My Books Wishlist (on our US Trip)
I just can’t wait to go to the US so that I can buy new releases from my fave authors or just to complete my book series! here’s the list of books I can’t get off my mind, I’m pretty much obsess:
a. Bite Marks by Jennifer Rardin – rel date 10/09
b. Doubleblinded (Sirantha Jax3) by Anne Aguirre – rel dat 09/29/09
c. Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning -rel date 08/09
d. Destine for Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost – rel date 07/09
e. Jill Kismet 3 Redemption Alley by Lilith Saintcrow – rel 08/09
f. Intertwined by Gena Showalter – rel date 09/09
g. Queen of Song and Souls – rel date 06/09
h. Covet by JR Ward – 09/29/09
i. A deep Kiss of WInter by Kresley Cole – rel date 10/27/09
j. On the Edge by Ilona Andrews – rel date 09/09
k. Branded by Fire by Nalini singh – rel date 07/09
l. Bad Moon Rising by Sherilyn Kenyon – rel date 09/09
m. Blood Promise by Richelle Mead – rel date 08/25/09
Addendum to Finally! US of A Here I Come!
If you are an independent traveler (which means you do your own flight bookings and flight itinerary), I have found that travelocity.com accepts credit card holders from Philippines unlike orbitz.com and cheaptickets.com. I almost gave up and resigned myself to travel once more to manila just to bok our US domestic flights to American Airlines office in Malate which is so far and too much hassle for me when I gave travelocity.com a chance. Thank God I did! It saved me much effort and cash! 
Books(By My Fave Authors) To Be Released This August
Can’t wait to read these books! These are their official release dates in the U.S. They’ll probably be available here in the Philippines by September/October (sigh).
08/03/09 — Jill Kismet 3 -Redemption Alley by Lilith Saintcrow
08/06/09 — Dark Hunter 26 – Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon
08/13/09 — Dark Swan 2 – Thorn Queen by Richelle Mead
08/25/09 — Fever 4 – Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning
08/25/09 — Vampire Acadamy 4 – Blood Promise by Richelle Mead
Finally! US of A, here I come!
We are finally pushing through with our U.S. vacation and it’s going to be this October, yey! I booked a flight from our trusted travel agency, Rajah Travel Corp this week. The total fare RT MLA-SFO-MLA is 874$/pax PAL. According to our TA, this rate is only up to the end of July. I’m so glad I was able to avail the promo and saved much! So, those who are planning to go to the U.S., booked through your travel agency or directly at www.philippineairlines.com ASAP!
My next agenda was to book flights from SFO-LAX, then SAN-PDX lastly PDX-SFO. You know how we pinoys are, when we have relatives in the US and you won’t get to visit them, they’ll have an awful grudge. So we are making an effort to visit most of them. My sister referred me to www.cheaptickets.com. The site will search and compare available airline flights for you. But you have to search various sites like these to be able to find the cheapest fare available. Other sites I have to mention are www.kyak.com, www.travelocity.com, www.orbitz.com and many more. I have to mention though that most airlines now in the US charges for checked-in baggage. Check this out for airline baggage rates. I was really shocked when I found out that they would charge you $15 for the 1st bag, $25 for the 2nd, $100 3rd and so on. I was supposed to book multi-city flights from American Airlines but when I found out that they charges this much, I had to reconsider.
I found out that the only airline that doesn’t charge baggage fees is Southwest Airlines. Expectedly their tickets are 50% more than other airlines. So you really have to compute which will be advantageous for you. Like in our case, I’m expecting to bring bring 2 suitcases and 2 balikbayan boxes. These 4 baggage will be free (depending of course to the allowable weight, else they will also charge you $50) at SW. But in other airlines, these bags will cost me $240 on top of the ticket fare! That’s P11,000 plus in peso already! An exhorbitant amount for baggage! My best option is to get SW to LAX where we have lots of bags to carry then I booked us to American Airlines for the succeeding 2 trips.
