The Sweetest Escape's Blogversary Giveaway! :)

Stevia of THE SWEETEST ESCAPE had just celebrated her blog's first birthday last May 4! She's very kind enough to treat her blogger friends for a blogversary giveaway! Interested to join? Just click the link below to see the mechanics! Entries should be submitted before May 10 ends, so hurry up! :) 

STEVIA'S BLOGVERSARY GIVEAWAY!

Happy Birthday to your awesome blog, Stevia! :*

Anagon's Nivea Giveaway!

Ana Gonzales of ANAGON would be having a giveaway! For those who would win, she'll give you and your best friend some awesome treats from Nivea, one of the world's largest skin care brands, and is owned by the German company Beiesdorf. A global skin-care and body-care brand, Nivea is one of the internationally leading companies in their field as they are close to their consumers, offering their clients compelling and innovative products. Click the link below to join her awesome giveaway! :)

Anagon's Nivea Giveaway!

*Photos from ANAGON

Goodluck! :)

Happy 1st month, The Hot Mess!

I'm so happy and psyche to announce that my blog turns one month old today! YAY! It feels like I've been updating this blog for a long time already, because of the stories I've shared and the people I've made friends with. It's really very flattering to make friends with people whom you don't actually see physically yet they could give you the warmth that not all friends you know beyond their "names" could give.

Thank you to all those bloggers who inspired me to keep on blogging not only about what I wear, what I eat, where I go, what I want but they've motivated me to keep on using this medium as an outlet to pour my thoughts, insights, frustrations and aspirations.I promise to do my best just to update my blog despite my busy schedule and I also promise to keep in touch with all of you. :)

44 followers in just a month, and 700+ page views are more than enough to keep me from blogging every single day. Thank you so much! :)

Since I'll be reaching 50 followers soon, (hopefully) I'll be having my first ever blog giveaway! It won't be too much just like the other giveaways I've joined, but it's more of a sign of gratitude to everyone who keeps on visiting my blog. :) I'll go shopping this weekend for the giveaway, and hopefully, by next week, I could formally announce the prizes and the mechanics. :)

Thank you everyone! You're the greatest! :)

Her first year of eternal happiness.

Today marks the first year of eternal happiness of my Lola Leoring. She passed away at the age of 94. It was a very heartbreaking moment, because I wasn't able to witness her as she took out her last breath. I miss her so much and no one could ever miss her as much as I do, I guess.

I've always been a Lola's girl. I always love hanging out with her to play "lutu-lutuan" (pretending were cooking something real haha) and "teacher-teacheran" (imagining were at school, but I was always the teacher and she was the student). I also love playing with her sagging arms. I love pinching it because it's really very soft, and even if sometimes I press it real hard and she gets hurt, she won't bother to stop me from doing such. She also loves cooking. Everyday, she wakes up in the wee hours of the morning just to cook breakfast for us and prepare our "baon" for school. I've learned to love Papaitan, a famous Ilocano dish, because of her. She was the one who inspired me to engage myself in church organizations, that really made a big contribution when it comes to my spiritual growth. 

During her last days, I remember singing to her "Manang Biday", the only Ilocano song I ever get to learn. She was already bedridden then, and I was sitting in her hospital bed, holding her hand. There's a myth that says if you talk to them, they would try their best to answer back and speak again. And so I did. After a few hours of singing the song over and over again, suddenly, Lola sang with me! God, I was so happy! I called everybody in the house and told them what Lola did. Even if she wasn't able to sing and speak after that incident until her last waking hour, I was happy because I knew Lola did everything just to sing with me again.


I've been very busy the whole year, that I was only able to visit her resting place once and that was during her 40th day. I wasn't able to visit her during her birthday, Christmas, New Year, lent and other occasions, and I'm really sorry for that. I miss you Lola. I so miss you. Wherever you are, I know you're happy. You're always happy.

*Photos were taken on her last Christmas with us, December 25, 2009.

I love you forever, Lola!

I'm looking forward to taste your special Papaitan soon! :*

Summer and Shopping: Insights

I know all of us are fans of summer vacations. It's really one of the best months of the year because we get plenty of rest after a very stressful and almost-suicidal academic year. Summer is synonymous to fun! We get a chance to hit the beach, drink with friends until the wee hours of the morning without even worrying about what would happen the next day, spend all day and all night tweeting, blogging and facebooking, endless get-together parties with college, high school, elementary and even some preschool friends, and engaging ourselves to random interesting activities to spare us form boredom such as youth camps, fashion shows, photoshoots, and other stuffs similar to those. 


Summer's almost perfect. Except for one thing-lack of money, or worst, no allowance at all! Even if I want to spend my free time shopping til I literally drop, I can't because I don't have the moolah. Thank God for these little blessings that I receive every now and then that I'm still capable to supply my needs as a woman. Chos. HAHA :)


Went shopping with my sister-in-law, Ate Gang! I wasn't able to buy much, but I was more than satisfied with what I bought. :)

Shopping! Ultimate stress reliever! :)

Straw hat! It reminds me of the recent Coachella event! :)

Black and white turban! I was very undecided whether to buy this design or the leopard print. But my instincts told me to buy this print since leopard prints are very common these days. Guise, instincts. 

The very chunky and funky glasses! I can's top myself from buying 3 pairs!

Feathered earrings! I bought two pairs, the other one is red. Too bad I misplaced it! I shall find it later after this post!

Apple green high waisted shorts! :) This never go out of style!

Pink cropped top with ribbon details. The ribbons made me buy this top! Sorry if it's wrinkled hahaha

These newly-purchased items made me really happy! Looking forward for another shopping spree! Any sponsors? HAHA! Kidding. :) Let's all make the most out of our summer! Thanks for all your lovely comments! You guys are still amazing as ever!

On creativity, talent and skills.

I'm a very proud teacher of students who are exceptionally talented. Since I've spent my practicum year in UST Education High School which is a laboratory school, I must say that EHSians are skillful and unique in their own ways. One of my students, Angela Burgos, decided to make videos that would flaunt her creativity. I was really amazed with what she did, and really admired her for a job well-done! Do watch her video. It's too awesome! :)

PRICE TAG STOP MOTION VIDEO 

There's another video, Hands Down by Dashboard Confessionals. God, I love that song! Too bad I can't put the video here. You can watch it here, though. :)

Aside from making stop motion videos, Angela is also a fashion enthusiast! Add her up in Chictopia! 

Way to go, Gela! :)

Tatie of Fasche's PFW Giveaway!

Philippine Fashion Week is just days awaaaay! I know everyone's excited for this much-awaited event, and I'm sure all of us would want to get extra tickets for us and for our friends as well! Tatie of Fasche is too kind to give PFW tickets for free! Click the link for more information! :)

TATIE'S PFW TICKETS GIVEAWAY!

 Goodluck to all of us! :)

Excited than ever!