I got the biggest shock of my life my month yesterday when at around 3 in the afternoon I got a text message from my friend Niche asking me to see him in SMART-Araneta Coliseum at 7:30 PM so he can give me a ticket to the Smashmouth/ Sugar Ray/ Gin Blossoms concert! I remember flipping out when I first heard the news that they will go here and was devastated when I almost missed it because I was already dangerously low on funds, so being given free tickets to see and hear my sixth grade-crush Mark McGrath live is such a wonderful surprise I couldn't say no to, even if it meant taking the train on Monday rush hour!

The plan was to stay only after Sugar Ray has performed since it was only their set I was looking forward to in addition to being terrified of going home alone really late at night, so I had high hopes upon seeing the billing and official hashtag of the concert although I know that Sugar Ray is relatively more famous here in Manila than Smashmouth. However, my wish to go home early was not granted as the concert started past 8 already with local band Color It Red opening the show. After their performance, a long break, Smashmouth's energetic one hour-and-a-half set, and another 40-minute break, it was already past 10 PM when Sugar Ray began their set.

I just want to say that all that waiting was worth it.

I've wanted to see Mark McGrath ever since I was in Grade 6 as I had the biggest crush on him! I am part of the MTV generation, you see, and they hit it big in the music industry at a time when my eyes were perpetually glued to MTV Asia. The alternative bands of the '90s taught me how to appreciate great lyrics and until now, even though I enjoy bubblegum pop songs occasionally, alternative remains to be my favorite music genre. 

Mark has aged well and even after all these years, he is still such a babe. I loved how he talked to the audience after every song and declared how humbled he is with this tremendous show of support. What a charming guy ♥ I really enjoyed their performances and even though only he and Rodney Sheppard are the original band members, the Bivona brothers definitely held their own.

And their songs! They brought me back to those times when listening to the radio and hearing your favorite song come up gives you such a thrill. I mean, yeah, I don't recommend listening to When It's Over when you're fresh from a breakup since it kinda makes you want to second-guess the relationship and even try to rekindle the proverbial flame, but I cannot deny how it has earned somewhat of a cult status among the many gems the late '90s to early 2000s produced. 

Meanwhile, my favorite Sugar Ray song is Falls Apart and I was so happy when they played it!

Another highlight of the night? Sugar Ray choosing my other favorite song Fly as their last song!

I didn't mind waiting. I didn't mind sharing a cramped seat with Aisa (I just hope she didn't mind it, too, hee). I didn't mind missing Gin Blossoms as it was already too late in the night and I still needed to wake up early for work today. I also didn't mind going home alone, since I was able to get home safely. I love going to concerts and I embrace every single part of the experience. What a great night! Hugest of thanks to Niche and my blogger friends I was with last night: Ana, Aisa, Tracy, Paul, Sarah, and Dennis!

Aside from concerts, charm bracelets make me happy! Join my giveaway in partnership with Happy.ph and Trinkets for Keeps by visiting this.

O hai!

Guess what? This is my 1,000th published post! krissyfied.com has been alive for five years now and to be honest it still blows me away when I stop and think about how many friends I met through blogging, how many unique experiences I've had because of it, and how many doors of opportunities it has opened for me. There have been a few instances when I almost wanted to stop, but I guess you can never really turn your back on what you love.

Aaand that's enough mush for now. For my 1,000th post I would like to talk about some of the things that make me happy: charm bracelets, fictional characters, and giveaways. (゜▼゜＊）Yes, folks, we're having a giveaway today thanks to the generous hearts of happy.ph and Trinkets for Keeps!


Happy.ph is a local online marketplace that has a little bit of everything and is user-friendly to both the seller and the customer. Whatever it is you're looking for, just use the What would make you happy today? search bar and you will find it among their impressive and expansive roster of legit merchants. Now if you want to open your own online store, I suggest that you consider signing up with happy.ph. Check out this list of features!

You know I love charm bracelets and pretty little things, so when I scoured Trinkets for Keeps for nifty finds last week, I really had a difficult time deciding which ones to put in my shopping cart!


I got my orders last Friday and they made me so giddy because everything is so pretty, from the packaging down to the accessories!



Here are the trinkets I got:

Violet agate wrap bracelet Materials: agate stones, leather cord, brass I got this because I imagined it would go well with my rose quartz and hematite bracelet.

Infinity and Love cuff bracelet Materials: brass and leather cord This is not something I would've normally chosen as I generally prefer "girlier" accessories, but I liked the color and what it represents.

