Brightside Entry | Strike Whilst The Iron Is Hot

And the iron seems to be smoldering. Today, I met with Joey & Trizh and picked the photos up from our shoot. Seriously--although he will not admit to this because he is one of the sweetest, most down to earth people I know--Joey is so talented. The photos came out beautifully. Below's a little taste-test. We're releasing our fifth collection Babe I'm Gonna Leave You tomorrow and we're all hoping you'll be there. Happy Labor Day indeed! :))

Aside from this, I also met up with my dear friend Jacob who styles for TV5 and he pulled out a lot of our accessories. I was definitely, definitely thrilled for that. Also, I was very happy to get to talk with Jacob again--his company is always refreshing. We talked about clothing, work experience and our love for hippie/gypsy fashion. We also talked about other opportunities that may arise in the future, with regard to possible careers in fashion. Such a nice afternoon. 

I met up with my good friends Ina & Carla afterward and finally watched The Avengers. Damn son. That is one good movie. Oddly enough, I've developed a crush on Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner. Gentle giant. Sigh. Too many hot men in that movie. Hahaha 

Anyway, below are some snapshots from today. :D Hoping everyone had a good start to their week!

 Trizha & Joey goofing off.

 An adorable photo/card thing given to Joey by his students. :)

 Joey's friend Greg hiding.

They spelled my name right at Gong Cha! <33 Simple joys. :))

Running, Running As Fast As We Can

 Very, very busy morning today. These photos were taken on-the-go. Because my mom can never be less than an hour early for ever appointment of hers, we left the house at 7:30 am so she could get to her 10:00 am meeting in Makati. Anyway, I'm in Taft doing a couple of things for the store--meeting with my friend Jacob, who's pulling out a couple of items for a shoot he's styling and meeting up with Trizha to pick our photos for the new collection up from Joey. Also here to pay for my library fee: I read a lot and I always have the same problem at the end of the term--no, Ms. Puangco you cannot enroll, you have not paid your overdue fees. Motherpakwan. :))

Monday, monday again. I hope everyone is having a good time. Labor day holiday tomorrow so yeah, I'm guessing lots of people are over at the beach. :D Also, I am still a little depressed at not being able to go to the Manila Music Festival tomorrow: the line up looks good and the location looks splendid as well but unfortunately for me, I blew most of my money on the shoot and I misread the dates; I thought it way happening on May 11th so--yeah. Mleh. I hope everyone has fun over there though. :) 

Wearing: white tank top | Coco Cabana, floral skirt | vintage, shoes | Viva La Manika, purple chain bag | vintage, unicorn ring | Viva La Manika

Favorite Thing | This Goofy Photo

This will be short but sweet. :)) We were experimenting with Coppi's very nice Nikkon camera this afternoon when he asked to shoot me and Keavin. Be candid he said, just do what you guys normally do. This, my dear friends and readers, is what I normally do, apparently.

Hahahahaha! Okay. I cannot stop laughing. :)) Goodnight, everyone!

Brightside Entry | Same Old Thing We Did Last Week

Let me begin this post by talking about last night (sadly, I have no pictures of this merry event)--JC, Keav & Marz slept over. We finished off a bottle of Captain Morgan and our good friends Ina & Nico joined us afterward for a game of Information Poker, a surprisingly fun game despite it's very official-sounding name (the opposite of strip-poker, it would seem). The rules of the game are simple: whoever has the best hand gets to ask everyone a question. :)) Because my friends are crazy, our topics included the following phrases--tentacle apocalypse, reverse-Ursula, and scrotum skin. Laughs were inevitable. :D

Today was spent pigging out with the boys, jeep-ing out of my infernal village in pursuit of air-conditioning and San Mig Pub-ing the day away with the boys (Marz left earlier). It was a very, very chill afternoon: we spent it sipping soda and talking about things that made us happy, things that made us sad and extreme sports. And somewhere in the middle of all that I realized that while I do have dreams and I do have goals, I live for the things that are. I think the enemy of curiosity can ironically enough, be the pursuit of the non-mundane--in an attempt to make everything more interesting you forge to be interested in the things that are right in front of you. <33 Thank you to all my friends for the company and the heart-warming conversations. 

I'm hoping everyone had a fulfilling weekend and has an even better week to come! :)

Photos by JC "Coppi" Sayo

winawonders.tk

Hi, everyone! I'm glad to announce that I got my domain registered from dot TK today! You can now reach this blog by going to www.winawonders.tk  :D

Dos & Donts | Learned the Hard Way

I was thinking about yesterday's very, very fun but bordering on disastrous (at least on the styling side) shoot and I realized that there are so many little things that don't occur to you until you're actually there, having your legs bitten by ants and trying to get a model's hair to part in the middle and realizing you left your comb at home--which is a 4-5 kilometer drive from your current location. 

 I've decided to write down a couple of the things that I learned about planning photoshoots and managing stylist practicalities that might come in handy for any of my fellow-aspirants who are learning these things in a trial-by-fire manner; DIY-ing the styling experience, so to speak.

