House Pride

Dress from Greenhills, Black Cardigan from Ross, Grey Wedges from Lucky brand

Okay, I know this is sort of a late post, but when we got back last night, we were all so tired and stuffed and just wanted to crash on the bed and sleep for the week.

Gold bangle as a gift, cross connector ring from Forever 21, cuffs from H&M

But wait, why am I so "dressed up" (if by dressed up, you mean wearing heels)? 

Yesterday was the baptism of my nephew, José León. 

We were instructed to wear something inspired by the mafia, and i'm not really sure I understood what that means because all I thought of was black and gold et voila.... mafia.

I think I did a good enough job because I ended up having the same motiff as a Johnnie Walker bottle.

I specifically wore this dress yesterday because it matched the tablecloth on the restaurant my family and I are going to eat in later on in the day.

See how pretty this restaurant is? We ate at the Golden Bay Restaurant for dinner.

Notice how the embossed pattern on my dress totally fits with the tablecloth, right? I was so excited, too! When we got to our table, they instead laid out the red tablecloth and it made me feel so bad because I own the exact same dress in the exact shade of red as well!

This all looks so Gryffindor, huh? Which fits, too because my nephew is named after the lion. I initially named this post "Gryffindor" but then I noticed that most of the colors present were more Hufflepuff than Gryffindor, which kind of doesn't make sense because I'm a proud Slytherin, but there isn't a speck of Ravenclaw here anywhere... basically, I'm not really sure what to name this post.

This is Circus (follow her on instagram @instacircus) and she took the opportunity to claim a bishops hat napkin! We forgot to take pictures of the food because when it arrived, we were so overwhelmed that we had to dig in immediately. The food here is amazing! (I think they have their menu available online as well).

We actually booked a VIP room (which is why the tablecloth is different).

And here is the cake I made for Leon. It's chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream icing and it's supposed to be a lion, but whoaa, baking cakes in your toaster oven is hard. I don't even know how to ice properly and baking this cake was a disaster. After baking, I passed out and slept for 13 hours. (I baked this on Saturday night so that I won't have anything to worry about on Sunday morning).

Next time, I'll definitely try harder with baking cakes, or maybe I should just stick to cookies from now on. 

Monkshood and Wolfsbane

Floral dress from Target, grey cardigan from Greenhills, crochet sandals from People are People

Aconite, from Harry Potter Wiki

Monkshood and Wolfsbane are alternative names for Aconite, a poisonous magical plant which is the main ingredient in brewing Wolfsbane Potion. The Wolfsbane Potion is a highly advanced potion that gets detrimental effects if brewed improperly. It relieves, but does not cure, symptoms of lycanthropy. When taken each day of the week before the full moon, it allows werewolves to retain their human mind post-transformation.

Like what I said in my previous post, I've felt extremely tired and sleepy these past few days. Today was no different, however, it did get me to thinking if I somehow might transform into a werewolf on the 15th. Maybe, maybe not. It's just that Remus is usually tired whenever the full moon nears. Oh well.

This is actually one of the first dresses I've bought myself. I think I remember buying this maybe three years ago? Just about.

Today, I got to my first class (USACHINA) late just in time to take a pop quiz which I totally failed; when I submitted it to my professor, she asked me if I did the readings---I didn't. Gosh, I feel so bad about that. I hope I can make it up next time. Sometimes, I feel like I only ever talk about USACHINA, haha! I've got other classes, too!

After two other classes, I had lunch with Ivan at Adobo Connection. We both got the Crispy Adobo Flakes for P99 because it has unlimited rice and I'm not really sure what else to try there. We've eaten at Adobo Connection countless times but we only ever get the Adobo Flakes.

Half-Eaten Crispy Adobo Flakes + unli rice

Random people at Adobo Connection

For my last class, SPANTWO, we just watched half of "Chef's Special". I should probably write a review of that when we do finish it on Thursday. But so far, I like it. ♥

Asphodel and Wormwood

If you mix powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood, you brew a sleeping potion so powerful that it's aptly named the Draught of Living Death. I feel like I've injested a small dosage of that recently because the other night I slept for 15 hours straight, lazed around for about five hours, and then promptly went back to sleep for another 10 hours.

