'If I could' Sunday

or design inspiration #10
or happy list #7
or the things I want to write about because I have the time to.

#1: If I could READ a book today, I will READ A Trip to the Stars by Nicholas Christopher because I am Cat Juan's fan and she recommends the book. I need a break from reading business and investments and self-help books - though I am learning a lot from them, sometimes, I feel that they are nagging me out of my mediocre present (which I am dying to get out of but nagging stresses me) and I want to get into fiction as a diversion.

Simon and Schuster's book review:

A Trip to the Stars is both a love story and a coming-of-age story that shows us what happens when we lose what matters most. Fusing imagination and suspense with remarkable narrative skill, Nicholas Christopher builds a story of tremendous scope that lingers in detail and sensation long after the last page has been turned.

Action Plan: Go to Fully Booked TOMORROW and buy the book. Asap.

#2: If I could KNOW and study the life of someone today (and I am always in the look out for inspiration) it will have to be Oscar Wilde. Just because Olivia Wilde's screen name is after the genius. Just because he has written a discourse on, of all things, home design!! And just because he thought of one of my favorite quotes: Be yourself, everyone else is taken.


Action Plan: Then read his biography.

via inspiredbohemia

  
























#3: If I could WEAR something really nice today, I will WEAR bohemian-inspired fashion. Long and flowy dresses. Bell Bottoms. Head dresses. Necklaces. Bold Colors. Eclectic. I was once upon a time a gypsy. My creative college grad pic is bohemian inspired, though not worth posting here because it is a failed attempt to capture the hippie and bohemian 60s and 70s lifestyle which I am so much in love with.

Action Plan: Buy then wear. Simple. Preferably on a beach trip!

via National Geographic

#4:  If I could TRAVEL today, I will TRAVEL to Myanmar. I love golden sunsets. And Temples. And Non-city places. I love to know more about cultures far different from mine.

Action Plan: Save. Save. Save. Travel.

via brideandbreakfast

#5:  If I could MARRY somebody today, my bridesmaids' dresses will be similar to the picture above - with colorful, romantic and feminine patterns. I will stand out as the only one wearing an all-white sexy bridal gown.

Action Plan: Then get married. But not too soon please.

#6:  If I could EAT anything today, I will EAT a hot and creamy pumpkin soup for the hot and sexy chic - hahaha!. I am a soup person and I think CPK has the creamiest pumpkin soup I have ever tasted, topped with crunchy bacon bits.

 Action Plan: Go to the restaurant and eat.

via homeandinteriors

#7:  If I could DESIGN my home today, my mood tells me to go for mismatched dining chairs or at least of different hues. Looking up design inspirations for my future pink and grey home always thrills me.


Action Plan: Save. Save. Save. Dream. Set Timelines!

via tumblr

#8:  If I could SAY something today, I will SAY Shine On! Because there's no more greater expression of our gratitude to the Universe and the Almighty than to live our lives to the fullest (even if my English teacher said there is no such word as fullest) and strive to be the pocketful of sunshine in the crazy scheme of things.

Action Plan: Shine On!!!

Shine on Universe and have a Happy Sunday!

Juicy Minutes

Happy List #6 or random things I wish to write about in great length but do not have the time or the pocketful of sunshine to do so, so I will just enumerate or write in snippets...

One: My Quirky Brother and Mozart

My brother has been sleeping over our place (he usually goes home to an apartment near his school in the Manila area) since the end of the first semester and my younger sister, who lives with him, needed to go home for the sembreak. I want to keep him company but there is no way that I will live in Manila since I pledged my allegiance to Quezon City. So he had to come to me.

I am familiar with the ways of my brother in general but there are so many little details I have yet to know about him. Adorable details. For one, he listens to classical music. Yes, classical music – Mozart, Beethoven, Pachelbel, Vivaldi, Bach and many others whose names are either difficult to spell or are either German or Russian sounding. He listens to them while reviewing, while doing his homework, while playing the Gameboy and even while in the shower. I asked him to transfer his classical music files to my computer because I have grown to like some of them. My favourite would have to be Canon in D by Pachelbel in orchestra – it makes a great lullaby.

