Grab the dress and run

So, my prenup dress adventures in Divisoria continues.

If I learned anything from the dresses I got made from the place is that, look for another place, go buy rtw and grab the dress and run for your life.

If you have seen the past post regarding the topic, you would know how bad it is. So, I am not even going to post more hideous pictures. ( I already shamed myself enough.) I am also short of seven thousand pesos. -the cost of the two failed gowns. 

I feel like a child lost in the wilderness. photo from favim.com

Out of the three dresses I got made at Divisoria, only two are technically wearable. And that my friend is a generous statement.

Realistically only one is ok to wear. 

The first was the red one. Maximum fail. Second is a lilac off shoulder that features a bit of appliqué lace and beading (if I may add.. it has a nice fit, and looks top notch) the other gown is a champagne deep V neckline with no beading that features a  lumpy back! (I don’t know if it was because of the zipper or the fabric was too small…It makes me look like I have a small bump on my back. Hello Notre Dame! Pun intended. Lol.) I don’t even know if I should cry or laugh when I fitted the dress.

expectation VS reality (click to enlarge)

So yeah, the lilac is wearable. And technically, the champagne one is also wearable if you disregard the fact that it will give you the “hunchback of Notre Dame” look. In reality, its just one gown that is OK.

Of course I am not expecting perfection as these prenup dresses are the guinea pig (testing) dresses. If the mananahi (seamstress) did well then I would get her to make the dresses for my entourage. But sadly none of them hit the nail.

All the dresses are priced at 3.5k each. Cheap, but also included cheap service. I got what I paid for. Lesson learned.

The horror of a dress-my red dress, I discarded that and got another red made. Also brought quite a lot of tulle lace fabric, for the making of the new, hopefully better red dress. Is now again, crossing my fingers that this will turn out ok.

I also scouted for another seamstress at Benavides. This time I went to Ysabelle. That is managed by a snooty-old-chinese-auntie that wouldn’t believe I was a soon-to-wed, I did not quite get the bride-to-be look. Since it was no use talking to someone who doesn’t believe me and I got challenged by her Chinese speaking skills, that were no match for my halting Chinese, I decided to go and enlist the help of my fluent Chinese speaking mum. lols.

So, I went back with the peg of the dress I want in hand.

No beading, not floor length, no lace, ivory color. I thought this would go for 4k max. Apparently not.

She wants 5k for the dress. With much haggling. We managed to get it lowered for 4.5k. Oh well, at least we tried. While taking my measurements, she asks why do I need the dress? I said I am going to use it for the wedding dance and also for my prenup shoot. Again she states that I look like a high school-er and is too young to get married. Then she asks for my age. I said 29. Chinese age? She lifted her eyebrow at me. No. Chinese Age I am already 30 or is it 31. She goes whaaaaaaatttt? And I just shrug. There is also a disadvantage as to looking too young.

After a week of waiting, I managed to go-see for the first fitting. I was grateful that this was nicely done. Really matched the peg I got her to copy. As much as I wanted to say only good things this time around… there is still a gripe. The color was not ivory. It was the lightest peach that looks similar to the shade of the lumpy champagne gown.

Maybe they have not found the ivory fabric and substituted it with the closest shade available. But the dress was made. So, I cannot complain, and again it was really pulido nicely done. Only consolation, if I do wear it for the wedding dance it would match my champagne shoes perfectly.

Now, I am off to look for an rtw, so that what I see is what I get. Wish me luck.

*All my reviews, opinions, and other stuff expressed here are our own and based on our own experience. This is not a sponsored post. I paid for all the gowns including all the fail gown/s. 

**I conclude that to save yourself the stress, money and the heartbreak over your dress, better but the display gowns if you really want to buy at Divisoria. Or go to a different place. better shell out a bit more than get a gown you will not get to wear. 

***If you are really interested to see/know the mananahi/s (seamstress) I visited, the good one or the fail one, leave me a comment below and I will get back to you.

prettifying my groom, macho style

I feel a bit sorry for grooms. While most of them shoulder the cost of the wedding they usually end up being just the afterthought. So for Kei, I wanted to make him feel special on that day too.

we are here to prettify my man!

So, it is a good thing that I found the Union Station Barber Shop’s customized grooming service for the groom to be!

