Navy N Horizontal Technicolors

Note: I finally succumb to the temptation and open an Instagram account! I know, I know, I'm so late, but better late than never, rite. Haha! The thing is, I usually don't have good internet or wifi connection, so uploading pictures on Instagram takes waaaayyyyy too long! But wifi is a little bit better now! If you'd like to know what's going on in my daily life, please find stylenseason on Instagram. ^__^

I'm having a writer's block, so I have no idea what I'm going to say in this post. Therefore, I hope you'll enjoy the pictures here of my maternity ensemble, worn when I was in my 18th week. When I was pregnant, my body inched slowly. I ate, but I didn't have uncontrollable appetite. Strangely, I'm ravenous all the time now, that I don't breastfeed anymore. I look chubbier now than when I was pregnant. Oh well...

Last Flower Standing: 2014 Resolution!

I don’t, well, didn’t believe in New Year’s resolution. I used to think that starting a good habit, or anything good really, doesn’t need to wait for January 1. Well, I still do, actually. However, many things happened in the past couple of weeks which forced me to do a lot of thinking of rethinking in my ways and habits, and I decided to improve myself.  Also, Hubby does believes in NYR, so it’s just convenient to start over, sort of pushing a reset button, for 2014 with him.

Some time ago, I made a list of winter resolution, whichyou can read here. Now, some I have kept successfully, some I have not. Here’s the summary:

Eating more fiber, daily

I’m happy to report that I succeeded! Well, relatively speaking anyway. What I did is the lazy way. I prepared vegetable and fruit smoothies every night before bed time, and drink it first thing in the morning when my stomach is still empty. I make smoothies for my husband as well. Before starting this healthy habit, I usually catch a cold like four times a year. My husband usually has a problem with his throat about every other month. Now, the number of sick days have gone down to almost non existent.

Arriving at work a little bit earlier, everyday

Happily, this one works, too! I set my alarm one hour earlier everyday. It took me a while, but after about a month I got used to it. I guess my boss is happy with this one, too! Lol.

Keeping up with my daily dose of Bible reading

Failed. Since I had my baby, I very rarely open the Bible. That’s why I include it here again in my 2014 Resolution.

Anyhow, here’s my 2014 resolution and most importantly HOW I plan to stick to them.

Going to Church regularly

Hubby used to attend mass weekly before he married me. I didn’t go to Church unless I felt like I wanted to, which was very rare. Hubby tried to invite me to get into the habit of going to Church regularly, but I was too lazy. Sadly, finally Hubby succumb to my bad habit of skipping mass, since he didn’t like to go to mass without his wife.

Last year in September, we had our son baptized. Then my husband said: “Honey, since our son has been baptized now, don’t you think we should be a good example of living a good, proper Catholic life and attend mass every Sunday?” Hmmm… Yeah, what can I say? I know it’s the right thing to do and that’s my Father in Heaven speaking through Hubby, inviting His prodigal daughter back to His home.

So, I’m happy to say that I’ve been attending Church quite regularly eversince. We thithed regularly, too. It has become such a part of our life now, that the laziness has decreased by 90%. It’s still there, but with much less power of seduction, if you know what I mean. Even this morning, it was cold and rainy, and we still went for mass.

As soon as my son can walk on his own, we will bring him to Church on regular basis, as well.

Reading the Bible every day

Sadly, as my attendance to mass skyrocketed from almost non existent to 99%, vice versa for my Bible reading! I skipped Bible reading almost completely since I had my son. I started to read the Bible regularly since I learned a method called lectio divina, which is goes like this: before you open the Bible, you pray to God to brighten you heart, mind and soul, so that His words will make sense to you, and plant  a seed of faith in your heart. Trust me, it works.

So, I’m determined to get back to the habit of reading a little bit of verse everynight. Perhaps even writing my favorite verses in my journal, so I can reread it throughout the day. 

What I did was, I got gadget freakiness and installed NAB Apps to my iphone. Therefore, I have the New American Bible practically at my fingertips at all times I’m carrying my phone, which is a lot of hours during the day. It works. So far, so good.

Getting back to exercising

My husband goes to the gym regularly. I used to go to the gym regularly, twice a week, many years ago, for yoga or dancing classes. I took a break for about a month, and all hells break lose. I stopped going to the gym completely.

Now I want to start again. I plan to look for gym membership close to home, so I would be more motivated to stick to my resolution. Twice a week is what I’m aiming.

So, that’s my meager list of 2014 Resolution. I will keep you posted on how I make progress. Or how I don’t make any progress. Haha! What’s YOUR 2014 Resolution? Share with me, please!

