Rediscovering My Love: Old Tunes

Hey guys! So here's just a quick post to yet again fill the blogging void that's been going on here. Again, apologies for being so MIA. 

Anyway, I was going through my drawers a few days ago in an attempt to clean my room up a bit and what did I find? My old iPod Nano (6th generation, I believe) that housed all my songs from like, 6 or so years ago. Yep, that long ago. Curiousity got the best of me, and well, I ended up listening to it all night and got almost nothing done. 

If you're confused as to why I have been cherishing this iPod so much, well, the laptop that this iPod was connected to crashed and I basically lost all the music files. So all that's left is this iPod, and I couldn't be bothered to download them all over again. And besides, Limewire ceased to exist by that time (hah! Remember the good ol' Limewire days?) so there really was no point. That really bummd me out. No lie. Since then I've learned my lesson of backing up all my files onto an external hard drive and refusing to give up my little baby. 

There's nothing better than taking a little trip down memory lane by listening to the tunes I loved from my pre-teen days up until I turned 14 (I think that was when the whole laptop crashing fiasco happened). Oh, I can totally remember rocking out and singing at the top of my lungs in my room, pretending I was a famous singer. My gosh. And to think I still do that now, just you know, a little quieter since I've got roommates and all that. 

I just wanted to share a few of the songs I've been listening to that I seriously do not have on my current iPod (well, iPhone really, but what the heck). I'll be honest, some tunes I did end up re-downloading. So think of this as a little nostalgic, sentimental playlist of mine from my 14-year-old self, if you will:

- When You Look Me In the Eyes by The Jonas Brothers (oh my, I swear, this is still one of my favourite love songs of all time. True blue JoBros fan right here, and always will be)

- Apologize by OneRepublic ft. Timbaland

- Memory by Sugarcult

- With Me by Sum 41

- Rainy Day by Janel Parrish (before she became crazy Mona from Pretty Little Liars, haha!)

- Put Your Records On by Corinne Bailey Rae

fun fact - this apparently is my top, most played song on this iPod!

- When It Rains by Paramore

- Shake It by Metro Station
- Happy Birthday by The Click Five (admittedly I listened to this on my birthday a few days ago!)
- Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne
- You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift (naturally, the anthem of every single girl out there when this came out!!)
- Feels Like Tonight by Chris Daughtry
- Gotta Be Somebody by Nickelback

- The whole Camp Rock Soundtrack (the first movie of course, where we first met Demi Lovato. My gosh, I loved this movie back then, and now I need to watch it again!)

- Get Back by Demi Lovato (let's be honest, anything from her first album Don't Forget is awesome)

- Why Not, Metamorphosis and So Yesterday by Hilary Duff 

- Rainbow by South Border (perhaps, in my opinion, the best Filipino band there ever was. Uber bummed they disbanded though, they were pretty kickass)

- anything by The Beatles (no joke, they are amazing!)

And my two, hands down, favourites right now: 

Let Me Fall by Alexz Johnson and...

 Pick Up the Pieces, also by Alexz Johnson!

Haha! Do you recognize any of these songs - well, I'm sure you've heard most of them. What are your favourite tunes from the last 10 years or so?

Happy discovering!

Project Life

 Something I've really been into in the past is scrapbooking, and this year I wanted to really commit to it. I've made countless of ones from four-five years ago and only a few of them have really come out good, or completed! And because I've been on this "need to make my life better" kick for 2015, I've decided to sort-of document both the highlights and little things that make this year. What better way to do it than through Project Life?

Project Life is a simple scrapbooking system founded by Becky Higgins. I see it as a professional photo-album scrapbooking hybrid, cause you can purchase these albums (either 12x12 or 6x8) and the pages (with all sorts of layouts for your photos and creativity). It's also got all kinds of decorations you can purchase (either in store or online) like journaling cards, title cards, fillers and papers. 

I believe it's been around for about five years now, and the products are available in over 3,000 stores across the U.S., Canada and the U.K. (among other countries - you'll have to check out their website to see if their stuff is available in your country, and apart from the digital products, her shop doesn't ship outside of the States sadly). 

