On the loop: Chill Thursday

This song never fail to relax me. Listen if you want good vibes.

xx,

Annie

Update: Summer Bucket List

At the start of this year's summer, I made a summer bucket list. And so far these are the updates.

• Make a DIY  cropped shirt
• I am halfway there. Started to make one for the beach trip but ended up not finishing it. MUST FINISH.
• Did it but was not happy with the outcome hehehe (SEPT 30, 2013)
• Buy a nice denim short
• From Forever 21. They aren't exactly nice but it is a denim short. So it should be fine.
• Lose 10 lbs 
• Surprise!! I did not lose any weight! Not yet. This might be forever in my list!! :s
• It's already September 30, 2013 and I still havent lost any weight yet. In fact I managed to gain about 10 lbs!!! Since writing of this summer bucket list. or probably even 15 lbs. :s 
• Go to the beach at least 3 times
• First: Holy Week Up North
• Second: Shangri-La Mactan with an Old Friend
• Third: Movenpick (have yet to post pictures)
• Take really cool pictures
• I think I did fairly good considering that I don't really like taking pictures at all. I can go on vacation and not take pictures and this time, I am trying to take a picture of almost anything I see. Especially food!
• Cut and color my hair
• Still broke and lazy. Hehe
• Finally able to color my hair for the first time sometime July 2013 and cut it short. LOVE LOVE LOVE the result!
• Make Pumpkin Leche Flan March 17, 2012

For the other 3 I have not accomplished yet, I still have a few days to go! 

xx,

Annie

Past Few Weeks

I know I said I wanted to join Nuffnang's contest, "My Sexy Revolution Starts Now" because it's just so ME. But then I got busy, no time to work on it and then one boring day, I tried to search the entries for the contest and saw a lot of entries that were really good and I realized a lot of things:

1. I'm not the only one who is suffering from body image issues. A lot of the girls are actually like me! 
2. There are more women who have tried a lot of diet and failed too.
3. Women People are superficial. HEHE! Everybody wants to be beautiful, if you can do something about it, why not? Don't we all do the same? Don't tell me you don't because why is it that you wake up everyday and try to dress up into something beautiful? Simply because you want to look good. Everybody does.

So I decided to not join the contest anymore because:

1. I'm lazy.
2. They have more interesting stories than I do.
3. I'm not competitive enough.
4. I just want to blog about random tings I like to blog about.
5. I'll just join some other contests next time. 

So now that I have one less topic to write about. Which I don't really care because I still have so much to write about. I completely lost effort in completing the 30 day blog challenge, but I will finish it even though it completely lost the whole point of finishing it in 30 days. Some topics were just plain boring, redundant and things I don't really feel like talking about. (That was me trying to make an excuse why I failed to complete the challenge.) 

Anyway, my sister, Patricia/Caps/Kapo is now back in Manila. The airport scene was so dramatic. We all sent her to the airport to say goodbye and she cried. I nearly cried too but I had to stop myself because there were a lot of people there and I was so shy to be all dramatic but deep inside, I cried. I will definitely miss her. 

Oh well, I'm back to being alone most of the time. :/ It's totally fine but sometimes it gets boring. HUHU

I wanted to post photos I took with my phone so badly but I keep forgetting was too busy and now that I remembered have free time, I can now blog about it. YAY!

Boring picture but it's rare that I have one of these just because. 

I don't eat much instant noodles because they are high in calories, high in sodium and unhealthy. So not worth the guilt! Next, please. 

Old Town White Coffee supply from Kk, the Singaporean guy.

I don't know if this actually tastes good because when I drink it, I put only half of the packet in my cup because I'm trying to cut off on calories and I don't get to enjoy the full flavor of the coffee. :( The last time I tried making this using the full packet, it was good but I don't remember the smell/taste anymore!

Improvising much. 

My Snickers melted from the summer heat and I wanted to eat it so bad so we tied it in the aircon with a cable tie. The Snickers gone, the cable tie still connected yo the aircon.


Remember: MUST REMOVE THE CABLE TIE!

Mommy visited le daughters!

