I Scream For Ice Cream

One thing to get the kids together? Two words.

Free.

Food.

Mmm. That's basically what we got last week, care of the May celebrants in our group (excluding me, as per usual, because I never have any funds to spare to take my friends out... *hides in corner*) a.k.a. Mae and Alex! It's almost tradition, this Alex-taking-us-out-annually-for-her-birthday treat. Last year it was at Cyma, some other year it was at Italianni's, next year it's a buffet. loljk

We got together at good ol' Eastwood. Maronne and I were the first to arrive, followed by Alex, who is alwaysalwaysalways on time-slash-early-slash-first-to-arrive. Like I've said before, she deserves an award. Never mind the fact that she wasn't the first this time since, well, she LIVES RIGHT THERE.

ugh, gorgeous

#BloggerProblems involve having to make time for outfit shots, which Alex witnessed.

The Arrneans discuss professors and schedules.

SUNFLOWERS! Are my favorite flowers!

The three of us went around ("Let's go to Folded & Hung! No wait Jellybean first!" I urged.) while waiting for the rest of some of our favorite people, since... when are we ever on time? Taking 'Filipino Time' to the next level, yo.

Surprisingly, the rest of our company was already there! I say surprisingly because Jam was already there, and she is just NOTORIOUS (caps lock for effect) for her tardiness. Four for you, Jam. (This shot was taken by Beau, by the way!)

Swensen's is this dope ice cream place that I had never heard of until Alex took us there. It's located near... Cyma? I'm not very strong on ice cream BUT FREE FOOD IS FREE FOOD. My hobo is showing.

Each table was adorned with a rose in a glass. I call it The Lone Rose.

Their glasses were covered in what I think are the names of their sundaes? I told Janelle that my eyes kept on misreading the names though, in a bad way...

Our first order was this chocolate fondue thing wherein we would have scoops of ice cream (in flavors of our choice) and fruits to be eaten with this bowl of chocolate... fudgesyrupgoodness. It was gone in about five minutes.

And this is part two. It was devoured in under five minutes. (No joke. We have a video as evidence.)

We had to request that the nuts be separated though, unless we wanted to give Mae death by nuts.

Size of flakes versus...

... size of holes. Not cool.

Guardian Angel v. 4.0

Since Alex and I have the same birthday (raddest thing ever), Stephy gifted us with this cellphone holder chicken thing, as well as a blank birthday card. How delightful. My gift came in a paper bag that had the label "SONG VIET", so I suggested that Alex and I name our chickens after that. (Stephy had just come from Vietnam for vacation, so our chicks were probably Vietnamese anyway.) So, everybody, meet Viet.

Mirror camwhoring is always fun with friends!

Attention on Jam's top plz! Isn't it lovely? She got it at this train station in... some country... during one of her travels, and for pretty cheap too. Cheap is a relative term, but when I say cheap, THEN IT'S DIRT CHEAP. Okay maybe not, but for me to say it's cheap means it really was cheap! GOOD JOB, JAM. Four more for you.

Then we ended up in Fully Booked (because when there is a Fully Booked in the area, you must go to it) which is always magic because you can never go wrong when spending money on books! Not that I had any money to spend...

Jam is the biggest zombie freak I know. Should there be a zombie apocalypse, she'll be the one most prepared. She's the number one person who truly believes that said apocalypse could happen and will get freaked out by anything remotely zombie-related (but can justify its irrationality anyway.) It's always interesting to have zombie apocalypse discussions with her. I've always said I'd be one of the first to die during a zombie apocalypse (just like those first to be slaughtered in movies) because:

a.) I'm no runner
b.) I'm easily terrified
c.) I have no sense of aim (aim is relevant)

Jam says that the adrenaline will consume me and that my survival (or was it hobo?) instincts will kick in, having me flip tables and such at the undead. I hope she's right.

I love going to the children's/young adult section of bookstores (hey, no h8) and when I saw this book it totally reminded me of Jam. Therefore, a photograph was needed. Duh.

Jam: OMG! A PAPER CHESS SET!

Beau: Hahaha and it'll be useless under the rain.

Ina: Why would you even play chess in the rain...

THIS MAGICAL POSTCARD BOOK THAT JANELLE FOUND, GOSH. Kinda overpriced though, so we put it back down. Still, I always love useless cute stuff. SO KAWAII DESU~~!1!!!1one!~!

And then Jam wanted a photo of this. I've always seen this book but never really bothered with it. Hmm.

