TOPAZ HORIZON

I found this utterly cute astrological chart at JennyGirl that features all the Zodiac signs with the most adorable illustrations--rabbits! Here's mine:


Here's what she wrote about me, er, people under my sign:

"YOU are determined, intuitive, and passionate.

OTHER Scorpios are secretive, resentful, and stubborn. And believe me, they were not happy to hear that you were described so nicely. I'm sure that they're scheming against you. Peek out the window. They're hiding out there somewhere, right now.

LIKES Challenges, meaningful work, and being allowed to exercise their skills. And let's be honest, look at those claws. Scorpios really like pinching people.

DISLIKES Being taken advantage of, insincerity, and getting slapped right after the pinching. C'mon, nobody gets mad when a Libra weighs something. If you don't want to get pinched, don't come around acting all pinchable and everything."

Pretty accurate. I'm a Scorpio, born on the year of the Fire Dragon. My grandmother, also a Scorpio, said that I was born under two very powerful signs and, because of that, "nothing will stand in your way... I am almost afraid for those who will come up against you. They will not stand a chance!"

While I don't believe in horoscopes and fortune-telling, I did believe in my grandmother. Of course, I grew up thinking anything I want, I can get. This has worked supremely well for me. At the same time, I also have a lot of collateral damage scattered along the path of my destructive ways. Now, years later, I am painstakingly trying to repair these damaged relationships, which miraculously enough, are actually being healed because all these people I've hurt are so willing to forgive me.

Anyway, I was reading Vogue UK's January 2009 issue (with the regal and ethereal Cate Blanchett on the cover) and I chanced upon this horoscope for me:

"The best way to understand the changes in the year's first quarter is to consider your initial reaction to the unsettling events that took place late last year, and how well things turned out. This makes it easier to consider seemingly unrealistic ideas. Instead of battling shifts in your work or lifestyle, give them a try. And you're only just beginning. With eclipses in late January and mid-February triggering changes in circumstance, once-unachievable goals could soon be easily attainable."

Well, to break it down--assuming I believe in this stuff!--the first quarter of 2009 will be pretty interesting. And considering how well I did react to the "unsettling events" that happened these past few months (Mama's death, the theft), I should start bracing myself for even more changes ahead and even embrace them. After all, whatever I put my mind to, I will achieve! Wow. I almost can't wait for the New Year!

Meanwhile, there's the Christmas shopping to do, the gifts to wrap, the parties to plan and attend, the people to love, the blessings to be thankful for, and... yes, the Disneyland photos to resize!

This is my magnetic wall at work. Those are just some of the events I'm going to this month. I wonder why all the invites I get now are black. They all look alike, I have trouble remembering which is which. Sigh, old age is catching up with me. I like different colors--they help me remember better!

I got tagged on email but I'd rather do it here on my blog.

Here are the rules for the Book Tag:
1. Grab the nearest book to you (not the most intellectual or your favorite. From where you're sitting, get the nearest one!).
2. Open the book to page 56.
3. Post the text of the first two-five sentences.
4. Tag five people to do the same.

And here's what I do:
1. The book is The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide by Douglas Adams. It's Vince's hardbound book that contains five novels and one short story. He loves it. I'm opening it for the first time now...

2. ... to page 56, which says,

3. "The real Universe arched sickeningly away beneath them. Various pretend ones flitted silently by, like mountain goats. Primal light exploded, splattering space-time with gobbets of Jell-O. Time blossomed, matter shrank away. The highest prime number coalesced quietly in a corner and hid itself away for ever."

4. Hmm. That was interesting and strange. I guess this book's on my To-Read list! I'm tagging the five people on my blogroll who've most recently updated their blogs:

My husband is the editor-in-chief of T3 Philippines, which features the hottest women on their covers. Oh, and the hottest gadgets, too. They've been having a hard time getting props for a photo shoot. And by props I mean the following: helicopter, private jet, yacht. We didn't know anyone who had any of those parked in their backyard. But I sent a text message to some people in my phone book anyway, for fun. As expected, most of the replies advised us to rent.

Then this message arrived: "Sure, will be glad to help. The chopper's in the airport and the yacht is in the bay. No jet though. Sorry!" Woah, I actually know someone who has a chopper and a yacht! I'm moving up in the world, people! Now all I need to do is find someone who has a private jet and I'm all set on the social climbing ladder. Tee hee.

Now who is this lovely lady willing to lend us her luxe stuff? Oops, I won't tell.

You know you love me. XOXO!

Part of my job as a magazine editor is to go promote the title. So we had huge billboards made along the Luzon expressways...


... and another electronic one plastered downtown...


... some posters were sent to some little towns and I don't understand why these boys are so enamored with a gossip rag...