Also, a friend of mine suggested the 1 ticketing scheme wherein you book all your flights as international so that your baggage in any flight transfers will be free. I’m not sure how that works though. You’d better inquire it to your travel agent.
Hopefully, all tickets will be booked and bought by next week. I just need to finalize some schedules and then everything is all set.
for your info:
American Airlines Philippine office
Airesources, Inc (GSA)
Lower Lobby, Century Park Hotel
P. Ocampo St., Malate, Metro Manila
Philippines
Phone: +(632) 524 8625
Fax: +(632) 400 5988
Southwest Airlines allow only credit card payments whose billing address is at the United States and some countries. In my case, I borrowed my sister’s credit card.
Goodluck in finding your cheapest airfare!a
Fashion (for the vertically challenged)
I’m no expert in fashion or a “fashionista”, but I like to look good and feel good about myself. I’m petite just reaching 5′ and small boned. I was never overweight (except when I was pregnant, thank God!) though if I let myself go, I have the tendency to get chubby with my tummy, butt and thighs getting big (ugh!)! That is never good considering my height. I’d look like a ball with feet (har har har).
So, I watch what I eat and try to be active..note that I didn’t say exercise since I seldom do it like 2x a week, if at all.
Being petite is somewhat a challenge, although most pinays are like me (just reaching 5′-5′2″). People tend to treat you as a kid, seem not to notice you or perpetually describe you as cute. So, here’s my two-cents to those who are vertically challenge like me:
1. Wear hills as much as you can! It’s the only way you can be taller.
I love wedges! They give me the height while not crippling my legs and giving me huge calves. So I horde wedges.
2. Wear simple cut without fussy designs and prints.
Large prints and elaborate designs tends to overwhelm a small frame. So, stick to the basic cuts, streamlining the body. No big ruffles and big polka-dot prints for us.
3. Wear V-neck shirts/tops.
They elongate the neck thus giving the illusion of you being taller.
4. Wear skirts above the knees or along the knees.
5. Stick to one color from top to bottom.
This will also give the illusion of height.
6. Chin up.
When you talk to someone, look at them in the eyes. When you walk, raise your chin and look straight ahed. This will emote confidence and will make you stand-out, in effect make you look taller.
7. Lastly, hire a stylist! if you can afford one, that is! If you’re like me who can’t, take some fashion cues from celebrities who are also petite. My favorites are:
Rachel Bilson
Nicole Richie
Mary Kate / Ashley Olsen
My Make-up Loot
Okay, so I’ve been shopping for make-up last weekend and I’m totally thrilled to have bought these amazing products although my wallet has been significantly lighter (hahaha don’t tell hubby!).
Here’s what I bought:
MAC LIQUID EYE LINER in Boot Black
This is used by MAKEUPBYTIFFANYD in most of her video tutorials. I wanted some eyeliner that doesn’t smudges and fades at the end of the day and MAC Liner delivers.It was easy getting used to it. You just have to start lining at thr middle of your upper lashes than the corner so that it won’t get ruined by the initial point creating a glob in your inner eye. So yes, I love this! It’s an investment at P1050 (rustan). 
NARS BLUSH in Orgasm
I’ve heard so much about this product that I had to try it. The super orgasm has more glitter to it compared to orgasm. I’d like something that is understated but really complements my skin tone. A little sweep goes a long way. So far, I’m liking it but at P1350 (rustan)..I’d better like it! (grins)
MAC SELECT COVER-UP CONCEALER
Also used by MAKEUPBYTIFFANYD, this concealer I use on all areas of redness and under eyes. When I applied this, I seems to have a matte effect which was surprisingly good since I’m oiliest at my T zone. A little drop covers a large part of your face already so this was worth the P900 (rustan).
BE MINERAL VEIL
I Love BE! I started using last year and I’m totally hooked. I found out that if I use BE foundation, I would still get oily only forehead but if I applied the mineral veil (sandwhich method), I could last a day with very less oil on my T zone. This serves also as finishing touch to my foundation which helps put everything in place for hours.
