I'M STILL ALIVE...

...and I moved to tardydresser.tumblr.com. :)

(Pic from Cartoon Stock)

Resolutions 2010

I aim to start the year right by making a list of my resolutions. This time, I will keep all of them!

1. Less Shopping, MORE SAVING!

This resolution I really really intend to keep. 2009 left my wallet emptier than a black hole! Once money went in it, it vanishes instantaneously! Besides, I feel like I've bought everything that I need to last me for a year particularly on the clothes department. I'm even in dire need of more closet space.

2. Party hard, study harder!

So I'm a nerd, what of it? Nerd and proud!

3. Go on a diet diet diet!

I really need to lose all these extra fats I've accumulated during the past months! My face is starting to look like a jumbo-size siopao or our round plates. My clothes aren't fitting right as well so this year, I need to lessen the food intake. I can hardly do any exercise anyway...

4. Improve guitar skills!

Many a time have I set my heart into learning the lead riff in Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N Roses and many a time have I failed in accomplishing it! Blame it on my laziness and utter lack of patience. Lack of time is also included. But this year, I will finally do it!

5. BLOG once a week!

I know I've promised this one to myself already when I began this new blog but it's just hard to keep blogging when you set your mind in law stuff. I'll try my best to keep this one though despite the *ahem* obstacles.

6. Be more organized!

Self-explanatory.

7. Organize, clean, and declutter room!

I plan on doing this before school resumes...at least half of my room or a portion of it.

There we have it! My list of new year's resolutions for 2010 ready to be fulfilled and not broken (I'm confident on this!)

Bloggers' Contests!

I know I have been remiss in posting in my blog these past weeks (or months even) but there's a justifiable reason for it. I've just been so damn busy! Now that I'm juggling studies with 3 orgs (Palladium, Teehankee, and Ponencia), I'm using most of my time for these aspects...and of course rest and relaxation time. So I hardly have the time to post anything. But even time constraints cannot stop me from posting an entry as cool and as spirit-lifting as this-BLOGGERS' CONTESTS! I just discovered now, while nonchalantly surfing the net, that there are so many bloggers out there offering the most drool-worthy prizes. And the entries are simple, just post the contest in your blog. Yep, the chance of winning make-ups and other girly thingamajigs is something that could take me from horribly busy life and to rave and post about these contests now! So here they are: (drumroll please!!!)

Voyageur

Shop N' Chomp

Confessions of a Soapaholic

JBreezy

Princess Livia

Mommy Fabulous

Yey for generous bloggers! :)

Ondoy

The worst that I suffered during the onslaught of Ondoy was strained eyes for trying to read with only crinkles of candlelight as my aid. We had no electricity for the whole day, and thankfully, that was it. But for thousands of others, the devastation the storm brought was more severe.

During the day, my family and I were worried about our relatives living in Fairview, Quezon City. While the rain was pouring in torrents, they were calling us telling us that the water was already rushing inside the house reaching the first to third steps of the stairs. It was only my two aunts and my 3 year old pamangkin who were present there. No man to help them bring the appliances that could be saved upstairs. Somehow they managed to save a few things, like the television and the computer, but the rigorous lifting left my aunt suffering from asthma. They kept calling us telling us that the water was already above chest level and they, as well as the people in our house, worry that it might reach until the second floor. There was a time when we couldn't contact them anymore.

Thankfully, their neighbors were able to extract them from the house. My aunts destroyed the window screen and the other neighbors helped to place them into safety. They went to a neighbor's house which has a third floor. They were finally safe. And our worries finally settled for a moment. My mother constantly prayed. And although I was straining my eyes trying to study, I still thought of them. This is a downside of being a law student. I cannot help but study. I must.

When my parents went to my aunt's place the next day, they were shocked by what they saw - cars piled on top of another, houses were left disparaged and browning in mud, a welter of debris and what remained of their former homes covered the strip of lot, and the people, my relatives included, were scurrying and scouring over these remains. My aunt's house' whole first floor was a big pile of mess and mud. I wasn't there. I went to Powerplant to sip Seattle's Best coffee and study only to find out that classes were cancelled out the next day.

I regretted it. I regretted not going to my relative's place and not being able to lend a hand in picking up the broken glasses, scrubbing the muddied floors and walls, digging...digging for something that could still remain useful to them. I wasn't expecting that the damage was that great, though nevertheless, I should have been there. It is around this time that I question my priorities. Could I honestly say that my absence there was justified?

In any case, my internal regrets should not overpower me now. There are bigger problems at bay. The best I could do is help my relatives, help those people whose houses were ravaged by the storm in any possible way I can.

I thank God that my family is safe. I thank God that my relatives are all safe despite the fact that their house is almost a rubble. But I still have worries about other people, friends and classmates whom until now I can't contact. I cried when I saw the news and saw the state of some cities submerged in murky water. Only the patches of roofs can be seen. Some of my friends live there. I pray that they be safe...God let them be safe.

Let us all pray for each and everyone's safety and let us all extend our help.

Frolic in pink!

Have not been posting because I've been busy with this ----->>> tanyalikesclothes.blogspot.com

Check it out! :)

"Photoshopping"

When I should have been reading, I was doing this - enhancing my image editing skills through Photoshop. I must say I am quite vain, but anyhow, I like how the images turned out. I'm just dying to try out other styles like Andy Warhol-type of pictures and more. But I've already wasted so much time dawdling on this so now I'm going to pursue a higher purpose...that is to sleep. (I'll study on Sunday!) :)

she's the style diva to beat.

