1/4

last day of the month. ack.

i am always always in shock whenever it's the end of the month and start of a new one. i knew it was coming but i'm still in awe how time could swoosh by so quickly. first quarter of 2011, done. just like that. without a warning.

so how was my march 2011?

• business-wise, it's better than last month's but not so much. there wasn't much employee drama [or maybe none that i know of]. still have a lot to improve on customer service and scheduling [but nobody really comes on time, too]. bathroom light still for repair. accent frame still undone. lanterns gone missing [hey, not my fault. my sister's "friend" lost it]. april, please be my month. 
• i was emotionally unstable. always crying like a church on monday, whatever that means. there were some days when i just want to stay in bed. but things need to be done.
• sa totoo lang, naririndi na ako sa al jazeera.
• doing actually pretty good with my abstinence from coke and mocha frap. and i was able to resist temptation so many times and for this, i deserve a whole 1.5 bottle of coke and a venti mocha frap on easter sunday. but what's shitty about this is i quit coke and mocha frap and i still gain weight.
• at the rate i'm going, i'm never hitting my goal of 100 movies for the year 2011. when i find someone to assist me in my manning duties, i'd play hooky for one whole day and have a dvd marathon. have a handful of titles here that i wanna watch but don't have the time to. 
• my sister still sleeps on my bed. i fixed her bed so many times already but she still sleeps on my bed. not that i have anything against her; it's just she bosses me around in my own bed. she lets me sleep beside the window, i hate sleeping beside the window. she wants the blinds closed, i want them open. she watches al jazeera all the freakin' time. 
• so addicted to cityville right now. seriously, i wanna hit myself in the head for getting started on this one. i lose precious time playing this game. it's obsessive, i tell you. so if you're not yet into this one, don't even think it. just don't.

anyway, what better way to end the month of march than with an emumeration of good things that happened to me today:

♥ cute label my sister made me for an order
♥ free lunch c/o mommy
♥ a client informing me that she got me more orders
♥ discovering my mommy's stash of chocolates
♥ pasalubong from AD: mangoes from zambales and m&m's
♥ mint milky way chocolates bought from the dollar store
♥ mass at padre pio
♥ grocery-shopping with AD. was at the fresh station and saw lots of varieties of mushrooms! andami palang mushrooms?!? so cute ☺
♥ free hungarian sausage sandwich c/o AD

most have to do with food. na naman. hanubayan!
basta. last day of march today. please be awesome.

week 12: for the nth time, insecurity kicks in

i just realized that if you count time by the week, it seems as if things only happened yesterday. march is almost done and when you think about it, time goes by so fast. but counting it on a weekly basis, it's only the twelfth week. just 40 more and we're gonna party like it's two thousand and twelve ;)

♦monday♦

laundry duty before heading to mega for a catch-up session with my abuela- ycel. we were supposed to go to this "free" lunch buffet she had won on a raffle but my sister warned me that this could be just like one of the free dinner buffet they attended once. so we just had lunch at racks. yummy lunch although it could have been much better had it been served warm. saw tickets to the script concert. yay! had dq ice cream while waiting for my ride going to my nail polish supplier. home by 4pm and feeling a little woozy again.

♦tuesday♦

tried looking for my sister's computer installers so that means i semi cleaned up her room. turns out her installers are with her already. and oh, i tried organizing our cds into organizers, each categorized into us/uk movies, korean/chinese/japanese movies, korean/chinese/japanese series, us/uk tv series, audio cds and downloaded movies. a lot of movies i haven't seen yet. i really wish i have the time. soon!

♦wednesday♦

text blast. book daddy's tickets going home. then off to the shop and do my manning duties. heart center to visit tita cel in the neuro icu. hospitals make me sad.

♦thursday♦

was supposed to fix supplies for delivery in the morning but mommy wanted us to hitch a ride with AD going to makati so put off supplies delivery for friday. meeting AB's friend for dinner so i have to buy her installers already. AD parked in park square so just took a jeep going to makati cinema square. was able to buy installers for 50 each. good thing i didn't buy from odeon last week cos each installer is 120. plus, got to buy three movies: how do you know, morning glory and the chaperone. stayed at sm food court with mommy, waiting for AD to get off work then off to greenbelt 3 to meet with G. dinner at oody's. yummy thai food- tom yum, pad thai and my favorite for the night, fried catfish with indian mango. AC offered to treat us to mocha frap. drat. can't have mocha frap until easter sunday. naisip ko lang, ang saya siguro ng easter sunday ko ;)

♦friday♦

rome to make orders for delivery on monday and supplies for delivery in the shop. camote cue merienda again but didn't eat as many as i did before. which is a good thing, actually. went to the shop- manning duties! stayed until closing time. i think.

