An idiom realized: Part 1

I think it's cool that I got to experience an idiom the legit way. You know, the whole "Start the year with a bang!" thing. I love it, January! <3 I'm dividing this post into 2 parts, first with the happenings, and the next part with financial shizz (yeah finally some finance direction in my life!).

I kicked off this year pretty much with just that Yes Man in me. I was everywhere (excuse my use of words, I am using them loosely and relative to my ~past my-parents-are-super-strict custom.)!

Events aka random happenings

January 3: Imay in Manila

A close orgmate went home to the Philippines from a work assignment in Malaysia and our group of friends was of course present to welcome him.

We are all orgmates from PSME (Pisme, Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers - UP), and even though I later on shifted out of ME into another engineering track, I can say that these group of people are my closest UP friends. Super fun to have ME friends, I tell you. Everyone's super gago! (Yes please excuse mi linguahe).

January 5: Thesis Group Reunited

I am one of the (very few) people who got to do thesis with a group. Most did their own individually, or with a partner, but hardly with 2 other people. (now that I try to recall, I can't think of any other thesis group aside from ours!)

Anyway, I am lucky that I got to do thesis with Kumi and Vince. We may have had our moments of misunderstanding (aka silent treatment inisan hahaha) but we sure did make a good team. Both of them are now working in province areas (Plant work) so scheduling a get together isn't as easy. Good thing we got to do lunch this time!

January 5-6: First overnight of the year

Right after our lunch tambay I went straight to Muntinlupa for an overnight with my Pisme friends. Imay was set to fly back to Malaysia within the month (he doesn't know when, the company loves to surprise him. lol), and this time for good. We were spending every minute possible with him because he had limited vacation leaves for when he is permanently deployed in Malaysia. Plenty of kwento, a few drinks, and even badminton and a movie the following day. Sulit na sulit!

January 9: 24th

It was a friend's 24th birthday, again part of the Pisme group, and she decided to invite us last minute for dinner at her place in Taguig. I'd usually think twice before I go for these last minute invites because one: I'm your modern Cinderella, two: Taguig is like a province to me. I'm from Marikina/Antipolo! Three: We've previously set a dinner for the following day for Imay's final despedida, so my parents may not like the ~spacing of my lakads. And four: well not as big of a factor, but January 9 is a Wednesday, meaning I have work the following day. My Yes Man prevailed though because well, it is her birthday!

I got her kikay stuff, of course (well not "of course" but more "just because"). My favorite Maybelline Magnum Volum Express mascara and Lory's conditioner (although I just switched and currently trying out TRESemme) because she said she doesn't use any (conditioner). That is UNacceptable! Haha. I think using a conditioner is a must. Thank you. Lol.

January 10: Last Supper

So this is it. We found out that Imay's flight to Malaysia is set on January 13. Of course we had to have our last dinner together. Spent the night eating, playing at Timezone, and playing Exhaust at Starbucks. Exhaust is also known as Categories, where a category is given and each person gives an example, until everything is exhausted - wherewhich the last man standing wins. I won the category of Colors!! :D My winning color, Auburn (my current hair color)! Yey! Haha.

January 12: Surprise!

Weeeelll I guess we are possessive friends. Haha. Our group decided it would be fun to surprise Imay one last time, on the eve of his flight. I was actually not sure if I could come on this one because I got home really late from Thursday's renegade (around 1:30am I think. Exhaust is a fun game!!) and itay wasn't exactly happy. So friday I nervously asked for his permission for another overnight, and explained to him that it's a surprise despedida. He was surprisingly okay with it and even suggested a place at Megamall where we can buy personalized stuff for Imay as parting gift! Me = relieved. Yeyeyey!

My friend and I (the one who just celebrated her birthday) then spent the whole afternoon of the 12th looking for gifts for Imay. We settled for a cap (because he loves them), a short sleeved polo (because he never buys one for himself), a nice belt (because he needs one), and a framed collage of his face and ours. HAHA. We even bought balloons and food and his favorite desserts, because we love him that much. It was a tiring afternoon but his reaction was just priceless. :) We got to nap for about 30mins before we left for his flight scheduled at 6am.

Imay wearing the polo and belt! Hahaha.

Imay's one of my heroes. He's just so down to earth, puts everyone before him, a true inspiration and leader, totally deserving of all the blessings he's been receiving. I'm thinking of dedicating a post to him to inspire others also but, well, we'll see. Haha.

