How was your Christmas?

I spent mine stuffing myself with delicious food and spending quality time with my family and officemates. I abandoned the apartment for quite a while to go to my parents' house after work everyday and today is just my second night back. My housemate Asther is enjoying a long holiday weekend at her hometown in Laguna so I am stuck here alone with my fishes Yin and Yang. I don't feel lonely though. I spent my free time lounging around and watching DVDs of How I Met Your Mother. I just love Barney :D

Because I am a loser and my rest days are Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Christmas fell on a Friday this year, I spent half my Christmas at work.

this is what I wore to work on Christmas day

Looking at the bright side, I work only until 3PM so I still have more than enough time to go home and spend half-a-Christmas with my family. Besides, can you hear ka-ching? Double pay baby :D I wasn't able to attend the annual family reunion though, and that sucks a bit. But I spent the day with my immediate family and closest friends at the office, so all in all it was quite a happy day for me despite the inconvenience of having to go to work.

On other news, my college classmates are brewing some plans to go out of town on Wednesday and I'm psyched-excited! :D

So, how was your Christmas? I sure hope it was lovelier than mine!

PS: I can't believe 2010 is almost here! I hope you are all enjoying your holidays! :)

I'm just taking a quick moment from the Holi-daze to say a prayer for all of us

This Christmas, may we celebrate with open, generous and kind hearts

And keep in mind that happiness is in giving

That Christmas is not just for kids who wait for Santa Claus year after year

That Christmas is also for us adults, who may not want to admit it all the time, but still believe in its magic.
Amidst the merry-making and abundance of food, 
may we not get lost in the flurry of festivities.
May we remember the Baby who was born in a manger,
and His purpose in doing so.

I wish you and your family a blessed and bountiful Christmas!

May we not forget the reason why we celebrate it.

♥♥

 

I believe in giving one's self a reward after a good deed or after achieving something. My room in my parents' house and my nook in the apartment are "cluttered" with stuff I have rewarded myself through the months and years. It may be a small thing like a new tube of lipgloss, a book or DVD, or something a little bit more expensive like a new dress or a new pair of shoes. The point is, I am all for giving myself gifts. There's just something inherently satisfying when you practice your purchasing power and get something you don't really need need (as it's not really one of the basic necessities of life), don't you agree?

But when other people give me gifts, now that's something that gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. It just goes to show that they took the time to figure out what they think I would like, or basically give me something they know I would appreciate. And I think I may be one of the best recipients for gifts ever because I appreciate everything! It just makes me feel special, knowing that they thought of me. :)

A week ago, Marj (who is one of the kindest and sweetest persons I have ever met in the blogosphere) e-mailed me to ask for my mailing address. She sent me this:

with a sweet note from her and her daughter Nia :)

Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

I appreciated the fact that this is actually her own copy. I felt so honored that she has given me something that belonged to her. I mean, I cannot part with my own books, even those which were not really my favorites, but here she is, giving me her copy of one of her favorite books! She is so sweet! That, and the fact that she was seatmates(!) with my biggest local celebrity crush-ever Chito Miranda back in college makes her sooo amazing! :D

On to the next story. Last Sunday our team had our Christmas party at Mich's house. Everyone was there! Even MO Meydy came. :) It was an awesome day filled with food, festivities, laughter, songs, and good cheer. I love my teammates and I couldn't have asked for better people to share my first job with. :)

Asther, our direct supervisor TL Jimmy, me, and Mich

me in my F21 dress, Asther, Sasha

Frank, me, Watcher

So, we had our Secret Santa right? I picked Frank's name from the lot and I gave him a pair of boxer shorts and a bottle of Body Spray. :) And who picked my name?

It was Dane. :) (Read our story here if you haven't yet.) I was actually sweetly asking badgering him to tell me who he picked (since I already told him who I picked and I even asked for his help to pick out a gift for Frank) but the guy was tough and did not budge! Come to think of it, he told me once he picked my name but I didn't know whether to believe him or not because two other people are telling me the same thing. :D

So, what did he give me?

Ü

A very pretty white bag from Marithe Francois Girbaud :)

This is big enough to house all my essentials, and can even fit Lady Fabrize, my white netbook!

I must admit, I was very pleasantly surprised because I didn't know he picked my name, and besides he told me that he will give me a DVD of Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince. More so, the budget for our Secret Santa was only 300php! I do not know the exact cost of this, but it is nowhere near that price limit :D Now, guess what, all our other teammates are lobbying for another Secret Santa and this time, they want their names to be picked by Dane! What a funny bunch! :D

And last but not the least, today I got my package from Tiara! She was assigned by Mel to give me a present for our Blogger Gifts Exchange Program. :)

 This came all the way from Indonesia!