I guess you have Procops to blame for that (and Ratbirds, too). He's just so warm and soft.

Not much happened at school today, really. In fact, not much happened today at all. All I did was finally fix this blog and hopefully make my move from tumblr permanent (just this blog, I wouldn't leave my fandom blog for anything!)

This post is probably my first post that is formatted in the "proper" fashion blogger style—what do i mean by that? Haha! I mean that it's my first post with multiple pictures of the same outfit instead of just the one.

Striped knit top from Splash Fashions (2xtremZ), Floral dress worn as a skirt from Charlotte Russe, white loafers from Nine West, White purse with gold chain from Giorgio Beverly Hills (which I got from my mom's closet), DIY flower crown, pearl bracelet from Greenhills, Vivani Wristwatch

I'm gonna tell you right now because I've honestly never read this in any of the other blogs before.  I felt really silly taking these pictures. I had to set up the tripod and the camera and then set the self-timer, and then run towards the front before the ten seconds are up! (I don't want to expose you guys to my derp looking pictures of me in the middle of running!) I mean, i'm content with just using my iPad's front camera and self timer but the quality of the photos are just so different.

And then for other shots, I asked our househelp to take them for me.

The floral print — I really love partnering floral prints with stripes.

My mom's shoes — seriously, guys, these are the comfiest pair of shoes ever. They're just so soft, it's like you're walking on clouds.

And my mom's purse.

And things that I always wear. Most of my watches are from Vivani (because you can somehow see my name on that, which I think is cool). 

And here's me taking a mirror shot before I got the courage to ask our househelp for help. 

Eeylops Owl Emporium

Asymmetrical dress from Hot and Delicious, black jacket from Market! Market!, gold necklace from Charlotte Russe, Floral headpiece from @cottoncandyonline on Instagram, gold bangles from H&M, Gold cross connector ring from Forever 21, heels from White House Black Market, gold clutch from Arden B.

--

Hello, meet my owl, Chocnut. He's an Eastern Grass Owl and unfortunately, he does not deliver mail.

He eats mice everyday which can get a bit expensive. It's really hard to feed him because you'd have to knock the mice unconscious first before feeding him... sometimes, you tend to get attached to the cute little mice.

One time, our driver caught a huge rat in his house. It was about as wide as my forearm and nearly as long as Chocnut himself. He enjoyed eating this rat. He started by piercing a slit on the back of the rat's neck and then slurping the innards. He fed on that rat for about two days.

Anyway, I wore this outfit to my friend Sarah's debut. 

Sarah's party had a winter theme and I probably figured that that translated into "blue" and "winds", which was precisely why I wore a bluish asymmetrical dress (because the flowy ends look as if there's a slight breeze or something).

I was also one of the 18 candles—and to me, that's quite amazing, really. I've never really been legitly part of a debut program before, so hopefully I didn't do too much of a bad job.

Here's a bad picture of my gift to Sarah! I can probably disclose what I got her now that her party's over (I do she's opened her gift already). I "carefully" chose these items for her. It's a shame (not really) that I wasn't part of the 18 treasures instead! Haha! I wanted to tell her ASAP what these gifts were and why i chose them, so instead of saying it infront of everyone, I'll put it here instead.

1. My own copy of Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle" — I opted to give her one of my personal favorite books instead of buying a new one. There was this quote I read somewhere that said something like books are windows to your soul. With each book, you spend a considerable amount of time with it and you share this adventure together; the book gives you a part of itself, and in return, so do you. By giving her my own well-loved copy, I had hoped to somewhat be part of the journey she'd go through while reading "Cat's Cradle". 

A few weeks before her birthday, she asked me about which kind of genre I enjoyed reading most. I told her it was sci-fi dystopia with hints of war and the like. I told her anything by Vonnegut would be perfect, thus, i opted to give her a copy to save her from the trouble of looking for one instead.

2. A pack of cute post-its — I have this habit of always tagging the books I read (or writing on them, hah! I'm so sorry). It was sort of a habit I picked up from High School AP Lit. I put post-its on parts which I find interesting or particularly symbolic and what not ("How to Read Literature Like a Professor" by Thomas C. Foster, anyone?). I do this because I love to analyze works of fiction. For "Cat's Cradle", however, I had already removed my post-its from my copy so that when Sarah starts the book, she won't have any breadcrumbs... no spoilers whatsoever.