I'd heard of Project Life before, and never really looked into it until one faithful day in December when I walked into Michael's and spotted their gorgeous albums. One look at all the other items available, was all I need to know this had to happen. So here we are in 2015, and I'm so doing this. 

I'm pumped!

The scrapbooking albums were actually buy 1 get 1 free, so you know, I grabbed two of the 12x12 ones, a pack of pocket photo pages, a pack of mini paper and a mini kit. I didn't buy a buttload of the decorative pieces or additional scrapbooking stuff from Michael's mainly cause I've got some stickers and washi tapes lying around in my drawer. I'd previously had them for another scrapbooking project that well, never really took off. But now, things are getting serious!

I've dedicated one album to solely 2015 happenings, and the other one I'm planning to fill with photos and memorabilia from 2012-2014. Sort of a 'throwback scrapbook' if you will. 

I'd collected quite a lot of stuff over the past three years that I wanted to use for projects like this - admission tickets, brochures, airplane tickets, polaroids and so on - and they are finally going to have a home instead of the box I keep them all in. As for the bulk of my photos, well, I couldn't really be bothered to use up my own ink (because hello? Super pricey!) so I ended up going on the Shoppers Photo website. Essentially you upload all the photos you want printed, choose what size you want them, and poof! Shoppers prints them for you. Now, they do take about 7-10 days but they will drop them off at whichever Shoppers Drugmart location you prefer. The best part though? It only costs $0.19CAD per 4x6 photo. DAMN. To say I went a bit crazy on which photos I got printed would be in an understatement...

Sure, it's pretty pricey considering I spent over $70CAD on those bad boys, but man... so worth it. The quality is amazing and super sturdy, so you know your photos are going to be protected for hella long time. Investment? I think so!

Have you tried Project Life out yet? If yes, what'd you think? If not, well, you better. 

Happy discovering! 

2015 Goals

I know it's uber cliche to say this, but damn, I can't believe 2014 is almost over! I've done so much in the past year (especially in the last three months) that it kind of feels like I haven't been able to fully appreciate it. I've travelled and (finally) started this blog, I've met and interviewed so many wonderful people and discovered so much - both about my surroundings and myself. Sounds cheesy, I know, but there's a number of things I'm thankful for from 2014.

That being said, I'm prepared to ring in the new year! I don't normally make those drastic, life-changing resolutions, cause let's face it, less than half of us can actually keep them. So instead, I've got a few smaller, more realistic goals I'd like to accomplish in 2015, and fingers crossed, I can stay on track with them.

Here we go!

 1. sleep earlier - Like most university students, I'm no stranger to staying up until the I can see the sun begin to rise from my bedroom window and groaning at the thought of having to survive a day on no sleep. So that's going to change. I've decided to only let myself stay up no later than 11pm, and after that, it's lights out. I've also enlisted the help of the Sleep Better app on my iPhone - you place it next to your pillow and it tracks your sleeping pattern (e.g. when you're in a deep sleep and so on). I think a visual of my sleeping habits is totally useful in giving me a reality check.

Printed exercise/yoga pants from Old Navy, ombre tank top from La Senza, Mind over Matter muscle tee from Forever 21

 2. exercise daily - And I don't mean hardcore, full-on cardio and strength exercises at least three hours a day. I'm talking at least an hour of pilates, yoga and cardio a day to ease myself into such routines. With the schedule I'm running, this is a much more realistic way of fitting exercise into my days, and I'm super excited about it! Two weeks before flying out for the holidays, I started really getting into the beginner pilates videos from Blogilates and weight-loss yoga videos from Yoga with Adriene. As sore and wiped-out as I feel after doing a couple of their videos, I feel much better (and more flexible too!), so I'm definitely going to keep doing them (and more) this 2015.

 3. be more organized - Not that I don't have my life in order, but again, with the classes I'm taking and the assignments overlapping one another, managing my time better will definitely help me have less break downs and actually get stuff done in advance. So I've got my trusty Kate Spade planner (that stays on my desk, no matter what), this uber cute journal from The Paper Stone (a gift from les cousins in SG) and these mini notebooks to carry around in my bag for all sorts of purposes - writing quick notes on places and stories I should look into, contact details of my interviewees, and of course,  reminders and deadlines. I need to be able to find a more manageable balance between school, a social life and managing this blog, so this needs to happen.
And you know, this totally feeds my stationary obssession, so, cool beans!

