My bestfriend and I were supposed to meet up at this bridal fair at the Megamall this afternoon, but she had to cancel because she had to report to work. 🙁 I could still have gone to see her when she got back, but that would mean starting at around dinner time. Not a problem for me but I don’t want her to stay late with me and then have to leave for work again very early Monday morning. I mean that’s what happened the last time we went out and I’m sure being sleep-deprived wouldn’t be a good idea when she needs to face all the craziness at her work the next day.
So Sunday was spent at home. I guess that’s not a bad thing, at least I’m far from where I could do more damage to my bank account. 🙂
Valentine’s Day. Did you do anything special? Look here:
Pretty flowers no? None of them are mine though. Hehe. The yellow/pink ones are for Diane, my brother’s girl. The white roses are from my dad, for my mom. The boyfriend isn’t much of a Valentine. He did, however, go see me at my desk on Valentine’s evening. I didn’t have to look for him or ask him to come see me this time. He went down to my floor to visit all on his own.
This morning I was telling him, he could have given me anything that had flowers on it. That would at least have been funny. 🙂
I was so happy with the photos I took of the flowers yesterday because I finally figured out how the auto-focus functions work. See how there’s a blurred background? I never used to be able to do that with the Kodak.
If you’ve been following me around you probably know this about me already. I love shopping at malls, bazaars, corner shops, and even online looking for the best deals on technology or other unbeatable steal not to be passed up. I was actually surprised to see that my Shopping category for my blog posts don’t have the most number of posts in them. Surely, that must be a mistake! So I hopped on over to my Vox page, where I blogged for a brief period and found my shopping posts, those definitely brought back good memories 🙂 Too bad my Bravejournal doesn’t make it as easy to browse through posts…
I am such a shopaholic, in fact, I am currently downloading the digi goodness that I just shopped around for. Yes, you got that right, I made another online purchase and added to my ever growing stash of digital scrapbooking supplies. Alfred will probably have something to say about that. But it’s just so difficult to pass up, check out what I bought at The Daily Digi.
I come from a family of shopaholics. Perhaps the least shopaholic of us would be my brother – but only in the sense that he doesn’t shop as frequently as we do. Maybe because when he goes shopping – he really goes shopping, you know what I mean? My dad has got to be the most shopaholic of us, or at least he comes next after me. He and mom always go out on weekends and there were times, specially when he started his fitness conscious phase, when it seems as if he was always carrying a shopping bag home. So whenever he tells me that I do so much shopping, I kid him back – “I get it from you!”
These days, the only time we go shopping as a family is when somebody comes home from a trip abroad. Duty Free shopping, I tell you, could be a family event. Haha.
Lucky for me, I’ve found the perfect shopping partner. Okay, partners. I always have my foldable reusable shopping bag in my bag (wah too many bags in one sentence) and I whip it out whenever I buy small stuff, or even when I buy foodies at MiniStop or wherever. It is especially handy when shopping at Greenhills or Divisoria – sando bags are just so un-chic, eh? Hehe. And of course, the boyfriend is such a gem for a shopping buddy. Sometimes he acts like konsensya (you know, from those Safeguard ads?), but he actually enables the shopaholic in me. He loves shopping himself! In fact, it was his idea for us to brave the multitude of people at the recent three-day sale at SM City North Edsa.
His favorite item to shop for? Rubber shoes. How many times have we gone in and out Adidas/Nike shops in the past year alone? If you add pa The Shoe Salon and the shoe section at department stores, hay. Here’s a better question: how many times did we emerge from these shops carrying a box or two? Haha.
He’s also the perfect companion to Divisoria, not because he knows all the good shops, but because he will patiently do the rounds with me and he’s better at remembering where we’ve already been and where else we wanted to go. Lately, he’s also been practicing his bargaining skills, something I mastered while shopping in Bangkok (ah those were the beginnings of my shopaholic days). He’s not just good for carrying shopping bags around, he’s a true shopping companion.
Without a doubt, one of the reasons I look forward to the Christmas season is all the shopping it entails. Granted, I haven’t enjoyed it so much the past two seasons but I am gearing up for the next one. Haha. I’m serious. 🙂
Our favorite shopping digs now include Trinoma, Gateway, SM Cubao (yes, I just love their Plus Size section), Greenhills and Divisoria Mall and 168. Tiendesitas is up there if we’re looking for Zune(=dog) specific things. Actually, we’re game to shop anywhere, as long as it’s easy to get a cab home. SM North used to be a favorite destination, but after the horrifying transpo situation we had there last Christmas, we’re not too enthusiastic about going back (getting a taxi there during the recent Sale was a breeze though, or maybe it was just because we were there and left pretty early).
Shopping for bargain books is another aspect of my Shopaholic-ness. I used to be a regular at the previously owned books section at National BookStore (the Main branch at Cubao). I also used to frequently visit the Books for Less branch along Roces Ave. I spent hours browsing books at both locations, and spent good money on books too.
My current favorite bargain bookshop is Pick-a-Book at The Loop at ABS-CBN, both for it’s accessibility and for the selection of titles they have. They also let me put some books on reserve for up to a week. Last time I was there, I picked up two books, and snapped this photo.
Fully Booked has recently been added to my list of faves, because they have a hard-to-find titles too. It is a bit pricier than NBS though, but for some books, it’s worth it. It sometimes breaks my heart when we visit FB Greenhills and I’m on a budget. 🙁
Sometimes I do try to rein in my shopaholic tendencies so I don’t end up 6-feet in debt like Becky Bloomwood of Confessions of Shopaholic fame. But it’s so hard, isn’t it? Haha. Come to think of it, it wouldn’t be so bad to be like Becky – as long as you take away the part where she had to fall so deep into debt, haha. Wait, this actually reminds me that I intended to buy Shopaholic Ties the Knot last Christmas, it’s the third in the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella. It’s been years since I got to know Becky, it’s about time for a follow up.