Now there are two Wofgang’s in my life: That musical genius who wowed the world with Requiem and Symphony No. 40  and that rock star who can get away with saying “Let’s get over this sh*t, moth*rf*ckrs!” and still look hot and sexy.

Two: From Grannies to Groupies Friday

I have very little interaction with most of my friends this year given that most of us are busy with our respective careers or graduate studies or for some geniuses, both career and studies. This utter madness of missing my friends ended when Ria and Bes showed up for my invitation to meet up on a Friday afternoon to try out some café somewhere in Quezon City. I so missed my friends; I realized, they keep me sane and inspired.

By Day: The Grannies at Mom and Tina's in Katipunan

By night: The Groupies at theTanduay Rhum Rockfest in MOA

Five things I learned from spending my Friday with Ria and Bes:

a) Trees are of the male gender and they can either be dorky, geeky, handsome or lolo-like.

b) There are many ideal places to watch the sunset: the beach, the mountains, Manila Bay and on the steps of a BPO office in UP-Ayala Techno Hub.

c) Judith McNaught. Got to read her.

d) Rico Blanco and Basti Artadi are artists. And they are hot. And they say bad words like sh*t and f**ck and pu**** &^na and still manage to look credible.

e) Coffee, books, salads, steaks, romance novels, bookstores, fleece jackets, head banging, rock concert, swear words, Tanduay rhum – these things, they make sense even when pooled together. They complete our “from grannies to groupies” Friday story. =)

Three: The Turquoise Earrings and the Girl from MRT

I was leaning on the hairy wall carpet of the MRT (the middle portion where the carriages are joined together) with my brown bag of groceries in both hands when a Chinese looking girl with wavy hair and sunshiny smile stroke up a conversation:

“Nice earrings”, she said.

“Thank you.”

“Where did you get them?”, she asked.

“Forever 21.”

“That’s what’s nice about the store noh? They get away with selling many similar items but when worn by individuals it’s as if they are the only ones who wear them or the things were custom made for them”. “That’s a nice color, it suits your skin tone”.

“Thank you”, I said.

That was our entire conversation; I needed to get off the next station and besides, what else is there to talk about? I feel a little embarrassed with my pathetic one-liners. I used to be that kind of girl, appreciative, at ease with starting a conversation with anybody, even strangers. Now, I seem to have grown old and less engaging. Working on getting my radiance back!

Four: My Christmas Wish List for Now

-Towels

-No Panty-panties (size: small, haha!)

-Bed Sheets

-Dimensione Drawer

-Children’s Books (of any kind)

-Year-long supply of peanuts, macadamia, pistachio, cashew

Five: Books (some I own, some I don’t but will)

Whenever in bookstores, I take pictures of books which I plan to read (and have read) using my low tech Nokia phone and here are some of them: a mix of children's lit, home design, self-help and travel lit - sorry, the picture got cut in the process of layout.

From L-R: 1) Beatrix Potter, The Complete Tales 2) The Selby 

3) Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading 4) Eloise 5) With the Kama Sutra Under 

My Arm 6) A Visit from the Goon Squad 7) Color: A Natural History 

of the Palette 8) Cupcakes and Cashmeres 

 Happy Sunday Universe! =)

Happy List #5

Happy Monday Universe!

PAYLESS. I cannot think about the shoe brand without associating it with noodles, Maggi's arch rival and Lucky Me's nasty competition - I grew up in my Lola Lucing's tindahan and I thought of it as funny, a shoe brand after a noodle? Haha! I visited the store last Saturday and was tempted to spend the last paper money in my wallet before suweldo time on a pretty pair of shoes designed by Christian Siriano, my favorite Project Runway winner, for Payless . I held back because the belly is more important than my feet - wait 'til next week for my comeback!!

VIP PASS. My first VIP pass!! Not really my thing, FHM's 100 sexiest? I was playing bubble pop in most parts of the show, but I must admit, Aubrey Miles is really hot!!

