TOPAZ HORIZON

Hi! This is me at the Kerastase party the other night (in my HerBench off-the-shoulder top and with the Longchamp tote given to me by Aida, my best friend in France). Goodness, I look more tired than a Georgia car insurance salesman selling policies in this global crisis! That's why I'm glad I'll be going out of town with my Sales family this weekend. I won't be able to update for a while so if you're dropping by, here are some random posts you can read till I come back...

• Attended the chi-chi launch of Kerastase Oleo-Relax Slim
• Wrote an article for Spot.ph re: celebs and plastic surgery
• Interviewed NARS Makeup Artist Dawn Stultz
• Campaigned against taxation on books!
• Found secret Facebook photos
• Had my home featured in a magazine
  
• Got nice things from Mama's old things
• Fell in love with my husband all over again
  
• Went to Hong Kong Disneyland!
• Honeymooned in London
• Discovered the secret to true and enduring love (it's in the Bible!)

Okay, that should keep you busy! I'll be back soonest with photos from Acuatico... and with a fantastic blog contest! Why? Well, the contest for my new blog, Beauty for a Living, did so well, it now gets more traffic than this one. It's insane and so now I feel bad for Topaz Horizon. Besides, this month is this blog's 3rd birthday. Golly, I've been blogging for 3 years! More, actually, since I started with a blog on Friendster. Anyway, see you all next week!

It's Mariel's fault. She blogged about these classic flats last week so I bugged her to go shopping because I just had to have one. Turns out I had to have two! At just PHP 799 (USD 17) a pair, why stop at just one? Run to the nearest CMG shop because these babies come in 4 kinds (gold, silver, pewter and bronze--the last two colors are the ones I got!). They come in matching pouches, which really add to the adorable factor.

I also bought these flats from Schu. The big gold design did it for me. It also comes in black and white. I'm still deciding if I should get the black even though I already have 3 black flats--the sequined ones, jelly ones and my pompom ones.

Argh, shoes are my undoing really. Accessories, too. I found these bangles in a tiangge (cheap shop stalls) and I bought 10 pieces, each a different design. I couldn't resist! The bangles are perfect when I'm wearing my usual tee-and-jeans combo (left) but they also look great with my simple sheath dresses. Sigh... With all the shopping Vince and I have done (the house, the gadgets, etc), I guess we could've gone on that Disney cruise already! Well, maybe not the cruise yet, but definitely a trip somewhere!

Speaking of trips, we will be gone all weekend! Vince and I and his family are all going to Batangas, to an exquisite resort called Acuatica. Will come back with photos, and I do hope it won't rain!

OMG. I saw this video in The BagHag and I just laughed my head off silly. Because I know exactly how this poor woman feels!


On our honeymoon in London last year, Vince and I decided to go to the National Gallery after checking out of our hotel at noon. Our flight was at 6 PM. Surely, 2 hours in a museum can't hurt. Oh, boy, did it hurt! First of all, 2 hours are not enough in a museum as breathtaking as the National Gallery. So of course, we lingered. Still, Heathrow was just a 30-minute train ride away. Unfortunately, the tube had so many problems on that particular day and we were stuck underground between stations for quite a while. So basically it took us some frikkin' 2 hours and 50 minutes to get from Kings Cross to Heathrow.

We ran and ran and ran with our luggage and shopping. We got to the gate 5 minutes after it closed. I begged, "Please let us through. It's just 5 minutes. Please. We want to go home." I did not cry. In fact, I was so upset I was whispering because I felt if I raised my voice just a bit, it would escalate to screaming fury (like the woman in the video).


Of course Cathay Pacific refused, politely but firmly. We stayed at the check-in counter for the rest of the evening, waiting to be chance passengers but all flights to Manila were fully booked. There was another girl who also missed her flight, and she was sobbing so much I wanted to hug her. Anyway, we then decided to fly to Hong Kong, stay there for a night then try to get a flight from there to Manila. No luck.

I tell you, dear readers, getting left behind by your plane is one of the worst things that can happen to you! Vince and I spent the night at Heathrow hoping airports offered free hotel rooms for unfortunate people like us (tip: stay at the arrivals section--it's warm there and the convenience shops are open all night). Good thing we had the Sony PSP to keep us sane. We watched episodes of Lost (and we commiserated with the characters!), listened to music, played games and read comic books all on the PSP. I also finished reading The Kite Runner, which made me sadder.

