chocolate overload on quarantine birthday number 2 or 3

 

photos from my phone

To say I drowned in chocolate everything on the 17th of September---about just a few days ago---is an understatement. I did. Between the cake from Red Ribbon to the chocolate-covered macadamia and almond nuts gifted by my dad, I did. Luckily, there are some tea I can drink to mute the sweetness. Or, they're not that sweet at all because about 2 boxes of Meiji's Macadamia and 1 box of Almond chocolates are actually dark chocolate-covered instead of the sweeter milk. And yes, I would die for dark chocolate. Always. I do like vanilla too but that's for another day, another rather short story. (These Meiji chocolates are easily available in your nearest Daiso stores. We have at least 1 or 2 of these here in my tiny city.)

Other things that I've gotten myself into since my sort of hiatus of, like, maybe half a year or close? from here:

1. collecting studs because these seem to be the only jewelry I wear now that we're still in a pandemic. A lot of things are not back to normal here yet.

2. these masks from my aunt in America. She made them and I have yet to thank her for these cute ones. The DC one, I just found out a few nights ago, actually glow in the dark! It's definitely great to wear out at night! Originally, I wanted Looney Tunes (Taz Mania is my eternal favorite cartoon character with Bugs Bunny coming close...I'm more of a Looney Tunes girl than anything, to be very honest) and a daisy-print mask but there's no daisy pattern available among the fabric I chose for mine. I might have to put all my masks in one box because, honestly, I'm wracking up a lot of these lately. They can be free from some purchases in Lazada and/or Shopee or the ones I get from Cotton NCR Plus that come in packs of 3, in black and white.

of birthdays and the ongoing quarantine period

I'm a homebody when I'm not travelling the islands and sometimes, abroad. Birthdays are always simple and very personal for me. I don't even just casually let people know on facebook that 'it's my birthday today, greet me!'. I find it uncomfortable if many people know my birthday aside, maybe, from my loved ones---the family and friends I live with at home, mostly. Some closest friends from the previous workplace and some others I were closest to in school or so.

Rather than having grand, very show-offy celebrations, I see my birthday as a special, personal holiday I can spend on my own, however I want to. Most of the time, I just end up chillin', doing not much else, sleeping, eating. LOL. It's certainly what this pandemic and non-stop lockdowns have had me doing the past couple of years or so. I'd chalk it up to me hating noise and a lot of people but yeah, it's partly that and because I'd like to be selfish at least once every year or so. So there, I like it the most when my birthday is very simple, maybe bare, yes, and quiet---very personal, spent however way I want it. That 1 time in the year I can keep to myself for use whatever and however way I want. 

Similarly, I'm happy with everyday, easily consumable gifts. Skin care products, chocolates, of course! Especially when the chocolates are dark and vegan...delish! I never really need expensive things except maybe once in a while, when I feel like indulging myself or something and I very rarely indulge myself except maybe on fandom-related things. And even then, for the latter, I notice myself gravitating around those packages that include stuff I can use like t-shirts, mugs, totebags. I'm definitely collecting a lot of totebags recently. They're piling up. I'll update on that sometime later. Soon.

How about you, how do you like to spend your birthday? Simply? Extravagantly?

***

I'm sort of back here for the time being. Who knows when I'll be gone again but yes, I think I may found the motivation or drive to blog stuff on here again. The pandemic and our nation's leaders messily managing it here just really puts a damper on things like this, blog crafting and posting, content creating, and the rest of the works. I really admire the artists, creatives who can keep creating even if collectively, thanks to the COVID-19-causing novel corona virus, we've hit a lull because a good number of us are staying home these days instead of going out to work and play. 

I do have some posts in mind plotted in my head already so yes, I'll get started on them to make my presence here a bit more felt, more consistent that usual. And of course, on my personal instagram, tumblr and livejournal too. Usually, my posts here aren't that deep, and are just your run-of-the-mill, mundane (redundant, I know) daily life happenings here and there...and when I feel like (since intentionally, this is meant to be a fashion and lifestyle blog), fashion-related posts. So yes, some things to look forward to this half of the year. Finally? Yay! 

february 26, wednesday post's details

clutch, ninewest. necklace as bracelet and another bracelet, gifted by grandmum and aunt. large and thick or bulky-chained necklace, forever21. phone, samsung j2 prime. ring/s, bagel girl via sm downtown premier.

Late catch-up post. I was supposed to post this last Friday or yesterday but I got too lazy. Saturday was a particularly lazy day and night for me. I wasn't even able to write anything good in terms of fanfiction I have in the works and mostly just did so a bit then slept. Anyway, these are stuff I have on repeat recently.

wayfarers from Bench Ph. Ninewest clutch. Samsung J2 Prime. Human Heart Nature's Natural Sanitizer in Cool Burst. 

