Inspiration Board for a living room renovation

Living room is my middle name. Yeah, I am crazy about any living room ideas, living room design and living room themes right now.

We're renovating our 2-bedroom condominium and my main focus is the living room area. For me, a living room is the "face" of the house. I want this area to be pretty and cozy because we're also going to rent out our condominium when we are not around.

Anyway, I am busy browsing over living room furnitures right now. Here are some of my favorites. I don't know which theme to pursue yet but I am leaning more towards contemporary and chic.

All pictures are from thisnext.com.

I wish we have a huge living room area. I love the idea of this long benches.

I am all for a clean look like the above. But with a toddler in the house I think this spells disaster.

Hayworth Large Sofa JohnLewis. I so love this one! And the color is just perfect as well. I am just not sure how my husband will like this.

Jessica McClintock Watercolour Sette. I love something with a feminine touch too. But same with the above, I am not sure if this will pass hubby's seal of approval. It might be too "girly" for him.

Eero Saarinen Style Womb Chair. I love this as an accent chair! And red is my favorite color.

Strollers for a Pain-free travel

I was chatting with my brother earlier. I asked him about their recent trip to Hongkong Disneyland. He said it was fun but his poor shoulders were too sore from carrying his 2-year old daughter. Hahaha!!!

I already warned him before their trip that they should bring a stroller. In Hongkong, you can bring the stroller inside the train. It's pretty convenient to bring strollers everywhere in Hongkong.

I asked him why didn't they bring one? Well, it was a little bulky and they thought they might not be be able to use it as much.

Well, they got it wrong.

I suggested to my brother that next time they travel together with his daughter and nephew, they should bring a double/twin stroller. It would make their life easier.

Indie Twin stroller in seagrass green

in red

I had to include this picture. The kids look so cute with those chubby legs. LOL!

I remember, I never leave home without a stroller before when my son was still under three years old.

ZARA: Woman April 2012 Lookbook

I was surprised to find Zara's Woman April Lookbook on their FB page this early. They usually post the lookbook of the month a little bit late.

Zara posted the lookbook last Friday. I wanted to post it here right away but I could not open the pictures. I thought something was wrong with my facebook. It turned out, the internet connection was a little slow that day because the vlc media player download was still not complete. Silly me.

Today, downloading and uploading of pictures is a breeze. So without further ado, here's ZARA's WOMAN April 2012 Lookbook.











I am loving the white shirt. It's perfect for the summer!

Ready, Get Set!

It's almost April already and I have tons of things to do!

We're going on a holiday next month, we're fixing our condo in Manila and we're moving to another apartment here in Cambodia.

With these things in my mind, it's no surprise I get anxiety attacks lately. LOL!

What I am super excited though, is the part where we renovate our condo in Manila. All I can think of are furnitures, accessories and electronics.

My macbook's desktop is full of furniture pictures. No wonder the battery is drained quickly. I have to get the chargers battery ready all the time. LOL!




I think I am getting obsessed about this project. LOL!

I only wish we have more time in the Philippines. Three weeks is definitely not enough.

J. Crew ships Internationally now!

When I visited J. Crew's website last month, I subscribed to their email list. I wanted to know when they would open to international market.

I just got an email from them, they are now going to ship internationally!

What' even more tempting is that starting today until the 30th of April, it's FREE shipping for international clients!

I tried shopping until the checkout part to see if it's really true. LOL! And it is.

For Cambodia shipping, we just have to pay a tax of $36.90. I think that's fair.

Now let me go back to shopping..

Skin Care Evolution

Let's go time traveling! Let's see the history of how our ancestors took care of their skin back then. And how it evolved through the years.

Some are really shocking, like how they used lead to whiten their skin. Horrors! And how Cleopatra took care of her skin by bathing in sour milk. So sour milk had been invented already during her time!

Aren't you glad you were born in this modern time? When every problem has an immediate solution? When acne can be zapped instantly by a portable blue light technology? I know I am glad to have been born in this wonderful time of technology.

Check out this infographic from www.tanda.com.


Via: Tanda Skincare

I love the simple toning exercise in this infographic. I would definitely do this. In fact, I have already done toning exercise number 3. LOL!

Happy facial exercising!

Reminds Me of My College Life

I was window-shopping for ovens because I want to replace our table top oven when I was directed to laboratory ovens. I guess I wasn't clear with my google search.

These laboratory ovens remind me of a part of my college life. Did you know that I changed courses two times back in college? Well, here's the story..

When I entered college, my major was BS Agriculture in UP Los Banos. At that time, I really wanted to be a farmer. Seriously!

I took Agriculture because I had major ambitions of revolutionizing the small farming industry in our province.

But even before the first year ended, I had changed my mind already. LOL! I wanted to become a hotelier. So I moved to UP Diliman because Hotel and Restaurant Administration was not offered in Los Banos.

