Street Shopping

DAY 20

of the 30-Day Blog Challenge, 2011

Stop, look, and shop.

Among my favorite things about New York City are the street markets that prop up on weekends in certain parts of town. It's a joy to alight from the subway stop and be greeted by an unexpected road bazaar that stretches out over blocks and blocks of concrete.

More than the merchandise, it's the food that beckons: warm chicken and lamb gyros, freshly-squeezed lemonade, juicy slices of watermelon, barbecued corn, and more.

If it's the shopping you're after, you'll find all sorts of trinkets and colorful items—from pashmina scarves, mobile accessories, jewelry, nail polish, fragrance, and silk socks; to home accoutrements including large area rugs and decorative items.

Going back to the food, I recommend the following street market game plan if you're looking to check out any of the upcoming ones around town:

First, have at least $20 to $40 cash on hand. I believe some of the merchants take credit cards (like the carpet dealers) but for everything else, you'll need cash.

Second, start walking with an empty stomach, and head to the first gyro or falafel stand you spot; there are several of them. Sling your camera on your wrist or neck, and hook your bag on your shoulder. You'll need both hands if you're ordering the larger-than-life pita concoction. Don't worry, you can eat it with a fork, hence, "I have two hands."

Sweet street food.

Third, when the gyro whittles down to a much more manageable size that it looks like a sandwich and can be eaten as such, you can ditch the fork and walk towards a lemonade stand. Fish out a dollar and resist the urge to order the bubble tea (unfortunately, the street market version isn't very good, plus, it's ridiculously expensive). Dessert can be the uniformly cut hunks of watermelon, or, if you walk a few steps down, a banana nutella crepe. Yum.

If, at this point, you need to go to the bathroom, you'll most likely be in front of a Starbucks café or a Marriott Hotel. After using the facilities and freshening up, you can commence on shopping for things that you don't exactly need but are oh so cute and/or covetable. In my case, I spotted the purple Justin Bieber version of Beats by Dr. Dre Solo headphones. Adorable ube shade at $160—about 30% off the regular retail price. However, I ended up going to Best Buy and spending almost an hour perusing on-ear units, ultimately emerging with new Klipsch noise-isolating headphones. And that's for another post.

Corn sweet corn. A larger-than-life gyro.

Orange-Spotting

DAY 19

of the 30-Day Blog Challenge, 2011

Lately I've been seeing plenty of orange. Or, make that noticing a lot of orange. It started when I saw a tangerine-themed page in the June issue of InStyle with Taylor Swift on the cover (rocking—what else?—a citrus shift dress!).

And then one Friday evening while grocery-shopping at Trader Joe's, one of the associates and the person behind me in line started chatting about these clementines. In New York, where people talk to each other randomly, I chimed in and expressed interest in the supposedly sweet little things. The associate, in true TJ fashion, got a bag for me to add to my cart. Nice, right?

Last and definitely not the least, is the August issue of OK! Magazine Philippines, helmed by my good friend Frances of Topaz Horizon, Topaz Mommy, and Beauty for a Living (yes, she has three blogs on top of the EIC job and being a mom!). What's special about this cover? Other than the punchy, citrus hues, it's the first one by former Cosmo art director, Red De Leon, whom I've had the pleasure of working with back when I was beauty editor. He's one of the best ADs around and also happens to be fun to talk to. I'd quoted him in my On My Mind "Comfort Clause" piece a while back.

Hope you're orange-joying your weekend!

D.I.Y. Design

DAY 18

of the 30-Day Blog Challenge, 2011

Cozy, cool.

When I moved to the Bronx, I thought of it as temporary and had planned to move back to Williamsburg, Brooklyn at the soonest possible opportunity. I mean, who wants to live in the Bronx, right? Fast-forward one year and I'm actually liking it. Call it the Big Brother phenomenon, natural assimilation, or whatever, but it's good.

If we were to educate ourselves about this somewhat infamous borough, we would find out that it's rather large—spanning 42 square miles (109 square km)—and about one-fourth of that is open space (source); pockets of affluent space, if I may add. While it's true that the southern part of the Bronx has the lowest income median in all of New York and is "one of the five poorest Congressional Districts in the United States," you'll also find areas wherein you could hop on the train and walk home at 1am and be fine. And, to quote someone I know having said a while back, "People get killed in Forbes Park," i.e., you can still get mugged on Park Avenue or in TriBeCa.

Now, my room did need a bit of work when I first moved in, mostly in the aesthetic department. The nice thing about DIY design is that you can control the amount of money you wish to spend on a home-improvement project. My room makeover didn't cost much: a tub of paint, art supplies, a glue gun, and yellow lighting, all brightened up and beautified the small space without busting my budget.

Just a few supplies from the arts and crafts store can enliven a small space.

If you're looking to do a space makeover of your own, here are some tips:

1) Get good lighting.
You'll find gorgeous lamps at every price point. I'm no pro decorator, but trust me when I say that strategically placed lights add lift and dimension to a room. Plus, yellow lighting is easy on the eyes and provides a soothing, mood-boosting effect especially during gloomy winter months. (You'll still need bright overhead fluorescent lamps though, for, say, when you need to work.)

Love this "floating" effect.