They created; The Spoiled Groom – that is a on the day grooming/pampering service for the groom to be, right in the comforts of the hotel room. Kind of like having an HMUA (I guess) but specifically for guys. To make them look their best on their big day! Isn’t that nice?! After looking at their facebook page, I told Kei that I am going to get him a manly version of HMUA. That got him asking me more questions. So, when I found out thet the union station barbershop is going to be at Edsa Shangri-la’s bridal fair, I made it sure that we get there to meet/book them.

To be honest, I initially wanted to book the basic package (concourse) that consists of: A Hair Cut / Trim or Define, a traditional hot towel shave, face massage, hair grooming and singe. That costs 3k. *45mins of service approx*

But after talking to them at the fair, we decided to go for the complete package (platform) that consists of: A Hair Cut / Trim or Define, a traditional hot towel shave, face massage, hair grooming and singe. The additional services included? Luxury Hair Treatment, Hand and Back Massage, Manlycure This costs 5k. *1 and a half hour of service approx*

Considering Kei loves getting scalp massages and back massages this is the bomb. Since we booked them at the fair, the freebie we got was the same package we got, for an additional head. Not bad. We plan to give it to Kei’s big brother who will be flying in from Japan. So he will not have to rush and worry about his hair/looks once he got here. So they will have more time to bond. That would mean more memories and time together to look back on. Priceless.

Since we booked them on the spot. I asked questions about their services and asked them to explain what the singe is.

Apparently, it is de-fuzzing the ears. As to how it is done, it is done with fire. Manly enough and kind of a bit scary… 

And they are going to give it a go! Kei is going to try getting singe-d! We were really curious and since it is a demo, why not?!

getting singe-d!

So, Kei gamely sat on the barber’s chair to get singed. The barber got cotton wrapped around a slim scissor and soaked it in alcohol. then, lit the thing up.

And Kei got singed on both ears. Asked if it hurts, he said no. It was just warm and the swooshing sound of the flame was the only thing that kept him aware that he was being singed. He was laughing and chatting with the barber the whole time. So, I guess it was a pleasant experience after all. Not something to be afraid of.

Thank you Wrangler!

While waiting for Kei to finish his singe, my name was called out. Apparently, I won a gift bag from Wrangler! Wow! Thank you very much! 

I am giving it to Kei who is a fan of the brand and buys/wears their jeans regularly. And I am not saying this because I won. I really find their dark denims as a classic staple, I also love that their pants are soft to the skin. I even buy wrangler pants for Kei from time to time. We also get their polos. 

Simply put, Wrangler is one of our go-to-brands for pants as they have regular fit pants that looks better on men than those skinny pants that makes men look like sissy ballerinas with beards. imho. Their pants are also more forgiving for the full figured males. (They carry waist sizes to 40.) 

In return he has to buy me distressed shorts. Fair trade.

Also got to meet the Fashion Pulis! He is the host for the fair. He is super friendly! 

with fashion pulis!

After a quick chat we shook hands and took this picture.

So, that concludes our Unveiled Edsa Shangri-La bridal fair adventure.

Thank you!

Personally, I would love to see my groom being pampered on his big day. Maybe have a few pictures and video of him getting ready being professionally groomed. I think it would be pretty awesome to see my groom getting pretty for me too.

Photo with the team. Thank you! 

*All my reviews, opinions, and other stuff expressed here are my own and based on my own experience with the service/product. This is not a sponsored post, I paid for this (from) my own pocket. 

Union Station Barber Shop – https://www.facebook.com/theunionstationbarber

My acne journey: products I am using this summer season 2015

Summer is in full swing and is wreaking havoc to my skin. Here I go again. It seems like I am better of with the cold climate months, my skin magically clears up. I think my skin did not get the memo that we are living in the sunny Philippines. Mad hate.

Currently, I am religiously going to my dermatologist, once a week for cleaning. Before, I go there every other week. But since, I need to have clear skin for my big day and the days before that, I have no choice but to really drag myself to the clinic weekly. Every week there is a lot cleaned out, but still a lot remain or pop-up. I freaking hate it. Shelling out and getting pricked is not really something to look forward to.

My face is an oil slick with bumps mostly on my forehead. (I drink a lot of water now, so no. I am not dehydrated. My skin just hates me.)

After another painful pricking session. I asked the derma what else can he recommend, besides the glycerin soap and derma-made toners I am using. I also told him that the glycerin soap seem to lack the cleaning feel it used to have. 

get me through the hot summer days please.

