Third Time's the Charm

...and so were the first and second!

Congrats to my beloved Ateneo Blue Eagles! Three-peat, baby!!!

For Buenafans and Buenafriends! Photo by ze vonderful Aaron Vicencio.

I feel kind of bad that I didn't get to watch the finals game live, but I probably would have had a heart attack if I had. That was one exciting game! I felt sick as the team struggled in the first quarter. I exalted when Buenafe made that killer three in the fourth. (I am a Buenafan! Haha.) My arms shot up in the air as the final buzzer sounded. My team--the champion once again!

For the uninitiated, I am a pretty big basketball fan, and among all the leagues that I follow, I am most invested in the UAAP (the local collegiate league). I joined the cheering squad back in college because a) I loved dancing, b) I figured if I was going to cheer, I had to do it before I hit my late 20s, and c) I wanted to score free tickets to every game of the season! It was tough trying (mostly pretending) to face the crowd and getting them hyped up, my back turned to the court. But I'd sneak in peeks, or stand on the stairs sideways so that I could still see the action!

Today, I missed yelling "Get that ball!" and "One big fight!" and cheering all the chants I know by heart. I missed the deafening eruption of cheers as Ateneo officially became champions, beating the no.1-seeded team. I missed being on my feet, on edge for 40 minutes. But I definitely won't miss the bonfire! Wheee!

What Price Beauty?

How much do you spend on beauty treatments/maintenance per year?

Image from here

I always thought of myself as someone with very basic beauty needs--the occasional haircut, monthly manis and pedis. But in the past couple of years my list has grown to accommodate moisturizers and other facial creams (although I sometimes get these things for free), regular waxing treatments, hair color maintenance, and now, eyelash extensions. This last one, I could probably do without--it's not something I have to get regularly. I still don't have facials on my list (I've never had one), and thankfully I get loads of free makeup from work so I very rarely go makeup shopping. But I gotta say, I'm slightly alarmed.

The thing is, I've come to see all these things as my New Basics for looking polished (or, at the very least, presentable!). When I hit 30, I told myself that I would make an effort to always (or almost always) look put together. This meant no more flipflops at the office (even if they're allowed) or cutesie T-shirts (except when I'm running to the grocery store, going to the beach, or hanging out with my family). The biggest exception, perhaps, is when I'm on the field and all vanity goes out the window.

More than once, I've been told that I look like a boy on the field. So much for polish.

When I was lamenting all the kachings needed for ka-kikayan, Hamil tried to make me feel better by saying, "But you look good." Thank you, dear husband, for saying so. And for not rolling your eyes at all these seemingly frivolous expenses!

Anyhoo, this got me really curious about other girls' beauty budgets. What products and treatments do you splurge on to stay pretty? What do you consider your own beauty basics, stuff that you really spend your hard-earned money on?

And the Winner Is...

About a month ago, I asked friends both online and offline to help me choose a swimsuit for Hamil's and my first anniversary trip. The winning suit:

I got this cute li'l number online from Cocomo. I like that the material doesn't look cheap, plus there's an extra layer underneath so it's not flimsy. I got a medium, and it fit the bust area and hip area, but the torso was a tad loose. (But hey, better too loose than too tight!) The spots where the straps attach to the bust were a little uncomfy, but I couldn't remove the straps for fear that I would pull a Heidi Montag--I kept having to pull up the bust area. Oh well. I think I would still order from Cocomo in the future--cuteness outweighs all the little cons!

Thanks to those who voted!

Mini Santorini

We couldn't possibly fly to Greece over our anniversary weekend, so we settled for the next best thing...

These, my friends, were taken at Thunderbird Resort, La Union, about a five-hour drive up north from Manila. The structures (white with bits of blue, as in the dome over the lobby) stand on a cliff overlooking the sea--reminiscent of Santorini, one of the places on our must-visit list.

The room we were given had two queen-size beds, so it was big enough for a family of four.

But since we still didn't have little Hamils and Tishas with us, one of the beds remained unoccupied, except by this little fella...

My friends, after seeing this photo, debated over what animal this was supposed to be. Elephant, pig, dog were all mentioned. This remains to be one of life's great mysteries.

