Steamed vegetables (snow peas, string beans, cauliflower, carrots, and young corn. Young corn and broccoli are my favorites but Molave Garden didn’t have the latter last Sunday), steamed chicken breast, and a hard-boiled egg. I eat the yolk because I am not a crazy person, heh.

For September, I only have two goals.

1) Give up coffee for seven days.
I attempted to do this yesterday but I was PMS-ing and feeling sluggish like crazy that I gave in and got myself a frozen coffee (and two donuts hehe) from the convenience store next to my office building. I was feeling better today so I had one big mug and thought to myself “Do I really need to quit coffee? I don’t think so!”

I don’t even remember when or how I became addicted to caffeine. I’m sure it started in high school, being the perfect companion to cigarettes and the habit just worsened in college (I swear, college is evil in the sense that it cultivates all these bad habits and vices that students justify as stress-relievers and energy sources). Up until last year, I would drink eight mugs of coffee in a day. EIGHT! That plus smoking plus alcohol— no wonder my stomach (and probably my liver and kidney) is such a mess after nearly a decade of abuse.

These days, I limit my coffee intake to two a day, in the morning. Even that is too much, though. I downloaded the 30 Day Transformation Ebook and one of the challenges is to give your liver a break from the stress of caffeine for a week. It’s going to be tough and I am dreading it. I’m not even going to substitute it with tea; instead, I’ll be drinking fruit enzyme mixed with water.

2) Give up beer.
I have sworn to do this sooooo many times in the past and have always failed. It’s hard to give up drinking since all my friends (save for one) are drinkers so it’s hard to get support from them. It never hurts to try (again), right?

Before I end this post, I’m just going to awkwardly insert a photo of myself.

Wish me luck!

Speaking of making changes to my eating habits/my diet: it’s hard. I pigged out and went over my beer (and cigarette) limit over the weekend. Once again, I am telling myself that it’s ok— it’s my first week, after all. I was supposed to do some cardio on Sunday (it feels strange not working out!) but I didn’t have enough time as I still had to look for copper farmhouse sinks. That said, Insanity is gong to KILL ME tonight.

Photos from the weekend Sunday!

My friends, Rabi and Roel, are getting married next month and had their engagement/pre-nup shoot at Mango Farm. I tagged along because Rabi told me there would be lunch and St Bernard puppies!

(I would have gone even if those two weren’t part of the day, heh).

Rabi and one of the puppies. That’s a five-month old St Bernard!

With Zuko and Appa (obviously the puppies, not the humans).

Our friend getting mauled by the pups. Zuko went first.

I had to edit Roel out -_-

A photo of everyone who stayed for the entire shoot (sans Rabi’s makeup artist). We left a little past 7 and headed to Roel’s for more Chinese food. I’m trying to avoid white rice but you can’t not have white rice with sweet and sour pork and beef and broccoli!

I have a lot of clothes (more than I can wear, really) but I always know when something is missing from my closet. I know it shouldn’t bother me so much because save for one top, most of them were thrifted… but I can’t help it! I’ve tried to let it go and be okay with it but it ticks me off all over again when I’m getting ready/dressed to go out.

I was looking for one of my favorite tops this morning (to wear to work) and I realized that I haven’t seen it since the last time I wore it some two months ago. Stolen, again =(

(Oh, well, at least I didn’t lose a PS3.)

Anyway, to keep my mind off that (sorta):

1) The top I was looking for this morning. I absolutely adored this piece and I am very sad that it’s gone. I’m still hoping it’s just at my folks’s and that they’ve forgotten to pack and send it to the apartment, heh.

2) An Ashera cat aka the world’s most expensive cat! It’s ~36K USD and of course I want one!

3) The rope bib necklace I started almost a month ago and have yet to finish. I’m done sewing the rope together, I just need to buy the right beads! As you can see, the ones I got don’t match the rope. I keep forgetting to see if there’s a Carolina’s in Farmer’s Cubao.

4) Future hair DIY project, or at least something similar. I hope I can find the right kind of pink dye I want!

Quick update before the long weekend!

High on my list of things to buy: knit jeans (I would love these disco pants by AA, but I’d rather spend my money on other things)! Leggings are not real pants and I must remember that.

Eye creams. Wondering why I cropped out my eyes?

