TOPAZ HORIZON

Ya, I like men with sharp cheekbones, bulging Adam's apples and you know that part in the hip area and the bone can be seen peeking out of their jeans? Or, let David Beckham illustrate for us, peeking out of his tighty whities?

I like those parts. Yum! I don't like fleshy men. I like my man to be long and lean. I also like men to be smooth all over. Hairy men, flabby men, tummy men, doubly-chin men... let's just be friends, okay?

So anyway, I was browsing through Gucci's Fall Winter 2010-2011 collection and I am sooo crushing over the guys. Skinny! And you know what I love love love? The skinny suits! Skinny suits are very chic and it takes a lot of panache to wear them--definitely not the kind serious men with bank, academic, or IT jobs would wear. Men in creative fields, like fashion, advertising, publishing, will wear skinny suits. Hmm... Well, I guess no matter what field a guy's in as long as he's confident. And skinny! Like my hubby, who'd look absolutely gorgeous in these:

Must head over to Gucci in Greenbelt 5 to check these suits out. Vince, let's gowwww!

For the bags I liked from this collection, click here.

*runway photos courtesy of Visions & Expressions. Beckham's photo from the web!

I'm 34 years old today!

I thought my Facebook wall and my phone inbox would crash from all the greetings and wishes and love you sent my way. Thank you! You all made my day special.

Vince and I brought Vito along to Pancake House in Rockwell and Vito watched while his parents ate blueberry pancakes smothered in butter and syrup, steak and mashed potatoes, and crispy tapa with garlic rice. Yum! Yes, my birthday lunch was at Pancake House! I love Pancake House soooo much, I wanted them to cater my wedding (to everyone's horror! So we signed on Le Souffle instead).

Then my little family and I slept away the afternoon. Zzzzz. Then we woke up and watched our favorite TV shows (Fringe, 30 Rock, Big Bang Theory) and a movie (Scott Pilgrim vs the World--really funny!) then ate Haagen-Dazs Dulce De Leche ice cream. Then got a gift from blog reader Paola (thanks, P!). Perfect day! I still plan to celebrate the rest of the week. After all, 34 years is a great reason to celebrate!

Thanks for the love, everybody! You make me thank God every day for this blessed life. Some days aren't so perfect... okay, a lot of days aren't but when I have friends like you, who am I to complain? I am beyond happy. May the good Lord return your love for me a hundredfold and bless you and your families bountifully!

My fabulously pink Christmas tree, that Vince got for my 32nd birthday, is ready to make its annual appearance. Yes, it's pink and that's a funny color for a tree or for the season but I like that my hubby indulges me. Or as he puts it bluntly, "You're spoiled."

this is Christmas 2008

Christmas 2009

I'll show you the photos tomorrow (or as soon as I can!) since we're not done setting it up. Besides, I still need really nice ornaments. Right now, I have silver balls, matte and shiny, and plain white lights. But they're kinda boring, don't you think? I'm sure there are fellow Christmas lovers reading my blog. Where do you get unique trinkets for your tree? And I really don't want to go to Divisoria. I don't like that place.

Help! I really want nice new Christmas ornaments (without breaking the bank)!

Wow! I am now at that most feared time: Mid-life! Or is mid-life at 40? I dunno really although it makes sense that it's around the ages 34-36 because life expectancy is at 70 so divide that by 2 and you get 35. Simple math, complicated time.

Here's what I currently look like:

Not bad, not bad. I don't look young anymore but neither do I look like I need Botox! Although I gotta admit I've been slathering on the anti wrinkle creams when I can. I'm using Lancome Hydra-Zen now but my friend Nicole tells me that Shu Uemura's Red:Juvenus is beyond amazing. So I'm trying that next.

Truth to tell, I'm the laziest girl in the world when it comes to beauty rituals. I love beauty magazines and products but when it comes to actually using them, I... don't. So I'm glad that I still look okay! I do have gorgeous parents to thank (although I am nowhere near as beautiful as my mother) but in the great scheme of things, I'm just pretty, not fabulously stunningly beautiful.

That's okay. I've never felt insecure about my looks or been jealous of other girls. I'm a great admirer of beauty actually. That's because my parents always told me that we're all God's creation so whatever you look like, you're beautiful.

Besides, I have such a blessed life. It's not without its troubles--and believe me, there's a lot right now--but no matter how I look at life, all I really see is how full of beauty it is. On top of my gratitude list: my husband and darling baby boy. Just one look at this sweetie and I feel all the years drop away from my face and my body. Vito's my No. 1 anti-aging secret!

What's your anti-aging weapon?

Lookie here! I took some snaps of a couple of silly brand names:


Now, you may have a really great product--from the best slimming pills to designer water--but if the name you christen your product and store is unimaginative, has no recall or is just plain stupid, I don't think it will sell. At all!

Speaking of designer water, Vince and I want a bottle of this:

Oops, sorry. It won't rotate counter-clockwise!

How about that? Paul Smith put his famous stripes on Evian bottles. You gotta love that! Except that y'all know that Evian is "naive" spelled backwards!