 4. work (even) harder - Now it's no shocker that most of my time is spent chasing down stories and playing the waiting game with sources, but this year, I'm hoping to really kick it up a notch. This definitely overlaps with my goal to be more organized, and you I'm really hopeful it'll work. Be it writing my stories in advance (and giving myself more time to edit), being more persistent in talking to people or just making a decision in which field of journalism I want to be in, it's going to happen. And you know, I can't neglect my Psychology minor too, so this year's going to mean crunch-time for me to get all my stuff done and at the quality I want them to be at.

5. stress and worry less - Again, works well with my 'be more organized' goal, but I really need to give myself a break and not hyperventilate. I'm someone who can get anxious really easily, and boy, does that need to stop. My parents have to constantly reassure me that it's going to be fine from the other side of the world, and I think it'll do me some good to listen to that. Once I know I've done what I could (to the best of my abilities), I need to be able to let it go. I constantly worry about what others will think, what grades are going to be but damn, I need to relax more. Go with the flow after that and move on. Come on, who else is with me? Where my fellow worriers at? We can do this!

6. make time for reading - The only way I can truly relax and shut down from real life is through reading, and I really do need to make time for it. There's nothing wrong with winding down with a good book and some tea (provided that you're not neglecting important stuff like deadlines!!!) and being the bookworm that I am, I so miss that feeling. Granted, I was able to read quite a substantial amount during the Christmas break, but it wasn't as fun considering I had to cram like 10 books in a busy two-week schedule. So this 2015, dedicated R&R with a book is in order, and you can't stop me. Seriously, this is going down. And plus, it'll give me more material to work with for my TLP Reads book reviews, so you know, two birds with one stone, when I have the time. 

7. be more fearless and discover more - Last but certainly not least. I guess this one would have to be my most challenging and drastic one. But you know, day by day baby steps across the year will make this doable. Like I said, I'm someone who gets anxious quite easily, but that's not to say that I don't like getting out there and going on adventures. This year I want to push myself more to step out of my comfort zones on a frequent basis - be a bit more like Jim Carrey's character Carl Allen from Yes Man (if you haven't seen it yet, please do!) and say yes to more opportunities. But you know, not to the gross, icky stuff like you know what in the movie.

So, I'm hoping that you're having a wonderful and fun-filled New Year's Eve wherever you are, and I hope that 2014's treated you well as it has me. If not, well, let's face 2015 together with our chins up, determined and positive. Here's to more adventures (and *ahem* blog posts)!

Love,
Arianna

This is How We Do It: Christmas Edition

For me, Christmas is my all-time favourite time of the year cause I get to spend even more time with my family and friends I haven't seen in ages!!! There's nothing better than being surrounded by all your loved ones during such a joyous and fun-filled time. My family and I definitely seize every opportunity we can to catch up and joke around, sing and dance along to Christmas songs, take as many crazy family photos (there's no doubt we're all related - we've got so much evidence), and eat, eat eat!!! God, I love this season...

 And of course, the FOOD! Oh gosh, all the pre-Christmas dinners (noche buena is where it's at yo!), actual Christmas dinners, and leftovers for days? Mannn...  

Warning: Filipino food porn ahead. Yepp, this is how we do Christmas (and pre-Christmas dinners). 

I love Christmas... *drool*

 Buko pandan dessert... mhmm...

Pork Asado - perhaps one of my top 10 favourite Filipino dishes! The way they make it over at my dad's side just.. urgh... *drool*

 And more food! For any Filipinos out there, how many dishes can you recognize? 

So, however you choose to spend this season, I hope you're having a marvelous time! From my family to yours:

 HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 

*cue your favourite Christmas song*

Love, 

Arianna

What's In My Bag: Long Haul Trips

Here's a quickie post today cause guess who's homeward bound for the holidays!? Yepp, I've got a long haul trip back to the motherland today, and thought when better than to share what I pack in my handbag to survive over 15 hours on a plane? You read right - over 15 hours. Pure joy.

