Stairs.

I know it's been two weeks! I am as excited and as anxious in writing this post as you guys are in reading it. Work has been crazy this past couple of weeks as all three big bosses in our company were out and we all just had to step up and work extra.

My little bother and I got a bit creative with this photoshoot. Stairs! It really has no bearing on the clothes I'm wearing but I thought that it was such a fun shoot. This was taken at work, inside the office on a Friday and this look happens to be my casual Friday look. Ok, not so casual Friday, but it is such a fun outfit.  

I would wear something like this on a simple dinner out or on a drink night at a pub somewhere. It's not quite a "going out" look because the ripped jeans does make it too casual but the small here and there details of this look is quite eye-catching. Let's work our way up the stairs now! (Clever! haha)

Lovely platforms are Jessica Simpson's and  ripped Jeans, unfortunately I cannot remember the brand, which is so not a fashion blogger thing to do, I do, however, remember getting them from Marshalls in a much bigger size because I really was going for the baggy look. 

A bright blue clutch from Asos was a random pairing but since all my colors here have been neutrals--black, browns, gold, a pop of that Royal electric blue would give it so much more life.

My top is from Forever21 and I adore it! I am so much into animal prints lately, particularly Leopard prints and this top just caught my eye right away at the store. Because of it's loose fit, this is good for tucked in looks, whether with a skirt or high waisted jeans, you can also pair this with shorts; and this can also work under a jacket or blazer.

Oh it feels good to be back in blogging and I already have posts lined up. No matter how busy I am, I made sure to make an effort to take photos and show some of my pairings so I truly hope you guys do enjoy them!

What's Inside My Bag.

Due to demands (only of my sister haha), I am doing a posting on what's inside my bag. Really my bag essentials never really change. The stuff pictured here are my everyday and everywhere handcarry. There are a couple of things that are not pictured like my lotion since I'm switching to a new one--Bath and Body Works in Sweet Pea scent, which I got just this weekend but haven't gotten the chance to place in my puse yet.

So pictured here is my newest fave purse and is currently my everyday bag because of how spacious it is and it is quite sturdy considering that it is a F21 bag. I love the colors, all neutrals and the style of it is very now, which only means that it will go with all outfits, whatever mood of clothing I'm feeling to wear.

So, here they are! I carry my sunglasses and eye glasses in one big container, just saves more room for me inside the purse, and I do need that room for the rest of the things in my bag. I carry (2) pouches, (1.5) wallets, (2) celphones, my planner and schedules for work.

What are the 2 wallets for?! I have no idea! haha, ok so first wallet, my big main one is where all credit cards and cash go. I have the separate coin purse/key ring where my debit card and some change for the quick runs at 7/11 or wawa, if I'm going to take some quick breaks at the office, I won't have to carry my entire purse when all I do need is my cash or card and keys.

Don't judge! I don't have two phones so I can be on FB and Twitter at the same time (although, I do sometimes use it that way) but it's because one is provided by my company for work. My poor blackberry is all scratched up but see, I have not given it up because I love it and I love the fact that I can type in it fast like my PC and not have to worry about wrong spelling because of the touchscreen (I have some bitterness with touch screen phones haha)

Now, we get down to business. The girly items, very important things that I never ever leave the house without. My Kikay Kit that has my Mac Blot Powder (I have super oily skin and needs to constantly powder my nose throughout the day), Lancome Bronzer that I use as my blush, Lorac Concealer, 3 Shades of Lipstick (Loreal in Fairest Nude, Mac in Touch and Mac Extended Play). I can never make-up my mind on what lip color I want for the day so I just carry all three and the color I choose will depend on what shade my shadow is. I also carry my fave perfume, gifted by my sister, Chanel Chance and my hair-go-to item, Hairpins.

I also have an emergency kit. In here I carry my Tide-to-go (best item ever invented for clumsy people like me!), Neosporin (again because I'm clumsy) and Bandaid, Aleve, Pens, Chapstick, Floss, very important to carry is my sanitizer, Nail Cutter and I never leave the house without my Rosary.

I used to be a pouch addict and would carry about 5-7bags inside my bag but it came to a point where I get so paranoid when I leave one of the pouches, thinking that I will need scissors or the extra underwear that I carry (hahaha), I had to get over it and stop carrying all those items and will have to make do with these few useful things. What I do now is I have an emergency pouch in the places where I go to the most like at work or if you drive, put one in the car as well. Put all the feminine necessary items in there, a little sewing kit, scissors and other hair items and when the time comes that you will be needing it, you can easily run to your desk or your car to get them. By doing this, your bag will be at least 3lbs lighter! Stick the essentials...

My Version of Man.

Lately I have been into Jeans a lot, which is so unsual for me because I have always been a "dress" type of girl, specially for summer. Having said that, I don't have a big Jean collection so I do try to make my jeans stretch its use.