He recommended me to take doxycycline once a day for ten days. Then got me to to use acne-aid soap, continue with my toners and lastly use epiduo. My skin got a bit less bumpy. Thank God. But after 4 days, I feel the “burning-skin-feeling”. So I topped it all off with a light moisturizer I already used months ago.

Does your skin breakout on hot summer days too?

–acne journey update-summer of 2015-

*All my reviews, opinions, and other stuff expressed here are my own and based on my own experience with the product. This is not a sponsored post, I paid for this (from) my own pocket.

Picking the blooms for the bouquet

So, we (Kei and I) already met our florist.

I came prepared. By that meaning I printed out my pegs to show her what I liked.

For my own bunch of flowers, I wanted a round hand-tied bouquet with long ribbons. As for the blooms I really like Peonies. That was my first pick. So, that was my first question. Can I have peonies in my bridal bouquet? I was told yes. I let out a squeal of joy. Of course peonies are imported (so it is expensive), our florist decided to add ranunculus, and old english rose. (old english roses differ from the standard roses we usually see, to know more about different types of roses see this site.)

For fillers she suggested million stars, I thought it looked a lot like baby’s breath. To which I agreed. She says my bouquet will look like this.

the exact photo our florist showed me. Photo from the wedding chicks.

As for my MOH (maid of honor), The flowers suggested are gerbera daisies, carnations and roses.

I am familiar with those flowers and those sounds real good to me so I agreed. 

I looked up the million stars flower our florist told me about on the internet, as I got home. Apparently my guess is correct, it is the same as baby’s breath. I don’t want baby’s breath on my bouquet.

So, I went to google peony bouquets and found this.

look at what I found! lovely right?! Photo taken from pinterest

I want my bouquet to look like this. So, went on to look for the filler flowers found in this photo! I spent a whole morning looking for what these filler flowers are called! The fillers used here are astilbe and bouvardia. Thanks again google!

they look like the ones on the bouquet right?

Then sent an e-mail to the florist right away, and hoped/prayed to God please let me have pretty flowers. As it will be subject to availability.

Also looked up the blooms I picked, according to their symbols / meanings the “language of flowers”. So, if I would be lucky to get the bouquet above, here is the breakdown of its meaning.

Sounds like I know a lot about flowers?! No. I actually read about them from the internet.

I kind of liked each and every flower and their meaning. But I still need to find back ups just in case. So far here are the other fillers that I really like.

the back up options

As for my maid of honor’s bouquet (gerbera daisies, carnations and roses) here is the breakdown of their meanings.

• Gerbera – gerbera daisies can mean innocence, purity, and cheerfulness as well as being a classic symbol of beauty. It stands out as one of the most distinctly bright and merry flowers. With its bold and striking appearance, these large daisy variations come in a number of vibrant colors that lift the spirit and are an ideal way to brighten someone’s day.
• Carnation – is a historically rich and meaningful flower choice. With its scientific name dianthus roughly translating to “flower of love” or “flower of the gods”, this flower is one that has been revered for centuries. One of the world’s oldest cultivated flowers, it is appreciated for its ruffled appearance, clove-like scent, and extended blooming period.
• Rose – of any color can simply mean gratitude and simplicity. Roses symbolize Love, joy, beauty and passion. Roses are the most popular wedding flowers. It can be lightly fragrant to very fragrant, depending on variety. Spray/Standard Roses are the ones commonly used. English-style/garden roses have full, intensely perfumed flowers make sumptuous bouquets.

Basically I picked the flowers not only because I like how they look but also for the message they convey.

Curious about what your favorite flower means? this site listed out a lot of flowers.  For the soon to be brides or just curious: check this for the top 10 list of wedding flowers usually used. For symbolism of the flowers and what flowers to avoid see this list.

How we spent labor weekend: aka our Gay-bordate shopping weekend

So, most people we know are off to Boracay to spend the labor day weekend. Being true blue city-girl-mall-rats….my best friend and me have decided that labor day will be dedicated to hunting items from our Christmas wish list (last year 2014) but with the premise of getting the said stuff on sale or discount.

So, Joanna wanted a Marc Jacobs Henry Skeleton Watch, I was looking for Miss Dior EDP preferably the 100ml bottle. Those were the specific item we are hunting for. Since both items are pricey. We looked at every possible option to obtain them for cheaper. (That means we spent the past few months, going to Rustans, Cash and carry, Shangri-la and even looking for it online.) Till this weekend. It was do or die. We are going to wing it.

