christmas party

Christmas partying with my second family. Always a joyous get-together with lots of food, booze, and laughs. And of course, photos! It just gets better and better every year.

Many thanks to the guys who voluntarily organize everything--from making the event, preparing the program and awards, planning out the food and drinks, collecting the money and actually making it happen. It's not everyday we find creative, well-organized guy friends who take time to party plan :)

To friendship and more Christmas parties to come! Merry Christmas!

4

12.12.12. Anniversary breakfast prepared by me to celebrate the four wonderful years of being with my favorite. My happiness!

love

"But the most exciting, challenging, and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you that you love, that's just fabulous."

                                                                                                                 - Sex and the City

fellow's second

Fellow's Christmas Collection will be out THIS WEEK! Don't forget to go online this Wednesday at 8PM!! Limited stocks for all designs so don't be late! :) 

the season to be jolly

It's almost Christmas! Our tree is finally up and the house is much brighter. It's the family's first Christmas out of Woodstock and the feeling is bittersweet. We're only a few streets away from our previous home, but it feels totally different. The streets are tighter now and our damn neighbor is an old woman in a young woman's body who complains about our get-togethers' loud noises when it's not even 12 midnight. We have less space for entertainment, and a kitchen that is less than half the one we had before. It's a bit uncomfortable. Nevertheless, the feeling of Christmas in this house we're in now is different--good different. It's much smaller so it feels more Christmas-y and bright. The vibe is more homey and happy, as oppose to the spacious and stiff Christmas we had in our other house. So despite missing the old place, I'm actually looking forward to the holidays in this new one. Only 42 days away from Christmas!!

prints

Had some free time today because I finished my work early, so I got a little bored and went through the stuff I had with me at work. Facebook's blocked in the computer I'm using so I was extra bored after refreshing my mail ten million times and going through Twitter and Instagram on my phone, so I decided to take some photos of prints instead.

My scarf, brown Fossil bag for my baon (yup, baon all throughout grade school, high school, college and work!), my tissue holder and small make up pouch.

october

Greetings! It's been a while since I wrote something here and I actually missed it. I thought I would be able to write a little more after graduating, but I got more busy with other things which caused the neglect of Funny Face. I am currently still working in my high school and on Fellow, and spending more time with friends and family. Feels so good to be a graduate!

October was such an eventful month and I cannot express how thankful I am for all the wonderful things that have been happening. It was one of those amazing food/family/friends/first-filled months showered with pure love and happiness :)

Some highlights I'd like to share:

Food love this October: grilled food on a Sunday, Nutella crepe in Breton, Chinese Chicken salad in California Pizza Kitchen, Korean food at Jeonju, (bottom 4 left) wine&cheese&sausages in Tagaytay and (bottom 4 right) Korean-Japanese fusion buffet at Sambokojin. To add to this I had my favorite Fondue dinner hosted by my friend Mica and countless fast food meals with different friends. Food love food!

First this October: Helped my friend Mico host a children's party for his brother and started my very own business.

(c) Alec Yatco

Fun this October: Esquire, graduation, and Halloween. Plus the numerous little hang-outs with friends and family. 

(c) Alec Yatco

(c) Monika Cagalingan

(c) Michael Lorenzana

(c) Alec Yatco

The year's going by way too fast and it's already beginning to look a lot like Christmas--my favorite time of the year! So so thankful for all the many blessings, and still hoping for more happiness this 2012! :)

daisies

My favorite

2.0

A few days after releasing my first Fellow collection, I realized that I didn't have enough stock of Nautical bracelets. The anchors I bought were very limited because I didn't have enough money to buy a lot during my material shopping; hence the limited amount of styles and stocks. Days later, after collecting some money from my first batch of customers, I bought more anchors and released some new designs for those that missed the first release!

