Animal Sightings

I’ve been meaning to buy Ipanema slippers but I told myself I would hold off spending at least until next payday. Well, I’ve managed to avoid gourmet coffee for the last two days (mainly because of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday shop closure). Congratulations.

Yesterday, I had to take a very necessary trip to the mall because I just had to buy animal print flats for my aunt. My balikbayan cousin told me her mom wants a pair of leopard print shoes. I obliged myself to find them for her. After all, I am her favorite niece.

I pity Denver for having to trek all of Shoemart with me to look for animal prints. I think I ended up getting cheetah prints instead of leopard print flats. Until now, I can’t tell the difference. I am not like my fashionista friend Rache, who could distinguish species by spot size and color. I remember reading about her fondness for animal print in her blog. I never imagined myself being bold enough to wear anything that makes animal statement, but guess what? I went home with a pair for myself.

I’ve always thought of myself as a conformist, not wanting to look different in any way, which is why I normally stick to basic and boring styles and colors. This time I’m daring to wear something loud. Just on my feet though. You’ve got to start somewhere right? I don’t know what came over me. This decision to be quirky is probably an excuse to spend, but I think it looks pretty cute with jeans. I guess I won’t be getting Ipanema slippers for a while. I have new animal print flats and charcoal slippers bought on impulse. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

String Of Knocks

It’s already April and every Starbucks I’ve been to still does not have the 2007 planner in stock. What a disappointment. Tonight, I finally gave my own Starbucks planner to my Tita Dahl. Every time we see each other, she would ask if I already have her planner, and I would have to give her crap about having a reservation. She was so happy to get it even if it had my name written on it. Good thing I have been too busy all year to sit down and write something on the actual days! I should have given it to her months ago.

Since I have already delved into disappointment, I’d like to share that I hate the 29th floor. Yes, it is spacious, but my mobile has no signal most of the day. I am not getting all my messages and I can’t hear anyone on the other end of the line. Oh, and have I mentioned that it’s a hell hole in here? Someone mentioned that ceiling fans should be part of the office. When we first moved to the 29th floor, I had to wear socks during my shift because it was so unbearably cold. I even bought mittens because it gets difficult to type in the morning as my fingers chill overnight. We learned that the AC was screwed up to begin with and now, for some reason, it doesn’t get cold anymore in our side of the building. We now have industrial fans spread out all over the production area. The damn vents are emitting heat! In addition to that, we have to bear with the annoying sound of concrete drilling at the 28th floor. The people in charge of facilities in this company are really stupid for scheduling the construction during our peak hours. These guys should be fired for being brainless.

Yesterday, my boss asked me to issue a cite form to one of my team members. One of our customers sent an email to report this rep for making her (customer) feel “rushed and nervous.” She complained about the rep being rude to her. I really don’t like the idea of suspending anyone in the team so I decided to listen to the recorded call. I wasted my time on this forty two minute call. I can’t believe that this customer had the audacity to make those claims. She was the one impatient the whole time. I had to transcribe some parts of the call to prove her lying ass. If I had been too lazy to validate her complaint, I would have ended up suspending a guiltless rep. Some people just have nothing better to do.

White Chocolate Dream

Today I am enjoying two cups of café mocha in my Starbucks tumbler... Not! I am at work pretending that coffee from the new pantry is really good. For some reason, the café mocha at the 29th floor has a different flavor. I’m too lazy to run down to the 21st floor, where the café mocha is just more bearable.

I’ve been daydreaming about taking a trip to The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf since this afternoon. I am still trying to control the urge because I really need to cut down on my spending (at least until next payday).

Last night was fun. Sony and I chose to bond over coffee and trinkets while our husbands were at work. I took her to The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf since I knew for a fact that she preferred it to Starbucks. “Magpaka-lasing daw kami sa kape,” and that’s exactly what we did. I had a White Chocolate Dream Ice Blended Drink and a White Chocolate Dream Latte. It’s her favorite drink and the name just got my attention. Doesn’t White Chocolate Dream sound delicious? And it was heavenly, that’s why I tried the hot drink after tasting the Ice Blended version.

And the Pistachio Sansrival was a treat too. You can say that food has replaced my nicotine craving. It’s healthier that way. Hehe.

Anyway, at a thousand words per minute, Sony suggested a trip to a store where we can buy “kikay” stuff. It was 1:00AM and I could only think of Mercury Drug. We were at the drug store peering at labels, bottles, tubes and boxes. Body wash, shampoo, lotion, shaver, moisturizer, lip balm. She thought I was no fun when it came to “trinkets” because I only took a single bath soap from the cosmetics section. She loaded our basket with lots of beauty products and I started picking up pace when we are at the food section. I ended up bringing home our midnight snack.

At home we watched Ippo sleeping while eating Besuto prawn crackers dipped in vinegar. At some point, Sony managed to shut up and we both fell asleep.

Tonight I learned that Sony won’t be extending her vacation. She flies back to L.A. on Sunday. So that was that. I was hoping she’d still be here on my next day off. I’m going to miss her terribly but I know she’ll be back very soon. She has a destination wedding here next year! That gives me a year to find a green dress I can fit into.

