GREY BOOTS

lately I've been so into GRAY, gray boots, gray jacket, gray tank top, gray beanie, gray scarf... I just love it right now.... I dunno if it's coz I've been hearing the "GRAY is the new BLACK" campaign recently or what... but for some odd odd reason, I've been feelin team grey...

& oh speaking of gray, just an FYI & a little update on the gray suede boots I ordered from AMI, they did not deliver on that one.... well, literally! I was pretty disappointed coz I've been calling, but none of the numbers they've provided are working... I didn't even get no email, no nothing from them to let me know what was goin on... if it wasn't for online banking, then I would've been waiting for those damn boots forever... if I didn't check my bank then I wouldn't know that they just refunded me the money & that was it....

luckily the boots I've been eyeing on for weeks now went on sale... & in my frustration with AMI, I decided to get them today even though it was double the price of what I should've spent at AMI... as you all know, I'm a cheapie!! I don't really care much for brand names, just as long as they're nice & has pretty good quality, then I'm down for that...

so I got these grey suede boots at Kohl's for $49.99 + tax... it was originally at $79.99 + tax but finally went on sale..
so wacha think? 'ju like??

CCO HAUL

the family are back from the P.I., so we had to pick them up from LAX (actually yesterday, Thursday 4/16) & as promised by the baby daddy, we stopped by the Camarillo outlets... well mainly for the kids... as I've mentioned in my previous posts, Devean is to start kinder come end of summer & that boy is getting taller everyday so we have to get him some new clothes... went to the Children's Place & Vans & did some serious damage on their clothes & shoes, which is totally ok, better than the money going to mommy's cosmetic addiction... well, I still let some go to that addiction coz.....

I stopped by the Cosmetics Company Store... why the heck not?! I told Davi, I would just look around coz last time I didn't buy anything, so I was pretty sure I wasn't gonna find anything again...

or so I thought........
did a little bit of damage... not too too much... I really had to control myself coz otherwise I would've gotten more stuff... I don't know why I didn't find anything the first time I went there... maybe it was coz the sales associate already ruined it for me, or maybe they had to restock at that time... well, this time I found some brushes, eyeshadows, blushes... things that I didn't see or maybe notice the last time...

eyeshadows in Star by Night and Mink & Sable

(from the MAC STARFLASH fall 08 collection)
CCO price = $10.25

MAC price = $14.50

& the swatches... excuse the hairy hand(LOL!) & the bad lighting...

Mineralize Skinfinish (MSF) in Medium/Natural & Shimmer

& Paint Pot in Painterly

CCO price = $18.75 + $11.75

MAC price = $25.00 + $16.50

& a couple of blushes

in Secret Blush and Feeling

CCO price = $12.25

MAC price = $18.00

no folks! baby daddy does not beat me up.. those are not bruises... LOL!! just swatches of the blushes

(from L to R) Secret Blush, Feeling

lip gloss in Babied

CCO price = $11.75

MAC price = $14.00 - $18.00

TLC (tinted lip conditioner) in Strobe Rays

CCO price = $11.75

MAC price = $13.50

I saved over $30 from the CCO versus the MAC stores.. woot!!

I think I'm done for the whole year or maybe until I find a job that will support this crazy addiction... =)

ADOBO

menu for dinner: PORK ADOBO & STRAWBERRY MILK SHAKE

I am being forced to be domesticated since my mom & the rest of the family left for the P.I. I've been super obliged to cook, clean up, do the blah blah blah house chores that my wonderful mom has been taking charge of since we were born... OMG! while it's super hard & exhausting, it's also very enjoying knowing that at the end of the day you did good... it's an accomplishment really! no wonder my mom never gets tired of doin everything for us....

so, I cooked adobo tonight for dinner... I tried making Tita Luvy's(my friend Michelle's mom) adobo, but it was nowhere near her version... her's was bomb!! but mine was ok being that it was my first time trying it... Davi liked it, he said it was good... I thought the sour taste of the vinegar was too strong... but D said if you balance the amount of the ulam with the amount of rice, it's good... ok! if he say so... I also made a strawberry milk shake that ate Jen always makes... I really don't have their(Tita Luvy's & ate Jen) exact recipes but thanks to the very informative world wide web, I managed... it was so funny what Devean said when I had him taste the shake, "wow Mommy, you finally made it good!"... LOL... that boy is so hilarious!! like I've made it before!?! well, anyhow that's the kind of reward I like getting when I worked my butt off on something I'm a novice at...

anyways so, I'm finally catchin up on blogging again... it's been really busy lately... with my family getting ready to go back to the P.I. & me getting sick & everything... but hopefully, I can maintain a regular posting here from now on...

