This year’s Halloween was spent with my friends, reliving the young and restless college kid days. I might not be getting any younger, but at least no one’s too old for Halloween. Gotta remember to go out in costume next year!

Gotta admit rebellious drinking was more appealing back in college when we were young and underage, but it was just so reassuring to finally be doing something age-appropriate; the right thing at the right time kind of feeling.

Getting weirdly excited again.

Surprise! Trixie has a twin (no surprise actually we’ve known this since forever) but still can’t help but be amazed about it. Stared at them in awe all night.

With my fake twin lol must stop sticking my tongue out in pictures

Apparently everyone tried my glasses on. I didn’t notice.

That’s not my arm.

Belated Happy Halloween! Now we can finally move on to Christmas YAAAY

My mind is abuzz with things I’m eager to share, but now I’m just too busy with life that I couldn’t find precious time to pour it out on this personal space of mine. One of these days, I promise. For now let me leave you with something beautiful, cause you can’t have too much beauty in this world.

So last weekend us WhenInManila.com writers celebrated our editor Vince’s birthday over at their place. And I finally took the commute outside Makati on my own for once and ventured into the far unknown right at the depths of LRT 1, and actually crossing over to the LRT 2. It’s honestly the farthest commute I’ve made on my own (which is quite embarrassing LOL) but I’m very glad to have lived to tell the tale.

Our editor getting his cake and eating it too lol

Me about to attack Ilustrado’s insanely yummy paella, it’s FILLED with sahog wuhoo toppings abound!

Some of the dude writers of WheninManila.com

I honestly don’t remember what was so funny here -____-

Cheryl with Chase the weird cat! This cat kept hiding in a plastic bag the entire night.

When In Manila writers are weird o.o but heaps fun!

Yay group photo!

After dinner we had more drinks and played charades. And because When In Manila is so badass the prize up for grabs was a high-end speaker! Too bad I lost FML T_T

Me being mad at Aileen for making me lose >:) LOL just kidding I don’t know why my face looked like that!

I forgot I was with a bunch of bloggers that night; didn’t take any photos but managed to grab a ton from everyone else! Grabbed most of my photos from writers Cheryl Violangco and Mae Ilagan, instant documentation committee!

During the awarding ceremony, Cheryl won the speakers *luckyyyy*

Sea of bottles, Manila Beer sent the birthday boy 18 cases! Enough booze for year’s worth of parties wtf

Hello piggie! Yummy yummy baked lechon courtesy of Hecky’s Lechon. So crispy!

PIZZA HEAVEN MY OH MY ultimate grub from Yellow Cab! I would’ve finished it all if I had no shame.

Stacks on stacks of pasta and wings, I swear I tried to eat as much as I can to help them out

Yeah

One of the writers brought over cupcakes his mom made! Managed to get myself a red velvet before all four were attacked.

Mochi from Dezato Mochi Cafe! So good, especially the dark chocolate one! You know how some mochi balls get all messy and soggy once they thaw out? These don’t *thumbs up* Birthday boy got one of the green tea flavored ones before anyone got to take a piccie of it.

I had heaps of fun meeting all the new writers, so nice to get to know them and finally hang out. Contrary to popular belief, most of us have never met each other! We mainly communicate through email and Facebook *techie lvl 100* so this experience made our writer community feel much more human and concrete. I’m having a mini-Armageddon in my tummy now, so it sucks that I’m missing out on yet another get-together -___- But I’m sure glad to have attended this one!

I’ve been receiving an abundance of kindness from different people these days; some I’ve just met, others I’ve known for a while. It warms my heart and fills me with so much gratitude. It’s absolute bliss. I used to be such a rebel, I grew up being one of the most selfish and angry girls I know, but with all the love surrounding me now I’m learning to be kinder everyday.

Since I believe that we all need a little help with getting our shizzy together to realize our limitless capabilities, I’m holding a

Belle de Jour 2013 Planner giveaway!

Here’s to giving you a head start on your most fabulous year yet, bellas/fellas. Tinkered with the Rafflecopter widget to give you guys more of a challenge. I’ll be announcing the winner on Monday next week, best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

“Denimvasion” is about the cheesiest term I can think of to describe what I wore last week. Finally kept up with the times and gotten around to accepting that denim on denim is no longer tacky, now I feel so old for being around long enough to know of a time when people thought that way. Trying to pull off the half-tucked shirt there, still debating on whether it was a win or not though. Then those shoes…can’t really make up my mind on whether they’re meant to look inappropriately shaped or if I got the wrong size. Despite them looking like scraps of leather trying to be shoes I still like them very much. I guess it would depend on how you look at things.

The team behind every Filipina’s go-to life organizer, the Belle de Jour Power Planner, have created another amazing new service every girl should swear by.

