Friday, December 30, 2011

2011 and all it's Glory

There's something about New Year's Eve. Christmas is the most special and holy celebration of all and birthdays are all about fun and the day being centered on you. But New Year is just different. One, because it is celebrated by almost everyone. Every race, every country, every religion. Two, because it gives way to a lot of things. People are hopeful during New Year. It gives out chances for a new and better beginning. It signifies that we can now change and start again. It gives us another clean slate to start over and fill it up with new memories and experiences. If the previous year has been a not so good one, we can look forward to the next to be a better one, but if the previous year has a been a good one, then we also look forward for the next to even be better than the last. So either way, we all look forward to the New Year.

Although New Year is all about new beginings, it also involves endings. 2011 has been a very great year for me and I feel very blessed. A lot of things has happened and with that, I just wanna share with you the top 5 most memorable things that happened to me during 2011:

1. Seeing Taylor Swift live in person (February) - Okay, so your probably laughing after seeing that this got to the top of my list. That's because I'm doing this in a chronological order. Fan girl mode!! I am the biggest Taylor Swift fan and all her songs, I know by heart. So this year, she had a Speak Now world tour and I tell you, we went through such great lengths to have the tickets. Thank you Carlitos, for being my buddy that night. And thank you to our parents as well, they've put through so much effort just so we could watch since it's really hard to get tickets. One word to describe the concert? Magical. <3



2. Visiting Japan (March) - As most of my friends know, we went to Japan last March. And when we got there, we we're greeted by the earthquake. Yes, we went to Japan the same time the disastrous Japan earthquake happened. It was an incentive trip of my mom's company and my dad and I we're with her. Never in my wildest dreams have I imagined a trip like that. It was very, very scary more than anything. But it was also very special because there is just so much beauty in Japan, the people and everything. We we're also with good company. It is by far my most memorable trip and I had so many stories to tell the moment we landed back to Manila. So please continue praying for Japan and visit there if you can! It's too beautiful for words. :)


3. Shifting to Marketing (April - June) - Flashback last May, when the results of my last Quali was out, I've never even thought I'd consider this a blessing. I spent the day in my room, trying to fix a new sched, not replying to all of my friends' text messages and just crying. This experience made me believe that sometimes, some blessings are really in disguise. Sometimes, although we've made plans and convinced ourselves already, somethings are really just not for us and we have to learn the hard way. But I've also learned that this leads to greater things. When I shifted to Marketing, it may sound cheesy but I knew that I was on the right track already which means new and bigger dreams. To all who are reading this, I only wish that you all find the right track for you and your dreams the same way I did. :)


4. Starting my blog: Love, Paola <3 (September) - I've been blogging ever since I started high school. Some blogs are in my Multiply account, and I even had  Xanga and Hi-5 accounts which are all for blogging, too. I may seem quiet and with very little opinion in person, especially with people I'm not close with. But when it comes to writing, I always have something to say, I have many thoughts to put into words and many things to write about. What led me to fashion blogging, that I do not know. All I know is that, I just enjoy more than anything and I just want to learn more and more about it. And hopefully, I do. And fulfill my dream to someday be part and working in the Fashion Industry. <3


5. Turning 18 and having my debut (October - November) - A girl only turns 18 once and it's one special moment because she finally gets to be a real lady. So, yeah. I'm not really sure if I'm a real lady already. I hope I am, though. HAHA. But now that I'm 18, I wish to accomplish big things in my life, taking a step closer to my dreams and touching other people's lives as well. Gotta live through La Salle's motto. Hahaha. But it's true and I hope to achieve that soon. My 18th was made special by all the people in my life. Thank you for sharing with me the most special night of my life, I know I've said thank you before already, but I wanna say it again. At night, I still replay in my head all that has happened on November 12. Thank you, thank you, thank you!


