my I-want-to-go-out-but-the-pandemic-is-still-going-on look today

As always, watch out for affiliate links up ahead as you continue reading this post. I earn from every purchase or so from those links and at the same time, they are to support this blog...as well as my other social media accounts (twitter: @kristagrace_s; and instagram: @kristagraces_17, primarily), too.

another of the 58 Php/a piece dresses in super adorable floral-printed white from Jhewel Shop Ph on shopee, long-handle produces net bag from ekkoganic on shopee, thrifted/vintage crocheted sweater

I'm itching to go out but at the same time, I'm good being on my hermit era after some weekends and some weekdays of being out for different reasons.

Yes. I had one of the 5? 6? summery-print mini-dresses I got from Jhewel Shop Ph on Shopee PH some time back...around middle of this month. A few more of me on this will trickle here little by little as we move into November 7-8 where I'll be going somewhere...at that time. Where? I'm not answering this question until later. ....probably...when I get there already. Haha. Hah.

Seriously, this batch of dresses from this shopee PH shop is just, ugh, the bestest and just 58 Php a piece? That's 1 USD to you who aren't here in the Philippines, ugh. Just sooo good I can wear these things anywhere and to just about every event---mostly parties, most likely. Haha. Lunch and dinner dates, too, and more. I'm still waiting until I can dress these things up and down with fun accessories like knee-high, above-the-knee, thigh-high socks and/or tights! Expect me to bring some of the dresses from this order with me to wherever I am going on November 7-8!

Today was a rainy day and tonight is slightly chilly. The crocheted white sweater I got from some thrifting excursion a long time ago came in handy today to keep the summery chill away. And in case you didn't notice, yes, I have a new space for outfit shots here at home. It's the veranda on the second floor where my room is, too! I'll still shoot down on the driveway, by the gate from time to time, of course. The latter is still my favorite place to shoot more than this new one.  

On another topic, I turned a year older back in September 17, by the way. I'm not entirely sure how to feel. I didn't have any celebration done, or at least nothing big anyway. I just treated myself to instant South Korean rice cake snack, tteokbokki, and a solo box of banana milk I bought to-go from K. House Korean Ramen and Street Food. There was also cake from mom, the usual Red Ribbon one, and that's it. It was that simple a celebration. I'm not one for huge parties for birthdays as I prefer to spend it to myself and just chill and relax, do nothing at all that's work-related or so. My birthday, for me, is that one day in the year (or a whole weekend) that I can have to myself and just rest and relax in---self-care and stuff. I'd love to travel, too, maybe go to the beach on this day or weekend, if it falls on the weekend. 

How about you? How do you spend your birthdays yearly?

And...here're more photos from this afternoon:

Primadonna heels (old)

More details to come in a bit. After this quick paragraph long chatter on what is going on with the shopping platforms around South East Asia (SEA), particularly the regional ones of 2, Shopee and Lazada, here in the Philippines.

Both Shopee and Lazada are regional and operate around the different countries here in South East Asia. Both shopping apps and websites are owned by the Chinese. Jack Ma's Alibaba owns Lazada and I'm not entirely sure who owns Shopee but I do remember it being said by most to have a Chinese big boss up there, too, like the former. And yes, because my favorite shopping platform (site), Zalora, can get expensive, I have been buying some stuff from around the region on Shopee.

If you follow twitter and my fangirling and real life stuff account there, @kg_0917, and follow what the thing/s with Shopee is lately, you'll know they've committed one blunder after another in the last two weeks or so including this week. They downsized and laid off a good number of their employees then brought in a personality/celebrity as their endorser in that's hated by many because of her being an apologist (of this current admin), a peddler of fake news, misinformation, and more. Many have threatened to boycott. I was among those but I realized, it's hard for me to boycott this one because there are some sellers from here in the Mindanao Island I'm in that I sort of support there. I occasionally buy some vegan canned goods from a shop there ran by a Cebu City-native and lately, I've bought some packages stuffers there I'm giving out to some friends from here in my city and in Metro Manila (the NCR - National Capital Region) and Davao City. The latter, I bought from a shop based in Zamboanga City, my dad's home city. I like supporting those who are from this area I'm in: the Visayas islands and Mindanao (were my city, Davao City, and Zamboanga City are in).

The only consolation for me here is I very rarely shop online and offline, anyway, so I don't think I really have to boycott? I'm planning to do more shopping or buying from the other app and site now, Lazada, for the more everyday things, though. Shopee (shipping and hidden) fees can be too much, to be honest. Lazada seems to have the better vouchers, promotions, etc. that can help me, people in general with getting bigger savings per purchase---and we all need those these days, savings.

I have no problem at all with those who have decided to boycott the online selling app and site. I also don't mind if many have deactivated their accounts there. I'm staying for a bit, still, until the shops I follow move or so, or I move out of this country for stuff, or whatever reason, I mean. I just have to buy from Shopee PH less for now, especially those things I kind of need monthly (online groceries, household stuff, and more).

