Thrift On My Shop

Shop update here.
Thank you so much ladies.

Chevron and Doodling

Just because we don't go to school anymore doesn't mean we can't learn new things right? Since Photoshop cannot handle my learning disability in editing pictures, so hello, hello, hello, You are now looking at a Summa Cum Laude of the Aviary (Flickr) academy. And today I successfully doodled on my picture. Using a computer! hah! I know the arrows need a lot of work but hey, I finally did wrote on my picture. I've been trying to do that since ever and I am glad that Aviary made it easy for me. So, for those of you with Photoshop disability, go to Aviary. No one is dumb in Aviary.

So, let's talk about my outfit. I forgot to wear a belt. Know what, I so wanna use my new powers in doodling using the technology, but it looks fake and ridiculous. So let's just leave my dress without a doodled belt then.

Tell me, how are you today? Happy Monday!

Question???

What small treats makes you incredibly happy?

Me?

That would be, hands down, my (grande) iced latte once a week. 

why??...

Light Layers

I love that I can still wear layers considering the cold season in the Philippines is almost ovaaah. Here I am with my layers and black skinny stretch jeans - which is by the way the most versatile pants of all the (um) pants. Right? So to glamorize my black pants a little bit, I wore it with blue heels. I think it was pretty much decided long before the bloggers populated the earth, that a pair of sexy heels plus black pants is a refined look. Doesn't matter what kind of top you're wearing, paring pants with heels can elevate the overall look of an outfit in more ways than one.

anchor print blouse, gray sweater and pants : thrift
blue heels: GoJane
Ralph Lauren purse, thank you Mom c",)

Collect Good Memories, Put It In Your Pocket, Save It For A Rainy Day

I am terrible at how I let things get to me. Some small terrible things in life, like plans not working out, or that rude lady I unfortunately dealt with recently, or problems. Yes, problems. Don't we all have problems. Some are silly problems, some are based on a real merit. I tend to focus on that small percentage of negativity in my life and forget about all the good and great things that made my life such a great one. I know my life is great. I know that. There are so many blessings I am grateful for. My family is healthy. All the people I love are very much alive, and that for me is a lot to be thankful for. Every single day there are people and instances that put colors in my life. All kinds of happy colors. Like the nice security guard in a pizza chain we go to who plays and guards Yllac from running out while Jayson and I sit and eat. We love him. Our neighbor who always smile at me. And our other neighbor with the rest of the Barangay Tanod who threw rocks at our roof at 1am alerting us about a certain trespassing snake. Seriously, how rude was that snake? Oh, by the way, the snake got arrested the following day. hah! So there you go, I love our Barangay police. They do care, and don't sleep. And whenever we  pay our bills, I think about how many people don’t have access to electricity, water, and to computers, the Internet or even a simple phone to call loved ones.  Don’t ever take your luxuries for granted. Or the person(s) who took the time to write to me saying how much she appreciate this blog and finds comfort and laughter on the stories I share. And believe me, it was a "high" moment for me reading those letters. 

But I am weak at times and I easily let go of my triumphant stuff over unkind critiques or just any kind of negativity. Yes, I am weak, but I am a seeker too. I constantly want to improve my life and my overall happiness as a mother, wife and person. It's hard but hey I am trying. Of course it’s all too easy to pay attention to the problems we have, but just like it says in one of my favorite books,- Don't Sweat The Small Stuff, it’s important not to let small problems turn into big mountains. I love that one, that is my favorite thing I say to myself over and over again. And it is always effective. To be aware of everything around us means considering the presence of both the bad and the good. I know I am terrible at making the good stuff stick at terrible times but I am working very hard towards my goal to be positive by remembering the good moments, the nicest people and strangers,  the kindness and all the blessings that do come my way.

Today, I remember this picture. It was March of 2009, Jayson and I were driving around, i was behind the wheels mind you, and we stopped here to take photos. I remember our shoes got all filthy and filled with ashes. I also remember that it was 3 in the afternoon and it was a hot day. So we both got sunburned and later on that day we got coffee. Now, thinking about it, so much has changed. I also remember, It was a great day.

What We Did On Valentines Day...

