Here's another reason to LOVE SUMMER!

Aside from providing a wide variety of options to jazz up our summer wardrobe (check out my picks here!), SM Accessories has come up with this super awesome promo that can let us win round-trip tickets to any summer destination in the Philippines PLUS branded shades!

Easy enough, yes? Are you joining? I guess I'd better check on my remaining vacation leave credits from the office, because I am definitely joining! ;)

Remember, the promo starts tomorrow! Visit the StyleMe: SM Accessories Facebook page for more details ♥

I guess it's really inevitable for two people who share a mutual love for books, shopping, and pretty little things to cross paths and then eventually become friends :) More than five years ago, Rej and I met online and instantly struck up a friendship nurtured via Multiply posts and blog comments. We met in person for the first time on November 2010, and if I'm speaking from a third person point of view, it's amazing to see how two girls can talk that much on their first meeting :)

After more than a year, we were finally able to meet up again! We visited Maginhawa Street yesterday for affordable but yummy food (you know how much I love Maginhawa Street LOL). She graduated from UP Diliman so it also used to be one of her and her friends' regular haunts. Our first stop? Friuli.

And because she has never tasted any milk tea variant from Moonleaf Tea Shop yet, we made sure we visited it as well. It's a pleasant surprise that the place is not crowded on Sundays! I was so glad we were able to get seats inside hehe.

And because we are young are free didn't really want to go home yet after our tummies have had their fill, we made a spontaneous trip to TriNoma ;p

It was a total gabfest from start to finish, but we never got tired of talking! What I like about our friendship is that we are on the same wavelength so we never ran out of stuff to talk about. We did a LOT of catching up, and it was so much fun to look back at our old selves and compare them to the newer "versions" :D She will be leaving the country soon to take post-graduate studies in Australia (on scholarship!) and I couldn't be happier for her! So awesome, smart girl!

It took a while before we were able to arrange another get-together, but when we did it felt like we do this on a regular basis! Don't you just love friendships like that? I share the same kind of friendship with other amazing people I met through the Internet, so let me take this opportunity to profess how much I love the world wide web! You really can meet friends ANYWHERE!

There is little doubt that I am truly blessed with wonderful friends wherever I look. Thank You, Papa God. ♥

I know we're not even through the first quarter of the year yet, but I am already looking forward to 2013!!!

Why, because of these critters!

I loved Despicable Me so much that I saw it twice in the cinema back in 2010, and I just couldn't get enough of these Minions! Abby even sent me my own Minion all the way from Las Vegas! I got a DVD as a gift for Christmas that year but sadly lost the free keychain when I got mugged :(


They're so cute and funny and adorable and silly, and this short video never fails to make me LOL every time I watch it. And believe me, I have watched it a looooot of times already ;D Ahhhh I just want to squish them!!!

Go and see the first movie if you haven't yet! I swear you'll also want a Minion of your own!

Oh Watsons, one of the happiest places on Earth (at least for me)! Second only to bookstores, this is the store I frequent the most whenever I'm in a mall. Visiting a Watsons branch always makes me happy, what with rows and rows of yummy-smelling body-care products and colorful makeup palettes! I could never leave a branch without buying anything! (And that, my friends, is how you build a lipstick or nail polish collection LOL.)

I really enjoyed the Watsons Beauty Lab held last year so I was really looking forward to the next one. Just imagine my excitement when I received the invite from ARC PR, especially since Patty Laurel will be there as one of the brand's newest ambassadors for their new campaign!

The extra-special event was held in Borough at The Podium last Thursday. Extra-special, because it celebrated both the launch of Watsons Switch & Save campaign AND its 10th anniversary of health and beauty in the Philippines! 10 years of prettifying Filipinas, 275 stores and counting in over 30 cities, serving more than 160,000 customers everyday, and recipient of numerous awards, WOW! Congratulations, Watsons!

At the forefront of the Watsons Switch & Save campaign are four of Manila’s brightest personalities who are themselves avid Watsons shoppers: Socialite-columnist-interior designer Tessa Prieto-Valdes, host-teacher-blogger Patty Laurel, model-entrepreneur-blogger Divine Lee, and model-actor Victor Basa. Each multi-hyphenate knows how to live life to the fullest and truly understands the value of switching and saving. Over yummy pasta and pizza served to us, Patty, Tessa and Victor shared their own experiences with Watsons Label and what they splurge on using the money they have saved when they switched. Thanks to switching and saving, Tessa can indulge in her designer clothes and shoes, Divine can satisfy her penchant for gorgeous handbags, Victor can stay true to his love of gadgets, and Patty can quell her wanderlust and travel the world.

Our loot bags contained Watsons Label products, here they are together with their listed prices so you'll see how insanely affordable and sulit they are!

See how easy-on-the-pocket they are? Not to mention their ginormous sizes! The bath products can probably last me more than a month, considering I stay in my apartment only five days a week (and I haven't even finished all the other products given to us at last year's Beauty Lab even after I have given some to my friends!) No one's complaining, though :)

I didn't get to meet Patty personally, but I got something much better! I still feel giddy until now about meeting my favorite editor-in-chief :) I also enjoyed the event with these beautiful ladies:

The hope for the Postura Project is to become a portal for Filipino branded fashion and locally inspired looks. Started by four fashionalism advocates Arriane Serafico, Knox Balbastro, Sarah Meier, and David Guison, it has a very simple mission. To get fellow Filipinos to start  wearing something Filipino everyday. 

