Changing the world of fashion one girl at a time

In celebration of the upcoming Philippine Fashion Week which is set to begin this October 23 ’til October 30, let me share with you my personal fashion rules. I’m not claiming to be a fashion expert here but I think I must say that I’m constantly labelled as the power dresser or  the office fashionista, in fact some friends told me that I’m changing the world of fashion one girl at a time because of how I inspire others to dress up. With these praises in mind, I think I could share something related to fashion in this blog.

• Confidence is the best accessory. It’s not how beautiful your things are but how you make them beautiful.

• Be appropriate. Nothing’s wrong with experimenting and going beyond conventional but keep in mind that for an outfit to better suit you it must be appropriate. While blouses with black laces may seem elegant I don’t think it will look good under the scorching heat of the sun by the sea shore.
• Don’t over accessorize. Big chunky pieces must be worn moderately unless your goal is to look like a walking Christmas tree.
• Don’t wear patterns from head to toe. Don’t scare people by making them think they’ve got cross vision.
• Don’t always follow trends. In fact I think it’s better if you’re the one to set them.
• Always consider the weather, not only for comforts sake, too much layers on a sunny day is an eye sore.
• Make sure that you can give justice to what you are wearing, if you decided to wear 5 inches stuck up pumps in the mall see to it that you can really last with it.
• Invest on classics, black trousers, jeans, white polo since these pieces doesn’t go out of fashion, it’s good to have quality pieces in your wardrobe.
• Be creative but not too much consider the other rules I mentioned.
• Choose prints carefully, make sure that it won’t make you look like a grandma or that it ot won’t make your outfit cheap, no one wants to look like a seat cover from the 70′s.
• Play with colors but don’t overdo it, don’t use more than three.
• Match the bag with the belt and of course, the shoes.
• Know what compliments you, we can always choose what to wear to hide or flaunt the things we can’t anymore change.
• Mix and Match, classics with a twist is always a sure winner.
• Decide on the look you want to achieve, a hip hop shirt is a big no-no with a bohemian belt.
•  Be Yourself

Being fashionable is not only for the sake of looking good but for me, it’s actually feeling good about yourself which gives you the strength and confidence to face the world.

I love Spring

Nothing much to say, I just love my white pair of wedges from Call it Spring. Taneka (shoe name) is easy to style with and comfortable to wear despite of the additional inches. It’s also available in black and cognac.

This isn’t a paid advertisement. I just wanna say that I love it.

Call it Spring has boutiques at Greenbelt 3 and Robinsons Place Ermita.

Being Followed

You’re following me, I know. I tried to deny it from you but there’s no use, my entries were so obvious. Yes, you found me in cyberspace. I won’t change this blog’s name neither would I relocate, you can keep on following me. But please, please, please, please, don’t tell anyone about this. Also, I have another favor to ask, let’s pretend that I don’t know that you’re following me and that you’re not aware that I’m the owner of this blog Thanks.

Me, my mom and Dior

Mom: This is the lipstick that I want (pointing at the advertisement on the Japanese magazine)

Me: Which one? Is that the Dior lipstick?

Mom: Yup, this one. I like the shade in the middle. We have it here in the Philippines, right? In Rustan’s?

Me: Yes, we do but I can’t buy you that. That’s so expensive, I remember my boss buying the same brand for his mom but that’s my boss, as in my boss, so how can I afford that one?

Mom: You can afford to buy me this, it’s expensive but you still can.

Me: It’s not reasonable for a lipstick. Too much.

Dior Addict Lipstick Spring Edition

But still, I went to Rustan’s to check it out, mom was right, it’s expensive but I can afford it. My mom is not the all glammed up type, she’s just simple and most of the time practical that’s why I was surprised to hear Dior coming from her. She knows the glamorous brands of course but she only buys those brands which are decent enough. But apart from wondering why she wanted a glamorous lipstick all of a sudden, I’m also worried with my pocket ’cause it’s me who’s going to buy it. It really is payback time, she’s the one asking me to buy things for her now. I remember all those malling times we had while I was still a kid, how I point at barbie dolls and stethoscope toys, how I convinced her to buy me my first pair Skechers, how I made her buy all those dresses and all the other fancy things. Of course, I wasn’t aware about the value of money during those times, all I know is my mom would buy it for me if she can. Honestly, I never had my heartbroken over not getting something I want in terms of material things, we’re not rich but my parents gave me what i wanted. So, this Dior lipstick, even if expensive, I’m buying it for her, it’s nothing compared to everything she bought for me not to mention all the love and caring. I don’t think I have any right to complain, after all she’s right I can afford it.