 Girl, you've got my favorite color down pat! :D

The package contains 2 pretty scarves, with one having a detachable floral clip and two beaded necklaces I can also wind around my wrist. Thank you so much, Tiara! :)

I was assigned to send a present to the girl in stiletto, Arlizan, and she has already received my package as well. :) Such a shame they did not let me include the facial masks and the bottle of nail polish (it was a very lovely blue shade, very much like your banner) because creams and liquids were apparently not allowed. The goodies travelled from the Philippines all the way to Dublin, Ireland. Technology is such a wonderful thing, don't you think so? I am so thankful to the blog gods for letting me meet all these wonderful, awesome people I wouldn't have met otherwise. :)

I have also done my part, making like one of Santa's elves and preparing gifts for my friends and family. And, I have already mailed these out last week

Christmas cheer from Krissy!

My friends here in the Philippines have already received them, great! :D I hope they do not get too caught up in the holiday rush... If they do, I guess that's fine anyway so people who requested for them will have something to look forward to even after Christmas :D

So, that's all for now I guess. Thank you for thinking of me this holiday season. :) I hope you all celebrate a wonderful and meaningful Christmas, and may we not forget the reason why we celebrate it. :)

Last Friday after work Dane and I went to SM Fairview to get a gift for our Secret Santa for our team's Christmas party. The mall was packed! There were so many people rushing to get gifts for their family, friends and godchildren :D Anyway, I got what I wanted to get, so we went back to my apartment.

On normal days, I would just have lounged at the apartment, maybe watch a DVD or read a book, and then go to sleep since I have work the next day. But that night was HSBC's Center Stage night and I really wanted to go! Good thing my flatmate Asther is at the apartment as well so she went with Dane and me back to the office to watch and support our former housemate Ruther. :)

Center Stage is a talent search and Ruther was part of the singing contest. We met with Mich at the office, and we agreed to just watch Ruther's performance and then go home already (because of the inconvenience of work the next day) but we ended up watching the full show anyway because he was the last to perform :D

There he is, owning the stage!

He is a very, very good singer and was part of a theater group in his hometown, Bulacan. My favorite is when he sings Ewan McGregor's part in his and Nicole Kidman's Come What May from the movie Moulin Rouge! For that night though, his piece was Take Me Out of the Dark by Filipino singer Gary Valenciano, and guess what, HE WON! I am so proud of him! :)

After the contest, Dane was supposed to drop us off to Philcoa so Asther, Mich and I can just take a cab home but we were still full of adrenaline from Ruther's winning that we did not want to go home just yet. They were confident because it was their rest day the next day and it is only me who had to go to work, but I said, screw work and just went with the flow :D

So, where did the night take us?

To McDonald's, where we feasted on french fries and sundaes layered with hot fudge and Oreos. Yum!

Asther and Mich

Dane and Krissy

Dane doesn't want to have his photo taken...

... but I can be sssneaky!

Dane drove the three of us back to the apartment since Mich decided to just stay for the night and then hear the morning Mass with Ar at 4am. I asked them to wake me up before they leave (which should be at about 3:45am) so that my mind would already be awake by 4am. Guess what, I woke up at 4:30am and they were still sleeping! XD

Singing, winning, sundae-ing, and driving past 10pm. I daresay it was an awesome last Friday before Christmas. :)

Noticed anything new around here lately? This post is way overdue XD I got too caught up in the holiday rush! No one's complaining though, because I love Christmas and it's my favorite season of the year! :D

Anyway, look up to see what my BEST guy friend Jerome did for my blog! Yep, a new banner! Do you like it? I know I do!

I have been badgering him for one for so long to no avail, so imagine my surprise when he e-mailed me this banner last Thursday. It took him only a day since he is not too busy at the office :) He said the girl is a caricature of me. It's too cute how she also has glasses, dimples, pink lips, and is even holding a pen for good measure. Sexy too, don't you think? And that pink kissmark on her left shoulder is just too adorable :D

Jerome is now working as a web designer for  Union Bank. He has been drawing and sketching since we were young (he drew all the Yuyu Hakusho characters for me when we were in high school)  so I am happy that he landed a job he loves. He is also an ace badminton player and has won several tournaments already. And, get this, he and his twin brother Jonas are endorsers of Babolat. Do I sound like a very proud stagemom? LOL!