PRIME TIME Primer
This has a mattifying effect and noticeably softens the face. Put this on before make-up to help settle the minerals on your skin. I haven’t tried this yet but I bought a sample from Claude. I’m really excited to put this on tomorrow for work 
For prices of BE products, click this link . 
I’m no expert on make-up in fact, I’ve said this before that I really want to study in a pro-school. These are just product that has been recommended to me and so far has worked, as far as I’m concerned. Here’s how I organize them, my make-up:
Hey, what make-up do you use? Pls share whatever works for you
Make-up!Make-up! and More Make-up!
My latest craze ..Make-up! As if it isn’t already obvious with my blog title harharhar.
I’ve been obsessing with smokey eyes lately especially when I came to some youtube videos on make-up tutorials. MakeupbytiffanyD is amazing! I got really inspired by her that I come to work all deck up with eye make-up and an hour late hehee.
here are some of her videos that I totally, totally adore:
She also does Basic How-tos that I find very helpful:
I can’t get enough of her videos! I watch it everyday, just ask hubby! I wish I can be as good as her. Hopefully, I’ll be able to find time to enroll in a pro school for some make-up lessons.
Tagaytay Over the Weekend–Sonya’s Garden
In continuation with Tagaytay Over The Weekend..
After a restful night and a hearty breakfast at 8 Suites, we impulsively scheduled a boat ride to Taal Lake to see the sights as suggested by the receptionist. We were aghast to find the road to the boat ride soo steep and small (our ride was a Toyota Super Grandia, so you can just imagine just how small the remaining side of the road..and it’s a two way at that!) and the drive took us 35-40 min. It was even more daunting than the zigzag road to Baguio! We didn’t expect that it would take us that long that we were so relieved when we finally got to the boat. Because we had reservations at Sonya’s Garden (yes, you have to call for reservations), we didn’t even left the boat when we reach Taal. So we just enjoyed the view and the fresh air. Although Alecxi was terrified, she barely moved and had a dead-grip on me..poor baby. She was a sport though, she didn’t cry at all!
It was 2pm when we got to Sonya’s Garden..and the rain was pouring down like crazy! Of all the times it has to rain! We were all wet when we got inside but the settings and the atmosphere inside revived our enthusiasm and energy. You wouldn’t have thought that it was raining outside because of the brightness of the tent and crispness of settings. There were lots of people there as well enjoying their sunday lunch with their family. The table setting was simple but the flower embroidery to the napkins gave it a touch of elegance.
We started with fresh salad with its various dressings. It was arrange so that you can choose your own dressing and vegetable combination. Next was the bread, also with various sauces and dips to try. The wheat bread was delicious and soft. I was almost full when the pasta arrived with the chicken white sauce, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, and 3 more sauce. On top of the standard food they served, we ordered additional entree, the roast chicken. It was all earthy and satisfying. They served also taragon tea and chocolate cake for dessert. Not bad for P650/pax (incl. tax). This is all you can eat by the way so you can request for more helpings although we didn’t since it was very filling.
After lunch, we walked around the garden and dropped by the bakeshop and their store which sells organic stuff. I’m really loving these organic soaps and oils. I bought citronella oil and Alecxi’s peanuts that they served also at the restaurant. It’s actually white beans but Alecxi calls it peanuts Really addicting!
Unfortunately we didn’t have time to linger since we need to check out from the B&B else they’re gonna charge us for an extension.
Check out their site for restaurant reservations and overnight stay.
How to Stop Oil from Burning
We had an accident at home 2 nights ago. The citronella oil caught fire from the burner. It was burning up like alcohol and it was really frightening since the cabinet where it was placed on is painted which would definitely add more fire. We had a sense not to throw water at it obviously since oil and water doesn’t mix and will more likely spread the fire. We didn’t actually know what to do. So, we figured to wet a blanket and little by little enclose the burner. Fortunately it worked.
So I googled and searched the web on how to stop oil from burning. What we did is actually right.
Here’s what you should do incase oil caught fire. Really good to know:
