Hectic.

credit: tumblr

It's been a while.

Sorry for not keeping you updated. I tried but I failed. Actually, I've been preoccupied lately with lots of things including work. The development of the new project has started and I, being one of the developers have been striving harder to beat the deadline. And then, there's a demo to be done on the first day of October and admittedly, we are quite struggling with time. Time flies so fast. Well, on the other hand it's a good thing, actually. I will be on a vacation next month, and I can't wait to be reunited with boyfie.

For the meantime, let me share to you an excerpt from workawesome. I got this from a friend's FB post.

55 Ways to Relax After Work

1. Just go to sleep.

2. Take a bath, soak in a hot tub or relax in a steam room.

3. Change into your comfiest clothes.

4. Listen to soothing music.

5. Cook one of your favorite recipes for dinner.

6. Go for a walk in a park or take a short hike.

7. Kick it up a notch and go for a run instead.

8. Play a sport with friends like Frisbee golf, soccer or basketball.

9. Try yoga or do some gentle stretches.

10. Visit Oprah.com for guided meditation podcasts.

11. Light scented candles.

12. Look through old photo albums.

13. Write in your journal, try art journaling or make a collage.

14. Trade massages with your partner.

15. Knit, crochet or sew.

16. Bake cup cakes or muffins.

17. Go for a drive in the country.

18. Play with your kids (if you are a parent).

19. Escape into a great novel.

20. Take a bike ride.

21. Sing karaoke.

22. Cuddle with your cat or play fetch with your dog.

23. Relax by the pool with a magazine.

24. Play tennis, racquetball or squash.

25. Spend time gardening.

26. Sit on your front porch and watch the world go by.

27. Brainstorm your “bucket list.”

28. De-clutter, clean and make your living space as comfortable as possible.

29. Start planning a vacation.

30. Window shop in a new part of town.

31. Play a musical instrument.

32. Talk to your family.

33. Invite a friend over to play video games.

34. Go dancing.

35. Play pool or shuffle board.

36. Swim laps.

37. Build your own community with a blog.

38. Take an art class or a pottery class.

39. Bead a necklace with chunky gemstones.

40. Get ahead of schedule and make a Christmas gift for someone special.

41. Pray.

42. Write a letter or send a card…just because.

43. Mail a bunch of photos of yourself to your grandparent or an elderly relative so they know what you’ve been up to.

44. Make a cup of tea or warm up some hot apple cider.

45. Enjoy some deep cleansing breaths.

46. Sit quietly by the beach, a lake or a creek.

47. Savor a meal in a local café or pub.

48. Make plans for the weekend.

49. Challenge a friend to a game of foosball or go bowling.

50. Reconnect with a favorite childhood pastime.

51. Volunteer.

52. Call your funniest friend.

53. Get your adrenaline pumping with a kickboxing or spinning class.

54. Have a picnic.

55. Watch the sunset.

As for item #13, I tried to make a collage after playing with the webcam:

So far, I've only done a few but I'm planning to do more as days pass by. Actually, I am planning to give my best at work so I could fully enjoy and maximize my much awaited vacation. :)

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Wake me up when September ends,

Long weekend purchases

I do love long weekends for countless reasons. It's one of the things I look forward to every year. It's a breather for me where I could do all the things I needed and wanted to do at the same time. Admittedly, I couldn't do all those things having work in mind. I would probably end up with nothing accomplished.

And so I went to an alter station within our neighborhood and had this denim distressed shorts fixed. It was given by boyfie's mom when she visited the country. I love it but it was too big for me. Actually, I never thought it can still be altered to suit me. I could not imagine how the alter station guy did it to become like this:

The "new look" of the distressed shorts

{still looks like the original one but a size smaller}

Anyway, I also got the chance to go to the nearest mall. I settled my bills (and boyfie's too), did a little grocery shopping and then, shopped for myself and boyfie. Haha! Of course, I challenged myself again. This time, I opted not spend higher than Php900. Believe me, I was able to do that at least for my stuffs. Haha!

Again, I scored 2 items:

1.) Green knitted pullover from Terranova (Php 445)

2.) Black linen pants from Terranova (Php 395)

- this one needs to be altered; it's too long for my height.. :P

And just before I go home, I passed by at the SM Home World to check some stuffs for boyfie. You see, I love decorating rooms and as much as I wanted to do it on his room, buying some things like curtains is the least thing that I could do. So I went to the curtains section and bought 2 curtains (for the price of one). Yes, it's on SALE. This is what I love about SM Department Store. You could always score good quality items on a cheaper price.

