I was tagged by Cha eons ago! I'm sorry for doing this just now x_x You see, I am not much of a makeup person. As I said in this post, applying makeup is my Achilles' heel. Now, thanks to Blogspot, I follow LOTS of beauty bloggers so I can learn. And little by little I think I am succeeding. I still don't apply foundation, concealers and eyeshadow (because me thinks it's too dressy for my workplace) but all in all I think I've got the basics covered.

On the rare occasions that I need to put on makeup, I just dig in my makeup box, pray that I don't look like I got punched in the face, and apply what I learned. Lookie here:

During the HSBC Planet Groove Party last year

(1st photo: flashing some gams)

(2nd photo: with my officemates/ friends Watcher and Ruther. I can't find a more decent close-up photo and it breaks my heart to crop them out :D)

During this year's Victorian Valentine party

I am no expert, but I'm trying :D

Okay, I'm sorry for digressing. Without further adieu, here is my beauty routine:

my makeup kit :)

I used Care Line in Love.

Such a pretty soft pink shade :)

And that's it! Hmm. I just realized I am not too complicated after all :) But I gotta start using skin products with sunblock now. Any recommendations? :)

In line with this post I would like to thank Mia for giving me this award:

I am now passing on this award to lovelies Andhari, Ana, Miss Guimba, Meream and Cha. Please do the tag as well! :) Cha, you don't need to do the tag anymore since you were the one who tagged me ;)

It's only the first half of the month but I have already spent way more than necessary. With shopping trips here and there, I guess it's safe to say I have already maxed out my shopping budget for the month.

First in the list is this pretty je t'aime cherry-print scarf that I got from eBay for an unbelievably low price! The starting bid was for a giveaway price of Php20.00. Now I love them cherry-prints so I entered Php200.00 as my maximum bid. Heavens of heavens, only three other people bid for it so I won it for only Php46.00! Can you believe that? The shipping fee of Php70.00 was even higher than the price of the item :)

je t'aime cherry-print scarf with freebie and handwritten note

And Anne is so sweet to even give a pair of red magnetic earrings as freebie, plus a handwritten note :) She is the first eBay seller I bought from who did this (other eBay sellers I transacted with  sent very impersonal replies to my questions and were very demanding when it comes to payments). Mostly I like buying from Multiply sellers more because they are more accomodating and leaves their own personal touch to the items they sell.

Another purchase from eBay is this BNWT aqua Forever21 sweetheart tube dress. I won't say anymore who I got this from. Let's just that she was not so nice. She "demanded" I give her a feedback already when I haven't received the item yet. 

 

 aqua F21 sweetheart tube dress

 

Good thing I liked the dress or I wouldn't have left her any feedback at all (which is better than giving her a negative one). I finally gave her a positive feedback and guess what, until now she hasn't left a feedback for me yet. Phew. Suffice it to say that I am not buying anything from her again.

On the 5th, I went to SM North EDSA with my friend/ officemate Sasha and got these:

The big EGG paperbag contains a bag I bought as a gift for my Tita who celebrated her 50th birthday the following day while the black paperbag is from Pierre Cardin by Cinderella. What does it contain? It contains a very pretty dress I won't show yet because I am planning to wear it to our Holiday Party! On 2007 I wore this, and this on 2008. So when will 2009's party be? I have no idea. You know it's bad when you buy an outfit for a party that does not have a set date yet LOL.I never would have gotten that dress if not for Sasha's and the other girls waiting by the dressing room's insistence. And yeah, I think I would look fierce in that dress :D

The NBS bag contained the books I posted here while the smaller EGG bag contained these:

I got a transparent makeup kit (Php200), a cellphone pouch (Php180), and a white strappy wristwatch (Php695). The makeup bag is very justifiable since I have been using the same makeup kit since college :D while the cellphone pouch is an awesome buy because it can house my two mobile phones perfectly! There is no justifiable reason for the watch though except that it's pretty on my dainty wrist as pictured here:

Ü

It did not stop there. Last week I decided to take more care of my skin and went organic :) I spent my rest days trying to find out more about Cyleina and looked for feedbacks online. I browsed through several blogs (that's how I discovered some of the blogs I am following now. Hello Miss Guimba! Ü) and not once did I see a negative review. I looked for a reseller, found Hazel, and met up with her at McDonald's in Quezon Avenue last Friday.