3. A microwaveable tea cup — Obviously, a warm cup always goes perfectly with any book! Although I do have a confession to make; I'm not quite sure if this cup is microwaveable... there was no indication on the cup whatsoever. The saleslady told me it was, though, so I'm trusting her. (Sarah, if you are reading this and it turns out that it wasn't microwaveable after all, I am so sorry!!!)

4. The dry ingredients of a microwaveable chocolate mug cake — to go along with the microwaveable cup. I am a sucker for DIY because it makes me feel productive and like I can fend for myself. I wanted to share that feeling with Sarah!

5. A sachet of Twinnings Earl Grey Tea — also to go along with the cup. A nice warm cup of tea with a good book is perfect.

The only thing missing from this set was either a warm, cozy blanket, or socks.

I don't have pictures from the party, though! :( I'd have to wait for the official pictures (which I'll add on to this post once I do get it!)

But being part of the 18 candles means that you have to give her a "wish" and this is what I told her: 

Before i start, i want to Thank you for thursdays. 

Now that you're 18, you have more opportunities open to you. You are now fully capable of taking them and squeezing every single benefit to your advantage. You can do it.

But before you start, I want to share a few pieces of advice and things you should not ever forget. And these things I'm going to tell you are things that hold a very special place in our heart.

Be the hoper of far flung hopes, and the dreamer of impossible dreams. Because In dreams, you go to a world that is entirely your own. But then again, no dream is impossible because you already know that if you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains however improbable must be truth.

Only you can simply walk into Mordor. 

remember that life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa. The bad things don't necesarilly spoil the good things or make them unimportant. Because Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, as long as you remember to turn on the light.

But if you're still stuck on one particular thing, just EXTERMINATE. make it KNEEL and bow down before you. You have an army. 

These events, they're gonna happen fast. They're damn near impossible to see. So, don't blink.

Finally, as you embark on your journey, may the odds be ever in your favor. Use the force.And boldly go where no one has gone before.

As i end my speech, i want to ask you; All of time and space, everything that ever happened, or ever will, where do you wanna start?

Our friendship is based on so many fandom references so I thought that by putting a lot of fandom references in this simple wish, it would mean more because now, it doesn't come from just me... It also comes from all of the characters that we've devoted most of our lives to. Haha!

Whoa, this has gotten long. I had quite a lot of fun at the party (i sat next to her high school friends instead of the college table, oops! It was because I sat next to our mutual friend, Jasper!!).

i am not a robot

Floral dress from Forever 21, White hooded jacket from my sister's closet, Gold airwalk sneakers from Payless Shoe Source, belt from H&M, satchel from Greenhills, robot necklace from Divisoria, Darth Vader ring from Precious Little Trinkets at FB

A good thing happened today, I got the results of our US-China Relations midterms back and i got highest in the class! This revelation surprised me greatly because whoa, I'm honestly not that great and I didn't really study all that much. Ah, but oh well—I still feel amazing.

Then five minutes later, I find out that our Spanish project/presentation was due in four hours. It was really a good thing that today happens to be a Thursday which meant that my Dad probably hasn't left the house yet. I called him up and asked him to take pictures of our living room, kitchen, and backyard and then email them to me. 

I skipped my US Foreign Policy analysis class to work in the library and when It was time for Spanish, our professor handed out our midterm exams as well, and i got highest too! This day just keeps getting better and better! Afterwards, I finally presented my house and hopefully got decent marks even if i spoke really slowly and then really quickly. Hopefully my professor understood what i was trying to say. 

While I was presenting in class, I kept remembering that one text post that's been circulating on my tumblr dash. It went something like how weird it is to have foreign language classes in an elementary level because in your native language, you probably speak articulately, but then in the foreign language, you're reduced to speaking in verses and short sentences for a grade (or something like that).

Before going home, I bumped into one of my influential professors and I told him about my future thesis. He gave me a fist bump and showed great enthusiasm and engaged me in intellectual and thought-provoking conversations which he ended with a list of useful references for my thesis. Which is why I urge all of you to become friends with your professors.