Just like these curtains...

I went home after hours of shopping alone. Who cares? I enjoyed it.

Despite the tiredness of my feet, I feel satisfied again with my purchases.

Happy Long Weekend, everyone! Enjoy! :)

Hugs and Kisses,

Shopaholic Chiq on F21

Finally { after attempting for the nth time already}, I was able to visit Forever21 again. It was my second time visiting the store. The first time was when I went with boyfie during its opening week. I could still remember how jam packed the store was. Everyone was so immersed on the items that you could imagine the long queues in the fitting room as well as on the payment counters. I failed to shop that time and went home empty-handed.

Actually, I did not have any plans on going somewhere after work last Wednesday until I popped a message on my friend's yahoo messenger to ask her plan for the long weekend. Then as we chatted, I brought up the idea of visiting F21 again. Coincidentally, she was actually going there after work to get the item she reserved a few days ago. She asked me if I wanted to go with her and I said 'Yes' without thinking twice. Haha!

As we travelled from the office to SM Megamall, an old familiar feeling came over me. Excitement. The same feeling I had when I was still on the hype of hoarding havaianas flipflops. Haha! But this time, I challenged myself not to spend too much. Hence, I decided not to go over Php 1600.

The place was not crowded as I expected. There no long queues either {on the payment counters and fitting rooms} which was nice, though the items being sold were a bit pricey unlike during its opening week.

Of course despite of the price hike, it did not stop me from shopping. Haha! With the challenge in mind, I carefully checked on the items. If the price was too high, I put back the item(s). I did that for 2 hours. Haha!

And then, I was able to score 2 items for Php 1570.

Sweater top in Heather grey

Tunic top in light blue

It was fun. I went home with a smile on my face despite the heavy rain. I would like to go back again, if time permits.

How about you? What can you say about Forever21 Philippines? Tell me about it, I would like to hear your stories.

Hugs and Kisses,

To the man I love the most...

credit: tumblr

Happy Monthsary!

Hugs and Kisses,

When rain couldn't stop me from shopping

The weather was quite fickle today. Early this morning it was raining and then it stopped. After a few minutes, it rained again. It was weird. I remember what I've watched last night. It was a Korean drama entitled 'My girlfriend is a gumiho' { My girlfriend is a nine-tailed fox }. It is currently being shown in Korea and it's a romantic comedy drama written by the Hong sisters { The ones who wrote He's Beautiful, My Girl, etc.}. According to the story that when it rains on a clear day, it means that the gumiho is sad and crying. In short, parang may ikinakasal na tikbalang lang.. Haha!

Anyway, have you had experience this kind of feeling wherein you were so eager to go out but since it's raining, you're now torn between going out or not as if your patience was being tested? That was I felt before I forced myself to get dressed and go out. I have been convincing myself that I need to go out and do the things I need to do. Thankfully, the rain stopped and the clear sky finally appeared. I was able to drag myself to the nearest mall.

Truthfully, I did not have any intentions of shopping for myself. I went to do some errands but then I realized I could do some window shopping too since I still have time to check on few stuffs. So I went to SM Department store and found a cute shorts hanging in one the of the racks with the yellow price tag. Haha! Actually, it was that yellow price tag which caught my attention. It was love at first sight. As I checked on the item, I immediately asked the sales lady in charged if there was another stock but to no avail. I fitted the shorts and the next thing I knew, I was already paying for it.

And then.. tada!

In addition, I was able to buy a sponge for my Maybelline Clear Smooth Shine free face power and Ellana Premium Blend Mineral Foundation. The original sponge from Maybelline has been worn out already. Instead of buying from Maybelline, I opted for a cheaper version. Yes, I am a sucker for cheap stuffs. Haha!

So I bought a pack of sponges from Marionnaud for 60php. And oh, I love the packaging too.

How about you? Have you scored any fashionable and cheap items recently?

Hugs and Kisses,

So I dated the CATS...

The Jellicle Junkyard

Last night was fun. I had a great time with the CATS despite we were seated at the upper most part of the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo. We even bought binoculars { for 50php each} to have a better and closer view of the stage. Oh well, I guess that's what you get if you only have a ticket worth 1545 Php. But nonetheless, it was indeed worth it.