... maybe, they wanted to see if we featured stars like Victoria Beckham, who, by the way, talks about her favorite editor here...


... finally, Vogue couldn't resist making me their cover girl!


Oh, but I can be infamous, too! Some paranoid people have been putting up these posters and they are seriously damaging my rep!


Hahahahaha! I'm super loving PhotoFunia. The effects are amazing! Thanks to Colors Changing Hue for the link. I had so much fun. It's like the wigs again since I get to play. Mama would've had a big giggle over the pics =D

UPDATE: Guys, these photos are a joke. I got more than a few text messages on both phones asking where exactly on the expressways those billboards are. Please click on the PhotoFunia link above so you, too, can have some fun. I repeat: The photos are FAKE!

Okay, that last post was way too serious but something we must all take very seriously. I've already gotten the list of congressmen who authored/sponsored that Anti-Obscenity and Pornography Bill and I will post their names and photos soon! Do NOT vote for these Pharisees!

Now, back to regular programming...

As you know, I love to shop online. I just found this fabulous shop called Urban Original. O. M. G. That site is, for me, pornography. I just got so turned on by all the yummy shoes, I nearly fainted with pleasure. There are so many fabulous shoes and they're so cheap, too! I had too many moments where I had to stop and blink hard because I was getting dizzy with desire.

So anyway, I've picked out the ones I really want. I'm going through a prim-and-proper shoe phase. These days I kinda like my feet covered up. Must be because of all the Fall fashion in the magazines... or the fact that it's rainy season here and I walk to work now so I hate getting my feet wet! Anyway, these are my finalist babies. Help me choose!

So! Which ones? All?!? That would only cost me USD 93, plus shipping (yes, they ship to Manila!) so only about USD 130 (PHP 6K++) so the shoes come out as only PHP 1,200 each pair!!! Why, I do believe I'll take them all. What do you think???

P.S. I kinda also like the multi-color multi-strap crocodile heels. They're funky, although I just know my husband will think them horrendous. Should I include those, too?

*all images from Urban Original website. Please shop at their store!

UPDATE: The hubby thinks I need to replace my two phones because they're 3 and 4 years old. Yeah, my Sony Ericssons look really beat up but they still work perfectly and don't give me any trouble at all! Hmm, for the same amount: 5 pairs of shoes or 1 new phone? Man, I don't even know why there's a debate! Still, in a marriage, the budget's not mine and mine alone anymore. So, dear shoes, another time!

This is super fun! What if you had lived in the past? What would your yearbook photos look like? I found this incredibly fun site called Yearbook Yourself! that helped me find out what I'd have looked like way back in...


OMG. The hair! The hair! Thank God for modern hairstyling! The 1978 Afro had me laughing till forever! You know, my mama used to have an Afro. She rocked it, too, with metallic blue eyeshadow and fuschia lipstick. But that's because she's insanely gorgeous. I'll try to get a photo of her in that hairstyle. My mama's so stunning, she'll knock your socks off. Too bad I'm the spitting image of my dad! (Love you, Papa!) Ya, if my dad had been a woman of 31, this is how he'd look like:

Same huge ears, same long face, same smile, the exact same eyes. I have a nicer nose though. I'll try to get a photo of my dad, too. He looks... okay. Like me! Hahaha!

Hmmm... I think I look pretty cute in the cat's eye specs. What you think? Perhaps it's time for me to ditch the contacts and start wearing glasses again.

Because of some outfit-for-the-day sites I've become addicted to, I've snapped myself in some of my clothes these past few days. The photos aren't as nice (gosh, what cameras do these people use?), and the clothes aren't as amazing (how can I ever be as stylish as these people?) but it's a start.

As you all know by now, I am a shoe freak. So when I stumbled upon Sea of Shoes via another blog I haunt (Chuvaness.com), I just became addicted to this absolutely gorgeous family.

Here's the author of the blog. Her name's Jane Aldridge. She's wearing a Carolina Herrera dress with Balenciaga ankle boots (btw, good news: Balenciaga opens today at Greenbelt 5 in Makati!). She's not a fashion model, I think, which makes that great because I really can't be inspired by incredibly thin people who look hungry (though she and I are quite slim, too). I love how she can pair any shoe with absolutely anything in her closet... or how she can make anything look glamorous (exhibit A: the messy hair, exhibit B: the bathroom of her sister that they're demolishing).

This is her sister. Soooo adorable. I love her lipstick. I can't wear lipstick; I'm more of a lip gloss girl (my favorites this month are a frosty pink from Shu Uemura and a sugary gold from Mary Kay). Anyway, this cutie is wearing a pair of peep-toe lace-up Dolce & Gabbana heels with a mini dress from Marc by Marc Jacobs.

