12 Resolutions for 2012

I have never been good at keeping my new year's resolutions but I still like having one because it makes me work really hard to accomplish things and improve myself. As I look back on the resolutions that I made in 2011 and I think I did good. I accomplish a few and others only a part of it.

For the year 2012 these are my resolutions.

1. Take good care of my body - I love junk food and greasy fast food but I want to eat healthy and become healthier so I want to limit my junk food intake.

2. Finish my VISA application - I want to try to work in other country so I filed for my VISA assessment.

3. Travel - I want to travel out of the country once a year and travel locally at least twice a year.

4. Save up money - I was spending like crazy in 2011 so I want to save more money so I could pay debts and go travelling more.

5. Read a lot of books

6. Be a smart shopper - I'm a shopaholic and I buy things that I don't need. I want to start making list before I go shopping to save money.

7. Be more organized - I'm a messy person and I want things to be organized so that everything will have a place of its own and it will make things easier for me.

8. Spend more time with my family.

9. Stay in touch with old friends and make new friends. I'm bad at making new friends and I only have guy friends and only a few girl friends.

10.Be more understanding and reasonable - I get upset easily so I want to work on my patience. I will try to look at things in the other persons perspective before getting upset.

11. Have fun and spend quality time with my boyfriend more.

12. Have no regrets!

2011 was a great year and I'm sad that its over but I'm excited and I'm looking forward for a better 2012.

This or That Tag

This is a tag I got from ellandblair site and I thought it was interesting so I'm giving it a go. It is just a very short but interesting and fun tag.

♥ Coke or Pepsi? Definitely Coke. Pepsi is just too sweet for my taste.

♥
Ice cream or frozen yogurt? Frozen Yogurt! I can eat tub after tub and not feel as guilty as I would feel if I ate Ice cream.


♥ 
Clothes or makeup? This is a tough one. Hmmm I'm thinking make-up because I could be wearing the simplest basic clothes and have good make-up and I would still feel confident and fabulous.

♥ Hairspray or frizz lotion? Hairspray. Frizz lotion makes my hair look greasy and no one wants to look greasy.

♥ T.V or book? Book all the way. TV shows or even movies doesn't compare to the experience of immersing yourself in a good book.

♥ Pool or beach? Pool! I hate the sticky feeling I get after I get out of the sea.

♥ 
Water or soda? Water.



♥ Sandals or boots? Boots because as much as possible I don't like to expose my toes. There is nothing wrong with my toes don't get me wrong, my toes are fine but I like the look of closed shoes like boots. I also like the edgy style so boots are my thing.



♥ Purse or backpack? I depends... Purse if I'm just running errands and going to work. Backpack if I'm travelling.



♥ Team Jacob or Team Edward? Team Jacob both in the book and movie. I want a guy best friend that would be there for me and love me the way I am just like Jacob loves Bella.

♥ 

Wizards of Waverly Place or Hannah Montana? Hannah Montana. I like Miley Cyrus, I find her very entertaining.



♥ Mall or online shopping? Mall! I live in malls and my boyfriend works as an resident engineer of a local mall in our city so I love to window shop while waiting for him to get off work.



♥ Tennis or soccer? I have never tried both sports but I think I would fair well will soccer because I get to play with a lot of people.

♥ MAC or Maybelline? MAC is way superior!

6th year Anniversary Celebration

My boyfriend Sting and I just celebrated our 6th year anniversary last December 20. He had the whole evening planned out, dinner at a fancy hotel, we would then exchange gifts and talk about anything and everything for the night. I was so excited to do all the things that he planned but everything changed since our City suffered a great tragedy 3 days before our anniversary. Our city was hit by a typhoon that flooded the big part of the city and killed almost a thousand people and destroyed properties worth millions. Thankfully we were not affected by the flood. Our hearts went out to all of those people who lost their homes and loved ones and we did our share to donate and help the people affected by the flood.

On the day of our anniversary we felt that going on a luxurious date was not proper since how could we celebrate in such an excessive manner knowing that a lot of people are mourning the death of their loved ones. Nevertheless we decided to have a simple dinner at a local pizza place. Even thought it was not the luxurious date that we planned we still had fun and we still get to exchange gifts. My boyfriend gave me a silver locket with our picture inside it. It was so sweet since he never did told me what he was getting me for our anniversary which was strange since we pick-out our gifts together. It gave me a little scare because I thought that he was going to propose. I told him about it and he had asked me what would I have done if he did proposed, then he added that he would only accept a Yes or NO answer and nothing else which made me laugh since he was do dead serious. He told me that since we were already 25 turning 26 next year he may pop the question next year which made me really nervous. We usually talk about our future but I always imagined marriage to be in the far future and him saying that it may happen sooner made me really happy and nervous at the same time.