You can look up Shopee PH on twitter to see what the chatter on this is all about if this bit here piqued your curiosity on it somehow.

What is my opinion on all of this? I don't like the new endorser since she came out as an apologist of the guy who's up top our nation rn and his family. (I'm definitely among those who dislike but not really hate her. I think it's more like, I pity her because I've heard stories about her and her cheating husband.) But I just can't leave the site and app yet because I have some stores and store owners from this region I follow there. I'm definitely not using that site and app for selling. I've heard how annoying and exorbitant their fees are and how they are unfair to the sellers who've opened shop there so yep, I'm sticking to ebay PH and instagram and using our local/domestic couriers that's not really JNT Express. Haha. Hah.

Anyway, here are more of me in the vintage, thrifted long ago crocheted sweater:

the headband is DIY-ed from a long time ago. It's made from some excess fabric from some ts I cut up to make them shorter

I DIY stuff from time to time, yes. I might one day make a post featuring some of those I've DIYed over the years like this headband made from excess clothes.

I still have a lot of photos from this afternoon's game of dressing up because Friday and I'm bored and kind of want to go out but can't (money pleaaassee! ....so I can go out. Haha! Hah).

I'll just give you a sneak peek of the next post (the chingkeetea part 2 of the two-parter for this one I have in mind will have to be moved further up, maybe later this month again. Heh) instead.

dangling earrings are from my grandma from some time ago, native-ish bracelet and rings are from good old Aizilim in Cogon Market here in CdeO/CDO and Bagel Girl in SM Downtown CdeO/CDO. For the ones in the photo in the middle of this collage, they'll be named/identified in the next post!

Here's a peek of what's to come in a bit. Close-ups of this afternoon's accessories and some very current, recent obsessions (more like, favorites) of mine. 

I'll talk more about these things on beauty, make-up, or cosmetics in the next post!

Until the next post then! :) 

P.S.

I now have a Buy Me A Coffee account! Feel free to donate (for coffee though I am not much of a coffee drinker, haha---I'm more of a fruit tea drinker lately and oh, I'm into South Korean barley and brown rice tea, too!) for at least 1 coffee or 2 (or more) in support of this blog and my other social media accounts: twitter, @kristagrace_s; and instagram, @kristagraces_17! I'll try to keep these as updated as possible with things you may find interesting enough to follow me on those accounts and here! 

P.P.S.

Miss Rona, the COVID 19-causing virus is still here and making her rounds around people so please, please, PLEASE still mask up even if it's optional now. ....or being tested to make it optional in the near future here and nationwide in the Philippines. This is not only to protect yourself but others, the more vulnerable ones, around you as well. I continue to mask to this day, yes, whenever I am outside. I'm just at home in these photos and I'm socially distanced, most of the time, with people here at home so yes, I hardly wear a mask at home unless I'm sick with something.

Let's protect ourselves and one another, still, to this day!

heading towards a tropical christmas and nye

Before you continue reading this post to the end, please be aware that this entry has affiliate links peppered all over its entirety. You can support this blog by clicking on the affiliate links and shopping the items featured here through them.

Jhewel Shop PH tropical print dress via Shopee PH, Ekkoganic long-handle fruit/produces mesh/net bag via Shopee PH, Zalora heels (old)

....or I hope it is going to be a tropical Christmas and NYE, anyway. I'm going to be away from here (the Philippines in general) from November 8 onwards. I have no idea when I'll be back here yet from wherever I'll be going. I'm also not revealing where I'm going on that date until later. Haha. So y'all will have to tune into this space for that or my stan/fangirling twitter, @kg_0917. You can also follow my whereabouts on instagram at @kristagraces_17 even when I very rarely update this one.

Anyway... So, hi! It's been a while! Long time no almost everyday outfit post! I never have been that consistent at it since I started this blog after migrating from LiveJournal either anyway. I'll probably try to make more of these kinds of posts? Maybe? I don't know yet. We'll see. This week, I'm, my family as a whole will be busy with some things. There are some guests of my dad's (some members of his family from abroad, the US) we have to entertain around here, our city, this week.

Oh and of course, I took this batch of photos last week so this is basically a VERY late post of it. Haha.

Before I reveal where I bought this dress, I'll just say that lately, I've been shopping various things at Shopee PH. I also window shop there so you can just imagine I have so many things in my cart yet until now. They will be checked out every now and then, of course. I'm just waiting on some things to sort themselves out one day soon. I also use Shopee PH checkout for buying stuff off of buy & sell twitter and instagram. That is, if GoGo Express option isn't available or offered by sellers there. Shopee PH has both J&T Express and GoGo Express as their couriers so there's no need for people, sellers, especially, to lug their packages over to LBC and other such shipping companies to ship them off one by one. I think that with Shopee PH, these two couriers will be the ones to come pick up your packages to be shipped to buyers everywhere in the Philippines so it's really convenient among sellers to connect with them when they peddle their wares in SNS. As everything is on Shopee PH, too, (well, some others are in Lazada PH but that's another discussion for another day...) buying stuff everywhere, on SNS and on Shopee PH's site/app is easier, more convenient!