Here are photos from Fellow's First 2.0 that's pretty close to getting sold out! :) 

Thank you to all Fellow supporters! Please continue to spread the Fellow love! :)

fellow's first

Fellow's first accessory collection is out! :) 

Here's a preview of some Fellow accessories I released today. Anchor bracelets are almost gone so hurry before the rest get sold out! Head to Fellow's FB page and accessorize that arm! :)

fellow this wednesday

Fellow is releasing this Wednesday! If you haven't yet, please like and share Fellow on Facebook! :)

For those that have, thank you so much for the support. Been a bit stressed by this lately, but the likes and shares really do encourage me to work harder. So thank you for helping me! It really means a lot :) 

a little about fellow

The accessories are almost out! 

Fellow now has a Facebook page which you can like AND share HERE! Get updated with accessory releases and Fellow users! You may also follow @fellowaccessories on Instagram :)

Watch the little teaser I made and find out what the Fellow's been up to!

A little about this Fellow. 

So after a few posts about accessory making and selling, I finally pre-launched the little project. It's a first for me so I'm hoping for the best but expecting the least. I started making these accessories because I love accessories. And then fell in love with Accessorize. It's like Audrey's Tiffany & Co. I could just enter that store knowing I can't buy anything and leave happy (although sometimes, very sad because I desperately want something); hence, the accessory making. I started making for myself, and then for gifts, and now I decided to make for those interested in buying. But don't expect much, I'm still trying to figure out a lot about the craft, but hopefully my first batch won't be so bad. The first batch will be very simple and easy to use because it has more earth tones, plus I wanted to keep it extra simple so that the men too will consider accessorizing!

For this, I would like to acknowledge the help of my faithful fellow, Chesca, who has consistently assisted me in making accessories and building Fellow. She is also my graphic designer for my logo, and instructions and announcements layouts, so if you are in need of one, don't hesitate to contact her at che.gamboa@gmail.com

Hoping not to disappoint Fellow costumers! Please help me spread the word! :)

free bee

By this time I thought I would be spending my days bumming and just lounging around the house, eating the world, and then gyming it out after. But instead of the light, relaxing schedule, I am up at six in the morning dressing up for my temporary job and working the whole day.

I spend my 8AM-4PM at my previous high school getting paid to help out in an event. Never thought I'd end up working there, but it actually isn't so bad. Spent eleven years of my life in that school, so I'm pretty much comfortable doing anything. Plus it's just a three-month job to help out in an event that will bring about some upgrade in the school's facilities. 

It is only after work and gym that I am finally able to focus on my accessories again. Unfortunately, it's always time for accessory making that gets pushed back, which is why it's taking a while for me to start selling. But after a few free days of being able to work on them, I'm finally almost ready to sell. Just a few more things to do and it'll be out! I'll be putting it all on Facebook for the meantime, but will hopefully move to something better later on. Stay tuned!

Product shoot

pinterest

Newly added to the list of links on the left column of this blog is my Pinterest. I've been delaying making this account for a long time now only because I know it's something I would get addicted to. Lo and behold, I've already established eleven boards and a hundred pins after a day of getting Pinterest-ed. Oh boy.

Initially I wanted to make it my private little online haven of things that I admire and lust over, but I decided to put it here so that I could easily find and be found by friends and other Pinterest users. Plus it's always more fun to share!

A view of my boards (so far). Check it out!

bedroom

Reblogged this photo on Tumblr almost a year ago and I'm still in love with it. Wish my room was something like this! 

thesis done

Photo taken using one of Lee's awesome apps on her iPad. Our last day of editing!

This is the exact moment I was thinking of yesterday. The night after thesis defense. The feeling of finally getting thesis OVER and DONE with. I seriously cannot express how happy and relieved I am that we finally made it through. It's DONE!

Just the final thesis paper work, a GENDERS paper and STATLIT finals away from graduation. Almost there! 

final cut

YES. I am finally defending my thesis next week! It's unbelievable. How this is all going by so quick and how my thesismates and I managed to get it done despite the unfortunate events like getting robbed or losing edits that were carelessly unsaved after hours of work.. it's overwhelming. We're down to our final edit and i'm just hoping and praying that all things go smoothly from this day up till Tuesday when we present our video to the daunting panel. Wish us luck!