For reference, I live in Ottawa and have to head over to Toronto (which takes about an hour) to catch the Philippine Airlines plane back to Manila (14ish hours) - which stops over at Vancouver (Toronto - Vancouver = 5 hours) too to pick up the rest of the passengers. Yey. 

If you've noticed from my last travel 'What's In My Bag' post, I love using quite big handbags, cause well, I kind of pack quite a lot (I'm a serious overpacker, but I'm working on it - I promise!). And hey, this is a long haul trip, so I gotta have things to prevent me from dying of boredom. The bag I use is this floral carpet-bag-inspired shopper from Pull & Bear (a brand which I'm uber glad is finally available in the Philippines!) and my gosh, it's got to be the roomiest bag I've ever owned. It's structured but you can definitely fit a lot in there, and plus, it fits underneath the plane seats - while still giving my feet space. Love!

As for its contents, well, I've got:

- Reading material (this one is Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick and if you'd seen my Book Wishlist, this was on the top LOL!) I usually bring two books with me, and I'm debating between The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion and Strange and Ever After by Susan Dennard!

- Earphones and iPhone because who doesn't travel anywhere with their music library?

- Wallet and a smaller pouch (for coins, cause I like having them separate), of course

- My compact tangle teezer (which you can get at Sephora) because I swear, whenever I travel, my hair just... ugh.. it's a knotty mess!

- My skin-care/beauty travel essentials bag (which I'll show more of later on)

- A notebook for list-making, jotting down ideas or any funny anecdotes I hear while on the go 

- And of course, my passport and holder!

Not pictured are my camera (currently charging as I write this), a spare iPhone cable, a portable charger (for my phones, just in case) and a snack or two. I definitely also carry my laptop with me, but that usually gets transferred from my handbag to my hand-carry (you know, the one with wheels) when I can't be bothered to haul it around on my shoulders anymore. I also don't tend to use my laptop while on the plane that much, cause I usually like the inflight entertainment, and I've got my books to occupy my time. Also, I like to sleep during the flight - well, as much as I can in those stiff and cramped spaces anyway. 

Here's a look at my skin-care/emergency kit! Wayy bigger than that pouch from NaRaYa from my last post. I actually got this case from Philippine Airlines last year when for once in my life, I flew business-class (man, that was AH-MAZING!) and I've been using it for travel ever since. It's the classic travel case with three zipped sections (the top one being netted and see-through) and you can hang it (though I wish it was a hook instead of a ring). I don't wear any make-up at all when flying, so it's mainly skincare and miscellaneous little bits that are housed in my case.

Anywho, I tend to keep most of my travel skincare products in the top section - I've got a mini Proactiv moisturizer, Maybelline Baby Lips lip balm, eye drops, a sample of philosophy's Eye Hope eye cream, a Clarins mini skincare set (hand cream, facial wash/serum, and lip treatment), bobby pins and my anti-allergy pills. I also keep a mini rollerball of Kate Spade's Twirl (which I believe is no longer available at Sephora or Ulta, sorry!), for when I get off the plane and want to smell good when I (finally!) see the parentals! In the second section I throw in miscellaneous essentials such as a compact mirror, a headband (and a few spares), dental floss, emergency feminine products (duh!) and boscia facial blotting linens.

In the last section, I throw in a toothbrush and mini toothpaste, emergency medication (for headaches, colds, what have you), a few bandaids, another moisturizer/mask (I'm trying out The Body Shop's Vitamin E moisture cream and the corresponding mask) and a boscia spot treatment pen-thing (also trying this baby out, we'll see how they work). I don't normally use facial wash while I'm on planes, and tend to reach for the Ole Henriksen facial wipes - I'm not into the whole notion of depotting my current facial wash into little pots and using them in the tiny bathrooms. I used to be, then it was just too much of a hassle, especially when they tended to either spill out of the packaging or I couldn't get them out.