♦saturday♦

woke up feeling like crap. my hair's all stringy and i have nothing to wear. that is not an exaggeration. i literally have nothing to wear. i hate these effing back fats that create me a muffin top. fml. i almost didn't go to school because of this. but it was a good decision to go to school and not stay in the house and mope all day. fun class, as usual. quiapo with joji and jean after class. wellmanson to buy stuff i don't really need. quick lunch with joji since i have to be in santolan station by 3pm so we could make it to the 4pm wedding. was late to the wedding (not my fault, though. i arrived at the destination on time) so we had to finish the whole ceremony para maka-epal sa picture taking.

♦sunday♦

nene took her day off so i had to do opening for the shop. joaquim accompanied me to the shop since we were supposed to be there only for a short time. it took longer than planned. had to go home already since he was asking for dede. the family was not yet decided whether or not to go to meet with cousins. mommy has this tiff with TB; hence, we avoid going to get-togethers. since no one's going to cook for lunch, we went to greenhills and had lunch at yellow cab. dear darla and charlie chan pasta! went around the tiangge, scouring for good buys. there was this brown dress i was eying- bought it, subsidized by mommy. went to ali mall to meet with our cousin, dodoy. turns out he has this dinner with the gf's family so talagang hi/hello lang kami. we had dinner at hap chan and of course, default order was lemon chicken. lasang gamot. 

pansin ko lang puro pagkain ang highlights ng mga araw. which explains the effing weight. fml.

project 100: life as we know it

finally got to squeeze in a movie in my busy-busyhan schedule.

first saw this movie, at least the first few minutes of it, last January at AD's. since I dozed off to la-la-land in the first few minutes of it, I really thought it was boring. glad I gave it a second chance ☺

when their friends peter and alison died in a car crash, holly (katherine heigl) and messer (josh duhamel) were left with the guardianship of their goddaughter, sophie. these two hasn't gotten along ever since; hence, the set-up that guardianship calls seems impossible. but they gave it a try. and as what usually happens in rom-com movies, they fall in love albeit their mutual dislike for each other.

♥ i'm a sucker for rom-coms so automatically, i like it. plus, sophie's such a cutie.
♥ is it just me or do most of katherine heigl's (recent) movies require her to play the role of control freaks? such as 27 dresses, the ugly truth and this movie. no violent reaction here though cos i think she portrays it just perfectly.
♥ the only thing that seems so sudden in this movie was the development of messer's feelings towards holly. he was obviously not attracted to her and when he sees that there's someone who likes holly, all of a sudden he decides to like her. what's up with that? i just wish that they made messer show even just a few hints that he's attracted to her before the story goes into fast forward. but it's okay cos they ended up together. yay!
♥ i really wanna learn how to bake cupcakes cos i'm seriously considering it as an alternate career. seriously.
♥ holly describes her cake shop as a small store chuvachenes and this reminds me of myself when people ask me what i do for a living and i tell them i have this small nail salon (which i intend to make big. soon)

it was a fun watch and again here goes that theme about life and how it happens when you're planning something else. makes me want to give up planning for good. ha. my youngest sister highly recommended that i watch this and i think i know why- she can totally relate to it. having kids totally changed her life. oh well.

because i have a relationship with my blog

i just feel like blogging about nothing in particular. just stuff. y'know...

what's for dinner?

thai food and okray-dishing.

the fam met with AB's friend. pahabol na padala. and also to get to know ate's friends. at least we know the company she keeps and we know that she's in good company. kwentuhan over tom yum, pad thai, spring rolls and that yummy fried catfish dish with shredded indian mangoes. winning! lol

had dinner in greenbelt 3, at oody's, which is very near café havana and we all know that café havana is a pick-up place, if you know what i mean ;) ;) the place is just sprawling with "exotic beauties," trannies and siliconified creatures. i just can't.

tv series junkie

i have my tv shows i religiously follow (and download)- gossip girl, how i met your mother and chuck. but aside from those three, i watch a whole lot of other series, mostly about crime and investigation. the mentalist, bones, dexter and lie to me. i have many definitions of a perfect day for me and one of them would be being on bed the whole day, having a DVD marathon of these shows while munching on a whole lot of chips and coke. heaven!

i could have done this a month ago but not as of now. even my project 100 movies this 2011 seems unachievable.

frustrated bookworm i am

so much for my two-books-per-month quota cos i'm only on my fifth book. it's near month-end and i should be on my sixth already. still on helen fisher's why we love. i love science and psychology and how the human brain works. amazing. just amazing.

anyway, i want to read some business books i've been promising myself to read for self-development. ha. but then again i also have susane colasanti's waiting for you, when it happens and something like fate; sarah dessner's someone like you and the truth about forever; wendelin van draanen's flipped. so many books, so little time. 

i really wish i could devour books like some voracious reader out there. 

tengo miedo de terremotos

with what's happened to japan a few weeks ago and also to new zealand, philippines and just a few hours ago, myanmar. they say that the philippines is already due for a big one. was last tuesday's 5.4 magnitude quake (which i didn't feel, btw) it? i hope so. but we should still be prepared just in case it happens. things to do, earthquake-related:

1. prepare a go-bag a bag containing all the essentials you could grab and go i times of emergencies. this is a must. i hope i could get my lazy arse to get this done
2. move my bed to the center of the room my bed is currently under a suspended bookshelf with lotsa books and other stuff that would fall on me should a strong earthquake happen nighttime



imagine. all these would fall on me. ouch?

