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Friday’s 10 Happy Things, v10

Published by Justine

Happy 10th to this blog series! I’ve really gone to love this blog series as it allows me to look back on positive stuff that has happened during my week. It’s therapeutic in a sense!

  1. Bumping into the Pastillas boys. Last Saturday night, we (my mom & sister) had dinner at Mizu, the Japanese restaurant over at Waterfront Hotel. We didn’t really want to head home after dinner so we decided to just chill at the lobby cafe; get dessert, have tea and just lounge. This is something we’ve always loved to do as a family even when we were back in Jakarta, so it was a nice night. There was an event in one of the ballrooms and apparently the boys who joined that Pastillas segment in Showtime were a few of the guests. If something is to be known about me, it’s that I followed that twitterserye and ate it up like a true Filipino fangirl. My mom took photos of me together with the chosen one, Richard, and the Australian guy, Michael. I told them to act like we were close and be all sweet with me, and this was the finished product. Thanks, mom!
  2. #Matts24thSunriseParty. One of my best friends decided to celebrate his birthday differently by having a party at dawn and towards sunrise. I hardly slept the night before but it was a good kind of change to have a party start at 5am and end before 10am. Definitely one of a kind and all worth it because we really did see the sunrise (photo above)!

    3. https://www.instagram.com/p/-FouMBv20W/

  3. APEC Week. This affected me in quite the most positive way. Cebu has had its share of APEC a month or two ago but since our Manila office is located in BGC, our HQ decided that everyone should work from home or remote for the whole week so as to not deal with traffic and road closure madness in Manila. Being the only remote employee in the company, this was a great change to see everyone in their own homes or in other locations aside from the office, just like me.
  4. Work projects. Work was pretty inspiring this week. In between handing new clients, dealing with crazy ones, and having loads of work to do, it really makes a difference when you love what you do and see the fruits of your labor. There may be some bumps along the way, but it’s a good learning curve and with the kind of job that I’m in.. it’s pretty rewarding.
  5. Justin Bieber. Ahh, the gift that keeps on giving. His promos for Purpose have been giving me the greatest dose of fangirl that I needed this whole month. Guestings in talk shows, Bieber Week on Ellen, live performances, JB Carpool Karaoke part 2 with James Corden.. and the list goes on!
  6. Mockingjay pt. 2 promos. I’m kind of over the whole Hunger Games phase and don’t even really have the desire to watch the movie in the cinema. I’ll probably just watch it in the plane next month or something. I will, however, NEVER tire of watching the interviews, TV guestings, and crazy antics that Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, and Josh Hutcherson go through for the movie promotions. Whether individual or together, I love watching these three. I think it was on Monday that I woke up earlier than usual so I decided to go through a buttload of promo videos and interviews of the trio. Made my day!
  7. Slumber Party! I had a great full day with two girls I adore—Ham & Riz—and we spent it with our usual cafe chill, then had super yummy dinner, and then a long-ass karaoke session (4 hours is no joke!) that didn’t have a single dull moment, empty spot or rest. We just kept singing like no tomorrow. They spent the night at my house and it was just a great time altogether.
  8. Sunday night massage. I always treasure these bi-monthly massages because my back always kills me by the end of the week. I realize I don’t really mention this in my happy things but it keeps me going. I love massages.
  9. Glossier’s Boy Brow. I am a fan of Benefit’s Gimme Brow and planned to repurchase it because mine ran out, but when ITG / Glossier came out with Boy Brow last month, I decided I wanted to try it instead. Watched one of the reviews and with a certain promo code you get a free Balm Dot Com, so I took that opportunity and ordered one for myself! I won’t be getting it until I arrive New York next month because I had it shipped there but the promo ends on November 30 so I made sure to order it before then. So excited!

    10. boybrow

  10. A quick week, overall. I don’t know what happened, maybe I was just enjoying this week too much that just like that, the clock struck 12 to Saturday now. I’m always thankful for a good week. Next up, Hong Kong!
Ditz Revolution

The Sunday Currently, v16

Published by Justine

Can you believe it’s already almost halfway through November? Time sure is running on the fast lane.

FEELING
Sleepy! I stayed up last night catching up on Jimmy Fallon interviews then watched Trainwreck after. I didn’t know the movie was 2 hours long (I loved it!) and when I was done it was almost 5am this morning. Eeeeek. Had to wake up pretty early for church and brunch so now I’m trying not to fall asleep so I don’t end up missing the whole of Sunday night.