January 16: MTs and Charlie

Our group of Management Trainees finally got to reunite this time! We've parted ways since May of 2012 and have had a few drinks every now and then, but the 9 of us never really hanged out complete. This time we (almost!!!) did, save for Lyn who wasn't able to come. :( 8 out of 9 attendees, I'll take it. :) We ate at Charlie's for dinner, yum!

The others had to leave after, but a few of us stayed for drinks at Central. Us who stayed are actually my very first legit drinking buddies! Our group that I like to call the "Katipunan Boys" (excluding me, of course) is my very first set of ~regular drinking buds. We used to drink almost every other week, on weekdays, at Cantina in Katipunan. Too bad that one closed down. This was very reminiscent of all our drinks together. Fun night indeed!

January 19-23: Ati-atihan and Boracay 2013!

First time for me to watch Ati-atihan! Inay is from Aklan, and we've visited Aklan a few times since I was a kid during Summer. I never got to watch Ati-atihan though because it's held every January, awkwardly positioned after Christmas Vacation where all pending requirements are usually due. Anyway, this year we got to schedule things so yey for that!

After Ati-atihan we went to Boracay for an overnight relaxation. I just went to Boracay last September with officemates, and now I'm back with family. A very welcome vacation! I don't think I'll ever get tired of the beach. It's just a place where appreciation can't end. There's the sand, the water, the sunset, the people, the lifestyle. Fitting for my January. :) January 23 is also Itay's birthday, so when we got back at Manila we celebrated his 51st by having dinner out. Pig out week, you could imagine!

January 30: BFFs Meet

Finally I got to meet up again with my closest friends ever, Flo and Dren. They were my classmates when I spent my first year college at UST before I transferred to UP. We only had that 1 year as foundation but friendships really aren't just about the time people spend together, but I'd say that instant jive of wavelengths. We still meet every now and then (and always update through email) and this time we had to meet because Dren was assigned in the US to work for 6 months! Another despedida! Food and stories and updates, as always.

Parang gradpic lang kung maka-postura!

I love these two people. I'm not really the type who labels friendships and all but if I'd have to answer a slam book for my "BFFs:", it would be these two. <3

Next up, some new info on finance for the dumb (aka me).

The infinity of a second.

You wake up sometimes and you think it's just another day. Then as you consume the hours of it, a moment comes where you get the chance to pause, realize the every detail of your existence, and can't help but smile with the reassurance that you are exactly where you want to be.

Do you get those moments? Like jolts of realizations where that feeling of gratitude won't subside?

"Thanks Brother, I am truly happy for this exact second, that I am on this chair, working at the 2nd slide of my presentation, enjoying all else around me."

It's totally random.

These moments don't come because something happened, or someone said something. Or sure, it may be the accumulation of the little things involving those, but to exactly pinpoint its cause is impossible.

These moments, these random, bordering-crazy moments, are priceless.

---

2012 has been a good, blessed year for me. And I know, 2013 will be even more awesome.

Happy new year, fellas. To more of these priceless moments, cheers!


---

Whether it's the best of times or the worst of times, it's the only time we've got. - Art Buchwald

My interpretation of a Native American/Indian costume

2 months and a day since my last post, aka the day after the doomsday is over, I finally get to update this blog.

Last week was our company's Christmas party, and the theme was Wild Wild West. I had two choices: to either dress up as an Indian (Native American, to make it politically correct), or come in as a cowgirl.

I initially wanted to do cowgirl because it was easy and we have cowboy hats here at home. But the same reason made me switch to dress up as an Indian. Not that I don't want something easy, it's just that predicting most would go as cowgirls, I prefer to be a little more different.

What I wore then:

 with my friend Josie. 

This is the closest to an ~outfit shot that I have. Solos make me uncomfortable. HAHA.

The back story:

Looked for a lot of inspirations online, but we all know that we always have to work with what we have. So I went to the best place to look for costumes and other one-time-only-i-can-totally-alter/destroy-this types of clothes - ukay.

Got 2 items, in intentionally both colors, because I knew they'd go well with my nude shoes.

My officemate: "Saan ka nakakita ng Indian na naka-heels? Wala! Si Ghoent lang!"

OF COURSE. Haha.

Buying a new pair was not an option. Okay yes it crossed my mind. But my budget didn't allow so, again, work with what we have.

P85 - Suede-ish, fringe top. Jackpot piece.

P105 - Embroidered, stretch skirt.

You can pretty much see the changes I did. After playing with the top (and doing some research, of course), it turned out to be this:

Cut the bottom part, shaped the hem into a curve, and "fringed" it.