The room we booked had a jacuzzi but, alas, it wasn't working! Even if we had transferred to another room, the jacuzzi still wouldn't have worked; we were told that there was something wrong with the motor. At the whole resort! Boo. So much for jet streams of water pummeling my sore lower back. Luckily, we had a flat-screen TV, WiFi, our books, a pool, and each other to keep us occupied!

We had dinner at the in-house restaurant, Olives. The prices are typical of resorts (about P400, more or less, per dish), but the servings were hefty, and the food was yummers.

Fettuccine with prosciutto, mushrooms, and artichoke cream

Hamil's half (!) chicken was oh-so-flavorful and, he felt, so worth the price.

We visited the nearby casino after dinner, but the place kind of had a depressing vibe, so we just went back to our rooms to rest our expanded tummies. There really isn't a lot to do here, unless you play golf. (Hamil biked around for a bit; my protective husband refused to teach me how--I never learned how to ride a bike!--because I didn't have any kneepads!) There's a hint of a beach which I didn't get to check out, a basketball half court, a boardwalk. But I guess that's kind of the beauty of it: no crazy partying, no full day overloaded with activities. It was just pure relaxation.

Would I go back? Sure, but probably only if we had someone else to drive us. It's so unfair to Hamil that I get to sit back while he does all the driving. The ability to stay awake for over five hours straight in a comfortable car is just not in my skill set!

Our Wedding Is Featured in Bridal Book!

As you may have gleaned from the title, our wedding is featured in Bridal Book! It's a local website which features real weddings and which gives loads of ideas for brides-to-be. Click here if you'd like to read about our pang-chick flick love story and see purty photos of the wedding details. And Like us, if you feel so inclined!:)

My Happy Place

I did the whole blog roulette thing, clicking on the "Next Blog" button in the hopes of being surprised by something interesting. This particular entry made me pause and think, "Wouldn't it be nice if we had something like this here?"

Photo from Fiberbliss

And then I realized that we do!

Early this year, Hamil and I went on our first camping trip together on Valentine weekend. We went to gorgeous Nagsasa Cove, a neighbor to the more famous Anawangin in Zambales. There, we pitched a tent, lounged on a hammock by the beach, explored a mini-forest bordering a stream, walked through six-foot-tall grass to get to a trickling waterfall, and jumped into the little swimming hole.

The beach is made up of sand and lahar from the Mt. Pinatubo eruption.

The hours stretched on, moving in slow motion, in stark contrast to the frenetic pace of the lives we left behind in Manila. There was no signal (between the two of us, we cover all three major networks, and still nothing!), no WiFi. We read, we napped, we talked, we ate roasted marshmallows, we shivered in our tent as a howling wind blew relentlessly that night. We hugged and rubbed our feet together to help us keep warm. (Now that I think of it, it's a lot like that chapter in Eclipse. Except Hamil was both Edward and Jacob--my fire and ice! My best of both worlds.)

My man, a roasted marshmallow, the cool wind in our, er, my hair--aside from a working bathroom, what more could I possibly ask for?

I think I was drawn to that random blog post because right now, I am longing for the feeling I had in the two days we were at Nagsasa. Right after the trip, I wrote that I would always look back at it with fondness. Today, I look back at it with yearning. There's just a tad too much Crazy in my life now, and I just want to get away. To go back to the place where I was completely, utterly at peace.

Lash-ing out: My First Lash Extensions!

The first time I ever wore false eyelashes was one summer before my freshman or sophomore year of high school. I was in a Repertory play, and it was my first experience wearing heavy stage makeup. Back then, false lashes didn't come in the more natural-looking versions we have now, so I thought that I looked an awful lot like a drag queen (and not in a good way). They also felt mighty heavy, itchy, and downright uncomfortable. This was when I ranked the act of peeling off false eyelashes as one of the best feelings in the world (right up there with taking off one's bra after a long day. Har).

Luuuurve this movie! John Leguizamo, Wesley Snipes, and the late Patrick Swayze as drag queens? What's not to love? Photo from here.

