The silence around here is deafening isn’t it? Blame it on Europe. I’ll promise you loads of yummy posts in the next few days (not to mention truckloads of pictures) but right now I’m in the UK somewhere in Wales with the Valencianos, my cousins, and it’s my birthday I am now thirty, people here could hardly believe it, and our Swiss host in Zurich said it was impossible…but here I am.
I get quite shy when people pull for me or go out of their way to make things happen for me. It’s always so much easier to say “I’m okay, you don’t have to…” but I’m realizing now that it’s sometimes even better to just say “Thank you…I’m so glad you did…” from the bottom of my heart. I feel very spoiled for my age in fact and I think I have God to “blame” for all this.
My lovely beauty inspired Marks & Spencer birthday card given by the Vees…
There are many things I can’t explain, like why I look so young, or know too little, why too many wonderful people love me or why I haven’t reached certain places…but then I hear a still small voice begin to say “You are here and you are Mine because I love you.” and all doubt walks out the back door. My life is awesome thanks to Him and I only hope I can find lots of ways to spread the love. Thank you all for being there for me…what a truly remarkable life this has been so far. We head out to London tomorrow and I can’t wait to be up and about.
Once upon a time, ages ago…I set foot in a jungle called U.P. Diliman as a Fine Arts freshman, naturally, I was somewhat clueless on the first day of school. One of the first friends I made on that day in 1999 in search of blockmates was Mark Nicdao. We trekked on foot to find and join up with blockmates (and find food lol). It felt like the WWII D-day drop in Diliman after the welcome blast, “paratroopers” aka students were broken up from different blocks trying to find each other. I also happened to have a cousin named KC who was being labeled the industry’s freshest IT girl a year or so into my college stay.
Mark decided to leave college after 2nd year and found himself apprenticing for photography then discovering that this was his true calling making him the best and most in-demand portrait and commercial style photographer in the country today. He mentioned here and there to me that he sooo wanted to meet KC. Although their encounter did not singlehandedly happen ‘coz of me the rest is art history. It’s KC’s birthday today so Mark and I last night already wished her all the best. He had come over to bring her a birthday gift.
At a lovely and delicious impromptu dinner at Chef Jessie’s in Rockwell Club (I recommend the Duck L’Orange), KC blew her birthday candles among family. I said it in Instagram and I’ll say it again. I thank God for my gift of a cousin who has the best years of her life right before her. ” I Love You, KC! Happy Birthday and Carpe Diem.
Breathe, breathe deeper, exhale…inhale…now shout…shout at the top of your lungs, like she would. MAC is soon putting out a Hayley Williams collection. Now I hear you…
VIA Temptalia.com “The collection will feature an orange lipstick, coral eyeshadow, mineralize skinfinish, and an orange nail lacquer. MAC just confirmed this collection via their Twitter and Facebook.”
Yea, no kidding that’s all I had to say right? If you don’t know who Paramore’s lead singer is…she’s been around FOR AWHILE and has been singing pro since she was about 15 and Hayley Williams is not just another young girl screaming at a microphone. She really sings, as in seriously sings…and her ability to pull off pop-py, alternative grunge cool and keeping pretty without looking too androgynous is what gets her admired in the beauty community. I learned more about Hayley 4 years ago when I watched this interview about her and her development as a singer (playable only on laptops or desktop devices). The collection is a tricky one to get and will launch on April 9, 2013 and will be available exclusively online for a limited time only. Sigh* I’m glad I didn’t get any of the Archie items. I really…really dig what this is looking like. Hayley is just sooo irritatingly cool. If you’ve never heard her sing here’s one of her more popular mellow performances from 5 years ago, Paramore’s Live Acoustic Cover of the Kings of Leon song “Use Somebody” ( this link can be watched on all devices) . Also embedding here for a slightly more recent but still not so new video their acoustic jam for the song “The Only Exception” where Hayley’s rocker chic makeup is just…just perfect to me…it’s just enough and sooo pretty.
I absolutely waited for this. I nagged Pao and Sam Valenciano, ever so dear to me, about when it was coming out, it was shown at the wedding but it wasn’t as complete then as it is now, now it’s perfect. At the time I asked, Paolo said they were still fine tuning it before sharing online.
There are some wedding videos that make an impact even on people who don’t know the couple personally and even make strangers cry, and I’m sure this one is exactly that. It captures the exact mood and embodies the everlasting love, childlike humor, and solid friendship we all experienced during their union last February 7, 2013.
The cinematography just grabs you and pulls you into the wedding with the magic of Bob Nicolas and his onsite team. Of course the direction and comments on the edit by Pao, the groom (who is also an editor) make all the difference. Watching this video FULLSCREEN is the closest experience to being at their wedding if you weren’t there. If you can’t view the embedded video click on this link to watch Pao and Sam’s Wedding on YouTube.
I told you that at my cuz Paolo Valenciano’s wedding I was too lazy as part of the entourage to be shooting with a full throttle camera the whole time, much less holding one…so I didn’t. I also couldn’t be bothered with taking pics of myself because I was having too much of a blast observing my station as a bridesmaid, mingling, eating, laughing, and whatevs…I also wasn’t seated with any of my much younger cousins that evening so forget about group photos with the baby bunch. What I nearly forgot amidst the blur of celebration that evening was that there was a photo booth (I was like “oh yeaaaaaaaaaa, there was one”)…and that I had 2 pictures taken with my cousin KC (mom is Tito Kiko’s older sister) who was seated at the same table right before I accompanied her to her car. It was so late I’d forgotten that we had that photo moment…then these popped up on Facebook. Tada! And yes, I did my own makeup I’m so happy we have these to keep.
The married couple, Pao & Sam Valenciano.
Somewhere at home there are exactly two photos of me and KC also shot back to back when I was 11 and she was 9 and I was still taller than her (straightens back). It would have made a great throwback, but like I said…it’s somewhere.
This is a 2D-barcode containing the address of our mobile site.If your mobile has a barcode reader, simply snap this bar code with the camera and launch the site.
I am now thirty, people here could hardly believe it, and our Swiss host in Zurich said it was impossible…but here I am.
Rae (4)
Bea (3)
Anna (2)
Beauty by Tellie (2)
Belle (2)