While it is a fact that free food always gets us together (complete or otherwise), there is also the tendency to forget taking a group picture. Oh well, I'll have to remember next time. Thanks again, Mae and Alex! And much thanks to Alex for taking most of us home even if it was terribly out of the way and even if you despise driving. Being your passenger was an experience.

Birthday Loot + life update

I am back from the land of lazy blogging! Things that have happened since my last update:

1. I turned twenty.

Yep, the big 2-0. Two decades of my life have gone by, and it's crazy to think how much has happened (or how much hasn't happened -- OMGWHATHAVEIACCOMPLISHEDINMYLIFE?). My twentieth birthday was also the weirdest one ever (for reasons I will not disclose), and I spent it at work, too, so that was very interesting. I didn't tell anyone at work that it was my birthday at the time (because really, why would I prance around declaring "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY Y'ALL!!!11!one"? That'd make it sound like I'd expect a greeting or something...), but the cat was out of the bag by the end of the day anyway. Thanks for all the greetings everybody!

Here's some of the stuff I got for le birthday...

Pout Paint by Sleek Cosmetics from my mom! Y'all know how much I love funky makeup (or makeup in general, haha), so this was such a delight. Pout Paints work like liquid lipsticks and a little goes a long way with this thing! They're meant to be mixed with other colors from the line or worn alone like how I did.

Rings and more makeup from my sister. The other mascara's actually blue! (What is it with blue makeup, hurrrrrr). Also, Give you a charming winks HAHAHA!

This is a Statue of Liberty condom. I call it the Condom of Liberty. This is Maronne's gift and she gave it to me in perfect timing too. My birthday actually landed on my last day of interning at StyleBible, which was also day 3 of Philippine Fashion Week. Maronne was there for the Parisian show, and at the end of the night she handed this to me and I just burst out laughing. It was perfect timing because I was feeling kind of off that day and Maronne was instantly rewarded with a chortle and my covered face in gleeful shame.

I mean look at it. It has earned the Mom's Seal of Disapproval.

Earrings from my cousin with a lovely note to boot. And they're clip-on! (I don't know why, but the fact that they're clip-on makes them all the more rad.)

OKAY FINE THIS WASN'T A BIRTHDAY GIFT. I finally got my hands on Reese & Vica's EP, all thanks to my officemate Janey (of TheMall.ph!). She gave this to me on my second day of work, because on my first day, we were on the discussion of bloggers (and how she had come across CS before), how Maronne was a talent for R&V's MV, how much I wanted an EP but couldn't go to the launch, and how Janey was part of the group that managed R&V for a while and thus had a copy of the EP. Thanks again Janey!

2. Internship is obviously over.

As I mentioned, my last day of interning for StyleBible was on the third day of PFW. I had SUCH a blast interning for StyleBible, not to mention getting to meet and work with the team, as well as meeting some of the Preview editors (pretty rad 'cause I love Preview okay). Everyone was so nice and I had already learned so much on my first week alone! What a great experience and opportunity.

3. More things have ended.

a.) Final Fantasy XIII

OKAY YOU GUYS THIS IS GOING IN THE BOOKS BECAUSE I NEVER EVER GET TO PROGRESS FAR INTO A FINAL FANTASY GAME (I tend to get stuck in one part and give up) LET ALONE FINISH ONE BUT I RECENTLY FINISHED FFXIII AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. I had to miss out on dinner because I was already in the middle of the final boss fight. I was bawling and sobbing and weeping and all other words synonymous to crying in the darkness of my room (sounds pretty emo, which it was, but the lights were literally off when I was playing). Oh gosh if only someone could've seen my wailing. I tried playing it again (post-game stuff), but the fact that I knew the story was over with me just made playing the game really sad. I have so many feelings.

This is also a testament to how much I suck at turn-based games (FFXIII isn't turn-based, for those who  don't know).

b.) Being de-blocked.

Perhaps this is the start of something new--literally. My first day of college senior year was yesterday and it was so sad and strange. Block sections get de-blocked come senior year because sections are made based on who your thesis adviser is. That being said, I only had one other old blockmate from my original block for my new section. It was so sad and awkward because the company is just different. I miss my old block's noise, not to mention company. Overdramatic? Maybe? But these people were my family for three years and to be separated to abruptly kind of sucks. I mean, okay, there were electives last year which separated us, but that was just one class! THIS IS EVERYTHING. Oh the pain. I miss my blockmates.