And this is their mother. Well, now we know where the girls got their good looks! (The dog looks cute, too, hehe) She wore her Chloe triple strap patent boots with Levi's and an American Apparel shirt. So chic! I wanted to buy those same Chloe boots in Selfridges in London and even Vince encouraged me to buy them but I just couldn't get past that price tag--a whopping GBP 365 (or PHP 31,915). Damn!

If, however, I suddenly have a lot of money, I think I can buy these Chloe lovers from this other blogger. Her blog, A Woman and Her Shoes, is another new favorite. It's almost like porn actually since I get really high looking at all the delectable pairs in her blog.

Ah, shoes! Gosh, I love Jane's blog so much, maybe I'll do something similar. But since I have very limited resources and very few clothes and no sense of style at all... well, maybe it's not a very good idea for me after all. Insert tragic sigh here!

This holiday was a good holiday for selfish little me. Under the tree, I found...

... yummy delights:
Nigella Lawson's special fruit cake, food for the gods, chocolates from the Manila Peninsula's chocolate shop, a fruit cake made by my ninang sa kasal's favorite nun, a box of Pepsi Deluxe drinks, homemade cheese pimiento (and yes, Sis D, it truly is the best pimiento spread I've ever had!), brownies, food baskets, a gigantic box of oranges

... kikay stuff:
a silver bag filled with L'Oreal goodies, Body Shop's Rich Plum bath and lotion set, a cute makeup bag stuffed with Maybelline makeup, a Lancome Miracle Forever perfume gift set, Revlon Professional hair products, my favorite Kerastase products, Belo whitening range (which smells like Eternity perfume), Revlon nail polish in Christmas red, Burt's Bees lip gloss set, an Urban Spa massage gift certificate

... things for the house:
fragrant Fruits & Passion hand soaps, fluffy Bayo towels (which my bunny Alice all claimed for herself with even one small towel going with her to her grave *sniff*), room and linen sprays, a fluffy bathrobe, DVDs and CDs, DVD of first season of HBO's Rome, a huge striped coffee mug, a beautiful lacquered Japanese box from Tokyo, a mini stone fountain, huge wine goblets

... odds and ends:
hardbound journal, 2008 date books, a Rolodex, a super duper nice hardbound travel journal, a leather bill holder, desk stationery, various USB sticks, umbrellas, tickets to Barney the Purple Dinosaur show, a pink bunny stuffed toy

... closet fillers:
a funky Bayo bag, a Proudly Pinay shirt, cute red Crocs in style Alice *sniff*, a Guess pique shirt, a lovely silk scarf, Guess shades, a black Zara top, a pretty peasant blouse, an extremely well-designed many-pocketed bag organizer, a pa-cute pair of black-and-white ballet flats, and...


This last - and my most favorite gift this year - is from Vince, of course. I didn't expect it at all. I knew he was going to get me a new wallet (my current one is tattered at the seams) but he told me that the yellow Samsonite wallet I wanted was sold out so he got me the Fino bag instead. Hahaha, I was never so happy to find out something I wanted was gone forever because I got something way better instead!

My Christmas gift to myself was my black Nine West pumps. They look frikkin' good. They're also just as painful. Argh. If I must suffer for vanity, I don't need to pay for the suffering, right? Next time I'll buy something just as painful but at a lesser price.

Oh, and baby bunny Alice was also my Christmas gift to me, Vince and Galady. Alas, she died before Christmas. Sad. So we've been extra loving to Galady, our dear old bunny. She's almost six years old, and that's quite old in bunny years. We'll get her a companion bunny again in a few weeks.

This was truly a good Christmas. Because people were so generous, Vince and I were in a giving mood, too. Well, in the beginning it was just Vince who was feeling generous. I was feeling very Scrooge (because Alice had died and I didn't feel the Christmas spirit) but as the presents came in and the people around us were so loving and sweet, I finally got into the whole spirit of the season and had to panic-shop! Good thing I'm a very good panic-shopper - everybody LOVED our gifts!

To all my generous family and friends, THANK YOU for the lovely gifts! More than your darling presents, I am grateful I have you in my life. Merry Christmas everyone!

Oh, what a laugh I had with these adorable bunnies!




Rabbit and dogs at play. You have to watch it especially at 01:14! That's a very trusting rabbit when it lies down readily like that.


Now these are specially trained rabbits, but notice how the third rabbit has her own way of doing things at 02:11. Kinda reminds me of me!

Ah, this is why I have rabbits for pets! If I only had the patience to actually follow my bunnies with a videocam!

Well, this is a surprise! Most of my readers are from the U.S. of A.! Hi y'all! How's it like in the land of milk and honey? Greetings from the pearl of the orient!