As you can probably tell, I'm not one to let my skin go while I'm on the go. I hate that drying feeling airplane environments can have on my face, and of course the stress of traveling for almost 24 hours definitely means my skin will go absolutely crazy. I can't handle that. Just. NO.

So there you go - a look into my long-haul travel handbag! Perhaps reading this has helped you prepare for any future long-haul trips! I know it seems a bit excessive, but it works for me. What do you usually take with you on plane rides?
Happy discovering!

Christmas Prepping!

 Woop woop!

With Christmas coming in less than a month, I've tried my best to jazz up my room and get into that holiday spirit! There's only so much a university student can do on residence, so here we go! 

First things first - Christmas lights. I had them up all year last year while on residence, but this year I held out just to make the season (and prepping for it) all the more special. I know, I know, it's such a girly, typical thing to do but what can I say? I love the ambience the lights create, and it's the perfect environment for reading and writing! Am I right? 

Whether if I'm going to be keeping them up after the holidays, I haven't decided yet. 

 The latest addition to my window sill - this little Christmas decoration which makes me smile every time! I've had this cute trio since last year when my mom came to visit and brought this from the Philippines. So adorable! 

 And my latest Christmas-themed purchase - this beautiful paper crane ornament from the Christmas market over at the Canadian Museum of History (formerly the Canadian Museum of Civilization). I'd actually headed over there for my TV reporting class to cover the event and when my friends and I spotted the stall selling these, we just had to buy something. Surprisingly this baby only costed $5 and I was so tempted to buy more! Sadly, I don't have a tree anywhere so it couldn't be justified. My ornament is actually hanging on a lamp on my desk, LOL. The owner, Anne-Claire Boudet, is so friendly, and she's actually got an Etsy shop, so if you want one, head on over there! The rest of her stuff is pretty amazing too so definitely check them out!

Just look at it. I mean, so, so pretty!!!

If you're place is big enough for you to have a tree, kudos to you! I can't wait to get back to the Philippines and see the tree my parents have set up at home! Especially when it's all lighted up at night? Man... I can't wait!

How have you been jazzing your place up for Christmas, and have you found any decorations you are absolutely loving this season?

Happy discovering!

Shop the Neighbourhood

 As if Black Friday and Cyber Monday aren't enough, Shop the Neighbourhood is coming over to Ottawa to serve as a buffer between the two and encourage people to shop - local this time round.

Just a quick round-up of what it is, Shop the Neighbourhood is an initiative started by Yellow Media Ltd. (a.k.a. Yellow Pages) to support local businesses in Canada. On the day of the event, participating local businesses have exclusive deals to encourage residents to drop by and discover what their neighbourhood has to offer! The program launched November last year in Toronto, and this year, they extended the program to Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Ottawa.
Update: Over 8000 businesses nationwide participated in the event! Woop woop! Let's shop local more often!

You can check out a little more about the initiative here - and a bit of shameless self-promotion here, I wrote about it for a local community paper that you can check out here! 

  That being said, I definitely checked it out and man, I never realized just how much of a deal they were going to make out of it! ByWard Market definitely went all out (granted, most of the stores there did participate in the event) and there were yellow balloons, banners, people walking around with yellow shopping bags and scarves pretty much everywhere I looked.

I definitely took advantage and popped into a few shops here and there, even ones I had never heard of before. And man, there are quite a lot of them. I love the concept of events like this, and I think these need to happen more often! Shopping local is a great way to not only support small-medium sized businesses but it also offers you a great chance to see what is readily available to you a few steps out from your home. Plus, it's an awesome opportunity for anyone to explore their neighbourhood more!

I'm all for seeing what else stores along Bank Street and ByWard Market have to offer!

Do you shop local often?

Happy discovering!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

A few weeks ago I was over at ByWard Market for Farmers Appreciation Week and they had a pumpkin carving demo with artist Mowafak Nema. And man, was I impressed! Sure, I'd seen intricate carvings on the web before, but to actually watch someone carve them out? In a span of two and a half hours, Nema managed to make these pieces all while giving out tips to the audience. Damn. If only I had such a skill.

And when better to post about it than on Halloween, eh?

Nema was merely glancing over at photos and going from there - I mean, skills! That's an artist right there.