3. sleep with decent clothes on cos if in case in happens and i need to go out of our house, i won't be in butas-butas shirt and shorts and sans bra
4. pray amen.

is it really the beginning of the end of the world? i know it's a little bit overkill but with everything that's been happening, you can't blame me if i start believing what's said to be foolish prophecies such as 2012. if it were only me, i think i've lived my life. maybe not yet to the fullest, but i've already enjoyed some. i worry about my nephews. such cute, innocent darlings.  

must go to bed. haggard na naman tayo niyan bukas. toodles xoxo

happiness is...

♥ free lunch because it was joji's birthday. yummy in my tummy ;)
♥ some semblance of order in my room in our cabinet, at least. more cleaning up and decluttering to do but organizing the closet is a start. i need to get rid of more stuff and make space for new ones to come.
♥ lunch dates with friends ycel and i met for lunch yesterday. we were supposed to go to this free lunch buffet she won in a raffle on a stub we filled up the last time we had lunch. it was for astoria hotel. my sister said they'd just sell us units or shares. i knew there was a catch. nothing comes for free these days... so we just had lunch pero hindi buffet.
♥ except when you have awesome friends who treat you to a free ticket upgrade usapan talaga namin we're getting the P1650 seats. she got the P2650 seats instead. and i only paid her 1650, totally oblivious to the fact that she got more expensive tix. thank you sooo much, lola! though it's too much. really.
♥ pasalubong from my ate my stash of mineral make-up. "nagme-make up ka na ngayon ha," my sister told me. not really. i just put on my bare minerals foundation (na hindi masyado halata) and put on my brows and i'm good to go. helps me achieve a cleaner complexion.
♥ bath and body's green tea and cucumber cologne cos it smells so much like body shop's moonflower. i had this when i was in college. body shop discontinued this product. corny. but i have a substitute now so, whoopeedoo :D

moving on

allow me to be cheesy. thanks. i just find this funny and before yesterday, true.

Nakamove on ka na

And you’re like:



Nakita mo siya tapos nagsmile siya sa’yo:



Sabay sabing “Hindi pa pala.. :|”

well, he didn't smile at me... anyhoo, it was a good decision to go cold turkey last month. i was holding on to it just for the sake of having a 'crush,' something to look forward to but then it started feeling like a chore and i reckon, not healthy anymore. so i decided to just quit it. madali lang pala ;)

14 days and counting

coke and mocha frap- free for 14 days now. have done without my major sugar source but i've been substituting with other sugary food such as camote covered with caramelized sugar, mango/lemon iced tea, and coffee. not really a coffee drinker, especially hot coffee. ask my family and friends, the only coffee i order from starbucks are mocha frap and [just recently] iced caramel macchiato. but there's this 3-in-1 coffee mix from indonesia i like and AC brought some home which made me discover that...

i can't have too much caffeine.

i wonder why every time i eat champorado (homemade, made from fresh tablea or blocks of cocoa powder), i feel my insides tremble. i never really understood why that happens to me every time i eat champorado. until last sunday...

after i drank a cup of the indonesian brand of 3-in-1 coffee, i felt the same trembling of my insides. that was when i made the connection. cocoa and coffee have caffeine. maybe coke and starbucks coffee doesn't have that much caffeine in them cos they don't make me palpitate. so there, bah humbug~

since we're on the topic of penitence and giving up things for lent, i should've included going to the shop every day to my list. i need to be there tomorrow. no more excuses this time.

week 11: things are getting better

but there's always a calm before the storm, they say. anyway, I will revel in this shot of good vibes. maybe it was the baby back ribs ;)


monday
woke up with a really bad headache. i was feeling woozy and hungry- maybe because i didn't eat something for dinner. mommy fetched me from my room and eat something for breakfast- hindi daw sanay tiyan ko na walang laman. had oatmeal, which i threw up. took a nap which helped a bit. threw up again.

albeit feeling a bit under the weather, still had to take a trip to the bank to pay for my sister's insurance. went to the grocery after to buy merienda. you should've seen our cart- junk food galore!

tuesday
manning duties! not that i enjoy it cos i get really really bored sitting there for hours. good thing about sitting there on the counter is obviously, i get to see how the day-to-day operations are going and i get to read my books.

and oh, joaquim bit my wrist. masakit siya. hmph. that brat.