This is my most favorite pair, it is my Levi's (don't remember what style though, I'm sorry guys!) super skinnys and I love it for two things: the fit and the fact that it's a size 0 and it fits me haha..I did get it from Ross that's probably why it's there in the first place because the size is wrong! (lol) Anyways, this pair is quite long on me and although it looks great with it just slouched towards the bottom, for this number, I decided to fold it. It came to an odd length but I thought that added character to the look.

I paired this with my cotton grey tee and a navy blazer and I thought that this look is one of my conservative, little less on the feminine side but very put-together look. This is so easy to pull off and it's such an easy wear. Do try this with a pair of flats if you're say, a mom or if you'll be doing a lot of walking for the day. You'll look chic and comfy at the same time:)

P.S. to my brother, I love this photo, we took this in a middle of a street in Philly while the light was on red.

The Big Red.

I think this week my head was as confused as the weather. It'll rain in the morning, sunny in the afternoon and thunderstorms in the evening; one day it's cloudy and cold then the next day it's sunny and humid. It was a challenge picking what to go outside of the house on. However, just like anything in life, you learn to adjust, you tweak what you can and just try to get by for the rest of the day.

For this particular ensemble, I went with my newest find, the red jeans! I have been looking for quality red pants for sometime now because I read in a magazine, that this color jean can always stay in your closet for whatever weather and will remain on trend, so I thought to myself that I just got to have this if it is a staple. I saw one at Zara that were a good pair as well but it was the baggy style, similar to a harem but in denim, I passed on it (although, it would've been a good buy because it was only $15!). On my latest visit at where else, F21, I came across this beauty (and a couple other beauties as well hehe) and fell for it right away. The red is as bright as I wanted it to be and it has cute zipper detailing on the bottom, and looked like denim but felt more like a legging because it was stretched.

This is such a comfortable outfit. I mentioned tweaking, and this is how I did it--added on a blazer! This fabulous blazer is thrifted, maybe around $3. It is light yellow with with navy panels and it was just adorable. I am doing color blocking here again, one of my favorite new trends because I never really liked to match anyway. Inside, I wore a basic black loose tee and when it got hot later this day, took the blazer off and because I added the necklace and the brown belt, the outfit did not look plain at all.

As mentioned, I found a few goodies at F21 and one of them is this great bag. I have to be honest, I was never a fan of shoes or bags from F21 because the make of it is not into my liking, but this particular bag was $35 and the faux leather was thick enough from the body of the bag to the handle and it also has old gold hardware. I was choosing between this and a pair of wedge booties with the same price and chose this one.

Accessories from F21 as well!:)

Summer Blow Out Sale.

For this particular posting I will not be talking about outfits (what a surprise!) but will be discussing my first Summer Blow out Sale (I made it fancy, but it's just a yard sale). This weekend, my sisters and I had a sale of our things, and although yard sales are more of items for the house or other equipments, we stuck to selling only the girliest of things: Shoes, Clothing, Bags and Accessories. I am happy to say that it was a great success! So this particular posting is for all the IMPULSE BUYERS, note to all of us...it is so good to be IMPULSE SELLERS as well!

There are certain stores now such as Plato's Closet that will buy your items and you can bring your stuff to stores as such but the only thing I have against it though, which will totally sound selfish is that they pay the same amount of money that you will make if you sell your own items but they will be selling it for much more after. They will buy your Juicy top for $5 and then maybe sell it for $10, I think you'd rather just sell it directly to those who want them and help them get a bargain.

This idea came to me because of two things. First, I badly needed to empty out my closet and second of all, if I'm going to empty my closet that only means that I will be replenishing its contents as well and I badly needed the budget! So what better way to do that than a sale. Here are some helpful tips on how your sale can be a success:

1. Be Realistic. If you are going to do this, do not expect that you will be earning $$$. Expect you will be earning but just don't expect that it can buy you a new LV or Gucci bag;) Also, be realistic as far as what you are trying to sell. If it's worn down or very out of trend, basically if you are not going to wear it don't sell it. You want to be able to do sales talk to your costumers and you will sound more believable if you actually like the item.

2. Presentation Presentation Presentation.  Creativeness doesn't necessarily mean, putting up a bunch of decorations in your home, but  if you are able to afford or you already have a tent/canopy at home, that's a great way to make your sale look less like a yard sale and more of an actual sale. Hang your clothes in clothing racks, by color and by length. It does not need to be fancy but organization will be so useful to your shoppers. I even created my own price tag.
Another way to present your sale is by using all sorts of technology and communication. Prepare an Event invite at facebook or use Craig's list to post your event at. The more words you get out the higher your success rate will be. If you have time to make flyers, then you should. Drop them off around your neighborhood or post them at a starbucks bulletin.