We were also able to see one of the CATS on a closer view. Yes, they interact with audience regardless from where you were seated, throughout the entire show. Literally, I got amazed when two CATS suddenly appear on our aisle. Both of them looked great on their costume. And their makeups? Whoa! They really looked like cats. Hahaha! I hardly recognized their faces { as if, I know each one of them. Haha!}. Anyway, I love how it was being done. Too bad, we were seated at the center of the row. I was not able to take good photos because both were playful. Those felines also mingled with the audience during the 20-minute intermission. They really got the audience surprised.

Storywise, it was simple -- that is on the night of the annual Jellicle Ball, the CATS meet in the Jellicle Junkyard under the moonlight and wait for the leader of the tribe, Old Deuteronomy. On this night, Old Deuteronomy will select one Jellicle to experience a new life, or reincarnated. All of the CATS volunteer and introduce themselves one after another.

That's when I fell in love with Rum Tum Tugger played by John O' Hara.

This Jellicle one caught each and everyone's attention. Flamboyant - as how we described him, a metro sexual cat who really captivated our hearts. His moves, purrs or even growls scream hotness. There were also a couple of instances where he attempted to draw the audience's attention and as expected, everyone loved that. The entire theatre was filled with crowd's laughter, applause and cheer.

Another thing that I love from the show was the Tagalog translation of Memory as sang by one of the foreign actors during Act 2. I'm not surprised about this anymore as I've read it from other reviews. But hearing it live, I still got amazed on how it was delivered.

With regards to Lea Salonga's performance, it was short yet significant. She played the role of Grizabella, the glamour cat, who used to be the favorite of all but later ostracized when she came back to the tribe. I love how she sang the Memory song at the end of Act 1. On the contrary, I am not that impressed on how she sang Memory during the finale. Yes, it was pitch-perfect. She was greatly applauded by the audience but I don't know why I did not give her my loudest cheer. Maybe she's not into the role that much. Having seen her from CATS, I could say she had done better in Miss Saigon. No offense, but I still prefer her being a former Vietnamese prostitute. Haha!

Cheorography-wise, I enjoyed watching them in cat-like dance. It's a mix of ballet and jazz with some gymnastic moves. I love seeing them dancing so gracefully and that they were able to maximize the entire stage. Well, that's how Broadway should be, right?

The show ended with a round of dances from the entire cast and of course, the never-ending applause and cheer from the audience. Afterwards, we went straight to the lobby for some picture taking and to check the souvenir items as well. Again as expected, the items were costly. The program {with the cast photos & background} costs 500 php. The original Broadway soundtrack from London costs 650 php. Other items cost around 300 php. Don't expect the items to be cheap for a Broadway show.



So I settled for the black CATS logo shirt which costs 800 php. I only bought one for boyfie who's also fond of watching Broadway shows. Too bad he wasn't able to watch it with me though he's still hoping for Phantom of the Opera or Chicago to be the next one. I guess he would never let it pass.

On the lighter note, I guess I also didn't let the event pass without dressing up a little bit. I opted for a dress over my fave trousers. Besides, I wanted to be as colorful as the Jellicles.

dress: Kashieca; shoes: Celine;
cardigan: Landmark; bag: Charles & Keith

Overall, I really had a great time watching it. It was indeed an experience. Can't wait for the next Broadway musical.. of course, with boyfie beside me. Hihi! ;)

photo credit: google

Hugs and Kisses,

Date with the CATS

Yes, I will be having a date with the CATS tonight though I'll just be sitting in the corner of the Jellicle Junkyard. And finally, I will be reunited again with Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo where the Jellicle Ball will be held. Too bad, I am not dressed like the Jellicles. Haha!

You see, I have been an avid fan of Broadway musicals ever since I saw Miss Saigon way back 2000. Admittedly, I am not a Lea Salonga fan { and I don't have anything against her } but it is just so happens that she's usually part of it. I mean let's face it, people have these expectant hearts to see Lea performed her own rendition of the Memory song. She has been one of the most revered theater actresses since her days, so I think that would explain why she was chosen to be part of the production.

Anyway, the CATS musical is one of the Broadway musicals that everyone shouldn't miss. I mean, it's Broadway, it's not just a typical musical where you could just let it pass. It's a huge production and it merely took almost 30 years before these felines reached Manila to perform in front of the Filipino audience. Despite of the costly tickets { got mine ticket for 1545 php }, I guess it should be worth it. After all, it is for the experience and for the glory that is CATS.

For those who are still interested to watch these felines perform, CATS: Now and Forever has extended performances until August 22, 2010. You may purchase tickets at any TicketWorld outlets.

How about you? How will you spend your Tuesday night?

photo credit: google

Hugs and Kisses,