Do you guys remember the Bloggers' Closet we had last February and how awesome it was? Well, here's something bigger and better! ;)

If you are based in the Philippines and are aware of who's who in the local fashion blogging scene, then you may have heard or read about this event already. What is it? It's the Bloggers United!

Here is the official press release of the event:

Notable style and beauty bloggers of the World Wide Web will connect outside their computer screens to take part in BLOGGERS UNITED: An Interactive Shopping Affair on May 27, 2011 at the 3nd - 33rd floor of The Lounge in Malayan Plaza Hotel. This event will be the very first bloggers bazaar featuring the most influential bloggers of Manila’s online fashion community. 

Our favorite online fashionistas will open up their closets to sell their most coveted pre-loved clothes, allowing buyers to get the very same outfit worn by popular bloggers such as Rosanna Aranaz, Lloyda Lim, Tricia Gosingtian, Laureen Uy and Kryz Uy. Various style icons will also take part in this event including Kookie Buhain, Lissa Kahayon, Patricia Prieto, David Guison, Camille Co, Karl Leuterio, and Joanna Ladrido. 

BLOGGERS UNITED wants this event to be a venue where the bloggers and readers can get together and interact with one another. Followers can approach their favorite bloggers to get to know them even more. They can share tips about how to style a particular item of clothing, gossip about the latest stories in the local and international fashion scene and be updated about the latest fashion trends. 

Blogging has proven to be a very formidable part of the new media, empowering individuals and giving them voice in this emerging high tech word. BLOGGERS UNITED believes that such power can also be wielded for the good of others. With this in mind, part of the proceeds from this event will go to the K.I.D.S. FOUNDATION to assist the organization in “helping children from all walks of life enjoy their rights and experience growth and development through God-centered activities that promote fun and enjoyment.” 

BLOGGERS UNITED is the brainchild of Melai Entuna, Aisa Ipac and Ana Gonzales, a team of blogger friends aiming to make a breakthrough by creating events and productions geared towards the continuous advancement of Manila’s (and eventually, the country’s) fashion blogging community. 

So to all bloggers, readers, and shoppers alike, be sure to bookmark the 27^th of May and prepare for a hot summer event you wouldn’t want to miss! BLOGGERS UNITED is a HYPE that will definitely be worth blogging about!

It's shopping without feeling guilty! Aside from updating your wardrobe with some pretty new duds, you can enjoy the different booths set up by our sponsors (for example, there will be a pampering station and a photobooth! You know how much I looove photobooths hee). There'll be food concessionaires as well so you won't get hungry. Aaaand, (I am so excited by this) there will be lots of raffle prizes in store for lucky attendees!

There will be a registration fee of P100 BUT if you bring medicines OR school supplies OR books for the kids who are the beneficiary of this project then you'll have to pay P50 only. :)

WILL YOU GO? It would be great to meet you all there! And oh, how I wish I can fly my blogfriends from abroad so they can attend this event. I'M SURE IT WILL BE FUN!

P.S. Prepare your cameras and your prettiest poses, I'm sure there will be LOTS of photos!! ;)

P.P.S. Please forgive me if I kept on typing some words in all-caps. It's just that I AM SO EXCITED!!! See you there!

I have been using my Samsung GT-S5830 (more commonly known as Galaxy Ace) for about a month now, and I am ready to write a review. I wasted my ticket and missed Switchfoot's concert when I bought this baby on the last day of April, and if that's not an indication of how much I wanted this phone then I don't know what is. In the three weeks I have had it, I am happy to say that my interest has not waned one bit.

Before I got this phone I had used another Samsung phone - a Corby Delphi I named Aristotle which has already been bequeathed to my brother - so the "transition" was easy for me. I wanted to get a new phone as a birthday present to myself last month, and I originally planned to get a BlackBerry because the BlackBerry service sounds awesome as it will help sate my obsession with email :D What ultimately made me decide to get an Android phone instead were seeing my friend Ed's Samsung Galaxy Mini and the many reviews available on the Internet. I figured an Android smartphone will serve me better than a BlackBerry could.

And I'm right! Once you go Android, there's no going back. Ohmygosh, there are literally thousands of apps available in the Android Market, and I nerd-ify myself silly going over each one's descriptions and reviews! I'm nowhere halfway through yet, and it's okay because the prospect of discovering new fun apps always excites me ;D I'm telling ya, they did not name it a smartphone for no reason ;) Now, on to my review.

