And the Winners Are...

Happy anniversary, Here, Tishie Tishie! Happy birthday, BFF! And happy announcement day to all those who joined my blog anniversary giveaway, sponsored by Cocomo!

Let's get right down to it!

Winner #1 gets the Love Story reversible bikini.

The winner, according to my online random number generator is...

Number 94 said that she wants to win a Cocomo swimsuit because, "I haven't been to the beach in 7 years! I will now have a good excuse to hit the beach because of course I have to show off the swimsuit. ;)" SEVEN YEARS! Sweetie, it's time for you to hit the gorgeous beaches of our tropical country, and now you have the perfect excuse!:)

On to the next one! Winner #2 gets the Vienna tankini.

Who could it be? This winner said, "I want to win a Cocomo swimsuit because these are really gorgeous, perfect for my graduation celebration! :))" Winner #2, consider this a graduation gift!:)

(Che, sorry, you just missed it!!! At least you know this isn't rigged. Haha.)

And finally, Winner #3 gets the Black Savannah.

Number 35 said, "I want to win a Cocomo swimsuit because I can definitely rock these swimsuits! LOL! Kidding aside, I think the swimsuits above look great and will be definitely great for summer! :D" Well, this winner can now rock the oh-so-sexy one-piece pictured above...

Congratualtions to Nina, Snow0016, and Sugar Sugar! Please get in touch with me through heretishietishie@gmail.com. You have until 12:00 noon of Thursday, the 31st of March 2011. If I don't hear from you by then, I shall be holding another draw! (I sense a collective crossing of fingers among the others who joined.)

Thank you to Cocomo and to all those who joined! Again, I was so overwhelmed by the response. I was up til two in the morning just collating everything and cross-checking with the Followers list and the blog posts for additional entries. Haha. (Well, not so haha considering my zombie-esque state.) A special thanks to those who've been following this blog since the beginning, even before I started giving stuff away. Sniff.

Have a great week, everyone!:)

Giveaway Now Closed

My blog anniversary giveaway is officially closed! Thanks to all those who joined! So overwhelmed by the response. Check back tomorrow (28th of March) at noon to find out if you won a Cocomo swimsuit!

Last Call for Giveaway Entries!

Hi, everyone! You have until 11:59 p.m. to join my blog anniversary giveaway. You have a chance to win one of three Cocomo swimsuits! Good luck!:)

Have You Joined My Giveaway Yet?

In case you haven't heard, I'm giving away three swimsuits courtesy of Cocomo! You have until 11:59 p.m. of March 27 to join! To borrow lyrics from my song-of-the-moment, hurry, hurry, hurry now quick, quick, quick!

Anniversary Giveaway: Cocomo Swimsuits!

Yup, you read right--swimsuits, plural! Cocomo is sponsoring Here, Tishie Tishie's anniversary giveaway and you have the chance to win one of three swimsuits!!! I so want to join my own giveaway! If all the exclamation points haven't made it obvious, I am a fan of Cocomo (I have two suits which you can see here and here), and am thrilled that a brand I love wants to share some goodies with my readers!

Swimsuit 1: Love Story (available in small, medium, and large. Check Cocomo's site for size chart). It's a fun and flirty bikini with a reversible top and bottom! It's padded, and the top ties at the neck and back.

Swimsuit 2: Vienna (available in small, medium, and large. Check Cocomo's site for size chart). This fully lined tankini has removable pads. The vertical stripes aren't only cute and playful--they're also slimming!

Swimsuit 3: Black Savannah (available in small, medium, and large. Check Cocomo's site for size chart). This ultra-chic one-piece has adjustable gold loops and removable pads, and is fully lined.

Now for the mechanics.

Rules

*Open to Philippine residents who are public followers of heretishietishie.blogspot.com. (And yes, it's open to men!) By public follower, I mean you have to be visible in that little box on the side labeled "Followers."

*Open until 11:59 PM (Manila time) of March 27, 2011.

*Each entry will be assigned a number, and I will be drawing a number at random using an online generator. First number to be drawn will win swimsuit 1, second number will win swimsuit 2, third number will win swimsuit 3.

*Winner will be announced at 12:00 PM on March 28, 2011 (Happy birthday, Here, Tishie Tishie! And to my BFF, Mads!).
*Winner will have 72 hours to claim the prize after announcement.

How to enter

1. Again, you MUST be a public follower of Here, Tishie Tishie. If you aren't, then step one is to start following!

2. Leave one comment (let me reiterate: just one comment) filling in the blank: "I want to win a Cocomo swimsuit because _______________." This counts as one entry. (E.g., "I want to win a Cocomo swimsuit because it would be perfect for my Boracay trip in April." Now, if only I were really going to Boracay in April! Sigh.)

