I was looking for a light-weight duffel bag. Something that would go along with the dress I’m going to use. All I remember is that it should be in the shade of brown. But I forgot that it has to go along with burnt orange as well.

Hmm, now I just realized that in this photo, the (closed) bag DOES look like it complements the dress. The circles are actually in dark cherry and brown. So you could imagine how the burnt orange clashes with the dark cherry.

But who cares? Aside from being light-weight, it is big enough to accommodate my things and BG’s.

Perfect!

I knew we need a pair of aqua shoes for BG. I could only imagine her getting irritated with the sand on her flipflops or shoes. So I thought it would be wise to check Speedo for it. Yup, they got aqua shoes for kids, alright. It’s a nice jelly shoes but has holes on the top that would allow sand to get in. Looks cute and durable but I can’t bring myself to spend P1450 on a pair of shoes that would likely be used only once.

Luckily, I found a cute pair at Landmark that only costs P250.

There were even Dora and Spongebob versions of this at 50% off! It’s just that they are both NOT available in BG’s size. It’s OK. P250 is still way lower than P1450.

Besides, they are so soft I think I could make bubbles if I chew it. Exag! Hehehe.

It’s my favorite time of the quarter. Time to shop!

I have checked the new collection from Plains and Prints 2 weeks ago but only today that I have decided to buy a dress. I tried on two. The first one is haltered while the second one looks more casual. (I can’t seem to describe the second one, which made it look nice because it’s unique.)

I am so happy lately because first, I am now size 2 over at Just G while today I discovered I’m back to size XS at Plains and Prints!

Here’s the catch, I tried the size XS of the second dress. Everything fits everywhere except I can’t close the zipper located at the left torso.

The finale? I ended up buying the first dress which is kind of a ball-shape of a dress fitted only at the top and bottom of the dress.

You’ll see this dress this Sunday.

Oh, btw, I got a free bottle of EDT. Nice!

We went back to the Momarco resort last Saturday. We had an ocular inspection of the place a month ago. I enjoyed taking pictures of the place using 50mm f1.8 lens. The only disadvantage was the time. It was noon so the sunlight was intense.

I figure when we go back for the outing, I’d be taking pictures around 3pm. I had been practising in manual mode. The pictures were great on the LCD screen. But when I downloaded them into my laptop, they are all noisy, and not good at all.

Then I remember setting the ISO to 1600 because I found the photos to be too dark. I was using the kit lens. The 50mm would have given great photos ‘coz I’d probably won’t be adjusting the ISO to high. ISO 100 or 200 would be enough. Sigh!

Hubby was teasing me how excited I am about our Bohol trip. You see, we have another outing tomorrow too at Tanay with his team mates. Not that I’m not excited about that. It’s just that our Bohol trip would be BG’s first time to travel by plane, and that we are going not only as a family (the three of us with hubby’s brother and his wife) but also with friends.

I must admit I haven’t prepared anything for tomorrow’s swimming. I don’t intend to wear my new tankini there. Haha. All I did in preparation was back up all photos from our SLR to our external hard drive. I must give space for tomorrow’s photos.

After visiting countless swimwear shops, I have finally decided what swimsuits to wear in Bohol. First off, my mom lend me her green and white (mostly green) tankini which has a matching bottom which I think, does not flatter me in any angle. So I was thinking whether to get a fun-looking (read: flirty hehe) bottom either in pink or same shade of green.

Anyway, yesterday, our friend Maniya accompanied me to scout for the best swimsuit for me. One major factor to consider is that the swimwear should hide my (gall bladder removal) scars. Second is the cut should be flattering enough. Third, is the print.

So there. Two swimsuits for Bohol. I just need to do some more running in the treadmill to look good on those.

I’m a believer of the Law of Attraction so I rarely blog about my sadness. But I can’t help it.

I feel down. Today, I received bad news, which I can’t bring myself to share yet. Not the type of news that someone has been diagnosed with Mesothelioma. This is not health-related. But this will greatly affect me and my family, more specifically my plans and dreams.

The worse part, I’ve become afraid. Fearful of what’s ahead. I feel like any effort will be futile. What’s worst, I don’t see anywhere else to run to. It seems that we are just waiting, counting the days till we hear the worst that could happen.

Again, this is not health-related ok? I am just depressed.

I’ve gone Pro for my Flickr account, and I think the best way to justify its cost is to upload lots of photos, even not intended for public. I am thinking of uploading reunion pictures for our relatives to view. All I have to do is convince them to sign up for a Flickr account. (The free account, of course, will do) But I am too drained to upload photos. Tsk, tsk.

I have tons of digiscrapping kits and thought of a good way to organize them. Again, I’m just too lazy to do it. Last night, I was able to scrap one spread. But I took a pause and view the spread from afar. I didn’t like the kit that I used. I want to re-do everything using another kit, but no, I didn’t. Just too drained.