ADIDAS WALL. I bought for myself a girly Adidas travelling bag. I am planning for my next adventure, can't wait. I like sports stores - they give a we-can-do-it vibe, just believe.=)

DRAWER HANDLES. I found my way again in a store for homey stuff, I know, I know,this is getting repetitive - but can you blame me? It's my new found love - dreaming of my pink and grey house is my alarm clock every morning. Now I understand why mothers and tita's linger in the home section of department stores, it's therapeutic. Getting into the nitty-gritty of home building and designing is SACRED. God is in the details, they say. So now I have chopping boards,doilies, and pretty drawer handles - - I'm getting there!!! =)

watermelon images from google

WATERMELON. I am a watermelon shake fan, a watermelon shake enthusiast and a watermelon shake loyal. Believe it or not, I peddled watermelon when I was around six years old, sold this christmas-y (green and red kasi!) fruit house to house and earned Php 20/day. I did it with four other assistants, syempre, haha, I'm the master peddler and I had my watermelon minions. My kiddie friends and I did it for fun and my uncle thought then we make good marketers because our neighbors were forced to buy from us, we're irresistibly cute. Cuteness is their weakness- so we took advantage. I felt kilig when I read these lines from Mark Twain: When one has tasted watermelon, he knows what the angels eat. Watermelon addiction, justified.

To a longer happy list!=)

Happy List #4

It’s a whiny Wednesday for me and that feeling is a no-no. Karate chop the negative thoughts. Flying kick all the complaints. Summon the karate kid, the three ninjas and the Jackie Chan’s and let us turn the whiny Wednesday into wine-y Wednesday - bring on the red and the white wine. Kung may blue, yellow and rainbow-colored wine, bring them on too!! The more colorful the wine, the more sosyal it is. Move over, ex-president Joseph Estrada, I can afford more wine than you do!! Ha!  

Pause.

I am not making sense I know, and truth be told, I find it a little difficult to come up with my number four happy list now than how I easily enumerated things before. It’s one of those days. BUT I retrace my intention why I started coming up with the list in the first place – to draw in strings of happiness from an otherwise confusing, crazy, life-zapping day.

And because many say that the first step to happiness is GRATITUDE,  here is the list of things which I am grateful for, this week - my Happy List. A list far superior than the shopping list, grocery list, bucket list and the first graders’ noisy and standing list (ngeh!) – haha!

Image at the righ via Etsy

PAPER DOILIES

I saw this pretty placemat while eating in French Baker and resisted the urge to wipe off the oil from the burger - a pretty thing like this does not deserve getting dirty and soiled. Because I am the future owner of a house with pink and grey interiors, I need to have a placemat like this!!! Yes, so I have four chopping boards then a placemat – malapit nang mabuo kusina ko, kutsara na lang!!! =) Of course, I needed to research, searched high and low in the libraries, downloaded studies from Jstore, befriended the librarian but I never came close to knowing what these pretty placemats are called, buti nalang my google, 5 seconds and eureka! -  these pretty placemats are called DOILIES. A doily is a small ornamental mat, usually of lace or linen (description from free dictionary). And I’m going to have a lot of them in my future house. Yey!!

From Iceberg: Potatoes in meat sauce with chili 

POTATOES.

My ultimate comfort food.

LAY BARE

The only girly stuff that I do every month is waxing. My next visit is free!! Haha! I feel a little embarrassed to share this since it's a ritual that you're supposed to keep to yourself, I am conservative that way. But a lot of girls are doing it and I strongly recommend waxing (IF laser is out of your budget still). I've been doing it since college, and Lay Bare is my go-to waxing salon. When you see hair, it's time to lay bare!!

BOOK SALE. Again!!

My bank is right adjacent to the store so the ritual is: deposit savings, visit book store, find books, get excited, withdraw from savings, buy books - no more savings, more knowledge power!! I found another Nick Hornby book for a steal and Frances Maye's Under the Tuscan Sun (I did not get to take a picture of it because I left it in the office so A Year in the World subs first). I hope it rains this weekend, so I'll just stay on my bed the whole day and read. =)

Burnt copies of movies from Alan. =)

MOVIES.

