comfort from the smell of bound paper

  

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

here are the ones i own: 

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

kafka on the shore by haruki murakami

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

the lovely bones by alice sebold

the perks of being a wallflower by stephen chbosky

me talk pretty one day by david sedaris

the little prince by antoine de saint-exupery

and embarrassingly -- the twiligh series by stephenie meyer

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

black top - thrifted from our manager's garage sale | skinny jeans - chillypapa

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

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

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

 

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

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

i'm in love...and always will be.

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

 

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

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

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

striped shirt - thrifted

blue cropped jacket - thrifted

black leggings - ???

grey flats with zebra printed bow - sm dept store

black bag - lil' sister's

black belt with animal printed buckle - big sister's (haha!)

sunnies - thrifted at carbon

rings - props

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

complaining about all the complaining

 

 

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

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

sunnies - thrifted at carbon

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

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

and learn to let go.

to my honeybee, i'm sorry for rambling.

happy anniversary!

the past two years have been a blessing.

overwhelmed

 

 

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

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

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

what i did over the weekend: cooked harry dinner at his place | read 'lion among men' | did listen to 'the honorary title' | watched legion | attended mass | had dinner with friends | went to the wake of a friend's father | had dessert at dong juan | and wished i had a massage..haha!

boho top - thrifted

black shorts - zara (thrifted too!)

black tank top - dorothy perkins (sister's closet)

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

black bag - lil' sister's (notice how she more bags than me?)

bangles - props + aunt's gift

rings - props

don't disturb the neighbor

 

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

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

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

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

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

vintage car necklace - thrifted at manalili | rings - props

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

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

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

hush now

 

 

 

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

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

printed top - props

black blazer - thrifted

jeans - chillypapa

black studded flats - mongkok ladies market, hk

long chained watch - hk souvenir shop

dog tags - custom-made

ring - props

smile despite the pain

  

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

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

plaid top - thrifted

skinny jeans - chillypapa

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

owl chained watch - thrifted at manalili

black bag - lil' sister's

aviator shades - lil' sister's

rings: animal print and clustered cubes - props