"Beloved, I urge you as aliens and sojourners to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against the soul. 

Maintain good conduct among the Gentiles, so that if they speak of you as evildoers, they may observe your good works and glorify God on the day of visitation." 

(1 Peter 2:11-12)

This is how I worn this skirt with a scarf worn as a belt. (Read the post here.)

Actually, these are old pictures from my pregnancy days. I was 17 weeks pregnant in these pictures, hence the red flats.

Monochromatic With A Twist

Today I aim for monochromatic look in red hues. Yes, pink is a lighter shade of red! My wardrobe doesn't include pink or red blazer though, so I have to make do with black instead. If you notice, here I'm mixing patterns of diagonal stripes on my skirt, and checked on my bag. This kinds of detail make me happy, even if I'm the only one who notice its subtle beauty!

The weather has been all cloudy and rainy lately. The sky is grey and overcast. Hence I opt to dress up in cheerful, bright colors to give me a little lift. Red is a happy color. Pink is a feminine, pretty color. By throwing black on top of the red and pink combination, this ensemble look feminine, yet bold.

I really love this bag. I like bags that are big and have a structured form to them. I don't really like floppy bags, though I have some of them in my purse collection. I love bags more than shoes because bags will never hurt my feet!

A New Year: One Downtown Sunday

Happy New Year, everyone! This post was actually written a loooong time ago, just at the very beginning of my pregnancy. Somehow I decided not to post it, until now. ^__^

“ ‘Girls, I’m sorry, but I won’t have time for you anymore. I’m married now.’ LeeAnne, if you ever, ever even imply that to us your friends, I’m going to kill you!”

That’s what a friend said to me when she found out I was engaged.

Have you ever felt like your married friends imply those sentences to you? I have. Not only from married friends, but also from girlfriends who just got into a new relationship.  An older unmarried girlfriend in her 40s also told me the same thing. An unmarried auntie in her 50s said that she got her “girls” back only many many years later, when all their children are grown up and their houses become empty. Not all married women are like that, of course. But I have some who are.

Having been recently married, now I’m in the position to understand that even now, when the children have not yet arrived, a husband occupies a lot of my time. He needs care, he needs attention, he needs ears to listen, he wants me to be constantly by his side.  But, I believe that a healthy marriage doesn’t equal being cooped up. It involves a lot than just me and him: parents, extended family, friends, community, and of course God. Each of them has a place in my priority list.

“I’m too busy for you” basically just means “You’re not in my priority list.”

Being married, my husband is on a higher position of my list of priority, compared to my friends. Of course, and I hope I am too, in his. BUT, my friends ARE on my priority list. Therefore, I make time for them. Because what is more precious gift I could give to my friends than time? Time, afterall, is what makes life.

Today I’m meeting a friend, Dian, for lunch. Dian is a yoga lover, so we arranged to meet for lunch at her favorite restaurant near her gym, at Oakwood, downtown Mega Kuningan. My husband kindly gave me a ride, then he waited at Loewy, reading book and had a cup of coffee.  We planned to attend mass at a nearby Church afterwards. He has had a huge brunch at home, thus he could just skip lunch altogether. I’m  very thankful for that, because Dian and I would have had less fun having our little girltalk and chit chat if the husband were present! Thank you, Hubby!

I really like this rather edgy, electric blue sequinned purse. It's not my usual feminine style, but I love to cross the border once in a while.

This is what Mega Kuningan looks like on the weekends. During weekdays, it's a traffic jam nightmare, but when it's empty like this, the area is actually quite nice and tranquil.

Dian is a yoga lover, healthy eating freak, jewelry maker, and researcher. I've done some part-time research work for her before. And she helped me to fix to this bracelet I got online. It was broken when the package arrived, and Dian came to the rescue. I'm so glad since the necklace is so cute with the flower, sea shell and stuffs.

 

We met at Penang Bistro restaurant, Dian's favorite restaurant at Oakwood.

I had 'ayam goreng blacan' or spicy friend chicken.

And today I'm just wearing these red flats instead of heels since, well, since I just found out that I was pregnant, of course!

Overall, it was a nice, lovely Sunday.

Through (Blue) Rose Tinted Glasses

Note: I finally succumb to the temptation and open an Instagram account! I know, I know, I'm so late, but better late than never, rite. Haha! The thing is, I usually don't have good internet or wifi connection, so uploading pictures on Instagram takes waaaayyyyy too long! But wifi is a little bit better now! If you'd like to know what's going on in my daily life, please find stylenseason on Instagram. ^__^

What do you think when you see these pictures?