I came to the office late one morning with swollen and puffy eyes. My colleagues were worried and thought I was going through a rough time but little did they know I stayed up late and all tearful the night before watching "Up". My eyes are not really the windows to my soul, they are the doors, no, no, the gate!! They're so big they give me away. But I like them just the way they are. 

To a longer happy list!!

Happy List #3

Hello weekend!!!=)

PINK SUNSET. I was rushing to our showroom when this made me stop for a few seconds. Pink Sunset. Tama ang address ng office ko - somewhere over the rainbow, and over the rainbow is not a pot of gold but an endless sea blanketed by a cotton candy pinkish and bluish sky. How girly. =)

BOOK SALE. While the smell of a new book beats the smell of coffee all the time (at least for me, because I am not a coffee drinker, haha!), this book which I've been meaning to buy (but seem to always forget to buy) made me say, "I'm happy, so so happy, I'm the happiest girl in the world" - How to be Good for Php 150?? Never mind the curious, weird, judgmental stares at the secondhand bookstore. Ladies and gentlemen, meet my new MRT companion for a week (I'll be finishing it this weekend!!) - Nick Hornby. =)

LOLA A. I am a lola's girl, I grew up with the most wonderful grandparents one can ever have. Last Thursday, my Lola Asion celebrated her 76th birthday. Sad, I was not able to attend the party. Happy because my lola turned 76 - still the smart and sharp lola that I have known since I was a little girl running around in my pink underwear. Excerpts from our phone conversation:

Tina: Hi Lola, Happy Birthday!!
Lola A: Thank you. Please pray for me.
Tina: I love you lola.
Lola: mutters something incoherent
Tina: Lola, I love you po.
Lola: passes phone to my brother

We have never been the type of family who showers each member hugs and kisses and says "I love you" - these give us goosebumps so I can just imagine my lola's feeling of awkwardness. But I want to say it because it has to be said so, because though I know that she knows, it's different when you hear it straight from the source. Especially if the source is the smartest, prettiest, sexiest, the best granddaughter in the world, weighing 100 pounds, in the red corner and the future Ford Supermodel of the world.... let's get ready to rumble!!!!

NEWSPAPER ON A TUESDAY. I don't read the newspaper on the weekday just on Sundays - but good thing I did as I came across this interesting article about cartoon characters and their influences on the author's life. If I were to run down my own "cartoon character" mentors, at the top of mind are:

1) Julio at Julia - kambal ng tadhana
2) The Sleeping Beauty
3) The Little Mermaid
4) Eloise
5) Princess Odette - from The Swan Princess
6) Penelope Pitstop

I promise to make my list longer!

TRAVEL INSPIRATIONS.

Host: Candidate number 23, good evening! Here is the question: If money is not an issue, where are you and what are you doing now?

Tina or Candidate number 23: Thank you for that beautiful question.

Audience and a multitude of fans, applause!

Tina or Candidate number 23: I wish to not disappoint you, but I will give you the generic of all answers. I'll be everywhere in the world, immersing in and appreciating different cultures, witnessing the wonders of the Universe, hopping in different train stations, chatting with strangers at the airport, hanging on to dear life in a Tuktuk ride in Thailand, meditating with the monks of Tibet, hiking on the Himalayas, planting rice with the people of Batad, dancing to "Pearly Shells" in Hawaii, eating crepes in the streets of Italy, singing Empire State of Mind in New Yooorrrkkk, concrete jungle where dreams are made of (fades away...), waving at the astronauts from the Great Wall of China, having a picnic on the grounds blanketed by cherryl blossoms in Japan, surfing in Australia, diving in Palawan, having a wonderful family dinner in Cagayan - in short, I am everywhere my heart desires me to be and I'd be traveling.

Host: Oh you should have gotten directly to the "in short" part, we get your point. Why the need to elaborate?

Tina or Candidate number 23: Because I'm smart. Bow.

Audience and a multitude of fans, applause!

This long and nonsense rambling is inspired by a souvenir newspaper I brought home from Dubai last March which I came across while trying to sort and organize my office desk and munchies from Japan courtesy of a cousin's friend.

To a longer happy list.
Have a blessed weekend!