How terrifying (and impressive) is that Chuckie pumpkin carving? So frickin' life-like that it's creeping me out just looking at it... Oh no, memories of watching those movies are coming back to me now...

Halloween only comes around once a year, so why not go all out with your pumpkin carvings?

Also spotted these little cuties around the place! Definitely less scary, more child-friendly than the Chuckie face pumpkin. If carvings aren't your things, well then perhaps painting them instead could work?

To celebrate, well, I've got a whole night lined up with these 'horror' movies, while doing a few assignments for class. HAHA! Oh, how I remember trick-or-treating as a little kid with all my friends, dressed as a funky witch. What on earth happened? And funny how I can tolerate watching American Horror Story by myself every week, yet when it comes to Halloween, I wimp out and settle for these cartoons... Anyone else?

So, what's everyone dressing up as? Or are you doing anything exciting tonight, like me?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sadly don't really have any Thanksgiving-type photos, but here are some pumpkins!

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians!!!

Two years in, and I'm in love with Thanksgiving. Sales are on, there's the long weekend and there's so, so much food! It's the perfect excuse to spend and take a cheat day from your diet! Let's spend this day with family, being thankful and of course, food - more importantly, turkey. 

I hope everyone has a fantastic one!

If you don't celebrate Thanksgiving (or are waiting for the November one), have a great Monday!

And as always,

Happy discovering!

Autumn's here!

 Happy autumn everyone!

I'm so super psyched that autumn (or fall, whatever you want to call it) is here! Granted, the weather has been rather hot during the last couple of days, but I know that in the next few days, I'm going to be donning scarves, chunky sweaters and beanies and that thrills me. Is it obvious that fall is my favourite time of the year? It's not too hot that I'm a sweaty mess, and it's not so cold that I'll drown in all the layers to keep myself warm, so autumn/fall to me is just perfect!

 As everyone knows, fall/autumn is sweater weather and I'm pumped to be wearing them again - I can't count the number of sweaters I own, which goes to show how crazy I can get during the season. Quirky printed sweaters, classic plain ones and casual sweaters for layering? I'm all over them. Here are a couple of ones that for sure I will be wearing in the next few days...

 And how could I forget boots? My boot collection does largely consist of black ankle boots - in fact, all my boots are black (I prefer to add colour to my outfits with my accessories or tops). I have yet to find a good pair of dark brown ones that are both comfy and affordable. 

 Now, another reason for why I love autumn? PUMPKIN SCENTED AND FLAVOURED ANYTHING!!! Pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks, pumpkin spice donut from Tim's, pumpkin pies in general? LOVE IT! And the moment I spotted these Pumpkin Latte and Marshmallow scented body products over at Bath & Body Works, I literally squealed and ran over to get my hands on them. No joke. Last year they came out with the Scarlet Pumpkin scent and I'm gutted I didn't stock up on that, so this year I'm prepared. They've also got a whole range of other pumpkin scented stuff (like the Pumpkin Pecan Waffles hand cream on the far right) so there's something for everybody. 

In terms of beauty? It's time to whip out all the dark coloured, vampy colours - purples, reds, browns and bordering on black lipsticks! Now, I haven't exactly mustered up the courage to rock the uber dark lip colours (think MAC's Cyber or Film Noir) but I'm getting there. For now, I'm excited to rock my dark reds and plums! Are you?

Oh, and another reason why I love this time of the year? All the TV shows are back on! I can't wait to get my Grey's Anatomy, The Big Bang Theory, Glee and Once Upon A Time fixes! Granted, I can only watch them when I have the time, but nevertheless it excites me knowing that I get to see more of my favourite characters! And oh, there's a new series premiering on Sep. 25 called How to Get Away with Murder with Viola Davis that I can't wait to see!

Are you excited for autumn/fall? I definitely can't wait to discover what else the season has to offer. 

Happy discovering!

Rediscovering My Love for Sketching

So here's another quickie post to fill the blogging void in my head. Lately my mom's been tapping into her artistic talent and she began sketching again, and well, it's infectious. While she's been doing portraits of a few of our family members, I decided to take things slowly and ease myself back into the sketching mode - I can't exactly recall the last time I ever sat down and actually drew a piece! Was it... over five years ago?