Despite the calamity that happened to our city I was happy to have celebrated our 6th anniversary. I was also super happy that he liked the gift that I gave him which he picked and the little surprise Christmas gift that I got him. I'm looking forward to the next anniversary I hope no more calamities will happen so that the people here could properly celebrate the holidays.

We had a little feast just the two of us which gave me stomach ache from eating too much that we skipped going to the movies and just went home after.hehe


Sting opening his surprise early Christmas gift and reading the little note that I wrote him.


Two of us goofing around during dinner


The lovely gift that he got me.


We always take pictures in the cab for no apparent reason.


I had to take picture of the locket with the case because it is so pretty.

Project 10 Pan

I don't know what has gotten into me and but I have been hauling make-up week after week. There are plenty of new things that I want to try out and I grow to love over a period of time then shove them totally at the back of my make-up drawer a week after. So I decided to do the Project 10 pan to stop my pile of make-up from growing and to basically save money because I am saving up for a overseas trip next year with my friends. And maybe just by doing this project 10 pan my spending habits will also change.

So project 10 pan is basically where I should consume or totally use up 10 make-up products before I could allow myself to buy new make-up. This project is good for those old make-up that just sits at the back of the drawers waiting to be thrown out when it expires to be used up. It saves us money and it also gives us a chance to shop our stash and rekindle our love for our old make-up.

Here are the top contenders for my project 10 pan.


1. Careline Blush - I have already hit pan with this one and I just want to finish this up because this has been in my collection for more than a year now. I can't even see the color since the label has rubbed off.


2. Stilla Smudge Pot in "black" - This is my first ever gel liner and I bought this is Rustan's Cebu. I remember this was pretty expensive and I want to finish this since it has already dried out and their are still a ton of product left. I found some great tutorials on YouTube on how to revive dried out gel liners so I'm giving that a go.

3. NICHIDO eye pencil in "black brown" - This is one of my first pencil eye liners so I want to use it up since it may be near its expiry.

4. Maybeline Unstoppable smudge proof mascara in "curly black" - It has shown some signs of drying out so I want to maximize its usage since there are still a lot of product left.


5. Revlon Color Stay in "01 Ivory" - This came in a gift set given to me by my aunt last year and this shade is too light for me so I rarely use it. I use Revlon Color Stay as my foundation in a much darker shade and I sometimes mix it with this color in order extend my foundation if you get what I mean and basically to not waste good product.

6. Maybeline Angelfit perfect concealer - I use to use this concealer everyday and it is perfect for the under eye but I have observed that it does not do well with covering blemishes/acne and it may even aggravate it. So I stopped using it but now since my skin is getting better I will give it a go again but maybe just on the under eye area.


7. NIVEA Lip balm - I have a ton of lip balm that I can't seem to finish so I am going to use this one first before I even touch.

8. Maybeline color sensational in "Coral Pink" - same with the lip balm, I have over 20 used lipsticks that I can't seem to finish so I'll start with this one since this is almost gone.

9. Avon Lip liner - I can't seem to remember when I got this but it was a long time ago and I had recently purchased 4 new lip liners and I totally forgot about this Avon one.

10. Revlon Just Bitten in "Flame" - This lip stain is kinda drying up so before it dries up I'm gonna use it to the fullest.

Hong Kong Trip June 2010

While I was cleaning my computer memory I found some of my Hong Kong pictures with the guys. It was our first out of the country trip together. It brought such fun memories that I made a little slide show... Enjoy!

Victoria Secret Fashion Show

Just finished watching 2011 VS fashion show and I think that the 2010 Fashion show was better, music and set wise. I love watching VS shows because it makes me feel beautiful and confident after. Those VS angels sure are morale boosters. I love them... See the my favorite VS show so far here. Enjoy!

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4

First Party of December 2011 (Safari Themed Christmas Party)

I went to my first Christmas party this 2011 last December 9. It was a Safari themed Oro Bankers Party. Oro Bankers is the club of the different Banks in our City or Region. This year party is a little bit special because the incoming president of the Oro Bankers club is none other than our own Branch Manager. It is the tradition of the club that the staff of the incoming president will give a special presentation during the party. We decided to present a dance number and we practiced weeks before the party and thanks to our very good instructor Anton we were able to present a good dance number. Overall it was a fun and great night!

