It's Time's Newest Advocates

Retirement, as I've mentioned, is something not-so-glamorous in the country. It had been common practice to rely on the retiree's kids or even their grandchildren for the medicines, medical checkups, vacations and daily expenses. After all, they did put us to good schools and gave their best to give us everything we want.

But it's wrong.

While I do know I'd like to take care of my parents when they grow old, my parents have made it sure that they won't rely to me financially when they do. Not only that, they made me make sure I don't rely on mine, too, when I'm old and wrinkly.

Do you know who else shares the same sentiments? It's Time's newest celebrity endorsers, James Yap and son Baby James. Yep, this is the commercial I've been telling you about. Do watch it and let me know what you think! =)

Directed by: Jun Reyes for Unitel Productions

Concept, Vocal Coaching and Storyboard: Cecile Guidote and Divine Reyes 

Director of Photography: Shane Sarte

Makeup: Juan Sarte III

Stylist: Liz Uy

Baby Handler: Doreen Calingacion

Set Pediatrician: Dr. Arnel Nuguid

How is Sunday treating you?

Kisses!

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It's Time! Organizer Winners

I can't believe I forgot about my own contest :[ If it weren't for the very nice Miss Guimba, I wouldn't even remember I should have drawn the winners last January 16th! For that, MG, you get your own organizer!

So before I forget again, here are the winners! I'm feeling generous so I'm making the winners 10, instead of  5!

Nos. 1-10, kindly await an email from me [hopefully you wrote it on your comment!:)]

or if you read this before I send out the emails, [and you, Miss Guimba :)]please email your mailing address to:

tjcabullo [at] gmail [dot] com.

Thank you for your support, lovelies! It was definitely nice reading all of your goals and being more inspired to make sure mine goes fulfilled. I'm wishing the planners

will help you track them throughout the year and eventually fulfill them.

Again, I'm so sorry for the delayed announcement.

Kisses!

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Things I Hate Fridays

I am seriously pissed.

The Killers have been forced to cancel their appearances in Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong, Manila, Tokyo and Seoul due to unforeseen circumstances. The band deeply apologizes to their fans and hope to reschedule their shows in these cities soon. At this time the bands Australian appearances remain scheduled as planned.

From The Killers' website.


Whatever. I hate you.

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Found my heart right where I locked it

It's almost Friday and I've never looked forward to a day this much! Work has been its craziest --- in a good way. Ideas come flowing every 5 seconds and the group's dynamics have been so in sync, probably the best it had ever been since I joined the team. I can't be any happier with my career though I'd have to say I have lost all forms of my social life. And I haven't watched my Chuck, HIMYM and other series' episodes. Sob.

Anyhoo, here's the third OOTD I'm posting for the week. I think I've been very diligent at posting outfit posts last week that I have all these posts despite not even having a moment for a proper haircut. It's an outfit I wore on a Saturday I was working, both as a Behind-the-Scenes girl and an AE, if you can call it that. We had a shooting for TV Commercial for our advocacy, It's Time! and it's airing this coming Saturday during the Ninoy Aquino Special of ABS-CBN's Maalaala Mo Kaya at 8 PM. Geez, I'm so excited!

Top: Bought at a stall in BF Ruins

Patchwork Skirt: Swiped from my cousin KC's closet

[I think fashion sense is in the genes, LOL]

Flats: Sewn Sandals

Necklace: City of Vintage 

Yellow Bangle: SM Department Store 

Copper Bangles: Chick Flick

How was your week? I cannot wait to crash into my bed and catch up on sleep

and be more boring than I already am! :[ Oh and I have to start packing for my BKK trip! Weeee!

Kisses!

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A Paradigm Shift in Retirement

Originally written for It's Time!

Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.

- John Lennon

Retirement. The word springs to mind a thousand ugly words --- wrinkles, weak bones, senior citizenship, bottles and bottles of health supplements and huge amounts of time pining for what has been.

It’s a mean feat in this country to retire. The common practice being --- parents work day and night to send kids to school, kids graduate from school, are sent off to the real world and the parents have no choice but to retire ungraciously – with all their money spent on their kids futures, forgetting they too, have a future to think of.

