We Gon’ Party Coz It’s 2012

Contrary to how meaningless I spent my Christmas last week, this holiday weekend was totally a BLAST! Had two celebrations for New Year’s Eve and all the love in the world was felt that night.

Met up with Leetol Loulou in the afternoon to have a mini concert in our little room at Redbox. LOL! I have to admit, we’re getting addicted to this kind of bonding sesh. No complaints here! It’s always a pleasure hearing the golden voice of Lou! Aaaaand she can rap! Among the sea of songs in our playlist, she sang Purple Hills by D12, Cleanin out my closet by Eminem (and other famous Eminem songs), In the end by Linkin Park & Yes yes show by Parokya ni Edgar.

After singing happy tracks & 90s favs, I went straight to Tondo to formally have Media Noche & join the countdown with my sibs, Tita, cousins & Lola. We’re an extremely goofy bunch and words couldn’t describe how crazy we were last night; thus, I’ll just let the photos speak for themselves.

The actual Media Noche started around 12:30 AM when we’ve all had enough inhaling all the smoke coming from various firecrackers. LOL. My favorite was Tita Mely’s fish fillet paired with a sweet soy sauce.

I think it was past 1am when Dex, Naiah & I invited ourselves to Elaine’s crib. Haha! Random photo ops happened, then we drank until 5am. No evidence on the drinking sesh though. That’d be safer. HAHA!

Photos from Elaine:

The alcohol did not kick in while we were drinking, but when we were already at home–about to sleep! HAHA. Weird! Made me inappropriately comment on Kath’s “astro” status that I’d F* Gale, Finnick & Cato. OH MY. THE THOUGHTS IN MY HEAD IN THE WEE HOURS OF THE MORN.

Moving forward, before I left for Makati yesterday, I found this old edit in Chloe (Acer netbook, which is now used by Bigs).

This reminds me of how cynical I am in terms of my outlook in life, and yes, those words are still very consistent up to this day. I’m still not an overly optimistic person who says, “bring it on” or “this year will be awesome.”

But I would have to recognize, in one way or another, that I HAVE PUT ON A GOOD FIGHT. And I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished. Thank you, God! :>

HELLO 2012!

 

Twenny Eleven Round-Up

Ladies & Gents, I present you the highlights of my year:

JANUARY

Photo from www.maniladoctors.com.ph

The year of 2011 didn’t start very well. My Dad got admitted to MaDocs due to an infection that crawled up to his brain. I forget the name of the disease bec it’s a tongue twister. Thank God, he got real better after four days.

FEBRUARY

The month I joined TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno as an Account Manager. And since then, working here has been pretty much my life.

Photo from Adobo Magazine | That's me, second from the left--wearing purple tunic, tights and Docs | Posting this photo taken only this month because this is my first formal picture with the Agency haha!

MARCH

First photo shoots with Franky baby, my Canon EOS 60D. Of course, it has always been with my Sistah, Aylwyn. <3

Photo by Aylwyn Valenciano

APRIL

Streak of bad movie nights with Maxi, my maldita office mate!

Photo from movievortex.com

On this month also, Kath and I started living together. (LOL at I how I wrote it!)

MAY

Watched a number of shows in the Philippine Fashion Week. Thank you so much to our big bosses for giving us tickets.

A mushroom skirt by Sassa Jimenez

JUNE

Random escapisms as I’ve been drowned with real life. Was introduced to Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist.

Photo from femthreads.wordpress.com

JULY

Release of the last Harry Potter movie–the Deathly Hallows part 2. Oh, my fangirl heart just couldn’t bear it anymore. It was also the night I cried like a baby inside a cinema because of Alan Rickman’s extraordinary acting.

Photo from Rotten Tomatoes

AUGUST

Pottermore era, with Post-Potter depression. EchoWillow135 has been sorted to Gryffindor.

SEPTEMBER

Birthday month! Partying partying yeah! September babies = Me, Joanna, Arven & Jona.

L-R: Ethel, Arven, Jona, Lou, Me, Joanna, Maxi | Photo from autumninmanille.wordpress.com

OCTOBER

Had a taste of suite life with Leetol Loulou as we needed escape from everything back in the CBD. Lavett.

NOVEMBER

Release of the Hunger Games full trailer, re-reading THG, sleepless nights of fangirling with my awesome friends–hello Ana, Ericka, Kath & Wynne!

DECEMBER

Stronger relationship with the WWFs–Whenever, Whatever Friends: Lou, Joanna & Jona! <3

Jona and me in Pasto | Photo from Lou

Joanna & Lou in Pasto | Photo from Lou

Russians in Tagaytay. LOL! | Photo from Joanna

***

That pretty much sums up my year! For detailed shenanigans, you could always browse my blog. LOL

Next up for January 2012 — Punta Fuego!

Bazaar Finds, Chronic Fangirling and Layers

BAZAAR FINDS

Last Saturday (Dec. 3), my Whenever-Whatever Friends* (Armendez, 2011) and I rummaged through a sea of stylish people and had a just-in-time Christmas shopping at the Bloggers United 2 Bazaar. It was… okay. There were good finds, but I think the Coachella Bazaar exhibited lovelier items. Anyway, I still managed to grab cool reasonable stuff. Hihi.

Black and White Loafers

Sling Bag for Franky (my camera) or Charlie (work netbook)

Cropped Top

Bangles

I’m such a horrible shopper for not remembering where I bought which. Haha. Took me several rounds to convince myself to purchase these. Still, I think they’re worth the bucks.

