearing polka dots bring luck in money. it never hurts to believe in a little bit of superstition, don’t you think?

this new year was spent with my sisters and unlike last year, we didn’t end up barefoot and crawling. we found ourselves still overly sober at 7:00 AM that we had to drop by a 7-eleven on the way home to grab a few bottles of beer for a night cap. nevertheless, as long it’s spent with my sister and our husbands of course, it was still worth the while. ♥

the second reason why we celebrate the holidays – HAM!

oh mr. Jack Daniels, you look so good but doesn’t make me feel good.

polka red for Japan

although news gets old the following day, the tragedy that has struck Japan will forever remain in our minds. the images of a community being washed away by that strong force of a Tsunami was devastating and heart-breaking. Japan still continues to get strong after shocks from the earthquake, up until last week. so i am wearing red to honor Japan. if you have a Chictopia account, you can upload your own photo wearing red and/or donate a minimum amount of $10 to Red Cross here. this week, postpone your craving for that most coveted blouse or your need for a daily dose of a venti from Starbucks. give a little as a small sacrifice goes a long way.

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

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

make it your own

this may sound cheesy quoting something from a video-game-turned-movie but it is true: “we make our own destiny…” that doesn’t mean that i don’t believe that God has a higher plan for us or that everything happens for a reason because i do. it’s just that the choices we make and the risks we take mold our lives. we cannot just sit on our asses and think that we are victims of our own lives. we have to work hard at making our lives better and only when we fail do we accept that everything happens for a reason. sometimes, failing once should not be something that should discourage us and stop us from trying. if we fail once, it just means that we should do things differently and try again. it is when we fail that we learn of our faults and learn to pick ourselves up.

i am not invincible. no one is (unless superman does exist) but life is too short to be in fear all the time. life is too short to wait for something good to happen to our lives. i say, let’s make it our own — destiny, that is. take risks. fall in love. follow your heart.

ps. meet my ‘beanie’ puppy — louie. he was given by my former manager for christmas and he has been with me through a lot of stressful times and yes, risks.

pale pink polka dress – lil’ sister’s

white bag – lil’ sister’s

white studded sandals – so fab! (a gift from aimee)

dog tag necklace – custom-made

imprinted round necklace – a gift from gelie

bangles – all from props (now in maze, ayala!)

can i hide in my closet?

i realized that i am not a kid anymore and cannot fit in my closet. i remember that my mom and big sister would use to go in these midnight sales in robinsons and i would tag along with them. while they’re choosing and fitting clothes, i’d hide under the clothes racks, appreciating the different textures and prints. i’d also try to scare my mom and sister too. i also remember that whenever my cousins, sister and i would play hide and seek, the closet was always the first thing i’d go to. my mom and dad had these double closets where there are two iron rods back to back. i’d burrow deep into the clothes and hide at the back. i can stay there for an hour.

i wish i can hide in my closet now. or just under the clothes rack. that would be a perfect excuse not to go to work. don’t you think?

oh by the way, i have submitted my resignation and will be tendering my last 30 days in our company. wish me luck! as i don’t have any plans at all. good thing my mom approved of my plan to just rest for a month. i am hacking my brains for things to do from august – september. i really want to get back to custom-making clothes, DIY-ing and jewelry making. let’s see if my laziness doesn’t get to the best of me. haha!

sheer polka dress (used as top) – random

jeans – chilly papas

button-up jacket – bossini (still thrifted)
off-white peep-toe heels – janeo

necklaces: eyeglasses – random | rose engraved watch – hongkong

stacks of faux gold bangles – gifted from india

white enamel bangle – props

juvenile and loving it

everytime i think of the arcade, i remember high school. the days when we didn’t own cellphones and when my friends and i meet each other at the mall, we’d have to stay put and wait at the agreed spot because if you leave, you will get lost. the meeting place was always timezone, national bookstore or haha, i hate to say this but ‘blue magic…’ LOL. (for those who grew up in cebu city during the late 1990’s — 1997 to 2000, you know what i mean!) those were the days when all we have is P50 in our pockets and all we do in the mall is eat a couple of snacks (mcdonald’s fries or ice cream) and follow our crushes around. no, not follow but stalk! line up at photo booths and have our pictures taken, wait for 2 hours for it to get developed so we stalk our crushes again! oh, take me back to high school where life was simple.

ps. will be going back to daanbantayan this weekend so i will see you guys this monday when we get back…in my last attempt to gather in the rays and soak in salt water. this is for april’s post-nuptial trash-the-dress shoot!

polka top – thrifted (my mom’s)

folded denim shorts – props

navy blue flats with rhinestones – parisian

thin white belt – random

white bag – mongkok ladies’ market, hk

rings: black oval – props, square stone ring – random

gun-metal silver bangles – props | random

the irony of ‘our’ daylight savings time

my mom and dad told me that we used to have daylight savings time here in the philippines — during the marcos regime. i was just born at that time so i couldn’t remember. being in the call center business for almost 4 years now, i’ve had daylight savings too as our schedules follow US or Canada time. it mostly also depends on what region the company is in — so far, i’ve worked PST, EST and now, MST. you can imagine how confused i get sometimes when i step out of the office. sometimes, i greet my friends on their birthdays a day late…LOL.

now, every time we start DST, just as some of you guys do, our schedules get moved an hour earlier too. so from 9:00 PM – 6:00 AM, my schedule got moved to 8:00 PM – 5:00 AM. which made me ecstatic as i can go home when the sun is barely out and i can ‘save’ on the cooler part of the day. when the actual reason for DST is to make the most out of the sun, our DST here in the call center is a reason to still go home dark and a bit cold. there’s nothing like changing into comfier clothes, snuggling in bed or getting good ol’ breakfast at sunrise. DST saves us a bit of sanity. plus, who would want to get out of work with the sun scorching on your face, right?