Dark and Murky Waters

I know that my blog is named Brilliant Sunshine but it seems that recently the things that I am writing doesn’t sound brilliant maybe because I am running out of little pockets of sunshine.

Life isn’t always about walking along the rosy garden paths, there are times when one has to tread the dark murky waters. Maybe, I should’ve renamed my blog as “Dark Murky Waters”, it would have been more fitting.

My life was recently about my job complaints and heartaches (couldn’t think of a better term), guess it’s brought about by my quarter life crisis. But just recently, as I ran down my articles for the previous month/s I also realized that while it seems that my life is not on the rosy garden paths with brilliant sunshine above it, it is also true that it is not totally about dark murky waters. I’ve got more things to be thankful for even about my job and my heart’s condition. So, I am still maintaining my blog’s name, Brilliant Sunshine.

While this blog’s main purpose is for me to vent out my emotions whether good or bad, it is also meant to share life’s realities, inspire and sometimes entertain its readers based on my my own experiences. So I really intended an optimistic tone in the entries but recently I failed to do so. But now, enough of the negative energy, I will remain faithful as Brilliant Sunshine.

Quarter Life Crisis

The Quarter-Life Crisis
by unknown

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start
realizing that there are a lot of things about yourself that you didn’t know and
may or may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in
a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

“I’m lost, I’m in panic mode. While it’s true that I am who I want to be ten years ago, it is also true that I am in serious panic mode right now because I don’t know how to make progress from where I am standing. Maybe because I’m not sure if this is the kind of life that I really want, for the first time I asked myself why I chose this.”

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe,
those friends that you thought you were so close to aren’t exactly the greatest
people you have ever met and the people you have lost touch with are some of the
most important ones. What you do not realize is that they are realizing that too
and are not really cold or catty or mean or insincere, but that they are as
confused as you.

“I’m seriously beginning to doubt the goodness of other people, it feels like always fighting for survival regardless of who you step at. I am beginning to question the sincerity of those so-called friends, do they really want to be with me? or they are just being nosy? are they just using me? or they really enjoy my company? After meeting various types of people, after enocountering failed relationships, I guess at this age, one can’t help but question the sincerity of those surrounding us.”

You look at your job. It is not even close to what you thought
you would be doing or maybe you are looking for one and realizing that you are
going to have to start at the bottom and are scared.

“Yes, my present job is not exactly giving me self fulfillment, it feels like being underemployed sometimes, I can’t fullly grasped how the entire thing works ’cause my boss is not the teaching type when it comes to me. Yes, just me ’cause she’s very much helpful with the others, could it be that since I’m next to her, she doesn’t want to be outshone? not so sure with that one just making some logical guess.” 

You miss the comforts of college, of groups, of socializing
with the same people on a constant basis. But then you realize that maybe they
weren’t so great after all.

“I do miss the comforts of being in the university, all you have to worry is the next major exam, after that, that’s it. Way back then, I wanted to double time so I can graduate and experience the real world but now that I am living it, I want to go back to those days, when life was still simple.”

You are beginning to understand yourself and what you want and
do not want. Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing
and find yourself judging a bit more than usual because suddenly you realize
that you have certain boundaries in your life and add things to your list of
what is acceptable and what is not. You are insecure and then secure. You laugh
and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and
confused. Suddenly change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with
dear life but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away
and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

“Recently, I often find myself analyzing my own behaviors, my own way of thinking, how I have come to have a certain point of view. I can’t help but go back to the past, to what Ihad to go through that has led me to being who I am today. ‘Though it might have led me to understanding and knowing myself more, it has also given me some strange feelings towards the past that has been done.” 

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved
could do such damage to you or you lay in bed and wonder why you can’t meet
anyone decent enough to get to know better. You love someone but maybe love
someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you are
not a bad person.

“Why can’t I meet someone decent enough to get to know better? Hmmm…maybe I met someone decent enough recently but unfortunately, it just won’t work due to circumstances beyond our control or maybe within our control but we’re not strong enough to take on the challenge. But why? How many more what ifs? How many more could have beens? How many almost but not quite scenarios do I have to go through? I know I may not be the holy one but I’m also sure that I’m not as bad as a person, is this karma? Or it’s just that he hasn’t arrived yet?”