To kick-start the movement, we’re posing a challenge to ourselves - to wear something Filipino everyday, for one whole month. This is to show how we’re loud and proud, and we firmly believe that “Made in the Philippines” can be young, fun, and fashionable. We show how it takes very little effort to incorporate a piece of Philippine fashion into your everyday outfit.

I was tapped by David to join and, really, with a cause and concept like that, there's nothing else to say but "Challenge accepted!" People working on design degrees will love this. I had a lot of fun doing the 30 Day Blog Challenge a couple of years ago and it really helped me develop my writing voice, so I figured this project would be an entirely different experience for me. Aside from showcasing my personal style, I love that it also helps showcase locally-made pieces.

This is what I wore to a special beauty event (where I also met the heroine of my teenage years!!!) I attended last Tuesday, more details of which will be shared on my next post.

My style has always been girly, and I thought there couldn't be a better venue to show that than in a beauty event :) And yes, what could be more feminine than florals and pink? And ballerina shoes?

Shades of pink and turquoise are my favorite colors and they just look wonderful together! The bag I'm using here is a plain aquamarine satin bag made and sold by my officemate Terry (we also sold them during the Bloggers United Bazaar part 2!) and I love how it can complement most pieces in my closet even with its striking color. I actually have two other bags of the exact same design but in different colors (deep red satin and black) and they've been getting so much abuse from me lately; I bring them anywhere because they're so easy to tote around and very roomy, perfect for someone like me who ALWAYS brings a lot of stuff anywhere :D Maybe I'll do a "What's in my bag?" post again soon? ;)

I hope you like my first entry to this challenge and inspire you to Filipinize your look. More and more local brands are coming up with great ideas and designs so just continuously be inspired! Never has fashion been this fun and Filipino ;) We're actually encouraging more people to join this project! To know more, check out these helpful links:


It's almost the weekend, you guys! Any grand plans? As for me I'm just planning to stay in and get as much rest as I can (read: pig out and surf the Internet all day, all night ;p) Whatever plans you have, I hope you get to enjoy it despite this unbearable heat!

Thank you for taking my photos, Kira! ♥

I get inspired by a lot of things, but few have impacted me the way she did.

I grew up having lots of dreams of what I wanted to be in the future; my ambitions changed almost on a monthly basis, ranging from wanting to be a ballerina to a scientist to an actress to a VJ. All this changed when I got my first copy of Candy magazine when I was thirteen, and it's all because of one person.

Most girls my age (especially my Seventeen Sigaw sisters) would understand me when I say that Mia Fausto-Cruz was a major influence during our teenage years. She was Candy's editor-in-chief when I started subscribing to the magazine, and she did a really great job with it! I looked forward to each month because I knew a new issue is on its way. Candy magazine sated my appetite for all things girly, fed my mind with new information, and developed my imagination with its monthly dose of new ideas to try! Oh boy, those were the days.

One of my favorite sections was the Ed's Letter. In it, Mia would tell some personal anecdotes then relate them to the theme of the month's ish. Each letter ends with something inspirational or motivating, and I always thought those were the best bits. She had such a unique "voice" and I really felt that she wrote each letter specifically for me. I was such a BIG fan! I love many different authors, but to be honest, Mia is the one who really inspired me to want to write. She was such a big influence to me, and hers is the voice I wanted to emulate (note: emulate, not imitate). When I did my OJT with Summit Media, I walked to the office everyday hoping for a glimpse of her but wasn't very successful (haha I sound like a stalker here). I've always wanted to send her a note to show my appreciation but I was too shy... And yeah, I was also a bit afraid that she would turn out to be Miranda Priestly-like.

She then took over Seventeen Philippines magazine, where I "followed" her until the very last issue. I've started buying other magazine titles since but they never affected me the way my old Candy issues did. I never got to meet Mia in person, but kept a secret wish to do so.

Guess what? That secret wish got granted earlier today :)

I was in Ortigas for an event earlier, and she was also one of the invited guests! I tried to keep my cool all throughout the event but to tell you the truth my inner teenage girl was screaming with glee :D After the event, Julia of Bless My Bag was kind enough to help me come up to her, introduce myself, and ask for a photo. (Sucks to be this painfully shy x_x) Lookie lookie:

The heroine of my teenage years! She was so warm and sweet, and it's not hard to imagine her as the same Mia who signed all those Ed's Letters years before. And she instantly knew I was a Candy girl! She must have gotten the same reaction from girls my age quite a lot - only goes to show how many girls look up to her. She asked me if I'm there as a member of the press, but I told her I'm a blogger. She was just so nice and I just wanted to hug her ♥ This is so embarrassing, but I almost cried (maybe because of happiness, or maybe relief that she wasn't Miranda Priestly-like at all), and I thought I might never get the chance again, so I mustered all courage to ask her to write something on my planner.

AND SHE DID!

I almost want to cry while writing this :,)

All those money I spent on my Candy magazines (because P85 monthly at the time can get quite expensive to a high school student after a while) and all those time spent poring after them and reading them again and again didn't go to waste. Because of them I learned where my passions really lie, and for P85 multiplied by 11 months per year, I think that's already a good, good bargain. I mean, I turned out good, didn't I? ♥

Reposting this photo from an ooold blog post (look how I didn't have my own URL back then) My Candy magazines all covered with plastic and lined up chronologically on the right side.

I still read these old magazines sometimes, because unlike some of today's teen mags, the sections and articles in them are actually timeless and still never fail to transport me back to simpler days where all I had to worry about were my homework, my braces, and whether or not my crush likes me back ;)