Family Reunion 2013

We, Filipinos, are known for being family-oriented. The strong family ties run from one generation to another. We inherited this trait from our Chinese ancestors who came to the Philippines gazillion years ago during the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade, I think. Or maybe because we used to be a colony of Spain, then US and three years from the Japs during WWII so we decided to stand on our own and claim our independence for real. 

We always have our annual family reunion on Holy Saturday. It's our yearly tradition and it is something I always look forward celebrating. I love the food and watching my little cousins play parlor games. Here are some snaps I took from our recent reunion.

Me (far left) and my family

Big Fish!!!

They want to eat it all!!!

Games for kids

Prepping for the game

I wish your family is as close-knitted as mine. Thank you for reading. =D

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NOTD Inspiration: French Manicure + Bling + Polka Dots

Hello there! 

The other day, I was painting my nails the traditional French Manicure. If you haven't tried that or you're not aware what that is, please check Google for images. Just kidding! Well, it's the type of manicure wherein you paint the part of your nail which is not attached to the nail bed (aka only the tips) with white nail polish. But after an hour, I decided to take it off due to these shallow reasons: (a.) It looks fake since I have short nails. (b.) I got bored. So I decided to create this nail art with the French Manicure still on my mind. I call it French Manicure with a twist!

For this NOTD, you'll need:
- nude/neutral nail polish
- black nail polish
- nail rhinestones or your glitter polish, choose the one with circle/hexagon shapes (like the one I used)
- nail dotting tool or tooth pick

Let's begin!

1. Start with clean nails and apply base coat to protect your nails.
2. Then paint two coats of nude nail polish and allow it to dry.
3. Using your nail dotting tool, begin lining the tip of your nails with black dots. Make sure that the dots are a bit bigger than your nail rhinestones/glitter. 
4. With your steady hand, carefully apply nail rhinestones on every dots you made. In my case since I used a glitter polish, I smeared a drop of glitter polish on a paper with scotch tape. Then I used my nail dotting tool (the one with super pointed end) to 'harvest' the hexagon glitter to attach it to the dots.
5. Finish it with top coat to protect your nails.

Hopefully you like this nail tutorial. I'm really into nails these past few days and I have an unhealthy habit of changing my nail polish from time to time, so expect more NOTD/nail art posts! =D

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Please Follow My Blog on Bloglovin' or Add Me in Google+

I read a note from Bloglovin' that Google Reader is shutting down on 1st of July. Well, I primarily use Google Reader (GFC) to follow blogs but if you're a bit worried that you won't be able to follow your favorite blogs anymore, we still have an option!

We have Bloglovin'! If you're my follower via BL, thank you so much! But if you haven't followed my blog yet but you already have a BL account, please import ALL of the blogs you follow from Google Reader  (GFC) or you can click the button below and then follow. 

You can also add  me to your circles in Google+  or in Twitter (please check my blog's sidebar) so you will still be able get updates. I don't know what's with Google Reader and they decided to shut down. It really makes me sad. =(

Lastly, I'm thankful for your continued support and  I greatly appreciate your effort to read my blog. More posts to come! 

NOTD Inspiration: Pink + Sparkly Sand

It's NOTD time again and I'm currently obsessed with anything glittery and sparkly.  I might paint my nails with different colors EACH but this is my first time to try this type of nail art wherein you paint the ring fingernail with a polish different from the rest (don't judge, please!!!). I chose pink for this NOTD since it's great  for  spring/summer season and for me it's a happy color!

For this NOTD 'tutorial', you'll need:
- glittery/sandy textured pink nail polish (I used Chic Glaze in Siam)
- light pink polish (Etude House's Look At My Cotton Candy Nails in CPK001)
- glitter polish (TheFaceShop SL211)

Let's start!

1. Prep your nails (buff and apply base coat).
2. Paint your nails (except for the ring fingernail) with two coats of sandy textured pink nail polish.
3. Apply two coats of light pink polish on the ring fingernail and allow to dry.
4. Apply the glitter polish on top of the light nail polish.
5. Finish it with your favorite top coat.

Good luck!!!

Quitting Facebook

If you're my friend in facebook or twitter, you probably know that I recently deactivated my facebook account. So you won't be able see my face in your facebook news feed (though I rarely post any updates/status), you won't be able to send me message, and you won't be able to stalk me (haha). You might think that I'm being the least sociable person on earth, the anti-social.

NO!!! That's not true! If you'll check my sidebar, I have twitter, tumblr, instagram and this blog. I think I have joined too much social networking sites and I need to deactivate one of them. But what made me quit facebook? You might think I've gone bonkers to choose facebook, not twitter or tumblr or this blog. Facebook is the most accessible! Here's my list to justify why I quit facebook:

1. There are a lot of people whom I don't know personally who send me personal messages. It creeps me  out big time! 
2. Being harassed by 'stalkers' is the worst thing ever! 
3. I don't like being tagged to things that I'm not associated with, like product promotions, WITHOUT my permission. (Though I used to manage and review the posts before they appear on my wall.)
4. I got sick of people posting about their life on facebook as if it's their diary. Don't hate me on this but I have some friends who share a LOT of personal info about themselve. I know it's their facebook but it's appearing on my news feed. I also have some friends who love to share emo stuff without thinking that their negativity might affect others (Yes! I'm greatly affected as you can see.)
5. I hate seeing 'friends' who love to show off on facebook. I don't care if you have a new bag. As if you bought it with with your own money.
6. Fake likers and fake friends that I 'accidentally' accepted.
7. My friends who never get tired of shipping me to my ex. It's so old school and it's been half a decade already since our break up. I hate it when they pair me back to him. I think they don't know the word respect.

I know it's a tough decision to quit facebook. You might also think that I could easily unfriend  and filter what I'm seeing on my news feed, but there's a lot them. I'm too lazy to filter them all. I am not advocating  to ban facebook but be careful of what you share and control what will appear on your profile.  And lastly, to my facebook friends, you won't be missing me after all. I have twitter and this blog. =D