+ I was reading Ala Parades’ tumblr post, Let The Right One In, and this one word came to my mind as I finished off reading: Ahhh, VINDICATION. I mean, sure, Ala’s just another girl, and one can always say that this may not be the case for everyone, but it made me sigh in relief to know that hey, I’m not alone in wanting to feel needed. I’m not psycho, hooray! Admittedly though, (unlike Mae), I’m kind of the extreme version of that type of girl. The kind who, when in a relationship, lets the other person in too much too soon that she loses herself early in the process. Sure, I can take care of myself, I can easily adapt to whatever comes my way, and I have countless of dreams up my sleeve that I thought I can do without any help from anyone, more so from a potential boyfriend. But once in a relationship, I easily lose my grip on these things, carelessly let my guard down and just totally lose myself to the other person, which sucks, because when I start to realize that the other person does not really need me the same way, or that we’re not in the same page after all, then I start needing more, and well, everything’s just downhill from there.

I think I figured out what’s wrong in the equation. It’s not wrong to want to feel needed, or to expect your partner to need you in his life, or to lose yourself in him — those are, in fact, essential in relationships. I think what I missed out on is knowing/meeting/finding the right person to let in, the operative word being “right”, because letting one wrong person after another in is no good either.

+ I wish I have Ate Stef’s courage, sharing her breakup experience like that. I remember blogging something similar way back in 2007, and well, things like this amaze me. How easy it is to connect with people who share the same experience, and sometimes even with your 23-year old self. Break-ups may be ugly (I hate them, I don’t ever want to feel that sadness ever again) but, just as I blogged 3 years ago, I still believe that going through a break-up is one of the most (if not the most) liberating, life-altering experiences one can ever go through. It comes with the simple fact that when God allows something to end, it’s only because something else is bound to begin. And that’s kinda the part I love about break-ups. And whut, did I just use “love” and “break-up” all in one sentence?

+ My brother cooked his specialty Chicken Enchilada Sunday night and gee, as I munched on a plateful of that yummy stuff, I kept thinking, where did my brother learn to cook like that? Sure, he must have inherited his cooking instincts from my mother and my grandmother, who are awesome cooks by the way, but ohhh how I feel cheated! I mean, I’m the only girl among the siblings, and I seriously believe that I should be the rightful inheritor of any of their culinary skills, not my brother! I’m sometimes disappointed with the stagnancy of this life, I feel like I’m not getting anywhere! My friend Trisha, who’s in Sydney, used to just blog about random, girly, PMS-y stuff like I do, but now, her escapades to the culinary world are just WHOA. It’s awesome how her blog, Sugarlace.com in case you missed the link, has become a venue for some serious honest-to-goodness domestication. And I, meanwhile, am still blogging about nonsensical emo stuff. I am so envious. I have got to find something I can excel in. Maybe not cooking, but something. Anything!

I’ve been doing night shift the whole week, starting my day really late and sleeping at past 5AM the next day. Not that I’m required to, but my days have become twisted and I just couldn’t get any work done when it’s too.. (uh) bright. (What a lame.) I really have to stop being like this. The effects are manifesting physically already, I seem to be so sickly lately.

OAN, I suddenly miss being forced to blog and take photos everyday! Hence this photograph I took 5 minutes ago, and this post. That’s how my desk looks like right now. I can’t remember when I moved those fake flowers from the coffee table to my desk, but I do remember liking the view of something — anything — pretty in a pile of mess while I work. That red giant button is actually my handy dandy sewing kit, I used it the other day to fix some items for the shop. And then there’s a roll of paper twine, some pearl and beaded necklaces, 5 peso coins, rechargable batteries, and my cup of coffee that’s already cold.

But enough about me and my boring desk and my boring Saturday morning.

Three of my friends have been doing the 30-day blog challenge and I’ve been following them closely, excited to see where their journeys will take them:

Reah’s 30 days is almost over. Hers is a collection of musings of a 26-year old wife and expecting Mom. I’m glad there are people like her who share their story. And then the rest of us can get a glimpse of how it’s like. ;)

I just love getting to know Tina more with her 30 days that is composed of just about anything that makes her Tina. I love the idea of finding one of those Switchfoot CDs she hid in random places. I’m tempted to go to Eastwood and look where the Starbucks bearistas are. It reminds me of what R thought of doing 3 years ago, leaving simple art pieces in random places for strangers to find. I’m inspired to do something similar. :)

Lastly, Lovelle’s 30 Day Love Challenge is just the perfect theme for her. She ends her posts with little challenges like, “Give a chocolate bar to your boss who you really dislike,” or “Give your mom a break this weekend, do the laundry,” — simple stuff you can do to spread teh luv. It’s brilliant, I love it. :) I did the laundry “challenge” yesterday, only for me, it involved putting the dirty laundry in a bag and carrying it over to the laundry shop and paying extra so they would deliver it back. Err, does that count?