Some few things my mom always told me that I only really learned in college:

1. Easy breezy education is nothing to be proud of. It's from my challenging professors (that didn't give me high grades) that I learned from the most. My favorites: Sir Groyon (VIDPROD), Ms. Sangil (HUMAART), Sir Villacorta (INTFILO), Ms. Sibayan (CONCEPT, MSMEDIA).

2. Balance. Don't bombard yourself with all the difficult professors and subjects so you could learn and rush through college to be in time with your flow chart (unless of course you don't plan on doing anything else in life BUT college). Then again, don't lessen your units too much to have too much free time.

3. Balance. Work hard and have time to relax and go out. Exercise. It's good to focus on school, but always remember that you'll never be this young again. Have fun. Watch your diet. The stress eating and alcohol will get to you.

4. Don't stick to anyone and learn to work alone. Don't even plan out your class schedule according to how your friends' schedules are. It's fun once in a while, but it can make you dependent. You learn a lot more when you enter not knowing anything and anyone. It's just class. You'll survive without your friends.

5. Prioritize. There are just some events with friends that you'll have to give up going to for school.

All very basic things, but things I only really learned when I got to college. Keep them in mind!

random

I want to have my own store. Something of this sort. White textured walls, unique furniture. Clean, spacious, bright. Colorful things.

A store with all sorts of handmade things and materials. Things for the house, bedroom, bathroom; decors for small (or big) gatherings; materials for gift giving. Accessories and probably clothes.

Here

last few weeks of school thinking

I am only two papers, a final test, and thesis away from a break, from temporary freedom, and from actually being done with school. Truthfully I am not exactly sure if I'm more psyched about no longer being a student and getting the chance to earn money, or sad that I will no longer get allowance and actually be in school.

I'm excited to finally have a lot of time to exercise, make things and actually work on selling some of the things I make.

I'm scared that I will eventually feel anxious of not doing anything productive that will produce an output or a grade of some sort.

I'm looking forward to organizing all my things and finally putting aside the school stuff that I've been storing (which I thought I might need sometime in college).

I'm worried that I won't find a good job and will end up being a bum/gym rat.

I'm happy that I will be able to let my parents check off their second child from the list of tuition fees.

I'm nervous of having to start from the bottom.

Then again, I could actually still have one more term left, depending on how thesis goes.
Today, my thesis mate's bag got stolen, and in it were her laptop, SLR, and hard drive that contained the file we were suppose to present to our mentor a few minutes after it was actually stolen. It was so unfortunate and bad timing (and a big jackpot for the thief), and it made me, for a moment, think about what would've happened if we weren't able to back up that file in her hard drive (which we did, thank God), and lost everything we had actually worked on (with a due date that is in less than a week). It was upsetting to think that we could've lost the file that we've been editing for the past few weeks, but the thought of having to defer thesis actually came to mind and it didn't seem so bad. Maybe the feeling is only for selfish, comfortable reasons of not having to worry about work yet and being able to slack off for a term and still get allowance. I don't know. Of course I'm still going to work on trying to finish the thesis by August. But if things come up and I'm asked to stay for one more term, I'll take it as a sign that I'm not ready for the real world yet.

words of wisdom

More form Marc and Angel.

Love yourself and be proud of everything that you do, even your mistakes.  Because even mistakes mean you’re trying.

Think for yourself, and allow others the privilege of doing so too.  We all dance to the beat of a different drum.  There are few absolute ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ in the world.  

Always choose to be true to yourself, even at the risk of incurring ridicule from others, rather than being fake and incurring the pain and confusion of trying to be someone you’re not.  When you are comfortable in your skin, not everyone in this world will like you, and that’s okay.  You could be the ripest, juiciest apple in the world, and there’s going to be someone out there who hates apples.

