my hair in a bun

This is the first time I've worn my hair in a bun since I had my last ballet recital when I was, I don't know, maybe 4 years old? *laughs* It was actually fun taking all those bobby pins and just sticking them in "strategic locations" to keep the strands in place. Quite fulfilling! I still don't know how the auditioning ballerinas who I see waiting in line on 19th Street everyday on my way to work keep their buns so neat, without a hair out of place. It's definitely a learned art.

Anyway, I wore a super comfy no-fuss outfit today. I felt like I was walking around in pajamas! I really love my hot pink top, it's super soft and flowy. I remember wearing this to my brother's birthday dinner almost exactly a year ago. How time flies!

red mango graphics

I know this Red Mango store has been open for almost 7 months now, but I never really got to "celebrate" this illustration that I created for the counter wall at the SM Mall of Asia. I remember working on this graphic over countless wintry nights at our poorly heated sublet apartment on W 51st Street (I would sometimes wear my puffy down jacket over my pajamas because it was so cold in there!) I've never seen this store in person, and I haven't seen the SM Megamall store either. I guess everything will have to wait until I'm back in Manila for the holidays this December.


The illustration
I was a bit bummed to see they hadn't gotten the measurements right and had zoomed into the illustration and cut away a large part of it when they applied it to the wall, especially since I'm sure I was working on the right size/proportions. Oh well. Achi said she could have it changed eventually, but I don't think we're ever gonna end up doing that. I wish the illustration didn't end up getting zoomed in this huge though (especially since I might have some curves there that aren't as smooth as I would have liked them to be! hehehe oops!)


As seen at the SM Mall of Asia store
Another thing I just finished working on last night is a new set of slides for the rotating TV menus we have at the stores. I remember having done the first set a year ago in haste because we were opening the first-ever Red Mango Philippines store at TriNoma in a few days. I've realized, now that I've done the second set, that the first set from last year looked quite bad! I guess my design sense has been taken up a notch since then! *laughs* It's funny how different you can feel about something once time turns its hands. It's amusing looking back on things you've done, things you were actually happy about or even proud of, and seeing them now and making a face thinking, "I actually thought that looked good?" Hehehe.

Overall, I guess I still retained a bit of a feel from the first set, but I've just buttoned it up a bit. And so I present a before-and-after snapshot of a couple of the slides on the menu. At the very least I think I've been able to make the slides more cohesive as a set the second time around :) Or do people think otherwise? Oopsie if they do hehe!

old town in san diego

I always knew achi was bossy, but I didn't know she knew how to brandish a whip! *laughs* Poor shoti!



Some other pictures from Old Town include cute little cacti and a stretched piece of cowhide. I looooove the illustration of the Virgin Mary on the wooden bench!

my new camera bag

Well, it's technically not new because it's vintage. Let's just say it's recently acquired :) I love it!

cool shoesies

These shoes are so cuuute and funky! Figures that the shoes' name is Funk a Delico! They're on sale for $119.99 (originally $160) at Need Supply but I have no intention of buying them. I doubt I'll ever really wear them, I just get a kick out of looking at them, hehe. Besides, I don't have money to spare!

waiting for the weekend again

Listening to: Your Love is My Drug by Ke$ha

This song is so cheery! It makes me want to let my hair down and spin around with arms outstretched, eyes closed, face towards the sky, without a care for the world.

The problem is, as I stare at the calendar on my computer, I see that it's only Monday. There will be no letting my hair down until Friday. This past weekend has been fun enough to fuel me through this week though. We went up to Greenwich, Connecticut for a barbecue pool party and all I can say about Meredith's house is wow. Infinity pool and hot tub, plus steaks, burgers and corn grilled on a Weber grill, plus a grassy yard surrounded by blue and purple hydrangeas where we ran around barefoot playing soccer and tossing frisbees equals a Saturday very well spent. I loved it, even if I did not get to swim and had to satisfy myself with wading and hanging my legs off the edge of the pool. Rainer is one lucky guy. He can come up to Greenwich whenever he feels like it now especially since his wedding with Meredith's in less than a month! So exciting :)

my skimmer design

Yey! My skimmer design for punchdrunkpanda's out! Because I wasn't able to think of a name for my design, Nati ended up calling it "Magnolia". The design doesn't really resemble a Magnolia, or any particular flower for that manner, hehehe, but the spirit of it is still quite girly and I guess because of that, a flower's name works well enough. I still think the perfect name is eluding us though.

Still, I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out! Now if only Nati and Horn would give their artists a free pair/piece of whatever they designed for punchdrunkpanda as part of the compensation. *hint hint* :D

And oh, is it obvious that I love pink?



Click on the image and it'll take you to the "Magnolia" product page on punchdrunkpanda's website where you can purchase this, or click around and find other skimmers and laptop sleeves that tickle your fancy. Ayan Nati, free advertising! :)

passion pit

Lately I've been listening a lot to Passion Pit. And for the longest time I couldn't sing along to any of the songs because I couldn't quite make out what he's saying. Now that I've checked out the lyrics, I'm surprised at how abstract they are. They're actually a bit hard to interpret, but that's precisely why I find them so intriguing. Here's a stanza I love that's a bit more straightforward.

Oh, I know
That whatever happens to you
whatever happens to me
I hope that I'll fall asleep
Knowing that you'll always be
The story with no ending
From Live to Tell the Tale by Passion Pit

stress.

My goodness. Nakakastress. I wonder how the maleta move-in at the apartment is doing. I cannot believe they actually have 14 pieces of luggage. Well at least they got rid of all the boxes. And I guess that's actually a really good number considering 3 of those are my sister's and Andrew's and the rest hold my brother's whole life for the past 4 years at Cornell. I can only imagine the state my apartment (okay, our apartment) will be in after they cram all the stuff in. Huhu. It's going to be a "cozy" three weeks.

On the bright side, I'm glad to have family around! But you gotta admit living on your own also has its merits. No one to clean up after, no one to worry about sharing the bathroom with, no one to look for you when you're out, hehe :)

my brother's graduation

The last of the Tanmantiongs has finally graduated from college! And with Cum Laude honors at that, sooo proud of you shoti! :) Hmm... I suddenly feel really old. I've just realized that I'm now 3 years out of Ateneo and a year out of Parsons! Time is speeding by much too quickly. Tsk tsk! Anyway, thought I'd post a picture of the family that was taken at Cornell University the day before the graduation ceremonies. I really love Cornell's campus. Every time I visit I can't help but think I should have gone there for my bachelor's degree just because I find the campus so beautiful! (That's assuming I'd have been good enough to get into Cornell!)


Thanks to Andrew for taking the picture!