I have discount dining room furniture coupon inside my bag that is yet to be used. I even have one discount (local store) clothing coupon that has expired on me. Only because I was too drained to check out the items. Ugh!

Maybe when I get two straight days off work, I can do these pending tasks. Yeah, maybe.

Note: Oh, wait, I normally do! I have weekends off. Geez, why does it feel like I never do?

I ride taxi cabs thrice a week. I must admit it had become a pastime for me to observe taxi drivers. I was even tempted to bring SLR to the office just to take pictures of taxi decors ranging from infant shoe to a (big) collection of Voltes V robots. I even saw ads of loans, gym and discount furniture. Not a bad idea to advertise, right?

Anyway, here are some anecdotes:

I had no lower than 500 peso bill on my wallet so before I actually rode the taxi, I asked the driver if he had any change. He showed me a thick bundle of money and started counting the bills in front of me. Was my question really UNanswerable by yes or no? I mean, life will be much simpler if people just act or react simply, right?

~

Somewhere in Ortigas Center, people are walking normally along this pedestrian lane. And the taxi cab driver blew the horn and didn’t step on the brakes. The people started running for safety. Only in the Philippines that the pedestrians are NOT safe to cross the pedestrian lane! Goodness!

~

The most awkward experience I had was when I rode a taxi where the driver was listening to a radio drama. The storyline was about a passenger who fell in love with the taxi driver. The taxi driver was giggling like a teenaged girl while listening to the radio. He kept saying the words, “In love?!… In love?!… In love?!”

No, this isn’t about the song from Craig David, which by the way, makes my daughter dance most of the time.

I don’t want to admit it at first, but I think I’m suffering from insomnia. It started a week ago after sleeping at 4am for 5 days straight. When I tried sleeping earlier, I just laid there awake. My head and eyes hurt. My body is so sleepy but the mind isn’t. In fact, I turned my laptop off only to turn it on again after 20 minutes or so of doing nothing. I did this many times over. I figure if I continue browsing, it’ll make my mind tired. I ended up browsing for things like engagement rings, colored crystals and Japanese stationeries. Things that I won’t buy but like looking at.

Or maybe, I’m just too excited about something.

I’m hitting the sack now. Let me just try it.

Today, I window-shopped for summer outfits while hubby was busy checking a tv stand on display on the next shop. I found this adorable two piece swimsuit for BG from SPF. It’s a pink and grey printed tankini and boy leg, so similar to what I want for myself. Too bad SPF is only on consignment at Toby’s. They didn’t have a size for BG of that style. Besides, BG has two pairs (from Old Navy) at home that are yet to be used. Like I blogged before, when you say “swimming”, her old Speedo comes to her mind. Nothing else. Honestly, her old one is really cute. It’s just that I want to use something else for the photos. Hehehe.

Anyway, I plan to bring one new pair to hubby’s team building for BG. I’ll bring but plan to hide her favorite old swimsuit. Let’s see if she’d wear the new one.

And yes, I am restraining myself to buy another Speedo for BG.

I hate seeing trailers. Well, if you really think of it, it’s not the trailers that I hate. I just hate it that I love seeing the trailer, promise myself to watch the movie, and then find that the movie isn’t as great as I have expected it to be. You know, seeing everything great on the trailer, and that’s it. Although of course, if your job is to make a trailer, you wouldn’t show the actor/protagonist just looking for Manhattan jobs. You’d show that he was doing all those crazy antics just to get the job. But all the funny stuff you were waiting for, you’d seen on the trailer. Tsk, tsk.

Sorry, I won’t name the movie that I just saw (not new, just saw it on cable). I didn’t give away the storyline so as not to give a clue. But I still think the trailer was cool.

Do you believe that some people are luckier than others? I do. Some people are lucky winning raffles all the time. I say this because my sister in law who sent a picture of BG to a Nickelodeon contest won something. It is a simple token, a strap lanyard (for cellphone).

Well of course you wouldn’t consider someone lucky just by winning a strap for your neck, right? But last Christmas, when they bought a new RC helicopter, she filled in some form at Toy Kingdom. And she won! Guess what she won this time? A laptop.

I told her to join all the contests she could find from her magazine subscriptions. Who knows, she could win Suunto watches for everyone. I even tried convincing her to play the lottery.

I am happy to blog that our company is surviving the crisis. Nobody has been fired locally or on any other country. Admittedly, there were adjustments like the supposed business trip of my husband (and/or his other teammates) to Poland not pushing through. Our rival company, where my sister works, is surviving as well.

My sister too was supposed to go on a business trip to Belgium for 10 months or so. But in that case, the client backed out. Yes, it’s the crisis. She was heartbroken. She had invested so much finishing her degree programs in time. The extra income, the pictures, the experience, gone. But it’s ok. We are still lucky we have jobs. Let’s count our blessings.