Carry on, ladies. Keep us inspired. :)

Meanwhile, it’s drizzling again in this side of the world. Why isn’t the weather cooperating just when you’ve made a decision to be productive? Okay, scratch that. I’m going to get some work done, by hook or by crook. c”,)

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Anyway, let’s do some visual blogging again, because I’m drained of words after a long day of working and talking to people. How timely it is that my random bloghop to one of my favorite blogs surprised me with something that doesn’t need a lot of words ;)

Why hello, Leslie did it again! I’m constantly amazed how she would come up with this play of colors! I feel like I want to live in her photographs! Just recently, I also posted some of her purples and blues. Today, she went for pinks, melons and peaches.

And here are some more of her inspiration boards from way back. <3

And you say the topview photos I take of my desk are exceptional?? Wait til you see Leslie’s blog!

How about you? Which of the boards up there are your faves? :)

Behold, the time is now.

Gone are the days when teddy bears are the cutest thing. For some reason, R has been showering me with pandas instead of teddy bears, and suddenly, these lazy creatures have become the most adorable in the planet, even if all they do is sleep, eat, and sneeze. Do yourself a favor and look around Just G boutiques in nearby malls. I tell you, the pandas. are. everywhere. The eco-friendly striped sling bag in the photo above is actually from Just G. (And I love it!)

Also, if these pandas at etsy didn’t make you smile one bit, you’re a freakin’ robot!

By the way, which panda are you?

R says he’s the last one, or the second one on top. Figures. I think I’m the one chasing a butterfly, or the one stuck in a mesh of Christmas lights. (Which reminds me, I still need to find twinkling lights to put up in my room!)

I’m sorry to be wasting your time reading this nonsense of a blog. I’m so boring. :(

OAN, these are what’s even more awesome about today:

• -Isms Used to be Awesome, by Mara
• Dalliance, by Jennifer
• Another Night at my Desk, by Tina
• Gimme Some Love, Riz, by Romela
• What’s On My Desk, by Joni
• Let’s Find a Beautiful Place to Get Lost in my Desk, by Maemae

Ohh there are more people who joined the giveaway, more than I expected actually, but I’m linking these girls who took time to write something on their blogs about the “contest” and what’s on their desks. It’s overwhelming how you all humored me and agreed to blog about something as mundane as what I asked you guys. Thanks, everyone, you’re all awesome! And now, because you all made me sooo happy with your posts, I’m giving away a few more earrings to those who took time to catch up.

(So yes, Romz, Joni, Mae, and Maia, I’ll send you guys earrings too.) Email me your shipping addresses, if you haven’t yet! (Or LOL, Mae and Joni, KAPE para tipid sa shipping!) :)

Plus, everyone gets to be part of the Camera Charm Earrings raffle! Watch out for the winner on Wednesday. :)

And one more awesome thing that made me jump up and down this afternoon when I found out about it. Time.com linked to our very own Cubao-X.com from one of their travel articles! Check it out! It’s a tiny little link, but it made me soooo happy. :)

Tonight I sleep a happy panda! *insert drunken panda here* zzz.

30 Days of Awesome, 25/30.

I love receiving packages and snail mails — the excitement is just overwhelming, compared to receiving emails, texts, and twits that we’re so used to getting everyday, you know what I’m saying? It’s heartwarming to know that someone would take the extra mile to hand-write a letter, place a stamp, and drop by the post office (or the nearby mailbox) to send a little something to the other side of the world.

I guess that’s why I love the idea of typecasting. You’d rant the same random things, but the extra effort makes blogging a little more special. :)

And don’t you just love giveaways? I do! And I’m going to give away a few little things too, I just found the perfect giveaways tonight. So watch out for it, because I’m going to post it on Friday, in time for Day 23, same as her. :)

30 Days of Awesome, 21/30.

DAY FIVE. No, not 3rd time. 2.75th time, if I’d be more specific, because 3-quarters of the way through the second one, I suddenly remembered a deadline I had to catch, so we left somewhere in the middle of Harry and Dumbledore’s cave scene, which was okay, since I saw the movie already anyway.

But my brother and I had to watch it again last night because we’re fanatics like that. First 2 times (err, 1.75 times) with Rico, and this last one with Kuya Niks.