This may be for vanity's sake only, but I liked that the package contains two back covers: one in textured black, one in smooth-finish white. I change the back cover depending on my mood :)

The 3.5" display provides clear and crisp resolution, and the touch-screen is very responsive. I was a bit hesitant about getting a "pure" touch-phone (also the reason why I got a Corby Delphi before which had both a touch-screen AND a QWERTY keypad) but my Ace put all my fears to rest. One touch was all it took, and I was hooked.

My Ace makes multi-tasking a breeze, thanks to its 800MHz processor. I can read eBooks, listen to music, text, send files via Bluetooth, browse the Android market, chat in WhatsApp and a host of other things without worrying my phone will crash on me. Talk about efficient.

I may not have much talent when it comes to singing, but I sure love listening to my favorite singers and bands belt it out. My Ace lets me do just that, and it even allows me to choose among different equalizer settings like normal, rock, jazz, classic, dance, pop, concert hall, wide, music clarity, bass enhancement, externalization, and my favorite, live.

This may be trivial to some, but I love that the micro-SD is hot-swappable. Transferring files via the memory card is so much easier when you don't have to turn the unit off to do so. Also, I love that aside from the charger, the package contains a USB connector that can be used to charge the phone's battery while it's connected to a computer. It was my life-saver when my bag was stolen with the charger in it as I didn't have the time to pop in to a store and buy another charger.

Now let me show you the apps I currently have in my phone:

All these were pre-installed except for Adobe Reader and the Antivirus :)

Meanwhile, I downloaded all these from the Android Market! See what I mean about being enthusiastic? :D

I wanted to list down my favorite apps as well but I think I'll just do a separate feature on them some other time, seeing as how this post has become so long already :D

What I don't like:

Getting in touch with me has become a lot easier because I can be online via WiFi all the time (thus answering my obsessive need to check my email every couple of hours), but I don't know if that is always a good thing.

Because of the number of apps running in the background, the battery's juice drains like nobody's business; it has to be recharged every day! I have to invest in a spare battery or two soon, especially for times when I would have to to travel to some place where even charging batteries can be a luxury. (I don't know where and when that would be though, as I don't have any plans of joining Survivor anytime soon, and even then the cast-aways don't really have phones with them :p)

I also don't like how the apps rearrange themselves alphabetically every time I turn my phone off and on again. You see, I like my stuff organized accordingly. When it comes to the apps, I want them arranged depending on use (i.e. all photo-editors are grouped together, all games are grouped together, as well as the references and tools like Google Translate, Dictionary.com, Currency Converter, etc.) I just wish there's a way I can stop my phone from doing it each time I reboot it.

Those are the only things I don't like with my new phone, and even the first one doesn't sound like such a big deal. You can tell I am really smitten :) Oh, regarding its name, why Sheldon you ask? I named him after Sheldon Cooper, the role played by Jim Parsons in the super funny The Big Bang Theory. Smart, efficient and sassy, that's my Sheldon :)

Sheldon and my netbook Lady Fabrize getting along just fine :D

The Samsung Galaxy Ace cost me P17,999. See here and here for additional information about the unit and complete specs.

Do you also use an Android phone? What are your favorite apps? Please share them in the comments so I can check them out! Thank you! ♥

Aside from making Filipinas look delicious with its wide range of clothes, shoes, bags and accessories, local clothing brand Tomato has now ventured to make Filipinas smell delicious by introducing two new scents: Oohlalicious and Vavalicious. Especially made to complement your Tomato fashion wear and accessories, these two new fragrances aim to make you look AND smell delicious.

Last Friday I was able to go to the launch of the eau de toilettes at their TriNoma branch (see post about the event here) where I got to take home a bottle of each.

Pretty glass bottles with adorable heart charms.

Oohlalicious: Subtly yummy

Oohlalicious lets you subtly unleash your inner foxiness. It opens with fresh and mouth-watering fruity notes blended with a very feminine heart note composed of jasmine, rose and light musk, trailed by sweet woodsy endtones. Perfect for Tomato women who are young, fun, and sexy, it also gives a boost of positivity so you'd feel good and confident about yourself.

