Pom-pom Pow!

Shake your pom-pom!
(F.Y.I., the fur is faux.)

(Gotta get-get…)

I usually leave the fashion blogging to my more stylish friends and those who are in the media/event loop such as Kat, Frances, or Christine, whose blogs, Kat Dy Finds (and her shop, Martina-Martina!), Topaz Horizon, and Manila Fashion Observer, respectively, are read by many who are keen on the latest/cutest/super fabulous the fashion mill has to offer. These days, I'm quite the passive spectator when it comes to trends—choosing to finely filter a few key pieces to repeat, reuse, and add to my wardrobe.

Every now and then though, I chance upon things that indulge an old fancy. I know, that given the opportunity to splurge and go on a shopping spree, I could unleash that magazine-editor frenzy for clothing, shoes, and accessories, and totally bring it. (Back then I would randomly buy pairs of shoes during afternoon breaks. Well, our office was inside a mall, so shopping was eeeasy. Also, online clothing stores at the time weren't as available and readily accessible as they are now.)

Apart from the fluffy ball up top, I like
how the knits are created in a different
way with every layer.

During the recent Thanksgiving holiday shopping rush—yes, my husband and I participated in the shenanigan, complete with leaving the apartment at midnight on Thursday to scope stores in Soho!—I picked up two items with an unplanned and unexpected theme: pom-poms! First was a beanie from Urban Outfitters, and then a scarf from H&M. Both were fluffy knits warm enough for when the temperature dips. That said, I have no plans of wearing them both at the same time!

Anyway, if you're planning some holiday clothes shopping, you may want to look at Byron Bay Threads, an online store for women's clothing and more. They're based in Australia and I believe they ship internationally (their checkout page has a drop-down menu listing countries). Here's a link to their their website, and below is a playful video featuring their items:

Victoria's Secret Diet?

With tonight's telecast of the Victoria's Secret show (that I have yet to see online as we don't own a TV), today's free paper, Metro, had a write-up on model Miranda Kerr. The svelte stunner reportedly lost all her pregnancy weight in a matter of a few months leading up to the show (she just had Orlando Bloom's child). When asked about her diet and fitness regimen, here was what she told the publication:

"I like to start the day with a fresh green juice with kale, spinach, cucumber, beets and lemon. Then half an hour later, I have a power smoothie which has Sunwarrior protein powder, chia seeds, maca powder, raw cacao, bee pollen, goji berries, noni juice, Vitamineral Green and coconut water. Then an hour after that I’ll have oatmeal or eggs. That’s my three-course power breakfast. For lunch I might have some grilled fish with goat cheese or baby spinach salad and olives. Sometimes I’ll have a sweet potato. At dinner, I’ll have a lentil soup and maybe some chicken. And I love to have my salads with avocado, feta and spinach."

The above, plus a 12-year yoga practice, and Pilates, etc. after having the baby.

I figured, so, I have the juicing down pat. While not as intense as the sexy strutter, I do start my morning with a freshly pressed concoction of carrot, apple, ginger, lemon, kale/spinach/parsley juice as often as I can; and when I am not too lazy to walk a few blocks to the fruit stand/juice cart near my office. I've also been having steel-cut oatmeal for breakfast since discovering it in January, and before that, had also eaten rolled oats regularly. As for the eggs? Check. Yoga? Check. And, thanks to having long been a fan of David Zincenko's Abs Diet—more of an eating lifestyle, than a "diet"—which I credit for the 15 lbs I lost back in 2004 and have kept off since (give or take five pounds), I practically eat the same things as Kerr does…at least the ones she had mentioned in her interview.

So the big question is, why the heck don't I look like a Victoria's Secret model?!

Dessert audit, anybody?:)

Happy Thanksgiving

My kind of turkey.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday weekend! I had my fair share of turkey in the form of this decadent tablepiece at a family dinner. Given that my modified pesco-vegetarian diet leaves little room for poultry other than chicken, imagine my delight upon discovering that the hosts of a scrumptious, sweet, and savory meal placed shiny dark chocolate figurines next to beautiful flowers. Before dessert was served—a fantabulous spread of fruit, figs, cake, pie, and cupcakes—one of the guests wondered out loud if the little chocolate turkeys were to be eaten. Then, she gamely broke off a piece and the rest of us left at the table enjoyed slivers of its rich, bittersweet "meat."