We were finally able to book a flight first thing in the morning and as we were having lunch, Vince tried to cheer me up: "As soon as we get home, we'll eat tinolang manok and sinigang and adobo with fried garlic rice..." He trailed off because by then I had started bawling. I wailed, "I want to go home! I want to go home!"

Haha, we joke about it now but I swear upon the Gucci bag I just won that I will forever check in early! No more missed flights ever!


*to my non-Filipino readers, tinolang manok is chicken stewed with chili leaves, sayote/green papaya and ginger; sinigang is a sour soup of pork/fish/prawn and vegetables; adobo is pork/chicken simmered to fall-apart tenderness in garlic, vinegar and soy sauce. Oh my, I got hungry...

You can tell from that grin on my face how much I enjoyed Hong Kong Disneyland. The pics here are from the enchanting lobby of the exquisite Victorian-inspired Disneyland Hotel. I have more photos with the real Disney characters! So much fun! I just totally fell in love with everything! I'm so happy! I'm already planning a trip back.

Okay, let me just fix the image sizes of my photos then I'll write about the Disneyland trip the way I did the honeymoon trip--fun multiple posts!!!

So people have been asking me how the credit card theft's been and how I am. Well, I'm actually okay. I'm not happy about it but I'm happy about my life so why ruin my wonderful life with a petty thief?

I was telling my friends that in the great big scheme of things, it's just money. Granted, it's a lot of money and I still don't know how I'll pay for it if HSBC decides that I'll have to pay for it (I really hope they don't!). But on that day my wallet was stolen, things did become very clear to me on what's important in my life. When Vince strode into the office pantry, where I was eating with my staff, with this tight and worried expression on his face, my heart went up my throat.

I thought, "Please, dear God, don't let it be someone's dead again!"

Then he said "The bank called. Someone's using your card right now. Check your things."

I hurried to my desk in alarm but all I felt was this huge relief. Of course, when I found out later that the thief charged a TON of stuff on my card, my knees went weak. But that night, I was able to sleep. Every time I would get upset, I'd remember that strange feeling of relief and gratitude that all my loved ones were safe, and I'd feel better. The past week's actually been good. A few upsets now and then and I've practically chained my bag to my person but, I'm okay. Had a lovely lunch with my in-laws, watched the Twilight premiere for free with friends, celebrated Papa's birthday, had fun chatting with old friends... Life is great!

Anyway, a friend sent this email last Wednesday that we must give everything--even the tiniest concern--to God. So I told God that night, "Lord, I know You are sovereign over all and everything will turn out well for those who love You. It is a sin to worry because it shows I don't trust in You so forgive me and I will offer this up to You and trust in Your plan, whatever happens! I just wish You can give me something nice so I won't feel so bad. I know I'm being selfish but I feel really bad so a nice gift will be much appreciated."

That was my prayer Wednesday night. The very next morning, Vince and I won a brand new Samsung TV LCD-HDTV! I kid you not!!! And it came with two fancy DVD players! We're so happy and excited. We feel that more blessings and surprises are coming our way. God is good! God is good!

So I'll leave you with that for a while, dear readers. I need to pack for our trip to Disneyland tomorrow. On my way to the happiest place on earth, they say, but I think I already am there and that's all because of the peace in my mind, the joy in my heart, the love in my life, and the faith I forever proclaim.

See y'all next week!

My wonderful parents-in-law are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary this month and they're bringing the entire clan to Hong Kong Disneyland! I'm soooo excited!

I've never been to any Disneyland. Vince was in deep shock when I told him this when we first started dating. He said, "It's the happiest place on earth!" And I, feeling romantic, insisted his arms were the happiest place on earth. He exclaimed, "Oh, but you have to see Disneyland. And Vegas! Vegas is the grownup people's Disneyland!" Okaaaay, if you say so!

So Disneyland and Las Vegas have been on my to-visit list for a few years now (plus New York, Napa Valley, L.A., Tokyo, New Zealand, and the Scottish Highlands). Well, by the end of this month, I'd get to tick one off the list!