3. Bonus! For one additional entry, post a link to this entry on your blog, then include a link to that blog post in your comment.

Please please follow the rules, otherwise your entry won't be counted. Good luck, everyone!:)

Giveaway Alert!

Here, Tishie Tishie is celebrating its first anniversary on the 28th of March (which also happens to be my BFF's birthday!)! To mark this little milestone, I'll be hosting another giveaway. I'm still working on the prize but it's 1) perfect for summer, 2) something I want for myself!

Who wants to win?:)

And the Winner Is...

And who is number 10?

Congratulations, Maudey! Lovely that you got an iPod Touch and got to meet your boyfriend's parents! (I must admit, I'm a little curious about the whole Meet the Parents thing. Haha.) Please get in touch with me through heretishietishie@gmail.com. You have until 12:00 noon of Tuesday, the 4th of January 2011.

Thank you to all those who joined! I had fun reading all your comments. Interestingly, many of the best gifts people received weren't material--time with family, new babies, new jobs. Truly, the best things in life are free! But it sure is nice getting some freebies every now and then, yeah?;)

Happy new year, everybody! Let's rock it out, 2011!

Have You Joined My First Giveaway Yet?

If you haven't, click here! You've only got until 11:59 PM tomorrow!

Thanks to all those who've joined so far! Such interesting (and heartwarming) gifts you've all gotten this Christmas. Thank goodness I'm using a random number generator because I really wouldn't be able to pick based solely on your answers!

My Christmas Gift to You: Tishie's First Giveaway!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

As promised, I've got the details of my first-ever giveaway! Before I tell you how to join, I'd like to show you what's up for grabs. One lucky reader will get all--yes, ALL--the prizes shown here:

The wonderful people at Avon sent me all these goodies, and I really just wanna share the love! Let me break it all down for ya...

ANEW Rejuvenate Revitalizing 2-in-1 Gel Cleanser

Start off your skincare routine with this cleanser and toner in one. With continued use, it's supposed to improve skin texture and help make pores look tighter. And, since you're combining two of the three skincare steps (cleanse, tone, moisturize), you save yourself some time! It's perfect for those who are tamad to go through the entire three-step routine!

ANEW Rejuvenate Glycolic Facial

I didn't want to remove it from its plastic-covered box because I want you to get it good as new. The Glycolic Facial is a nighttime serum for "a youthful, more radiant complexion in the morning. It is an at-home substitute to a professional treatment that harnesses the power of Glycolic Acid used by aestheticians." It's supposed to reduce lines, reduce damage that can cause sallow skin tone, and help improve your skin's smoothness. To the winner, do let me know what you think of this product--it's gotten such great reviews (5 out of 5 stars!) in the US Avon website.

ANEW Clinical Thermafirm Face Lifting Cream

Avon touts this product as the "next wave in face lifting." It's their at-home answer to the thermal lift procedure. Based on a dermatologist-supervised clinical study, 76% of women who used this product showed less sagging. Hmmm, bye-bye, Botox?

Ideal Shade Liquid Foundation in Natural (SPF 10)

This medium-coverage liquid foundation has a satin finish and is dermatologist-tested, non-comedogenic, allergy-tested, and oil-free. Plus, it's got sun protection--super important nowadays!

Smooth Mineral Eyeshadow in Mocha Goddess

This eyeshadow is the one in the teeny black box in the product group photo. It promises "flawless definition and highlight, the most natural way." I've always wanted to try mineral makeup (perhaps makeup artists have used it on me before, but I was just totally clueless), so lucky winner, tell me what it's like and if it's really different from regular makeup!

Smooth Minerals Lipstick in Pink Quartz and Rosy Brown (SPF 15)

Yup, I'm giving away not one, but two shades of lipstick! It's got minerals for color and sparkle, and two different shades you could match with your mood and look for the day!

Ideal Shade Loose Powder in Neutral

And finally, to finish off your whole skincare and makeup routine, I'm giving away this silky loose powder. (It's the one in the square black box in the group photo.) It's formulated with Avon's PreciseLight Technology, which combines "innovative light-adjusting pigments so skin looks natural in any light," and "Exclusive Natural match complex, which contains all the essential skin-true pigments needed to match over 98% of skin tones." It provides a matte finish without looking cakey.

Whew! That's practically an entire skincare and beauty showcase! Now, to join...

Rules

*Open to Philippine residents who are public followers of heretishietishie.blogspot.com. (And yes, it's open to men!)

*Open until 11:59 PM (Manila time) of December 31, 2010.

*Each entry will be assigned a number, and I will be drawing a number at random using an online generator.

*Winner will be announced at 12:00 PM on January 1, 2011 (Happy New Year!).
*Winner will have 72 hours to claim the prize after announcement.

How to enter

1. Again, you MUST be a public follower of Here, Tishie Tishie. If you aren't, then step one is to start following!

2. Leave one comment (let me reiterate: just one comment) answering this question: "What's the best Christmas gift you received this year?" (If you want to share who gave it to you or any back story, share away!) This counts as one entry.

3. Bonus! For one additional entry, post a link to this entry on your blog, then include a link to that blog post in your comment.

Good luck, everyone! And have a merry, merry Christmas!:)

Giveaway Alert! Who Wants to Win Free Stuff?:)

Hullo, dear readers!

There are three things I want to celebrate: 1) passing the 50-follower mark on Here, Tishie Tishie, 2) Christmas, and 3) my birthday! Stay tuned for my first-ever giveaway*! It's stuff I want to keep for myself, but I already have enough beauty/skincare products to last me at least a year. Since it's the season of giving, I thought of sharing 'em with you!

Check back on Christmas day for details. In the meantime, who wants to win free stuff?:) (It'd be nice if you left a comment...otherwise, I'll assume no one's really interested, and I'll just keep all the stuff after all! Tee-hee.)

*Open to Philippine residents only

Painting Tips, Among Other Things

Ever heard of that song that never ends? The one that goes on and on, my friend? "Some people started singing it not knowing what it was, and they continued singing it forever just because..."

Well, that's kind of how my week felt. Between my bag getting stolen, preparing for my trips (at least for the NY 2010 Part Deux one...one thing, er, place at a time!), setting up another baby shower, and shoots practically every day this week (til Saturday!), things were pretty chaotic. On a related note, how I wish I could tell you about yesterday's shoot! I got to meet someone pretty special. But will blog about that when our December ish comes out so stay tuned!

So yeah, it took a while for me to finally get to this post: Tips for painting! Just a few things I picked up when I painted stripes on our wall a couple of weeks ago:

1. Have newspapers on hand. Lots of them. Thing is, my husband and I don't subscribe to newspapers, so we had zero paper scraps at home. All I had were copies of my former magazine (my personal collection--and I wasn't about to tear those up!), other magazines I've written for/appeared in, and a few back issues that my friends had asked for. So I ended up using a beach mat to cover the floor.

2. Get ready to sweat! If you live in a tropical country like I do, it's going to get pretty uncomfortable. I perspired as much as I usually do when I do Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred--and I had two fans pointed in my direction!

3. Don't look down. If you're afraid of heights, it might be pretty daunting being high up on a ladder--especially if it's positioned right beside a flight of stairs like mine was! Thankfully, I don't have major issues when it comes to heights. Cockroaches, on the other hand...

4. Clean the entire surface--including nooks and crannies--before painting. I neglected to dust the top part of our door frame. The roller ended up collecting dust and leaving grayish streaks on some stripes. Barely noticeable but annoying nonetheless.

5. BE CAREFUL. Put your open can of paint in an out-of-the-way place, even if this means that you'll be hassled walking back and forth to refill your tray. This way, you don't accidentally knock it over as you're moving the ladder. Sigh. That ruined a perfectly good beach mat. And our wooden floor was covered with a thick glob of paint.:(

6. Be prepared for emergencies. (See #5 for an example.) I was frozen for about five minutes, helplessly watching the paint spread. My husband suggested that I scoop as much of it as I could back into the paint can. All I had were two pieces of cardboard. And then, I had to go back to the hardware store to buy thinner, since I didn't have any on hand. A waste of time. Unless you do your painting job perfectly, you're probably going to need thinner anyway, so buy a small bottle when you shop for your paint and paint materials.

It took me all of one hour to scrub and scrape the biggest concentration of paint off the floor. When I was done, Hamil got home and brought out a mop that I didn't know we had, poured paint thinner on the remaining paint-covered spots, and mopped it up in ten minutes! Plus he didn't have the swollen and cracked-dry fingertips I had from the prolonged exposure to thinner. Sigh.

7. Hire someone to do it. Seriously. If you could afford to, just get a pro to do the painting for you. I'm glad I did it, but I will probably never do it again!

If you have questions about the kind of paint to use, etc., just leave a comment, or email me at heretishietishie@gmail.com.

In other news, Here Tishie Tishie has just reached 50 followers! I think I'll host a giveaway to mark this mini milestone. Keep checking back for deets.:)