Today should have been my 6th year with HSBC if I didn't take the leap more than eight months ago. As it is, I am now in an industry that can be really stressful at times most of the time but I think I'm doing okay.

I don't go to as much bloggers' events as I used to because I am now part of the team who plans these events; just today we did two press launches for two separate clients. I have met a lot of interesting people and my social circle has become wider - I just hope there's a single man in there somewhere ha ha - and honestly, although I juggle a lot of tasks and responsibilities, I couldn't be happier.

Now, if there's anything I can leave you with, I guess it's an advice to never underestimate the power of a good great cocktail ;)

The newest cocktails of Aria Cucina Italiana concocted by renowned mixologist Tim Walters. Description of these yummy drinks coming soon!

It's always amazing to see passion in action. No regrets. ❤

I know that like "literally", the word "epic" is literally one of the most overused words in the Internet. Epic meal, epic episode, epic movie, epic everything. But then again, it is indeed subjective and what might feel epic to you might not be it for me, and vice versa. In this case, I am sorely tempted to describe our weekend as such but I feel like doing so might be reductive but I don't know, that's just me.

Such a long-winding introduction, but here are some photos from our weekend where us four girls stayed in  Alex's farmhouse in Tagaytay and just let things be.

Persian food for dinner. Full body massage at Sesitra Spa. Road trip. Brunch at Bag Of Beans. Chocolate chips pancakes. Pineapples. Being surrounded by nature. Girl talk. Late lunch at Leslie's. Being serenaded by "Adele". '90s playlists. Dixit. Pink bunny. Monopoly Deal. Winning at life. Late night stories. Salted Caramel ice cream. Mochi. Mike Wazowski. Bananas and Speculoos Crunchy Cookie Butter. The search for pandesal. Hot showers. Lazy Tagaytay dogs. Nate Ruess. Buffalo's. Chili 'n Cheese Nachos. Buko tarts.

I have a lot more memories from this weekend, but my favorite is probably when we were already on our way back to the farmhouse after getting groceries. Imagine this: road trip on a nice day with the windows down and then a classic favorite song, "With a Smile", comes on the radio and you're with three of your favorite people and you all start singing along. Sweet, sweet life.


Here's hoping to more (forgive me) epic weekends like this. Thank you for being amazing, Anne, Alex, and Kira! ♥

Dear friends in the interwebs,

I am currently typing this now from a house somewhere in Las Piñas. What is a North girl like me doing in the South, you ask? Well, us three (Kira, Anne, and I) have been kidnapped by our friend Alex to stay the night in her house. Earlier we went to a Persian restaurant and then a spa after. Did you know that it was my first time to have a full body massage? What a great way to bid adieu to this exhausting week and welcome the weekend!

It gets better. Tomorrow morning we will wake up very early to go on a roadtrip further down South to stay in their farmhouse in Tagaytay! Can I hear a happy whoop?


So there. This is just a quick post to say I know I have been neglecting this blog for quite a while now blah blah and there are so many things I would love to share with you right now but I guess they can wait because this girl needs some time away from technology ;) For the meantime, why don't you join my The Closet Queen giveaway and get a chance to win a new bikini?

Goodnight, everyone. Gotta get me some rest before tomorrow's big day. Wishing you all a great weekend, too!

The first teaser for Catching Fire has just been released, and oh my holy Mockingjays, ALL THE FEELS AND THE GOOSEBUMPS AND THE CHILLS.

Effie Trinket. The Capitol's extravagance. The poor old man saluting the victors from District 12 and getting shot because of it. Katniss' tears and Jennifer Lawrence's acting ability. Haymitch. THE KISS. Prim. Gale's whipping. Snow and Plutarch discussing the supposed reason for the Quarter Quell - this brings me back to the first Hunger Games movie that feels like a condensed yet expanded version of the book! Ahhhhhh!! TO THINK THEY HAVEN'T EVEN SHOWN FINNICK YET.

I am speechless but at the same time there're so many things I want to say! What is this bug that has gotten over me??

COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS 'TIL NOVEMBER.

What is up with this heat? I spent the last couple of hours updating a database for work while listening to Justin Timberlake's Pusher Love Girl, Blue Ocean Floor, and That Girl on loop and wishing I am surrounded by sand and salt water instead. Good thing some girl friends and I are going out of town next weekend, and although we won't be going to the beach, we're still going to go swimming! My new pair of swimsuit from The Closet Queen couldn't have come at a better time ;)

A little backstory: if you peek at my closet circa 2007 - 2009 you will see that most of my clothes, bags, and accessories are from The Closet Queen; sometimes I even get the same piece in different colors, like this dress! That was the time I first started earning my own money and online shopping via Multiply was just beginning to gain foothold in the country (it has now been deleted when Multiply converted to a completely commercial site but I even had an old album containing photos of all my online purchases). Malou would sell the prettiest stuff and I wasn't able to resist! She has always been one of my favorite online sellers and I'm glad that she is back from a long hiatus although admittedly my wallet is not that excited about it hee.