I piled them on while I was having my makeup done last Saturday.

Dream, Love, Create, Be Happy cuff style bracelet Materials: brass, leather cord, crystal ... because I wouldn't mind seeing encouraging and inspiring words on my wrist.

Keep Calm and Carry On charm bracelet Materials: brass, turquoise stone, glass beads, acrylic beads Same reason as above, only this time I appreciate that more colors were included.

Compass and Anchor cuff bracelet Materials: brass, leather cord, wax cord This has a very rustic, traveler-of-the-world, the-world-is-my-oyster charm to it that I love.

Starfish, seahorse, and turlt leather bracelet Materials: brass, leather cord, turquoise stone, crystal This almost makes me feel like a mermaid heehee.

Owl and snitch cuff bracelet Materials: brass, silk cord, leather cord I love Harry Potter, haven't you heard ;) I have a lot of Harry Potter merchandise already (both official and unofficial) and this is a welcome addition.

Hunger Games-inspired charm necklace Materials: brass, faux pearl, crystal I've wanted my own Mockingjay for so long so you could just imagine how happy I was that Trinkets for Keeps has this! I can't wait for Catching Fire, November 20 couldn't come fast enough!

Le Petit Prince charm necklace Materials: brass, faux pearl I also collect things featuring The Little Prince, and this is a lovely bronze counterpart to the silver locket my friend Belle gave me.

But wait, there's more! Crystelle also included these for me:

Three additional bracelets that I am wearing right now as I type! They're adorable and I love the punchy colors.

I can't decide which one is my favorite. How about you?

Now, for the fun part, here's a giveaway! Just check out the Rafflecopter widget below to get a chance to win Trinkets for Keeps shopping credits worth P1,500!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The giveaway ends in 10 days and, get this, three winners will be chosen and will be announced on the first week of November! Oh my, how time flies. Good luck!

Visit Trinkets for Keeps now. For those who live outside the Philippines, you'll be glad to know that you can also purchase her works of art by visiting her etsy shop.


Special thanks to Happy.ph and Trinkets for Keeps for joining me in the celebration of my 1,000th post!

When everything gets a little too overwhelming, it's nice to step back and take a little breather. Or something.

Today, I took a vacation leave from work to attend a spa event. I am going to tell you more details about that on my next post together with a swell giveaway so watch out ^_^

Aside from making me feel relaxed and rejuvenated (I really needed that, thank you!), I am glad I went to the event because I was able to spend time with my dear friend Ana again!

It has been a while since we got the chance to talk like this without work or a launch event getting in the way so we did what we do best: bond over food, pretty accessories, and photographs!

She had to leave early for another commitment, though, so I was left with lots of free time. I considered going home early but I figured I haven't been able to walk around a mall for quite a while now and since I didn't have anything else planned for the rest of the day, off I went to window shop.

I found myself in the middle of the third level of The SM Store.

Department stores are a big treasure trove if you know where to look. :)

This coming weekend is going to be momentous as my friend/ officemate Rica and Eric are going to get married and I am going to be a bridesmaid. It's my first time to be one and my dress, shoes, and accessories are ready so I am feeling pretty excited. My friend Ed and his band are also going to sing at the reception so I am extra psyched!

See you when I see you. 

I've just seen Gravity on IMAX 3D (thanks, Alvin! ^_^) and, WOW, it knocked me right off my socks!

Overwhelming and breathtaking, emotionally gripping, beautifully shot (seriously, it feels like walking into a photograph!), and wonderfully acted, Gravity is a superb film that reminded me — not that I need it — why I love watching movies. George Clooney is charming and great as empathetic Matt Kowalski but Sandra Bullock is the real star as Dr. Ryan Stone. Every desperate breath and unanswered cry for help added with that unnerving feeling of isolation and strength of human spirit were communicated clearly by her beautiful brown eyes that it almost made me want to shout out and cheer her on. She is one of my favorite Hollywood actresses and I am so glad that Angelina Jolie refused this role (twice!) as I feel she wouldn't have been able to match Ms. Congeniality's (yep, still my favorite role of Sandra Bullock's hee) solid acting chops.

Did you know that one of my eleventy thousand childhood dreams was to be an astronaut? Nothing came out of it obviously, but even now, on beautiful nights, I still love staring at the stars and admiring the moon. I mean, who doesn't? More than anything, it puts things in perspective and makes you appreciate life more, yes?

