Thursday, October 31, 2013

20 Things About Me On My 20th Year


It's official! I'm out of my teen years!!! I feel so old already! But then there's also that part of me still feels like I'm 12. Anyway since I'm 20 now, this calls for a self appreciation post (Wait, that sounds conceited haha) so let me just share 20 facts and random quirks about myself! 

1. I have a box of special trinkets that contains random things I made as souvenirs during special times. From the hair ribbon I wore when we won the cheering competition back in high school, the sticker I put in my uniform during retreat, the number they pinned to my dress when I joined a pageant, the theme park ticket on my 16th birthday and a whole lot more! It is literally the best memories contained in a box. 

2. I have weird food choices and quirks. I don't eat seafood but tempura's my favorite. I don't like dishes with tomato sauce (except for pasta). I mix my sundae and I don't stop until the fudge and vanilla have really combined (most of my friends are grossed out by this). When I eat KitKat, I don't break it, I bite the whole block (most of my friends are scandalized by this) and I hate anything caramel and mint. 

3. I'm OC with deadlines. Whenever I have work to do, I do it the soonest possible time. I'm the girl who'll stay up until 2am writing a paper on a Friday night even though there's still the weekend in front of her. I don't like the feeling that there's still something I have to do when I should've done it already.

4. I take singing in the shower to a whole new level. People sing in the shower - its normal. But with me, I don't just sing. I perform in the shower - with matching dance steps, main vocals, back up vocals and sometimes I even do my accompaniment. I also always bring my iPod and dock when taking a bath.

5. I tend to fold, roll and tear papers that I'm holding unconsciously. It's habit that I've noticed way back in grade school. Whenever I have any kind of paper in my hands, I find myself folding and rolling it then tearing it into pieces. That's why Starbucks and DQ staff give me strange looks whenever they ask for my receipt.

6. I don't like talking in the morning. I'm not a morning a person. On weekends, when I have the control on my time, I wake up at lunchtime. I still can't imagine how I survived a 7am class time in high school.

7. If I get to be a mean girl, I'd totally be Blair Waldorf. In a heartbeat!!!! I've been copying her style ever since. Gossip Girl has ended for quite a while already but I still love her so much - from her signature head bands, to her crazy, bitchy antiques, her 5-inch platforms and her totally strange but totally romantic relationship with Chuck Bass.

8. One of my life goals is to try all Pocky flavors. I can't even count how many times I've professed my love for Pocky and how different the ones made here and made in other countries from the one made in Japan. There are only about 100 flavors of Pocky in Japan and I've had about 20 flavors off my list so good luck to me!

9. I just HAVE to constantly check Instagram. Take away my TV, deactivate my Facebook and Twitter, I don't mind. But I just need to be updated with Instagram. It's a thing.

10. I can't walk in slippers. Literally speaking, I can of course! But it's really hard for me. My feet hurt after a while and it gets hard to walk properly. I never got used to it since I really don't like wearing slippers and I believe that it should only be worn at home or at the beach. But I don't expect that from others of course! Again, it's a thing. Haha.

11. I've pictured my wedding in my head ever since I was a little girl. The scenarios changes every once in a while like the color of my motif, the style of my dress, the church and everything but I constantly imagine what my wedding would be like. Not that I'm in hurry or anything. Maybe it's a girl thing?

12. Titanic is my ultimate favorite movie and I still get depressed whenever Jack dies. I could watch this movie everyday for the rest of my life and not get sick of it. Leonardo was dreamy in this movie and it still breaks my heart everytime Rose would try to wake him up but he ends up sinking in the ocean. 

13. One lesson I learned in college that I will always be grateful for is learning how to cross the street. I very rarely commute so the biggest obstacle I faced in my freshman year (aside from calculus) was crossing the street. But eventually, I learned to do that on my own after constantly being dragged by my friends or holding tightly onto the handle of their bags. 

14. As much as I love dressing up, nothing beats my big worn out shirts and cotton shorts. Home clothes are awesome and its when I'm wearing them that I feel most like myself. 

15. I'm a big Disney fan. I was a Disney baby, a Disney teen and now that I'm 20, a Disney adult. I still have Disney princess theme songs and the High School Musical album (all 3 of them) on my iPod.

16. I'm so drawn and fascinated by the Japanese culture. It started with my love for J-dramas, then J-pop then I got to visit the country and totally fell in love with it. I even tried studying the language on my own. They have 3 alphabets, I've mastered the first two (Hiragana and Katakana) but Kanji was totally a different story.

17. I can get extremely talkative at times. In general, I don't talk very much. Most people tell me I'm reserved and sometimes too quiet. I'm usually like that to people I'm not that close to. But to certain family and friends, there are times when I talk like there's no tomorrow. 

18. I overanalyze things. I have the most active imagination. I come up with all kinds of scenarios in my head and try to digest words which often leads to paranoia and hasty conclusions and assumptions. 

19.  I'm a goody-goody and bit conservative. More than I'd like to admit, I guess. My friends label me as the "good girl". I rarely drink, I'm uncomfortable wearing really, really, really short shorts and people tell me that I'm always proper and poised.  

20. I value loyalty the most. It takes a while for me trust and really get close to other people, but when I do, they have my loyalty for all eternity (woah, big word haha). But seriously though, loyalty is so important to me and it's something that I value highly.  

So there you have it! 20 things I learned and discovered about myself for the past twenty years! Thank you to all the friends and relatives who greeted me on my birthday. And of course, thank you mommy and daddy for everything these past 20 years!