we dropped off Tatay, Nanay, Kuya, ate Jen & Aidann to LAX last Tuesday... we left around 8 in the morning then got there by 11 AM... we got there hella quick, it took us like 2 & a half hours only... eventhough I slept thru the whole drive I figured there was not much traffic unless my brother & Davi were just haulin ass... we had to rent a pickup truck coz we weren't going to fit in one ride... so my brother drove the rental & Davi drove our denali... we just left the rental there in LAX... we were ready to go home round 12:30 coz they didn't really have time to chill even for a bit before they had to go in... I was excited coz I thought we can go to the Camarillo outlets, stop by the Cosmetics Company Store & have a lot of time to browse thru their products... but to my disappointment, they have very little selection for MAC... I dunno for the other stuff but I only checked out the MAC & the Bobbi Brown brands (they also have Clinique, Estee Lauder & etc.)... they don't have any MAC brushes, no eyeshadows, not that many lipstick & lip glosses to choose from... & to add to my disappointment, the sales associates were not that helpful, they weren't rude or anything but they were not accommodating at all... I've read a lot of forums about the CCO's & a lot of people have talked about their bad experiences with the CCO staff, but I never thought it would be in all of the CCO stores!!?! I never thought everyone would have the same impression... I guess it's true! how sad is that?! CCOs can't hire nice people??

I was disappointed but a bit relieved, I didn't spend any money... whew!!! but I'm not givin up on the CCOs... I still have a chance at the Gilroy outlets... there's also 1 in Napa & in Vacaville... but that might be too far & might not be worth the drive if they won't have that many items... & if the staff are gonna be snotty in Gilroy when I go, then forget the CCOs altogether... I'd rather get the regular priced MAC stuff than deal with all the b.s. ... anyway, I found out that MAC cosmetics.com does not charge s&h if you purchase $60 or more... so I might just get my stuff there...

I was gonna ask D to take me to the MAC pro store in Santa Barbara again but I thought I'd be considerate enough knowing that all of us were tired especially him who drove both ways.. so like I said in my previous post, it's not the end of the world if I don't get the MAC stuff on my wishlist... there's still next time...

ACNE VULGARIS

I just popped the biggest zit I've ever seen in my entire life & ohmyfriggin G, a big ol white thingie... ok I'm not gonna try to be all girly here... rewind!!! a big ol pus came out!! yeah, whatever! you can say 'eeeewwww' all you want, like you haven't done that atleast once in your life... i'm pretty positive, we've all done this, mostly in private.. the only difference is I decided to share my acne-squeezing-pus experience to all the blog readers that will come across this page... I'm breaking out so bad!! I've been tryina figure out how or when it started... the only thing I can remember was that I was already starting to have a few when my cousin Maita from the P.I. ----> (pic - on the right is Maita... ain't she pretty?!) was here for a visit in June of last year... I think I just had the Papillomavirus vaccine / Gardasil shot (da wat?) around that time & the hormones in it could've triggered it... could it be that? could it be the tea that I've been drinking? could it be stress? could it be chocolate overdose? I dunno, I can't quite put my finger on it... it could be all that or it could be that I was just being lazy...

I used to really be good with skin care in the past... maybe this was because I had gone to a dermatologist, had a good facial & got some good products to use... I was committed to a good daily regimen for a while after that derma visit (which was a while back when I have only Devean... I know, another session has long been overdue... DermaSpa MD staff had called & said they've missed me... =)... ok, they didn't! but I am sooooo desperately needing to lay on one of their beds again & get a facial & shoulder massages... ooohhhh... heaven!!!)... I used to wash & tone my face twice a day, spot treat every night & exfoliate at least 2-3 times a week... I was dedicated... but I guess I lost it when I ran out of products & since my face was clear at that time, I was pretty confident I didn't need to do the whole skin care thing anymore... so I just didn't re buy another acne treatment kit... I adopted the lazy approach to skin care, which is that I wash my face whenever I feel like it... but I was wrong!! then I started to really like makeup... & you know how it is, you wouldn't learn everything about anything overnight, it's a process... I kept buying brushes, using them & not knowing that I have to wash them on a regular basis... I didn't start washing my brushes until after a while, I know it was common sense but I got too excited to experiment & learn new stuff that I didn't worry about anything else... so imagine all the bacteria that my brushes accumulated over time, I was applying makeup AND bacteria on my face!!!!! mega exclamation points!!! yikes! so it could be that too... but now that I know better to wash or at least spot clean my brushes often, I wonder why I still break out!!?!?

in my desperation to find the culprit to my acne problem, I tried a lot of things... I stopped drinking tea, I had cut back on my chocolate intake, I didn't get stressed out (yes! I can control that..... i wish!).. tried all kinds of products less expensive than Glytone too... but nothin worked... I can't blame it on the Gardasil shot anymore as my 3rd & last one was back in October... what I haven't tried is not to be lazy & be consistent... so I guess this is a challenge, from now on I'm gonna try & get back to a regular skin care routine (twice-daily, exfoliate, spot treat - the whole shabang!).. this will be an experiment for a whole week, then I will post the end result next week or in a couple of weeks...