Grand Caprice Hotel

Me and my friend Mia who was so lucky to have won the 2nd major price of the night a 19 inch LCD TV.

With our costume on.

Some photos of the dance and after party







Dance Presentation... Spot the bloopers!

One of the Boys!

I was caught of guard when a female acquaintance asked me why do I always hang out with guys. I never thought of it much really. It just seem so natural to me when I hang out with my friends who happens to be all guys. I have 5 close guy friends not including my boyfriend. Three of my friends were my classmates in high school but back then we were not really close. The two others we met in University.

Let me tell you my story...

At first I was so afraid or just simply shy to talk to boys. In high school when I was about 13 when I first went to my new school which was a former all boys school I was a bit scared since the girl population was less than a 3rd of the whole population. It doesn't also help that we were the first girls to be accepted to the school in other words we were the pioneer co-ed batch. I had always went to a co-ed school so being around boys was normal for me but the boys in my new high school were shy and curious about us girls since it was an all boys school up until that year. At first it was exciting and fun to try make new friends but it was evident that the there was a division among the girls and the boys in our class. So to enable us to get to know each other the teacher assigned us a seating arrangement that alternates a girl and a boy so that all of us could mingle. Just remembering it makes me laugh. The guys were so funny they don't know how to act around us girls so in the end us girls would feel awkward talking to them. About a month after the guys started getting use to us girls and some guys develop crushes and the like. I was a bit shy back then I would only talk to a few guy friends who I know doesn't have a crush on me and I feel safe and I rarely talked to those who asked me out and confessed to me. I don't know but for some reason every time I see those guys that liked me, I have the uncontrollable urge to run the other way and go into hiding. Dating was not my priority back then but of course I have had some crushes. One time when I was in my last year of high school, this guy who I had a crush on asked me out and we went on a date, after that date he was very sweet and called me every night and always talk to me at school finally he asked if I can be his girlfriend, I really wanted to say YES but something was pulling back. I have this feeling that if I say yes I'll be like a caged bird. I'll be his caged bird and that really scared me. From then on I started avoiding him until we graduated high school but somehow we still managed to be good friends. All of those guys that asked me out that I rejected, ignored and avoided became my good friends. I'm just lucky I guess.

Well you might say that I will never get a boyfriend since I'm afraid of men. But you will be surprised, me and my boyfriend go way way back to childhood but that will maybe be in another blog post.

So back to my guy friends... In high school we stayed in the same class for 4 years, we were in the Honors class we were in the A section and over the 4 yearsof high school only 1 girl was added to the class. So during those four years there was a little bond that formed with the entire class. We were like siblings, we were so comfortable with each other but we have to go our separate ways after graduation. Fast forward to University time I was about 16 y.o. freshmen at my University I encountered some of my guy classmates in high school since we happened to take the same course and classes. We became somewhat close during that time and we met our other friends back then in University. We only became really close when they decided to enroll for Masters degree just like I did and we so became classmates again and even partners when we established our small business at school. Since then we have been travelling together. Unfortunately I'm the only girl in the group so sometimes people get shocked when they know I hang out with only guys, they are my only close friends but really they are decent guys. Every time we go on a trip out of the country I feel so safe and now I even get their very manly green jokes which always involve penis and other male body parts but its okay I totally get them now. They even say that I'm a man trapped in a girl body since I get along better with men now compared to girls.

Honestly now I prefer having male friends than female. Guys have less drama and more fun. My boyfriend doesn't really mind that I go travelling with them alone since they became good friends after I introduced him to them. Sometimes my boyfriend comes along to one of our fun weekend getaways. I did not know when exactly my fear of men got cured but I'm happy now since I get to hang out with my good guy friends. It is also very nice now that I have looked back that I am indeed lucky since 2 of my close friends now were once rejected by me. We laugh about it now when we reminisce the old days but I'm really happy to have them. Now my only wish is to have more girl friends since I'm a really girly girl and I don't have someone to talk about make-up and girly stuff.

Here are some pictures of my guy friends...

Graduation day! We finally finnished our Masters degree...

First out of the country trip... Bound for Hong Kong 2010 with the boys





Second out of the country trip ... Singapore 2011
Having Fun at Universal Studios!

Imitating TV drama cover pose!haha

Had the most amazing experience watching a musical circus at Sentosa Resort World.

Trying to be flexible!hahaha Fail!


Diving... Summer of 2011

Back to dry land with boyfriend and other friends

November 2011 In and Out

IN

♥ Revlon Translucent Powder in shade 01

♥ ELF Eyeshadow Primer

♥ My first make-up gig experience

♥ Nishido Lip Liner in Rosette

♥ The song "Just tonight" by The Pretty Reckless

♥ Hoodies (they are so comfy)

♥ New Guess wallet

♥ Green tea

♥ Me and my friends are all booked for Bangkok in June 2012.