There. These are only five things and memories that I will bring with me on 2012 and there are a lot more, other big and small things. I'm simply grateful for all of it. 2011 is just plain awesome and it's saddening that it's coming to an end now. But I'm thankful and hopeful. My only prayer is that 2012 will be just as great to all of us. 2012 is another year to take a step closer to our dreams and our goals and all other things we want in life. I hope you all have a good New Year celebration and keep safe! Happy, happy new year everyone! :)

Love, Paola <3

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Happy Thoughts

Hello, hello! It's the last few days of 2011 and everything's is just a little more exciting. I've planned a year end blog post already and I'll get to that later. Anyway, yesterday I went to Makati to meet my mom to catch a movie and get our nails done. Then we had dinner with my dad after. After spending a day in bed, I just want to be out of the house. After Christmas, my parents and I experienced mild diarrhea. Up until now, we wonder what's the delicious culprit we ate (or drank) that caused the diarrhea. But I won't go through the details of that since we should be thinking of happy thoughts for the new year. So here's what I wore to a casual day:


Since it was just an ordinary day, I only wore shorts but chose a dressy top so that it won't look too casual. This is actually one of my favorite outfits since its effortless and comfortable and the pieces stand out individually that's why I didn't have to do much. :)


Top - Bayo || Shorts - Pois || Belt - Just G.


Bangles - Forever 21 || Butterfly ring - Rustan's 


Wedges - Charles and Keith


I'll keep this post short since it's already 9pm and the show I've been waiting for is on TV now. Yaaaay! Goodnight everyone and keep safe! :)

Love, Paola <3

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone's having a good time celebrating, partying, eating and doing  family traditions. :) Celebrating Noche Buena with the whole family is one of the traditions that I grew up with. We would go to Church first to hear the midnight mass then go straight home to eat a yummy Noche Buena meal then the gift giving. It's a very Filipino way to celebrate Christmas and it's something that I don't wanna change. :)


So onto the outfit, I decided to wear my pretty blazer and paired it with my boots! Although I have no Christmas colors on me, I feel like the outfit as a whole still exudes a Christmas vibe. 



Blazer - Forever21 || Top - F&X || Leggings - Debenhams 


Necklace - Mom's || Ring - Aldo
I decided to wear a colorful necklace to break the monotony of colors and my big ring to make a statement!


 Boots - Forever21
Like I said in my previous post, I shall overuse this shoes this season. :))


Now on what happened that night. We went to church at Edsa Shrine. I believe that it's not only important to hear mass on Christmas, but it's important to hear a really good one. I love Edsa Shrine, although it's a bit far, it's where we go to church every Sunday. Then we went home and celebrated Christmas Eve at my lola's house, which is just beside ours. Gonna tell stories through pictures, so here goes:








I present to you, the best cake I've ever tasted in my entire life!! I'm not really sure what it is called but it's from Costa Brava and it comes in three flavors - Caramel, Ube and Buko Pandan. :)

How's your Christmas so far? I hope you're all having a good time. Don't forget Christmas' true meaning. Let's all be thankful and grateful for everything and keep praying for all the people in Mindanao. Merry Christmas! :)

Love, Paola <3

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Little Christmas Details

Yesterday, we went to my lola's house to celebrate Christmas with my dad's side of the family. We went to the mall and S&R before heading there to meet up with my ninang and my cousin and to buy a few stuff first. I wanted to dress up even if it was going to be a casual day.

Christmas was my peg in mind that day. I tried to incorporate little Christmas details into my outfit like wearing a Christmas color and wearing my boots! I was so excited for it since I rarely get to wear it during normal days. In my opinion, it takes courage to wear something fancy or something unusual to a place like the mall. So I was guessing that I'd probably get weird looks and stares from wearing boots in the mall and in the supermarket. And I was right! But oh well, a girls got to do, what a girls got to do (to make her outfit look right!). :)


This is by far the hottest Christmas I've experience in my 18 years of existence, so I tried to consider that fact with my outfit too. I wanted to wear something weather friendly, not too casual but not too covered up. 


Vest - Just G. || Red Tank Top - Bayo || Skirt - Pink Manila
Necklace - Accessorize


Gray flower ring - Mia Casa || Gold ring - Forever 21
I didn't feel like loading up on the usual bangles and bracelets that day so I just wore rings.


Boots - Forever 21
I shall overuse this boots this holidays! 


A part of me is saying that the look is not that polished but another part is thinking that everything goes well together. Hahaha. I'm not quite sure. I hope it does. What do you think? :)

My cousin and dad played at Timezone for a while to kill time. Growing up, I loved Timezone to bits! I remember my dad and I would go there and play whenever we would wait for my mom to finish work. Sadly, the Timezone that I had so many memories with was at the part of Glorietta that got bombed some time ago. Oh well, I just remembered. Haha!


The X something ride that reminded me of the one in Hong Kong. Well, it was kind of fun at first but it just got shakier and shakier, I just ended up dizzy. 