Oh and I can’t miss the movie! I’d have to say, pretty as she is, somehow Isla Fisher doesn’t fit the picture of Becky in my mind. So I also want to watch the movie so I can find out how she can change my mind. No doubt, a day out to see the movie would also mean some shopping on the side 😉
Catch “Confessions of a Shopaholic” in Cinemas on February 18, 2009!
One afternoon, we saw two dog movies one after the other. The first one was the animated film Bolt. We saw it because Esban and AJ came up here and they knew we had it on DVD and they insisted on seeing it. The next one was a movie from a few years ago (honestly, I hadn’t heard about it) and was showing on cable, Firehouse Dog.
We could not help taking note of the similarities between the two dogs: both were celebrities who had spunk and extraordinary spirit. Both also had to save their humans from a fire.
Bolt was like Jim Carrey in The Truman Show. He believed that he really was the superdoggy he portrayed on film/TV. And no one could blame him either. They paid extra care to make things very real to him. But knowing otherwise when he finally came out and had to fend for himself didn’t really crush his spirit did it? Well, okay, he was in denial for the most part. But what was important was he kept moving and striving towards his goal. In the end, he proved what a real superhero he was.
For the Firehouse Dog, he was really an extraordinary dog. I wish Zune could do his tricks, specially the cleanup part. Haha. For this guy, real-life heroism worked for him that he turned down his movie career and endorsements to stay with his firehouse family. What a waste, haha.
But seriously. Dogs could really be very loyal companions, and that’s what those two were.
Remember how I’ve never won any blog contests or giveaways, or even real-life raffles ever before? And then all of a sudden I won the pre-party at Mammadawg’s, right? Well a few days after that, I received notification that I won another bloggy giveaway! What are the odds, huh?
I won David Baldacci’s Divine Justice audio book from This Book for Free! What’s even more surprising is that I never intended to enter the drawing, I was just commenting on the post because my dad reads Baldacci and I know he doesn’t have that title yet. I wasn’t entering because they only ship to US and Canada addresses. Since I won though, I decided to have the prize sent to my ninang (godmother) who now lives in California. I hope she enjoys listening to it 🙂
I wonder if this is the start of an exciting winning streak for me, or if it would be too much to ask to win in more contests and giveaways. I guess I’ve been blessed to win those draws because I joined without really expecting to win. So that’s what I’ll do in other contests too.
Business ideas
Dad and I were casually talking about business ideas on Sunday morning – coming up with businesses we could venture into and have a chance to succeed in. Of course I told him he’d have to buy me an oven finally. He says he’d happily support a baking business if I would really put my heart into it. That he would support me if it was for business rather than just for hobby.
I also pitched the idea of getting a franchise of this yummy siomai stands that Alfred and I have taken a particular liking to. I tasted them first on our latest Quiapo/Divisoria excursion, and then again in Greenhills. Those dumplings are so addicting! They surely taste better than HenLin’s, hehe. The key would be to find the best location, and I’m sure it would be a hit. I was initially thinking of checking how much space would cost at the front of our office building at Mo.Ignacia, but Trinity would probably be an even better location.
Well, nothing’s final yet and I don’t really know if we will end up doing business, and if we will, if it will be in the food industry. I do love the idea and am excited about it. 🙂
Green lunch
The greens looks so green don’t they? I chopped these veggies up, and am proud of it, haha! Alfred cooked up a good sinigang, if I say so myself. He’s mighty proud of himself he blogged about it. Though he enslaved me and had me chop chop chop, I didn’t mind it so much 🙂 Lately we’ve been cooking lunch rather than calling for delivery/takeout. Saves quite a bit of money, I reckon. Healthier too. I wonder what it’ll be next week…
When I bought Frankie in November, I knew this year was going to bring me a lot of photos. I knew that I was going to take more photos, that most would be crappy, but that in time they will be better. Sadly though, I have not been using Frankie as much as I want to. I guess I am too much of a sucker for instant gratification that having to wait for the photos to be processed (and bringing the film for processing) just isn’t working well for me. The functions of the camera are just not making much sense for me because I don’t see the results right away. Even if I see the photos after processing, I don’t know the settings I used anymore. There’s probably a method to it, but I don’t have that method as of yet.
So am I giving up on Frankie? No no no. If anything, I want to find more time and opportunity to use her and learn her secrets.
Doing Project365 this year was a very good decision. I find myself putting thought into photos I take. I don’t just point and shoot anymore. Okay, that’s a lie, I still do. But I think of ways to make a photo look better without resorting to post-editing them with software that’s always readily available to me. I think about the pros and cons of using flash, and I try to adjust ISO on my digicam too. With a digicam, it’s so easy to do this. To shoot, check, adjust, re-shoot. With Frankie, it’s impossible.
When I’m using the digicam instead of my camera phone to shoot a photo for the day, I usually take so many shots before I decide on the best one to use. It’s like kissing so many frogs before finding my prince charming. Surprisingly, I don’t get frustrated with the whole process. I don’t mind re-shooting. I guess that’s because most of my subjects are inanimate. So if I’d have to take photos of moving and breathing stuff – that would probably kill me. Haha.
Lucky for me, I’ve found the perfect 
Shopping for bargain books is another aspect of my Shopaholic-ness. I used to be a regular at the previously owned books section at National BookStore (the Main branch at Cubao). I also used to frequently visit the Books for Less branch along Roces Ave. I spent hours browsing books at both locations, and spent good money on books too.