....we ate what's left of our heart shape caramel cake and got super hungry at 4pm and made a sandwich. Yup. We eat supper before the sun goes down like a real grandma. See? who talks like that? Supper?

also on Valentines Day, I ironed my hair and Yllac grew two inches taller. My exaggeration, I know! But he's bigger... what happened to him?... 

Today Is Pre Valentines Day

I loooooove valentines day. Oh, I cannot believe I just said that!!! Because 4 years ago, I hate it. Not because I wasn't in-love or anything, but I just thought that it's too much. It's too much! It's not even a real holiday. I don't know what happened to me but I fell in love with it so damn hard the last two years or so. I have come to love the overrated-ness of it. Yes, the flowers are ridiculously extra expensive on Valentines week. Everywhere you go, you see cut out hearts. Lovers eat out and seems okay to wait in long lines in every restaurant. Suffering is a key ingredient for love if you don't know that. And the ladies, oh the ladies, they aren't shy to parade their bouquet of flowers and their life-size teddy bears. Obviously, the world is crazy for love.

So today, my boys woke up as early as the worms (left me drooling on my pillow, i love my life) and went to town. They got me one huge rose, one cheese muffin for us to share, one super large glass of ice-cold latte and one mini caramel cake, in a shape of a heart of course. They went home to me and screamed  "Happy Valentines Day Mommy!!!" (as of now, I am deaf) and Jayson shockingly told me the price of a dozen roses today and that's why he only got me one. ONE! That woke me up. What??? You bought me ONE dozen roses? We cannot possibly eat the roses! Roses can't pay the bills! He knows I am not yet fully awake so he gave me my one piece of rose and kissed me. Well, that shut me up that calmed me down. I took a sip of my latte and thanked God for giving a husband who thinks exactly like me. I love flowers. But not on Valentines day. na-ah! And you know what I mean right? I know, marriage ruins some of the romance and craziness in a relationship. If you're a married woman and reading this, you know I am right. Right? Romance is totally overrated. But loooooove and thoughtfulness is na-ah-not. c",) heehee. 

So here I am with my loves. We are celebrating in our bed and teaching Yllac what Valentines day really mean. Well, I am not sure if he understood us, but basically, we told him, - it is the day when you give Mommy and Daddy extra hugs and kisses. Yup! I think he got it. So in celebration, we ate our cakes, we drew some hearts and finally watched The Amazing Spider-man (seriously, I love that Spider man, he's like Dora The explorer with his backpack. So cute!) Tomorrow, on Valentines day, we will go out and watch people celebrate it in their own crazy way. I can tell, it's gonna be fun! And I hope you're gonna have fun too. Happy Valentines Day to all!

Tiger Face

This sweet tiger is a keeper. I have worn it a couple of times since I got it and never complains. Such an awesome, nice pet.

Happy Monday to you my friends. 

top: thrift
skirt: target (on sale, 5$)
heels: Zara (on sale 39$)
purse: Charles and Keith

Happy Weekend Guys!

So here's what's happening inside the casa de Lozada... two mornings ago, my dear darling Jayson woke up way, way, waaaaaaay too early and left our bed and got busy right away around the house. In my mind I smelled bacon and brewed coffee, or so I thought. I was so excited to eat, so i called him soon as yllac woke up - who's by the way uses my left arm as his pillow. Aaahhhhggg, get this, he weighs more than 15 kilos now. So maybe his head weighs about 3 to 5 kilos? Not sure, but 3 kilos resting on my arm 3 to 4 nights a week is not for the weak. Thank God for these marshmallowy arms. Am telling you, they come in handy. Soooooo, minutes later, my dear darling Jayson - smiling ever so big, came in with our breakfast that he made from plastic scratch. So yum and fresh from his lungs - Balloons!!! I know, I know, we're a little tight on budget these days, but balloons for breakfast? really? well, I guess it's not so bad. Yllac loves them. I love them. 

Thank you Daddy for the balloons. You are awesome. And Sweet. How did I manage to land on you, I will never know. I don't want to know. I'm just glad you're ours.

Happy weekend guys! 

Brown and Black aaaaand Blue

.....and stars! 

and silver. and pop of leopard.

okay. i need to stop this now.

aaaand Yllac too. phew!