Celebrated Mother's day with my mom! (DUH?) I am so happy I got to celebrate mother's day with my mom because we live ±351 miles away (distance of Manila and Cebu. Information easily Google-able. I know Google-able doesn't even exist but I like to use it. ) from each other and she recently visited us for almost 2 weeks. SO HAPPY!!

Look how cool my eyeglasses are! They're EYEglasses not SUNglasses!

Random Rants: Bye Caps and Sore Throat

My sister is leaving in a few hours and I cant be any more sad. She has been my company for a month and a half and we've been partners in crime. I cant wait to spend time with her again. Time that's long enough to actually makes it hard to leave and not just my random visit here and there. Oh well. The not-so-perks of living away from your family.

I am used to the fact that I am almost always alone and I'm actually not used to having a parent around anymore but being around your family still feels different. This is totally seperation anxiety.

My sister came here with a goal and I have never been so proud of her for what she have achieved. Grabe! Three thumbs up to her for being able to keep both her eyes on the prize. She's not reached her goal yet but she is definitely on her way there. A bit far yet, but definitely, I tell you, she'll get there. With the dedication she showed, I never respected her this much and all I want is for her to be happy all the time even if her happiness includes having new things all the time. Yes, she is kinda materialistic, I think, and she will surely hate me for this. :p But I want you to know that if only I am well off, I will give you what you want. Right now, I'm still so far to being there so just stop sulking every other hour and grow up first, okay? To cut the long story short, I love you. Good luck in college. Always keep in touch with me. I will miss you.

It doesn't help that writing this is making me cry because it makes my already sore throat hurts more. Ugh. I hate having sore throats. It leads you to getting all kind of illness. Last time I checked, I got hospitalized for a sore throat gone bad. :s yikes!

What do I do?? I'm panicking. Aside from the usual fever it will give you on the first few days, I now have to nurse my random headaches, one of which is i am currently feeling. Haaay. Life. I hate this feeling. I hate having to worry about my sore throat getting worse. I dont know what to do to make it go away. I've religiously been drinking Ki Pa Koa  Pei Pa Koa(chinese medicine) and gargling water with salt but it's still there. I have also been drinking lots of warm water but somehow it doesnt get better. My head feels heavy and my throat is sore. I am totally ranting now and is repeating myself endlessly and I am aware of that, mind you.

More Reasons to Say WOW to Sun!

I super want to blog something right now but my mind just says no. I have so much stuff that I want to blog about like my recent trip to the beach, this week's FOTW and the photos I want to share for the past 2 weeks but the photos are not yet with me because a.) it's still in my sister's camera, b.) It's still in my cellphone and I'm too tired to transfer, edit, etc!

I want to join the Nuffnang's contest, "My Sexy Revolution Starts Now". As soon as I read the e-mail about it, I told myself that I have to do it. It fits me perfectly!!! Hihi. I planned to do it tonight but I have some other things to finish first.

As I was looking through my mail for the "My Sexy Revolution Starts Now" e-mail, I just came across this and it really made me WOW! 

OMG! Wow talaga. Napa wow talaga ako, promise! Now, I'm thinking of getting a sun line! I have been thinking of getting a sun prepaid sim so I can call my shobe more often but then I saw this and I'm definitely getting one soon! I hope. :) I keep 2 phones anyway. But I don't have an extra sim card since I use my iPhone for the apps but now I have a reason to switch to Sun! Yay!

Oh, so there! Ended up having something to share. :)

xx,

Annie

FOTW: Maybelline Baby Lips

I did not own a single lip balm for the longest time and the last time I went make up shopping with my sister (check out the haul here), I decided to get one. I got the Maybelline baby lips lipbalm with SPF 15 and all I can say now is that I CAN”T LIVE WITHOUT IT anymore! It's so moisturizing!!

You know when they say that you’ll never know the importance of something until it’s gone? I feel that way with my lip balm. Few weeks ago I organized my lipsticks so I put all my lip products in one place including everything in my makeup kit so I left my lip balm there also. I left it for 2 days. OMG. I felt so uncomfortable without it! My lips felt dry and mind you, licking your lips with your tongue won’t help you, it will just make your lips drier. I didn’t lick my lips, I am just trying to remind you. Ha! Anyway, my lips felt dry and heavy and uncomfortable. Really. Believe me because that’s how I feel right as I’m typing this because OMG can you believe it? I left it again today. I will buy lots of it the next time I visit the mall so I can keep one in my bag, one in the car, in the office, at home and an extra. Okay, you get it. I feel so uncomfortable right now and that’s when I knew that this is a favorite! Not just for the week but forever for a very long time unless I forget to apply lip balm everyday for a very long time and get used to the feeling without it.
What is your favorite lip balm? I want to try others too!

