The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway

The only thing that truly bugs me about Philippine weather is that we're so limited in terms of outfit choices, at least compared to other countries. There's never a season to wear boots, or to layer up, or wear scarves and beanies. So, in honor of articlust, here's a few photos of coats stare at longingly, as well as a flashback of the last times I bundled up.

For the Presidential Inaugural Conference 2013

At Barack Obama's Inauguration 2013

Venice 2013

49-Day Book Challenge: Day 18, Favorite Biography

After quite a long hiatus, I've decided to return to my 49-Day Book Challenge. I started this blog as a book blog, and I think it's high time to go back to its roots. Here we go!

This was the first biography I actually read, and it led to my fascination with the era. I loved the 1890s-early 1900s because it seemed like it teetered between the past and the present. Royals travelled via trains and automobiles, but most of the time preferred the old-fashioned horse and carriage. I've always thought that if I had to live in another time, I would live then: there was already such a thing as indoor plumbing and electricity, but it was still well into the past that I could dance the night away in a big poufy ballgown and tiara.

This biography looks into the lives of five granddaughters of Queen Victoria who ended being queen consorts of Europe: Queen Maud of Norway, Queen Ena of Spain, Queen Marie of Romania, Queen Sophie of Greece, and Tsarina Alexandra of Russia. The best part of this bio is that it highlights the fact that these five women, far apart as they were geographically and politically, they were still family. I also found a new favorite royal in Marie of Romania. What I loved about her is that she was brave in little ways: she never commanded an army like Boudicca or Elizabeth I, but she fought for her children, and her countrymen. Like most royal women of the time, she served as a nurse during the first World War. I've been looking for a proper biography devoted to just her, but alas, there is yet to be one published.

What are some of your favorite biographies? Leave a comment below! Happy Tuesday, all!

Moving In: Decor Haul

Last December, my family moved houses, and I left the home I'd lived in for the past 19 years. Our new house is a mere five minutes away, so from time to time, I visit the old house to pick up a few things. It's kind of depressing though: as soon as I enter, it already feels like an abandoned house. Within the few short months we've left it, it's already gained that dusty, unkempt scent. The wardrobes are empty and the walls are bare. That being said, I do love being in our new home. I've got a lot more room, for one thing. And we finally have what my brother and I have been dreaming of since our previous neighbor had one installed: our very own pool! A lot of things are still being fixed or are still missing--my bathtub does not have any taps as of yet, and I still don't have a desk or a dresser. But most of the things have already been delivered, and so, this past week, I decided to go on a decor haul for my new room.

Most of these things I found at Regalong Pambahay, which is an amazing local store that sells Pinterest-worthy things at super cheap prices. The rest I got while shopping at the ever-reliable SM.

I got one of those scone trays (and assembled it myself, I might add!) and used it for my ever-growing accessory collection. I discovered that hanging a lot of necklaces from the usual necklace hooks only leaves you with a lot of necklaces in tangles, so I'm hoping this way will be better.

My new clock that matches my wallpaper.

I have to talk about this blue mug, because it costs 100 pesos. You could buy a whole lot of them for a cute little tea party! In fact, Regalong Pambahay has a whole section dedicated to tea things. If you're planning a girls' day in, or a children's party, I highly recommend visiting them (they've got a store in the new Shang wing, as well as an outlet store along Pioneer).

Because who doesn't need a funky goblet? Even though I mainly use it for water, it's fun pretending you're drinking some magical potion (Tea parties? Magical potions? Clearly, my mental age has not progressed past kindergarten).

A frame set for my travels.

I also got a couple of photo frames, because I decided that this whole cyber-photo sharing, while convenient, isn't as good as having real paper photographs.

As an impulse buy, I got myself some potpourri oils and a burner.

Last, but definitely not the least, were the mound of cushions I got. I decided that I wanted to have a lot of stripes in my room, thus these blue-and-brown ones.