Since hair and hands have always fascinated and challenged me as an amateur artist, I thought, heck, why not draw hair to compliment my kikay-ness? And here are the results - I sketched these two pieces based off those I found on Pinterest (a.k.a. looking at my laptop screen and desperately attempting to replicate amazing pieces, repeat, etc.), and I have to say, I'm quite happy with how these turned out! I know, I'm so rusty it's embarrassing and I definitely have a long way to go, but hey, it's just a matter of practice and a lot of patience, right?

Have you been discovering any new talents, or rediscovering any old, rusty skills to brush up on these days?

Either way,

Happy discovering!

June Beauty (and non-beauty) Faves

Being a bit of a kikay (Filipino slang for girly, trendy), I couldn't help but have a post that featured a few of my beauty (and non-beauty) favourites that I have loved this month. 

Being in quite a hot and sticky environment, I thought for sure that I wouldn't be able to put on any make-up without it melting on my face the minute I stepped out into the heat. But alas, I've discovered the perfect combination of products that works for me, and might for you too. 

Just a little breather from all the travel posts I've put up on this blog - and heck, you can even look at this as some of my recommendations in terms of what to bring (and use) while on vacation?

I don't put make-up on everyday, but when I do feel up to it, I love to use my Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer in Sand as my base. It's lightweight and has quite a sheer coverage, which is perfect for all this heat. I'm also loving the Rimmel Stay Matte Face Powder to set my moisturizer. That's essentially my summer face make-up done - quick and easy. 

Also pictured above are the Urban Decay eyeshadow primer (for the times that I decide to actually put on eyeshadow), Covergirl Clump Crusher mascara (waterproof!), my Revlon ColorStay eyeliner and MAC lipliner in Staunchly Stylish. 

To change up any of my make-up looks (which really depends on my mood), I rotate between my MAC Enjoy It All (Playland Collection, Asia exclusive), MAC Goddess of the Sea (Alluring Aquatic Collection), MAC Naked Bud (Fantasy of Flowers collection) and Revlon Wild Watermelon lipsticks. These four are definitely my current summer picks - a bright purple, dark purple, nude and coral. 

I'm also loving my Bourjois cleansing wipes to remove my make-up in a jiffy, and Taylor Swift's Wonderstruck rollerball perfume. And of course, you can't go wrong with the Neutrogena Ultra Sheer sunscreen for those sightseeing days walking under the sun, and Cream Silk Damage Control hair treatment to keep your hair well moisturized while in the heat. 

My non-beauty favourites

My family's been pretty obsessed with the Four in a Row game after my dad downloaded the game on his Android a few days ago. As the title suggests, the objective is to get four of your circles in a row. Pretty old school game, but I'm still loving it. I swear, I could spend hours playing this on my Ipad and not get bored.

It would be so wrong for me to make this post without including my new favourite TV show, The Master's Sun. It's a Korean TV series that I began watching on GMA late last month, and I am completely hooked. It's like a rom-com version of Ghost Whisperer, with the lead character having the ability to see ghosts and help them with their unfinished business. And I will warn you now, a few of the ghosts have creeped me out immensely. But it's got that Korean comedy flair and kilig factor that always keeps you wanting more. And major heartthrobs So Ji-Sub (who plays President Johann Joo/Joo Joong-Won) and Seo In-guk (Jul/Kang Woo) are total bonuses - heck if I was the lead, I'd have the hardest time picking between their characters. My mom and I haven't missed a single episode since stumbling upon this show (thank you YouTube!). I've never been this into a K-drama before, so that's saying something.

It is no secret that I have a GIANT sweet tooth, and last week my mom and I baked these yummy peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips in the centre. I'm a huge fan of anything with peanut butter so this was definitely right up my alley - as well as my dad's! They came out way smaller than I had expected (I'm a noob when it comes to baking cookies) which was bad as it made it much easier to scarf down these tasty babies. Lesson learned. 

What were your favourite discoveries in June?

Happy discovering!