OUT

☠ New AC at the office

☠ New Moon Part 1 Movie (It doesn't do the book justice)

☠ Victoria Secret 2011 Fashion Show (2010 was better, the music sucked in 2011)

☠ Acne scarring (I have a lot of really visible acne scars)

☠ Too much shopping (It is fun but bad for the wallet)

☠ Weight gain, my hormones have not yet stabilized so I'm still bloated

☠ Dessert binging, its so yummy but it makes me feel really troubled after.

☠ November at the office, there were a lot birthday celebration in November which contributed to my weight gain.

Fist make-up gig

I have been using make-up for almost 3 years now but I have never done it to others besides myself. I was excited and scared when my mom asked me to do my cousin's make-up for her 18th birthday pictorial because I had never done it before. Sure I can do my own make-up in less than 10 mins but putting make-up on somebody else is a totally new experience.

It hard to decide what kind of look would suite the person your doing the make-up on and you have to consider a lot of things like their skin tone, skin type , preference and if they have allergies as to avoid using products that might trigger a reaction. So I started by priming her face and matching her to a foundation color. I ended up mixing a couple of foundation to get it to match. I decided to do a neutral make-up look to keep the look simple and somewhat elegant so it will not clash with the red dress that she will wear.

In the end I felt pleased with my work and I want to expand my experience more. I admired my work and I felt proud. Here are some pictures of that day. I was the make-up artist, photographer and director of our little shoot. My brother and I also had a little cameo appearance in his shoot because we couldn't help but join in on the fun.hehe

Testing make-up with flash photography.

Massive November Round-up!

I had been very naughty this November. I wasn't able to control myself and went on a shopping spree. I justified it as doing my Christmas shopping early but it turns out I bought a bunch of stuff for myself rather than gifts for others. Here are the things that I bought for myself.

To start, I got these comfy shirts and hoodies caught my attention and since it was on sale I decided to grab 2 of different colors since I can't seem to decide what color to pick.

As you can see I went crazy and bought two of the same things in different color. If I can't choose a color I got to have both of them which is bad I know ^_^.. I also bought 2 pairs of shoes one nude and the other black with ruffle detailing at the back and two identical clutches of different color and finally two pair of eyeglasses. The glasses are RayBan's and Tony Morgan.


Everything was on sale so I picked up this brown blazer because in the office it is always freezing so its good to wear jackets and blazers. My friend has the same black dress and she suggested that I try it on and buy it since it looked good on me however we have to coordinate with each other when we decide to wear this dress to avoid wearing the dress at the same time. haha


My favorite purchase of the month is this Guess wallet. I have been wanting a proper big wallet since ages ago and I can't seem to find a generic one that fit my needs so I decided to splurge on a Guess wallet as a gift to myself this Christmas, although all of these things I bought were gifts to myself. haha

For the beauty and miscellaneous items that I bought, you can see I got a lot of lip products and nail polishes. The pink bag was a free item from purchasing my Revlon translucent powder and Revlon face primer, which I truly love. I have never used such an amazing powder, it just locks in the foundation and makes your skin looks flawless. I also find that I doesn't make my face oily than usual. I also picked up a body spray and a styling brush since seem to think that I needed it at the time. I went crazy on nail polishes, I picked up some fun color nail polishes from Meja and a crackle nail polish set. And I also bought some random stuff, my planner for 2012 and some skincare products since I was running low at the moment.

Here are the swatches for the Nishido lip liners
(From left to right ... Rossette, Rose Berry, Coral Rust and Blaze)

My favorite lip liner is Rossette it is a perfect everyday color it goes well with everything. I also love the maybeline lip balm especially the mint flavor one because it tingles as you put it on. You will feel so cool and refresh once you put in on.

Acne + Weight Gain + Irregular Period = Hormonal Imbalance (Thyriod Problem)

Having clear skin and a fit body is really important to people especially to girls. I started being conscious of my appearance starting University and more so as I started working. I am currently in the banking industry and being in that industry we are expected to look pleasant and present ourselves with grace and confidence to our client to better serve their needs.

I never had spots or pimples when I was in high school. I was lucky enough to have clear skin all throughout high school and about halfway through University. Even during my menstrual periods, which don't occur every month, I rarely ever get any breakouts. I have basically an irregular period, the longest number of months of me not having my period was 6 months and that really bothered me but I was so scared to have myself checked. I have also observed that I had high metabolism. I could eat a whole family size pizza all by myself and not gain weight ever, so basically I ate whatever I want and whenever I want.

