Made To Love

You haven't seen strength until you witness a woman who continues on after being hurt, smiles after being hurt and still remains hopeful even though at times it hurts. You almost can't tell that she's in pain because the way she wears her smile from day to day is symbolic of the strength that only lives within a Queen. You have not seen real strength until you've seen her.

I don't know what it is but I somehow find it odd that I love being decked out in gowns and long dresses... almost like I was born in the wrong era. To be quite frank, I love wearing fancy formal dresses more than I love wearing normal "everyday" clothes which somehow gives me validation that I was indeed probably born in the wrong time period. Now, as I have high respect for situational dressing, as much as I love gowns... it would be quite inappropriate to wear them while running errands, going to work and on a daily basis. That would just be off. However, there are formal occasions that beg for long dresses, pomp and circumstance... one of said occasions include a wedding... which hopefully by now, you are well oriented enough to know how much I love attending them.

How You Get The Girl

 “Diamonds are held under tons and tons of pressure, extremely high temperatures of fire and shuffled under shifting of tectonic plates, for a long, long time! Yet when they come out from there and are put on display for their beauty; does anybody stop to evaluate the diamond based upon all the shit it's been through and say "Remember that disgusting hole it used to be in? I bet it was hell in there!" No, people don't remember where a diamond has come from; they just see the beauty of it now. But it wouldn't have become so beautiful, you know, if not for all of that! So why should we look at other people, or at ourselves and evaluate them/ourselves based upon their/our pasts? Shouldn't we forget that? And only see the beauty that is in front of our eyes? Whatever it was, it made you beautiful! And that is what matters!”

- C Joybell C

I mentioned a few posts back that I had quite a busy week since despite feeling sick, I had certain commitments that I have already confirmed my attendance for and one of them was on a Friday night where I was chosen to judge the Mr. and Ms. College of Home Economics at U.P. Diliman. Along with my fellow judges who are, I have to say, talented and respectable in the industry were Alma Concepcion, Arnold Galang, Albert Andrade and the Dean of the College of Home Economics Dr. Aurorita T. Roldan. I was quite honored to be part of a panel of such big name and revered personalities and I was more than happy to represent the social media and blogging world and made sure to try my best to objective as possible. Personally, I used to be invited to judge pageants in universities but rarely accepted. However, since I wanted to show my support for the college, I went for it and I was glad I did. The pageant wasn't all about who looked better or who had the most incredible gown but a large percentage of the rating system was on their ability to communicate and answer questions impromptu (which we asked them) and also in their talent and portion area. It was such an amazing experience and I got a bit nostalgic about my college days. In this day and age we live in and in the industry I belong to, there is so much emphasis put on how you look that it is almost the one main facet our lives must revolve around. I find it silly. On the get go, this is also why I hate meeting people randomly like in a bar setting or in a club because everything is so objectified. First impressions revolve around your exterior appearance and while I may seem fashionable and cute, I think my personality is more of what makes me... me. To relate that to my outfit, I try to incorporate how I feel as much as possible to my outfit and well, this dainty ensemble seemed perfect for that day.

This is the part where I break free

If you haven't figured it out yet, I love Halloween and it is my favorite day of the year. For my main Halloween costumes, I always make sure that it is one of a kind and I always want to out-do myself from the previous years. Now I already did fur, feathers, leather, sequins and flowers... I had to think of an option and accent I haven't used yet and then I got my answer... rhinestones and gems. I made sure that it had to be perfect. True to form, the character I chose to portray was Ariana Grande from her Music Video in Break Free. Now when it comes to me and being in character, I commit and I commit fully... and most of the time I actually take it to another level which was why I had my tattoo artist Elezar Orobia from Wiz Ink Tattoo Studio come over and paint my face- making sure each detail of the one she had in the video matched perfectly (and who else better to trust than the person who does all my permanent tattoos right?) Now, the costume was a bit too plain and under the advisement of my sister...I decided to bedazzle and my wonderful personal assistant Celyn Jaravata DIY-ed my look to perfection...the entire suit was full of gems and I was sparkling the whole night! To take it up a notch, I used several coats of textile paint and pylox to create the white boots Ariana Grande is quite known for. Trust me, it was such a feat to look for white boots in this country where (1) boots are rarely worn so supplies are low and (2) it was simply impractical to buy a pair in white since it can get ruined easily. So, I decided to take things in my own hands and create it and it turned out great. The boots I bought to use as a base was actually black suede (yes, it was a miracle I was able to turn it to white) and I got it for a great prize... it was 90% off so from P4850, I only paid P499.75. Isn't that a steal? Oh how I absolutely love Halloween! It challenges my creativity and I am glad to have people with me to help me out with the execution.