here are photos i took of our street, the road on the way to get my sister (who’s a nurse) at the hospital and the city hospital she works in.

how has daylight savings time gone for you, so far?

black and white polka dress – thrifted

black leggings – ???

black suede peep-toe booties – celine (harry’s gift!)

owl watch necklace – thrifted at manalili

bangles: wooden – raw materials store | faux gold ones – gifts

this heartache

this was taken last sunday when i decided to suprise harry after his shift (at 9:00 AM) for breakfast at one of the retaurants in I.T. Park. decided to bring along snickers so he won’t grow up ignorant from the world since he’s mostly couped up in the room. he can’t go out because our old dog is so mean and possessive of our attention (especially my dad’s) that we’re afraid she’d attack him. being a sunday morning, the park was serene, perfect for just hanging out and chilling. i sat by the pond for a while and enjoyed being alone for a few minutes. those are one of my favorite moments — when i can just be alone and be allowed to think.

so this weekend, harry and i watched one of the local movies ‘miss you like crazy‘… i’ve always loved the tandem of john lloyd cruz and bea alonzo on-screen (don’t like her too much anywhere else..haha!) the movie was predictable but still interesting. i loved the concept. i loved the scenes. i love the conversations and the lines. and it brought about certain emotions that i’ve suppressed for a while.

i miss my best friend so damn much. it’s harder breaking up with a friend than with a boyfriend. you’d take years of friendship and just throw it away. she was my soulmate. we could be together and not say anything but know how we are feeling. we had a falling out almost 3 years ago and my heart is still aching, everyday. although i have harry, there are times when i’d feel so damn alone because i lost the only person who can understand me without asking why. i have tried opening up to my other friends but it’s just different. she’s in hawaii and i’m here. miles apart and we can’t bridge this gap that we have.

so now i have woken up with very swollen eyes, having cried myself to sleep last night.

polka mini-dress – thrifted

black cropped cardigan – thrifted

brown sandals – prima donna

brown leather bag – thrifted

bangles: orange polka – a gift | pink polka – DIY | bronze – props

vintage car necklace – manalili

sunnies – thrifted at carbon

trademark polka

this is what i wore for valentine’s day. i know, i know, it’s a very late post but it’s perfect because pipi of black hair do did this illustration of me and my ‘trademark’ polka! thank you so much! i love it!

anyway, i’ve only got 30 minutes to spend on blogging today as i have to pack for yet another weekend at the beach! this time, i’d be with my co-workers whom i don’t know very well — but am obliged to go because if i don’t come, i’d have to work on a saturday! waaaahhhh! i’d rather spend it on the beach than be in my cubicle. i’ve got my escape plans covered anyway. what do i mean by ‘escape plans?’ welp, i usually have this tendency to take myself apart from the crowd by plugging in my headphones, immersing myself in my music and just staring at the sea (or at the crowd or in space…LOL). you could say, i sometimes love my own world and am perfectly fine with being in it even in the middle of a crowd.

ps. i will make sure to check out all your blogs and comment back when i get back on monday! for now, happy weekend everyone!

blue polka dress with lace details – thrifted

maryjane oxfords – so fab (gift from big sis!)

thin gold belt – props

white ring – a purchase from a friend at P70

bangles: wooden – manalili | gold ones – from india

sunnies – thrifted at manalili

day two: sunrise til’ sunset

warning: image-heavy post. what can i say? we spent all day at the beach — 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM. so please be patient. grab a drink or snack while you wait for the images to load…*wink*

woke up at 5:00 AM due to a power outage in the resort. who need power anyway? the wind is cool and the air is fresh. we didn’t have time to waste. we changed into our suits and grabbed our beach bag filled with sunblock, carmex, my canon sx20, tripod and the sarong. took a walk on the long strip of beach and found other people up and about, taking their breakfast as well. harry and i had to wait for ours though as the resort cafe opened at 8:00 AM…haha! it was pure relaxation…what with a cottage with a very comfy bed right in front of the beach. some people may find this boring — nothing to do but stare at the water! but that’s exactly what we came here to do. to do absolutely nothing but relax, listen to some good music and the waves, eat good food and feel the sea breeze on our faces.

ps. had some fun with the ‘color accent’ setting on my camera. i’m crazy about colors! and i couldn’t help but select a few to emphasize.

blue long sleeved top – dolce and gabbana (big sister’s closet…sssshhh!)

khaki shorts – roxy

brown and white polka swimsuit – props

beach bag – roxy

bangles – props

blue tie-dyed sarong – boracay

sunnies – thrifted at carbon

happy polka new year!

my polka dots may seem cliche for new year’s but not for the superstitious and those who love polka. they say that polka dots or round things on new year mean you get more cash for the year…*crossing my fingers* it’s my 3rd year wearing polka for new year’s eve (see photos below)…and so far, i’m loving it.

it’s the first new year’s eve not spent with my family and although i’m crushed as are all my agents, we did try to make the most out of it. we brought food to the office and i bought them all horns to toot when the clock strikes 12. so we stood under the drizzle and screamed and tooted outside the building, looked at the fireworks from our windows when we got back to our floor and ate as much as we could. and now i’m home, eating chocolate cake while everyone is asleep. *sigh*

here are my past polka new year’s:

new year at vudu (2008)

new year at waterfront hotel (2009)

polka shift dress – thrifted

black tights – hanes

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

long necklace – a gift from ivy

rings – props