TOPAZ HORIZON

Oops. Totally forgot to do Topaz Fashion! Too many things happening on my side of the world. I had planned to be completely work-free from my last day of employment till my baby Iñigo turns a year old in May. Had promised myself, "You've been working too hard for the last 14 years. Take some months off. Hell, take a year off!" But I find myself working still on many new projects!

My father-in-law calls it inertia. I've been working non-stop so I will find it almost impossible to completely stop. So since the last day of my employment (Nov 15) to exactly one month later, I'm still as busy as ever.

Well, to be completely technical, I'm still officially employed. My last day as editor-in-chief of OK! magazine is end of working day today. So today is the last day I will promote the December issue!
Please grab a copy! It's the very last issue! It's a collector's item!

Today is also my very first day as a newspaper columnist!

My columnist's photo shot by Sara Black.

An entire spread! My first column is about Sara Black and her new book, We, Love.

It's a childhood dream, folks. When I was around 12, I listed down what I wanted in life: to be an editor-in-chief of an international title and to be a columnist in a national daily. That's it. That's all I wanted in life! And now I can add columnist to my resumé! So thrilled!

I also managed to take photos of outfits I wore when I remembered that I have Topaz Fashion on this blog. Here they are:

Plains & Prints denim zip-up dress, Charles & Keith sandals, Cuzo nylon tote

Shoot and interview outfit. This is also my default breastfeeding outfit. Actually, whenever I bring that Cuzo bag, that automatically means I have Iñigo with me. I had an interview and photo shoot to go to for Circuit magazine. I wrote the cover story on Iza Calzado. I wanted Iza to meet her nephew so I brought the baby. Oh, and also I know from experience that shoots can drag on forever so breastfeeding mommy me needed the baby along!

Missoni sweater dress, orange VNC sandals, Gucci shoppers tote

Photo shoot and girlfriends' day out. This was when we shot Sara Black for my column. When you do a photo shoot, you have to be as comfortable as possible. But I got stuck in traffic and the shoot ended while I was in the cab so I detoured to my friends' party in Red Box Greenbelt.

This dress is actually nice on me when I was chubby. It's a knit dress that's supposed to ride on my hips and butt with the hem ending mid-thigh. But I bought this when I just gave birth to Iñigo so I was fatter then. Now that I've lost all the weight, no more hips and thighs to hold on to so the dress drops straight down and looks baggy on me. Maybe I'll sell it on eBay because it's really too big for me now.

K & Company dress, Kenneth Cole peep-toes, Longchamp clutch

Nuffnang Country Manager's dinner for talents. This was on Wednesday, 12/12/12, the day Congress voted on the RH Bill. I wore purple to signify my support for the bill that finally finally finally passed! Like the previous dress, this one is also loose on my body. So sad because I really like this! I'm losing too much weight, I think.

Anyway, Nuffnang is planning big things for 2013, hence the dinner. It was nice to meet the Nuffies and the other bloggers. I'm really excited to do more work for Nuffnang's many clients!

K & Company dress, Zara ballet flats, Longchamp clutch, Charles & Keith sunnies

Visit to Acqua Iguazu site for a sponsored blog post. I love love love this dress! Perfect red dress. Anyway, I was supposed to use my Kate Spade black leather tote but all my essentials were already in my clutch so I just grabbed it. I'll try to be more coordinated but I tend to let convenience trump coordination!

Whew. And that's the life of a freelance writer for you—busy but still stylish (or at least attempting it)! Hope you enjoy the weekend, dear readers! Don't forget to grab OK!'s December issue and today's Manila Bulletin!