5/30. Watching HP and the Half Blood Prince for the 3rd Time

At this point, I’d say, it gets better the second time around, and gets even better the third time. I’m not sure though, if I’d still say the same thing if I saw it 10 times. Not that I would do anything like that, I think three times is enough.

I thought the first time I saw it was rather frustrating because the expectations were so high. I couldn’t stop comparing the movie to the book, and listing down in my head the scenes in the book that were taken off or replaced in the film version –

• Dumbledore picking up Harry from the Dursleys;
• Bill and Fleur’s wedding; Fleur hanging around the Burrow (I stand corrected, the wedding’s on the 7th book, thanks Mara!);
  
• Tonks secretly falling in love with Lupin, Lupin pushing her away;
• Harry inheriting the Blacks’ house and Kreacher;
• Voldemort’s roots, Tom Riddle stealing the ring from Morvolo, killing his father, working at Borgin and Burke, coming back to Hogwarts to apply for a job;
• the battle between the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix at Hogwarts!! (I really thought this one should be there);

I could go on and on. I hoped to see more of Fred and George too, their magical store was just soo fun to watch I wish there were more clips of that. And I thought it was totally unnecessary to set the Burrow on fire, that part was really sad (and totally not in the book!). And where is the Order of the Phoenix and the Ministry of Magic in all of this? I missed Neville Longbottom, too, although I believe that his role will be more prominent in the Deathly Hallows.

At one point I thought the movie was an over-the-top marketing strategy for people to buy the book (or read the book again). It’s funny how those who’ve read the book would keep comparing it with the movie version that they end up frustrated, while those who didn’t read the book would have so many questions bugging them the entire film that they end up too focused on connecting the dots, and/or bugging the person next to them (who happened to have read the book) with questions throughout the film. You’ve read the book, you compare. You didn’t read it, you get lost.

On the other hand, I found myself enjoying more on my second serving of HBP, and even more the third time. I think it’s mostly because the expectations were already set, so my focus shifted from pointing out details in the book to simply enjoying everything I loved about Harry Potter — the continuous battle between the good and the evil, the magic, the friendship, the comic relief, the love. I think this latest installment is the most comedic of all, and all the actors contributed to that. I also think that the actors improved a lot in terms of playing their role and owning up to their characters, except maybe for Ginny. LOL.

Hermione and Ron are just soo cute together, I’m excited to see their love story bloom further in the next installment. And well, okay, Hermione and Harry are cute too. Seriously, I thought that part where Hermione was crying on Harry’s shoulders and how Harry held her hand protectively, and that scene in the library where Hermione was ranting to Harry while returning the books on the shelves, were way more romantic than any of Harry and Ginny’s scenes put together. And what’s with Ginny tying his shoelaces anyway?

Ohh, and Horace Slughorn! I think he’s really funny — the purple couch, how he said “Merlin’s beard!” about a dozen times the whole film, his eulogy to Aragog (”Farewell, Aragog, farewell” — this one’s really funny!).

And siiigh. Snape. Severus Snape. <3

No matter how much I like Slughorn, I can’t help but wish that Snape had more screen time than Horace. I have to agree with her. The book was supposed to be about the Half Blood Prince, and yet, Snape was, to use her own words, “just all, SUP IT WAS ME. LOL.”

Of all the characters in all of Harry Potter’s 7 books, it was really Snape who was able to evoke extreme emotions — you love him, you hate him, you’re annoyed by him, you laugh at how he’s able to keep a stern, expressionless face at all times, you love him, you hate him, repeat. He’s the most mysterious of all characters, I remember hating him for months after reading the HP6 book for killing Dumbledore, and how stupid I thought Dumbledore was for trusting him even. Up to the last minute, we never really knew if Snape was a good person or not. But now, having read the Deathly Hallows, and knowing how, inspite Snape was too evil in the movie, you know that deep down his sinister facade was someone who’s capable of loving.

Over the weekend, I kinda breezed through my copy of the Deathly Hallows, reading those chapters about Severus Snape and how his true loyalty was revealed in the end, and how his seemingly-evil role in the story was all driven by love. Snape is awesome.

Anyone up for a Severus Snape spinoff? :)

Arrg, I haven’t even began on Dumbledore and Draco Malfoy. And Lavender and Luna. But this post has to be published already and I have to start working. :)) So I’m pointing you guys to some of the Harry Potter reviews that I more-or-less agree with or can relate with, go go go.

• I open at the close | Nothing Spaces (Beautifully written, I feel you Carina.)
• Harry Potter | Meemae (I know I’ve been linking her a lot, can I help it if she keeps on saying things I wish I thought of saying first?)
• Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince | Sillygirlwaves (Hi Mara!)