Oops I think I went a little overboard. All the descriptions are very promising and I cannot decide which to buy so I bought a lot to see what I will like the most. I got Tomato, Triple Citrus, Black Pearl, Kojic, Apple Cinnamon, Lavender, Green Tea, Batangas Coffee, Chocolate-Milk and Honey-Oatmeal. Hazel gave me a sample of Strawberry :) They all smell so yummy that it was hard to choose which to try first! I settled on Black Pearl though as it got the best raves and Lavender for my de-stress shower before sleeping :) Click here to know more about Cyleina :)

Last Saturday I went with Sasha and Ar (my friend/ flatmate) to TriNoma and SM North EDSA to destress and watch Kimmydora. Unfortunately the cinemas were full! So Sasha just decided to buy what she came there for. I promised myself no more purchases, but promises (especially to self) are easily broken. I got a lipstick from in2it and a cropped jacket from Cinderella.

To my credit, the jacket is down to Php375 from its original price of Php750 (less 50%!) and it is too pretty to leave there. It would look perfect with my white cigarette pants :)

And the lipstick is justifiable since I have been looking for a pretty light pink lipstick for a while now. I am "between lipsticks" you see, and have just been using my trusted Nivea Lipcare :D

So there's my haul for this month. I wish I can say that's it but I will attend the Candy Fair on the 26th, and there will be booths of pretty stuff there! I put two dresses from Ana's online store on hold and I will get them there :)

A quick oufit post before I end this:

I really should learn how to not spoil myself so much. But then again, I guess not ;)

If there's one thing I eagerly await for once the second half of the year kicks in, it would definitely be National Bookstore's annual sale! Imagine scoring books with prices as much as 70% off! If that's not enough, all imported books are at 20% off, and all books from Filipino authors are at 5% off! Forgive the exclamation points, it's just that aside from shoes, nothing excites me more than a good book :)

I am a total bookworm. My love for reading started at a very early age. I remember forcing myself to learn how to read just so I can read those fairy tales my mom used to tell me about. By age 5, I can already read on my own, and thus started my love affair with books. My father used to joke that when I was young, if made to choose between a book or food, I always chose the book! You should see my bookshelves here in my parents' house and in the pad I am renting with my friend/ officemate Ar. I would gladly take photos of them but they are not yet that organized. One of these days maybe.

This month-long sale has been a tradition for me, really. For this year I scrimped a bit though because I have already spent more than necessary for the past two weeks. Boo impulsive buys but yay for items-that-are-too-cute-to-not-buy. Will blog about them next :)

Last Saturday, I got these from NBS - SM North EDSA:

Grammar for Smart People, Edith Hamilton's Mythology, a collection of Grimms' Fairy Tales, and Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys

I already had my own copy of Mythology before but a good friend-turned-boyfriend-turned-ex never returned it. Mythology (especially that of the Greeks) is one of the things that fascinates me and even though I already have a number of books on this topic I couldn't resist having my own copy of Hamilton's again. I got this for Php156 (down from Php195). Fairy tales are another thing that amazes me, and now that I'm - ehem ehem - a little bit older I figured it would be nice to read the real stories and not rely so much on the Disneyfied versions, yes? Snow White as told by the Grimms still gives me the creeps x_x I got it for Php79.20 (down from Php99). Now, the best buy of them all is Anansi Boys. I got it for only Php169.50 (down from Php339) That's 50% off! I almost didn't see it because it was lying at the bottom of a stack of books. Good thing I have an excellent eye for good buys :)

Not included in the photos is my Julie and Julia (My Year of Cooking Dangerously) by Julie Powell. I got it for only Php75 (down from Php579!), It is the book where the new movie of Meryl Streep and Amy Adams is based from.

I should really impose a rule on myself. I haven't finished the elbow-deep books I have at the apartment yet here I am buying new ones again. But who could resist good books, right? Certainly not me! I'm sorry, but I still can't stop thinking of those books by Neil Gaiman and Paulo Coelho that I have yet to own.

Now here I am in my parents' home, stuck inside with the heavy rain pouring outside, ready to curl  in with one of my new books. Indeed, book-lovers never go to bed alone :)

It has been raining nonstop in my side of the globe for the last few days and it is sooo easy (and tempting!) to just curl up in bed and slumber the bad weather away. But for some of us who are not  lucky enough to enjoy the past long weekend, we had no choice but to get up from the comfort of warm sheets and go face the gray skies and downpour. Today is my rest day though, so today I get to enjoy my warm bed. Ü

When I get bored and a bit blue-sy, I paint my nails a happy color. Instant pick-me-upper! This week, I painted my nails Turquoise by Elianto. So pretty and unique! I love how the colors pop, but not in an overpowering way.