Christmas In March

This week, I crossed out some items from my Christmas 2006 Wish List.

On Sunday, I was on yahoo! messenger with my brother Rambi. He asked me if I wanted an iPod Nano. He is stationed at an Air Force Base in California and will be sending his iPod Video to his girlfriend through a balikbayan-cousin, so now he wants me to have his girlfriend’s iPod Nano. He told me he had seen that it was on my Wish List. Well, well, who would have thought? I could never afford anything like that so I am only too happy to receive it. Haha. And to think I was going to settle for a knock off.
On Sunday night, I had late dinner with my favorite cousin who just flew to Manila from L.A. for a 3-week vacation. She brought a heap of gifts for our family as usual, from our relatives in the U.S. I usually get bags and colognes. And this time I got the same deal, two bags and one cologne. I noticed though, that since Ippo came along, I’ve been getting less and he’s (Ippo) been getting more each time we have a balikbayan. Fine by me, as long as my son gets my share. Hehe. Anyway, aside from the iPod, my brother had sent us a new Cybershot digi cam. It’s not really for me. It’s for my family (me, Ippo, mama and Denver). But hey, who else will be using it? It will take nothing but pictures of my son for sure.


The next day, that same cousin gave me the most unattainable thing from my Wish List (unattainable for me at least). She gave me a matching Tiffany silver charm bracelet and necklace. I asked her mom for one last October and she said she’d have one sent over. I never actually believed it would happen. It’s really cool because I haven’t seen a knock off in the country yet. It’s the kind with the 1837 bar pendant, not the usual return to Tiffany heart or oval charm. It came in the original Tiffany & Co. box too and I can return it anytime for a replacement if it breaks because of the lifetime warranty. It cost my cousin almost $300. I could never buy myself anything worth $300. In return she made me drink two shots of Kamikaze. No problemo, I said, as long as she leaves with me her Juicy Couture Charm bracelet. And I know she will.

New Addict

I am officially addicted to Prison Break. I went to Metrowalk, Tuesday of last week to look for Dreamgirls and The Pursuit of Happyness. I ended up going home with more than those two movies (as usual).

Let me just tell you that I am not into action or suspense, but I definitely enjoyed Prison Break.

Spoiler… I went home with Prison Break Season 1 and 2. Or so I thought. We loaded both DVDs and found out that they were both Season 2. One had 10 episodes and the other had 15. I was just going to watch a few episodes from Season 2 but I was hooked even if I missed an entire first season.

Yesterday, we finally got around to returning one of the Season 2 copies in exchange for Season 1. Once again I gave up hours of sleep because I couldn’t get my eyes off the screen. Last time I was like this was during my obsession with Meteor Garden. That was a long time ago.

There were days I didn’t want to go to work at all just so I could finish all episodes. Between then and now, I’ve seen other series but my fixation is not always this bad. I’ve had really terrible headaches these past few days because of the lack of sleep, and I’ve been doing damage to my bladder by foregoing trips to the bathroom.

I’ve only seen until the fifteenth episode of Season 2. I’ve gone around asking for the complete season but I heard that they haven’t finished airing all twenty-two episodes in the U.S. I don’t think I can wait for pirated DVDs. I’m bugging for Denver to download the last episodes available. I can’t wait to see all of it. I probably wouldn’t have bought it had I known this series is still airing in the States. I hate waiting... but I'm glad I decided to watch it.

Cold Turkey

I’ve been nicotine free for one week. Believe it or not, my main reason for kicking the habit is good skin. Yes, vanity, not fear of cancer, heart disease or anything life and death. I am not yet afraid of dying. I am just afraid of getting old and looking old.

I just finally realized how smoking goes against all of my beauty rituals. Since hitting 27, I developed an interest in sun block, moisturizers, and now, eye cream. I think one of the things that encouraged this interest is my mom. She’s 56 years old. I really don’t know if she looks her age, but she sure looks younger than most of her amigas. And I just bought an expensive eye cream to get rid of the wrinkles, puffiness and dark circles under my eyes. It would be a waste to apply these pricey beauty products on smoke-damaged skin.

Several people, including my managers have dropped by my workstation this week to ask me to go for a yosi break with them. I have turned down each offer because I don’t want to be caught in a tempting situation. Last Monday though, Denver and I had a night out with one of our friends. They were both smoking and enjoying their San Mig Light. I was just there watching them. I’m pretty proud of myself.

I know I will be in other trying situations. I just hope that my motivation will be enough to keep this habit out of my system for good.

Wish me luck!

Free At Last

After a stressful and disappointing day at work, I found myself washing away all the negativity in the shower.

It was a liberating experience. All of a sudden my mind started speaking out…

… My husband cheated on me and he’s a jerk for doing that. I’ve been miserable since it happened, but now I refuse to wallow further in the depression. For the first time, I smiled as I thought of the awful thing that happened to us. He cheated on me, and I am fine. Time to get rid of the dead weight I’ve been uselessly carrying for four months.

An old friend, a magazine article or empowering tips from Dr. Phil. I don’t know which one did it for me. I just feel so free.