TOPAZ HORIZON

This is the new handmade leather bag of Fleur of Mommy Fleur.

I love how the photo shows her life: organized chaos and style! Yep, organizer to the left, toys to the right, and in the middle of it all--my bag! Fleur is my mommy blogger friend. She's one of the funniest, most real people ever. We finally met a few weeks ago at Philippine Fashion Week. Read the fun story here! You have to read it so that if you ever meet me, you'd know it's safe to approach hahaha.

Anyway, her review summary:
1. The smell of genuine leather is love!
I love that smell myself. Kinda overwhelming, though, when all the bags are delivered and my entire living room smells like a pet shop haha.
2. The strap is long enough so that she can carry it across her body, freeing her hands.
And when you're a busy lady--mommy or not--that's very important!
3. The neutral tan color is perfect.
Matches absolutely everything in your closet!
4. The magnetic snaps makes life easier!
And don't we all need things like that?
5. She loves the many pockets.
I love that, too!
6. Considering it's made entirely of leather, it's affordable.
Yes, it's absolutely affordable!

Thanks, Fleur! May utang pa ako sa iyo!

Aileen of Travel.Food.Finds. totally loves her new satchel!

Her review summary:
1. Ordering was simple and easy.
That's because I like things to be simple and easy. I'm nice, too!
2. Real leather!
Yep, the entire bag is made of real Pinoy cow hide.
3. Impeccable workmanship.
Thanks to the expert hands of Uncle Buck of Batangas!
4. She loves the many pockets!
Because I love pockets, too!

Thanks, Aileen, for liking the bag and saying I'm "super nice." And may I say again: Such gorgeous photos of the bag! Even I wanted to buy it, totally forgetting I sell it!

Meet the uber cool Trixie of Wild About Retail.

She got her satchel the night before she left for a Bangkok trip and she is totally in love with the bag!

Her review summary:
1. The satchel may be 11" long but it can fit a lot of things.
(that's because the leather is supple so it's flexible enough to expand for your stuff!)
2. The leather survived being drenched in rainwater.
(that's because it's real cowhide!)  

Thanks, Trixie!

There was another royal wedding this year, by the way--that of Prince Albert to Charlene Wittstock. I wasn't able to catch it on TV last July 1 so thank goodness for YouTube!


My ten notes:
1. She looked really scared!
2. She kinda looks like Grace Kelly and Kristen Stewart.
3. My gosh, her collarbones are amazing!
4. The light in that place is a photographer's dream.
5. Her ring was a tight fit, too! Did they have the same jeweler as the Windsors?
6. I love that the royal family wore pink.
7. The kiss was super quick (like mine haha) but she did look at Albert most lovingly. He did not. Hmp!
8. Where was Carla Bruni? I wanted to see a pregnant Carla Bruni. She'd have been the Victoria Beckham of the Monegasque royal nuptials!
9. Sorree but their Lexus looked like a pick-up.
10. Why was there another ceremony at a smaller chapel? And why did Charlene cry so much? And why did Albert look at her with annoyance?

Another note: I wish I knew French. I really should've paid more attention to my French classes in college and I really should've continued with my French classes at Alliance Francaise!

Anyway, I also noted that the royal couple used a lovely pen to sign away their lives (hahaha). I was told that it was a specially crafted pen from Maison Montblanc.

Here are the very special details about the very special pen:
The unique fountain pen is made of solid white gold. The cap and barrel of this masterpiece is engraved with a rhomb-shaped pattern and is set with 161 rubies and 128 diamonds, reflecting this royal occasion and the colors of the Monegasque State.
The 18K gold nib is engraved with a dove, rings and crown – all meaningful symbols of this state union.
The design was inspired by the architectural elements of the Palais Princier and the Principality Flag, embellished with precious stones and the monogram of the Princely Couple.

The largest stone to adorn the writing instrument is a ruby in rhomb cut set on the clip.

As a writer, I am absolutely in lust for this beautiful pen! I have lots of pens actually, lots of Parkers and Crosses, but I have no Montblancs yet. Since I can't hope for Maison Montblanc to create a pen just for me, I'd be happy with one or both of these:

Meisterstück Tribute to the Mont Blanc in Platinum

Meisterstück Tribute to the Mont Blanc in Red-Gold

Sigh! Yet another luxury item to put on the dream list!

P.S. Royal weddings aren't over yet! Zara Phillips, the daughter of Princess Anne and cousin of William and Harry, is marrying her rugby player love Mike Tindall on July 30. She reportedly did not invite Harry's on-off girlfriend Chelsy Davy. Oooh! What's up with that?

Montblanc is exclusively available at Rustan's Makati, Shangri-la Plaza and at Newport Mall, Resorts World.

This is my friend Nikki.

We met in 2007, when I hired her to be the Fashion & Beauty Editor of the magazine I edit.

This is the staff on a team building trip to Zambales.

Nikki, Lana and Joanna get silly in Zoobic. This is the only photo of Nikki "wearing" something not chica!

Nikki with Lana and me at the Cosmo Bachelor Bash in 2008.

We did the rounds of TV shows taking about celebrity style.

Here she is at the staff shoot in 2009.

She worked as a stylist (in heels no less!) for our staff shoot.

She's also a beauty columnist.

Nikki with Nicole and me at The Spa to do reviews.

Here we are again at a Lancome event. (I was pregnant!)

Or we do dinners and lunches at each other's homes.

Uber chic couple Nikki and Bern

Nikki's cloud gown.

Her entourage photo looks like a fashion editorial!

As you may have guessed from all the photos above, Nikki's a woman of many talents. One of those talents is her unerring knack to put together a completely stylish look. Everywhere Nikki goes--whether it's to a gala, a TV show, a lunch meeting or a dinner at home, she looks absolutely amazing. Not a hair out of place and always flawless. And she makes it look so effortless, too!

So we've been entreating, begging, nagging and pushing her to put up her own style blog. She's been giving us shopping, style and beauty advice for years and her tips are always unbelievably easy! I think my outfits drastically improved when we became friends to be honest. So wouldn't it be nice if she did the same for you?

Well, she finally agreed. Meet The Picky Dresser. In her words, she's "living life one outfit at a time!"
Do give Nikki a warm welcome to the blogging world!

Update, Sept 12, 2012: Nikki shut down her blog =(