*Jona, Lou & Joanna

CHRONIC FANGIRLING

Reblogging all things Hunger Games and Peeta Mellark. Memes are one of my “tumblr craze” favorites. Oh my heart~ Ever since the release of the full trailer, I’ve been distracted again by the awesomeness of Hunger Games. In fact, I’ve been re-reading the novel & participating in discussions with my co-fangirls, Ericka and Ana.

My secret fangirl tumblog (purposely blurred the URL)

LAYERS

A haircut crosses my path whenever I’m feeling impulsive or anxious. I don’t understand what was with me last Tuesday, but I did it. I cut my hair just like the one I had two years ago–short layers in the crown, leaving a handful of long strands underneath.

Doing "The Throne"

Don’t be fooled. I didn’t go pixie cut; I just tied the long layers to emphasize the crown.

–

There you go. The fun stuff in the week that had passed. Tomorrow, I don’t know. I just wish to be more responsible.  Am thankful & happy but I must pay back with diligence. Haha!

October Ender: Suite Escape

Earlier this week, I’ve been thinking that I absolutely needed a little break from everything & maximize the long weekend. I wanted to go some place else where I can relax and escape.

Then I realized, who could possibly know a place where I can spend some R&R? Of course, my Dad. It just took a couple of SMS for him to offer me discounted accommodations. However, the first two options required me having to commute to far tourist spots, so he just gave me a voucher to Sofitel. I must admit, it’s still in the city, but it was surprisingly serene.

Contrary to popular belief, I didn’t go by myself. Leetol Loulou came with me! To Lavrentiy, Maxipooh, Sistah Wynnie, Mother Duck & the rest of SG, you guys were totes missed! :>

Let me rehash the happenings…

Upon check-in:

That Friday night, I told my Dad that I’ll be going home to Laguna so I can prep my stuff, but there was a lil emergency at work so I went overtime. When I came home by Saturday morning, he helped me pack my clothes & even lent me his bag. Hihi. :>

My pair of flat oxfords, which I seldom use.

Some liquor bottles, which of course we neither touched nor drank!

Camwhoring with Leetol Loulou a.k.a. Taylor Momsen!

At the poolside/seaside, staring at the sky + obligatory camwhoring + talking about life+ whatever. Haha!

Since we can’t afford Hotel food, we went to Yellow Cab to buy Pizza & Charlie Chan (not photographed) for dinner. We ate it in our room while watching MMK, and eventually, PBB Unlimited.

The next morning, we headed straight to the front desk to take care of our extension (yes! late check-out was approved!). The lobby was packed with Europeans and the front desk staff was so stressed! While we were waiting for the personnel to entertain our request, Lou & I saw him. THE ONE. I always knew that he’d be European. HAHAHA! Too bad, I wasn’t able to steal some snaps. I might freak him out because he was just three feet away from my right!

Anyway, after some lobby commotion, we proceeded to Mindoro-Romblon hall for our free brunch. Oh yeah!

After brunch, we just took a little break in our room, then we spent time at the poolside for some tanning. LOLJK! Well, it was our running joke ever since we found out that Mario Maurer wants girls who have tan skin. <3

We seriously dint have any sense of time when we were swimming. When we went back, it’s already past 2pm and we only have less than 3 hours left before check-out. Haha! We just burrowed ourselves on our twin beds–me watching That 70s show & Lou watching The Buzz(?)–while killing time.

Oh well. I still felt like we did a lot of things in a matter of 26 hours.

Bye, Sofitel! It was a short yet wonderful stay. My heart is happy. <3

Bday Gifts + Love So[me]one

My parents’ original plan for my birthday didn’t push through as I turned it down to watch the UAAP Cheerdance Competition on TV. Of course, it was all worth it since UP swept all the awards. Anyway, I had no single idea that my folks hatched a plan & connived with Bigs, Naiah & Dex. Dad gave it off when I was prodding him to cook Pesto on a Saturday night and he replied, “No, the pasta’s for tomorrow upon the arrival of… uhm, you’re still here tomorrow right?” Jackpot. Haha! I think two hours had passed when suddenly Naiah & Dex burst in our bedroom to ask for the WiFi password. Haha!

I wouldn’t say that they planned it really well. For one, they weren’t able to devise a reason for me to bring Franky which was why we didn’t have good photos. Next was they didn’t have new music downloads so my brother didn’t attempt to play some while we were eating. It was so quiet yet funny! Haha!

Still, the attempt to surprise me didn’t stop there. They gave me simple but sweet gifts and cards which I didn’t expect. (Naiah actually went vicious when she found out that Dex forgot to pack her gift for me. Haha! Classic!)

Here’s the very sarcastic bday greeting card from my brother. I can imagine him writing these very exact lines.

***

Mom gave me this card plus some bonus compensation.

***

Tita Mely bought a comfy tank top paired with shorts while Naiah gave me this heart-shaped balloon. Her real gift’s to follow. Haha.

***

After hearing the Sunday Mass, I decided to stroll in GB3 for a bit before I head to the condo. I just realized that ever since I bought Franky, I never purchased anything from Topshop or Zara (my two favorite apparel brands). I am financially struggling, but somehow, I still manage to survive. But given that it’s my birthday & I’m done paying for my prime lens (yes! 6 months of payment slashed off!), I allowed myself to wallow in impulsiveness and buy this statement baby tee from Topshop.

LOVE SO[ME]ONE. This is the stage of my life when loneliness becomes my only constant companion and depression knocks on my door regularly. If only this would lead to losing weight, then I won’t contest. Unfortunately, it made me gain eight freakin’ pounds. Go on and judge me then.

Oh. Such is life. Nonetheless, thank you, Father, for my 22 years. <3