Friday, March 08, 2013

Summer job!

I posted this over on Facebook. It got some likes but apparently no one shared it to their young friends, sons, daughters, nephews and nieces because hanggang ngayon, not one CV is in my inbox! I guess even my friends are scared of me haha.

This is for a shopping magazine. There will be lots of dealing with writers, models, photographers, stylists, clothes, beauty products... Did I mention this was for a shopping magazine? It's definitely going to be work but it's only 4 weeks, 6 weeks max, and I'm fun to work with. And if you do well, this can be a regular gig. Yes, it's a job. There will be compensation. It will be fun! Apply now!

UPDATE:

Sandra was OK!'s editorial assistant. Now she's with Cosmo.

See? I'm not so scary. Apply now!



Monday, March 04, 2013

Ask and it shall be given you (but ask specifically!)

I believe in prayer. I tell ya, when I pray for something, God gives it. Of course, you have to pray with the knowledge of who God is. For example, I know that God is my provider so to ask Him for financial blessings and food is okay.

As Matthew 7:11 says, "If you then, imperfect as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him?" My goodness, my husband and I spoil our kids silly. That gave me a profound insight on who God is—He will shower me with blessings because I am His child. All I need to do is ask!

I once asked for makeup when I was still so very poor and God answered by making me win a L'Oreal contest. One year's worth of makeup, y'all! But when I asked for makeup, it was because I was starting out in my career and I wanted to look good and I just didn't have money for makeup or nice clothes. So I bared my heart to the Lord and asked.

I believe that if you ask with a humble heart—not a vain or proud or greedy heart—God will give you what you want. After all, didn't He say, "I am come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly," in John 10:10? Abundance! That doesn't mean simple life, all I need, just enough. It means overflowing with blessings! That means more than I need!

I do also believe that when you ask God for something, you have to be specific. I don't mean that God is obtuse and isn't smart enough to figure you out. But He does have a sense of humor. I'll let this little conversation with fashion blogger Tracy Ayson of Fashion Fangirl explain my point:

So believe in God's promises, know who He is, ask with no fear or hesitation, ask with a heart full of love and humility, but ask specifically! God bless you!


Monday, February 25, 2013

Jennifer Lawrence!!!

Contrary to what some people think, I actually like Jennifer Lawrence. I don't love her (I didn't like her Hunger Games performance so much) but when I watched Silver Linings Playbook and saw the crazy-eyes scene in the diner and the scene where she mouthed off on Robert de Niro (you don't slap down de Niro and get away with it!), my thought bubble was, "Oh dear heavens. Best actress in the bag!"

image from agittated
Look at that face! Clearly someone who knows how to dig deep within her soul! I am not making fun of her! I'm kinda referring to someone else, more celebrated than Jennifer, a much bigger star but with only one facial expression—like she smelled something bad.

Anyway. Where was I? Oh, Jennifer winning the Best Actress Oscar! Am I the only one who thinks Jennifer's fall was adorable? It made her look like she was so overwhelmed at her win that she can't think or walk straight! Love Hugh Jackman (and, just found out, Bradley Cooper, too!) for rushing to her aid.


Even her speech was cute! She was dazed, totally having an out-of-body experience. Kinda reminded me of Gwyneth Paltrow, but cuter. Unlike, say, Anne Hathaway, who obviously expected to win because her speech rolled off her tongue so easily.


Excited to see more of Jennifer Lawrence's work! I hope she doesn't lose her authenticity. Many actors, as they get bigger, protect themselves by building a wall around them—a gleaming, smiling facade. I hope we allow Jennifer to be herself. I mean, she does this:
image from Mashable
She's so real, my heart aches! Love. Her!



Congratulations! You so deserve this!


Saturday, February 23, 2013

From my column photo shoots

In theory, my column in the Manila Bulletin comes out every Friday (did you get yesterday's paper???). In practice, heaven knows when it actually gets published haha. It really depends on the news and the ads. Say, if something really amazing happens (it's always amazing, never tragic, since my column is in the fashion section), then my column gets bumped off. Same thing happens when a big ad comes along.

So to those who buy the Friday paper and see no Behind the Scenes by Frances Amper Sales, please don't think I'm making it all up haha!