Confession: I used to be uncomfortable with shopping at Shopee PH way back when but I'm just so much more confident now especially that I can use different options to pay for the stuff I get from there. I usually do COD now. COD - Cash on Delivery. I can control my impulsive buying better this way.

I have heard of couriers like J&T Express being bad at handling packages they ship of everywhere but so far, I haven't had experiences of packages being lost or damaged from them. This is a good thing, of course. It's just that J&T Express is international and covers a lot of South East Asia so I prefer GoGo Express for local or domestic shipping. Gotta support local. The latter is also a good partner courier for independent sellers around the Philippines, I believe. I have the app but I have yet to try this one as I haven't really been going back to selling stuff yet on instagram and beyond (twitter, I don't have facebook). I'll test this one out next time soon.

Okay, so where was I? Let's go back to the topic at hand. One thing I like about Shopee PH is that...I think and believe that it is a good app and online site to look for, buy from, and support local or domestic small businesses. I'm very much into supporting these types of businesses---you'll know if you've followed this blog and even my old (and still alive but hardly updated) LiveJournal blog---since time immemorial. I'm discovering a lot of local shops there lately that I want to support so yay! Oh and I will be sharing those local finds here so yes, definitely watch out for those posts to come!

Alright, so this dress... I found this in Jhewel Shop PH on Shopee PH which is pretty local or domestic. They ship nationwide like most shops on Shopee PH. I think their dresses are from Thailand...I'm not entirely sure... They're not and nor do they seem fully local but they are of good quality. I find them easy to wear anywhere and everywhere except maybe at work and some offices here and there. And by work, I mean work in a school I hopefully will find myself teaching Special Education students in soon. Next year, maybe? I don't know. No one knows yet. I still work from home most days rn so I can still wear this dress anytime, anywhere, and everywhere. It's just so easy to wear, it's stretchy, it's very, very comfortable for whatever activity y'all may have in mind with this on. How much does this dress cost? It's only 58 Php. 58 Philippine Pesos should be 1 USD rn with the value of the Philippine pesos increasing vs the US dollars thanks to inflation (and an incompetent current admin ruling over the Philippines like royalty rn). It's THAT dirt cheap so of course, I hoarded this in different colors and different prints!

I'm currently into tropical prints thanks to some characters' wardrobes in NCIS: Hawa'i and NCIS: Los Angeles. Haha. So it's timely that I hoarded dresses like this in different colors and prints some three or so weeks ago, maybe around a month ago, to be exact. 

You'll probably see the other dresses from this batch of Jhewel Shop PH on Shopee PH purchases/hoarded wares over the coming days or so on this blog. I'll space the dates I'll be posting me in these dresses so you (and I) don't get overwhelmed here easily.

The produce net/mesh bag is from Ekkoganic on Shopee PH. I got three of these. The bag is probably not locally or domestically manufactured and produced, too, but I've long wanted one of these since they became a thing or a trend on instagram and even on some blogs like Un-Fancy not that long ago... Hmn...maybe around last year...? Or worse, 2 or 3 years ago? So yep, I thought, why not hop into the trend now, too? But of course, way later in Crysta-fashion, as usual. Just the usual Filipino time...even in following trends. Lol. I do see some women still use this bag in some instagram posts here and there today so it's not like it's completely untrendy now. Haha.

Ekkorganic on Shopee PH also carry other things and offer other services like personalizing some products they sell like the wooden hair brush! I got one of these to always have in my bag along with the long-handle mesh/net bags, one of which I am using in the photos here. If you're out of ideas regarding Christmas gifts to give to people, you can get personalized wooden, pocket-sized, very handy brushes to give to people from Ekkorganic on Shopee PH instead! You can choose to buy these wooden brushes in their respective linen or cheesecloth pouches so you don't need to buy wrappers for these to wrap them in when giving them out to people on Christmas. They have different fonts for the engraving or personalizing of the brushes you can choose from. Aside from the mesh/net bags and the personalized hair brushes with pouch, Ekkorganic on Shopee Ph offers other sustainable products that can help you live a more environmentally friendly life.

For the second part of the Chingkeetea series of blog posts, the second one will be coming out perhaps, in the next few days, if I can get started on it ASAP. Definitely wait and watch out for more posts on my very random Shopee PH finds. By this time, you'll find I've posted one more Shopee PH find on Instagram. Haha. I posted one there first before posting them here.

I'm, of course, very late on a lot of blog posts here and on Instagram and beyond (Twitter, mostly, as I don't have Facebook). I'll try my best to catch up to these! I still have so many things on my phone that should be posted here, too, soon. I'll also be working on those in the coming weeks, mostly on weekends so expect a blog post here at least every week from now on if I'm not too preoccupied with a whole lot of other things leading to November.