wednesday
no manning duties today. hitched a ride with nonoy going to the lrt station. but first, a quick stop in megamall to have invites for the baptism of nonoy's daughter printed. the train took forever to arrive, which left me only a few minutes to have a quick bite before meeting up with AD.

trip to the supplier which took longer than expected. we had to be home early pa naman cos we had this quick cash seminar to go to in quezon city. we arrived late to that seminar which i slept through most part. it's only P250 per person pero i felt shortchanged.


thursday
no manning duties again. not that i'm delinquent or anthing... had to test and interview three nail techs which i prefer not to do in the shop. too many usiseras, i just can't. after which, had to go to astoria to pick up some goodies my sister sent me through her friend. had a chat with her friend and missed my sister so bad. although i wish i could visit her there, i still prefer that she comes home and again have kopi roti meriendas together, still her treat bwahaha!

friday
after merienda in AD's house, went to the shop. stayed there til closing time. started reading why we love. this is actually the second time i've read that part of the book and i'm still awed by the information i learn from it. i love information, even those that don't really have relevance (unless asked in a game show with 1 million prize money and you are the contestant).

saturday
spanish class, eighth meeting. as usual, it was a session i so enjoyed and learned a lot from. it may seem as if i'm just sitting there, without a care with what everybody's talking about but I DO CARE and I AM ACTUALLY INTERESTED with what's everyone was talking about. i just enjoy being a spectator. just like before. i like taking in what everybody says. most especially in a class wherein i am the youngest.

joji's birthday! she treated us to lunch at hongkong chef located across macapagal dampa. yummy lunch that was! stopped by that DVD place where i get my stash to buy AB's installers. didn't get to buy the installers- expensive. i can get them at a much cheaper price in some other place. got a documentary dvd instead- bbc's exposed.

supermoon that night- which i was determined to stay up for. i wanted to see if the moon will look like this

{source}

 

 

 

it did not. at 2am, went out to my sister's balcony to check if the moon has gotten so big like that of the picture. saw a normal-looking moon. gave it a chance and waited til 2:45am. still normal-looking. nothing so super about it. if there was anything different about it, it shone brighter.

photos i took that night. un-photoshopped, by the way. not what i expected but it was nice seeing the moon give off that much light.

sunday
no lunch-out/in for us today. everyone else was busy with their own thing. sulked in my room :( missed the way things were. a trip to the hospital to visit our aunt who had a mild stroke. i hope she gets well soon. 

it was an okay week. not too much drama. i like ☺

slobong!

 slobong from ate! ☺

ate's friend came home from the states and she made padala my bilin- bare minerals eklavu. happiness! i only asked for a foundation and concealer, but she got me other stuff. so now i have 2 pots of funda, mineral veil, concealer brush and mascara! which also comes with a tutorial dvd. oha! 

i went to astoria yesterday to meet with my ate's friend and also get the goodies. it was nice meeting her and inasmuch as i would like to thank her also for keeping my sister company, to verbalize it- i didn't. i just thanked her for bringing the stash. pero kasama na rin yun dun. she told me stories about my sister and how they still get asked for their ids when they go to bars. ayos. i'm so thankful that my sister has friends who look after her, who accompany her in that very lonely city. i think ny is a sad place to be. i don't get fooled by all that glaring lights and how it's supposed to be the city that never sleeps... i dunno, i just have that feeling about ny. i blame new york, i love you.

i miss my sister. i need to fix my passport and other stuff asap. at sana lang eh mabigyan ako ng us visa. wag silang epal. haha.

booktrack 2011-04: take me there

{source}

my life could not possibly suck more than it does right now. 
i try not to cry. and to let it go. 
i don't want to be this totally depressed person with a heart so broken it hurts every time i breathe...

Ahh, nothing like young love to make you feel like life's lost all meaning in your teens, oblivious to the fact that there would be far more and worse coming in the future...pessimistic much?

Finally finished my 4th book- Susane Colasanti's Take Me There, my first book in the YA (young adult) genre. though it took me awhile to finish cos it was in ebook form and i easily get distracted when i'm on the computer.

what i love about this book was there was no one main character with whom the whole book revolves around. three main characters. three ways the story was told, each from the point of view of each character. and what i like about this format is that you can see that aside from the common issue that these three characters have, each also have their own personal issues such as nicole's abusive father and james's friendship with their elderly next-door neighbor. i think this shows the complexity of a life of a person and how we all play different roles everyday and i don't mean that in a schizo way.

the book was written as to how teenagers converse in real life, as in, like, yeah! haha. sometimes i feel like this is so ditzy of me reading books like this, but what the hell, walang basagan ng trip! it's funny how i can still identify with the characters (even if i'm pushing 30), most especially with lines like "there's this whole jumbled mess of stuff i'm feeling and i don't know why" and "i nod and try to act normal. but inside i'm freaking out because this is so random! why is he even here?" it's official. mental age=18 years old.

it was a fun read though i wish the ending wasn't anti-climactic. plus, it's so predictable. i knew how this would end kahit nasa first page pa lang ako. sana mas maraming kilig moments. pero effect na rin. i have three more titles from susane colasanti and an ebook of flipped (from ycel) and i hope those have more kilig content ;)

next book in line is helen fisher's why we love. i know this was supposed to be my feb read but i changed my mind. i'm actually behind my 2 books per month goal and i should be on my sixth already. double time.