Also a few others I can't live without right now. Hand sanitizers are a fast sell right now everywhere because of the COVID 19 outbreak. It's the same here in the Philippines. We may only have very few COVID 19 cases yet with 1 death (this one isn't even a Filipino or Philippines' national) but still, people are clearing shelves of everything sanitizing alcohol, sanitizer and other anti-bacterial, anti-viral substances that can be used on the hands and other body parts and even varying surfaces at home and out. Luckily, I was able to snatch this small, 50 mL bottle of the Natural Sanitizer in Cool Burst. Word at the branch I got this from is that their sanitizers are also all sold out and they were lucky to get this one in a decent number around sometime last week. Week after next, I'm looking to stock up on the 200 mL kind in both Cool Burst and Pomelo Burst. If you'd like to order anything of the sort, whether in 200 mL or 50 mL bottles, you can put your orders through here. For Metro Manila and NCR orders, they do deliver at a minimum of 500 Php worth of purchases. You can also email me at the contact details on this blog or send a text message to the number given occasionally on this instagram account. I cannot accept calls from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. due to work but I can receive and respond to text messages well. Meet ups around Cagayan de Oro City are available, of course!

Anyway, yes. Let's keep ourselves clean and clear of viruses and some harmful bacteria this year! We ought to be wary of COVID 19 since it's literally spreading everywhere now and the numbers just keep adding up. That all said, I'm proud of our DOH and other local authorities rounding up some foreign visitors who have come in from highly infected areas (like Daegu in South Korea) and labeling them PUMs (persons under monitoring). Some 26 were in Cebu City and another 11 were in Boracay. This is a day before the travel ban put into place. This was a very quick response, yay! 

mesh over a slip

vintage fine mesh top, slip, and lace-up ankle boots; terranova over-the-knee socks; coach iphone wristlet/pouch; aizilim rings and necklaces; random dreamcatcher necklace; forever21 cuff.

My idea of layering in rainy but still humid climate. Good thing I didn't go out to shoot today because it rained minutes after this.

The last time I wore this fine mesh top thing was while frolicking with a friend in Siquijor Island which was a couple years ago or so. Not entirely sure when I can go back there but I WOULD LOVE TO GO BACK there. Until then, I'm happy with just Camiguin Island being a few hours away from here by bus and the barge. 

I lost the knit cap/beanie in the same color as the socks worn here somewhere in transit from the Philippines to Philadelphia to California and back, late last year and early this year. Come to think of it, I lost a lot of things in that single trip alone...including a really warm, fuzzy and cozy cashmere knit scarf---used it as a reinforcement blanket on the plane somehow---mum brought back for me from her, dad's and an aunt's trip around Europe years ago (it's from Italy and thank heavens, the gray cashmere sweater is still around as it is one of my favorite, warmest things to wear when it's too cold or something close to it) and then the finely checkered/plaid black and white/grey 4$ fedora from Burlington in Philadelphia I'd been wearing non-stop during the trip. I might've lost the last one on the Philippine Airlines flight from Manila to here in Cagayan de Oro /cries. Sometimes I wish Philippine Airlines had some way of informing some of their passengers of some things left in the plane so they get those back to them somehow.   

Note to self: get something that's the approximation of a blanket when travelling next time. Not that the airline issued blankets aren't any good...I just need something else...warmer. I get too cold way too easily as someone who's lived all her life in the warmer part of the globe.

Still my favorite things: peppermint lip balm and the lip creme in coral charm (their nudest possible shade) from HumanheartNature and the lipstick brush from Watsons. Just in case you're wondering what else I put in the Coach phone case/pouch other than the minuscule and pretty ancient iPhone 4s. I'm currently thinking of HumanheartNature's day-to-night eyeshadow palette at the moment. It's really practical and handy in four compact shades when you're on the go. Beats having to think of getting the 600+ Php nudes palette from Maybelline as the former is just less than 500 Php. I'm happy and content, at the moment, with my older ones including an Almay 3-color palette for the same purpose as Maybelline's nudes eyeshadow palette and the HumanheartNature one I want, however.

2/4ths ribbed

(my photos)

sea blue tally weijl zip-up ribbed sweater; diy bleached bettina ribbed tank; forever21 gold stem heeled/stiletto ankle boots and arrow necklace; ninewest bag; aizilim rings and necklaces  

Ideal outfit for a mostly gloomy day like today. It rained for a bit after this was taken. It's beautiful weather for the tropics and I know a lot of people like this kind that isn't really too hot and sunny. I'm more a fan of the latter. For me, personally, the hotter and sunnier the day is, the better it is. Just make sure to be armed with sunscreen if it's that kind of day, however.

Loving this Tally Weijl sweater dad picked up when he was in Germany early this latter half of the year. The length of the sleeves does it for me. Definitely really useful to wear with slip dresses, tank dresses and more. Considering the barrage of every incarnation of blue in this blog lately, yes, I'm a huge fan of the color/shade. It's my favorite right up there with black and white, gray and brown or everything neutral and earthy. 

And yes, I had my hair re-bleached yesterday. I'm considering a third and a fourth bleach session maybe in the next two months to get the lightest blonde I can get. I notice it's skewing towards the orangey side here so hopefully the purple toner can fix that with the random, drugstore anti-dandruff (Guard) shampoo I use every 2 or 3 days or so in the coming few weeks.

24-25 PhP (Philippine peso) sheer black tights...I can never get enough of. I tend to end up purchasing one or two pairs from whatever department stores that carry them to keep in the bag for emergency wear when going out in shorts or mini-skirts. Really cheap, really handy to have on the go, anytime, anywhere. I think some Watsons branches carry them, too. The runs on this pair makes the outfit grungy fun enough as if the tie-dyed ribbed tank doesn't give enough edge to it already.