I now also happen to own one whole piece. The host's mother must have found it amusing/odd that my husband and I kept snapping pics of the chocolate charmers, that after dinner, she told me she would wrap one up for me to take home. Yay! Happy Thanksgiving, indeed :)

Cybernesting

Ny Minute Now. Now na.

I have no excuse for not blogging. I have the tools, gadgets, even the time. You know the saying, work expands to the amount of time we're given. It's like putting off de-cluttering for months, and when you have guests popping over at the last minute, all the mess is gone in 30 minutes flat. I believe I read this in the book, It's All Too Much, by organization and clutter expert, Peter Walsh. (Blogged about the book here.)

But, if I play the time card and account for my non-blogging, October really was quite a blur of a month. Here were the highlights:

1) I became an American

I know I'll always be Pinay at heart (I did go to the University of the Philippines, where we were reminded that our affordable State tuition was made possible by tax-paying citizens, including farmers and the hardworking working class) and no doubt in my mind and heart that I will always give back to my country in the best of my abilities.

Still a Pinay at heart.

2) My husband became a New Yorker.

Yes, four years in the making. We've finally graduated from the shenanigan of a long-distance relationship that we had subjected ourselves to. And I do not recommend it to anyone.

At one of my favorite, hole-in-the-wall sandwich shops in Soho.

Drinks for two!

3) Work, work...

Well, I've been working at my full-time job since April. And, I always say that whenever my day job entails writing and editing, the blogging is the first to get pushed to the backburner. Add to that my two other (part-time/off-site) jobs that take up a couple of hours every now and then. But then again, I have no excuse: so many of my editor friends do this. Some are even mommies!

At mass last Sunday, the readings, again, offered swak-na-swak [super apt/applicable] insight to whatever issues I had the previous weeks. Whatever drama, neurosis I've inflicted upon myself, I go to mass and leave feeling at peace—like a refreshing, centering salve to whatever dilemma is at hand. (The feeling is close to coming out of yoga class, which, by the way, is a great place to say one's prayers and tune in to God.)

And sharing a meal, yay!

So anyway, the Gospel for that day was the Parable of Talents. We're all given skills and tools to make it through life. I was recently just telling my husband that it's amazing how engineers have figured out a way to run tunnels underwater for subways, and how each person is brought to this earth to do something. My mom always talks about this too. And it's true: some of us are meant to be doctors, scientists, while others write, entertain, cook. It's an amazing mix of talents that inhibit the world. So, automatically, I got to thinking about blogging, how I've become lazy. The parable was a great reminder to get back on it, and not keep coming up with excuses, and to share what I share with the world, both serious and the seemingly mundane.

The priest also mentioned how, as children, we open presents at Christmastime and find ourselves comparing what we received. He said to "mind our own presents/talents" and, picking up from the homily, to truly hone, nurture, and treasure what we've been given.

Upward Spirals, One Year After

Spiral up and away!

I quote from the November 2011 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine ("What I Know for Sure," p. 210):

"One of my greatest lessons has been to fully understand that what looks like a dark patch in the quest for success is the universe pointing you in a new direction. Anything can be a miracle, a blessing, an opportunity if you choose to see it that way. Had I not been demoted from the 6 o'clock anchor post in Baltimore back in 1977, the talk show gig would never have happened when it did. When you can see obstacles for what they are, you never lose faith in the path it takes to get you where you want to go."
—Oprah Winfrey

It's a lazy Saturday and I'm supposed to be making space for big changes in how I live up ahead. For one, there's a possible imminent move to an apartment that I have yet to find. For another, there's all the work that I have to do, in and out of the office.

I did just want to upload a blog post real quick, as yesterday was a year to date of my last day working at Avon, with the trend brand, mark., where I had been abruptly laid off. That same week, I'd gone to yoga class and had written the post, "Upward Spirals; Not Circles."

I wrote (quoting from the teacher): "It is when when we move around in circles and find ourselves in the same spot that we ask ourselves, 'Why am I here again? Why is it that I never learn?' When in fact, we're actually moving in an upward spiral, not in circles; that when we end up in the same spot, we've actually gone one level up."

Yesterday in yoga class, again (where I seem to find inspiration for blogs), it occurred to me that what if these spirals where literal springboards for life? What if, whenever we reach the top of each one, it coils and propels us up and forward? A delightful analogy, I must say.

Happy weekend, folks!


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