The other false-lash experience that stands out in my memory is my wedding day. My fabulous makeup artist, Omar, wanted to pump up the volume of my long but somewhat anemic lashes by adding falsies. In this day and age, we have individual falsies that don't give ye olde drag-queen effect of yore. They looked quite lovely, giving my eye makeup a bit of drama, without going over the top. The problem was, Omar didn't have his preferred eyelash glue that day, so he settled for whatever was on hand. By communion during the church ceremony, my falsies were falling off one by one onto my veil!

Hamil kept pocketing my Amazing Falling Eyelashes. Here he is, fiddling with a fallen falsie, and there I am, finding the whole thing hilarious.

Makeup mishap aside, I did like the effect of those falsies. I thought about them often, especially when I would be frustrated with my sometimes-uncurl-able lashes. I've tried the whole heat-up-the-curler-with-a-hairdryer trick to no avail. I'm also very lazy when it comes to removing eye makeup, and think removing mascara is a huge chore. Sometimes I think I've gotten it all off, only to find goth-like black streaks around my eyes after I wash my face. Ugh.

It took me weeks to decide to finally get lash extensions. My main concern was that they would be so itchy that I wouldn't be able to stand having them on for more than a day. My other concern was Hamil's reaction. Whenever I brought it up, he would kind of get this bemused what's-my-krungkrung-wife-up-to-now look, but he didn't really discourage me from it. (He's awesome that way.) But after one frustrated lash-curling attempt too many, I finally decided to go for it.

My lash extension salon of choice: i-Lash Extensions Salon.

I went to the SM Hypermart branch, pictured above. This photo from the i-Lash website.

Having never done this before, I had no idea what to expect. I walked in to find a bunch of comfy-looking loungers and stools where customers could put their feet up.

Also from the i-Lash website

I was asked to choose the kind of lashes I wanted:

• Fine (100 pieces of extensions, any length), P550
• Natural (160 to 180 pieces, any length), P800
• Mascara Effect (all existing lashes will have extensions in two layers), P1,000 to P1,250
• Full Thick (all existing will have extensions in three to four layers), P1,500
• Colored lashes (brown, blue, violet), P2,000

Since I was worried about looking like RuPaul for about four weeks, I decided to go for the Fine extensions. The lash girl, Remy, then set to work.

I lay down on the lounger, and they were just as comfortable as they looked! So comfy, in fact, that I found myself drifting in and out of sleep throughout the hour-long procedure. Yep, one hour--they painstakingly apply each individual lash onto the lash line, and make sure that they are perfectly, evenly spaced. "Will my own lashes fall out after?" you ask, or "Does it hurt?" I could address every single question you have, but i-Lash's website has a nifty little FAQ section that can answer your queries more credibly.

The verdict? Tisha Likes this! They aren't itchy or heavy at all! I didn't think they would feel like...nothing! I only feel them when I squeeze (really squeeeeze) my eyes shut, or accidentally tug at my lids when I wash my face and all. But other than that, it's as if they're Bob Dylan. (You know, They're Not There.)

(Left) Extensions Extreme Closeup; (right) the effect: They look pretty darn real! Someone tentatively said, "Nice...mascara?" (I was hesitant to post this not-so-flattering pic--lack of sleep is partly to blame--but review purposes trump vanity!)

Big plus! They look incredibly natural--like my own lashes on a good lash day! Hamil didn't even notice them, until I pointed them out. He was relieved to find that they weren't the bushy, unnatural versions that he had seen before. Later on, looking at my eyes up close, he said that I kind of looked like a different person. It's such a subtle change--people will probably notice that something's different about you, but they won't be able to pinpoint what it is. In that instance, just bat your eyelashes at them and give them a coy little smile.


i-Lash Extensions Salon is located at SM Supercenter Pasig (beside Tiendesitas), tel. (02) 470-4119. For more information and for a list of their other branches, visit their website at http://ilashsalon.multiply.com.

Kiss #3: One Year, and Counting!