An outing at the mall of Mommy and Baby...

A happy family of three...

Yes, it was a supposedly happy family outing at a nearby mall. We didn't take Baby Michael out that much because we prefer to wait until he got all his basic shots completed before taking him everywhere with us. Some people might think that's rather extreme, but that's what my Mom did with me when I was a baby, and Baby Michael had not had any sickness until about his ninth month. 

But anyway, what I was going to say is, right before we were out of the door, my husband and I had a big fight. 

Can you tell from the pictures? I don't think so. I posted these pictures in my social medias, and my friends made positive comments about our little happy family. All smiles and so.

Well, we did smile again when the picture was taken, but the five minutes drive to the mall was silent and awkward. My husband didn't say anything and I stubbornly gave him the silent treatment in return.

The funny thing is: I do not remember now what the fighting was all about, nor do I remember how we kissed and made up. 

What once felt like such a big a deal, turned out to be not that a big a deal after all.

Lesson learned? It was not our first fight. It's not going to be the last. But after a while, it didn't matter anymore. We kissed and made up. We forgave and forgot. We didn't discuss the fight. We just moved on. Afterall, if we had to discuss every single argument we'll ever have, we would spend all time in our marriage to do just that. When we can spend our marriage life to... well, to live. Like playing with our son. Flirting and cuddling with each other. Having dinner together. Telling jokes. Trying out new restaurants. You know, all those domestic bliss that doesn't look too glamorous, but leave you feel warm and snazzy and comfy inside. Waaaaay much better than discussing our arguments and disagreement all the time. After a while, we agreed to disagree, and moved on. And having a lot of fun and love and happiness along the way.

We CHOOSE to see our life in rose tinted glasses. It's not being delusional. It's called growing up and making decision to live and see life in positive note, instead of in negative one.

What we remember now, is that was a swell Sunday family outing. My son will not remember what clothes he was wearing, what he was eating, what we were doing, but he will remember that he had a wonderful childhood with a mother and a father who love him and love each other.

Always pick your battles wisely. Sometimes, it's not worth a battle at all.

Every single item I wore in these pictures are the black sheeps. Well? What does it mean?

The blue striped tee is something my Mom bought during one of her annual trip to the US, and she ended up not liking it. So she gave it to me. The skirt has been in my closet for about three years, unworn. It was sewn together out of several different older clothes, and I didn't have a clue what I was going to wear it with. 

The necklace. When I was going to buy it online, I didn't know how I was going to wear something so colorful and such a statement piece. Well, I'm sure if you're a regular reader you have seen this necklace in display many, many times. 

Same thing with this bag. None of my friends supported my decision to acquire this blue purse. 

Turned out that I like every single one of them! No regret in having them afterall!

Helloooo December! Hello Kitty!

Note: I finally succumb to the temptation and open an Instagram account! I know, I know, I'm so late, but better late than never, rite. Haha! The thing is, I usually don't have good internet or wifi connection, so uploading pictures on Instagram takes waaaayyyyy too long! But wifi is a little bit better now! If you'd like to know what's going on in my daily life, please find @stylenseason on Instagram. ^__^

Happy December! Can't you believe that it's almost Christmas?

A while back, I read a post by one of my very young favorite fashion blogger named Vern, who wrote how fashion bloggers are often seen as just a hobby and not as serious profession as doctors, accountants, or lawyers. Many people were amazed, she said, when she told them she wants to be an ambassador one day. To many people, she's just a college girl who loves to dress up, and therefore, doesn't need to be taken seriously. This is a young blogger who has numerous national advertising campaigns in her native country Philippines, with lots of press coverage, part time stylist jobs, has started her own clothing line, and often receive many perks and benefits and freebies from many companies for being a very popular blogger. If she were in medical or law blogging instead of fashion, it might have been different.

Now, I won't call myself a fashion blogger or a fashionista. And to me, blogging IS a hobby and a way to channel my thoughts, since I'm better to express myself in writing than in verbal form. It makes me some pocket money to buy some cheap stuff on Ebay from time to time, yes, but not even enough to buy me lunch, and by no way I can be classified as a professional or even very serious blogger. But I do love fashion.

I love accessories and reading (not wearing) about beauty products. I love collecting pink lipsticks, lipgloss and colorful eyeshadow pallettes. I have a closetful of purses. I love anything pretty. I love anything pink and girlie and cute. I am basically an ordinary girl with an extraordinaty love for all things ultra feminine. But, I don't take it all too seriously. I know that fashion itself is a SERIOUS business worth billions of dollars, but since I'm not in the industry, let's just say that I can enjoy it without thinking about it too much. To me, fashion is just one of the many fun things I'm grateful for in life.

