A Taste of the Luxe Life

12 September, Wednesday.
I really forced myself to get some good deals at the Sogo 21st Floor Brand Name Sale. It started today and I wasn't able to go till alittle before lunch. Nonetheless, I was able to get a lot of deals on a lot of good brands. Some range from hkd100 to hkd1k but it's fine since I know if I don't like them or if they won't fit, I can sell them off easily since I got good brand names as a fail-safe approach. Check out my stash below!

L-R (top): Plenty silk dress (hkd100), JustCavalli jersey-like/lycra signature printed dress(hkd500), Plenty felt flowers dress (hkd300), D&G embroidered cardigan (hkd1k) and Nanette Lepore, mom's fav, ribbon skirt (hkd1k++)

The last one is the most expensive purchase but I love it. There are two more articles but those are pretty simple like a clubbing shirt by JustCavalli at hkd450 and a Sunday dress by Plenty at hkd100.
After my successful purchases and promised myself to maintain my figure since a lot of the dresses require me to be in the size I'm already in, if not try to lose "the pouch" in front, I realized that I can go into business with this sort of thing - buy&sell in Manila. We'll see. I don't know if I can part with these lovely items!

15 September, Saturday.
Got up early to run some errands around town plus have some r&r around CWB.

Star-sighting:
Guess who I bumped into at the D-Mop store...Joey Yung, the Canto singer. :P
She was shopping with her assistant. You just see the flock of salespersons that manage to emerge on a sleepy Saturday afternoon right after lunch. She looked bored and was rejecting all the suggestions that the sales people were giving her. I guess it's normal for her. :)

Around the afternoon, I caught two movies today with some friends:
1.) Disturbia: reminds me of the I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream franchise flicks...a lot of teeners in the movie theater. It's a bit more serious than their former predecessors but still a "teen flick" through and through. It's funny since I know the actor, Shia LaBeouf, when he was still in Disney Channel's Even Stevens so it's a good serious acting from a goof-ball character that he started from.
2.) I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry: typical Adam Sandler movie but good and funny. Cute and light-hearted. Just what I need on a weekend. :)

16 September, Sunday.
My old highschool friend, Herman, came to visit. It's great to see old friends from back in the day. Being in HK enables me to get reconnected them since HK is the big hub of every travel itinerary here in Asia. Oh, it does help that

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19 Sept, Wednesday.
Today - they will be announcing the first challenge for the Stand Up & Scrap Contest. It's going to be intense. :)
On a lighter note, checked the image on the left.
I got freebee invites to this party and had the time to do it with my best pal, Swong.
We didn't get there too early but we were still able to get some goodie bags. No luck with the raffle though their prizes are pretty sweet ~ two night's stay at Shangri-La Thailand's special suite as the grand prize.
Maybe next year would be a better year for this. :P
Free drinks and snacks were good enough for us! We were able to catch up on some much need life-updates since she's been busy in the dating front. I'm so happy for her! :) Had some late lunch at Tsui Hua for some fish ball noodles before headed home.

*MUST SEE BMW SHORT FLICKS*
For all you car-chasing, Madonna-loving, Clive Owen-fans out there...
BMW Films.
The short films gave me an even bigger respect for Clive Owen though I love him in the 2004 movie, Closer. There is so much emotion in this man's eyes and words...amazing!

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23 Sept, Sunday
Finally finished my entry for the SUAS Challenge #1. It took a lot of braincell burning but I'm glad that it's done for now. Now, I'm bracing myself for the next challenge, this coming Wednesday (Sept 26) and this time, I'll be doing it in Manila. I hope I get to have time to think about it as much I had for the first challenge.
There are a lot of great entries to this contest ~ have a look here.

Sorry - can't post my layout for this since we post through assigned entry numbers. I'll post them all later after the contest. :)

Heading home for a week this Tuesday so won't be updating this till I get back...around the first week of October or so.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to you all!

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Kit Name: Newsletter Freebee - Vintage Dreams - Retro Diva (Little Dreamer Designs) by Lori Barnhurst and Michelle Coleman
Template: 12x12 Template #Fifteen - Getting Comical (ScrapOutsideOfTheBox) by Doodleboogs
Program: PS7.0
Font: Rage Italic
Journaling: Thank you for always knowing what to do and what to say. You are my sanity at the end of the day.
~excerpt from My Moon, My Sun, My Star, My Everything
by C. Blanco


Kit Name: Autumn Frolic (available at Scrapbook-Elements) by Mikki Livanos - coming soon!
Template Link: 12x12 Template #14 - Polaroidization by Doodleboogs
Program: PS7.0
Font: Rage Italic
Journaling: Make one of your favorite hobbies collecting friends. ~Life's Little Instruction Calendar Volume XI





Kit: Tiny Pilot by Mikki Livanos
Template: 12x12 Template #Fifteen - Getting Comical by Doodleboogs
Program: PS7.0
Font: Rage Italic
Journaling: Savour the moments that are warm and special and giggly. ~Sammy Davis Jr.