And just because I am a huge sucker for trivia:

The length of the film is 90 minutes. It just so happens that the ISS travels at approximately 17,500 mph which takes it around the Earth in 90 minutes. In the course of the movie, the station makes one complete orbit in real life. (source)

You, sirs — Alfonso and Jonas Cuaron, Emmanuel Lubezki, and David Heyman, together with all the names in the credits — are amazing. I am so stoked I didn't miss out, I don't even care about any scientific inaccuracies others are bleating about. What an incredible movie viewing experience. There's no other way to watch it than in IMAX 3D, my friends, so if it's still showing this week, I recommend that you catch it!

I just finished watching the 2006 movie Stranger than Fiction featuring Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhall, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah, and Emma Thompson and, well, to say that I am mystified is an understatement. Don't get me wrong, it has nerdy references, it touched on a subject I really love (fiction), it's involving and has really well-written lines, and marries books and movies so well that it only naturally follows that I at least liked it, correct? Correct. And I liked it, I really did. There was only one problem, and I know this will sound really odd to you... I was meant to write this story.

I don't think that came out right so let me try to explain it the best way I can without coming across as a crazy person. 

Remember that short story/ novella/ novel I have been meaning to write but hasn't come around to doing yet but thought of revisiting just recently? No? Okay, visit this and this first and I'll wait for you here.

Done? Great. Now that we're in equal footing, I can tell you that the story I dreamt about that will turn out to be a great piece of fiction (at least I hoped it will) - Character's story - was the exact same story I watched Will Ferrell's character Harold Crick go through! I don't have the exact circumstances of his (fictional) life yet or what the plot will be about, but the initial framework that he is a fictional character (and he is aware of that fact) is exactly the same! So now I am mystified as to how this happened; my dear friend Ed has been trying to get me to watch this in years but I only got to do it now. I've never even read the film's synopsis or even a blurb before! Do you now understand why I was stumped?

And now I'm sad because I cannot write Character's story anymore as people will think it's just a poor copy of the movie. I need to scrap the idea and come up with something new.

This is indeed stranger than fiction.

I wonder what I will dream of tonight.

I am taking a break from my self-imposed blogging break because I just finished watching a really great movie and while I don't feel I can articulate yet the reasons why I loved it, it shook me out of my stupor and reminded me of why I love writing and sharing a little of myself with everything I post here.

It's no secret that I love

- and so a work event in Café 1771 last Tuesday to launch Alex and Ani in Manila couldn't have come at a better time. I've been feeling uninspired lately so seeing all these pretty little things in such a charming setting certainly lifted my spirits.

Alex and Ani, LLC manufactures eco-friendly products that adorn the body, enlighten the mind, and empower the spirit, designed by Carolyn Rafaelian and made in America. The brand embraces her personal belied that every individual has a positive message to share with the world. Thus, by incorporating powerful symbolism into each piece, Alex and Ani provides a vehicle for the wearer to express her individuality in an organic, spiritual way.

Personally, I love wearing charm bracelets because - and I'm not gonna lie, aside from feeding my vanity whenever I wear something pretty - each of them holds a special meaning for me. I am a magpie so I have built quite a collection already, but my favorites are my pink/ ultra-girly one and the other one with charms related to movies. As cheesy as it sounds, even on the suckiest of days, one look at them is enough to remind me that everything is going to be okay.

And now, my "League of Krissy's Favorite Charm Bracelets" has a new member.

Om Charm Bangle Creation • Oneness • Truth

Om is an intonation, a sound resonating throughout the body into the soul. It signifies God, higher power, and the oneness of all beings in life's cycle. The past, the present and the future are all represented in this one sound. Adorn yourself with the Om to connect with your inner spirit, accept serenity, and embrace your faith.

The bangles were given randomly that day so I am extra stoked that I got this one. As most of the people I interact with regularly know, serenity is one of my ultimate favorite words. As some of you also know, I have started practicing yoga so seeing this on my wrist is a great constant reminder of the discipline I learned from my lessons. We are a match made in charm bracelet-heaven.

Om Charm Bangle-sisters with Alex

There are also a lot of other designs to choose from. Here are just a few of them:





Celebrate every moment, get one for every milestone of your life, and bring these little reminders and "encouragements" with you everywhere you go. The Alex and Ani collections are currently available at Counter 2, Level 2 of SM Aura Premier.

Om.