...that even in a bad situation, there's always

a positive side. even if you can't see it yet

week 10: the week i spent worrying

maybe i'm just focusing too much on the bad side of things because it's not all that bad. i'm feeling a little bit under weather- debilitating headache and upset stomach, so i'm just hoping that i feel better tomorrow. but aside from business issues and this headache, i guess everything's okay.

monday ♥
one of the downsides of not having a stay-in employee is that i'd have to do the shop's laundry. i have nene our househelp to help me but it's just not the same. before, i need not do any of that. bah. but i guess there's really something i need to learn from this.
was also supposed to treat V to movie c/o citubank's free movie passes but guess what? all 3 charge slips had lapsed the one-month validity. sayang. and to think i purposely made those purchases reach 1,500 for those frickin' movie passes. and what's worse, this citibank promo's only till tomorrow. boo!
electrician came over to fix the bathroom light. bathroom light fixed! yay!

tuesday ♥
last day to consume coke and any starbucks beverage. had V to drive me to cafe lidia cos i was craving for their buffalo wings. ordered pizza margherita and 6-piece buffalo wings ☺ yum! and of course, hindi mawawala ang coke, most especially on the last day.
when AD arrived from work, we went to starbucks to get our final dose of mocha frap before we swear it off for the next 40 days.


wednesday ♥
went to the bank to pay my taxes that aren't working for me. manning duties again after lunch.
ash wednesday, the start of lent and my abstinence from coke and starbucks.

thursday ♥
cityville is so addictive. why did i even start playing that game? WHY? before i went to the shop and do my manning duties, rome to have merienda. camote cue and iced tea w/ mango juice (my coke replacement).
maybe i bring bad luck with me but i noticed that every time i stay in the shop, no clients come in and when i go out, they do. or was it just coincidence? hmm.. wala naman akong balat sa pwet ah!


friday ♥
AD came home early from work and we had... camote cue and juice for merienda AGAIN. sugar overload! got angry birds to work on my sister's netbook and also i've been reading susane colasanti's take me there to keep me busy while doing my manning duties.
heard the terrible news on the earthquake and tsunami that hit japan. seriously, what's the world coming into? 

saturday ♥
spanish class 6th meeting, to which i came in on time! shocker! haha. L brought humgarian sausages for everyone, and just my luck cos i hadn't had breakfast and already famished. fun class, as always ☺ i'm planning to go enroll for fili2 but take a break after that, though not yet final and will actually depend on my resources.
before the class went to the orphanage, lunch at the casino. had sopa de ajo seca which was too salty for my liking and i never really liked how chorizo tastes. should've ordered sopa de ajo lang. too. full. i feel like jabba the hut.
hitched a ride with joji going to qc. the orphanage was near the school where i took my civil service exams. i feel bad for these kids, mostly were left by their parents on the streets or in the hospitals. i feel guilty that while i spent P200 or more on a meal, the same amount can feed three or four kids.

sunday ♥
sunday lunch-out again at g-squared dampa in macapagal c/o mommy as farewell lunch for my aunt and uncle who are returning to new jersey tomorrow. omg can i just say it was a glutton's dream- tempura, calamares, inihaw na baboy, sinigang na miso, sweet & sour lapu-lapu and mango. yes, there was pepsi but i didn't drink, thank you! i had tropicana instead.
after lunch, headed to ayala triangle and had dessert in amici. happiness is two kinds of ice cream gelato- cioccolato & mint chocolate! as usual, J was the center of attention. galle after to buy J new sandals. and oh, got myself this new bath & body cologne that smells so much like body shop's moonflower. it's green tea & cucumber. a mí me gusta mucho!

not bad, eh? well, it seems calm on the surface but believe me, i'm paddling like crazy underneath. c'mon, think positive! this too shall pass... and, every cloud has a silver lining.

in limbo

if i remember correctly, this would be the second post in this blog with this title. not for lack of creativity (which i think i really lack anyway) but because that's how i really feel- in limbo. [while typing the word limbo, i accidentally omitted the letter b and came up with limo. oh how i wish i were in a limo instead. lol]

i'm praying for better days. i honestly think that i have been a good person and i think i deserve something good to happen to me, in my life. this crisis i'm going through may be insignificant compared to what others are going through and i feel such a baby because things like this send me over the edge. but you see, this is my crisis and it's killing me because i hate uncertainty. i thought i hated routines. apparently, not.

“Something inside me had dropped away, and nothing came in to fill the cavern.”

— Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

so there. that's my drama. AGAIN. feeling emptiness na naman in spite of my positivity chuva. thanks to this comforting post by charadestyle- that there are two things we can do when life's handing us rotten lemons:  

The first is to drink mint tea, because hands clasped around a warm mug make a prayer to heal. The second is to trust.

Trust your gut. Trust in the nudges the universe is giving you. Trust in yourself. Trust in light at the end of the tunnel. Trust in fate, or God, or whatever spiritual belief system you follow. Trust that you’ll smile again, because you will, and that will make it okay that you can’t smile right now. Trust that what you’re feeling only makes you human: a beautiful, vulnerable human, with a warm heart that beats. Trust that now is not forever. Trust in time. Trust in your ability to grow new roots, even if right now it feels as though they’ve been cut away. Trust in your power, in your presence, and even in your pain – we don’t feel it for nothing.

please please

week 9: the week i make it official that i have no life

I miss my freedom. I miss watching DVDs any time of the day, going to the mall or the grocery to buy supplies or just anything my heart (or tummy) desires, or just playing hooky because I can. Well, gone are those days. Umm... not quite. If there's a will, there's a way.

♥monday♥

mang andy came in again to do the necessary repairs in the shop including that pesky light bulb in the bathroom. accompanied V and took the kids to the hospital- it's the attack of the chinese community!!!

♥tuesday♥

AB's birthday! magicjack early in the morning to greet her a 'happy birthday.' AB said we could celebrate her birthday and eat out, courtesy of her. accompanied AC to the hospital. then we're off to galle to meet AD and mommy. had dinner at eat well- yummy hakao, etc. i don't get the appeal of xiaolongbao... a lot of people rave about it but personally, i don't find anything special about it. mahirap pa kainin. mocha frap for dessert and the best thing about it is the free upsize.

♥wednesday♥

manning duties. ho-hum

♥thursday♥

sta. lucia before lunch to accompany V get her supply from cd-r king and I, to buy chooks to go for lunch. fateful meetings = BOO! leave me in peace, por favor! camote cue and coke for merienda and todo kwento to ate jo about what has transpired earlier in the day. manning duties again.

♥friday♥

manning duties. again. FML. 

♥saturday♥

at long last, i got to leave the house, sans guilt, for my spanish class. meeting #5. five more meetings till the next one. gastos na naman. after fili2, i think I'll take a break first. lunch with J & J in pancake house. went home with scrumptious sampaloc from thailand- descanso leftover. bahaha!

♥sunday♥

sunday lunch sponsor- AD. so yummy inihaw na baboy and tilapia and kare-kareng veggies. was supposed to go to the shop and do some more manning duties but didn't because it's the weekend!!! though seriously, i need to be there on weekends more than any other day of the week. bah! AD treated me to coffee ☺

how uneventful, ya? story of my life. thank you.

40 days and 40 nights

It's Ash Wednesday today, meaning the first day of Lent.

For my penitensiya, I will give up Coke or any effervescent beverages and Starbucks. And because of my Lent sacrifice, I ate and drank yesterday like there's no tomorrow.

So there, please help and support me in this little project of mine. I'm gonna get through this.

super tv (any)day

GG is back in business, y'all! I don't care if people are saying that this Dan + Blair thing is fake or whatever they call it but I am loving it! I always knew these two have a future together but then again I would have to wait for episode 18 to be sure which will be on April 18 pa. Torture, much?

Episode 16: While You Weren't Sleeping

[Just a side note- caught While You Were Sleeping (Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman) on Fox TV and that movie has got to be one of my favorite movies of all time.]

♥ During the start of the show, I was questioning why Dan kept on hanging around Blair. But when Dan admitted to Blair that she was hanging out at Blair's office because he was avoiding Serena + Ben, at first I was like "Aaahh!!" but then I kinda realized that there are other places in NY aside from "the loft" and "Blair's office."

♥♥♥ this is going to kill vanessa abrams and i wanna see it when that happens ♥♥♥

♥ GG is doing perfectly fine without Vanessa (and Jenny Humphrey, too), so why bring her back? I swear that girl is such a trepadora. Ew. Ew. And ew. Vanessa is "the pus that infects the mucus that cruds up the fungus that feeds on the pond scum" and whether we like it or not, looks like she'll be back cos bitch has information she can use to make herself significant again.

♥ I loved the scene when Eric says that Damien needs his $100K and then Dan says that's insane cos who has that much money, then Blair, Serena and Eric all had this "look" that says "umm... we do." I just find that scene funny.

♥ And correct me if I'm wrong but I thought only the person himself can attest to the authenticity of one's signature. In the case of Serena and Lily, Serena just have to say that yes, it is her who signed the affidavit and Lily won't have to go to jail. Anyhoo, I think these people would find a way to get Lily out of jail in no time.