2) Try an art project.
I learned this ingenious mounting trick at my old job, wherein one of the designers showed me how to create frames out of foam core boards and make them look like they're "floating" on the wall. It simply entails cutting four cubes from a thick board, sticking them at the back of the frame, and using velcro to mount them. It's unbelievably easy to do and you won't have to hammer nails on a wall.

For my room design project, I bought two squares of scrapbooking paper, stuck them on foam core boards (trimming each to frame the squares), and mounted them on the wall with velcro using the above "floating" technique from my former coworker.

3) Paint on a wash of color.
I'd originally eyed a pale blue shade from Martha Stewart's collection at The Home Depot and at the last minute, went with a shade called "Healing Waters" from a different brand. I don't remember exactly what it was, but it's one of those odor-free and environmentally friendly(?) ones. It kind of resembles the same hue I had on my walls back at my old apartment in Manila. It works. You can get a bunch of friends together to help you paint (some friends of mine used to do this), or, ask the help of a professional. In my case, it was the nice Super from my building. In the Bronx.

Happy decorating!

As you would a monochromatic outfit, accessorize with colors!
(Right) An aquatic printed scarf inside a plain white frame.

Gadgets 'n' Things

DAY 17

of the 30-Day Blog Challenge, 2011

So I really like my Nokia C5-00 phone, and I'll probably be one of the last persons to own a handset with a QWERTY keyboard, or an iPhone for that matter. I guess I'm old school that way.

Or, maybe not. While browsing the September issue of Glamour on the train today, I saw an ad for the new HTC Status, "the first device with a Facebook share button":

The two phones look a wee bit similar, don't they? The white, silver, and black design, for one.

Now, I'm not looking to make any big-ticket purchases anytime soon, but the Android-based Status looks promising, given that it features a tactile, clickety keyboard—the one thing I look for in any gadget that has inputting capabilities. (Yes, I did finally buy a wireless keyboard for my iPad.) If I switch from my AT&T prepaid plan to a two-year contract, the HTC phone would cost $50—that's the same price that the iPhone 3G is currently going for. And, if you're curious, it's $200 for the iPhone 4.

Like I said in my "Gadgeteering" post, tech-quisitions aren't exactly my thing, I only buy gadgets as the need arises. Or, in the event that something does fall in the "want" category, I'll most likely buy the best of the moment and hold on to it for years and years until it's obsolete.

Tell me: How do you like your gadgets—vintage, practical, or brand spanking new all the time?

Images courtesy of Nokia Europe and BGR.com.

Chocolate Secret

DAY 16

of the 30-Day Blog Challenge, 2011

Three Cs of happiness: chocolate, cake, and cookies.
The TKO giant cream-filled cookie from Bouchon Bakery.

 Here's something I've only told my husband this morning, a secret that I've kept for almost four months now: I haven't had chocolate since April 27 of this year. That's right, not a single piece, sliver, or wedge of heavenly cocoa.

I also haven't had a cookie or any cake topped with frosting since that day, for that matter.

Now, this will come as a surprise to those who know me well, because I've had chocolate almost everyday for as long as I can remember. The only other times I'd consciously skipped it for more than one day were 1) my failed attempts at Atkins and South Beach back in 2004 (at some point, I found the ABS Diet that lets one have dark chocolate and ice cream and I've been on it ever since) and 2) certain Fridays of Lent wherein, being sort of vegetarian, I'd chosen to abstain from chocolate instead of meat. The funny thing about the latter is that on those days, I would wait up until midnight so I could have dessert and by then it would be Saturday. Totally defeats the noble and spiritual purpose, I know.

This is how an Oreo cookie would look like if it had gone to Paris.

Holding a "Dirty" cupcake from
Sweet Revenge.

This chocolate hiatus started as a no-dessert experiment which, obviously poses a serious challenge for someone like me who has a sweet tooth. The compromise was to only have sweet things that grew from the earth, or at least weren't placed in a hearth, cooled, and topped with dollops of creamed butter and sugar. Suffice it to say, I've had countless yogurt parfaits and yogurt everything from the time I decided to give up chocolate. I also have a keener appreciation these days for coffee gelato and green tea ice cream.

Yes, there are many ways around this no-chocolate thing that I'm doing. Why did I even start it, you may ask. For several reasons, the first being, it occurred to me one day that what could be a quaint love affair with sugar and the cacao bean may possibly be a full-blown addiction. I do get a delirious high whenever I ingest anything tinged with chocolate. I was listening to an audiobook by inspirational author, Dr. Wayne Dyer, and what he said about overcoming addiction called out to me. I don't remember what he said verbatim, but it has something to do with one's frame of mind and a paradigm shift.

Second, well, I'm sure many of you can relate to praying for something, fervently asking God's help, and, as a bargaining chip, you offer to hold your end of the deal by doing something challenging, or even noble. And, yes, I'm still keeping parts of that a secret.

Third, it boils down to health and wellness. Just like initially cutting out red meat as a novelty, it eventually became a convenient wellness approach to adopt. Don't get me wrong, it will be extremely difficult to turn down a slice of Ms. Polly's chocolate cake (four of which were among our seven cakes at the wedding!). And, if my husband hands over a slice, for sure I will indulge.