I guess I should start using just English in this blog, and not insert Tagalog expressions here and there.

Well, thanks for stopping by, international readers! Drop me a note!

Awwww...

Long distance relationship na, unrequited love pa!

It's such a sweet, sad and hopeful song nevertheless. And I love the story behind it. Delilah DiCrescenzo is a real girl (the kilig story in next week's People magazine) who inspired Plain White T's Tom Higgenson to write this song. They met and he was so smitten, he blurted out that he'd write her a song. Thing is, he's never done anything like that. So every time they'd chat online (they didn't go out since she was already with someone else), she'd tease him about the so-called song. So finally, Tom just sat down and wrote the damn thing. Now, the song is #3 in Billboard's Hot 100 and #1 on iTunes. Not bad, not bad at all!

Woody Allen once said 90% of success is showing up. Just show up with the song, dammit, and you'll be a roaring success!

But did the song work the way it was supposed to? Nah! Delilah says the song was "the most romantic gesture" but hey, "we'll just remain friends."

Ouch!

This song just makes me cry every time I listen to it. Strange, as I've never been in a long-distance relationship. But it speaks volumes of loneliness and faith, and the cheerful determination not to succumb to the desperation and the sadness of being far away from the one you love--it just really breaks my heart!

Okay, in case you want to sing along, here are the sad and lovely lyrics that are just full of longing and hope:

Hey there, Delilah, what's it like in New York City?
I'm a thousand miles away but, girl, tonight you look so pretty
Yes, you do. Times Square can't shine as bright as you
I swear it's true

Hey there, Delilah, don't you worry about the distance
I'm right there if you get lonely, give this song another listen,
Close your eyes, listen to my voice--it's my disguise
I'm by your side

Oh, it's what you do to me
Oh, it's what you do to me
Oh, it's what you do to me
Oh, it's what you do to me
What you do to me

Hey there, Delilah, I know times are getting hard
But just believe me, girl, someday I'll pay the bills with this guitar
We'll have it good, we'll have the life we knew we would
My word is good

Hey there, Delilah, I've got so much left to say
If every simple song I wrote to you would take your breath away
I'd write it all, even more in love with me you'd fall
We'd have it all.

Oh, it's what you do to me
Oh, it's what you do to me
Oh, it's what you do to me
Oh, it's what you do to me

A thousand miles seems pretty far
But they've got planes and trains and cars
I'd walk to you if I had no other way
Our friends will all make fun of us
And we'll just laugh along because
We know that none of them have felt this way
Delilah, I can promise you
That by the time we get through
The world will never ever be the same
And you're to blame

Hey there, Delilah, you be good and don't you miss me
Two more years and you'll be done with school
And I'll be making history like I do
You'll know it's all because of you
We can do whatever we want to
Hey there, Delilah, here's to you
This one's for you

Oh, it's what you do to me
Oh, it's what you do to me
Oh, it's what you do to me
Oh, it's what you do to me
What you do to me

This song is for Mariel and Alvin. Be strong, be strong.

Loved this post from the blog of my dearest friend, Faye. She listed the Top 5 Bitches in the Bible. Very good list except that, as I am a Born-Again Christian and read the archaic King James version, Lilith does not exist for me. Her list goes:

1. Bathsheba - for committing adultery with King David and allowing the king to assassinate her husband Uriah so that she can become Queen.
2. Delilah - well, we all know her story. It's full of S's--Samson, secret, super strength, sleep, scissors, snip, snip!
3. Lilith - dunno her but Faye says she's supposedly the first wife of Adam who left the First Man Ever because he wanted to do the missionary position all the time. Hahaha! Lilith, missionary can be fun!
4. Salome - she danced for King Herod then asked for the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter as her reward. May silver platter nga ba? Must read my Bible again...
5. Sarah - she was Father Abraham's wife. And she was drop-dead gorgeous. And so scaredy-cat Abe asked they pretend to be siblings because he was scared the king of Egypt will execute him to have Sarah (see what David did). Sarah agrees but when Egypt royal asks for her to share his bed, Sarah willingly obliges. Nothing like a king!

I add to Faye's list:
Esther, the queen who seduced her Persian king to command the execution of Haman, his most trusted (and her most reviled) adviser.
And Rahab, the woman who helped the Israelites bring down the mighty walls of Jericho. Oh, what's so bad about helping the people of God? She was from Jericho! She betrayed her own people!
And Jezebel, the Phoenician queen who had prophets killed left and right, even telling her king to kill a man just because they wanted his vineyard.
And Job's wife, who told Job to reject God after all his trials. You have to read that story to understand why everyone thinks God's worst trial to Job was keeping his wife alive!

I'm sure there are more. Let me read up again... =)