I also need a new chain belt since I— rather, MY WAIST– broke the only chain belt I owned last month. If anyone knows where I can buy one (I got mine off ebay a couple of years ago), please tell me!

Yayyyy, long weekend!

Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry. They were pretty amazing.

Meh, I hate that there was an unused mic stand left in between the band area and the audience. Coupled with the kids beside me who wouldn’t stop kissing and hugging each other (seriously…), it was pretty hard to take a good shot.

Alexei Perry is so fun.

I got a shirt!

Wore my black and white polka dot dress from ukaymanila.com under my thrifted ugly cardigan. I’ve had this dress for a while now but due to recent weight gain, the neckline (a neckline is Helga-friendly if it is low enough to show my ampersand tattoo!) and sleeves weren’t very flattering on me. I don’t know why it never occurred to me to just throw something on top!

Can I just say how disappointed I am in myself? I had a dinky banana for dinner because I didn’t have enough time to heat food so I was basically drinking on an empty stomach. It wouldn’t have been that bad, except I had five bottles of beer. Theeeen, some friends and I went to Tapsi ni Vivian for post-drinks dinner at one in the morning. I had tocilog (and yes, I eat the fat, ugh) and chicharon bulaklak. Ugh.

K, bai.

Anyway, what I wore last Saturday:

Is it still a fashion faux pas to mix brown and black pieces together? Do I care? I am 25-years old and I will wear what I want to! Thrifted brown cardigan ♥, thrifted shimmery black tank ♥♥ (disco! disco!), my favorite denim mini from Folded N Hung ♥♥♥.

Parisian wedges. I need to go shopping for shoes soon. I want to make it a point to buy at least one new pair every month.

I showed my boyfriend these photos and captioned it “Your future baby mama.”

I like my hair in these photos but I hate how it looks IRL. It’s not the color I have a problem with but with the way I trimmed my bangs and how the layers are growing out and look all awkward.

My Sunday was spent mostly on my couch, wedged in between pillows and cushions.

A lot like this cat.

Sunday night dates: Mango Orange juice (I was parched from all the beer and vodka from Saturday night and I wanted something with flavor), ice cream, Jersey Shore. I ate all 800ml of the ice cream, I AM RIDICULOUS. I swore to myself I will not feel bad for pigging out and I will just make up for it by working out everyday for the rest of the week =)

(K, that’s not even true. I’m staying in tonight to work out (fourth day in a row, yay! I only do thirty minutes of cardio, though), watch My So-Called Life and maybe some Jersey Shore, and chat with my boyfriend.)

Since I’m not in the mood to talk about my issues, I’ll just post a bunch of photos!

This week’s purchases:

e.l.f. Plumping Lip Glaze in Mauve Berry (I don’t know why I still bother with e.l.f. products but I love how it makes my lips tingly and feel minty), Nivea Angel Star lip balm, Maybelline Shine Free Blush (20% off!), and Maybelline Impact Express felt liner. I don’t know why I waited this long to get a felt tip liner; it is a godsend.

Earrings, cameo pendant necklace, and ring from St Francis Square. I should really schedule a trip to Quiapo one of these days because I can get all these vintage-y accessories there for half the price!

Healthy-ish snacks I found at the Galleria grocery.

A photo from last week: the view outside our office on the 27th floor. I ♥♥♥ the city and nature.

And and and… self-portraits with my new ring. Haha, it’s pretty silly because I’m not much of a ring person. I have short, very unladylike fingers and I always thought that rings only belong on long fingers. Issues! Issues! Well, I’m 25-years old and I’ll wear rings if I want to.

All these lips photos are for the benefit of my boyfriend.

I hate how hard it is to take photos with my Hanson tattoo =(

I am seeing Handsome Furs next week! It’s on a weeknight which sucks because I’ll have to watch how much I drink and because I won’t be able to work out. I’ll live.

(LOL, evil face.)

I have a feeling my skin regimen is finally working for me because I did not break out at all this month! My skin is still far from flawless but at least no new pimples popped up— a first in years! No Photoshop, no makeup:

(Those chin pimples are permanent residents of my face.)

I’m still not completely zit-free, of course, and the soft lighting and my 50mm lens fail at capturing every horrendous pore, whitehead, blemish, and zit on my face but I’m telling you— it’s a huge improvement from last month. The lack of new pimples did wonders to my mood last week, too.