One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap and
getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through
the same emotions and questions over and over and talk with your friends about
the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision.

“Was never a fan of random hookups and one night stands but me and my friends do talk about a specific topic in every get together, that is, broken hearts, but ’til now no one has come up of the solution how it heals.”

You worry about loans and money and the future and making a
life for yourself and while wining the race would be great, right now you’d just
like to be a contender!

“I’m living a comfortable life, I can go shopping, dine out on expensive resaurants once in a while, take trips abroad, but it still feels not enough. Don;t get me wrong, I’m thankful for what I have it’s just that I can’t help but be greedy and want more. I’m now thinking of investments, bothered by inflation rates, interested with potential businesses and the lure of earning dollars is becoming increasingly attractive each day, simpy put, I want more.”

What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates
to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we
can to figure this whole thing out.

“Guess it’s official, I am experiencing Quarter Life Crisis.”

Ano ba talaga tayo?

Ano ba talaga tayo?

- in direct English translation “What are we (really)?”

- it’s a question that express confusion when the line between friendship and a “realtionship” is getting blurry

- it denotes an almost but not quite status, in other words “It’s Complicated”

Wala lang

        – means Nothing

Malay mo

- Who knows…

- It’s a phrased used to give hope (usually vain)

The answer to the most mind boggling question “ano ba talaga tayo?” is really “wala lang”, to express that probability in statistics I guess it’s 9 out of 10. So there’s a 10% fighting chance, plenty of room for “malay mo”. As I mentioned once over facebook, those two words, “malay mo” are the culprits why there are a lot of people who wasted their time waiting in vain, hoping for nothing and chasing the wind. But then again to add a bit of optimism, I think out of the 10% fighting chance for “malay mo” there could be a 10% chance that your story won’t end up with a broken heart.

10% out of 10% is 1%, that’s like 1 out of 100. This slim chance is like hanging by a thread almost suicidal. If we are sane, this thing is too easy to understand but not until someone comes along. Before we know it logic is replaced by magic, we forget what sanity and playing safe is. Instead, we all become risk takers and begin embarking on the journey of taking chances. We all hope that we can be a part of the 1% success rate.

In an “ano ba talaga tayo?” love story, we all, at one point or another have become optimists because even if we deny it, in our heart of hearts we chose to believe on the slim 1% chance. After all, are we going to ask, “ano ba talaga tayo?” if we didn’t somehow hoped for the 1% success rate? That 1% gets too strong that it gets the better part of us and totally we forget about the 99% probability of ending up with a “wala lang”. A scenario like this is not unusual, it comes in all forms, life stages and not to mention, ages. The victims of 99% are everywhere, it could even be you or the person you are closest to. Most of the time you can’t really figure out how it started or why it began, it really was unintentional or there are even times when you are fully aware of what could happen, of the 99% probability to be precise but still, in the end it surprises you, ’cause you ended up like Tom in 100 Days of Summer.

You’ll began asking yourself the hows and whys, you search for answers and you still can’t help cherishing that invincible 1% inside of you. You begin to feel pain, that pain could either be from a broken heart or more likely, from the fact that despite of being aware that 99% is way greater than 1%, your logic failed you, how? ’cause you got too afraid that there is this chance right in front of you and you didn’t do anything about it. It could also be because for such a long time you’ve been wondering why you haven’t met someone worth knowing and then all of a sudden you think maybe this is it.

If that chance is really the chance of a lifetime then there wouldn’t be an “ano ba talaga tayo?” scenario. To use 100 Days of Summer again as reference, Summer became someone elses wife ’cause with that unnamed someone she felt assurance and certainty, something that she never found while being with Tom. I guess that’s what an “ano ba talaga tayo?” set up is filled with, doubts. There is doubt ’cause of a lot of reasons, the circumstances, the complexities, the realities, sometimes even the person itself, you can’t exactly figure out what it is, you just know that there’s something wrong, there’s no certainty, something is missing. But despite of all this, we allow this crippling “ano ba talaga tayo?” to dwell in us, in the hopes of a “malay mo”. For a certain length of time that could be reasonable but don’t wallow on it for too long ’cause time won’t wait without you knowing the real chance of a lifetime has passed you.