Happy List #2

One : Freshly Made Sheets

Floral Sheets from SM Department Store

Bed Sheets never make it in my shopping list because it is a mommy-item. But after my pink-striped sheet got ripped, blue sheet faded (they're both seven years old and have been with me since college dorm days), and red sheet constantly borrowed from a cousin, it's time I stop blaming the distance between Cagayan Valley, where my doting nanay is, and Quezon City on my restless nights brought about by icky-sticky sheets. So unhygienic. So i bought one from a department store, settled for a white bed sheet with floral design (I'm not really into flowers but they are the cheapest among the acceptable choices i can find, haha, sorry di pa suweldo nun), had them sent out to a laundromat (I love how they smell after having washed by our friendly neighbor's laundry shop, twist and turn - syempre, may libreng plugging, love your neighbors!) and slept my way to dreamland. Next month, when I get so much richer than I am now (confident dapat!!), I'll be more fussy with thread counts and comfiness of my only-for-the-rich sheets. Oh sheets for my sweet, sugar for my honey...sing it with me, sheet-heart. haha!

Two: Fully Booked

Fully Booked Gateway Tiles (Left); Fully Booked Greenhills (Right)

Why do I love it so much? I have written a few entries about my fondness (and yes, love) of the bookstore because it has always been there when I needed it the most. 
Stores to visit:
Fully Booked in High Street - multi-level bookstore for multi-level happiness.
Fully Booked in Green Hills - grand staircase for grand surprises!
Fully Booked in MOA - my home away from home.
And my most favorite of all, Fully Booked in Gateway - their floor tiles are chapters out of Machiavelli's The Prince, how brilliant!

I want a house with floor tiles or designs inspired by the written word.


Three: Dear Darla Pizza

Yellow Cab's Dear Darla Pizza

I like it when I have a participation in the prep of the food I eat. And because I do not and can not cook (haha!), I resort to other ways of involvement like sprinkling of  herbs or spices on my food. Or turning the food this way and that way before it finds it place inside my sexy belly. Dear Darla perfectly fits the bill. You add alfalfa sprouts, and arugula and several other unidentified vegetables (sorry!!) then roll the pizza strip to seal in all of its pizza-goodness. Yum!

Four: Watermelon Shake

Watermelon Shake from La Union

The only drink I order all the time in restaurants, capable of producing fruit shakes, whenever, wherever,other than water. It's the most refreshing drink in the entire Universe.

Five: Home Magazines, Showrooms and Home Decor 

Thank You Alan, Miss Toni and Summit Media

Other than bookstores, whenever I feel the need to de-stress, I visit home decor stores and furniture shops. I dropped reading fashion and entertainment magazines in exchange of home magazines. Last Thursday, I mentioned this current addiction to anything home-related to a collegue from the marketing department and the next thing I know, I received an entire package of real living magazines - I am the happiest girl in the world.


They say you have to express outwardly and make the world a witness to your innermost desires because doing so will bring you closer to that one thing you want to achieve the most at this moment. And so I write this down (and think of it and pray for it...):

Papa Jesus,
You know the ways of my heart.
You said several centuries ago when you visited our ancestors in the planet earth: ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened to you - wala na pong bawian!So here I am, asking and seeking and knocking. I pray with all my might, mind and heart for a house,a home, a space I can call my own. I promise to be a good girl and to work really hard so You'll think I am deserving of such gift. I would love to do my groceries in SnR, fill in my refrigerator with food and treats I promise to share, dust off my couch with a cool feather duster I got from Ace Hardware (feather duster kasi matipid po ako sa electricity kaya I will avoid vacuum cleaners saka para cool - haha!!), write a blog entry and check off items from my to-do-list on my organized work desk, read inspiring stories on my deck with a beautiful view of the city (or the sea or the mountains) and have a good night sleep on my big, warm and comfy bed.

I dream and think about my dream home in most of my free time, and like most dreams, I am confident they will come true.

To a longer happy list!