Okay, enough of that. ( i am talking to me) They say that you can't mix black with brown. But that's just an old fashion way of thinking about fashion. You following me? And since there are 50 shades of browns out there : cognac, chocolate brown, hazel, coffee brown, poop brown, again it never ends, find a brown that has a light or gold undertone so it goes well with black. The possibilities are endless. A light brown jacket is a good color to keep in your closet because it goes well with any color too. There's the combination of  Brown and blue, brown and red, brown and orange, again it never ends. c",) To me, brown looks good mixed with any color because it is a neutral color. It tones down the whole look when worn with strong colors. 

So tell me, do you like brown? What's your favorite color to combine with brown? 

jacket and star dress: thrift, 45php for the jacket and 80php for the dress

cap toe heels: Gojane

January oh January

Hi folks! It was a quiet, fun and seems like a quick January for us the Lozadas. If you're interested I will tell you a story. Brace yourselves, for it will blow your mind. Well, not really. I just wanted to put a little sugar on this blog post. Seriously, our January is real quiet and real blissful. You feel me, I know you do. So, here's some of the things going on with us lately.... 

So here we have Yllac using his foot to scratch his chin. I mean if that isn't some kind of talent for some sort of ...I don't know, - on how-to-scratch-your-chin-ten-ways-using-different-parts-of-your-body-exept-your-hands... 

I miss having a baby. A tiny one. Caring for a tinnie tiny one is easy. It is soooo my kind of thing. You have an exact schedule of same activity everyday, the feeding and changing, nap times and snuggles. It is a whole day affair. I know, there's not much challenge to it, but boy oh boy, you go to bed at night as dead as a fried chicken-a-ma-ding-dong and feel you have accomplished a whole lot. Right now I crave for that. I could eat a new born baby right now. Maybe this year it will happen for us or maybe next year or the year after that. Someday.

And I want to especially dedicate the two photos above to my Dad. The "foot" is a family thing passed on to two generations now.   

I got this Craft A Day from last year. Honestly, there is nothing much to it. If you're a pro crafter this is not for you. But to my level, I love this - that is for someone who can't color inside the line. For this entire book all you need is a scissor and felt papers and whaallaaa, you're an overnight artist.

So, basically here's what we've been doing as a family since Jayson resigned from his old job three weeks ago. We've been cuddling. A lot. I say, Jayson's resignation is the best thing that's happened to us because we get to spend so much time together and do stuff together whenever, anytime we want. We watch movies after movies. We're like bums, but a totally different kind of bums, more like high achievers-bums. Meaning...We finished watching the ten seasons of Friends. Twice. This week. Probably the hundredth time in total since we got our copies 3 years ago. Two weeks ago we were on a cleaning high. And then a week ago we did nothing. NOTHING! Nothing of importance. No errands. Waking up in the morning not knowing what to do is my kind of adventure. It gives so much possibilities. I like that Jayson, me and Yllac get to make our meals together. We go outside to play and walk. The three of us. We drink all kinds of juice and soda and makes sandwiches. We mess the kitchen more than twice a day. We tidy up. We get dressed. Drive to the nearest playground. Spend an hour hiking up the slides and watch the skater boys  tumble and flirt with their teenage audience. We pause every once in a while to take photos. FUN!!! We count one to ten and sing our Itsy Bitsy Spider and dance to "CHA CHAAAAA, charap mag cha chaaaaa." You following me? And then we give each other kisses and hugs and we tickle and laugh. We stay up late and I read my books. And then when the house is silent i write little silly blog post hoping the internet is forgiving and kind. So far this is the longest and non sense post I've written this year. And here you are still so kind to me.

 

Have I ever told you that the twos are a whole different kind of level? Yup they are. As a parent it feels very rewarding to come to a stage of having a toddler. But vague. I mean, it's like you're not sure if you're accomplishing something or even anything. Toddlers are on a different kind of timetable. Like, two days ago this little boy loves his mangoes and today he hates them. He explores everything and opens every faucet there is. Even the neighbors faucet. It's fine by me, just have to be real quick. And now it's umbrella everywhere. Because you never know when it will rain inside your house. 

We are rice people. Say hello to our corn and corned beef rice with eggs.

aahhh my birthday boy! So many amazing times. So many more amazing times will be had. LOVEYOU Jayson.