I’ve seen how parents transform into dependents as soon as they quit work. They become slaves of their children, taking care of apos, and seemingly minding every nook and cranny of everyone’s lives. I’ve seen siblings fight with each other, pointing fingers on who should accompany mom/dad for their regular check ups, who will cover this month’s medicines. When they get confined, who’s to take a day off work to stay at the hospital or to drive for them?

It may be blamed on culture and old practices. But life moves so fast, there will always come a time when one is trapped with decisions that lead to pitiful consequences. If there was anything that the parents of our generation seemed to have forgotten, it was to think of themselves, too.

Take for example my friend, Pam. It’s only been three years since she started working and her parents have been ragging on her to provide for their household since it’s her turn to earn the big bucks. “Anak, siguro naman pwede mong suklian ang pagpapa-aral namin sa’yo, ” says her mom who recently retired , decided on being the one to take care of Pam’s yet-to-be-born daughter.

During a brunch date with my friends, Pam recounted how her mom would come to their house [she lived next door], and nag her to pay their bills. To this, Sophie, another friend, grunted in exasperation. Apparently, her mom ventured as well into retirement, confident that since her daughter was working in a multinational oil company, she could retire with probably an image of herself lying on a bed of money.

Thankfully, we can choose not to perpetuate it any longer. It’s not too late for me and you and every Juan dela Cruz who’s willing to brave the path of financial preparation.

The average Filipina/Filipino might think: How am I supposed to plan my retirement fund when I haven’t even gotten to prepare for the most basic necessities of life? I need a house, my kids’ educational fund…not to mention, the dogs’ grooming, a new car, newer laptops, a pro camera and the list goes on… Retirement is the last thing on my mind. And sadly with this being last, one will tend to forget about it totally. The next time one looks, he is retired and…poor.

Because I choose not to be poor when I retire [I can take old, but I don’t want to be old and poor], I evaluated my options to plan for the perfect retirement.

1. Save away. I will start another bank account and dub it the “Retiring Gracefully Fund” and won’t touch it for however long I remain un-retired.

Or

2. I can avail of the Sun MaxiLink Prime product I stumbled upon my RSS feed this morning. Sun MaxiLink Prime is a VUL Product that provides me with life insurance protection of 200% of the Face Amount plus the fund value of my policy. Even better, it gives me the choice to invest a portion of my premiums in 5 potentially high-yielding funds to grow my wealth and fund future needs such as retirement. Essentially, my policy's fund value can be my retirement fund. Hello, retirement!

Not bad, at all. If anything else, the second option makes me excited to retire. Can you imagine all the ballroom dancing I can do with my time and money? I can go to the beach, read a book, travel about or sleep all day…I can do anything I want, except be a burden to anybody else!

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OOTD: Channeling Emma Pillsbury

When doing so, think of these key words: bows, pastel and skirts. I am unabashedly obsessed over Glee and how Ms. Pillsbury dresses up hence the skirt.

In all truth, I am so inspired by your comments that I'm sharing with you what I wore last Tuesday. The past two weeks had been a whirlwind of events, photo shoots and TVC shoots that I haven't really had the time to blog, sadly. Add to that my current addiction with Plants vs. Zombies, and I now look like a zombie more than an Asian Emma P., eek.

I don't retouch whilst at the office so it's important to me that I look presentable when I leave home. After all, if I fail to retouch when I need to sometime during the day, a quirky outfit [at least] will help me save face, thus the outfit with the polka dots. Thank you for the inspiration, EP!

Top: Memo

Skirt: Thrifted

Belt: Rico Salandanan

Pumps: Moonshine Garb

A zoom in on the skirt:

And just to share what has been keeping me entertained during the hours I've been offline:

The Bachelorette Party by Karen McCullah Lutz
That Extra Half Inch by Victoria Beckham
Vanity Fair 2008, Madonna on the cover
Material Things: W, March 2009, Madonna on the cover

How is your week so far, ladies?

Mine is tiringly fantastic!

Kisses!

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OOTD: Power Monday

Have I ever told you what I always feel like wearing at work? High-waisted skirts and white tops! It's even better if both are combined in one dress. Here's a snap of my Monday outfit last week and hopefully, I have the energy to dress up tomorrow today. Oh, weekends. I terribly miss you so.

Dress: Kisses and Co.

Shoes: Moonshine Garb

Kisses!

Happy Monday!