Xx,

Annie

Makeup Kit for Starters/Drug Store Make Up Haul

I don't usually go makeup shopping since I always just stick with the basics, brown eye shadow, good highlighter, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick and I'm good to go. My makeup collection consists of the most basic stuff you need for an everyday makeup look. I don't buy much drugstore makeup because I'm afraid of wasting my money if I don't get satisfied with what I paid for, kahit 100 pesos yan or 50 pesos, nakakahinayang if I will not use the product much. 


I always go to the makeup section to check out the makeup though, but I always end up not buying. :p Kuripot talaga ako and I can't do much about it. 


This summer, my sister, Patricia came here to visit me and I figured she should start building her makeup kit for the most basic makeup products for everyday use so off we went to SM department store. I felt so happy makeup shopping! For me, it's like hitting two birds with one stone. I get to shop for makeup products I'd like to try plus I get to help my sister pick out products for her makeup kit. :)


Since I'm a kilay fan,  I picked out an eyebrow kit I've been meaning to try! 

Wet n' Wild Ultimate Brow Kit Php399.00

My friend, Val uses this so I wanted to try this out also since I'm looking for a new brow powder to replace my who-knows-how-old Body shop brow kit. 

For me, this brow kit is a bit too dark but pigmentation is really good!!! I'd give this a 5/5 rating if it weren't a bit too dark for me. I look kind of weird and different with darker brows. 

My mom with someone who looks so much like me! hehe I look so different with thicker brows.

Used the brow kit in this picture.

Another makeup line I wanted to try out is Elf cosmetics. I bought Elf peachy keen blush since I don't have a peach blush. I wanted to try this out.

Elf peachy keen blush Php249.50

I love it! This is perfect for summer! It gives my skin an instant glow although it doesn't give my face much color. I use this as a highlighter instead. How do I explain it? It gives a very light peachy glow and oh, it has a little gold shimmer in it which explains the glow I kept repeating. :p So there, it's a peachy gold color, perfect for dark skin tones.

K. I will stop saying "I've been meaning to try this next item....." but they all are! This is my chance to buy these without feeling guilty since I will not keep them. These makeup are my younger sister's. :) 

Cover Girl Sheerly Nudes 265, Php450

This palette is good for everyday use, perfect for school to give that no makeup look. It gives a light color that is not so obvious but it makes a difference. Perfect for "no makeup look".

Cover Girl Wetslicks AmazeMint in Merry Berry, Php375

If you are a mint lover, you'll love this.

*COVERGIRL Wetslicks Amazemint isn't just a lip gloss, it's a smile treatment! Crest Peppermint Oil provides a minty-breath sensation while the gloss itself gives a dazzling high shine without all that "sticky."

It's cool on the lips, which I like but what I don't like is that it feels a little heavy on the lips. I am not sure if it's me, since I don't usually wear lip gloss, or it's this lip gloss. The shade matches my natural lip color but of course it will not look natural since it has gloss. (DUH?? me, DUH???) Why did I have to state the obvious? LOL.


Picked out 2 lip sticks from Cover Girl's LipPerfection Lip Color line. 

405 Fairytale, Php395

Cover Girl Fairytale without Flash

Cover Girl Fairytale with Flash

 It's a beautiful shade of pink. I must say that I really love this lipstick. It's definitely one of the drugstore brands that I'm going to repurchase! 

300 Flame, Php395

L-R: Flame, Fairytale

Flame is a reddish pink shade, pinkish red shade. I can't decide if it's more on the pink or it's more on the red shade but it is a beautiful bright lip color that you can always wear to stand out in the crowd! I love wearing bright colored lipsticks to give my mood a lift. It's an instant pick me upper. I feel happy because the bright shade gives off such a positive vibe. Don't you think? :)


The next items are finally the stuff I bought for yours truly. Finally. 