3. Prices. Pricing of your items is so important. You can mention this as well on your invites that you will be selling items in a certain amount of dollars and make sure you mention that if you are selling items that are designers, it's a great bait to say that you are selling them in big discounted prices.

When pricing your items, it is so much better to just really sell them in the lowest price possible. On a yard sale, you don't really expect that a buyer will buy a dress for $15 with an excuse that you only wore it once. For example, I sold my forever 21 dresses/tops from $1-$5 maximum even though i got all of them at least $15 and higher and only wore them once. Remember again that your main purpose for doing this is to get rid of your items and not solely to just earn. If you over price an item, most likely people will pass on it. Another great example, my Lamb bag that retails for $485, I sold for $40 (it is used and it's from the first collection of Lamb), there's no way someone will get it for even %50 off.

4. Don't feel bad. The key to this is don't ever feel bad for losing your stuff and for selling them cheap. Those clothes or shoes or bags have no use being stuck in your closet anyway and giving it away is a very good option as well but if you can get a dollar or two for your stuff you might just be surprised with how much you can end up getting.

5. Do not hesitate. By this I mean, do not hesitate with the things you are going to let go and sell. Sell every little thing that you know you haven't used and you know is just in your closet because it was either expensive or it was just cute. Let somebody else enjoy your finds, it's ok...you will still have more of those anyways!

I hope these tips will help you guys, happy selling!

(Happy Ending to this story: by selling my used clothes and used shoes I was able to make more than $300 for that one day! This is definitely worth trying)

Capture the Animal.

So, this weekend we threw a bachelorette day for one of my girlfriends and we had a huge day planned: Brunch (great place to try, Garces Trading Co. $25 fixed brunch menu), mani and pedi and of course would we miss shopping? Of course not! I posted on FB that we were in Zara and they had a huge sale and if I was alone there I would have probably made a huge damage but I had to think of my girlfriends who will be waiting for me to finish haha..

I settled to buy 1 item, and it turned out to be this leopard print dress/top. It was $30 and it can be worn as either a top or a dress. For this particular day at the office, I decided to wear it as a top and cinch the waist with a thicker belt, I got so many skinny comments and I just fell more in love with this item! :D

I suggest that if you are going out for a dinner or some other night out plans then wear this as a dress because it goes up a couple of inches above the knee. If you would like to wear this on a weekend, say shopping again or any day activity, I would wear this with denim shorts tucked it in and it becomes a top again...ah....possibilities!

I kept my look simple, very straight and went with one color scheme for the office, I thought it looked very sophisticated, but if you're wearing this else where don't be afraid to add color, whether be it on your bag or your jewelry or shoes.

Thinking of going back to Zara, anyone care to join me?!

A Tribute to You, Inang.

On Monday, our family received the sad news that my grandmother, Inang Sioneng passed away. It is a news that was very difficult for me to accept because although I no longer want her to continue her difficult journey, deep inside I still wanted the chance to see her when I go home. I am however, happy that she is in a better place and I know that now, I no longer have to wait to see her to talk to her or say the things I want to say, I can say it and I know she will be listening and she will hear me loud and clear.

I have not been lucky enough to have taken a picture with her just like my siblings and my cousins who are with her back home, hence no profile pic change in FB or twitpic, etc for me. It makes me sad, but at the same time it made me think how can I pay tribute to her and share my message for her, express how much I love her and how important she is in my life. Well, this is the best that I can do. 

I do this blog for the love I have in clothes or arts or fashion, but this particular posting will be dedicated to you, Inang and now you can see this, see what I do and what I love and hopefully you'll like it too! I hope you give me a huge smile from heaven:D

I mentioned this on the workdiary FB account that I was very excited to get my Asos orders and was going to do a post on it and here it is! As promised! Top, Shoes and Clutch all ordered from Asos.

As you know I am not a big fan of online shopping but I was determined to look for a clutch that's big enough to fit all my stuff and is affordable as well and my sister suggested the site and what do you know?! I found what I was looking for and more!

Our lil secret, but these fancy looking clutch is a laptop sleeve! I love that it's double purpose and because it's a laptop sleeve it was huge enough to carry all my everyday things, two pouches, 2 coin purses, wallet 2 cellphones and my bag flippies! Amazing!

My lovely top is delicate chiffon, loose and asymmetrical that I immediately fell in love with because of the basic color and the simple details meaning that I can wear this so many different ways and would go with so many things. For this day I matched it with a cropped black pants and another asos find, my favorite item, the black satin platforms! I don't usually go for a matchy matchy look but I thought the red lips and the blue clutch already gave the look enough pop of color.

Note regarding these shoes, 6 inches with about 2 or 3 inches platforms and it is comfy enough to wear for the whole day!

I hope you She enjoyed reading this and hope you guys did too!

In loving memory of my lola,

 Consoclacion Flores Halili

(1924-2011)

(Daddy and Inang Sioneng)

Casual Denim.