I totally love the box it came with! The fragrance comes in a simple, transparent round flacon adorned with silver heart charms and engraved with Tomato's logo and the statement "Smell Delicious. Be Delicious." Oohlalicious is actually my favorite between the two :) I think this is just perfect for day-time wear, and sniffing it reminds me of spending lazy summer days lounging out in a hammock, doing nothing ♥

Vavalicious: modern, chic, spicy

Vavalicious is about elegant, chic modernity and sophistication - with a touch of spiciness that hints at some naughty fun in store. It is for women who express their innate elegance and class - but without coming off as too dainty and too refined to the point of boredom. It is a modern iris with warm woodsy and spicy aroma. 

It is stored in a heart-shaped bottle with an angled cap and is adorned with gold heart charms. This scent might be more appropriate for night-time wear. I love how this scent (and bottlle's design) gives me that Britney Spears' Circus music video vibe ♥

Oohlalicious and Vavalicious are now available in all branches and kiosks of Tomato nationwide. Each 50ml bottle is being sold for only P300. Pick one or both, and use accordingly depending on your mood: are you feeling sweet and foxy, or posh and elegant? Visit Tomato and smell delicious, be delicious.

I am the queen of maximizing time ♥ Last Friday I was at TriNoma for a movie-date and to attend the launch of Tomato's new fragrances.

The movie-date was a spur-of-the-moment decision; the event was at 5PM so I needed to kill 3 hours more since my shift ends at 2PM. My officemate Ali announced he's going to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and before I knew it the decision to tag along with him together with Garri, TL Paul and TL Carlo was made ;D

It sucks that I missed the last 30 minutes of the movie because I had to be at the Tomato event already, but it's okay. I guess I'll just wait for it on DVD. Johnny Depp is so funny as Captain Jack Sparrow. I love him!

Let it be said that I LOVE TOMATO! And I am not just saying that because the event was sponsored by them ;) Tomato is my go-to store when I need something. Whenever I visit one of their branches I am bound to find something I like. Proof? I got my purple ballet flats, leopard-print dress, blue-green halter dress, swimsuit, shades, and new "everyday" bag from them ♥

The event was held to launch their newest fragrances: Oohlalicious and Vavalicious.

I had the pleasure to witness the ribbon-cutting and mingle with Tomato's owner Ms. Leny Dionisio and marketing manager Ms. Karen, special guests, and fellow bloggers.

After the fun night-out my friends and I had last week, we met up early the next morning for our Pahiyas weekend. It was a helluva tiring way of spending my weekend, especially since I had to be at work at 5AM of Monday morning, but I didn't care. Times spent with my fabulous friends are always fun times, and it's always great to create new memories and travel experiences with them ♥

After a long and tiring journey, we finally reached our destination. We spent the weekend at Myk's house in Luisiana, Laguna which is only about a half-hour away from Lucban, Quezon where the Pahiyas festival is celebrated. Here are some photos:

When we returned to the house I was already too sleepy to muster enough energy to even talk so I slept already, but the rest of my friends were able to go with Myk's cousin and his visitors to get a first-hand experience of seeing Lucban's kiping-bedecked houses at night.

The next day, we woke up early again, prepared for another long day of exploring.

After swimming and a quick shower (and a gazillion more photos), we went to Lucban for my first visit there! :)

And then we finally reached Lucban!

I don't really know how to describe it. All I know is that it was an explosion of colors and happy sounds! There were a LOT of people, but no one was complaining even when the heat got a little bit too much. It was a very happy festival, indeed!

Now, because my camera was stolen, I wasn't able to take lots of photos (photos here are from Dewi and Myk). If you want to see awesome photos from this year's Pahiyas festival, check out this post by my friend Mimai :)

We almost got stranded because we left Myk's house at 9PM. It turned out that there were no buses going the Manila route 24 hours a day.

I reached my apartment at 2:30AM. I didn't actually want to go to sleep any more since I needed to wake up at 3:30AM anyway but I figured a little shut-eye wouldn't hurt. I was jolted back to reality when my phone started ringing at 5:16AM; it was my friend Michelle, asking me where I was! I was late for my 5AM shift! After a very quick shower I bolted to work. I was late for an hour but (I think) everything was forgiven when I handed out meringue and otap from Lucban to my officemates ;D

I can't believe summer is almost over! Before it bids a final goodbye though, I have a special giveaway prepared for you :) Watch out for that in one of my future posts!