What usually takes us too long is when we keep on thinking of things that made us throw away the 99%. How about a paradigm shift? How about trying to think of the things that they did or failed to do that’s why we can’t progress from “ano ba talaga tayo?” to being officially “tayo”. I think if we focus on this, we’ll be once again reunited with logic and sanity. So I guess if it already feels like you want to ask “ano ba talaga tayo?”, it’s time to wake up that such a story has a 99% rate of failure, a “wala lang”. After all, if it really is a “malay mo” then, it wouldn’t really just remain as such.

“I’ve been through an “ano ba talaga tayo?” situation twice, the first one took me a little less than a decade to tell myself that it’s “wala lang”, for the longet time I believed in a “malay mo”. Now, I’m trapped in an another “ano ba talaga tayo?” situation but I’m braver now, as I write this article I have come to convinced myself that it’s “wala lang” and there’s no enough reason to hope for a “malay mo”.”

Anonymous

My blog has reached 29,ooo plus hits after two years of existence, I don’t know if I have any avid followers but thanks to those who spent their time reading my entries. My friends know that I have a blog but none of them knows its name, I never revealed it to anyone, I chose to write under a pseudonym, I chose to write anonymously. But why? Maybe because there is some pressure when you are aware that the people who know you personally reads your writings, they’ll discover a side of you, good or bad, that you don’t want to reveal, emotions that you don’t want to share with them, things that you want to keep to yourself but you want to immortalize through the modern way of writing in cyberspace. I cannot think of any exact reason why but I’m keeping it this way.

25 Lessons/Truths/ Realizations I learned at 25

I’ll be celebrating my 25th birthday this weekend, since this is my birthday week let me begin it by sharing with you the 25 lessons/truths/ realizations I learned at 25.

1. The world doesn’t revolve around you (The hardest lesson of all).

2. You can have everything but not at the same time.

3. You don’t need to be alike in so many ways just to be friends.

4. Sometimes you need to put on a face as a defense to the cruel world.

5. As much as you want to keep every memory, you can’t.

6. The skill of knowing when a stage of your life ends and when another begins is hard to develop.

7. Once upon a time we were all young and stupid.

8. Thou shall not confuse reality with what you see on TV.

9. You don’t need to explain yourself, those who hate you won’t listen and those who love you don’t need any.

10. Life gets harder so our faith must go stronger.

11. Don’t hurry too much, wait for His time.

12. No matter how hard you try to make others feel that you’re one of them, if they won’t let you in, they really won’t.

13. At one point, we’ll experience what it’s like to be left out.

14. Sometimes people stick around because of what they can get from you or from being associated with you.

15. We all have ways of interpreting things, so I guess the safest thing to do is take it at face value.

16. At the end of the day, we all want someone to come home to or come home with.

17. Marrying for money is futile.

18. Love is not about looks, attitude or social status, love is love.

19. To have it half way is worst than not having it at all.

20. We should learn to give up on finding the answers when we know that in the heart of hearts there is none.

21. No matter how simple or how childish a thing is, if it keeps you going, it’s ok.

22. Fairy tales don’t come true because we refuse to believe it.

23. It was never promised to be easy, only worth it.

24. You can’t always use “This is me” as an excuse.

25. Always reach for the stars.

Writing

In front of the bright liquid crystal display, my fingers touch the keys, the world slowly comes into silence, people around me vanish, I am now alone, away from the world that I am living in. I am now entering a world that I’ve created, my temporary escape. Thoughts begin to flow, my emotions slowly outpours, my logic rallies as I hit the keys to transform them into hopefully meaningful strings of words. Words, which I hope to bring joy, inspire and make others see more clearly or sometimes just to simply make them smile.

I want to write today, in the midst of a supposed to be super busy day but ironically, now that I have some time to spare in sharing some words, I can’t think of anything to write. All I know is, I want to write but I can’t seem to organize my thoughts on the subjects I could think of. I also couldn’t decide if I should write more about my fave K-dramas and personalities. I just want to hit these keys hoping to come out with something meaningful. 

Writing as I often say, is my easiest escape not that I want to escape from anything today, it’s just that writing makes me feel better. If it feels like things are in a mess I could easily dump my emotional garbage in the cyberspace then I’ll be free. Surprisingly when I write about negative emotions I find myself enligthened as I finish, that’s why I often write prayers at the bottom of some of my articles. If I’m happ,y sharing it makes me happier, it’s like appreciating more the goodness of life, as I hope that I can pass on the happiness to others as well. ‘Til my next blog entry :)