First anniversary weekend getaway in Mini Santorini (will blog in detail about it soon)

A year ago (or, more accurately, one year, one week, and two days ago), I officially became the luckiest girl alive: I married the man I've been with since I was 19. (And nope, we never broke up. It was never on the table.) The man who surprised me with an old-fashioned serenade; who used to commute under the heat of the summer sun just to see me; who waited six hours for me without complaint (that was when I knew); who still opens the car door for me even in the age of automatic locks; who not only lets me do my own thing but, more importantly, cheers me on; who still surprises me with flowers for no reason; who bravely eats and even compliments my failed kitchen experiments ("Masarap naman yung part na hindi sunog ah...").

Honestly, I thought that by now, the whole living-together thing would have gotten old. But it's still a thrill to go home to him/have him come home to me; to have whispered conversations (and a good laugh) as we lie in bed, covering everything from the mundane to the meaning of life; to wake up beside him every morning--I could do without the blare of his alarm though. You'd think that spending so much time together would make me so sick of being around him. But we part in the morning, and by the afternoon I'm missing him. Always.

Happy first anniversary, Hamil! Here's to us getting even better with age!

The Long Weekend

...kind of didn't feel like a weekend at all. I ended up working Friday and Sunday, so the three-day weekend turned into a one-day weekend for me. Oh well. I did get a lot of stuff done though. A rundown of my activities:

Bullet #7. My lace top from Forever21--yep, I succumbed to disposable fashion! Har. Photo from my SIL.

• Friday: A food shoot. I kind of had to tap into my dormant styling skills. It's been a while.
  
• An attempt at shopping. But Megamall + holiday = The Worst Idea Ever.
• Spirits 2010 meeting. For some reason, I ended up on the planning committee of the annual international tournament held in Manila. Although this time it'll be in Clark. And I'll be missing it! Sigh.
  
• Saturday: UP vs. AdU (women's). Finally got to see my niece Mix in action!
• Lunch at Ristras. All burrito-ed out.
  
• Disc training...where I rolled my other ankle! Ugh. It still hurts, but at least it didn't swell into epic chicken-lollipop proportions like the last time I sprained my ankle.
• Dinner with family at O Kitchen. I am kicking myself for forgetting my camera! We celebrated Mumsy's dinner, plus Mix's birthday, plus Grandparents' Day (did y'all greet your lolos and lolas?) at this hidden, elegant yet casual restaurant. The resto's Sisig Dinuguan is pretty awesome! Little-known fact: I am averse to black food. I don't eat adobong pusit, and up until a week ago, I had never tried dinuguan in my life.
  
• Resortsworld with family. Hamil won enough to fund our gift for Mumsy! Har. And I was IN AWE of those Russian/Ukranian performers! The female version of the Power Duo was ah-mazing, and that contortionist on the swinging ring was spineless! Not cowardly or wimpy or whatever--as in spineless, boneless, inhumanly flexible!
  
• Sunday: Radio guesting. Pia Magalona interviewed K-Zone's Lio and me back to back. It was my last time on U92--it's their last day on air on September 30! (P.S. Grab a copy of KZ's September ish--it's all about supervillains, with Gru on the cover! Pick up a copy of GH while you're at it!)
  
• Grocery shopping. I'm bad at the Price-Is-Right-like guessing of individual goods' prices, but I'm getting so good at estimating the total cost of the stuff in my basket. I normally go into the supermarket with a budget in mind, dump stuff in my basket, and at the cashier, find out that I'm just a few pesos below budget. Let's hope my streak continues!
• Late lunch with the girls at Fez. No husbands or kids in tow! It took weeks of planning, and people were late, but the girls and I were able to find a common sched! (Most of us anyway.) If only we could do this every month. Hanging out with people you grew up with is good for the heart.
• Cheerdance competition-viewing. Since I don't have a Twitter account, I ended up posting my stream of thoughts on FB. Congrats, UP! Well-deserved! Good job, ADMU kiddies. You've come a long way since the days when only one person on the squad could do an aerial! (Kids today are fearless, I tell ya.)
  
