Onions, onions everywhere!

"For Good," is hands down my favorite song from the musical "Wicked." The lyrics are so heartfelt, and the original rendition of Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel really pulls the heartstrings hard!

Full disclosure, "For Good" is one of my ugly cry songs. Sometimes, I'd watch the original rendition of the song on youtube, and in rare instances, I'd end up with my face all crumpled and tears running down relentlessly.

So imagine my feeling when I saw this video from "A Very Wicked Halloween."

Not only does it feature the original Elphaba and Glinda, they've assembled different actresses who played the role in different times on different stages.

Gosh! At 2:44, when Idina and Kristin sing their solos and the rest of the cast sung chorus - bawl-o-rama!

It's like someone chopped open a gazillion onions in my vicinity. 

No, really. I'm not crying. It's just there are onions being chopped.

The inner workings of Wang

A few years ago, Alexander Wang did a collaboration with Uniqlo.

This was a series of dresses and tops, and I bought this dress for Ate Lissa.

Now, he's back with another Uniqlo collab. This time, though, he's creating new pieces for their Heattech line.

Too bad we don't need thermal underwear in the Philippines. These piece would've been nice to have.

But wait, there's more!

Our commercial making streak continues.

We had another offline today for a TVC that the team produced, and it was - literally - a success.

There are 2 more months left on the calendar. There's still time to do some more.

Color Story: Sweet earth

Wearing neutral, earthen colors is a good palette cleanser for fashion. After a good dose of color and prints, it's nice to come back to something simple and subdued.

Such was a combination that I found in a recent run to SM Megamall. It was a one-two combination of earth tones that spelled chic.

The first piece was a dress from Forever 21. It had a sandy color, had brown buttons and an interesting tie in front. The length was casual and classy at the same time.

Then, there was this cardigan in a color that was a cross between saffron and mustard. It was a chunky knit, which gave it a nice texture.

Combined, the two colors harked back to Mother Earth, but in a fun, lively way.

Definitely a nice way to color your day.

Monster Cuteness!

Today's unbearable moment of cuteness is once again brought to you by my grandson, Noah! (And yes, he's all monstered out for Halloween!)

I have no words...

FMM: Embroiled in Imbruglia

While Bonique and I were talking last night, she suddenly paused and excitedly said:

BONIQUE: "Alam mo ba, 21 years na 'yung song na 'Torn'!"
ME: "Really?"
BONIQUE: "Yes! 21 years! Kung tao siya, nagwo-work na siya!"

And with that as segue, presenting this 21 year old song for today's Friday Magic Madness.



May I just say, Natalie Imbruglia is as gorgeous as her voice.

LFLTAT: Black is Back!

Last weekend, during the 3-day sale at SM Megamall, stores went all-out with their promos and discounts.

Two particular stores drew me in. First was SM Department Store - a no-brainer, and second was For Me. What draw me to For Me was the fact that their sale items were also on buy one, take one! And browsing these 2 stores led me to these 2 items:

From For Me, a classic LBD!

Classic as the silhouette may be, it also had modern touches such as the fabric and the fact that it had pockets.

Over at SM Department Store, this pair of black, pointed Parisian pumps called to me. Then followed me home.

The result, a super chic black ensemble. Not over P700!

Once you go black at that price, you're never coming back!

Over the moon!

Neil Armstrong was one of my childhood heroes. Because of him, I once dreamt of becoming an Astronaut.

But my knowledge of Neil is just based on the books I've read and stories that we've been fed. That's about to change as a new biopic is about to hit the screens soon.



Yet another film to add to my ever growing must-watch list.

Julia is back again!

Ah, the full trailer of "Ben is Back" is now on-line!



Riveting!

This just went up on my "must watch" list.

Frida Fashion

People who know me well know that I don't buy a dress on the spot.

Most often, I do the "come back for it tomorrow and see if you still feel the same way," the "wait for a month because that'll be on sale then," or "I'm sure there's something that looks like that in one of the haunts."

Then, there are those extremely rare times when a dress grabs me with such intensity that I grab it, don't let go, and pay full price.

This weekend was one such day. The shop was a not-so-mainstream local brand called "Thrift Market," and this was the dress that made me break all my self-written rules.

It's a pleated maxi dress that had this strong Frida Kahlo vibe to it.