Daddy's new favorite game!! Hahaha, look. So near.. yet so far from the major prize. :))

We will be celebrating Christmas Eve in less than 10 hours! I'm so excited, are you? Happy Christmas everyone!! >:D<

Love, Paola <3



Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Ballerina

I went out today for grocery shopping with the family. So even if our destination was the supermarket only, I dressed up just a little bit to catch up on my lack of outfit posts.

My inspiration was ballerinas, hence the title. I've always wanted to do ballet but I was more on music workshops during summer like singing and guitar. So one thing I'll make sure someday is that my daughter is gonna do ballet. Haha, anyway. The greatest way to achieve the ballerina look? Tulle skirts! I have this black tulle skirt that I once used for our final ballroom presentation at PE and I decided to take it out of my closet and make it look a little casual. :)


My eyes look extra chinky, probably an effect of sleeping late and waking extra late! Haha!


For not-so-tall girls like me, it's important to know how to wear short skirts because it can either give you an extra inch or make you smaller. A tiptoe would help, too. 


Top - H&M || Skirt - HAB || Necklace - Accessorize 



Meet my cousin, Ariane! She's now added to my list of photographers. Haha, since it's vacation, she's going to be on my blog a lot since we'd spending a lot of time together.


Forced her to take an outfit shot, too. :))

So now for a photo dump of everything that happened today which is mostly eating and walking. 






Mozzarella sticks from The Old Spaghetti House, my forever favorite. <3



Heehee, just had to take a picture of the panda cheese I saw in the supermarket! So cute!!


We had Bubble Tea afterwards.

That concludes my Wednesday! Gonna go watch Dancing with the Stars now, haha. How was your Wednesday? Hope you had a good one! :)

Love, Paola <3

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

It's Christmas Time


Christmas is just around the corner, especially when you live at our house. Christmas spirit is literally in every corner - decorations here and there, gifts beside the Christmas tree, Christmas stockings hanging on every door. Spending Christmas Eve at home is kind of a tradition for us, and it's the kind of tradition that you don't ever want to change. As I'm doing this, Taylor Swift's Christmas Must Be Something More is playing in the background. I love Christmas rush more than anything else! It really is the most wonderful time of the year! Merry, Merry Christmas coming from the Iglesia Family!! Just a few more days! :) 

PS. Hi Ninang, Tito Chy, Tito Mhans, Tita Cecille and to all my cousins in the States! I hope we could all spend Christmas together soon! We miss you! >:D<

Love, Paola <3

Friday, December 16, 2011

Comfy and Chic

Last Thursday, my first official day of vacation, I went to Makati to have dinner with my parents since it was my dad's birthday. Traffic was crazy, of course. It's December and everybody is up and about but it's okay since there is a happy feeling everywhere now. The cold breeze makes it so much better too!

I wanted to wear something comfy but still chic. I opted for a dress that I never wore yet since I was reserving it, for what I do not know. Haha, but I decided to wear it already since it seemed comfortable and I wanted to take it out of my closet. I very much achieved the "comfy" part of this outfit. For the "chic" part, I'm not so sure. But I hope I did! I also felt good with this outfit since my tita said I look very "dalaga" in it. Haha, what do you think? :)


I've been wearing lots of blue lately but mostly royal and dark blue since I love the color so much. Pink is my statement color but I love this color so much too! The dress I wore is actually a top, well atleast it is with the mannequin who wore it before I bought it, but since I'm petite and not that tall, it work's just right a dress for me.


Dress - Chocolate Clothing || Black Cover up - Dash || Belt - Cache Cache
Necklace - Bazaar


Bangles - Aldo || Owl ring - Gift || Flower ring - Balikbayan Handicrafts


Also, these days I always seem to have my hair up in a bun. Thanks to the Goody Spin Pins, they make it effortless and a little more chic.


Thank you to my daddy for taking my outfit shots! Since we did not catch the sun because of the traffic, we went around Greenbelt looking for a place for my outfit shot.


We had dinner at Italianni's that night. I know it doesn't look very appetizing in the photo but I forgot to take a picture of it before eating since I was very hungry already. I love Italianni's! I always seem to eat healthy whenever we eat there. Craving for the potato wedges agaiiiiiiiin.

How's your Christmas vacation? According to the tweets and posts that I'm reading, everybody's having fun. Continue being happy and on a Holiday spirit everyone! Christmas is sooooooo near!!!

PS. I'm so excited to blog about my next post, it's going to be all about my Friday. I'm just waiting for the photos from my best friend so please watch out for it! :)

Love, Paola <3