• Closet-clearing. Unsuccessful. I've still got an entire closet to clear--I only ended up dumping stuff from the half of Hamil's closet that I've taken over. I ditched some of my empire-cut dresses (my favorite cut)--the ones that kind of make me look preggers--and will be storing 'em in a "Break Open in Case of Pregnancy" box. Other things I discovered: Between the two of us, Hamil and I have six ankle braces (see bullet #6); and I have a grand total of 16 swimsuits!
• Dinner with Hamil's family. It was great seeing his family again. I didn't realize I hadn't seen them in such a long time til one of his brothers asked me about my trip to NY...four months ago!
  
• Despicable Me in 3D. Finally! Loved it! And I always enjoy hearing Hamil laugh.:)

AND I got enough sleep! Woohoo! This week looks promising too. Keep y'all posted!


O Kitchen is along E. Rodriguez Ave., Libis, QC (going north, turn right on the small street right after Honda, going to Padre Pio). Fez is at Serendra, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

A Mexican Monster at Ristras

So I finally got to try the famous burrito at Ristras.

I had been warned that one is good enough for sharing. And share it we did--Hamil and I halved one because seeing that thang just scared the crap out of me (his was the bigger portion). I swear, it was nearly as wide as my neck!

We ordered the steak burrito (a rather pricey P340, but since we were sharing, it was OK I guess), and watched as the server piled on the fillings: chorizo rice (other option: cilantro and lime rice), pinto beans, steak, onions, salsa, cheese, jalapenos, corn, sour cream, guacamole, and a heap of guilt.

It amazes me to think that there's actually a Godzilla burrito--one more massive than this one. There's a board at the cantina displaying names of those who successfully annihilated said burrito, including the amount of time it took them to do so (best time so far is 48 minutes). If you finish it, you get a shirt, bragging rights, and seven extra pounds. If you don't, you have to cough up a thousand bucks!

So, the burrito. Apart from its heft, I gotta say there really isn't anything notable about it. For something that has so many ingredients, it sure tasted rather...bland. It was interesting eating something that I could probably use as a dumb bell for the 30 Day Shred, but I probably wouldn't order the same thing next time. For a burrito fix, I'd still head to Mexicali!

Ristras is at J. Abad Santos cor. Lopez Jaena (near Wilson), San Juan City.

Scent of a Woman

My husband doesn't understand why I'm willing to pay $16 for this...

By Candidate, from here

"But, but, it's the kind of art I appreciate. Besides, $16 is less than P1,000," I reasoned. "I want it for Christmas."

"Yun lang pala eh," he replied. (That's loosely translated as, "Is that all?")

"Among other things!" I quickly added.

In my quest to crowd our still-bare dressing-room walls with original prints, I've been trawling Etsy for fashion illustrations. Not a good idea. I'm starting to think I can become a collector of these things, and am imagining prints on the walls of our future baby's nursery, future kids' rooms, commissioned works...

I think I was drawn to this particular print because, for one thing, Chanel No. 5 reminds me of my mom, and for another, I consider it the scent of a sophisticated woman (something I strive to be--which, in itself, is ironic because a truly sophisticated woman wouldn't even have to try!). I was introduced to this classic scent maybe 15 years ago, when Mumsy had a bottle of it on her dresser. I didn't realize then that it was a legendary fragrance, and wasn't even particularly attracted to its scent--although I used it liberally. You just knew it was something special once you got a whiff of it--and putting it on made me feel so grown up!

Hmmm...the more I write about it, the more I want the actual perfume for Christmas! Let's hope Hamil still replies with, 'Yun lang pala eh!"

First Concert, Second Kiss

OK, so the photo isn't that great. But there's a story behind it: Girl is fully resigned to the fact that she wouldn't be able to watch the Usher concert because she would be working that night. The very evening of the concert, girl finds that she can watch the concert after all! Girl is caught unprepared and camera-less. Girl watches concert with boy--the first one they see together after nearly 10 years of being a couple. Girl is sad that she doesn't have her trusty golden digicam. Boy whips out camera-phone and snaps away.

Lesson learned: Be prepared--whether this means looking presentable, having your digicam, or being game for anything--because you never know when something special is going to happen!

Good Housekeeping's September Ish Is Out!