Kit Name: Autumn Frolic (coming soon) by Mikki Livanos (available at Scrapbook-Elements)
Template: September Template Challenge at SBE by Alice Koh
Program: PS7.0
Font: Times New Roman and CK Ranch
Journaling: You can't deny laughter; when it comes, it plops down in your favorite chair and stays as long as it wants. ~Stephen King

PUBLISHED

Thursday, August 29
Took the 6pm PAL flight home for a weekend with family and friends.
I was totally psyched about it since my last trip was around the end of June. There were more people visiting me in July/August that didn't allow me to go home between those months. It didn't bother me that I wouldn't be able to be upgraded since the flight was pretty much "open". Work was good to none since I was already in vacation mode by the time I took the early check-in at Airport Express (Central). This is one of the important conveniences of HK - check-in early in the morning, go to work then take the bullet train to the airport about 1.5 hours before flight time. Wonderful wonderful invention! :)
NOTE: brought back all my winter cloths since I don't think I'll be needing much of them. HK has been having a bad case of the heatwave since last year. My luggage was pretty heavy for just jackets and more jackets...24kg!

Friday, August 30
Got woken up a bit earlier for someone who is on vacation to prepare for a meeting with my entourage dress designer at 9am! Mom said that it's best that I talk to her live since I had brought back the dresses. There were some design changes for my MOH but the rest of the entourage's dresses were shaping up quite well. I'm excited and hope it all turns out okay. It's still a bit too early to really know how things will end up looking on the big day.
Mom and I met the caker (one of our fav suppliers, I might add) at 10.30am. There were some design concerns with some of the layers of the cake and mom wanted me to be there as we discuss how it is. We are also concern on what the overall cake color will be. We didn't want just a plain ivory or white cake. :P Mom brought some of the props that the events stylist will be using and maybe to shed some good ol' inspiration. Love how the meeting ended - discussed the colors, the design, etc...can't wait to see how it would all come together in color, even if it's still going to be just on paper.
My long-awaited massage at home with Tess at 1pm! It's been a very long time since I had my massage at home but it was all so good! Tess was strong but nice. We chatted everything under-the-sun. :) My muscles had a good workout and I was glad that there were no knots with regards to my veins since that would be mean terrible pain. I was fine till when she did my back part, wherein my shoulders were stiffening up and when we were finishing off with some stretches. The latter was the most painful one. I was in the verge of crying but still biting on the pain. :P
Later in the afternoon, Ed got fitted for this tux. We got the cloth already and basically employed a tailor's services. I hope it turns out okay.
We had dinner at Cyma, Edsa Shangri-La Mall. I love their Roka Insalata. Check out my previous postings on this...I'm still dreaming of the tangie sauce and the candied walnuts. :P Ed had some weird pasta but we both didn't really like it since it didn't fit as a pasta dish...more like an entree.
We hungout later at Serendra, Fort (Taguig) since Ed thinks that we wouldn't have anymore time to check out the place on this trip. Better to get it out-of-the-way. I was curious on the new and further development of the place. It's place to have a nice walk after that heavy meal.

Saturday, August 31
Morning meeting with Paul Cabral for mom's dress at 9am yet again. I wonder what's up with all this early morning meetings. It's driving me nuts since I'm suppose to be taking it easier now. We took longer since mom had design and color issues. Hay...we didn't talk to Paul. She wanted me to check out if the colors are okay, etc - basically a 2nd opinion.
I'm lucky to have squeezed in lunch with Jeremy, my nephew. My brother, Jay, got some food from the Salcedo Saturday outdoor market like Aling Neneng's BBQ, some Cebu roast pig (letchon) and baked sole for lunch. Jeremy was being his silly cute self as he ate his soupy rice and veggies. He was mimicing us a lot...from drinking to munching.
Mom bugged me that it was still early before my next appointment so we rushed to PICC for the Wedding Fair. A lot of suppliers but not as impressive as the ones I've been like at the World Trade Center or NBC tent - where Ed and I used to hang out on Sunday afternoons even before we were engaged. :P
The cool thing though was that I got to meet Eddie Boy Escudero's wife, and we got chatting. Too bad though that Eddie Boy was not there because I wanted mom to meet him and see this hilarious photographer of ours. Oh well - next time. :)
Salon appointment came...my hairstylist didn't want to cut my hair shorter than just below my shoulders since he said that my wedding is so close now. He did manage to make it lighter and less "dragging". I love my haircolor though...3 colors! I got so many complements in the office when I got back. Worth every penny and pain I had to go through (sitting down for so long)!
Poor Ed...this is just not his week. By the time I finished my hair cut and color, I had a big bad migrane from all the activities and running around the city.

Sunday, September 01
I got packing then Ed picked me up to check out our would-be new "pad". It was nice though still bear but we see the potential. Ed's all excited with the lounge area in our bedroom. I'm still thinking how my scrapbook items can fit in the small scrapbook room that would double up as storage. Man! I think I will have to be forced to sell a few of them or something.
We headed off for lunch at Cibo, PP and got my cool red grape shake. :) After a harty lunch, we went to a charity bazaar around the area. Nothing interesting but it was somewhere to hang.
I was able to bump into an ex-Citi of mine, Yeye, who is now with Merrill Singapore.
Ed and I had one last meal/snack together - thus it was dessert at Haagen Daaz!
I got my strawberry while Ed got his chocolate cookie dough.
Got home, one last prep and it was off to the airport.