It was a strange feeling, looking at all the freshmen knowing you were that once but now you're a graduating student. I don't even know how I lasted this long or how I even got to this point. Looking back it feels like it's been forever since my first day of college, yet at the same time it still feels like yesterday. Strangest first day of school.

4. New blog header!

I'm the jerk who requested a blog header when I first created this blog, got the header about a month or two ago, and only put it up today. I'm a jerk, but you know who isn't? CAMILLE, THAT'S WHO! She made my blog header and I'M SORRY I ONLY GOT TO PUTTING UP NOW BUT I LOVE YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

And that's all for a blog update. I wonder when my next update will be, CONSIDERING HOW INCONSISTENT I'VE BECOME WITH BLOGGING LOL. Oh well, with my current sched now, I might have time? Unless thesis will take it's turn to consume me...

The Intern Life

Today I woke up a little past 5.30am on my own, looked around, wondered why my mom wasn't up yet, thinking she'd be late for work already, only to realize that it was Saturday and nobody in the house had to be at work. My body's been so used to getting up early and being in the office for most of the day that I didn't realize it was the weekend already.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm already in the middle of my on-the-job training for school. Where am I interning exactly? Well...

None other than at StyleBible.ph! The StyleBible/TheMall people, who are my officemates, are all so nice! Interning at StyleBible is also super convenient 'cause the office is so nearby, plus, I really love Preview magazine so work doesn't really feel like work much. My favorite part of the job (for the most obvious of reasons) is when I get to tag along to photoshoots. Best part of the job, hands down. I love getting behind the scenes and seeing how the shoots take place and all.

This is what I wore to my first day at work. Played it safe because I didn't really know what to expect, although I did have an idea that not everyone at the office is all dressy and stuff.

Other outfits from my first week at work. I'm already in my third week, with two more weeks to finish, one of them being Philippine Fashion Week. I've been enjoying my internship so far, and have already met several of the Preview editors.

So that's what's been keeping me busy for the past weeks. What stresses me out the most, if anything, is having to meet the required number of hours for school before the deadline. I've been able to manage so far, but that's what also explains why I never have any time to do much by the time I get home, despite the fact that I live so close to the office.

I'm so excited to see next month's (and the month after that) ish of Preview because of all the behind the scenes stuff I've witnessed, omg. Go get a copy of Preview mag now! /plug

Too Long For Too Long

Hi. I haven't blogged in nearly a month. I have no excuses--loljk achully I do. I've been pretty busy with work (OJT started around two weeks ago) and since then I haven't had the time to work on any blog posts. Whenever I DO have time I end up spending it on Final Fantasy XIII because the game is magical and have I mentioned a Hope Estheim?

That shot was taken early on in the game. I'm in Chapter 11 now--oops, my fangirl is showing. Anyway, that's pretty much why I haven't been blogging. Even if work is really near my house, by the time I get home I have dinner and I still have to fix up on stuff and I'm just tired and blahblahblah. I wonder how other ~*~bloggers~*~ pull this off. (Also, because my internship is a ~*~trademark~*~ in my life, it deserves a separate blog post. I will reveal where I'm interning soon enough... hopefully...)

And because it's never official until it's been declared on my blog:

I have short hair now. Like, legit, non-wig, non-mullet, non-long-hair-pinned-at-the-back-trying-to-fool-people kind of short. (Of course, if you've seen my last post on CS and if we're friends on Facebook then this is old news, but like I said it's never official unless it's on the blog.) I had actually been planning on getting short hair since last December, but I always get my haircuts during this time of the year, so I've basically been bracing myself for the big change for a couple of months now.

I gave my hairdresser a collage of pegs and since we're always creatively in sync anyway the end result was perfect and spot-on. I've always been terrified of getting short hair simply because I've always thought that it wouldn't look good on me (not that I'm saying it does now, but you get it). Why I opted for short hair back in December? It's simple, really.

My hair just got too long for too long. I grew out my undercut and the longer layers got insanely long--last I checked it might've reached around 20 inches or so. Since I always make it a point to get drastic changes (or smthn like that) whenever I get a haircut (I only cut my hair once--sometimes twice--a year, so might as well make the most of it and pull a one-time-big-time, right?), I finally chopped off the mermaid locks.

I've always been a firm believer that longer hair offers more versatility (and I still am, really) -- I mean I've been able to pull fake bobs with the length of my hair and stuff. For me, you can do so much more with a longer hair length. But I thought it was time to get short hair once and for all, and you know what?