For my birthday, she asked me to pick one swimsuit from her shop as a gift and another one to give away to one of my readers! These were sent to me last week:

Can you guess which one of these is mine? With the stripes, heart prints, and watermelon-color combination the green/ pink pair is so me!

I love it so much and I can't wait to wear it next weekend! Thanks so much, The Closet Queen!

Now, for the fun part. Would you like to win this pair?



The stripes are actually navy blue but my camera can't quite capture the correct color. If you love nautical pieces, this is perfect for you! I am actually a little tempted to keep it for myself (and even get myself one of these high-waist bandeaus). ｡◕‿◕｡

To join, just check out the Rafflecopter widget below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway
This giveaway is open for everyone living in the Philippines! It ends on April 27 just because I turned 27 this year. Haha pagbigyan. Big thanks again to The Closet Queen!

Good luck, everyone! ヾ(@°▽°@)ノ

When I first started working I promised myself that I would never become too busy for my blog. I know this started out as a hobby for me as I love writing and sharing stories but I really take this seriously so I want to set time aside to be able to update it at least every other day. I don't want my site to be like one of those that fizzed and burned after being neglected for a while. 

Writing here when I was still working in HSBC was easy-peasy as I never had to bring work home; basically after being in the office for nine hours a day I could already do whatever I wanted with my time. The scenario is very much different these days. Because I live far from Makati, three hours of each workday is spent traveling to and from work. Now because of the transport vans' schedule I have no choice but to be in the office for about eleven hours a day. When I do finally get home, I am too tired already after checking out blogs and online communities and seeding marketing materials to bloggers the whole day at work that most nights I just want to rest and sleep early or zone out by reading in my Kindle.

Such a long introduction, but really I just want to share a quick summary of how this crazy-busy week went for me. :)

Monday

My super cute flash drive!

I guess my birthday's not over yet. My carpool-mate handed me this and a lot of other goodies on our way to work. What a sweet and thoughtful way to start my week.

One rainy lunch break in Teriyaki Boy a few weeks ago, Alex, Kira, and I came up with a crazy but fantastic idea of wearing what the two others would most probably wear. This is my take on "What Would Alex Wear", androgynous and sexy.

Tuesday

There has been a major change in the company I work for and Kira and I met for lunch with Jenny and Vinnie on a work holiday so we can discuss and finalize some things. I don't mind being dragged out of my bed on a day that should be spent resting if I would be fed these heehee.

Afterwards, Kira treated me to Speculoos gelato from BONO.

Wednesday

It feels like too many people I know (directly or not) passed away this week. Nothing reminds us of our own mortality than knowing of someone's death, and all I could only pray for is for their families and loved ones to get all the support they need in this dark and painful grieving time.

Thursday

We had a big event for SMART and it was well-attended by VIPs, celebrities, and friends from both traditional and online media. It was the first SMART party I went to where I didn't win a phone ha ha, but it's okay because I had a great time meeting lots of interesting people. It was the first major ARC event where I was the one who sent out the invites so I was pressured to make a good first impression but I think I did alright. :)

Friday

After a huge event the previous night, we had another on Friday and this time, it was a pool party for kids! It was exhausting but a lot of fun! I really wanted to jump in the pool but I didn't bring a swimsuit. Drats. I will blog about this soon, still waiting for photos from the official photographers.

After a short program, the event host Issa Litton went around to interview the audience about summer fashion. She said she liked my dress and glasses and asked me a couple of questions that I gladly answered. I was surprised when I was handed Toy Kingdom gift certificates after! As you can guess, I went a little crazy in Toy Kingdom...

Monsters, Inc. is my favorite Pixar movie so I'm really excited for the prequel showing soon! I am even more excited for this than the new Iron Man movie. I love funny looking monsters (my favorite in all the Toy Story movies are the Aliens from Pizza Planet and I have collected quite a few items featuring them already) so it's only natural that I gravitated towards Mike heehee.

A package from Neutrogena arrived! This is from the event they invited me to last Monday (which I am also going to blog about soon because it is really amazing news for all Neutrogena fans out there) and I really appreciate the gesture. All of their events that I have gone have been really great so I'd like to thank them for including me in their roster of bloggers!

Swimsuits from The Closet Queen

It's been awfully hot and humid these days and even though I spent last weekend swimming, I would really like to teleport to the beach right now and use my new swimsuit. I got two new swimsuits here but only one is mine as I would be giving the other one away! Watch out for my next post ;)

Cue abrupt ending LOL. I hope you're all enjoying the weekend!