EDIT: Like what I said in my response to Nina, it's pure creamy liquid goodness in a bottle :) It is plain turquoise, no glitters, shimmers or anything. What I love about Elianto's formulation is that it does not smell too harsh and it does not dry easily while you are still applying it (unlike other cheaper brands that tend to dry before you finish so the nail polish brush tends to leave brush marks on the nails).

Hmm, now that I think of it, the color actually reminds me of Sweet Valley High's Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield's eyes. You remember how they were described in the first chapter (of each book!) as having turquoise eyes? Nostalgia galore! Oh I remember how I loved reading those, they were certainly a big part of my pre-adolescent/ teenage years. Now excuse me while I go looking for my old copies of them books. Ü

*Elianto's nail polish costs 99php per bottle.

I started working for HSBC two weeks after graduation and planned to quit after six months to pursue what I really want to do: write. Now, two years and four months later, I am still with the same company. I haven't yet found the courage to go after what I really want and have settled in a comfort zone with the best officemates a girl fresh out of college can ever wish to have and a 5am - 2pm work schedule that gives me more than enough free time to do anything I want, like hit the malls after. Add to that the hefty paycheck and you would think I've struck gold. But I do believe that this is just a "temporary" thing for me, an in-between job, if you may. When will I start to pursue my dreams? I don't know. Next year maybe? For now I am settling. I am twenty-three years young and I have my life ahead of me. Hey, I know that life is short and we should make the most out of every moment given us (you would think I would appreciate that fact after I had this dream), but I don't think toiling for hours in an office and bringing work home is something that would make me happy, for now. I am not saying that I will never consider working as an office girl as an option (heck I am even planning to sign up for classes to improve on my Excel skills), but right now, I think I am going to stay and delay my dreams for just a little bit longer.

Shucks. Such a "deep" introduction for a post about shopping :D

I work hard, so I play hard.

Last Friday I, together with my friends/ officemates Mich and Sasha (yep, the same people I saw The Time Traveler's Wife with)  trooped to SM North EDSA and The Block to spend the month's paycheck. But no we are not just spending mindlessly. By shopping, we are making sure our economy continues to flourish. Hah! Learned that from Bench's current tagline: Save the economy, Shop. Very clever, yes? :D

I got these:

I just love shopping for toiletries! Watson's is one of my happy places. Ü

I got Cream Silk Standout Straight conditioner (which enabled me to get a scratch card which made me win a sample sachet of Cream Silk intensive repair conditioning treatment and two free sachets of Cream Silk Standout Straight), Nivea Lip Care in Strawberry Kiss, Sisters sanitary napkin (which is el cheapo but of really good quality!), Garnier facial mask, Nivea facial wash,  EB powder blusher, and Rexona deo with sunflower oil (which I didn't really need because I use Nivea deo but got anyway just so I can have a scratch card as well and get that leopard print tweezer :D) I also got a bottle of nail polish in Turquoise from Elianto.

But that's not really the point of this post is it?

The point is this:

 Wicked!

What made me even happier were the beautiful belts I got from the same store. I got two more belts, one is a black waist belt (199php), the other is a thin turquoise belt with gold touches (50php). I got the black corset belt (199php) in their TriNoMa branch after not having much luck finding it in SM North EDSA. 

Here is a photo of myself working it in my new shoes:

I am crazy for clothes, books and DVDs, but nothing pulls me more than a pretty pair of shoes. Sweet torture galore! And who am I to deprive myself?

If only all of us can lead Carrie Bradshaw's life and earn enough just by writing a regular column, having a book made out of them, and worrying about men. Ü

"Long ago, men went to sea, and women waited for them, standing on the edge of the water, scanning the horizon for the tiny ship. Now I wait for Henry. He vanishes unwillingly, without warning. I wait for him. Each moment that I wait feels like a year, an eternity. Each moment is slow and transparent as glass. Through each moment I can see infinite moments lined up, waiting. Why has he gone where I cannot follow?"

 - Claire, The Time Traveler's Wife

I hate watching movies when they have already been shown for more than a week and everyone else has already given their reviews. After being kept off watching The Time Traveler's Wife for almost two weeks, I almost gave up trying to see it. But I loved the book and I love Rachel McAdams (and it didn't hurt that Eric Bana is also in it) so last Sunday I trooped to The Block  with  my friends/ officemates Mich and Sasha and bawled my eyes out. I am telling you, it's better late than never!