It's actually been out for over a week! Do grab a copy of our latest issue (and help me keep my job)! Beginning this issue, we've got 12--count 'em, 12!--additional pages every month, all for the same price of 100 pesoses!!! A few things we've got inside:

• Newly elected Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez (gorgeous, isn't she? I couldn't stop staring at her during the shoot!) talks about her 12-year romance with husband Richard Gomez. Kilig! And for those who are curious, Lucy is suuuper pleasant and easy to work with! Even if she wasn't feeling well during our shoot, she still soldiered on.
  
• A marriage manual, with issues, stories, and tips for every phase of married life. This one's by former GH editor Jing Lejano. Cute illustrations by creative director extraordinaire Carlo Vergara.
• A disaster preparedness guide. It's been a year since Ondoy--are you any more ready for a disaster this year than you were last year? Where should you go if your area starts getting flooded? What should you do when an earthquake hits? We've got loads of info, from what to include in an emergency kit, to emergency contact numbers you can cut out and post on your fridge. (P.S. Did you know that our marriage contract was Ondoy-ed? Long, ugly story. But til now we don't have our marriage certificate!)
• Chocolate recipes! Yum yum yum! And they're not what you think. Sure, we've got dessert in there. But chocolate in a main course? Intriguing, isn't it?
• P90,000 worth of prizes! Grab a copy to find out how you can get a piece of the pie!
  

And LOTS more! Available at newsstands, supermarkets, bookstores, and wherever else magazines are sold.

House Arrest

A few years ago, I wrote about my need to write lists when I'm feeling particularly overwhelmed. I like making lists because it makes me feel like I'm in control. (Did I just hear God guffaw?)

Right now, one of the things I'm stressed out about is that our house--despite our having lived there for nearly a year (more, in Hamil's case)--still isn't picture-perfect. See, I had two little goals: to have a wedding pretty enough to be featured in Martha Stewart Weddings (check!), and a house cool enough to be featured in Real Living Magazine. That second goal remains unfulfilled. Sigh.

Don't get me wrong. I love our house. I relish going home after a long day at work, and know the true meaning of "home sweet home," most especially after a weekend away. It's comfortable, and it is probably above-average in terms of style. (I don't know a lot of people who have gold and black chairs in their living areas.) But, well, I want it to be as near to perfect as it can be. And so, my list of things to do to get our house shoot-worthy:

• Mount Vitor on a birdcage stand. I intended to just have a birdcage for decorative purposes. But Hamil kind of...doesn't get it ("Anong ilalagay mo do'n?").
  
• Clear the junk under the stairs.
• Fix our entryway! I need a console table or a slim shelf. Also "need" a Victoria Ghost. Har.
• Corral our yoga mats and umbrellas into a big, attractive basket or something.
• Come up with an interesting tabletop tableau for the living area.
• Spraypaint a crow lamp that the Space Encounters peeps gave me as a gift. In gold.
  
• Prettify our first-floor bathroom. Possibly add a teeny chandelier.
  
• Create an accent wall on the second floor--I intend to paint black and white stripes on it. And then hang a bunch of photos in identical, sleek black frames.
• Hang our MDF chandelier.
• Get the damn heater fixed.
• Replace the doorknob on the door of the second-floor bathroom.
  
• Clear the dressing room of crap. (I have way too many old bills and receipts crammed into nesting baskets.)
• Hang pretty prints in dressing room.
• Cover frame of full-length mirror with fabric (inspired by London home store Squint). Think this can be done with fabric scraps and a glue gun?
  
• Get a duvet filler. And new beddings while I'm at it!

Sigh. So much to do. Who has the time? I guess I just have to figure out which stuff I can do in a flash, and get those done before tackling the bigger projects. Wish me luck.

Kiss #1: Wedding Day

This is where The 100 Kisses Project begins: our wedding day, almost exactly one year ago!

Highlights:

• Hamil and I exchanged our vows (and our first kiss as husband and wife) in front of a packed church!
• We had a very pretty, Martha Stewart Weddings-worthy wedding--from my peacock- and ostrich-feather-festooned bouquet, to the black spray-painted doilies on the tables, the accordion frames with our sponsors' pictures and table numbers, the very chic setup and yummy food by Kaye Cunanan, the black lace surrounding the three tiers of our (free) pristine white cake...sigh.
• Modesty aside, I think we had one of the most fun weddings I've ever been to! A number of our friends actually got sloshed, we had pizza delivered at midnight (wiped out in five minutes flat!), and people danced til 2:00 AM!