30 Days of Awesome, 5/30.

3/30. Collecting Guitars and Displaying Them

[The guitars in this photo: Acoustic guitar -- the only one that is actually making any sound -- from Rico; the red toy guitar made in Cebu, from Ivy; and the two guitar magnets -- the bigger one I got from the Detroit Metro Airport during a stopover from last year's US trip, and the smaller one from my brother who got it also from Cebu.]

I have not played my guitar in a long time (and have stopped being guitarchic, too, if you haven’t noticed, lol) but I’m still fond of anything guitar, mostly because I like taking photos of them and seeing them displayed. And okay, playing them once in a while.

Collect and display, there goes a rule to live by. If you have guitars in your house, whether you’re using them or not, take them out of your closets and display them.

Let’s try visual now, shall we? Here are two ways to use guitars as decorative elements.

(1) Hang them on the wall:

Kibwe and Emily’s Condo, via Apartment Therapy

Sheila and Jorem’s house, featured over Real Living Magazine ;)

Laura Frantz’s living room, on Flickr

Design Sponge, via Poppytalk

Taller Than You, on Flickr

Or, (2) Put them on guitar stands:

Carrie Can, on Flickr

JonroHouseTour, via Apartment Therapy

Oh hai, I’m displaying my guitar, too. ;)

Poppytalk had their own series on using guitars as decoration. Check it out!

Awesome, eh.

30 Days of Awesome, 3/30.

30 Days of Awesome

I don’t know if you noticed it, but I’ve been practicing for the past 5 days (July 16-20), just to see if I can really post one blog a day. That’s how sigurista I can be sometimes. I want to make sure I won’t fail again, the way I dropped Project 365.

Oh you don’t have to point out that I wasn’t really successful in my 5-day trial, in case you checked, I know I missed a day. So maybe I can’t do it, maybe I’m a real failure when it comes to being consistent. However, the apprehensions only make me want to prove to myself even more that I can. Of course this is just 30 days, not 365. Besides, I managed to post one photo a day for 60 consecutive days anyway, so my hopes are high. I’ll do my utmost and breeze through these 30 days, the way she did.

“It takes 30 days to create a habit,” she keeps on saying. I think I’d like to see that for myself.

So I’m taking off my pessimist coat and putting on my happy, sunshiney self. For the next 30 days, I’ll be blogging and taking photos of (what I think are) awesome things. Wish me luck! :)

*Photo inspired by Kathryn and Julie’s tabletop photography. ;)

Today’s dose of inspiration is all in these four words by Seth Godin. Which reminds me, I gotta start making something happen, quick.

* * *

Also, some link love to end the week:

• Pretty printable freebie | Creature Comforts (I love freebies!)
• World spins madly on | Des <3 (You are sooo NOT inspirationless, girl!)
• Do what you love, love what you do | Miss B (Thanks for pointing me to this month-old post!)
• Less dreaming, more action | Meemae (My thoughts, exactly!)
• Sheila’s vintage clothes, Romantic Series | Inthefishbowl (Opens on Monday, 9PM!)

Lastly, that photograph above was a crappy shot I took with my point&shoot last week on the way to Tagaytay. Scrapbooking does wonders to photos, indeed. I really should start scrapbooking again. Thanks, Paislee Press, for the freebie.

Le sigh. So many things to do, so little time. I wish there’s a way to buy time.

Oh well, happy weekend, everyone! :)

I looked around Office Warehouse and National Bookstore and did not find any. :-s

*Photo by Pam Pastor

Anyway, to answer Mariel’s question, mine is post its. These are my most favorite office supplies, tied with Pilot G-techs. I’d die without these two. I used to fill my journal with post its, which is stupid, I know, I mean, why would you paste post-its on your journal when you can write directly on its pages anyway, right? I guess I really just like putting colors together. I’d collect them, enough to last me a lifetime, just because I like looking at them stacked up on my desk or arranged into a collage in my notebook.

I think I’ve gotten over that phase already, so now, I just mostly like how I can use them for practically anything! Grocery lists, to-do lists, love notes, gift tags, reminders, quotable quotes, recipes, bookmarks, etc. They’re something I’d like to have in my pocket or in my purse everywhere I go, I mean, you’ll never know when you’ll need something to get married with, right? (Yes, I still haven’t recovered from Meredith and Derek’s post-it wedding, deal with it.) Also, I think post its are really photogenic. :)

On a different note, this is my third post in, more or less, 24 hours. I wonder if I’m ready for a 30-day blog challenge too, like her. *thinks really hard*