Lunar New Year's Eve Outing

The annual celebration of Lunar New Year for my family means having to prepare food to be offered to my dad who passed away, and to the Buddhist gods.  It takes almost all day for the preparation since it consists of 2 sets of 15 cooked/prepared food such as vermicelli, pork stew, fried chicken(which was bought), fried tofu, fried raddish cake, sweet pea stir fry, siomai, meatballs, ham, fried/steamed whole fish, etc.  Then, some chips, pastries, nuts, candies, softdrinks, and juices.   First is offering it to an ancestor, in our case, my dad, since he passed away almost 9 years ago.  After which we will have a feast of all the prepared food, and spend time bonding in the living room.  Then, when its around 2pm, we have to prepare to offer the other set of food to the Buddhist gods.  Since only my mom and I did everything, we planned to rest after the festivities.  But my brother invited us to join them to Tagaytay and so everything for me is a rush... it was not planned and I wasn't at all prepared.  I know it's cold this time of the year there and decided to wear my mustard jacket from Forever21.  I wasn't able to do my make-up so pardon the au naturel look!  I even forgot to wear earrings because we were so in a rush to leave.  We left the house around 4:45pm and it took us 2 1/2 hours travel time to get there.  So sadly, we were not able to see the sunset.   It was already dark when we got there.

 I'm wearing jacket by Forever21, long-sleeved shirt from Marks & Spencer, skinny jeans from H&M, and my Converse sneakers.  Bag: my trusty Longchamp Le Pliage.

I love the way my mom dresses.. I think she always dresses classy...

I had a great time that day, it was fun and I was able to bond with my siblings' family.  We should have gatherings more often!  :-)

They just keep on coming!

I'm so excited!  I got a big surprise when I attended our family reunion for the New Year!  My aunt gave me not one, not two, nope, not three, but four, pairs of shoes!!! Oh I feel so blessed!

 The nude velvet number with lace.

Next are for the weekends.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Another year has passed.  As I reflect on what transpired this year, to me, around me, and around the world, it really helps that one should have faith.   For this gives us hope.  For something good. Something better. 

Think of the good side of things. Count your blessings, be happy and be content, because life is too short to waste on trivial matters.  Do what you want to do so that you will not regret not doing it in the future.  Don't think what other people will say and just do what you think is best for yourself as long as you will not hurt anybody.

Happy New Year!!!

May we all have a great year ahead and achieve our goals and dreams!  And stay stylish and beautiful while doing it!  Cheers!!!

What I'm Wearing for the Holidays

  Top by Zara, cargo pants by Zara, ballet flats from Payless

Vintage knit sleeveless top, flared pants by Forever 21, platform wedge sandals from M&S.  I'm loving my embellished cross necklace from SM.  I wore it almost everyday this Holiday season.

Top by Plains & Prints, skirt by Zara, wedge pumps by M&S.

Sephora Make-up palette

My sister gave me this make-up palette for Christmas!  I'm sooo excited to try these.... the color combinations are endless...

by the way, I'm also wearing a t-shirt from my niece, it has all of France's famous landmarks, which I love so much!!!

My Shoes of 2011

Below are the shoes I bought just this year... Almost one per month... which made me guilty...

My comfy Crocs

My Zara sandals (Spring 2011).  I love the pop of blue color.

My cheap SM shoes, I liked the detail of its sole.

Well, I just needed a pair of basic ballet flats... with a little faux fur of course!  Isabel Toledo for Payless.

I love the pale pink of this plastic shoe by Mel (Inspirations by Melissa)

The wedge and platform made this black sexy sandals from M & S very comfy! I can wear this all day!

A pair of sexy purple sandal by Christian Siriano for Payless.  Surprisingly secure and stable even if its a little high for me.

My brown wedge pumps from Lower East Side from Payless

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And another ballet flats from Christian Siriano for Payless.  I like the snakeskin texture and blue metallic color of this pair.

I still have one more shoe to be acquired for 2011, I had it custom-made and hopefully it will be delivered to me before the new year. I'm so excited!

2Cellos

     As I woke up to a rainy Saturday morning(its the rainy season again, and typhoons just come right after the other during this time of the year), I happen to browse some videos from Youtube and discovered these two talented cellists from Croatia.  Not only do they play the cello, but they play rock cello!  Here they played "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana:

  

      Pretty awesome, huh! I am so impressed!  I'm just so amazed at these artists.  For me, being able to play an instrument really needs a lot of dedication and hardwork, it's just not because you like to play an instrument but you have to stick to it.  Everything from time, effort, money are sacrificed in order to acquire the skills to play a classical instrument.  When you've acquired the skills, you're good, but it takes talent, real talent, for you to become extraordinary.   I've always loved to play the violin, you can say I'm a frustrated violinist.  Ever since I was a kid I loved listening to the violin.  I loved the idea of being able to play the violin so much that I enrolled myself to a violin class one summer, when I was a freshman in college, but as the weeks passed and I realized that it's hard, my fingers hurt really bad from holding down the strings and I have an impatient violin teacher.  Plus, I realized I don't have the talent, so I gave up and decided not to continue.  I only got to play  Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  That is one of my frustrations, and so when I come across someone that plays a classical instrument, especially a string instrument, I'm always amazed by them and wished I too, can play....

     2Cellos consist of Luka Sulic, 24, and Stjepan Hauser,25, both are from Croatia.  They are classically trained but felt that they wanted to play their instruments differently and maximizing their instruments' potential,  like Rock, a genre that's also close to their hearts.  And so, just early this year, they have collaborated and produced a video where they played Michael Jackson's  Smooth Criminal by cello, uploaded it on Youtube, got a million hits in just a few days, major record labels called, and the rest is history.  Now they have a self titled album, and have toured with Sir Elton John, no less!    Here's a video of them playing one of my favorite songs from U2, With Or Without You:

     They play with such passion, watching them play always brings a smile to my lips.   I think I'm a fan for life!   BRAVO!!!