WATCHING
Justin Timberlake’s performance of Drink You Away during last week’s CMAs with Chris Stapleton. This song is from JT’s 20/20 album and also one of my buried favorites. I’m not familiar with Chris Stapleton because of my lack of country music knowledge but I am love-love-loving this performance. It must have been so great to be a part of the audience that watched this live. I love the whole soul x country marriage of talent!

Here’s another performance of Stapleton’s song this time, Tennessee Whiskey, which is equally great.

THINKING
Mostly about my upcoming trip to Hong Kong at the end of this month! How to budget, what to shop for, places to see, things to eat. HK isn’t really my comfort zone unlike SG so there’s a bit of a nervouscited-ness (ya, I made that up) feeling coming over me. The last time I was in Hong Kong was I think the year 2006, save for airport transits after that. Disneyland had just opened then and this month is now its 10 year anniversary! I’m super excited for all the Disney festivities I’ll be encountering.

WISHING
I had more money for everything! I thought I was going to be able to buy an iPhone this HK trip but I have 2 more International trips before the year ends so I had to re-allocate my money for other priorities. “Adulting” is so challenging sometimes, especially when it comes to financial discipline.

SMELLING
Roasted chicken. Gotta love Sunday dinners at home.

NEEDING
To make sure I have enough energy, vitamins, money, strength, and stamina to get through the rest of the year.

WEARING
Gym shorts and an old Nudie Jeans white tee that has a huge stain the middle even after countless washes.

LOVING
These 2 playlists from Buzzfeed’s 2 articles last week:

33 Love Songs From The Early ’00s You’ll Never Forget

31 Songs From The Early ’00s Women Will Never Forget

I just want to say: ALL these songs were my life growing up that I could have written the whole article myself and curated the playlists. The happiness of finding playlists like these two totally made my week that it caused me stop listening to Justin Bieber’s Sorry for a while.

Day 10 – Something yellow

Published by Justine

Pardon me, it’s been a month since I last participated in my blog challenge. 2015 is about to end and I can’t let it pass by without completing this!

rubberducky

Snapped a photo of this cute rubber ducky while I was soaking in The Henry Hotel’s bathtub when I had that staycation with my friends a few weeks ago. I wouldn’t mind another staycation again.

Things I Love Thursday, #7

Published by Justine


I am resurrecting this blog series from its 7 month hiatus! So many things have happened since I wrote the last TILT. There were more things I loved and have probably forgotten, but in an attempt to enumerate all the things/experiences I recently loved, here’s one resurrection entry.

MAC Eyebrow Crayon in Delineated

This self-sharpening crayon is a brow product I’ve come to love so much.

According to MAC:

Self-propelling, self-sharpening, brow-defining. Confidently adds what you need: shape, colour and/or density in one streamlined tool. Like a pen, creates its own just-right point for striking arches. Easy to tote around – no sharpener needed.

I’m a bit scared because I’ve only had it for about 2 weeks and I can feel like I’m using it up already. I’ve always been against pencils and pens in general when it comes to brows because I’m so used to gels and powders, but this has made me a convert and I will continue to repurchase this as long as I have the money to buy brow products.

4Fingers Chicken

My colleague took me to 4Fingers in ION during my recent Singapore business trip and I loved it. I’ve always been a fan of Korean chicken but BonChon just doesn’t cut it for me, you know? My chicken experience in Seoul was so great but whenever I eat BonChon I feel like I’m eating fake chicken (SORRY!). I initially thought 4Fingers would be the same when it was introduced to me, but bam. It had so much flavor that BonChon falls flat in comparison. I’m even craving for it right now.

Boost Singapore

I want to try everything! Their juices are so great. I’ve always been going to Smoothie King but when I tried Boost it was just so much better for me that it’s becoming another not-in-Cebu SG craving. I also found out my cousin who studies uni there works in Boost part-time! Can’t wait to get free juice when I get back. We don’t even have Jamba Juice in Cebu. Sadface.

Grandfathered

I’ve been enjoying this show more than I would have liked. I admit I do have a soft spot for Josh Peck because I was such a huge fan of Drake & Josh that I’ve silently followed their career path after that show. I also admit this is the first time I’ve really paid attention to John Stamos. He plays his character so well. I’m going to keep watching until I get bored, or whatev. The good thing, the show just got a full-season renewal, so yay for that!