I gotta say though, the wedding was fun, but the marriage so far--it's a total blast!

Holy Ant Invasion, Batman!

I am seriously stressing out over our ant problem at home! For weeks, I've been noticing trails of ants on the floor, near the stairs, in the kitchen. And please don't think it's a lack of hygiene on our part because we're quite good at cleaning up after ourselves! I've followed a few trails and they all lead to little holes in the wood--in the kitchen cabinet, in the bathroom doorway. So I'm assuming they're nesting somewhere in the bones of our home. AND IT'S DRIVING ME NUTS!!!

Hamil pointed out that we have two kinds of ants. While I'm manic about killing them, no questions asked, he's all about knowing his enemy ("We have red ones, and we have black ones"). I keep attacking them with moist paper towels (die, ants, die!), and they retreat for a bit before coming out later on when that mad, five-foot-one-and-a-half giantess is gone. I've tried wiping their trails with vinegar, I think I've even tried petroleum jelly, and they've worked to some extent. But these home remedies aren't a permanent solution. And I'm not too happy about having a first floor that smells like suka.

Good Housekeeping managing editor Kat theorizes that ants are seeking shelter indoors from the rains--apparently the little critters are everywhere these days. I know Hamil and I have more than enough space for two people, but I do not want to share quarters with a battalion of ants! I'm tired of doing the "good enough" way and am seriously considering calling in the pros. I've got a number already, but if you've had an ant extermination experience, and can recommend a good exterminator, please please leave a comment!

In the Bag

I was fortunate to be invited to the Aranaz private shopping party. As far as I know, bag designer Amina Aranaz Alunan (one of the most mesmerizingly beautiful people I know) holds this sale every year during her birthday month (August)--everything is 50% off!

I don't really need a lot of clutches or teeny bags, since I don't really go to a lot of evening events. What I need are massive bags with space for all my unedited everyday "essentials" (bulky wallet, two phones, kikay kit, notebook, pen...). At first, I was thinking of getting the black version of this RIIR bag...

"Modeling" at our batch reunion/fundraiser. We had another batchmate, Macky (aka Isabel) Roces teach us how to work the runway carrying a bag!

...but I decided that 1) I liked it so much better in lime green (not available), and 2) I would get more mileage out of this bag...

I'm not really a big fan of brands, but I gotta say that I absolutely love Aranaz bags. I remember even back in grade school, (or high school? It's been a while!) when Amina's mom was exporting bags, they had these canvas bags that everyone wanted--what stylish schoolbags they made! And since my birthday was right around the corner, Amina gifted me with one of the coveted bags. I was ecstatic!

That bag is long gone, but I now have three prized Aranaz bags, all of which have gotten lots of compliments (and one of which is actually on, er, extended loan from my mom). And I hope to add to my collection! In time. In time.

Well, At Least One Person Finds Me Entertaining...

I gotta say, I was floored to find myself on Frances's personal list of Emerging Influential Blogs! What she says about Here, Tishie Tishie:

"New wife and new Good Housekeeping editor-in-chief Tisha Alvarez-Angluben is living the life! Her blog is filled with all sorts of fun stuff--dance, food, sports, prizes she won in raffles--reading Tisha's blog is like reading about the girl-next-door: familiar but she always seems to have more fun than you!"

Pretty cool, huh? I don't think I'm going to make it onto the final list, but whatever. Being recognized by a fellow writer/editor is reward enough for me!

I'm also on the lookout for new blogs to add to my reading list (I am horrible at surfing), and am raring to check out Frances's other picks. While we're at it, can you guys recommend other blogs that I should visit? I like reading blogs that are witty and that have an upbeat vibe (because I find that snarkiness breeds negativity, which I have no room for in my life)--no particular topic, because I like being surprised by things outside of my own little world. Suggestions?