This is going to be a girly shopping day. Hence, Gay-bor date. 

With Kei in tow, off we go to Cash and Carry to look for the Miss Dior edp. I asked store after store to no avail.

close but not really the one. sorry.

Started with Bescost (they only have the old miss dior originale with the full houndstooth patterened bottle see top left photo), then to Criseldas’s (that only has the miss dior blooming bouquet variant see top right photo), Tia Loleng’s ( no miss dior here), till I saw it at Anselka’s! A 100ml bottle with the gold/amber liquid! Was grinning with excitement.

hello lovely!

I hurriedly dragged Jo to Anselka’s and showed her the bottle. Checked it for authenticity and went on to get the loot. Mad happy really.

Next, we went to meet Jo’s Dad and he drove us/treated us to a sumptuous lunch at Tim Ho Wan. That porkbun was melt in the mouth yums! Lunch was so awesome we finished lunch in less than an hour. I also learned a few Cantonese phrases over lunch. Also added a new food fave  – Lo mai gai. That my friends, is steamed glutinous rice in lotus leaf.

eating out with my HK peeps!

So after lunch our group went to meet our childhood friend Geordan, plus his parents. Chatted up a bit and it was time for them to go. Jo’s dad also went home.  With only the three of us are walking around Glorietta, Kei and I went to introduce Adora to Joanna. She loved the place! She is familiar with the bags! And proceeded to give me a crash course on bag appreciation. Fancy stuff. After the bags, I got her to try Penhaligon’s scents. After a few sniffs on the testers, she ended up liking what I liked best – Empressa. We like patchouli. Hahaha! 

Then looked at the watches on display. Little did I know, the watch Jo likes was on display! And an added bonus, on sale.

finally found you.

She has been looking for it for a while now. Her initial pick was the rose gold version of the Marc Jacobs Henry Skeleton watch, but seeing this lovely gold version made her change her mind. Few more minutes waiting for it to get adjusted, Joanna got her loot! With a gift with purchase sticky note pad! Score!

So we went to have a afternoon coffee to escape the summer heat.

escaping the summer heat

Then proceeded to take outfit of the day pictures. Sun dresses are the in thing for the day!

our outfit of the day photos. Much Thanks for the photo Kei!

Come dinner, we get Joanna to try one of our fave food haunt Kitchitora. We both got Paitan ramen sets. So that she gets to sample the different appetizers. 

Team Patchouli (the Lupets) at Kitchitora

Kei got tsukemen as expected. Here is our whole spread.

dinner is served

Joanna loved the place and the food! Good one Kitchitora!

After dinner we chatted a bit then its time to go home. To cap it all off here is our loot for the day.

our loot for the day

*Much thanks to Kei for accompanying us, being the photographer for the day and helping us find our stuff! Our only regret is we did not take picture with Joanna’s dad and Geordan plus his parents. Next time… Overall it is a good day for shopping. 

Next day was Saturday. It was a normal work day for me. And also did all my grooming rounds. By that I mean going to the dermatologist and dentist. Kei prepared his presentation for church tomorrow. We spent the day at home watching big bang theory and eating chickenjoy,  heaps of palabok + Chinese take out dinner,  all of which are drowned with buko juice. We are cool like that. hahaha!

Sunday was a Yes and No day. YES that Kei pulled off the church activity he planned perfectly. All is well till Pacquiao lost. That was the NO. Bummer.

We ran off to the mall again, where else?! hahaha! the afternoon was spent on retail therapy. We tried Old Navy as we heard that they make good looking comfy-casual clothes and that their pant/s selection is good! Meaning they carry a wide range of pant sizes! So, Kei tried on pants and I tried on dresses.

Here are the ones I tried on. From left to right: White eyelet dress (no xs size so not for me), the middle and right are the same design, only the middle is a swiss dot design and the right one is in stripes. All my picks are 100% cotton fabric. I hate polyester. 

all pretty! photos taken from old navy

He got two pants one in denim and another in khaki. I got two dresses. The swiss dot and the stripe. After that we doused our hot temper in iced macchiato and went back to grab our new found fave porkbuns. Then ate a lot again for dinner.

this helped us feel better. but our wallet does not feel better. lols. 

This sums up our weekend. We eat and shop.

How did you spend you labor weekend?