The skirt had more work done. It was originally an A-line long skirt (below the knees!), and it was obvious that with the kind of top I had, the A-line won't work. Hand-stitched it into a pencil skirt, then!

Cut cut cut, fold, back-stitch, fit, adjust adjust. Way more difficult than how the previous 8 words sound, but finishing it felt sooooo good I ate 2 cupcakes in one go!

Accessories:

The long beaded necklace I'm wearing has been with me for at least 4 years, I think. I bought it for 20 pesos at divisoria way back, but never actually wore it out. Finally, I can say that my 20pesos was not put to waste. T'was in fact super sulit!

My headband is something I made using crochet threads. I have plenty of crochet balls here at home because I once dived into the handmade notebooks business, and I used these threads to bind them up.

From my previous Ghoent Junior Cardstock Set.

Anyway, I braided a loooong piece and then connected it to form the ring, taking care that it has a snug fit on my forehead. I wanted it secure but not too tight to cause some headache or any form of marks.

The thread color is a gradient of brown, nude, brick red, and brown-black, which was perfect for my outfit's palette.

I did my bracelet from another item that I bought but never actually wore out. My 50-peso arm band that I got from St. Francis Square from maybe 2-3 years ago served as the base for the bracelet. I like that the color matches the skirt perfectly, plus it has that suede-ish touch in texture. My wrist was however itching and forming rashes everytime I tried the bracelet on. So I used the original hem of the top I got as a ~shield for my wrist from the feathers. It's made of thick soft stretch cotton so it solved my problem easily.

So not an elegant way of attaching the feathers. I just taped them inside! 

My other bracelet is just again a braided piece using the plenty retaso from my A-line skirt. "Locked" the bracelet by tying it across my wrist with a knot.

Very imperfect and unrefined = = perfect.

Makeup:

Sister: "Bakit one side lang? Mukha kang Bonakid!"

Officemate: "I am a betawoman." (referring to the Betadine commercial).

A lot of love!! Hahahaha.

Took this mirrorshot when I got home, approximately 8 hours after application. I had different inspirations for this, and since I didn't go for the authentic Native American but more of the modern authentic (if there is such a term), I didn't want to overdo the makeup. Googled for videos to help me with dark eyes, etc. All the help are always welcome, aka research.

Aaaaand that's it! The anatomy of my costume. 

What I spent:

P85 (top) + P105 (skirt) = P190.

If we include the red eyeliner that I bought, that would be an additional of P100.

P290 for the entire look, not bad. :)

I started scouting for pieces and researching for inspirations approximately 2 and a half weeks before the party. We can't really beat preparation.

Some party pictures below:

Don't you just love my co-MT AA's cactus costume? I helped him finish it by putting the cactus spines!

Oh and yes. We danced. Such bibo kids we are. Hahahaha.

Our friends Julius and Clang won best in costume!!! Totally deserved it. Clang gave me her extra feathers which I used for the bracelet, and headpiece accent. She made that headpiece she's wearing and whole costume from scratch! If I told you her costume's back story, it'll probably merit 2 blog entries.

I enjoy the challenge of making costumes, especially if I am in the mood. Looking forward to next year's Christmas party!

3 days til Christmas, have a good one everyone! :)

*Christmas party photos from Sir Alvin, Sir Archie and Eah

Red Velvet Cupcake by Sophie's Mom

First blood: Sophie's Mom
Price: P50
Branch: SM Megamall

The Cupcake Project's first in line, Sophie's Mom's Red Velvet Cupcakes. I haven't done any research at all about their history or who Sophie is or more importantly, who her mom is - but if you were wondering, maybe google can help with that. But I do know that they have their main branch at a village in the south (not a south girl here, sorry). Is that enough background? Hihi. Anyway, the mandatory cupcake shots:

The first thing I noticed at first bite was its firm cream cheese frosting. It has that semi-solid cream consistency, something that won't melt or run easily. The frosting is rich and I can really taste the sourness in it, new from the default sweetness of most [red velvet] frosting.

The cake is on the dense and packed side, which I like. It also has enough moisture to make it feel soft, and the frosting's creaminess provide the rest of the needed moisture to have it melt and dissolve beautifully in the mouth. The cake isn't sweet, and contains bits of dark chocolate which are a nice touch and will be appreciated by those who prefer the not-too-sweet kind of cupcake. It's filling, really.

OUT OF 5:

Melts in your mouth: 4

Moisture: 3.5

Packed or Light: On the packed side

Value for Money: 4

Raving? It's a good one.

The Cupcake Project.

A random addiction has hit me. CUPCAKES.