Maybelline baby lips, php 99.00 each

I badly needed one. I don't know why this is such a staple in every girl's makeup kit yet I didn't own one for the longest time. Now that I got one, I don't know how I can't live without it!

Wet n' Wild white eyeliner, php 119.00

I needed a white eyeliner to line my lower lash line to brighten my eyes! 





*from Cover Girl's website

That wraps up my sister's makeup kit for starters! Hope you enjoyed it!






xx,


Annie

Favorite of the week: Payphone

Been on repeat the whole week. <3

xx,

Annie

Shangri-la Mactan with an Old Friend

Last April 28, I was supposed to go to Boracay but ended up not going. I went to Shangrila Mactan instead to meet up with a special friend. :) I went with my sister, Patricia to meet up with my college friend after my work.

On the way to Shang. 

Wore my Boracay clothes and accessories. Yes, I bought some stuff for the beach. :p 

Taking my own picture. Hihi

Kapo, love <3

Let me introduce to you my special friend...

Tiffany! 

Haven't seen this girl for more than a year!

Wonderful beach!

Giant Chess

We're so hot it burns your eyes :p

We had dinner at Tea of Spring inside Shangri-La Mactan. Ordered for Fried rice with scallops and Sea Bass with brown sauce. We didn't want to order a lot of food because we just finished eating pizza and shake for snack just a few hours (probably an hour) before we had dinner. Believe it or not, we still had left overs. The food was superb! I want to go back soon! 

Yummy Chinese food at the Tea of Spring 

Thanks, Tiff for the dinner! :) 

My sister and I went home after dinner at around 10 pm and I was very sleepy on the way home. I dozed off in the car and I even slept at the sofa at home and woke up at 2am to clean myself and change into my jammies. I was so tired that day but it was fun catching up with an old friend. I don't know why but we, our barkada, never go out of town together. I wish someday, our barkada can all go to an out of town trip. That should be in my bucket list: Go on an out of town trip with your college barkada. Hihi. 

I don't know how to end this post so I'll just say bye!

xx,

Annie

Duty Free/ MAC Haul

Duty Free is one of the best places to go make up shopping here in the Philippines since they offer items tax free. Last February, my sister went to Manila and brought home loots of goodies for me from Duty Free and from my mom.

They went to Duty Free and bought lots of makeup for me. Here are the items.

Disclaimer: The Benefit 10 box you see right there is not from Duty Free. I just asked my sister to get it for me since I left it in Manila last Christmas. :)

1.)    Mac 224 tapered blending brush

I’ve been dying to get my hands on one ever since kopong kopong. I believe that MAC’s blending brushes are the best blending brushes out there. I’m in no position the judge the other brushes since I have not tried all of them yet but I’m very happy with MAC’s so far. Although I still think that the MAC 217 is the better blending brush of the 2.

2.)    MAC Paint pot in Bare Study

Heaven in a pot! Looks so nice.

Paint pots are so easy to use! I wanted one for such a long time now but I gave the first paint pot I ever bought to my sister as a Christmas gift. It looked so inviting I wanted to OWN one.

She chose the MAC Paint pot in Bare study, a *soft beige with gold pearl (frost) color. We were actually deciding (over the phone) whether we should get the Painterly paint pot or this one but we figured that we wanted to buy a paint pot with shimmer instead of just nude which will only serve as a base color or a primer.

As I opened the little pot, I can’t help but smile. It looked so beautiful in a small little pot! It looked so perfect and I didn’t want to use it at first because I didn’t want to dent it but I can't wait to use it. I fell in love as soon as I applied it on my lids. I always wanted my eye makeup to be complete for me to be satisfied meaning I need to have eyeliner and mascara on when I apply eye shadow because it just doesn’t look complete with only eye shadow. With this paint pot, I instantly loved it as soon as I applied it to my eyelids. It served as my all in one eye makeup, highlighter, base, etc. I didn’t felt the need to apply eyeliner nor mascara anymore, it looks so pulled together.