It all began to change when I started working. I was still skinny but I have observed that my neck was getting bigger and I had trouble swallowing food. I had my suspicions that i might have a thyroid problem because I know it is hereditary and both my grandparents have it so there is a big possibility that I might get it. One day i fainted in the office during morning assembly and I was rushed to the hospital. Finally I was checked and referred to a doctor specializing in internal medicine. I had my lab done and I was thoroughly checked and I was diagnosed with toxic hyperthyroid. My thyroid gland is producing too much hormones than what my body needs that is why I had such high metabolism.

My doctor was very nice and explained to me all the food that I need to avoid which were a lot and most of it were my favorites and she had me on medication for hyperthyroid. I was diligent in taking my medication but I was not able to give up on my favorite food which were forbidden. After 2 weeks I went back to see my doctor because I had this rashes on my body and it turns out I was allergic to the medication. I was given two options, either I undergo surgery to remove my thyroid gland or I take radioactive iodine to kill my thyroid gland. I chose the latter because I am afraid of the surgery it will leave a scar on my neck and there was a chance that I could loose my voice. The radioactive iodine side-effects were bearable compared to risk of having surgery.

After I underwent radioactive treatment I was not allowed to go near anyone, I was isolated for about 3 weeks and even after then I was not allowed to go near people especially pregnant women and babies. Nurses and doctors wore special suite when entering my room and I had no visitors. I did not feel any pain, I was just now allowed to go near people. It was my mini vacation in isolation, I did nothing but eat, sleep and watch TV.

Now years after my treatment, I am healthy and religiously taking my hormone supplements and going to my scheduled check-ups. From my experience I have observed that every time my hormones are not within the normal range I tend to get massive acne breakouts, weight gain, and delayed period. My doctor advised me that aside from taking my hormone supplements, I need to have healthier diet and I must exercise regularly. It is really important to consult with your doctor to check if hormonal supplement dosage needs to be adjusted. So for those of you maybe showing the same symptoms as me, have yourself checked with your doctor to get proper medical treatment.

Naughty November

Ever since the start of November I can't seem to control myself. I have been really naughty and went on various shopping trips. I justified it as getting a head start on my Christmas shopping but I end up getting more items for myself than for others. I'm so bad and I need to pace myself and get a grip. Well since I already bought various stuff, expect an upcoming haul post on the things I bought.

I have an interesting project that I am working and is fashion and beauty related. I will also do a post on it soon, it is a bit silly but i like it and in theory it should help me control my spending on fashion and beauty items. Well lets just see how it goes.

October 2011 In and Out

IN


♥ The new house of night book "Destined". I believe that this is the 8th book of the series and I simply love it! New characters were introduced and alliances were made with former enemies. This book is just amazing with all the twists kept me reading until dawn. The only down side is that I have to wait for the next book to come out soon. Bought this book as soon as it came out and finished reading it in a day. Love IT!

♥ Twilight Saga. I think I'm the last person on earth who haven't read this series. I watched all of the movies but I never did read the books. So my co-worker lend me her copy of the books. I have already finished the first to books and I think that the books definitely stumps the movie.

♥ Cash Gift from the office. October is the month where we can expect additional bonus for the incoming holidays!

♥ Long weekends in the Halloween week.

♥ Elf Flat top powder brush from the pro line.

♥ Elf eyelid primer in nude. (comparable to smashbox photo finish eyelid primer)

♥ Bath and body works cooling spray in "Sweet Pea"

♥ Music - What do you want from me by Adam Lambert.

♥ Inexpensive accessories from a local store in my area. Favorite place to get trendy and inexpensive accessories!


♥ LA girl PRO Conceal, high definition concealer. This is my lifesaver since my Skin is freaking out at the moment. It has great coverage and a lot of color rage to choose from.


OUT

♥ Massive acne outbreak due to hormonal imbalance. Went to my endocrinologist to have my medication adjusted.

♥ Maybeline Angel Concealer. Good for under eye circles but terrible for covering acne. It aggravates existing acne making them more noticeable.

♥ Broken AC in my room. Guess this is where my cash gift will be spent.

♥ Skin irritation from stud earrings. I really have sensitive ears and I can't wear studs.

♥ Loreal Cleanser and Toner. Made my skin break out more.

♥ Spot treatment Gel (Clean and Clear and Garnier).

♥ Smashbox photo finish primer (so expensive compared to Elf primer)