I now have a style icon, a source of fashion inspiration and just someone whom I would adore with pure idolatry. And the best part is...she's still unknown, well in so far as to the rest of the whole world to be exact because she's making a name for herself in Lookbook.nu. That is the site where I found her. Enough talk, pictures can best explain what I mean. By the way, her name is Zina D.

Her style is the perfect mix of sophistication, edginess, and comfort. She looks awesome in the pictures too. They look like they can be used for a campaign right there!

|Images from Lookbook.nu|

A time to splurge

There's a time to scrimp and there's a time to splurge. For this week, it's the time to splurge on branded clothes ON SALE!

What's the damage for this week? Two dresses, one top and earphones.

Zara Top, P495 (from P995)

Zara dress, P1,350 (from P2,450 - See, how I can resist with such a big price cut!?)

Sony Neckstrap In-ear Earphones, P1,200 (A bit pricey for a set ear speakers but this one's worth it. It's got a neckstrap design so wear it like a necklace, doesn't tangle, sounds great and it's in pink!)



Details dress, P350 (from P1,000+ - picture to be uploaded. It's in the laundry!)

I'm a certified shopaholic and I am very much aware of it. I can relate with Rebecca Bloomwood in the widely-loved Shopaholic books sans the credit card dilemma since I pay outright cash and if I needed to use a credit card my mom would answer for it, and then I pay her in installments. Because of this, I'm almost always broke. I always justify my purchases with "I'm going to use it in school anyway!" and "It's on sale so I might as well buy it!" excuses. At the end of the day and especially after I start walking around lugging my paperbags, one each per arm or more, a big smile would always curl up on my face and then I'm joviant for the rest of the week until I open my wallet to pay for photocopying services and meals and see a fly coming out from it. Yes, I do wear good clothes. But then, I have to scrimp for a week and say no to every dine-outs and movie nights. Unless my friends lend me some moolah of course which they always do. By the way, thanks to my friends who understand my pernicious shopaholicness! :) I pay them immediately anyway but borrowing money never makes me feel at ease.

So much for the talk. This post won't be about how I curbed my seemingly "innocuous" shopping habits anyway. This post is about justifying myself once again and my need for clothes. Forget everything else. I have a new reason now, study in a good school so wear good clothes. It's on sale anyway. And I'm being practical by buying these on sale. With lower prices for branded clothes, what's to stop me from diving in insolvency. It would only last for a month anyway. I'm hopeless.

Edit: I've posted ugly and unprofessional pictures for the clothes. Definitely changing that when I have the time.

Looking at the glass (that tipped-over) half-full

I did not pass. What should I do then? Should I sulk and cry in a corner and wallow in the rejection? Nope. I've definitely got more better things to do with my time, like looking at the bright side of things for instance. Now let me count the advantages of not getting in...

1. More time to study. Definitely, I will have more time to concentrate on being a law student, that is, studying the hell's worth out of me. I also decided that if I can't have sterling extra-curricular activities then I should at least have sterling grades. Or so I will try.

2. More time to hang out. Studying too much will surely take a toll on my body and my social life so it's best to have a considerable amount of free time to just be lax and guzzle a couple of RHs.

3. More time for my beibe. At the moment, I am ignoring him 80% of the time and it's not intended. I may be able to squeeze him some more in my busy, busy life as a law student and that's definitely an advantage!

4. Let's admit it, joining a publication would really entail most of one's time so the upside of not getting in is really that — to have more time! More time to play the guitar, more time to write songs (finally!), more time to watch movies, more time to play games...the list goes on and on.

5. Lastly, I am not getting teased to death by Meri and Dan. My friend Cris got in and I'm so proud! (Yey Cris! Congrats!). Unfortunately, she's getting the teasing of her life because of it. :)

Meri: Akala mo porke ALJ ka na, pwede ka na magsuot ng all black.
Dan: So you think just because ALJ ka na, you're better than us na.
Meri: Porke ALJ ka na di ka na pwede sumabay kumain kasama namin.
*and the list goes on...hahahahaha! :)*

Tatterdemalion means ragged person.

I thought I knew how to write. I thought I knew my grammar. I thought my considerable knowledge on hi-falutin words is enough to get me through in this life. Well, I was wrong. It took one editing exam to make me realize that my prodding interest in knowing "nosebleed" words is just an inkstain in a bare sheet of pad that needs more filling. Tatterdemalion? Prescient? Arriviste? I couldn't detect an instance in my life where I came about those words. Unfortunately for me, the editing exam was for the Ateneo Law Journal and I wanted to get in.

When I applied and got accepted for the Varsitarian on my fourth year in college, I thought that was some sort of proof (if not conclusive proof) that I could write. And in that full year that I was in the publication, I learned many things about writing and expanded my vocabulary. But how come when I looked at the exam sheets I felt like I knew nothing at all? It might be erroneous to compare the Varsitarian with the Journal because the writing style is definitely different from each other such that the former caters to, well, the general masses so to speak, while the latter caters to the more professional group. Nevertheless, a publication is a publication and I might have had a little bit of edge because of that right? Wrong.

Don't get me wrong. I admire the Varsitarian and the way it has honed me in my writing skills. But the writing skills I formed there are for newspaper and magazine type of works, a farcry from what's needed in the Journal. Maybe there's still an inkling of hope that I may pass but I'm not banking too much on that.

Sigh...