The only reason I don’t use it every day is because I’m actually trying to save it. :p

Rating: 5/5

3.)    MAC Studio Fix Powder Foundation NC 25

The last time I remember, my foundation shade was NC20 so I asked my sister buy a shade darker for me and it feels just right but I feel like I still need to go a shade darker since my powder has SPF, it tends to absorb lights in flash photography. Personally, their powder does not suit my skin type. Like what I said in m previous post (click here), finding a foundation that fits your skin really varies and I tend to get a bit oily with MAC powder.

Review: The foundation may be good for others but just not for my skin type. I know it’s good because I get just the right amount of coverage, not too light and not too heavy, upon application. It is good for dry skin.

4.)    MAC Eye shadow in Shroom

Shroom is a *soft beige with shimmer (satin) shadow which can be used as a highlighter and it's really good! It looks so good on the brow bone. It gives your brow bone a definition and the color is just perfect. I like how good the shadow looks on, it's not so shimmery but with a little shimmer that's enough for highlighting, perfect would be the perfect word for it! As well as the other MAC highlight shadows. I just can't get enough of them. I super love my first one too, which was Ricepaper, *a peachy gold with shimmer. They are just perfect! <3

5.)    Lipstick

Fashion City. *Neutral coral with pink shade. New favorite summer lipstick! I don’t have much peachy-coraly shade lippies since I always went for pink so this one was something new in my makeup kit! ;) I love it!

Gotta dash - *Pale clean coral shade. Haven't used this yet!

Please me. *Muted rosy-tinted pink (matte) shade. Most favourite pink lipstick.

Myth- *light neutral nude (satin). Another nude lipstick I haven't used yet. Thinking of selling this. Comment if interested. :p Reason for selling is.... read more to find out why. :)

Honey Love. *light beige toned with rose (matte). Bought a new nude lipstick because I’m almost running out of my Viva Glam Lady Gaga and I didn’t want to use it all up so I had to buy a new nude lipstick. My sister bought 2 nude lipsticks, with different undertones , then I realized I don’t like any more nude lipstick because I feel like it makes me look washed out.

At the end of this post, you probably know how much I love MAC cosmetics and that's because they deliver and work magic! The products are really pigmented, easy to apply and has long staying power. I don't have a lot but they are enough for me. :)

6.)    Maybelline The MAGNUM SUPER FILM VOLUM EXPRESS 3 Mascaras
      Best drugstore mascara! I just had to buy a lot since you need to replace mascaras once in every 3 months although I usually keep mine longer than 3 months. :p

7.)    The ONE BY ONE VOLUM EXPRESS 2 Mascaras + 1 free kohl pencil
      Mascara hoarding alert.

Just spot the following items in this picture:

My bad attempt at photography! 

8.)    Sunglasses

9.)    Ear caps

Don’t they look so cute? They do! Although I don’t use them because I find them so hassle since I always use my headset. I will just lose them because I’ll keep removing it then misplace it. So now, it’s just here somewhere in my room.

10.) Fancy Earrings

Just because my mom is too sweet. J

*descriptions of products from MAC Cosmetics website.
**All the photos above were taken by my sister Wuns except for the last picture which was taken by yours truly!

P.S: And this is a looong overdue post I've been meaning to post.
P.P.S: This is my attempt at beauty blogging.

xx,

Annie

Occasional Vanity

Sometimes I get a little vain too. :p Minsan lang talaga to, promise! :p

 

    

xx,

Annie

Post Birthday Post

I know I might have sounded a little too excited for my birthday since I've been posting a lot of birthday wish lists months before my actual birthday. :p Days before my birthday, I posted a blog post saying how I don't want a party and it was true! I wanted a simple celebration like an intimate dinner with my family but my family threw a not-so surprise party for me or an impromptu birthday party. Of course it's not a glamorous party in a club or a hotel with my friends but we had a small get together dinner with the people I work with everyday. :)

We celebrated it in the new plant that we are currently setting up. We had lechon and pansit for dinner and it was more than enough because what I really appreciate is the effort they put into it. I even had 2 cakes-- more than what I was asking and expecting for.

It was not the best birthday I had especially inaatake ako ng PMS ko and I was feeling bad emotionally the whole day. I cannot explain how I was feeling the whole day but I wasn't my normal self which is always happy! Can I just say that I really appreciate what my sisters did for me. I know that they were a big part of this "surprise" and they exerted effort to buy me a cake and gifts!

