Happy Halloween!

I'm so excited! This is my first Halloween ever! (Btw, thanks Uncle AJ & Aunt Audrey for my googoo&gaga onesie. This is what I wore underneath my costume!)


Mom and Dada were so proud of me when they saw me wear this! They said, "The baby is now a lady...bug!" As for me, it was just another day of being cute really. I had more important matters to think about...I couldn't decide between the chocolate gold coin or the baby pumpkin (it's real!)...


While the gold foil is very eye catching, and I always try to snatch it off mom's hands when she eats a chocolate coin, I think this pumpkin is more substantial. Oh, Grandma will be so proud of me, choosing vegetable over chocolate!


Let me try and take a bite!


I had a fun Halloween! How was yours?

WHO: A.P.C.

What:

When:

Where:


Reportedly up to 80% off!!! I. Want. To. Go. But I won't.

The Kushners

Ing, I thought of you when I saw the pictures of Ivanka's jewels up close! Grace, when you tweeted about the Kushners getting married, I thought of Ashton & Demi. Gosh, I'm such a lola!

The rest of us wedding watchers, enjoy the deets!

According to people.com, Ivanka "...walked down the aisle in a Vera Wang gown inspired by Grace Kelly, before celebrating with her new husband, her father Donald Trump and more than 500 guests, including Regis Philbin, who was called on to sing at the reception planned by celebrity event designer Preston Bailey." The groom, long-time beau, Jared Kushner, publisher of the New York Observer, was no less dapper in Brioni.



With a jewelry collection to her name, of course Ivanka brought on the bling! People.com mentions this, "At her Sunday wedding to Jared Kushner at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., she wore a platinum-diamond hairpiece to accent the veil (worth $45,000),


...platinum mixed-cut clustered diamond earrings (worth $130,000),


...and an Art Deco link platinum-diamond bracelet (worth $90,000), all in addition to her lace Vera Wang gown."



"Her bridesmaids were suitably encrusted as well, with assorted pieces from the Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry collection to set off their Carolina Herrera gowns."

Despite all that flash and the high profile lifestyle, I've always thought of Ivanka to be a class of her own. Gorgeous, very bright, down-to-earth, and focused. She politely turned down a personal offer from Anna Wintour to work at Vogue, a job "a million girls would kill for" (as the Devil Wears Prada puts it). NY Mag says, she told Good Morning America:

I had, like many people, pulled an all-nighter studying for the final exam that I had the next morning. And I receive a call the next morning directly from Anna Wintour, her assistant connected us, etc. — she called my cell phone, so I was a little bit ... taken off guard would be sort of an understatement. And she very graciously inquired as to what I was planning to do after graduation, and offered me a position at Vogue, which to any girl, even if you’re not particularly interested in fashion — as life would have it I ended up starting a jewelry collection, and she’s been an amazing supporter of me in my future endeavors. But it was a great honor.

It never occurred to me that I would accept the job because of the focus that I’d had — I’d been at Wharton, I’d always wanted to go into real estate, so that was my path, and I was very polite in my refusal, if you will. But when I told my father about this experience, he asked me several times — several times almost to the point where it was a bit disconcerting to me why he was pressuring me to take the job at Vogue ... I was a little bit upset about it.

Amazing huh?

(Photos from Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry Collection via People.com)

VMV Boo-ty Treat This Halloween

Instead of wanting to look scary, why not go for pretty this Halloween? VMV has treats for all of us! It's no trick! October 30 to 31, 2009 only!

Sarj, Meet Toms Cordones

Uuuuyyy, I think you will like these....






Available now! For both women and men! Check out the Toms website for more designs, and to buy (From $69 to $79).

Playing Dress Up With Berry

You wanna see more of me?


Here I am wearing the Pink Peace googoo&gaga onesie, in color, for your appreciation...


As Ate Bee, the Eskimo Girl...


Pretending I'm going to school...


And Mom's favorite...La Garçonne

Berry Groovy in googoo&gaga

Friends, family, countrymen! Check out Berry in googoo&gaga's website!



Isn't she a cutie? I styled and shot her for this "editorial", heeheehee!

Oh! And googoo&gaga has new designs and reprints available. So if you missed out on the past collections, now's your chance!



Email audrey@googooandgaga.com for orders!

Stella McCartney x Gap! Goodness Gracious!

Berry! Aren't we in for a treat!!! This also goes to all you mommies, grandmas, aunties and godmothers plus petite women who can fit into little kids clothes! According to WWD, "Stella McCartney's first full children’s wear collections, done in collaboration with GapKids and babyGap, will be launched Nov. 2 at select Gap stores in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France and Japan. The 70-piece line, which McCartney said she designed to 'find a kind of balance between Stella as in what I do for adults…and how I see kids, really,' takes inspiration from both the design signature McCartney has developed in her own collections and her practical experience as a mother of three."

When I first heard about this through the grapevine, I knew it was something to watch out for! Now that the photos are out, my hunch has been proven correct! Look at all the cuteness...




I want to stock up for Berry! (The collection’s sizes run from newborn to children up to age 12). According to the article, "McCartney made sure the fabrics she’s used in the collection — such as organic cotton, cashmere and wool — aren’t 'scratchy,' and has incorporated fun elements to entice children as much as their parents."

Maybe I will stock up for myself too? For Berry's benefit, heehee. WWD points out, "Some of the pieces are mini-me versions of designs from McCartney’s rtw collections. There’s a gray sweater dress knit with an intarsia leopard design — which appeared full-size in the designer’s fall 2009 collection — along with skinny gray jeans with ankle zippers and a snug gray cable-knit cardigan dress."