Episode 17: Empire of the Son

Obviously, I don't really care that much about Bass Industries and I am not a fan of that Raina and I am not paying much attention to her and to whoever she's gallivanting with. So even if the main-main plot happening here is the Bass Industries-Chuck-Lily-Thorpe thing, I gravitate towards the Dan + Blair angle.

Giddiness galore!!! But this kiss at the end of the episode doesn't guarantee that they will be an item. It is possible that the next scene here will be similar to that when Rachel Berry and Blaine kissed, which I hope would not be the case because I'm really really really vying for this pairing.

To some, Dan + Blair maybe weird, contrived even, but I like it. If this were to push through, I'd be the happiest GG fan ever ☺

counting my blessings

my tumblr find told me to count my blessings instead of my worries so here it goes...

♥ nephews living with us again ♥ (quasi) free movie tickets ♥ ebooks that i get free on the net or c/o good friends ♥ homemade rootbeer float ♥ sugar-covered camote cue and coke for merienda ♥ being able to come up with a bazillion justifications for my excessive soda intake ♥ cottage cheese + crushed pineapple dip ♥ mineral make-up doing it's work- that is, concealing all the flaws and bumps and holes and discolorations on my fezzz ♥ ooh, brasseries on sale. not dirt cheap but a really good steal. olga/warner's brassieres originally sold for 2k each are now sold for Php1.000, buy 1 take 1! ♥ starbucks' free size upgrade on drinks ♥

 More blessings to come! Thank you ☺

how are you holding up?

I'm sad.

2011 hasn't been so nice to me.

Even if I'm into this optimism shizz, the shitty stuff outweighs the good and it's taking a toll on my sanity. People haven't been really nice, business has been slow, employee drama resurfacing and ac is being a wet blanket again and she's getting the best of me.

It's challenging not having a stay-in employee in the shop. I have to do everything myself and a) it's boring being there ALL THE TIME, and b) what about my social life? Not that I have an active one but what about what's left of it? But I guess this happened to teach me a lesson. Still, I believe everything happens for a reason and this too shall pass. I pray I can find the right employees for me. I hope God helps me find the right employees.

But as of the moment, I'm confused and discontented with the way things are going for me. I hate constantly worrying about things. I am a worrier. I worry about the littlest stuff all the frickin' time! It's a curse, actually. I'm naturally praning and you have no idea what goes on in this brain of mine. Hardcore. I hate always being on my toes which is required of me in this business. Nakakaloka! I read somewhere about this one person who was asked where he sees himself five years from now to which he answered 'why worry about the future when we don't even know if we'll be here tomorrow.' Tama ka jan. *apir* I envy people with such attitude. In times like these, I just gotta have faith, baby

Philippians 4:6-7
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

--- amazing. really. as i was writing this entry (cos i'm really sad and worried about stuff, i was kinda looking for signs or whatever cos i feel like i'm going to explode with all these worries) i went on tumblr and saw this:

{source}

just a coincidence? maybe, but i am going to take this as my sign. thank you ☺ ---

I'll just do my part and pray for the best. 

1 Peter 5:7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

week 8: the last week of 'freedom'

Glenda, our stay-in employee, transferred employment already which means I have to do opening-closing of the shop, delivery of supplies and everything related to the operations of the shop. In other words, wala na akong aleli. Boo. Entonces,the week before she leaves, I played truant from manning duties.

monday
spent the entire day in AD's house. she didn't go to work cos she was sick and her maid still wasn't back from her day off. movie marathon time (sans the guilt)- life as we know it (slept through it), due date, easy a and mean girls 2. man, mean girls 2 sucked big time. jollibee for lunch and mcdo for dinner. movie + fast food = happiness. slept over also since her husband needed to do something for work.

tuesday
played with my nephews :) can't remember anything other than that. and oh, i found out the script's having a concert in manila wee!

wednesday

my stash finally arrived via xend! yipee yahooey! now i can again fake flawless skin. umm, not totally flawless- less pocked lang haha. downloaded most recent episodes of my series, bought coke and had a how i met your mother and gossip girl marathon. went to padre pio chapel in eastwood.





thursday
continuation of my gossip girl marathon. decided to download first love instead of waiting for my niece to give me a copy.

friday

watched sing lek lek in the morning and still can't get over it even in the afternoon. hung out in my sister's house. had merienda with ate jo et al, coke, camote cue, pansit and cheez it. pig out galore! AD came back from their subic trip for work. she gave me bite-size brazo de mercedes, yum!




saturday

early morning commute to ic for my weekly spanish classes. love love love el fili sessions with our profe and classmates. sold 4 bottles of scents yipee! joy introduced us to this dip she made- cottage cheese and crushed pineapple. lunch at pancake house with amigas. stopped by the grocery to buy cottage cheese, crushed pineapple and lotsa chips. made AC watch sing lek lek.



sunday
no sunday lunch-out for us cos AD had fittings scheduled the entire day. had a perming scheduled earlier in the day. stayed at home, watching anything that's on tv- noon time variety shows and the santa clause movie. mass with sisters at 7pm. treated AD to mocha frap while i had caramel macchiato. need to stuff myself with my comfort foods before i give them up for the lenten season.

project 100: first love

Original title: Sing Lek Lek. Which reminds me of wenekleklek heehee ☺ Homay! This one is long overdue since I watched it last week and the sentiments aren't that fresh anymore. Sayang. I've been either busy or pretending to be busy (aka busy-busyhan).

