Habit Forming

I started my 30-day Blog Challenge with the premise of creating a habit of blogging more consistently, and being more vigilant with tending to my online life.

As I was pondering the challenge, I also came across a similar program called "31 Days to Build a Better Blog" by Problogger, which is in e-Book form (although I also stumbled upon a website that listed each item on the book). I thought twice about buying because I wasn't ready to part with $19.95 just yet. And I figured, I just want to try writing freely for 30 days, and proceed with the more technical/structured 31 Days afterwards. Anyway, I did buy a different book from Problogger but it hasn't arrived in the mail yet. (I like paper :) )

So now, I'm on day 18, and some days it's just hard to get writing. I do have many ideas banked but I get lazy days when I just don't feel like expounding on them. At the same time though, I have an O.C. streak that makes me want to finish with flying colors.

Anyway, hope you're all having a great holiday weekend!

Coco-Cool

I just saw the trailer of the movie, Coco Before Chanel, starring Audrey Tatou, who starred in one of my all-time favorite films, Amélie. Click on the photo or here to view the trailer at Elle.com.

The quote, "A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous," originated from Coco Chanel herself and it's a good thing to keep in mind. While researching this quote, I also came across, "There is no time for cut-and-dried monotony. There is time for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time," which I like.

The movie comes out in New York and Los Angeles in September. I'll make sure to be in either city by then!

Image courtesy of CocoBeforeChanelMovie.com

Something Old, Something Borrowed

Up until recently I had no idea that brides-to-be were to have and to hold the following on their wedding day:

Something old, something new Something borrowed, something blue And a silver sixpence in her shoe.

(See somethingoldsomethingnew.co.uk)

Thanks to my good friend, Frances of Topaz Horizon, I'm now privy to this info. By the way, she, her husband, Vince, and her classical musician brother, Theodore, are gifting us with the quartet services on the wedding! So thankful!

The other day, my mom and I got talking about her old jewelry; the pieces I saw her wear growing up. There aren't very many, a lot of them are dainty pieces made out of 24-karat gold. Some were gifts from Lola Pacing, my late grandmother on my father's side. I remember her giving me a soft, pliable gold ring that I wore at maybe seven years old. When my mother left for the States, I had with me a few pieces that I think are now with my Auntie Tata (my dad's youngest sister). Maybe you can tell, I'm not very good at keeping jewelry. Most of what I own now are costume and chunky beads of all shapes and sizes. At the moment, my only mega-precious piece is my engagement ring.

Anyway, in the photo is Mom's old Gucci watch. It comes with different colored bands and a jewel-rimmed one. She claims she'd tried to give me the watch a while back but I don't remember. So we agreed she'd give it to me after the wedding, so it can be my 'Something Borrowed.' And my 'Something Old' will be this delicate gold necklace that apparently I'd owned as a child but completely forgot about. It has two tiny heart pendants that are so apt for the occasion.

The thing about Gucci, is I don't own anything from the brand. I purposefully have chosen not to. Three years ago on a trip to Rome—where I was generally blown away by the architecture and history, among many other things (including having my eyes opened for the first time to the massive luxury retail options) I decided I would only by a Gucci bag once I turn 30, and I'll have to pay for it in cash, no credit card, in celebration of my financial independence. It was going to be particularly momentous; I wanted the whole shebang of flying to Rome again, going to the Gucci store, and watching them wrap the package, tissue paper, and all.

However, I doubt if I will see any part of Europe this year. With the wedding plans, I cannot afford an expensive side trip, all the more the shopping involved. It's okay because Italy is still a viable option for a honeymoon. And for now, I'll have the watch to fulfill the 'Gucci plan' for this year. The bag will just have to wait.

Reflection has won!

Thank you to everyone who voted for the new template. My personal fave was Blue Glide, but Reflection had tabs and a distinct header, so perhaps that's why it won by one point. I found both templates at Ipietoon.com, whose owner/designer has just been very helpful. I am in talks with him to combine the two so I actually get the best of both templates! So I'll be busy 'renovating' over here and brushing up on my HTML. If you find any bugs or missing links, please be patient with me, and also feel free to leave feedback in the comment boxes. Also, do tell me about your blogs so I can link you up in the sidebar. I just loove makeovers!

On another note, the Waring Pro Juice Extractor is the latest addition to the kitchen. Just this afternoon I drank: fresh carrot-apple juice, orange juice, and apple-watermelon juice. So good! I also got a late start with work because I spent half the day in the kitchen making Baked Butter Chicken Fillets (a recipe from Gourmeted.com), which I blogged about here, and a big batch of lentil soup. I took long processing the mirepoix of carrots, celery, and onion—I do this by chopping up more than what I need and putting the rest in zip-top bags to be stashed in the freezer for future use. It also helps that I do all the chopping (when it's this big a batch) in the food processor. I noticed though that after processing the carrots, it tinted the clear bowl orange.

Mandy's back!

That's Mandy Moore on the cover of the July/August 2009 issue of Women's Health Magazine. She looks great, doesn't she? As it turns out, she has a new album called Amanda Leigh (her birth name) and surprise, surprise, she's now married to singer-songwriter Ryan Adams.

I met Mandy Moore a couple of years back and she was the sweetest thing. My fiancé has always had a crush on her, going as far as asking my then-editor to let him tag along during the interview. I am trying to unearth a photo which I thought was in my dormant Friendster account, but apparently, was in the Myspace account I'd deleted a long time ago.

Sorry if this blog post sounds anorexic yet again. I just spent the whole day doing my New York day job—that I get to do outside the city thank you very much—so I'm pretty spent. Plus, up until a minute ago, I had yet to figure out what to write about for Friday's beauty column. Good thing I got an email from the brand manager of Ralph Lauren/Polo and Diesel detailing upcoming men's fragrance launches. So, watch out, I'll be broadcasting the latest scent treats you can get for the hommes in your life!

Back to Mandy, yes she was sweet, charming, gracious, and gorgeous! It was the 'Mandy Machine' of agents, managers, and the like, that annoyed in general. That said, I only have pleasant things to say about the former teen pop star, and I wish her well in her career and marriage. And I'll be browsing iTunes for her new songs, simply because they reek 'indie' and I'm curious: Mandy holed up in a cabin to produce her latest album. This means, she was free to write and record with no big studio labels filtering and forcing mass-produced, monotonous beats on her. (I do like some manufactured pop, too, don't get me wrong.)

Anyway, Women's Health is an engaging read brimming with useful and entertaining articles. Although personally, I seem to enjoy reading Men's Health more, maybe because with the latter being a magazine made for men, I am not compelled to check the gutter for photo credits, or pay too much attention to styling, copy, etc.—an 'autopilot' function that lights up whenever I pick up any women's magazine.

Women's Health is currently being headed and edited (headited—a term I've coined) by Michele Promaulayko, Kate White's former second-in-command at Cosmo. I think anybody who has been second-in-command of anything makes a great head of something, as witnessed by my managing and associate editor friends who now helm their own titles.