Starbucks x Moleskine

As a fan of Moleskine products, I was excited about the Starbucks SG x Moleskine collaboration this year—mostly because it also meant I could easily get it. Last year it was Starbucks Korea x Moleskine and I never got the chance to get it because shipping fees would be a bitch if my Korean friend mailed it to me, and with the whole PH Post Office dud stories I figured it wasn’t worth it. My colleague got me the SG Moleskine planner and it’s what I use for work notes and meetings now. I love it! When I found out that Starbucks PH also collaborated with Moleskine in not only one but 2 editions, that made me looked forward to it too. I mean, drinks and a Moleskine in comparison to just buying an actual Moleskine has so much more value to it, right? Just agree with me.

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I’m actually excited to be bringing back this series again!

Friday’s 10 Happy Things, v9

Published by Justine

Seems like this is all I ever do because the week is so filled I usually only have time to blog on the weekends, so there’s FTHT and TSC posts. Heh.

  1. New music week! What a great week for pop music. Adele’s Hello, 1D’s Perfect, Justin Bieber’s Sorry, then DNCE’s EP dropping, and Drake’s Hotline Bling music video making waves all over the interwebs. Makes me proud to live in this era, tbh.
  2. This week’s You’re the Worst – Season 2 Episode 7: There Is Not Currently a Problem. This episode really moved me in more ways than one. It was such a strong one, I ended up crying more than I would have wanted. I put it in the happy list because I was so moved at how they portrayed someone suffering from clinical depression. Even while reading the LA Times article about the episode, it made me want to cry even more.
  3. A stressful work week. Lots of “phwoar!” things happened at work this week so this wasn’t initially a happy thing for me but after a lot of introspection I realized that an absence of a stressful work week would mean that I would have to be alone with my thoughts for a much longer time (aka not good) with less productivity levels. That’s not a good thing for me at all. As much as I love the lazy life when my brain isn’t working (like literally working on work mode) I become somewhat crazy. I have a job that I love that I can do anywhere (remote ftw) that gives me good, challenging stress and money! What’s not happy about that?
  4. Tuesday yoga. I took my sister with me to Tuesday’s yoga class and it was kind of a struggle for her that she said, “Why would you pay for something that gives you torture?” I embrace yoga’s torture, wholeheartedly. It’s probably the only torture I don’t mind and completely accept because the return of investment is so quick and fulfilling. I feel much better, I sleep better, I eat better. I know I’ve probably said this countless times but yoga really is life changing for me.
  5. A bit of time to catch up with 2PM‘s activities. I hate Japan for taking them away but I had a few hours to spare this week (also to alleviate stress) so I used that time to catch up with what 2PM’s been up to. I miss being a full-time fangirl!
  6. Fulfilling my cravings. I think I’m about to get my period (I HOPE SO) because I’ve been craving all kinds of salty food lately. Probably not good for my health and diet, but I ate all the salty things this week. And it made me happy.
  7. Rock Salt & Cheese milk tea topping. Another one of them cravings that I fulfilled!
  8. Gerald Anderson guesting on this week’s PBB. Shock! Me talking about local showbiz? I was such a huge fan of his season almost a decade ago when I was still in early college and seeing him back in the house brought back all these happy feelings out of nowhere I just had to point it out here.
  9. Revlon’s Brow Fantasy in Dark Blonde. I colored my hair lighter last week so I had to look for a lighter brow product that wasn’t in my usual range of price or brand. Truthfully I was almost going to buy the Stila All Day Brow Gel but my good friend said, “No Rustan’s for you. We will go to Watsons!!” and I was grateful for that. This also made me break out of my comfort zones with brow bowders and brow gels because the Revlon Brow Fantasy is a pencil product! I’m still getting the hang of it but it’s been a good learning experience so far and I am finally mastering the art of the brow pencil. I use this product for my overall brow, then my current Tarte Amazonian Clay Brow Mousse for my brow tail so I give it more emphasis. Yep, in case you didn’t know, I take my brows seriously. That’s what happens when you have nonexistent brows.

  10. Dancing the night away. Because of everything that’s been happening the past few months I haven’t had the time or energy or the will to go out partying at all. The whole revelry life has really worn me out but last weekend I was inside the club again and danced to my heart’s content. Without alcohol. I didn’t think I’d be able to do the whole no alcohol thing, but I did and a million fuck yeahs for that.