A Never-ending Song

Christmas parties are always such a blast! Meet our fabulous friends:

Thanks to Rosanna (and Emper) for handling the food!

And thanks to Anjie and Lex for the games!

Cute cupcakes with face flags

Tala, Donna, Maina, and D

Anjie, Monique, Missy, and Alexi

Samboy, Carlo. Boogie, Ed, Mikko, P, Rigs, and Vinci

The whole gang missing Meggie, Rog, Chols, and Alfie.

FASHION

21Men bowtie and belt, bespoke oxford shirt, Topman trousers, and suede shoes from Jatujak

Digging the design of this bowtie. It strays from your regular stripes and spots. I think the electric blue's great for both work and play. Gotta find other shapes aside from this batwing though for future variety.

tiered ruffle dress from I have no idea where, vintage belt

 Got to wear the Danys for the first time as well!

* fashion photos c/o of Rosanna

See you in January, folks!

Swap

So we were cheesy and lame enough to chronicle our exchange of gifts this Christmas. 

While we agree that the season shouldn't revolve so much around the material aspect, it's always nice to receive your favorite things, right??

Disclaimer: There was little to no surprise factor in this exchange because we're pretty transparent/dictatorial about our wish lists. It may take away that crucial element of surprise for some, but hey, it works perfectly well for us! 

Gee, I wonder what's inside the box! It doesn't look like a shoe box to me...

Not my finest moment--violently stabbing at the Johnny Air Cargo box with kitchen scissors because I have no patience or EQ for this sort of thing.

And ooh! Lookie here! I spy two boxes, double the fun!

 JS Dany platforms in gray snakeskin and Minnetonka Thunderbird moccasins in buttery red leather

Thank you, P! :)

With D's gift and mirrored aviators.

 So a couple of months ago, I left my phone in a toiletry bag on the way home from a trip out of town. Unfortunately, D's liquid soap spilled and the phone was drenched. It smelled pretty nice but it stopped working. So I had to use her old (and hot pink!) one for a while until she got me this blue-black Nokia C3. Lovely!

 Still getting used to the qwerty keyboard but it's actually getting me to use Facebook a lot more than I used to. It's so easy to go online and use the interface. It's got a load of other features but it's main attraction is its online capabilities. It's also impossible to text while driving with this, which is probably for the best!

Hope you all had a blast uncovering this season's loot and receiving some holiday love, both material and otherwise! :)

Belated

The ceiling of the garage

The inverted tree before all the other gifts were added

 

Props for our themed Christmas party

* first and last photo c/o Pocholo Mauricio

Cabbie

 FOOD

  It can be such a pain to find a place that serves decent food past 10pm without having to go too far.

Luckily, a bunch of these little cafes have started opening in my (D) neighborhood.

This time, we decided to try out Cab Cafe. This cozy cafe serves a variety of cold and hot coffee, pizza, pastas, sandwiches, and pastries. It also has a rack of native delicacies like taba ng talangka (crab fat).

P: My Tiramisu frappo was decent but pretty run-of-the-mill. It reminded me of Starbucks. Whether that's good or bad is up to you.
D: I had a glass of Raspberry green tea and it was slightly reminiscent of Serenitea drinks minus the pearl. This was just a little too candy/syrupy sweet for me though.

Our server recommended one of their best-sellers: Deli Pinoy pasta. It had tinapa (smoked milk fish), tomatoes, tomatoes and salted egg. It was good but I would rather have the fish flaky instead of mushy.

D and I decided to go for the ham (or was it bacon) and mushroom pizza. I was delighted with the generous amount of cheese and the good dough.

FASHION

 

P: Featuring the J.Crew shorts D found for me. I cuff them a little shorter than what I'm used to because I like the contrast of the stripes and the underside.

Polka dots and pinstripes! I like the detailing on the belt was well. Up close it looks aged between the diagonal stripes.

 Dept store dress, Dorothy Perkins beanie, F21 shoes

D: Felt a little festive that day! Every available surface in our house is practically sagging under the weight of Christmas decor. The Philippine version of "December chill" almost justified this beanie. I ended up ripping it off my head after an hour or two though. Serves me right!

Can't wait to get all the Christmas parties underway so I can finally break out of this fashion funk I'm in. 

Let the tinsel fly!

Luke's Training Session

Happy birthday, Beej!

Copious amounts of food and drink at far-off planet Dagobah (aka Valenzuela) for perennial Star Wars fan Beej's birthday party. I'm seeing espadrilles show up more and more in Manila. Can't wait to break out this summer favorite again once the rain stops pouring.

Sonja's cupcakes in a party-friendly tree.

Brie or blue cheese and grapes wrapped in salami tasted fantastic!

SexyLexi style

Rosanna's Suelas design! Grab a pair now!

Bangkok shirt and trousers, 21Men belt, fringe loafers

With my friend Drils. He's got a blazer-cardigan too! I like the fit of these slim khakis. They're stretchy so they stay casual and comfortable.

 F21 open knit top and jeans, vintage belt, Janilyn shoes

Too lazy to be creative today. I just really like this knit top. I've been trying to keep the shirt intact but it's proving to be impossible as it catches on everything. Oh well, I'm embracing the gaping holes now!