Prices for the collection run from $14 for wool tights through to $128 for a military-style jacket (I want that one!).

Photos from WWD.com

Triad Exhibit in Firma

Jewelry artists Michelline Syjuco, Kristine Dee and Paul Syjuco celebrated the opening of their exhibit in Firma yesterday, Oct 22, 2009, entitled Triad - An Approach to Futurism. As if that wasn't enough, Cicou Resturant's executive chef Cyrille Soenen prepared french desserts inspired by the jewelry pieces. Jewelry and sweet somethings, what a treat!



Being forward thinkers, Michelline, Kristine and Paul discussed the theme of futurism and came up with several concepts. For them it meant progress with a deep-seated respect for the past. It meant concern for the common good by doing things a little bit better along the way. It also meant, most importantly, creating new things with imagination and creativity.

The different design eras and paradigms expressed the future in different ways. The early twenties to forties envisioned the future rife with airplanes and flight as well as abstraction. Mid-century futurism contained visions of monorails and superhighways. There seemed to be a fixation with organic alien life forms, lasers, UFOs and space exploration in the sixties and seventies as well as parallel universes of mythical beings and objects in the eighties. However, these “Retro-futurist” pegs aren’t exactly what the artists pay tribute to. It is the constant attempt to experiment. It is the pushing of the mind to create concepts of external objects not present to the senses. And while we all know that most concepts of the past didn’t quite make the cut, being relegated to archives at best, it is the spirit of creativity and resourcefulness that is held high. After all, a lot of our perceived realities now were long ago only considered fantasies.

Here's a peek at the collection. Check the rest out in Firma! And be prepared to faint at the gorgeousness!


Michelline Syjuco:






Kristine Dee:



Paul Syjuco:





These pieces, along with the rest of the collection for the exhibit, will be exclusively displayed in Firma until Sunday, October 25. Thereafter, select pieces will remain on display in store.

Tried & Tested Tips: For Preggers =)

good luck with your shopping ban! :-)

i really enjoy reading your blog especially now with your daughter and all the things that come with motherhood!

i am now pregnant with our 2nd baby and just want to ask you if there were any particular skin/hair care products you used during your pregnancy that were very good?

thanks! - jcd


Thanks so much too jcd! I am happy to provide entertainment and share info, heehee. I am so sorry for the delayed reply! The good news is, basically, I just used regular stuff. For my hair, I washed it with Johnson's Baby shampoo, the lavander scented one, because I wanted something mild, without the overpowering smell of "adult" shampoos - my sense of smell heightened by the pregnancy and all....



Post-pregnancy, I've been using this Lauat shampoo from Foliaged that my mom brought with her from Manila. It's meant to combat falling hair, and we all know how postpartum hair loss can be such a bummer. I've noticed that ever since I used this, the amount of hair in our tub has considerably lessened. I particularly love how it smells of gugo. I am not sure where my mom got this, but apparently, it's available in Mercury Drugstore (Thanks Ms. Chelle!)! Btw, when I feel like my hair needs some moisture, I use L'Occitane conditioner for dry and damaged hair. I don't really condition my hair regularly. Only when it feels dry.

These days, I also don't shampoo daily. I use Oscar Blandi Dry Hair shampoo in between washings.



Oh, and I used and continue to use Cetaphil for my face.

For bathing, I use Safeguard. Before, during and after pregnancy just because when I was in college, Kim, a friend who was a Bio Major in UP, told me that they did the Safeguard microscope test in class and it was true that Safeguard was effective in killing 99% of germs/bacteria! Ever since then, it was Safeguard forever for me! (I do use body scrubs once in a while, but not while I was pregnant. I wanted to limit the use of "chemicals" back then.)



My family is lucky that we don't get stretch marks but I figured, might as well use this. My friend Mary Anne gave me enough Palmer's to last the entire pregnancy and I just used it anyway! I think it's pretty effective given that I never got an itchy belly all throughout my pregnancy, even during the peak of winter when skin tends to dry out.



Nothing fancy really, just regular stuff that work well. Hope this helps! =)

Domesticated

I got my birthday gift from Dear Hubby early this year. A 5.5 Quart Dutch Oven from Le Creuset. I found this in Home Goods at a steal and just had to have it. Of course, Dear Hubby obliged. Thanks Hon!



What was the first dish I cooked using my pot? Sinigang na short ribs of course. Here's the beef simmering, waiting till the meat falls off the bones.



And no, I don't think it is sad for modern, educated women to be happy and excited about kitchen stuff. In fact, I want a whole set of Le Creuset pots and pans. I have a lifetime to work on that. Then, I will happily turn over my collection to Berry when she wants them!

Apart from pots and pans, I want a dress form badly. This dress form from Fox Sewing Machines Inc. to be exact:


I saw this first from Jenny of Wiksten, when she sold some of her stuff on ebay. And with a little bit of sleuthing, I found out just where to get one!



When I find time, I'm going to Fox and find out how I can bring one home. Is it made to order or do I get to bring it with me right away? I hope they don't cost much. It would be nice to have one around the house.

1. I can use it when I sell stuff on ebay or shopspot
2. I can play dress up with it. That leaves me free from having to take my clothes off and on
3. Oh, and i can use it for sewing, duh! (In case you are curious, yes, I can sew!)

Oh, I'm turning into such an old-fashioned housewife! =)

14 Pieces = 12 Looks! Thanks Shopbop!

Here's proof you don't need a huge wardrobe to dress up stylishly in so many different ways. Quality over quantity baby!














I have most of these things in my wardrobe, save for the shoesies. You know me, I'm the flats/sneakers kind of girl. Can't wait to try all these looks, my way! Thanks for doing the thinking for me Shopbop!