My little sister even went to the mall by herself (unusual) that morning to buy my cake and a gift for me.

Cute yellow flipflops from my cuter sister, Kapo :)

She bought this cute yellow flip flops for my Boracay trip-- which I had to cancel at the last minute (read here for details)-- just because I don't own a pair of decent  flip flops. Isn't she the sweetest?

My sister, Wuns, gave her gift few days before my birthday and she gave me ang pao (red pocket). My mother and sisters in Manila gave me a gift which I received when my mom flew in last May 3.

Ring my sisters and mom gave me. :) 

I actually feel guilty because I kind of demanded them to give me something nice. I didn't exactly do that but when they asked me what I wanted I kept saying expensive items like jewelries and luxury bags. :p

I forced my dad to give me ang pao as well so he asked mom to bring it for him. 

Cutest ang pao I've ever seen!!

I wanted to buy myself something expensive but the kuripot me ended up buying the very predictable gift for myself. Make up. MAC, Ayala Center Cebu released their Nicki Minaj and Ricky Martin collection last April 30 (so late, I know) and I went there after work as soon as I found out that it hit the store. I bought the Viva Glam Nicki lipstick for myself! My sister bought one too! It's soooo pretty! I want to show you a picture of me wearing it but I refuse to post one because I look wasted that day. hehe!!

Viva Glam Nicki

To wrap up this post, I want to say that it wasn't bad after all. I felt so loved with the efforts my family put in celebrating the day with me and buying gifts for me. 

My signature birthday pose with my cake! 

xx,

Annie

Guilt-free Snacking

Ever since I found out that I can actually order my coffee "light", I always went light. Meaning, they put low-fat milk instead and I ask them to skip putting the whip cream. The only reason is because I'm a health freak paranoid. Don't you think so too? I am always guilty for eating the yummy food a.k.a the fatty food. Oh well.

Today, I had "free" time on my hands because I have to wait for a few hours to pick up a person at the airport. I just sent one few hours ago and I'll pick up another later so to save gas, I just decided to stay in a coffee shop and do my work here instead.

I love coffee shops. I love how it makes you masipag and you can actually accomplish a lot of work here. Sad that I only discovered this on my last few terms in college. Could have been Cum Laude if I knew this from the start. I would have been the tambay of every coffee shop in town. Ha Ha Ha. That was a joke or not.

Anyway, I decided to do some guilt free indulging today. I did not just order coffee, I also ordered Belgian Waffle (with whip cream, oooops!) I don't know what is it with me and whip creams but I just don't like it. I wince at the sight of it. I just can't stand to put it inside my mouth all the time. I don't like my coffee or frapuccino topped with whip cream, it's like it's spelled F-A-T all over it and I hate fat. I hate me. 

My "guilt-free" dessert

Don't get me wrong, I know it tastes good and when you top your favorite food/dessert with it, it magically tastes 100x better but I don't let myself take so much calories just for it. It's just not worth it. To make the long introduction short, I ate Belgian waffle with whip cream and strawberry syrup and a cup of grande Caramel Macchiato, light but I forgot to tell them to skip the whip just because I thought it was understood. I felt so bad when I opened my cup of coffee and saw the foamy and melted cream on top of it. :( But ohwell, I decided that today will be my first cheat meal of the week. I hate how I always try to diet and eat healthy food but always end up eating a lot of junk food on the side. :/ It's like I'm trying to compensate and I skip eating rice just so I can eat other (junk) food I love. I still eat rice but I just don't eat it every meal.

I woke up today wanting to do Juju cleanse so bad. :) But since I live in Cebu and it will be pretty hassle to have the juice ship here, maybe I'll just do my own one day cleanse soon. Maybe I can do it next week after my mom goes back to Manila. :)

The main purpose of this post is to actually convince myself that I DO NOT FEEL GUILTY for eating waffle with WHIP CREAM and for drinking my Machiatto with WHIP CREAM but it's not working. I actually still a bit guilty. Hihi. Ohwell, I'll get over it later. :)

Early bird catches the worm. Seated in a 4 seater couch  and it's the only  couch set here. :) 

xx,


Annie