[Hopefully, blogging will get back to regular programming soon! I miss you all!]

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Review: MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner

There are days when a girl can't be bothered by a lipstick [especially a lipliner]. However, we still need a wash of color every now and then and as for me? I have no love for generic tinted lipbalms sold at drugstores, so shoot me. For someone whose lips have a lifeless color and an ashen/yellow skintone every now and then, a blatant cherry red tint just won't cut it for me. I need a tinted lipbalm where I actually have options.

I first purchased my first MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner last 2007. I am on my second pot now and I can safely say that it is my HG lipbalm, alongside Sally Hansen's Moisturizing Lip Balm.

MAC says:

A protective emollient balm formulated with SPF 15, a sheer wash of colour and an all-natural sheen. Conditions lips, locks in moisture. Contains Almond Oil, Shea Butter, Avocado Extract, Wheat Germ Oil, vitamins A and E.
15 ml / 0.5 fl oz
US $14.50 [Php 950 locally, ugh]

What I Like About it:

• Non-sticky! Lipgloss and lipbalms are notoriously known to be sticky but this one isn't. 
• The perfect tint. Fuschia Fix aka #FF0066 in RGB code will forever be my perfect signature color. Notice how I apply stroke to most of my photos? This is the color of that and this is the perfect color on my lips.
• Moisturizing. I can get away with this and only this, without another lipbalm or a lipstick.
• The cake-batter scent. Most of MAC's lip products have this scent. I hated it a lot before but I'm so accustomed to it now and I love it.
• Locally-available at MAC Stores nationwide [which is not too many though.] 
• Handy. Its size fits my makeup bag well and it ain't very bulky. I sometimes leave it beside my office computer and it looks nice in there. This is also perfect for night outs and you have only a small space for one lip product. 
• Long-lasting. One pot of 15ml took me one and a half year to finish. 
• Sunscreen.  This little wonder has SPF 15. It's not much but hey, it's better than nothing!
• They have a wide range of tints: Fuschia Fix, Petting Pink [Pink Sheen], Close for Comfort [Pinkish Brown], Feelin' Good [Light neutral beige], Gentle Coral [Orange Pink Sheen, read Pammy's review here, too], Soothing Beige [Beige sheen], and Plum Perfect [Plum/wine sheen].

 What I Don't Like:

• Really? Php 950? Too darn expensive for a lipbalm! 
• I always need a lipbrush for this. Gah.
• The black cap can become grubby after a short while.  

Will I buy this again? I just did!


MAC TLC is available at MAC Counters at SM Mall of Asia, Shangri La Mall, and Glorietta, Makati [Rustan's].
http://www.maccosmetics.com/

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Things I Love Thursday

One moment, it's just the first day of a new decade (I really don't feel like debating, ha ha) then it's

now the middle of the week and I don't remember anything spectacular I've done! Ack!

Anyway, I've been having mood swings lately and I blame it on the highs I've been having. Sometimes

I put too much pressure on myself, rather subconsciously and I end up not meeting my own expectations.

Haha, labo.

So on to my TILT:

Apple Oatmeal. Crisp white tees [oh how I wish I could wear them everyday!]. Funky tags like these:

 

If I ever had these, I probably will never give them away cos they're too lovely!

Reading celebrity magazines. I'm catching up on a lot of my backlogs at work and in

my magazine reads and more than my fashion issues, I'm loving celebrity glossies more!

As I type this, Ok! Philippines' January issue is lying in my bed and waiting to be devoured.

So far, when I scanned it, I saw the features on Lea Michele's fashion style, celebrity hairstyles

through the years [who would've thought Gossip Girl's Dan Humphrey/Penn Badgley went through

a rockstar-ish phase?], and lots and lots of my youngest fashion icon, Suri Cruise!

Congrats for another successful ish, F!

Emma and Alex Watson for Burberry.

Old movies [well, about 7 years old] you'd watch over and over again.

Before Sunrise, 1994

Funny hits.

Emma Pillsbury's outfits in Glee!

But most of all, the ABCs of Happiness.

Happy Thursday, loves!

Kisses!


*Tag photos from One Bright Spot. Other images belong to respective owners.
No copyright infringement intended. 