The neckline was interesting. There was a small keyhole, a cold shoulder, and pleats that ran across the entire top part.

Another thing that gave it that Mexican vibe was the fabric. Both the color and the print reminds me of the traditional Mexican dresses that the Mafia Mexicana wore during our impromptu photo shoot in Guadalupe's house in Monterrey.

Maybe it's that Mexican connection that made me say "si" to this dress immediately.

X-citing!

Ali Mall looks like it's really upping its mall game.

They expanded their food area and they now have a lot of food options. It's something to draw the foodies in.

Now, they have something to bring in the more artsy, hipster crowd.

Ali X is an offshoot from Cubao X. Looks like they're shutting that down and relocated the concept here.

The hallway draws you in visually. It's very bright and colorful, and has that Moroccan feel to it. On the sides, thrift shops and vintage stores line both sides. It's so easy to get lost in all the curios and one-of-a-kind finds in the area.

Looks like I'll have another x-citing reason to visit Ali Mall.

Sketchy Stories: The greening of the Philippines

Sometime in May, Ate Bullet told me that she was invited to be a godmother at the wedding of my nephews' former tutor. This came hot off the heels of her Tagaytay wedding last March, so she was more than happy to oblige.

She talked to me about what she wanted to wear. The theme of the wedding was Filipiniana, but she didn't want something too traditional, costume-y or expected. What she wanted was a butterfly sleeved terno, but she wanted it to look modern.

Also, she said that the godmothers had a color choice between Emerald Green, Champagne and Gold. Being a huge fan of jewel tones, I suggested the first color, to which Ate agreed.

After all the parameters were set, the sketching began. And with "Emerald-Green-Modern-Filipiniana-with-Butterfly-sleeves" as a handle, this is what came about.

As a fan of mixing fabrics, I chose two luxe fabrics for the gown - lessage lace and silk gazar. The design is half-and-half. The first half is the Filipiniana part, made with silk gazar, highlighted by butterfly sleeves, a curved front, and an extended back. The second half was a column gown in lessage lace, with a bit of flare on the hem.

Now, as a fan of twofers, this design eventually became one. The silk gazar part of the dress could be removed, to reveal the full gown underneath. Since the pattern was heavy, I kept the silhouette light and easy, with a deep v neck to highlight the skin.

With the sketch done, it was off to Joy who executed it beautifully.

And today, on the day of that wedding, Ate Bullet rocked it flawlessly!

To keep with the color theme of the event, Ate chose to wear her gold jeweled sandals and a capiz-inspired bag with gold in-lays.

When she went for the 2nd look, she went for a 2nd set of accessories as well. She swapped her stud earrings for shoulder grazing tassel ones, also in Emerald. And I must say, it really elevated the look.

Overall, I think it's enough to make people green with envy.

FMM: Sweetness overload!

Because Mark brought a stash of sweets yesterday...

Here's a Friday Magic Madness song from the 60s!



You can never go wrong with this happy ditty from The Searchers on a Friday night.

 

Not melting in the dark...

Apparently, CDO has its own version of McArthur's Park. And no, it doesn't involve a cake out in the rain.

It does involve a huge McArthur hat in gold, though.

Located at the Macabalan Wharf, the hat faces the sea to welcome all the ships coming in to the CDO port.

Maybe it's their way for the boats to return.

CDO Rocks!

Literally, they're rocks from Cagayan De Oro.

'Nuff said.

Golden

When you see a tall, gold edifice in the middle of a city with provincial feels, you know that you're in Cagayan De Oro!

The Limketkai Luxe Hotel is one of the city's landmarks, and it's golden color harks back to the "Oro" in the name of the province.

Hello again, CDO. Good to be back.

LFLTAT: Denim Deluxe

"Dressed up denim" has always been part of fashion since time immemorial. In fact, it has become an almost-classic, similar to the little black dress and the crisp, white shirt.

Because of that, this fashion concept has had many incarnations. Whether it's a haute couture house or a fast fashion brand, they've found a way to interpret this.

My interpretation is a "Look for Less than a Thousand." This was made possible through 2 of the fast fashion stores that I usually visit, and is currently on sale.

The luxe part is this silk, pleated skirt from F&F. Nice length, beautiful fabric, easy to dress up and dress down.

