TOPAZ HORIZON

Good morning, folks! I know Mondays usually don't make anyone smile but I'm just happy to be well again. I've been sick the entire week last week and it was an especially bad time to be sick because the bags finally arrived from Batangas and I had to collect payment, then package the bags and send them out, and it was the deadest deadline week of the magazine I edit.

I was able to drag myself to the office on Thursday in a jacket and a scarf wrapped around my head and neck and make sure the August issue was put to bed on time, but as for confirming payments and sending out the bags? No such luck.

Thank goodness my customers have a sense of humor!

I was so stressed out because in the world of online business, once the customer pays, the item must be on her doorstep in 3 days max. Unless it's overseas, of course. Since all the bags were fully paid and I wasn't shipping them out at all, I was plagued by thoughts of my first customers thinking I ran off with their money!

I was able to send out a few bags, though. Here are the first reviews:

Thanks, Trixie, for the Transformers 3 tickets!

I'm sure Joy meant "bag". Damn auto-correct!

Hooray! And today I am finally feeling better! Vince and I packed 10 bags last night (we slept at 2am!) and will finish the rest this week. We're also starting on the prototype of the 14" and the second batch of orders. You haven't ordered yet??? Why, click here to do so now!

I am soooo excited! This is going to be a very good week. I feel so happy about life! May you have the same excitement and joy, dear reader!

Off to Philippine Fashion Week in May! Wearing Bench tank, Zara skirt, Sapato Manila heels, Liz Claiborne necklace and Kate Spade bag

At Enterprise, on my way to Sunlife to file a claim, I met these yummy colorful creatures. They were promoting a raffle--vote for the M&M color you want and you get a chance to win $1,000 shopping money!

I voted for Green because she's described as "smart, strong and sexy." Hey, sounds like me! Teehee. If you want to join, click here. I hope I win, though! Good luck to us all!

Here I am at Sunlife again, this time to claim tickets to Varekai! I joined their contest on the last day and won! Am I lucky or what? Thing is I'd already bought tickets. So I gave my prize to my in-laws and watched Varekai on the second night. You all know what happened to us that Thursday night!

And this was Vito the morning after the Varekai show. We bought that hat, so enamored were we with the show. We're enamored with our baby boy, too!

I haven't gone out all week this week (except to watch Transformers 3 at Shang) so I haven't seen the Bench billboards that have been causing so much traffic talk lately. So I told Bench about it and they obliged by sending massive files of near naked men to my inbox.


Of course I opened the zip file just when my boss passed by. If there had been an ECG attached to my chest right at that moment, we'd have seen some spectacular activity. Behold our rugby team: the Philippine Volcanoes in all their glory!

Arnold Aninion Filipino/New Zealander Entrepreneur

Terrence Javier Carroll Filipino/Australian Laborer

Jake Robrigado Letts Filipino/Australian Post-graduate student

Ned Stephenson Filipino/Australian Student

Patrice Ortiz Olivier Filipino/French Rugby player

Kenneth Capinpin Stern (left) Filipino/American In finance Chris Everingham (right) Filipino/Australian Personal trainer

I can see the shape of their dicks, I swear. Now I'm imagining them magnified. I have to see these billboards!!!

I'm sooo happy Bench got athletes to model their underwear! No offense to our actors and actresses but a body honed and toned by sport and dance is much better than a body shaped by diets and the gym. See photos above? I rest my case.

Rugby is a sport, btw. It's a type of football. I've never watched a game so I really don't know how it works but after seeing those guys clad in just Bench underwear, I think I have a new sport to watch! If you actually want to play, you can go to the PhilSports Complex along Meralco Ave in Pasig for free Rugby 101 sessions (Mon and Wed, 6pm)

Anyway, I didn't know we had a rugby team. Bench sent me info that said we don't have just a team, we have a union! Read more about the Philippine Rugby Football Union on their website or like their Facebook page.

*all images courtesy of Bench Body

To the left are the black 16", the dark chocolate 14" and the 11" in natural leather.

The first batch of bags is here! They arrived from Batangas yesterday afternoon and now our entire living area smells like leather.

The 11" tan satchels. The straps are folded into the bag.

I sent out invoices last night and this entire day, my first clients paid in full. Wow! You guys are amazing. Thanks! I'm just sick with a very bad cold and a fever so Vince will attend to the packing and sending. Will send them all out this week, dontcha worry!

How cute is the natural leather? It's pinkish!

We're accepting orders for the 11" satchel (available in tan, dark chocolate and natural leather). Ya, still just that. We haven't decided on the final look of the 14" satchel (yes, I made a mistake--it's actually 14", not 13"!). Some feedback we got wanted the top handle, some didn't. Some said they liked the inner divider, some didn't. Yikes.

What do you think?

Well, this post is more than a month late!

This particular day was an extremely busy day. So I wore flats. But since I had to attend a fashion show, I brought along my Nine West heels. Outfit details: Zara green-striped shirt, Zara hot pink mini, Gucci bag, Janilyn flats.

I had to pop in at the office first because it's the mid-month deadline that day. Then I rode the school bus with fellow editors to Midas Hotel.


Gorgeous lobby filled with designer chairs. Very contemporary and sleek.


I don't know how to feel about the Hermes boxes, though. It's not like it's a store. So the piles of empty orange boxes just felt pretentious to me. Still, since orange is my favorite color, the pops of citrus looked great as an accent.

We were at Midas for the launch of the new Clear dandruff shampoo variants. Will talk about that on Beauty For A Living. It was a well attended event. Saw Tessa Valdes.

And my crush when I was in college, Piolo Pascual. He's not my crush anymore, which is strange because he looks a hell of a lot better now.

Then since I was already at Roxas Blvd, off I went to SM Mall of Asia to while away the time before Philippine Fashion Week. Made no sense to go all the way back to the office then leave again for MOA. So I shopped while I waited!

I attended the Forever 21 show. I only went to the shows of the brands that advertise in the magazine I edit. And SM has been so nice to support my magazine this year. Thanks, SM, BDO and Forever 21!

The fashion show was fun. Of course, it's Forever 21! I'm glad I got a seat closer to the catwalk this time. The day before, when I attended the SM Department Store show, I came late so I had to sit all the way in the back. It was so far, I needed a telescope to see anything! So that's why I came in early for this show. No, really. It was for the show, not the shopping at MOA!

Anyway! Totally loving that orange jersey dress, the one matched with blue tights. Oh, but I won't wear it with blue tights. Just with killer color block heels and bare legs!

Will talk about the show on my beauty blog, too, Meanwhile, how cute are we! Hot pink skirts are so fabulous! That's moi with Preview's editor-in-chief Pauline Juan. I shoulda taken out my heels! I looked like a dwarf beside her when we're actually the same height.

Gosh, my boobs are so huge in this photo. That's because they're filled with milk! My chest was already quite painful here. Wasn't able to express milk all day. It was so painful and tender, I was seeing stars. So after this photo, I rushed home to my baby boy. And that's where I really want to be!