1. Do Prepare A Fixed Schedule

This applies especially if the business you're shooting for is your own business--making you both the stylist and coordinator. Yesterday, we ran late because we winged a lot of things: we didn't allocate specific time slots for fitting the looks and doing make-up so as a result, it cost us extra for transportation rent (overtime) and caused everyone to be unnecessarily pressed for time.

2. Do Invest In A Belt Bag

Trizh and I kept on missing stuff yesterday--this ring, that headband, our cellphones--and this made things terribly inefficient (or at least not as efficient as they ought to be). The thing about styling people is you always have your hands busy--fastening a pin or emergency-hemming shorts--and a belt bag is perfect because it lets you go "look Ma, no hands" and focus on what you ought to be doing.

Brightside Entry | Blood, Sweat & Fucking Tears

So. I am proud to say that after a whole day (got up at 7:00 am) of dehydration, slaving under the sun, drowning myself in fabric and earrings (when I close my eyes, I now see feathers and patterns)--I am still alive to tell the tale. :)

Definitely, definitely, definitely worth it though. The photos which were taken by our very kind, very generous and extremely talented Joey Alvero turned out beautifully and I can't wait to share them with all of you when we come out with the lookbook next week. Also, we had beautiful people to help us out: a huge shout out to our models Trish, Krisha & Cat for being stunning today, to Joey & Tim for all of your help, to JC, Sammy & Keav who did all the heavy lifting as well as Ina who brought us water (because I was so dumb as to forget to bring water), and of course to Trizha, who co-styled the looks with me and was basically our entire production crew. <33 I love you all--thank you, thank you, thank you very much!

:D Here are a couple of outtakes for ya'll!

Spell It Out

So today  is the crazy, self-directed, blood-sweat-and-tears shoot that Trizh and I organized for the store (the clothes don't disappoint)! And because we're doing everything (minus photography--so much thanks to Joey Alvero for agreeing to this, I will push through with our ex-deal hahaha) this whole project is both extremely exciting and unbelievably daunting.

I fell asleep at around 3:00 am last night, making sure that all the looks were properly put together. Now, all we can really do is hope everything will go well. :D I'm very excited to share the photos with everyone once they're out. :) 

Here are some photos of what I'm wearing today: comfy but still stylish, methinks. Going to be running around a lot today so flats it is for me! Also, proper photographs of new hair. :D

I hope everyone has a fun Saturday!

Wearing: dress top | Lula Bop's, tangerine feather earring | Price Tag, leggings | Coco Cabana, flats | Session Road

Introspection | It's Far Too Early In the Morning

To be thinking about these things. I'm sitting here at the Sizzling Pepper Steak in Alphaland again, with a refillable coke that allows me to mooch off their internet for majority of the day. A phone conversation I had turned me introspective and I started thinking about the things that you think about late at night, with a Game of Thrones episode playing on mute while you try hard to fall asleep. So, I'm writing this in broad daylight because ghosts always seem silly when you think about them during the day.

Humor me?

When I was 14, I started writing open letters to people who I couldn't talk to for one reason or another--because anger, because parent, because fear. And yesterday, I found myself crying because for all the wonderful things that I'd found this year, I realized that loss is true when you no longer feel anything for that loss. The deepest, saddest thing about forgetting is that when you forget you don't feel very sad at all. And yesternight, I was sad that I was not sad: I've forgotten and let go of so many things. That is a good thing. But also, it leaves me with a sort of guilt that I feel is useless: aimed at nothing, aimed at no one.

So I wrote a few short open letters. :) If you'd like to read them, you'll find them under here. [Also, forgive the fairytale references--I watch too much Once Upon A Time]

Haircut Done!

Hi, everyone! :) In lieu of an outfit post, I am posting a new hair post today. :) I'm at the parlor and I've just had my haircut--I must say, I am very, very pleased with it. I think it looks perfect! Edgy without going too far and being trashy. Hahaha

I was a bit apprehensive at first, actually--Sir Jerry, the guy who usually cuts my hair wasn't there so instead I got Sir Joey ,who I think did a fabulous job! This is another testament to the talent of people at Going Straight (Festival Mall). If you have curly hair, I suggest you go there to get your hair cut. It is, oddly enough the one place where they will not chastise you for having beautiful curly hair. :) Photo below!

Inspiration | Hair Cut Plans

I have officially decided that tomorrow, I am going to get a haircut. The way my hair has grown out is so odd and just...boring. It is also getting more and more difficult to style. So I'm going to have it cut by my favorite hair stylist, Mr. Gerry at (ironically) the only place they know how to cut curly hair-- Going Straight. :)) 

Anyway, here are some of the ideas I've been throwing around. Tell me what you think, yeah? Commenting by non-GFC/Blogger users is now enabled by the way, so please don't hesitate!

Yes, you guessed it right: I've been completely obsessing over asymmetrical haircuts. Grahhhh. But yeah, let me know. Or if you have any suggestions, definitely leave a comment!

Brightside Entry | A Feast for Crows

I met up with Keav at Alphaland today and we spent his lunchbreak together--definitely not enough time, but there never is enough time so I was glad we got to spend time together, even if it was just a little over an hour. :) And he bought me (or us, rather--as I know he will definitely be borrowing this hahaha) a copy of George R.R. Martin's A Feast For Crows. 

I'm a total ASOIAF lunatic so this really, really, really made me happy. :) Good fiction. Omnomnomnom. Thank you, love. :D

Brightside Entry | Coffeeee

At the moment, I am at Le Coeur De France at the Alphaland Southgate Mall, waiting for Keav's lunch break and they make a splendid Cafe Mocha. I am quite the coffee-holic and get very picky with my coffee. Usual orders include: a cappuccino, an americano or a cafe mocha. Today, I decided to spring for the mocha. 

And definitely no regrets there--the thing I hate about cafe mochas gone wrong is that they pump it up with too much sugar so you end up thinking "might as well have gotten hot chocolate". But here at Le Coeur De France, they were able to perfectly balance the chocolate and coffee aspects of the cafe mocha. Muy delicioso. Presentation wasn't bad, either. Plus they gave me a free cookie. :3 mmmmm, nuts!

P.S. A shout out to Hana Ras, who I ran into here! :)) 

How To | Hippie Headbands

So, as promised, here is a little How To post on how you can make your own inventive hippie headbands. See, I find that not a lot of stores make these thick type of headbands--I've been to Accessorize and the Bead Shop but all I ever find are the braided leather type of hippie headbands which are cute too but can feel a little overdone, in my opinion. Anyway yesterday I made two hippie headbands out of different types of lace. The pink one I wore today and so I'm featuring the purple one in this post. Let me get to it!

For this project, you'll need:

1.) Three different types of lace/fabric.

2.) A Basic Sewing Kit | Needle & Thread

Step 1. Measure, Cut & Sew

Measure your head with your three strips of fabric. Measure from one ear to another, laying the fabric across the crown of your head (how you would wear a headband). Cut to fit. And then, sew the three strips of fabric together on both ends as shown below.

Step 2. Tie It In

Then get a long piece of one of your fabrics (the strip you put in the middle, most practically) and sew both ends onto both ends of your three-strip crown (what you made in Step 1). Make sure this part is long enough to tie into a ribbon as this will be the part that you will be using to secure the headband.

Step 3. The Final Cut

Once you're done sewing both ends to the long strip of fabric, cut this strip in the middle so as to make the two separate ends of your head band!

Step 4. Wear it!

And there you have it: a beautiful three-fabric hippie headband. Below is a photo of me wearing the purple headband. :) Hope everyone is having a great Thursday!

New Slang When You Notice The Stripes

God, I miss listening to The Shins. Ever since my phone's been dropped one time too many and decided to stop reading memory cards I've been in mp3 hell--my phone can only hold two songs at a time. And I'm almost afraid to put a song in there that I like because I might get sick of it (as has happened to all the other songs, yes). :)) Anyway.

Today is a great day! And my first day of official unemployment or you could say---self-employment. After doing a bunch of things for Saturday's shoot, I'm currently getting ready to head to Magallanes to spend a day with myself and meet Keavin after work. :) I'm wearing a thrifted floral top with my favorite pair of jeans, flats and a hippie headband that I made myself. I've also decided--since I have more time on my hands--to post up the mini-projects that I work on, such as the hippie headbands. :) 

Wearing: floral top | thrifted, black jeans | Freego, flats | bazaar, bracelets | WinaWonders Store, hippie headband | DIY

Brightside Entry | An Awesome April

This morning, my dad had me go to Makati to deal with a couple of banking things and I was very glad to be back there--I grew up spending my summers on Ayala Avenue, taking classes (musical theater, creative writing) and wandering around the city looking for Ministop fried chicken (no kidding). Anyway, I was walking down Ayala Ave. with our company's payroll tucked under my arm when I came to the realization that it is almost May. May is just a week away. And April has been wonderful to me.

This April has been a haze of hard work, self-discovery, pretty clothing, love and the experience has been humbling. I've learned to do so many things and to fight for what it is that I want to do (not that I was ever a push over, really but whatever). I'm also overwhelmed at how kind people have been to me. I'm grateful to all my friends who've stuck by me (yes, girlaloos), to Trizha who is always helping me come up with things and keep me creative, to the people like Coppi who I've just met but are so nice to me and to Keavin--who was born in April, which is fitting, no?--I'm so glad you were born & to the people who were terrible to me, even. I'm in a good place at the moment (although, as we all know, that could change in heartbeat) and I'm working to keep this good place (and pace). Here are a couple of snapshots from April. :)

 My favorite treat c/o mother P: Chop Chae from the Saturday Market here in Alabang

 What DAFUQ.

 Awkward feet.

 Omakase dinner. Noms.

 Persian mojos at Le Souk.

 Joy loves Scooter.

 And wine. :))

 Trish's dog scooter

 Silvana-banana dessert

 My neice Presley & sis, Ate Audrey :)

 Dream personified. <33 Mario's mango cheesecake

Keav's birthday cake. :)

Here's to hoping May will be wonderful, yes? <33