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!