Happy List

Happy List (week 1 of June 2012)

Cosmopolitan Philippines' 15th Anniversary issue last May 2012 with Ann Curtis on the cover has a feature entitled the Happy List. The magazine listed down 15 things/topics/places/persons which have, in one way or another and in their most simple way, managed to contribute happiness to the fun and fearless populace. This weekend, I have come up with my own happy list (and I hope to do this more frequently). I negotiated for a me-time with friends and in the case of my family, imposed. I have said this a million times and at the risk of sounding selfish, I value my me-time and there are instances when I feel more comfortable when I am alone and when I operate solo. So my idea of me-time in the first week of June is a gastos-free weekend on my bed with my books and tv series. I samurai'd and chaku'd and borrowed Captain America's shield to keep all those negative thoughts flying on to me with these snippets of happiness from the Universe which made my weekend not "mardigras happy" but happy. Just that. Simply happy.

FREE CONCERT TICKETS. It might make me reconsider my me-time for this weekend if it were Backstreet Boys concert tickets (happening any minute now and i am just sad i cannot watch my boys, hay!) but when somebody asks you out to watch a concert for free, you do not really say no even if you have no idea who the artists are. haha! Libre 'to pare, the best things in life are free, di ba, so this is THE best thing. 

Alan: Gusto mong manood ng concert nina Edwin Mc Cain and Taylor Dane on Friday?

Me  : Sino sila? (haha! walang alam)

Alan: si Mc Cain yung singer ng "I'll be", si Taylor Dane "insert song title which I forgot"..

Me  : For free?

Alan: yes.

Me  : I'm in.

Dapat unang text parati sakin, "Tina, libre 'to, gusto mong sumama sa....", the answer, whatever the question is (basta wholesome and non-compromising of my values, good girl yata 'to, haha!) , is a resounding yes, yes, yes! 

CHEF TONY'S POPCORN. And the tagline fits, "Your Tubs of Happiness". If I were to endorse a product (because I am famous, mwahahaha!), chef tony's will be my food endorsement. I always buy their classic and caramel flavors and I gave away these tubs of happiness last Christmas because happiness is meant to be shared, naks! But just recently, when we watched that free concert of Edwin Mc Cain in SM MOA Arena, their snack concessionaire bundled chef tony's cheese popcorn with their measly hotdog sandwich and it was such a treat, it made my night.

FRUITS IN ICE CREAM. It's the third stall from the Kalayaan Dorm entrance of the UP Diliman Shopping Center which I frequent most Sundays because of their ice cream. I order only one flavor: Pistachio. Ang sarap. It's not overtly sweet like other commercial ice creams, swabe lang. This is usually my last "foodie stop" in UPD. First, isaw and squid balls. Second, boiled peanuts. Third, Sweet Corn. Fourth, watermelon shake. Last (because you always save the best for last), pistachio flavored ice cream.

TV SERIES. No bum-on-a-weekend mode is complete without watching the telly. My current fixes are Cougar Town (hilarious!) and revenge (dark).

SUNDAY BROADSHEET. I only read newspapers on Sundays and I've written down in many of my entries that I am loving everything about the Sunday newspapers. The Philippine Star has the best feature writers: Jim Paredes, Butch Dalisay, Lucy Torres, Adel Tamano, Bianca Gonzales, etc. The Philippine Daily Inquirer has the best editorial writers there are in the country: Randy David, Rina Jimenez-David, Patricia Evangelista, etc. 

SUELAS. I picked up my third pair of Suelas shoes I ordered online last Thursday and again like Chef Tony's, if I were to endorse a shoe brand it will be Suelas - super comfy and stylish. Check out them out here.

photo from fengshuidana.com

ANOTHER BLOG ENTRY. My sister finds it weird that I keep on writing in this blog (enthusiastically, complete with pictures and all) even if I am far from the league of celebrated bloggers. I write because writing keeps me sane. It's one of those things I gravitate to when I need to be creative and colorful and real to myself. I like re-reading previous entries and realizing, hey, I have a story, I am not a fleeting soul,not a mere speck of dust in the Universe. It's my stage and I write as if what I am writing is interesting even if the only one who finds what I have written down interesting is myself. Writing is my yoga. And after every entry, I feel like I have gotten out of a good back massage and foot rub. Writing makes me happy.

To a longer happy list!

Happy Sunday!