Throw pillows for the bed.

A little Latin for the library.

I also got a couple of floor cushions for my tower. There isn't a lot of things up there yet, but I want to decorate it with a lot of whimsical, fun things. These brilliant mural painters we hired painted the walls to resemble Rapunzel's tower from Tangled, and I'm looking for lanterns to hang there too, for I See The Light feels.

So that's about it for the decor haul. I hope to update this post once I get all the things for the tower. Have a blessed Sunday, everyone!

Love At First Sight Does Not Exist...At Least In The Case Of Fangirling.

I was planning to spend the four day weekend catching up on reading, i.e, tackling all the heavy hardbound tomes on my reading list that would be a pain to lug around on regular school days.

Of course, I ended up marathoning TV shows/Tumblr-ing instead.

Anyway, as I was scrolling through the Benedict Cumberbatch tag on Tumblr (I'm not even sorry), I realized that the fandoms I've come to love the most are the fandoms I decided I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot long stick.

It was my sixth birthday, I believe (way back in 2000), when my godmother gave me Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Even at that age, I was already a Don't Tell Me What To Read reader. So I thanked her, put the book on a shelf, and promptly forgot about it. A few months later, my eldest cousin, who was in college at the time, asked me if I had the first Harry Potter book because she was dying to read it. Then a little later on, a family friend who was in high school borrowed it as well. All I remember thinking was, "What are these older kids doing borrowing a book from a preschooler?" I guess you could say I was also a bit of a book hipster then too, because after they borrowed it and raved about it, I dismissed it as being overrated and mainstream (although I probably used more pre-K words). I mean, it couldn't be that good, could it? But one day, I was bored out of my mind had nothing to read. So I retrieved the book from the very back of my bookshelf, flipped to page 1, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The next two fandoms I came to love and cherish, I used to hate for one reason: I was too much of a Potterhead purist. I remember loathing the first Chronicles of Narnia film and all the hype it stirred up, because my 11-year-old self felt like it was taking attention away from the Potter fandom. I voiced my opinion so much in school, that, one day, as a prank, some girls took an Aslan toy from one of those McDo meals, and stuffed it into my cubby. But then somewhere along the way, the hate turned into love, and by the time the second film came out, I was screaming "For Narnia!" in the theater along with the best of them.

Then when I was 13 and dealing with post-Potter depression (the final book had just been released), I noticed one of my classmates completely wrapped up in a Tamora Pierce novel. I asked her about it, and she said it was a fantasy series. Drama queen that I was, I proclaimed, "Oh. I could never read another fantasy series. Harry Potter will be the only one of its kind that will be in my heart." My friend told me something along the lines of, "That's not what J.K. Rowling would want." So, grudgingly, I bought the first book of the Tortall series, and fell in love with them. Side note: Tamora Pierce also gave me my first OTP ever--Daine and Numair.

Through the years, mostly in the area of films, the same thing happened. "That Prince of Persia trailer annoys me." I ended up watching the film 3 times while it was still in theaters. "Oh, great, another Marvel superhero film. This Iron Man'll probably bore me like all the rest." I now have an entire drawer stuffed with Marvel t-shirts.

And now Sherlock. I bought the first season on DVD back when I was in the States. Honestly, when you've got therapy for two hours a day everyday and the rest of the time doing nothing, you watch A LOT of TV (and eat. But that's really a whole other story). I couldn't even drive down to Disneyland, because I had everyday appointments. There was also a Barnes & Noble right across the street from my therapist's office, so at the end of my stay, I probably bought twice my weight in DVDs. I bought the Sherlock DVD because, "I heard it was nice." I ended up, of course, never watching it, until a month ago.

Now, a short month later, I'm spending my vacation on Tumblr and Youtube, looking at Benedict Cumberbatch's mug for hours on end. No regrets.

Hope you guys are having a nice (hopefully fandom-filled) weekend as well!