Having just featured my reader of the month, I think I got inspired by her look and decided to do my own Janelle version. I came in on a Thursday with this look...

Denim Jacket (folded in the sleeve), Black skirt and my ultra casual tank; as my featured reader did, I spiced this up with my own booties.

Paying tribute to my roots "Marunong ka ba magtagalog?" tank!

Skirt: Target

Shoes: Steve Madden

Tank: Philippines

Belt: F21

Jacket: Marshalls

The Cropped Army.

I never really thought that I would be a J Crew fan, but I accompanied my sister and bro-in-law in their family shopping affair (haha) and ended up spending more than the two of them. Majority of the racks were already on sale and there was an additional 40% off! I couldn't contain myself!

Got this lovely Army inspired cropped vest. I always wanted a denim one but couldn't find one that I liked. This particular one though is gorgeous and I am totally into it. My sister and I both got it and from $168 we were able to purchase this for $23! Love love bargains!

You can wear this with skirt and flats, wear it with a maxi dress, or for fall/winter you can totally layer this with a black long sleeve top and jeans with brown boots...hmmm..I will definitely be doing that!

I went for something more casual here. I paired this jacket with simple black pants, folded in the bottom making it cropped as well..i guess that was the theme..and just to make it more interesting, a touch of animal print, leopard belt and nude low-heel pumps. This was such a relaxed look, so comfortable. And for some more toughness, black leather bag with brass hardware.

Jacket: J Crew

Bottoms: F21

Shoes: Nine West

Belt: Target

Bag: Andre Marc

Honestly Modest.

Vintage? Not quite sure if that's really the look I was going for here...where ever you do decide to call this outfit though, I like it! It's quite modest for what I usually go for but I guess that's good considering that I am at work. It is good to step away from my comfort zone though and play it up a little bit, try new looks. Hope it worked!

Let me just talk about this necklace for a bit, I just love the teardrop detail on this. I also love the way the gold stands out of this cream top, great contrast.

Look #1:
I again prepared a couple of looks this time with the Banana Republic Top I just love. This look is great for the office but I would also even wear this on a dinner night out. I paired this top, tied it the way it is supposed to be with a black pencil skirt, added a leopard belt and black peep-toe pumps and to add some splash of color, an Asos laptop sleeve I turned into a pouch! 

Look #2:

This look is quite more playful. Layers are just always so fun to do. The black under this top just give a whole new look. Red belt again for the pop of color and some gold accessories to go with it as well. This look is more for going out. Paired this with a heels from F21 and clutch is from there as well.

Featured Reader of the Month: August

I missed July!:( I am so sorry that I was unable to post my July featured reader but with the summer plans it was very difficult for me to get my featured reader for a shoot.

For this month however, our featured reader is: Eira B.
I would have to say that Ms. Eira here and I are quite opposite when it comes to style but as much as I dress differently from her, I do adore her comfortable, casual looks. Biggest TIP to all is that fashion is what and who you are. It is never about what's on trend but whatever that makes you feel your best. Whether you're more for comfort or more for the edgy, maybe you're really into bohemian or vintage...what you wear is how you express yourself, so make sure that you do represent yourself in the best way possible.

Eira is the best example of "comfort without going lazy." I've heard so many that claims comfy = white shirt and baggy pants or sweats, but please don't do that to yourself. Specific clothes are meant for specific things.

It was a gloomy day and it just feels so good to just feel and look relaxed. In this number, Eira paired her "jeggings" with a loose black top and a striped cardigan...what took this outfit up a notch? Those amazing booties! This look screams COMFORT with effort! :)

She gets an A+ for her effort in making the simple pony look not so simple! Braids! Very nice detail!

Dancing and Flowy.

There was no inspiration whatsoever when I chose this outfit. It was a last minute decision but upon putting it on, I immediately felt like dancing. I think it's because of the flowiness of this skirt that I got from Walmart...whoa?!?! My adorable cousin who works with me went with it too, he danced with me! It was a fun day, fun outfit.

You would really be surprised on where good pieces can come from. It's a dead given that nice boutiques or the mall will have something for you, but when you go out to a walmart or target, I suggest that you look around because there will be one or two pieces there that might actually work with what you already have in the closet.

The high-waist on this skirt worked so well with the halter top I already have, got from F21. I certainly took advantage of that high-waist. My top is actually a long top that has beading in the bottom, better worn with pants or shorts for a night out but since I decided to wear it for the day, matching this with something more modest in the bottom made it work.
Tip: I have been doing this for years and it's such a great way to stretch your wardrobe and use several pieces in different ways. Tops that are much longer or would better work for night can be worn during the day with simpler details and if you're able to hide those beading or sequins the more dressed down it would look.
Top: F21
Skirt: Walmart
Shoes: Nine West
Bag: Andrew Marc