Unfortunately, BS Hotel and Restaurant Administration was already closed for "shiftees" when I went to Diliman. Since I did not want to go back to Los Banos, I took BS Food Technology because it was the only available course left.

And that's the time, I spent a lot of time with the laboratory ovens. I remember "incubating" germs in the oven and then later on counting the germs. LOL! I did that for two semesters. It was fun but I knew I will not survive with a lot of chemistry subjects.

The following year, I finally shifted to Hotel and Restaurant Administration.

It took me five years to finish college because I made a series of mistakes. But I am thankful at least I found out sooner what I really wanted. Some people have already graduated from college but they still don't know what course or which path to take.

My love affair with hotels started the time I shifted to HRA. And since then I am hooked. One day, someday...I will have my own hotel.

LOL!

Rajo Laurel: Athletenique Collection

I follow Mr. Rajo Laurel on twitter and I love reading his blog. In fact I love him and his positive attitude in life. In short, I am a fan of him and his work.

When he announced that he's launching his Athletenique Spring Summer Collection, I was eagerly waiting for the pictures. And I have to say I love the collection.

I can see myself wearing one of these:













All the pictures are from his official site - www.rajolaurel.com

I wish they'd open their online shop soon for people living abroad like me. For the complete collection, please visit his site.

Charge Your iPhone with Just Water

I want to share something I got from Wall Street Journal's twitter account the other day. I think it's cool - charging your iPhone through a device using only water.


The device is a portable fuel cell called Powertrekk made by MyFC. The charger costs $225.

What do you think? Is it a worthy investment?

Lovin' My Macbook Air

So far, hubby has recommended two great things to me - this macbook and a pc charge for my online business.

But it took me a lot of convincing from hubby to buy the Macbook Air. Now, I am thankful I was swayed. My blogging life is so much easier and faster with my new Macbook Air.

Photo from Apple

I should have bought this a long time ago. I did not want to spend money on something I don't really need but it turns out this is exactly what I need for my work.

I am not techie so I cannot impress you guys with techie terms but let me tell you the things I love about my Macbook Air:

1) Light. I can carry it anywhere without breaking my back. And I can work lying down with the PC in my lap.
2) Fast. I can turn it on and shut it down in a few seconds. Unlike my old Compaq PC, it takes forever to shut down and reboot.
3) Facetime. After selling my iPad2, I was worried I could not facetime using the Macbook. But I can!
4) Backlit keyboard. I can blog even when our bedroom light is very dim. I love this.

The reason I was hesitant to buy the Macbook Air was because despite borrowing hubby's Macbook Pro for a while now, I was still adept with the Mac features. But once I had my own, I learned quickly how to navigate it.

My only regret was not buying the 13-inch Macbook Air. I only bought the 11-inch because I wanted to save $300. The 11-inch Macbook Air has no SD card slot. It's not really a big problem but it would have been easier to transfer photos from the SD card directly to my Macbook.

Aside from that, everything else is perfect!

Angelina's Leg-Baring Outfit at the Oscars

I know this is late. A lot has been written and said of the Oscars already. But I was busy with my sick boys at that time so I was not able to watch the live telecast of the Oscars award show.

I did see a glimpse of the red carpet though. And of course of Angelina Jolie who looked so beautiful in her Atelier Versace dress.

Photo from omg.yahoo.com by Kevin Mazur/WireImage

The gown did create a buzz because of Angie's legs peeking. But it is not the first time Angie showed off her gams. If you search for her gowns in the red carpet, you'd see several dresses with one slit up to her legs.

I think it is her style and it suits her perfectly. I mean, look at her. I don't think you'd find an ounce of fat in her body.

I read from one of her interviews that she really does not exercise much, her body gets its credit from her genes. How lucky is that? I wish I had her genes. LOL! But for mere mortals like us, we have to work hard to keep stay lean. Some of us, even try pills. Now that got me thinking, what are the side effects of diet pills? Hmmm..

Anyway, here's another photo of Angie with her legs out.

Photo from omg.yahoo.com by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images. The dress is by Michael Kors. I do love this look on her.

Cool Kitchen Aids

I am actually sick right now but I cannot sit idly. I don't know what wrong with me! I just couldn't force myself to rest.

Anyway, I saw some cool and cute kitchen wares over at thisnext.com. This place is one of my favorite online hangout. I just love looking at the new products over there.

Bottoms Salt and Pepper Shaker. Soooo cute!

Magic Spice Wand. I love this! I can put my ground cinnamon and use it to sprinkle over my coffee. I am sure my son would love to use this as well.

I could use this Droppar Spice Jars for my steak seasoning and other spices.

Swiss Measuring Spoons. Isn't this too cute?

And last but not least, this transparent toaster is so neat. And it looks easy to clean.