I am a dessert person. My favorite would be pastries, more than ice cream or candies or chocolates - but that's not to say I don't like the others. Anything that's sweet makes me happy. Pastries just are a wide range and I really appreciate how they are made and prettified to convince dumb and low-EQed buyers like me.

And caving to the temptation isn't really an issue. I say I reason well and I can pretty much justify whatever I want to do (or eat - except for budget issues), so my indulgence guilt only wins at a rate of 1 is to 4 (useless inaccurate statistic). Because when I can no longer defend my indulgence, I just drop everything and say, demmit. YOLO. Joke.

I've been craving (and yielding to) cupcakes for some weeks now and I've decided to start documenting. I usually prefer cakes but because cupcake frostings make temptations 1000x more difficult to resist, I've recently started exploring this side of the cake.

So The Cupcake Project is all about... reviewing cupcakes.

A. I don't know how to bake. So if you guys thought I'll be baking some cupcakes, I am disappointed at myself too. *pa-cute sad face*
B. I will only be reviewing 3 kinds of cupcakes:

1. Red Velvet. (just because)
2. Any peppermint-flavored cupcake. (because I love love choco mint chocolate, choco mint ice cream, and choco mint candies. So if I come across any peppermint cupcakes, I will have to try them out.)
3. A different flavor. (When I say different, it should be different. No just-another-chocolate-twist, or some variation of everyday fruit flavors. Very subjective but i'll try to find these types.)

I only have ONE Reviewing Rule:

It's all about the cupcake.

Meaning:

1. Its mass popularity (or the lack of it) is irrelevant to the rating of the cupcake.
2. The store aesthetics, the kind of service I received, and its packaging, no matter how tempting to include in the review, will stay out of it. (but may or may not be shown in pictures)
3. Price is the only non-actual-cupcake factor to be valued.

And another list.

What I like in a cupcake:

Obviously, this review is based on satisfying my liking. So I am sorry if we do not have the same opinions, but at least we'll get to know the cupcake from 1 (out of infinite aka the world population -- because I don't want to google the world's actual population) perspective. :)

1. I like 'em rich, dense, and sinful. (we're talking about cupcakes here. hahaha.)
2. I love surprises. (still about cupcakes. ya know, after the bite. haha.)

Disclaimer: I am not a food blogger. In fact, if you backread my food-bearing posts you'll see that in describing my meals, I only use "yummy" and "delicious" and other preschool adjectives. I will now though try to be more vivid. I just love sweets and I would like to remind myself of the experience I've had in eating them by storing them in paper (internet). (Deym. Maybe this is a bad idea. Creating another venue for temptation!)


So, game na ba?


I will start, not today. But will do soon! :)


*Currently eating the cupcake pictured above. :)*

Summer where it rains.

I finally, finally got to go out of town with friends now, from since approximately... I don't know, my birth! And I mean to a place where it requires an airplane to get to -- because Tagaytay etc do not exactly qualify ---- let's say, some place like Boracay. Boracay!

I spent the last weekend of September at Boracay with girl co-workers. I am currently the unica ija of the MTs so my girl pals at the office belong to another set of friends. Anyway, they invited me to go last mid September and because 1.) I've always wanted to travel with friends, 2.) the fare and accommodations were cheap and 3.) the schedule was perfect - fit seamlessly with my work sched (only half day friday leave!) and body hormones sched (you get me), it was a no-brainer. Count.me.in!

I had the flight booked that same afternoon, and only told my parents about it the day after. They can't do anything about it that way, I guess, and it was more of an FYI than a "May I" sort of thing. Sneaky. My Cinderella days are really now ~evolving. Haha!

Here are a few (I lie. I tried to paste in only a few but...) photos from that weekend:

Of course, plenty of pics just calls for filtering. The boracay stories will stay there, and among us 5. It was a gloomy Saturday then but was followed by a scorching hot Sunday; so at least we got to experience both sky moods.

I was able to get a few things from there, 2 of which are these:

Bottled salsa and vinaigrette. I am yet to taste the vinaigrette, and the salsa's already more than halfway finished. It tastes sour and may be bordering tomato paste sour (good texture/consistency though) but I love it that way! I just add in some basil and a pinch of salt to really bring out it's flavor (I havo NO idea of what I am talking about but I add them in anyway). Next time I go there, I'll probably hoard more of these. I think this salsa cost me P165? And the vinaigrette's only P120. Not bad.

I am still missing the sand and beautiful vibes from that beautiful weekend. I truly hope that more adventures come in at this last quarter of the year.

Thank You for all these!! :)