First heard of Mario Maurer thru Ycel. She just came back from her Thailand vacay that time. It sparked my interest and I even tried looking for downloadable torrents of his movie but didn't find any on my suking torrent source. Then just last month, my niece asked if I already saw First Love, a Thai movie and mentioned Maurer. She said she'll give me a copy but it took eons for her to do so, so I took matter in my own hands and got myself a copy.

Watching this made my week and even till now, I haven't gotten over it yet. Highly relatable. Back when I was in high school. Back when I was in college. Hell, even now that I am in my late 20s, I can still relate to it. Story of my life. Bow.

♥ As the movie trailer claims, most of the human population has experienced crushing on someone, admiring him or her from afar. Nam is highly relatable. Many of us would do anything to make our object of affection notice us. Like Nam, I also:

1. did everything in my power to make myself more presentable to the p of i (person of interest). grow my hair long, cut it short, spend money on products, have my hair straightened, lose weight, occasionally put on eyeliner, etc etc etc. anything that i think would make me look cute. haha! conscious kung conscious. super laugh trip talaga nung maghilod hanggang pumuti si nam. 
2. rampa! haha. nam and friends would go wherever they think chone would be. observing the p of i- where he hangs out, who his friends are. be where he is so you could at least get a glimpse of his cute face. omg, college days come to mind! i remember stealing glances at my p of i- looking over my carrel desk at the lib so i could see him. usually i do this discreetly but i would occasionally deliberately walk where he could see me, hoping that he might give me the time of day. hay. 
3. made decisions with the p of i in mind. nam and friends didn't really want to join the drama club but since chone is on the production, they joined. how many times have i done this? countless! we eat here because this is where he'll pass by after his class. we pass this way so we could pass by his room. hay kaloka. 

and fast forward to almost a decade after graduating from college, it's still pretty much the same. but really, it's quite an experience. tiring and sometimes agonizing but it sure feels gooood when you feel those butterflies in your stomach, which makes the scene below so familiar~

Gif animators

♥ Hindi lang pala sa Pilipinas na ang konsepto ng maganda ay maputi. Maybe in most Southeast Asian countries, being fair-skinned is considered beautiful. Nam before...

and Nam after all the "improvements"

IMO, I liked her better 'before.'

♥ Si Chone ay napakapogi!!! >insert eardrum-shattering squeal here< No, hindi kita aagawan ng crush, ycel. I'm just stating a fact. Chone (Mario Maurer) is superduper cute. He's cute and NOT an ass. How many cute boys out there know they are good-looking and still not be jerks? Even fugly boys are jerks. But we are well aware that Chone is a figment of the imagination. 

But Mario Maurer is real. And I don't care if he's an ass or not because he's for viewing purposes only. When I say for viewing purposes, viewing purposes lang kasi siya as boses palaka. But you know what, I think I can live with that. Pogi na boses palaka o mukhang palaka na boses pogi? Take your pick ;)

♥ Napatunayan natin sa movie na ito na 'daig ng maagap ng masipag.' Aksyon agad!

♥ Albeit a romcom, I was crying my eyes out for quite awhile. No, I didn't just tear up, but I didn't hagulgol naman. Somewhere in between lang naman. But still, it felt as if I was in that scene, as if it was my heart being broken. Which, again, makes me lucky I haven't gone through major heartbreaks. Pang ano lang ako, pa-crush crush lang, pa-sipat sipat. Pag nagka-girlfriend, maiinis lang ng unti... ganun lang. 

♥ I still don't get it why people torture themselves. Nam likes Chone. Chone likes Nam. Though it's not clear to me if Chone knows that Nam likes him. And the best thing about it is he liked her even before she was 'pretty.' Omaygas, I was squirming on my seat while watching yung mga kilig moments. And just when we think how creepy is it of Nam to keep that button with Chone's blood, we see Chone's scrapbook filled with Nam's photos- yun ang creepy. Anyway, I think perspective lang yan. If Nam doesn't like Chone, that would be creepy. But if she does, then that would go through the roof sa kilig factor. Just like when you hitch a ride in someone's car and he tells you that the song on the radio is for you and then Stephen Speaks' Passenger Seat plays- nakakakilig if you like him but creepy and awkward when you don't. 

Loves it! So so so so much.. to the moon and back. Although the ending was corny. It's not the destination, it's the journey. Bwahaha.  Definitely a must-see ☺