The denim part is this wrap blouse from For Me. This was part of their buy one, take one sale, and was super duper cheap!

Together, it's denim luxe! 

And it's less than P800!

The Good Doctor is in

This weekend is the first weekend in 3 months that I don't have work! Woot!

So, I decided to watch a little bit of TV to celebrate.

In particular, a few episodes of "The Good Doctor."



The first time I heard of this series was from Ate Lissa's post. After seeing how she was hooked on it, I told myself that when I had the chance, I'd watch it too.

Now, I did.

And I'm hooked, too.

That's a good thing.

Walnuts about you!

There's been a lot written about the chocolate walnut cookies at Family Mart. As much as my curiosity has been piqued, they usually don't have it in the Family Mart stores around the office.

Then I found this at one of their branches nearby!

Yup, it lives up to the hype!

FMM: The best time for Wendy

Since it rained outside, and it's a Friday Magic Madness day, time to bring out the big guns.

By "big guns," I mean "big, powerful voice."

Here's Wendy Moten!



You'll really come out of the rain for this song.

Sign. Combine.

Speaking of signs, I saw this one last weekend.

Nice name for a business, eh?

(And no, it's not ours. Harhar.)

But is it real?

Here's a study on how the wrong positioning of a letter on a signage can make all the difference.

Now, if it's "FAux Aircon," does that mean it doesn't really work? Or is it an electric fan? Why is it faux?

So many questions.

White Twix!

Not to be confused with "White Chicks." Harhar.

But seriously, there's White Twix out in the market now! And I had to buy a few!

Let me get it out there. IT'S. DA. SHIZ!

'Nuff said.

Oh! Oh! Onigiri!

Look what I found in the nearby Korean store!

It's a legit onigiri! And I'm saying legit because it uses the same unwrapping style that we've come to know in Japan.

But as the Korean lady in the shop reiterated, this is a Korean version of the onigiri. And yes, I was able to taste some differences. Primarily, the rice isn't as sweet, and the tuna filling is sweeter than what they make in Japan.

Well, it's the closest to legit that I've seen in Manila. So, I'm not complaining.

Slow Sunday

Since the week went by like a blur, let me celebrate the weekend with a song by "Blur."



Such an apt ditty to cap the week.

When work isn't work

Working on a Saturday until almost midnight doesn't feel like work when you're with some of the funniest and coolest folks.

So no, we weren't working on a Saturday. We were having fun.

FMM: French leave

Since I'm on a Kylie Minogue roll, let me mark today's Friday Magic Madness with another classic Kylie from the 80s.



The first time I heard the word "Je ne sais quoi" was from Lola Dita. Later I found out that it loosely meant "something extra." But the phrase "Je ne sais quoi porquoui" means "I don't know why."

Amazing how one word in French can change the total meaning of a phrase. And while I don't know how one word could change the meaning so much, I do know that I enjoy listening to this song again and again and again.

Let the waterworks begin!

Admittedly, I fully geeked out and teared-up inside after seeing the full trailer of the Aquaman film.



This is one film that I'm definitely, DEFINITELY not going to miss.

WATN: Judge and be judged

He was a staple in a lot of comedies in the 80s. He even headlined a lot of hit ones. In my book, he was like another Chevy Chase in the offing. His comic timing and subtlety were always spot on, which is no wonder why he was an in-demand comic during that decade.

One of my favorite films which starred this guy was "Vice Versa." Although the premise of the film wasn't really new - there was "Big" which was shown at almost the same time - the actors made it work. Actually, "Vice Versa" introduced me to the concept of "skids." Harhar.

His Hollywood appearances continued in the 90s, then begin tapering off from the mid-90s until the present. Nowadays, it's very rare that you catch him in Hollywood films, and even on TV.

Which begs the question, where in the world in Judge Reinhold?

His comic timing is really missed. Hope to see him in a film again soon.

Two Edgardos, Four generations.

What's not to love about this photo?

Not only does it represent 4 generations of Morales guys, it also has 2 Edgardos in one frame. We have my Dad, Edgardo, and his great grandson, Noah Edgardo.

Lucky boys indeed!

Swift Surprise

Okay, so I love Taylor Swift.

And I love surprises.

Now, put them together, and you have this:



My. Mind. Is. Blown.