Love, Paola 

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Boggled Blogger


Posting two days in a row! Yaaaay me! Anyway, as I've mentioned in my previous post, I'm reviving this blog again along with a few changes. For quite a while, I was set on being "fashion blogger". For a few months, I was doing fine but the fashion blogging industry has taken on a new level now believe it or not, I felt pressured to be part of that which means I was always conscious of the number of views I get, top blogs ranking, if I was dressing well enough for my outfit to be posted online and all that stuff. I was becoming so OC with all that, that I was comprising how I really want my blog to be. They say a fashion blog's not supposed to be to long since it might bore people and most of the time, it should focus on mainly fashion itself. I didn't quite succeed on that since I never really learned how to write short. It's a thing. Ever since grade school, my essays would always be a minimum of 3 paragraphs, in two pages of papers back to back (sometimes its a skill, other times it's just a hassle). Also, every now and then, my thoughts go somewhere else and I end up talking about totally unrelated stuff. But my love for fashion never wavered, the picture above being one proof. 

I considered becoming a food blogger. All it takes is one look into my Instagram account for someone to realise my love for food and eating out. But then again, to be a food blogger you have to be adventurous with what you eat and have a wide variety of palette. I'm neither since I'm picky eater and I always end up getting the same orders and eating at my usual restaurants. I like to be safe when it comes to my food choices knowing that I'd enjoy since it's a usual. So full time food blogging is out of question.

Then I thought of being a book blogger since two my friends are doing it (Hi Chel and Agine!) and since I'm such a bookworm! I thought it would be nice for authors to send you books even before they are publishes just so you could give them a review in return. But then I'm a picky reader as much as I'm a picky eater. I only read books that I like. I'm also very mainstream with my books, which is not advisable for book bloggers since they interact with new and up and coming authors. So I realise couldn't commit on being a proper book blogger.

There are other types of blogging that I've considered but I came to the same conclusion. So what does that make this blog? Well, I've decided to go with a cliche, "a jack of all trades, a master of none." Since I can't decide what to be, I decided to be it all! A fashion blogger, a food blogger, a book blogger, and whatever kind of blogger I might I want to be soon.

So I were to say it keep short, it would just be "I decided to blog on all kinds of stuff, be a blogger of all sorts." I let labels go and just decided to blog freely. See, I told you I never really learned how to keep my writing short! Till my next post!

Love, Paola

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Book Review: Hex Hall Series

Hex Hall Series: Hex Hall, Demonglass, Spell Bound

Yet another blog post! I am on a roll! Haha anyway, I've decided to stick to four criteria with rating books: plot, writing and execution, characters and cover. I know you're not supposed to judge a book by it's cover but since we all do it and it does give impact to a book, I decided to add it too! Although, in no way will I summarize the books in my reviews since there's Goodreads.com for that! Moving on the to Hex Hall series.. 

Plot: (4/5) The series was a fast read and I liked it more than I expected to. All three books had a solid plot and I like the pace of the story. However, there were a few times when it seems a little confusing and some stuff details were missing out. But all in all, I like the storyline enough to finish each book in less than a day.

Writing and Execution: (3/5). The dialogues were the best!!!! That's what I enjoyed the most in this series - Sophie, Jenna and Archer's conversation! It was such a fun read because of that but the overall writing of the book was just a 3 since there are times when it seems like the story is too rushed. There are times when I felt like it switched scenes so fast. On other books it might not work, but since it I like the storyline of this series, I wasn't all that bothered with the writing.  

Characters: (5/5). Sophie is a character to love, I swear!!!! Her sarcasm is so entertaining and not even a little annoying. Although there was part in Spell Bound when I feared she'd transform into Bella Swan circa New Moon somewhere along the way. Archer didn't make a huge impact on me at first but he's the kind of character that goes on you. I loved Jenna as well and I think her and Sophie makes a perfect tandem.

Cover: (2/5). I think the cover's really nice and it's what made me read the book since it intrigued me when I passed by it at the bookstore. However, it's totally unrelated - the two sides of the girl being portrayed, her outfits, the props used and all. Like seriously, I don't think Sophie held an umbrella in Demonglass, I'm pretty sure the word umbrella wasn't even mentioned in the book so why put it there? I also don't get why they consistently put a cat on the three covers when Sophie's even allergic to cats! 

Overall rating: (3.5/5)

Love, Paola

BAM, I'M BACK!


Trying my hand at blogging for the nth time on a Saturday night with yet another set of outfit shots is a little anticlimactic, I know. They say old habits die hard but I say old habits that died are so hard to get back to! Feel free to quote me on that! Haha I kind of wanted a post that would make people go "BAM! SHE'S BACK!" but that might be too ambitious so I'll just have to go with this one. 

Blogging is something I enjoy, seeing as how I still haven't shut this blog down yet despite being inactive for the past months. And I miss writing so much!!! With the many random thoughts I have in my head, I think it has become therapeutic to say the least. The only thing that didn't change was the #OOTD's since I resorted to Instagram for that. I don't know why, but I like documenting my outfits although I can't say that this will be yet another fashion blog since I feel like it's time for a change! Maybe like a more personal blog - and personal might mean a combination of rants and raves about anything that amuses me and the usual outfits posts here and there. So let's see where this goes, but for now here's the outfit I wore to my graduation pictorial last month!
Top and Belt - Stradivarious || Skirt - Promod || Necklace - Bazaar || Shoes - Charles and Keith

Love, Paola