Thanks Jer! You really are the awesome-st! :)

For his other works, please visit his Deviant Art account ;)

Eight days before Christmas! Wow, can you believe that? The days are a-zooming and I am not  yet completely done with my Christmas shopping! Every year around this time I complain and swear I will start doing my Christmas shopping early next year so I won't be beaten by the holiday rush, but I guess I never learn :D My social calendar is full with plans to see friends and relatives and I looove it :)

It's a time when people's pockets are looser; perfect time for giving and sharing as the spirit of the season leaves us feeling warm and fuzzy all over. I am a pink and fabulous girl who loves receiving gifts as much as I love giving them, and this blog post is dedicated to just that, a list of stuff I would love to get not just this Christmas but for the coming year. So yeah, it's my Wish List: 2010 Edition. If friends and family won't give them to me I am sure I will still get them, thanks to my willpower when wanting anything. As Paulo Coelho very wisely said on my favorite book of his The Alchemist, "When you really want something, the universe conspires in helping you achieve it." So hey universe, I know I am just a little speck as compared to your vastness, grandeur and ineffability, but I would greatly appreciate it if you conspire with your, umm, conspirators in getting me these this coming year (I love that the universe sounds so badass when you think of him/ her conspiring with others :D):

I have worn eyeglasses since I was in second grade (eight years old). Can you believe that? I am my high school batch's geekest. There is only another one from my Elementary class who wore eyeglasses that time, and he's not wearing them now anymore x_x 

I would like to play with eyeshadow and other whatnots, even try those fancy contact lens just for fun but I cannot see without my trusted pink eyeglasses. I wanted to try graded contact lens for the longest time, but they're so expensive (because of the added cost due to my astigmatism. Thank you, genes.) and I'm afraid I'd just lose them. Besides, I am squeamish about putting strange foreign objects on my eyes. Eek. But this coming year, I am going to conquer my fear. Please pray that I might have the courage. :D

Our Casio Exilim I-forgot-what-the-exact-model-is conked out on us this year, and I was forced to blog using photos taken by my phone Alister's 2mp lens. Alister takes decent photos but I want clearer ones. I can't wait to lug around a pink camera. Or a white one, so she can go well with my white netbook Lady Fabrize.

Ah, the pink phone conspiracy. I have had two pink phones before and you really cannot deny their cuteness factor. Or come to think of it. a white phone will also do, so she can also go well with Lady Fabrize. Yes, I am a lady who likes matchy-matchy stuff.

I love Alister (who houses my Globe SIM) and my other-phone-who-doesn't-have-a-name (who houses my Sun SIM) but I have had him for a year now. Plus, him not being wifi-enabled makes him look ancient. Sorry Alister. But I will still keep you and won't ditch you even when I get a new one. Because I love you like that and you have served me well. :)

Yes, the dilemma I posted here has been solved. I have decided I really want a digiperm.

Now if only I have the cash already I will have this treatment right now, but with the status of my finances right now, I guess I would have to wait for a bit more. x_x I wish I can have it before HSBC's Holiday Party! x_x

Because you can almost hear my personal computer's internal hard drive weep with the weight he carries. I'd like to get an external hard drive so I can back up my files, plus have room for other stuff I'd like to download thanks to the wonderful world wide web. Plus points if it looks girly. :)

I know it would signal the end of a debt-free life as I know it. But I would very much like to have a credit card just so I can have a Paypal account and finally order stuff from etsy sites I want to buy stuff from! x_x I know I don't really need them... But you can't justify wants so I won't even try. :)

I may not know how to draw to save my life and I can't even doodle, but I know talent when I see it. And this, you can't deny there is some potential in here folks.

I made these manually (using just the brush included with the nail polish). I also designed some hearts before on my nails, and flowers on my friend/ officemate Sasha's, too bad I don't have photos of them. Just think how many other designs I can make with nail art pens. :D

A Chanel sounds great, but unattainable at the moment.

There's just something sexy and ultra-feminine about it. I like!

I love collectiing original DVDs of my favorite movies and I already have quite an impressive collection. But why, oh why, does my top favorite have to be so elusive?

Have you seen this? If not, I would highly recommend it. Sigh. Beautiful, beautiful film. Just. Beautiful. I have searched high and low for a copy of it but video stores here are already out of copies. I have the original VCD and my bestfriend Jerome has already downloaded a copy of it for me but I still want the original DVD, with the features, commentary and all. So far the only store I saw this in stock is Amazon.com. And that, my friends, is the reason why I NEED a credit card.

I am absolutely in love with this movie. I have seen it seven times already but I never fail to cry at my favorite scenes. Read my review here! The DVD comes out on December 22. This is attainable! :D

So, that's all for now. Wow, that's a pretty short list as compared to some wish lists I have done in the past. I guess I will update this post from time to time, and will update you on the status of my "attaining" these as the universe conspires with his/ her conspirators. Will post a link on the top link bar. :)

So, *coughcoughwinkwinkhinthintnudgenudge* Happy 8 Days Before Christmas, everyone! ♥♥