also another sign that I should start taking good care of my skin is that I

found my exfoliating mask - my Sothys Peeling-Creme/Gommage exfoliant... I've never seen/used this in a loooong time, maybe coz I wasn't really looking for it... but lemme tell you, this stuff is amazing!! after removing your makeup, you put a thin layer on your well-dried off face, then leave it on for about a minute (like mask), when it's almost dry, rub it off in circular motion... you can tell that the product peeled dead skin cells off your face as it becomes really soft & smooth... I got this with the Glytone kit from the derma place & even though it's a little bit old, I'm still gonna use it, coz I bought this shit for about 30 freakin bucks!! I'm only probably halfway of the tube & it doesn't have an expiration date so I think it'll be safe to still use it...

I really don't understand the whole deal with acne, I think they have their own mind... they decide when they wanna pop out, when they wanna leave, who they want to infest... (they must be really liking me right now, coz it's really bad!) ... sometimes if they really like you, they torture you by poppin out at the right time, yes they have very good timing!! they pop out at special occasions on the perfect spot - a big ol zit on your forehead (right in the middle to spite you more) when you have a wedding to go to; on your cheek (with pus) when you have to go clubbin with friends; on your nose (hella big & red) when you have to go to a party & see a lot of people you haven't seen in a while; on your chin ('twin zits' - small but there's another one right next to the other so it still looks big) on your friggin birthday!! these are not personal experiences but only to prove that acne/zits/break outs/pimples/tigyawat/tagihawat are our biggest enemy....

to go totally OT here, on my KINDERGARTERRRR post on 2/18, I mentioned that I bought a jumbo 3 barrel waver... well, I was tryin it out the other day & realized that it's hard to do it on short hair & boy was it very time consuming!! or at least it was on my first try... you gotta cut me some slack coz this is my first time using this tool ok?! also I didn't know I ran out of hair spray so I just used a curl definer spray, I know hair spray gives a different effect... oh & yeah, I didn't know what to do with the bangs... freakin amateur! so be very considerate with the criticism please! I probably won't do it again until my hair is long enough... here is what it looked like.....

A DECADE LATER

We just got done with our P90X day 2 workout.. it was PLYOMETRICS today... I know right?!? What the hey is plyometrics?? Don't make me explain right now, I have every reason to believe that doin extreme workout can drain you out, everything in your body including your brain... hehe... (what an excuse!!) Kuya thinks it will be P180X for him.. hell! it might be a year for me - P1yearX!!! haha... that would be really sad! I have a good support system though, my workout buddies(Kuya & Beb-who by the way thinks I'm getting addicted to this blog thing) are serious! so I guess that's good... they'll keep me goin... Need to buy some stuff though - weighing scale, some free weights/dumbbells/band, pull up bar, uhmmmm sports bra..(ok! so you don't need to know that)

I found hella food in the kitchen when I woke up this afternoon('round 1)... there was Sopas, Asado & my fave - Pork & Liver(hmmmm)... So I ask? "what's the okeyshun Nay??".. she said, "10 years na!".. I had to think, 10 year? of what? & then it finally came to me... "aaaahhhh 10 years na sa Amerika!"... wow! it's been that long?? I guess time really flies whether you're havin fun or not... My baby-my VW Jetta, on the other hand, will be 7 years old.. I could not remember the date when I bought it in 2002, I just know it was in February... I know! I'm a bad Mom, can't remember my first born's birthday... anyway, pictures to follow... this reminds me, I have to take it to the lot for service bago magtampo ang baby ko...

Speaking of cars, I called GMAC earlier, (they finance our auto loan) & I know that their customer service call center is located in the P.I., I've called them several times & the reps that I get are all Filipinas, you'll just know, it's not only by the accent but how they use their words - always proper & they're always polite.. but not this girl that I spoke with today... boy was she rude!! she gave me hella attitude!! I don't know! but this is the kind of work I used to do.. It wasn't straight up customer service, it was Accounts Receivable but we get all kinds of calls from dental offices paying their bills or if they need assistance managing their accounts... I did not get proper training but you should know how to be professional especially when the customer is getting irate... I wasn't even close to being upset, I was just asking for her to explain where a late fee is coming from... She got all crazy with me!! Man! this girl was saying "Gahhhhhhd!!" with so much attitude! girls, you should know what I'm talkin about, we use this expression all the time especially when we're irritated... I was glad she didn't say "Gaaash!" I would've been livid... i think 'Gosh' is worse.... I was like "gurl!!" haha... I took her name & ID#... I'm gonna call back tomorrow, i'm giving her name to a manager... Hah!! nahh.. I'm not that mean..

Here are a couple of pics from Aidann's birthday party last Saturday 02/07/09...

Aidann's 1st birthday.. We're all Mickey Moused out!

A DECADE, Davi, Ate Jenn & 3 kids LATER (plus Ate Kaytlee)