A mistake doesn’t become a failure until you refuse to correct it.  Thus, most long-term failures are the outcome of people who make excuses instead of decisions. 

Don’t kill people’s dreams with negative words, and don’t put up with those who do.  Don’t let people interrupt you and tell you that you can’t do something.  If you have a dream that you’re passionate about, you must protect it.  When others can’t do something themselves, they’re going to tell you that you can’t do it either; and that’s a lie. 

Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who have proven that they are committed to misunderstanding you. 

It doesn’t matter if you’ve failed or if you’ve been beaten.  All that matters is that you learn something, get back up, and try again.  Because winning is a good feeling, but winning when nobody else thought you could is an awesome feeling.

Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin.  Beginning makes the conditions perfect.

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.

What you do every day matters more than what you do every once in a while.

Every time you make a mistake, you’re one step closer to your goal.  The only mistake that can truly hurt you is choosing to do nothing simply because you’re too scared to make a mistake.

Don’t let your fear of what could happen make nothing happen.

Don’t worry about others doing better than you.  Concentrate on beating your own records every day.

You’ll never reach your destination if you keep stopping to tell everyone where you’ve been and what you’ve accomplished.

If you want to get over a problem, stop mulling it over and talking about it.  Your mind affects your mouth, and your mouth affects your mind.  It’s nearly impossible to move beyond something when you’re obsessing over it.

Often it’s the deepest pain which empowers you to grow into your highest self.

 If you are thankful for what you do have, you will end up having even more.  Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold; happiness dwells in the soul.  Abundance is not about how much you have, it’s how you feel about what you have.

accessories

Some of the bracelets and necklaces I made which I will soon be selling. Simple, everyday accessories for guys and girls! Can't wait! 

handmade with love

I made something new again today: another handmade necklace (which I am most satisfied with out of all the necklaces I've done so far). Still working on better combinations, but the ends and quality of this one are much better than my work before.

daily print: tablecloth/pillows

Some tablecloth and pillow prints around the house. 

the joy of eating

One of the two things I do and enjoy most in my life (aside from sleeping): EATING. I'm pretty sure all my friends are used to (and might probably be annoyed) by the fact that I always take pictures of my food (yeah, i'm one of those people). But I really don't care. I can take photos of every single thing I eat no matter how many copies of the same dish I have. It makes me remember that moment of happiness when I get to try something new or eat my absolute favorites.

Macaron at Le Petit Cheri

Cinnamon at Cinnabon

Opus' Beef Wellington 

Opus' Lamb

Mona Lisa's Caprese Salad 

Mona Lisa's Margherita Pizza 

Salmon Sashimi at Geisha

Conti's Turtle Pie

kape kape sunday

Kape-kape is family time with the mom's side. The gathering is often done at night after dinner, but today it was spent lunching at home, celebrating two birthdays and a despedida, eating nonstop and drinking coffee, Skyping with loved ones abroad, and playing King of Opera. Nothing more comforting than this! I especially love the coziness of it all during this gloomy, rainy, Sunday. 

There really is nothing like family time after nights out with friends. It really balances out the whole weekend, relaxes me and prepares me for a hectic week at school. 

scarf making

As a birthday gift to one of my very good and long-time friends, I decided to make a scarf. 

Scarf-making started with my tita Marisa (my mom's sister who's very, very creative). She is actually the one who provides me with the materials I use. Every time she comes to visit, she brings with her some materials for arts and crafts, which is why a lot of the things that I have are from her. She was even the one who taught me how to use the sewing machine and make handmade notebooks! 

Note: a lot of the art materials my tita brings back to the Philippines are actually scraps from different stores in Canada. She buys the scraps from shops and turns them into an art project of some sort. Some strings used in scarf making are actually scraps from Canadian stores.

EDIT: The strings used in the scarves aren't scraps according to my mom. Some strings are actually imported from Italy! 

Here is the scarf I made for my friend Isa. 

Made two more scarves when I woke up this morning.

The little mess in my working room now.