I REGRET NOTHING. I love my hair! The last time I had legit short hair was back in grade school, so that was a good 8-9 years ago. That's a long time! It's SO refreshing to have my hair short, and in good timing too, because the summer heat is horrible. I don't miss my long hair just yet (I wonder when I will), so that's a good thing.

This is what it looks like now, about two weeks later. I've been battling with the dreaded flyaway (which I have always hated with a passion), but I've learned to work around it. Somehow I want to go even shorter next time -- not anytime soon, just next time. ;)

And so that is all for this life update. As aforementioned, I am so behind on posts. I still have to blog about that shoot I did with 11:11PM, then my recent out of town trip, the blog header that a friend made me that I have yet to put up (I'm sorry huhu) and of course, my magical internship which I am totally enjoying!

Here's hoping I blog more often!

Taking Back Sunday Live in Manila 2012

WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN. Okay, well the Meet & Greet was on Thursday, the day before the concert. I was in the middle of lunch when my friend Jam rang me about the Meet & Greet, and later in the afternoon we found ourselves at Mall of Asia getting our posters signed by Taking Back Sunday.

Can I just say that these guys took away my concert virginity and I wouldn't have it any other way? There were a couple of bands that performed here that I regret not seeing: Panic! At the Disco, My Chemical Romance, 30 Seconds to Mars... mostly because of conflict schedules and lack of funds. I only got to see TBS because my ticket was a magical early birthday gift from more-than-magical Jam.

Adam was actually in crutches but still pulled through with the concert anyway. Our hero.

This is Jam with her Louder Now cd. Louder Now was my first ever TBS album and I enjoyed it immensely. After that I tried out their other songs and the rest is history. Oh, and that koala you see? Jam gave that to Adam.

"Kita yung French Baker. Let's make it part of the picture because you're dressed like that!" - Jam LOLK WTVR YOU SAY JAM (In any case, outfit deets are here!)

Another pleasant surprise that day was seeing our high school batchmate Plong! We experienced the concert with her together with another friend Sid the next day.

This is us getting our posters signed. I didn't really say anything spectacular other than smile and gush a 'Thank you!' every time a band member would put his signature next to his face on the poster haha!

Here's Jam after getting our posters signed. Thumbs up... because WHY WOULDN'T YOU GIVE A THUMBS UP (and more) TO THESE GUYS?

Look! We found someone wearing a shirt by our friend Tin! Four for you, Tintin!

Us with our signed posters. I'm having mine framed and hung on my bedroom wall, mwahaha.

Aaand another shot in front of the big TBS poster (which Jam wanted to take, for your information). Yes, we are aware that Jam's holding the poster horizontally. That was done on purpose because she's pauso. /loljk

As for the concert itself... ohmygod. It was phenomenal. It was incredible. It was magical and amazing and SUCH an experience! I didn't bother with documenting the show because I just wanted to purely experience it. Halfway during their set I was already worn out (because the mosh pit was just THAT BAD) and I thought, 'Maybe I'm not cut out for concerts. Maybe the stamina needed is something that you build up over time.' but then Jam told me that the crowd was really just more intense than usual. I took her word for it since this was my first concert, after all.

Granted, I saw so much more of the band during the Meet & Greet than in the concert itself, but still! I mean, I'm pretty short so that posed enough of a problem by itself, and I had this silent game going on with the dude in front of me which involved discreetly (not really) pushing each other, and all the jumping and pushing was like a stationary stampede... but that's what made it so much of an experience. We chanted MakeDamnSure and when TBS closed the show with that song, it was just perfect. We were all jumping and screaming to it, and while doing so made me out of breath (cramped area + humid air, whuddup), it was so worth it. At the end of the concert I was so wiped out that I kept on telling Jam stuff like, "HOW AM I EVEN BREATHING? HOW AM I EVEN WALKING RIGHT NOW? HOW AM I EVEN ALIVE?" It was that hardcore but I guess that's what made it even more special?

I could go on and on and on AND OOOON with all the gushing. Taking Back Sunday has a special place in my heart now for being the first (and so far only) band that I've seen live. It was the best way to spend the last weekday of my summer break (since I'm starting pre-OJT classes next week, then OJT itself the week after), and I have Jam to thank for all of this. (Well there was that other thing, which was also thanks to Jam... hehehe...) So, THANK YOU SO MUCH JAM I LOVE YOU AND APRIL 13, 2012 HAS BROUGHT US TO A WHOLE OTHER DEGREE OF CLOSENESS IN OUR FRIENDSHIP. You know why HAHA. Thank you so much.

MakeDamnSure to Tell All Your Friends about Taking Back Sunday!