Still, does my fashion - or my love of fashion and beauty - make people take me less seriously, like Vern? Yes and no. Especially in the corporate world, where I spend about eight straight hours a day, five days a week. I just want to stress here, that in this imperfect world, we do tend to pass judgement and make opinions and stereotypes about other people. It's just human nature, very normal and perfectly acceptable, as long as we keep it in proportion. What's your opinion about it, Friends?

Now, having said all those, let's change the subject before I got you all bored. Today I'd like to share with you the Hello Kitty haul that I just bought! Yayyy!!!

Before that, let me share with you some "grown up" Hello Kitty purses I found online that I'm practically drooling over!

Tosca Hello Kitty Loungefly Tote (buy)

Polkadots Black & White Hello Kitty Loungefly Tote (buy)

Hello Kitty Grey & Purple Quilted Bag (buy)

I love Hello Kitty, but I always very careful not to overdo it or wear anything too childish. Fortunately, nowadays, there are many cute Hello Kitty goods manufactured for grown up women as continuation of their love  to this cute Sanrio character since childhood. I lost my shopping appetite since I got pregnant, but somehow sometime during my third month of pregnancy, after having dinner alone at a nearby mall, I got bored and decided to wander around. Well, fate stepped in and I found myself walking inside a store called Missy 7, where I stumbled upon these lovely, pretty, super cute Hello Kitty bags. I'm so excited to share these finds with you Friends!

No, no, no, this is not the bag that I bought, this is just the shopping bag from the store. I didn't throw it out since it's just so cute! I can always reuse it as a gift bag.

This is the first purse that I got. It's huge and I can put many things inside. The color is... oh well, I don't know how to call it. Deep, rich rose? Burgundy? Golden pink? It's a perfect color, size and style for me, since it's not the traditional baby pink Hello Kitty color, not too colorful, not flashy, the Hello Kitty design is subtle, and therefore the bag looks proper and mature enough to carry everyday for work. The material is thick and of good quality and covered with glittery mesh fabric. I don't think you can see the glitters in the picture, though.

The Hello Kitty design is a gold hard-plated design with rhinestones on the little heart-shaped "puffy pillow" chain thing on the bag handle. It's subtle and looks cute and girlie, but still classy and grown up.

I love feminine detail, and I absolutely thrilled to see that the manufacturer put as much thought on the inside of the bag as well as on the outside. The lining is made of baby pink satin fabric with cute Hello Kitty bow patterns scattered around. So adorable!

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I'm glad that the Hello Kitty embroidery at the outside of the bag is in black, with deep ruby red heart rhinestones, so the color doesn't look ostentatious. It comes with a tiny purse inside, which I will use separately either as a makeup bag or a cell phone carrier.

See the tissue paper that comes with the bag? It has pink Hello Kitty patterns, too! I love!

It has such a pretty baby pink satin lining, too, with Hello Kitty bows and faces all around.

This is my other acquisition. A baby pink, glittery, Hello Kitty satchel box-shaped bag. It's huge for a satchel, with a lot of room to carry my "mini market". If not I wouldn't have purchased it! One thing that I don't like about this bag: the long, crossbody strap is made of baby pink plastic/vynil material which look cheap and tacky, so I wouldn't use it and just carry the bag by the handle like a clutch.
Of course, this one I can not use for work. It's just too bubble-gummy and cute-sy for office environment. But I can carry it to the mall with casual jeans or even with a little black dress for a dinner date with my husband! He approves on my love for all things feminine, since he likes feminine women himself, and he knows that beautiful things make me happy! ^_^

I just love love love this gold rimmed, hardplated Hello Kitty head with red apple and rhinestones!

And of course, with similar cute lining! I'm obsessed with this baby satin lining! It's a very nice detail, though people won't be able to see it. I absolutely love!

And now I want a pink Hello Kitty wallet, like this..

Hello Kitty Loungefly Pink Wallet (buy)

So, would you say that fashion and beauty is as serious profession as medical or law? Personally for me, it depends. If I were sick, I'd see that a doctor is a much more serious profession than fashion stylist and lawyer. If I were suing someone, I'd say that lawyer is. If I were planning a big event and needs fashion advice, of course I'd say that fashion stylist is! Haha! And what if I were hungry? A chef, of course, is the most serious profession! And I would of course, say, that being a wife, and a mother, are the two most serious professions that I would ever consider for myself, ever! ^____^

What do you say, Friends?