TOPAZ HORIZON

Okay, I'm on a blogging roll. Might be gone next week because it's my magazine's deadly deadline week so I'm writing enough posts to keep you busy!

So as I published the last post, I wondered how on earth can I lose the fat when I'm already 15 pounds underweight? I honestly do not want to become anorexic. I've put a lot of veggies and fiber in my diet. I've also cut back on sugar and carbs. Of course, at meal times, everyone's worried about me! "Are you on some diet?!" they accuse. And I mumble, "Well, I'm trying to be healthy."

Can you believe I'm even beginning to be attracted to those diet pills on TV like Fitrum, Slenda and Phentermine? Maybe I'll just try it for a month and then supplement it with body-weight exercises to build muscle. Argh! This is so confusing and hard! I want to be healthy but I don't want to be super skinny!

I love contests. So when I found the Avalon.ph and Wifely Steps Moleskine Giveaway, well, I just had to join! The prize is a Moleskine notebook and although Vince and I already have Moleskine notebooks here (bought them from London!), we won't say no to one more.

All I have to do is answer this question: "What would you write in your Moleskine?"

Well, this is what I would write: All the things I can't write on my public blog! And that's a lot.

Though this blog is pretty much quite out there, believe me, there are a lot of things that are boiling up inside me that I don't write here. This used to be a very negative blog, full of ranting and raving and bitter hatred against the world. Most of the sources of resentment is imagined, I now think. This blog has caused some pretty big problems for me because I carelessly treated it as a diary where I poured out all my insecurities, anger, resentment, fears. And you know what? No one really likes reading nasty things.


So I cleaned up this blog, took down hurtful posts, and promised I'd write only silly and shallow things. My blog's readership almost immediately went up! While I'm glad I have new friends through this now-very-positive blog, that doesn't mean I'm all sunshine. A lot of things I'm now dealing with is Mama's death, my family's reconciliation, my very new marriage, my aging, my life! Some things are difficult to deal with or too joyful, too intimate to share to the world. And so when I get my Moleskine, I'll write all the things that happen in my private life so that I can deal better and make my public life be as sunshiny as it is.

Hey, in case we all forget, I have an ongoing contest myself! So few are joining. Do scroll down and join my Curly vs Straight Sunsilk Giveaway!

Okay, quick post. Woke up this morning and stared at the mirror. With absolute joy. My skin looks fabulous!

You can't imagine how something as silly as that gives me so much pleasure. I've had terrible cystic acne since I was 12 and I pretty much tried every acne treatment under the sun. I even took expensive pimple medication but the acne and the scars stayed till I was 30. So I never really liked looking at mirrors. Now, I do!

Maybe it's because my skin grew up or perhaps it's the years of hormone therapy I've been on (for my endometriosis). Whatever the reason I am oh so glad my skin has finally cleared up! Actually, my friends tease me that my skin's secret was my engagement. Yep, I got engaged December 2007. By January 2008, my skin was fantastic. Fancy that, eh?

We moved into our lovely condominium just over a year ago and everything is in place except for my own desk, a bed frame and a seriously wonderful shoe cabinet. The shoe cabinet has to be custom-built since Vince and I have a lot of shoes. That's the great thing about my husband--he'll gawk and complain when I shop for dresses and accessories and stuff, but when I come home with shoes and books, he is wonderfully supportive. That's our huge vice--books and shoes!

Anyway, I'm beginning to think my desk has to be custom-built, too. I have scoured the shops and markets and have not fallen in love with anything. Nothing!

I did see this photo from Spacify.com's section on computer desks and I think that's feasible. It's compact, simple and saves space. Maybe I'll just have the whole thing done in dark wood or a bright pink. A candy pink! Maybe a happy yellow! Or basic white. Gee, now that I've found a desk, I have to worry about the colors next. Sigh, it never ends...

Just came from a rather interesting press lunch. It was for Sunsilk's newest line, the Sunsilk Style Collection. The styling products promise to make hair sleek and shiny or bouncy and full of body. What made the press conference interesting was this segment called "The Great Hair Debate: Straight vs Curly." The debate got really nasty! Here are snippets:

Straight: "In job interviews, straight-haired women will get the job more than curly-haired ones because curly hair means they're messy and unreliable."
Curly: "That's because straight hair is boring. So women with straight hair are boring!"
Straight: "Well, curly hair makes women look fat!"
Curly: "Curly is sexy! Curls just wanna have fun!"
Straight: "Poodle!"
Curly: "Stringy!"

And so it went. Woah, ladies, it's just hair! Personally, I like hair that's wavy and full of body and bounce. I do feel that super straight hair is just a tad ho-hum.

Exhibit A: Jennifer Aniston on the cover of Rolling Stone. She may have a rockin' body but with her super sleek hair, she still looks sweet and safe.


Exhibit B: Angelina Jolie smolders on Vanity Fair. ’Nuff said.



Both stars are lovely but hair that's big and wavy just adds more dynamite, don't ya think?

CONTEST!!!
So... curly or straight? Why? Tell me what you think and I'll give away one set of Sunsilk Style Straight & Sway (shampoo, conditioner, cream and wax), and one set of Sunsilk Style Curls & Wave Bounce (shampoo, conditioner and mousse)! That's two sets. That's two winners!

*How to win: