Boy Oh Boy

Teenage talk:
Boys. Thesis. Crushes. Parties. Flings. MUs (get it?).  UAAP!!! h.h.w.w. (holding hands while walking! eek!!!). Sleepovers. ... (and Onin ---  the famous ensaymada!  peace mac!).

US three in our teens with the rest of the gang. Scroll down to know which three I'm talking about.  

In our 20s, the talk evolved to: 
Work hard, Play HARDER!   Relationships.    "What's up tonight?"    Engagements.    "Makati, Malate"   Love Love Love!   "Party-hopping here, there, everywhere"   Spur of the moment travels.    "Booze night!"    Diet!    "The world is mine mine mine!"    Trends.   Bands!   In a nutshell, let's Parteeeeeeyyyyyyyy!!!!

US three in our 20s. The rest of the gang, M-I-A!

Fastforward to present times...the 30s, chika-talk last Friday (8.20.10):

Lunch or Afternoon coffee dates.  Less! on the evening get-togethers.

What's for dessert?   Kids. Cribs. Good schools. Vaccinations. Yoga. Wellness. Home renovations. In-laws :) Travel. Finances. And a teeny-weeny bit on our "forever and ever flings" Chuck, Myke and James (lol!).

US three in our 30s. From left:  meet Mac the teacher and storyteller, Ric the Mommy and Ms. Pic-a-Pizza (yup, pizza is her specialty) and Me the beader in a Flora (dancin in the moonlight) arrangement!  The rest of the gang??? ..... They are now living their lives elsewhere :)

BOY OH BOY!!!  Time does fly so fast. The chika  says it all.  Makes me wonder what the talk will be all about in our 40s. 50s. 60s....  Looking forward!

Dum de dum dum DUM@@@!!!!

payMORE at PAYLESS

Ooh, it's almost the weekend again.  Remember when I raved about the new look and pocket-draining finds found at SM Southmall's department store?  Well, that was two weekends ago.  Exactly the same time this eye-catching flyer landed on the windshield of my car.  Must be fate?

Front of the flyer

and back

So the weekend after, I found myself at the newly opened Payless store in Festival Mall (Alabang)...

Here's me, in my FLORA NECKLACE (Dancing in the Moonlight), browsing through the many shoe styles and designs located along my "size" aisle.  Yes, shoes are categorized according to size and no need to bug any of the sales staff since all items are neatly arranged right smack in their shelves.  No "stalking" and "shopper-scrutinizing" by the staff as well.  Whew!  A big relief from my pet peeve.  Note:  I end up with NOTHING when the stalking happens.  I deliberately make the round-about...the staff follows and follows... then I exit!  So there, we just go in circles. Hahaha!

The ballet flats on the flyer. LIVE!!!

Payless is actually not a top-of-mind store when I'm in the U.S.  No particular reason but it has always been that way. But  now that they've hit Manila, I just had to pay a visit perhaps for comparison purposes.

Oh boy!!! Visit is an understatement.  Immersion or love at first sight best describe that moment I stepped foot at Payless. I was stuck in there for more than 2 hours fitting each shoe that I fancied upon. Put it this way, J. Bond was already pooped from all the roaming and exploring the nooks of Festival Mall while I carried on (and on, and on) with the spellbinding charm of shoes.  I wanted and desired to bring home everything, including the fashionable accessories. Haha!  Unlike in the U.S., shoe styles available in their Manila branch are very appropriate for tropical weather.  And comfortable too (which happens to be my one and only criteria in shoe shopping).

My numero uno choice. Obviously, all because of the beads.  But here's the thing,  I'm such a sucker for promotional gimiks. Without it, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have paid PAYLESS a PAYMORE visit ....

Love the bag.  See, I'm sure it would have come out  cheaper if I just bought a similar-looking canvas tote bag.  Yet, it's the thrill of getting something free right? ... even if it meant  being robbed off  at least Php2500 worth of shoes, bags or accessories.

Ayayay!  This shopping-gaga needs to stop!  NOW! ASAP!

Caught in the act!  PROMISE .... LAST!  I'm still on THERAPY remember!  Excuses. Excuses.

still on EARTH hour: DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT

This song played in my head for an hour . . . .



...while Husband and I stared at the moon from our garage :)  Hope you enjoyed EARTH HOUR 2010 the same way we did.

February 2, 2010 BREAK TIME!

Been so hectic for the past few days for the following reasons:

The PHARMACY

One, I finally have a Store OIC after 6 months of operations.  Aside from our every other day training sessions, my OIC has been very active in texting and sending emails, mostly securing my approval or just clarifiying matters.  Thus, I am online for approximately 16 hours a day including Sundays (16 hours is our  total store operating hours).

Two, we are now heavily promoting our February 2010 calendar of events.  The last 2 weeks of January were spent on flyering at wet markets and churches, visiting health centers, village-to-village and school campaign.  Here is a  plug on our February calendar in case you are in the area of Molino 3, Bacoor, Cavite :)

and Three, last January was the renewal of business permits.  Need not dwell on this anymore.  I refuse to relive the nightmare.  Lol!

BY BEADED STORY

The  first round of creations I did  two weeks ago received a beautiful response.  Happy Angel and Flower Garden were reserved last Monday.  Two sets of my favorite arrangement, Blue Moon, were bought and flown to Singapore last Sunday.

Thus, I am now working on and rushing to finish another set of my Flora Collection for Sonyas Garden due for delivery this Saturday (which by the way is also the day WE are celebrating 4)!  Ayayay! 

Unlike previous years, the flora design of 2010  is the hardest to put together.  It takes me more than half a day to finish just one.  

Why? 

......Probably, one reason is the concept.  It may be worn in 3 ways: 

way # 1:  Long.  My favorite among the 5 designs:  Blue Moon!

 way # 2: Choker-style.  This the Dancin' in the Moonlight arrangement.

and way # 3, as a Hip Accent (belt) 

......Or, combining 5 long necklaces in one arrangement can absolutely take up time.  As I have mentioned in a previous blog, I value uniqueness.  Two pieces of the same arrangement may look the same but are totally different (just stare at the beads). 

......And maybe, this is what you call aging or the effect of early retirement.  I have slown down =)

But really, the arrangements of the past were easier to make.  Here are a few photos:

2007 Flora

2007 Flora

2008 Flora

2009 Flora

I still have a 3 arrangements to finish. With the pharmacy and my beads, I have been capping my days at one am with a stiff back.  But last night was different.  I ended with a chill! 

Photo taken by my husband close to 12 midnight last night.  Was working on another set of Flower Garden. My cel phone stays beside me when I bead because of texts and calls from the pharmacy.

Will take a rest today.  I hope =)