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Wedding Quick Note: Ed and my rings are done! Excited but wasn't able to get photos since I was worried about keeping it safe. Ed's got a plain corded band while mine had some "icies" but definitely vintage-like as per my taste. :)

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STAND UP AND SCRAP Kit is an extremely large collection of digital goods consisting of 7 zipped folders over 100MB each.
This gorgeous kit was created by Amber Clegg, Amy Martin, Ange Barton, Anna Aspnes, Audrey Neal, Christina Renee, Christy Lyle, Eve Recinella, Gina Marie Huff, Gina Miller, Heather Ann Melzer, Heather Roselli, Heidi Williams, Jackie Eckles, Jen Wilson, Julie Mead, Kate Hadfield, Laura Deacetis, Lauren Grier, Lisa Whitney, Lori Barnhurst, MandaBean, Meredith Fenwick, Michelle Coleman, Miriam Lima, Mindy Terasawa, Nancie Rowe Janitz, Robin Carlton, Sara Amarie, Sara Carling, Shabby Miss Jenn, Susan Bartolini, Tiff Brady and Zoe Pearn.
You can read more about the rules and timeline on the official site, Stand Up And Scrap Blog. You can get the kit here.
Make a difference * scrap for a cause...or get a really look mega kit that I'm so drooling over. :)

Dates to Note:
September 1st-16th - Contest Registration at Sweet Shoppe Designs
Wed, September 19th - Challenge #1 Revealed
Tue, September 25th - Challenge #1 Due
Wed, September 26th - Challenge #2 Revealed
Tue, October 2nd - Challenge #2 Due, Challenge #1 Results Show on Disc Talk Radio
Wed, October 3rd - Challenge #3 Revealed
Tue, October 9th - Challenge #3 Due, Challenge #2 Results Show on Disc Talk Radio
Wed, Octiber 10th- Challenge #4 Revealed
Tue, October 16th - Challenge #4 Due, Challenge #3 Results Show on Disc Talk Radio
Wed, October 17th - Challenge #5 Revealed
Tue, October 23rd - Challenge #5 Due, Challenge #4 Results Show on Disc Talk Radio
Wed, October 24th - Final Challenge Revealed
Tue, October 30th - Final Challenge Due, Challenge #5 Results Show on Disc Talk Radio
Tue, November 6th - Finale Show on Disc Talk Radio - Grand Prize Winners Announced

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I'm so glad that I don't have to keep this secret anymore. :P
Want to update you that I got PUBLISHED!
Although digitally but it was a great honor indeed.
I contributed an article for My Scrap Works' about shifting from trad scrapping to digi scrapping. I would have to say that this is a pretty surreal experience.
In the first place, why would anyone want to read about a "typical digi-scrapper" like me? I am nothing-out-of-the-ordinary sort of person nor have my works been officially published in traditional and/or digital scrapbook magazines or websites (some "layout of the day" can count but nothing really BIG) ...so why would someone want to read about how I got into digi? I guess there are people who do...as per this article's proof. :P
I didn't realize that I wrote a lot. I suppose most of it is babbling/rambling on thoughts in my head but this article came out so fast and fluid. It was totally not a problem as what I inititally thought.
I appreciate the opportunity, Mabelle! Thanks and always a pleasure! (Anything to that can degress me from work. :P)

On traditional scrapping news...check out what 2Peas just got in.
Metal tags/tabs from Making Memories --> very cool.
It is used with the Tab Curler or simply folded on to your layout.
Wait...I need a Tab Curler as an option?
Man...MM always finds ways to burn my wallet. Before, it was the Tag Maker (had a tag fever at that time), then the Universal/Silent Eyelet Setter (though their normal eyelet setter is quite good with the "special hammer"...can't use an ordinary hammer...tried it), Instant Stamp Setter (win the magnetic stamps from a contest but needed this to use it :P), etc!!!! WWWWWWAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! No, this time - this will just an eye candy for me. :P

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Kit and Designer: Rotten Tomatoes by Doodleboogs (ScrapOutsideOfTheBox)
Decorative Spiral Notes: Note This by Ronnie McCray (SBE CT Gift)
Alphas: Scrapper's Toolbox by Microferk Designs (SBE CT Gift)
Program: PS7.0
Font: Times New Roman
Journaling: My Mother's Garden. My Mother kept a garden, a garden of the heart, she planted all the good things that gave my life it's start. She turned me to the sunshine and encouraged me to dream, fostering and nurturing the seeds of self-esteem... And when the winds and rain came, she protected me enough-- But not too much because she knew I'd need to stand up strong and tough. Her constant good example always taught me right from wrong-- markers for my pathway that will last a lifetime long. I am my Mother's garden. I am her legacy and I hope today she feels the love reflected back from me.
- author unknown
Notes: A two page layout...a first for me. I've been meaning to do a 2-page LO for as long as I could remember. It was a bit daunting in some way since I had to think about merging the two coherently. Thus, this had to be done simultaneously - a lot of flipping through both files.