The BDJ Box is basically every girly girl’s monthly beauty fix. It saves us girls the hassle of investing on beauty products without knowing whether they’ll be a hit or miss by providing us with an array of product samples all nicely packed in a cute little box. Once you’ve signed up for the service, you’ll be receiving your very own BDJ Box every month, tailor-made to suit your preferences. So how do you get one of these babies? Visit http://bdjbox.com/ and sign up!

Open a BDJ Box account and you can also be part of an online community where you can get advice on beauty products, as well as lots of hair and make-up tutorials from the BDJ Box’s team of beauty experts.

Seeing an abundance of beauty booty crammed inside the BDJ Box gave me mad care package vibes; I was sold on presentation alone. This month’s BDJ Box theme is all about “Parisian Pretty” - going back to basics and revisiting the age-old notion that less is always more; a fresh face, sweet smelling hair and a signature scent is all you really need. Totally got the sensible pretty French girl peg down with my beauty stash, my BDJ Box has got all the bases covered. Sign up for your monthly BDJ Box subscription to see for yourself ;)

My BDJ Box also came with these nifty little stickers, and a special task! More on that soon :)

For more info, visit the BDJ Box website. Stay Pretty!

Don’t waste your life doing something you don’t want to do.

(via jashmanuel)

Starr’s Famous Shakes is basically your wildest milkshake dreams come true. I’ve been wary about many a restaurant’s false claims of being the greatest and best of whatever, but they weren’t lying when they said they whipped up the thickest milkshakes ever. It doesn’t hurt that they have awesomely yummy nom nom munchies as well, standard deep-fried milkshake partner. My freshly erupted sweet tooth has found home - in one-hour-commute Katipunan of all friggin’ places. WheninManila.com feature here.

White is just as indispensable as black. It’s sort of like that color I go for on  occasions when black on black feels overrated. And since talking about the different ways to wear white would be more of an injustice to its versatility, I won’t be doing that. I’ll instead talk about how cool it was that Jas and I coincidentally wore matching white button-downs this weekend. Jas worked it like a girl, I worked it like I always do: slightly sloppy, with attempts at making opposite proportions work. White just offers that kind of variety, that’s exactly why white’s hot.

I’m wearing my dad’s white shirt, and a tank and skirt from Forever 21. The oversize fit of the shirt makes me look even more shrunken than I already am, but I honestly don’t mind having that extra slouch. No accessories, cause that’s how I roll. Unless I manage to make the hair tie bracelet a legitimate accessory.

Check out http://www.facebook.com/WhitesHotPH and you can have a chance to style Solenn Heussaff and bag Php 30,000 shopping moolah!

My work usually ends in the late afternoon, where I’m greeted with the ripest golden sun drenching the Makati skyline in buttery brightness. I swear, every afternoon this week has been picture perfect. I hate to admit it, but there’s actually much to love about this city.

 I also can’t stop listening to this song.

Couldn’t stop gushing about last weekend and how much fun Jas and I had at the Belle Du Jour Fair. The theme for 2013 was to be Limitless, to be your own Bella who takes crap from no one and makes big things happen! My kind of biznitch. And nothing screamed girl power like badass bungie jumping and wall climbing, which Jas   and I were too wussy to try at first but gave in to our inner badass and ended up eventually doing. It was such a rush to do both, in girly flats no less!

Jas doing it like a pro

Me being weird

After a sweaty palm-inducing climb, I did feel limitless! (pun intended)

Superblogger Tricia Gosingtian gave a little talk on how to be the next big thing on the interwebs (like her). Other special guests included my co-writer and managing editor for WheninManila.com Mae Ilagan who talked about social media is so cool, and gorgeous Georgina Wilson who gave a talk on skincare and other girly stuff. Patty Laurel also gave a very enriching talk on the benefits of travel; it was my most fave talk from the event.

Cute photo

Weirdo photo

Me with my planner! (and hill-billy outfit). Have you bellas gotten yours yet? I totally love mine! It has heaps of little nooks and crannies to fill out, great for OC girls who love to keep organized. Plus the Belle du Jour 2013 planner has a bajillion cash coupons for all your fave girly stores, over Php 20,000 worth of discounts! I can feel my inner kuripot approving. Can’t wait for 2013 to start!

Awesome Thai tea with coffee-flavored popping boba. YUM.

Garlic may be one of the most underrated bulb/vegetables ever, so you have to understand how much creativity it takes to build an entire menu (complete with dessert) around the said kitchen staple. The result is remarkably original and every bit as crazy as its name. This somehow makes me overlook how the service and food fell a few notches short of my expectations; all is well, as long as I am stuffed and with my friends. So yeah, I still like Krazy Garlik. Feature for WheninManila.com soon!

Loose and slouchy white tees are totally my thing. No brainer, no fuss, roll out of bed and pair it with whatever. BOSS DRESSING SKILLZ.

Especially open-back ones. I can be such a slut sometimes.