I'm putting a few photos from my past shoots:
This is from our photo shoot of celebrity stylist Alyanna Martinez. The column came out in the January 31 edition. You can read it online here. Funny because the title of the piece is "Style & Beauty Authority" but online it says "Beauty & Authority." Wonder what happened there.

 
This is for the Kate Torralba shoot. We shot this at About A Chair shop and we had so much fun with Kate and Iñigo hamming it up on the chairs. Iñigo is useful haha because he's the one the photographer uses to test the light and focus and stuff.

This column came out yesterday. It was an entire spread filled with all of Kate's favorite things: necklaces, rings, earrings, bags, shoes, perfume, nail polish, makeup brushes, makeup, nail polish! The photos of favorite things only come out in the paper so do try to buy Bulletin on Fridays. 

Strange that this column didn't come out online, though. Wonder what happened there.

This is for my feature on Cristina Gomez, the elegant and refined social editor of Lifestyle Asia magazine. She is sophistication personified! Her shoot was fun and comfortable since we did the shoot at her brother's house. Iñigo had a lot of fun there. This feature isn't out yet so do watch for it!


Thursday, February 21, 2013

Greenhills shopping trip

Say hello to my high school best friend, Allan John, and his amazing wife, Leah! Leah is a very busy woman during the day, traveling all over the country, but after work, she is a wife and homemaker who's created a beautiful blog about her travels, shopping finds and recipes. Read all about it on The Bright Spot.

Anyway! AJ and Leah had a double date with Vince and me recently at Greenhills since I'm obsessed with pearls and Leah happens to be very educated about them. Leah and AJ are still in their honeymoon stage so they're in the thick of furnishing their home. They were lusting after a Union Jack chest (read all about that here!) in this tiny stall that sells IKEA stuff: 
While Leah was haggling away, Vince fell in love with these laundry sacks. We bought England and Italy. We use them for the kids' dirty clothes and cloth diapers.

Meanwhile, I wanted to get these tin can sets in such sweet and delicate designs. But I was in Greenhills for one thing: pearls. So I resisted. Maybe when we go back next time!

We saw this funnily-named skirt. Any guesses why it's called express??

Haha. I wonder what M Café has to say about this! Anyway, I haven't been to this part of Greenhills forever so I was really surprised to see that National Bookstore had a major makeover.

Look! The old editions of Vince's Life! Hence the discount. You can get these books if you want to save but I highly recommend the new edition. They're edited and updated by Vince and they feature fabulous new cover art!

Leah with my Frances Sales satchel. It looks so nice! Leah carries it well. Sigh. I'm still wishing to reopen the bag business. I'm just too busy to do it now! One day, one day.

Anyway! Like I said, we were here to shop for jewelry, pearls specifically. And Leah says that the Berdori pearls are excellent. Oh my, they certainly were! Leah showed me how to look at lustre, to rub the pearls in my palm, to feel the weight, to check the sizes, to appreciate the imperfections of real pearls. Oh wow. I was overwhelmed!

These are the South Sea pearls. They are waaaay beyond my budget (for now!) but now that I know how much they are, I'm not so intimidated. One client project fee and I can buy me a string of these beauties! Must work hard!

South Sea being unattainable (for now!), we looked at the freshwater pearls selection. Just as breathtaking actually. I want to buy them all!

For Valentine's, Vince gave me a gorgeous set of pearl jewelry: studs and a single strand set in silver. They are lovely! But they whetted my appetite for more pearls! I plan to get drop earrings, a double strand matinee, a rope or the even longer lariat to wrap around my neck, and a bracelet. 

Rings? Not really planning on getting any since I already have a lot of rings. But then I saw these:
I'm in love! Each is in the price range of a designer bag. I'm not really into designer bags but you all know I've been longing for a Tod's D Bag. I even told my Nuffnang friends to give me enough work this year to buy me a Tod's (or two haha). But now that I've seen these majestic rings, I'm thinking I'd rather buy these!

Thanks, AJ and Leah! I learned a lot on our fabulous shopping trip. As soon as I can afford another piece of jewelry, I'll call you. Let's go on a double date again!