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Butter Up: Body Shop's Blog My Butter Event

The Body Shop is starting the year right by celebrating TBS' bestselling body butters! This month will be full of awesome body butter-ific activities! To kick-off our celebration, they'll be having the first body butter blogging event on January 8, 2010, Friday at 4:00 PM in The Body Shop, Robinsons Galleria!

We'll be tying up with The White Hat frozen yogurt for the event so you can see (and now taste) the fruity and delicious flavours of The Body Shop Body Butters!

Please spread the word to your blogger pals, and see you guys on the event! Remember to dress 80's pop!



*sent by Billie Liboro of TBS.

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OOTD: Starting the Year with Florals

I know it's tradition to wear polka dots at the start of new year but since polka dots is nothing new to me, I decided to wear my City of Vintage skirt on the first working day of 2010, pairing it with a top from Details and a pair of pumps from Moonshine.

Top: Details

Skirt: City of Vintage by MacVB

Pumps: Moonshine Garb

Bangles: Chick Flick

 

The rosettes are love!

Happy Tuesday, ladies!

Kisses!

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A Piece of T. January Ed.

I like – long holidays that makes one catch up on much needed snoozefests, daily alcohol (oops!) intake and rest. I'm now back to work and I feel incredibly energized after drinking sprees with my cousins + gab time with my girls, I've actually crossed off so many things in my to-do list!

Oh and I likey like this little tip thing from Tumblr:

I don't like: this is kinda tough cos I don't have anything to hate today (yay!). Everything has been really smooth and I'm liking my Monday, which is very, very unusual. If you knew me in person, you'd know I'm very whiny with things so this comes as a surprise.

I want you to know: that I'm having all these positive feelings lately and I think it's brought on by the New Year. New beginnings and all that. I'm very confident that this will be a better year. Not that 2009 was bad, but I can feel things are really bigger for me this year.

I've planned: to run errands for myself like ordering birth certificates and buying new tires which again, came as a surprise cos I was able to do it! Normally, I sleep over things like this and I wait for circumstances to get ugly for me to act on it but I didn't! Hooray!

I want to say to someone special: that I miss you so much and I can't wait to see you, Mom and Dad. :)


How's Tuesday treating you?
If you wanna join this little game, hop on over to the Toothfairy's page and add yourself.
Kisses!

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How to Look Fresh: My Official Entry to the Minute Maid Pulpy Orange Contest

Way before the days I actually learned how to properly apply makeup, my only trick in looking fresh was to sleep a good eight hours. No kidding. I'm sure you guys would agree with me when I say that this is probably the best technique in achieving a healthy, glowing skin.

Of course, there are other things one can do, like eat veggies, stop smoking (guilty as charged) and take vitamins but for someone who hates veggies, smokes and too lazy to take vitamins, sleeping is the only way to go.

After four days of no-work days, with me having plenty of time to sleep, I woke up to find myself in no need of much makeup for the first day of work in 2010.

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer SPF 50

Ellana Mineral Foundation in French Vanilla Latte

 NARS Blush in Oasis

MAC Brow Gel in Show Off

 Revlon Liquid Eye Pen 

Cover Girl Lash Blast Mascara

 MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner in Fuschia Fix

 

See? It's possible to look au naturel with lots of rest! One of my goals this year is to stop depriving myself of sleep. That means less Facebook-ing, limited hours of reading (gah, I read too much stuff in the internet!) and less Tumblr-ing. My new lineup of activities include more reading because it actually stimulates my sleepiness as long as it's not chick lit or something funny, drinking milk at night, sniffing lavender-scented oils and never forgetting my eye mask because it always, always helps me sleep longer.

What about you? What's your favorite 'au naturel' beauty trick? Do share it with me and over at Sophie's page for a chance to win a SOFA Course worth Php 15,000 and Php 5,000 worth of Kiehl's products!

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Dreaming of Summer in January

I had no plans of making a blog about summer, really. I'm here tied up at the office and my legs are shivering from the cold blast of the aircon and yet all I can think of is summer and donning a bathing suit. What gives, you ask? I stumbled upon some of new of Soak Swimwear's collections and they. Simply. Took. My. Breath. Away.

 

Did you die in amazement, too?

I did. Ack, this doesn't do wonders to my current advocacy!

Which reminds me, don't forget to join the contest in the link above!

Kisses!

*All images are lifted from Soak Swimwear's website.

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