TOPAZ HORIZON

Meet the new favorite bag of Leah of Bright Spot:

Leah calls the satchel the F&V bag. If I take away the ampersand, it'll be FV, like LV! But unlike the LV, I won't get overenthusiastic with branding. Actually, I haven't even gotten to the brand itself. Right now, to the press people, I call the bag the Frances Satchel from Frannie & Vinnie. But I don't know. Lacks oomph.

So anyway back to Leah and her new bag! This is what she thinks of it:
1. Impeccable craftsmanship.
Yes! That's why it takes soooo long to make one. Handmade takes time!
2. Even tanning.
Your batch was a quirk, though. Other batches are dark and uneven. Uncle Buck says the weather has something to do with it. If it's rainy season or very humid, the leather doesn't absorb the tanning liquid evenly.
3. Looks classy.
That surprised me, too! The satchel is, at first glance, very cowgirl. But I was surprised that a lot of girls can use it even with their most formal attire!

Thanks, Leah, for loving our unnamed satchel! Maybe I should do a contest--Name our satchel and win your very own bag!

Halloo, halloo! Just got home and, seeing that I've been terribly negligent of this blog, let me dash off a few things I learned today!

1. Hair extensions make me look so much thinner!
2. The Maldives is just 8 feet above sea level so that when the 2004 mega tsunami hit it, well, it didn't just hit the country, it drowned it. Yes. The entire country! (Thanks, Dylan, for this tidbit!)
3. Some people look cool and sophisticated in a blazer, other people look boring. I, sadly, belong to the boring group. I am going back to leather jackets. It may look ridiculous in this country but I'd rather look ridiculous than boring!
4. Some bloggers are required by PR groups to write about their events. Required! Guys, if you aren't paid to write about it, you don't have to!
5. To send one of my handmade leather satchels to Singapore costs P639.
6. In a group of 100 25-year-old people, statistics show that by the time they reach retirement age, only 1% will be wealthy, 4% will be financially independent, 5% will still be slaving away. The rest? They'll either be broke or dead. And, at 60 years old, I don't know which is worse!
7. SM Makati has wooden hangers!!! P600 for a box of 20! I bought 4 boxes!
8. Wearing a blazer while you're in a super packed MRT coach is insanity.
9. Wearing long hair extensions in a super packed MRT coach is not a good idea. Not at all. My head kept getting jerked back!
10. (SPOILER ALERT! GAME OF THRONES SPOILER ALERT!) The Lannisters aren't all evil. Well, most of them are, but Jaime just redeemed himself in my eyes.

And that is what I learned today! How about you?

How did we ever get so lucky? Thank You, God!

Look who's really happy with her satchel: It's Trixie of Wild About Retail!

I'm amazed at how Trixie can come up with so many outfits to match her tan bag. Well, not so amazed--the tan really does go with everything! Thanks, Trixie! You're inspiring me to do outfit posts, too. I'm just sooo lazy! Anyway, I'll visit the Nuffnang office super soon. See you!

P.S. Just remembered that Trixie brought her satchel to Bangkok and that it rained there but she happily reported that the bag survived the rain. Whew! If you wanna know how I protect my leather satchels from this rainy weather, click here!

I have a reader, Benz, who wrote a blog post about me that made me blush. Benz, thanks so much for loving my blogs. And I'm glad I was able to put into words thoughts that float in your head. Thanks for thinking that I'm real and honest and nice. We should meet! But I hope that when we do meet, your opinion of me won't change!

Anyway, Benz asked me some really serious questions about blogging. Here they are:

Question: how does it feel when a complete stranger knows so much about you? doesnt it feel creepy and like being stalked at? how do you edit how much to share? kasi when you share you have people who like your blog in mind diba? but it is not always the case there are just people out there who reads even when they dont like you, worst some people who hates make sure they readpa nga. does it ever stop you? any security fear? yours kasi is a personal blog and about you and your family eh.

How does it feel when a complete stranger knows so much about you?
The thing to remember is people only know a little about me, not really a lot. I may seem like I'm sharing a lot but, in truth, what you see in the blog is what I want you to see. There are huge aspects of me that you don't know about, that will surprise you, maybe even turn you off. But, don't worry, you're right when you guessed I'm a nice person--I really am nice!

Anyway, I have no secrets (no sex tape or anything sordid like that!). There are family secrets that are part of me that will knock your socks off but I swore to my mother to never ever write about those in my blog. But I promised her the blog, not a book so...

Doesn't it feel creepy? Like you're being stalked?
Nope. You have to remember that I'm a writer--I really have to pour out my soul. It was my choice to have a personal blog because, if you meet me in real life, I do share a lot about my life. I like spreading the joy that is my life.

But at the same time, I'm also very guarded. There's a lot I don't share to people. I will spill my guts, yes, but I will spill them all to a very select few. I can count my real friends on one hand. Yes, they are that few. There are very very few who really know me. So I don't feel freaked out when strangers know "a lot" because in reality, they don't. Go over my blog and you'll see that it's all bags and shoes, shopping finds, eBay, events, parties, trips, clothes. That's it!

When people tell me stuff they know about me, ya, I (and Vince too!) get a bit weirded out for a few seconds. Then I get very happy because it only means they love reading my blog and, as a writer, I find that very gratifying. It's absolutely one of the best feelings in the world!

How do you edit how much to share?
I've been blogging since 2005. I've learned, from past experience, to not talk about bad stuff. Or the personal stuff of other people. Or my personal negative feelings for real people, like family. And recently, I also was warned not to post bad stuff about products and brands. Really bad things have happened because I was too cavalier with my opinions. So it's all happy happy joy joy on my blog, dammit!

I also refrain from posting photos of private individuals without their permission. I always ask, "Can I post your photo on my blog?" Most say yes. There are those who refuse and I respect that. I also don't post photos of school-age kids, unless they're at my event or my house (wedding, party).

When you write, you have people who like your blog in mind, right?
Not at all. When I write, it's for entertainment purposes. I know people will like it, I know some people won't. I can't please everyone so ultimately, I just write for the sheer pleasure of writing!

Do haters stop you from sharing whatever you want to share?
Nope. What makes me very careful about what I share is my husband, my family and my work. Especially my work because I don't want to get fired!

Any security fear?
Yes. That's why I don't say where I'm going or what I'll be doing at a specific time (i.e. "I'm going to Manila Pen tomorrow for lunch!" or "This is my address" or "I'm off to dinner at Cibo"). I'll usually share stuff after it happened (i.e. "Just came from ChaTime" or "Enjoyed our stay at Shang Mactan.") Even on Twitter, I very rarely give away my location.

As for my family, I have no problems with showing my face or my husband's. I used to. Then we became magazine editors with our faces in the magazine, newspapers and on TV shows. Kinda strange to play coy when we're public figures.

As for Vito, I really didn't want to show his face to the world. But Vince said so many people--complete strangers!--sent gifts and love so the least we could do was proudly show off the bebe. And true enough, the first thing Vince did after I gave birth was guest blog at Topaz Mommy and share photos of our boy. And so many people adore Vito because of our blogs that I just can't keep him all to myself!

However, when Vito starts school, I'll stop showing his face on my blogs. Right now, when we're out, we get greeted a lot with "Hi Vito!" by people we don't know. It's so cool and freaky at the same time. But in a couple of years, Vito might not like complete strangers talking to him. He might not like it that his face is all over the Internet. And I should respect that.

Well, that's all my answers to your questions, Benz! Let's have tea! I have lots of questions for you, too!