I posted my regimen last month but honestly, I haven’t been doing the oil cleanse method or the honey masques anymore. I get too lazy, what can I say! I still exfoliate every other day with baking soda and I still use the Queen Helene mint julep masque and an iWhite whitening pack once or twice a week. For day time moisturizer, I went back to using Olay Total Effects; I apply just a liiiitle bit, though. I also started using these two products, which I absolutely looooove:

Human Heart Nature Aloe Vera and Guava Organic Facial Wash and Tomato and Lemongrass Natural Toner. Both work fantastically for my combination oily skin. I still oil up and probably blot three to four times a day but at least they keep my pimples at bay! It is seriously such a relief. Now all I need is to find that perfect, affordable moisturizer =)

You can order HHN products from their online store.

Plopped everything down on my bed before putting on fresh sheets. What I got!:

From left to right (I know you can’t really tell but just in case you guys are wondering what I got): sparkly tank top, button-down dress with some ruffles, oversized brown cardigan, white H&M lace leggings (got this for PHP120 lol), knitted black sweater, gray tunic, black cape-like jacket (winged sleeves, I think), light pink blazer, floral silk shorts, oversized striped cardigan.

I think this is my favorite haul so far! I got everything for PHP900 (roughly 20 USD). I went with my fabulous friend, Thysz and his friend, Edrick to the ukays in my neighborhood. Thysz has awesome ukay juju because he can find designer stuff for cheap while Edrick found a Vivienne Westwood button-down shirt, maybe ten minutes into going through the racks. I never have that luck!

I wore the striped cardigan and the lace leggings to work today. It’s not my favorite outfit and I showed photos to my boyfriend and he feels the same. The cardigan ended up looking a little too overpowering (at least in the photos I took). I’m guessing it’ll go better with shorts and chunky shoes.

Meh.

Trimmed my bangs a little too short again. I never learn!

So I need some suggestions.

I got this blazer off the 3 for 100 rack and didn’t notice the blue stain on the left sleeve. I only saw it this morning while I was taking photos. Do I… a) leave it as it is lol or b) dye it? The pink is pale enough to dye over without having to bleach. Let me know what you think!

It was the lightest shade amongst all the boxes and brands of hair dye. I don’t believe I’ve mentioned this before but I have this stupid ideal when it comes to (my) hair: I think black hair suits people with clear skin. It is also very boring on me and does nothing for my skin color (I noticed that when I first dyed my hair a chestnut brown, it enhanced my natural tan). I like my hair reddish and the lighter it is, the better. Anyway, I’ve never tried strawberry blonde and to make sure that I really wanted it, I put the box of Toasted Anise back and went around the store to browse other things. I obviously ended up getting it, heh. I don’t recall the exact price but it’s around PHP450; Kolours, on the other hand, is only around PHP230.

(Supposed) Color results. I guess I’m in between medium and light brown. I never rely on these things, though, because I don’t apply color remover in between dye jobs.

No makeup, taken around midnight to one in the morning. Please don’t be scared.
Left: Kolours Toasted Anise after one month. Right: Revlon Colorsilk 72 Strawberry Blonde.

FML, they look the same =/

Taken this morning out in my balcony. It was a little overcast. I am not happy with the color but I can live with it. The Revlon Colorsilk after-color conditioner is AMAZING, though. It smells really good and left my hair feeling smooth and silky.

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These days, I find myself gravitating towards grays, blues, whites, and purples.

Last Saturday’s outfit. There is a bird over my friend’s face because he was drunk and was making a funny face. I kind of look funny, too, actually. Taken at Future’s 2nd Year Anniversary, after coming from the Ciudad 10-Year Anniversary gig and dancing and sweating in drizzle. That’s my favorite floral blazer (thrifted, of course) and I’m so glad I can finally wear it again after almost a year if being stuck in my closet. Paired it with a long black halter top (YRYS, lulz) tucked into black shorts (People Are People).

Today’s outfit: thrifted gray top, black leggings, and white shoes from ebay.ph. Ugh, I love these shoes but they give my lateral malleolus (I Wiki-ed ‘foot anatomy’ lol) blisters.

The top was a little too short, though, so I put on an asymmetrical vest (Giordano, thrifted) to cover my crotch, heh. It sort of looks like I’m wearing harem pants in the first photo.

My outfit matched today’s dreary, rainy weather. I hope it gets cold enough to wear blazers and jackets out during the day.