And Here Comes Another Fab Blog Award

As Kirby from Good Gals Inc. would put it, "I am seriously loving this blog award stuff!" :D I am unbelievably honored, touched and happy for having received another award from a blog I just followed this morning. Thus, let me take advantage of the opportunity to thank and introduce a truly beautiful blogger, Soon2bhealthybride. As we welcome 09, let us all support and follow her prepare for her BIG DAY! Yay! What are y'all waiting for - click that link! :) 

Here are the rules:
Find the beautiful ladies that you follow.
Give them this award.
Hopefully it'll truly mean something to each and everyone of you.
Don't be shy to give it to the same person!
Don't forget to tell them!

And here are the BEAUTIFUL BLOGGERS I religiously follow:

A Glimpse of Sarah

Amanda C. Bee

Bama Belle In The Big City

belle etoile

Bergdorf Blondes

Between Raising Hell & Amazing Grace

Blushing Bride Bulletin

elefantitas alegres

Glamour Kills

Good Gals Inc

In My Overactive Head

Life's a journey

Little Miss Optimist

Make the most of yourself

Newlywed Stilettos

On My Way to Being a Healthy Bride

Practically Perfect

Pretty in Pink

Sassy Stilettos

Sex and Two Single Girls

Sex on the Beach

THAT GIRL

Une Belle Vie

WAITING FOR THE RAPTURE

Have a beautiful New Year everyone!

A New Blog Award for the New Year

I am so happy and grateful that Kirby from Good Gals Inc. tagged me in this award. She is such a sweet and wonderful person so y'all should head off to her page and discover for yourselves!

1. Put the logo on your blog or post. 

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show GREAT ATTITUDE and/or GRATITUDE! 

3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post. 

4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog. 

5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

Difficult, difficult... here it goes....

1. Practically Perfect

2. Make the Most of Yourself

3. In My Overactive Head

4. Blushing Bride Bulletin

5. belle etoile

6. Glamour Kills

7. Little Miss Optimist

8. Starting Over at 24

9. A Glimpse of Sarah

Enjoy the coming New Year's Eve everybody!!!

No Looking Back II

Defining Moment #2: The BorAnniversary

No Looking Back (my 2008 in a few defining episodes)

It's almost over. I don't know about you guys, but personally, 2008 wasn't really THE year for me if you know what I mean. Nevertheless, I'm going to give it one last look before I go welcome 2009 with arms, eyes, and mouth (haha!) wide open. Since I'm relatively new here at blogger, I went through my old blog last night searching for memorable 2008 entries to post in installments 'til the new year arrives.
So here it goes...

Jun 28, '08 7:06 am (Boston time)
for Jive's contacts

Blakeley Hall where I stayed with Rin at Tower E

And It's Done: My Mini Tribute to Summer School 

It's over! My six week stint at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is finished! In six days I shall be crashing back to Manila reality and drowning in official MA workload. However, before I descend into the deeper realms of academia, I'd like to look back at this extremely invaluable experience that has helped me grow even more...

The unforgettables:
1. The super culture shock arrival - I couldn't see a single Filipino/Asian around. I was tired, alone, clueless, tired, tired, tired... the sun was still up at 8pm... I was scared to be alone in the hotel room... I burst into tears.

2. Me eating only Pepperidge Farm Chocolate Chip cookies from the Student Center during my first week here at Fletcher. Everything was so effing far, and at that time I had no courage to explore yet, because I didn't want to get lost. From that moment til today I have been staying away from chocolate chip cookies.

3. Me crying to Sirin during the peak of my adjustment period cause I thought she was my age. A zero poise moment cause my make up was everywhere and my nose was running ( I know, yuck) but at least it was the start of a great friendship between Rin and I. I honestly do not know how I could've managed without her.

4. Me walking for 40 minutes to the "nearest grocery" to buy food. I attempted to walk my way back with 4 heavy bags with bottles in them, but I gave up after like 50 steps. I had to enter an Indian catering shop and bought food to have the taxi company's number.

5. My shining econ theory moment. That was really one of the happiest points of my stay here given that I was able to prove my worth as a student with a functioning brain.

6. Me taking today's finals in PAJAMAS! I love it! One of the things I've learned here is that no one ever dresses up nicely for (that)class. Mas maganda pa nga yung pantulog ko kanina kaysa sa mga suot ng mga tao. Also I can't get over the fact that we finished the entire syllabus in 6 weeks, considering that we rarely finished our syllabi during college.

Things to miss:
1. Hearing Marc Anthony's "You Sang to Me" play on Sirin's laptop every morning.
2. Me and Sirin eating dinner (either delivery from Thai/Sushi place/ Italian restaurant) after class every T TH. We'd end up chatting til 12mn, then we'll start studying.
3. Me and Sirin laughing at weird classmates.
4. Using the electronic fob to open the door, and using www.laundryview.com to see how the washing machines are doing downstairs.
5. The Fletcher School itself - it is such a beautiful building with killer facilities.I wouldn't mind living there. There's a huge elevator even though the building only has two floors.
6. SIRIN!!!

The trivial new discoveries:
1. How to use the washing machine.
2. Getting used to the "T" (subway) to get around Boston.
3. How to cook (but most of the food I like to eat are breakfast stuff anyway e.g. bacon, spam, sausage, etc.)

The non-trivial stuff:
1. Older people tend to reason out in really strange/incredible/poor ways. One thing I've learned here (and P. Bird was right when he told me this in the beginning of the course) was that just because people are older, doesn't necessarily mean they're wiser.

2. I became a stronger person - being alone-alone in a month made me see how independence works from a different angle. My independence in Manila helped a lot, but there I was in my comfort zone with people I love and an environment I am familiar with. Here, I learned TO BE my own comfort zone.

3. It is sooo hard to trust people - yes, people are people wherever they may be, and in Fletcher, we live in the realist premise that in this world, there are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies, just permament INTEREST.

4. If you want it, you just can't get it. You FIGHT for it. And you just keep on fighting.... and fighting... and fighting...

5. To quote Amin: "Fletcher is the best experience for you so far. You may not have worked, but the exposure you got from all these people who are working all over the world in different fields is enough to give you a better idea of which path you'd like to take in IR, as well as to impart wisdom to guide you when your time comes."

In the end, I came, I saw, and in my own way I conquered. My stay here was a fabulous yet humbling experience. It is something that I would always be happy and proud about. Someday, I'd be really looking forward to tell my kids about my stay here, especially how I stayed up til 6am the night before finals trying to study, and at the same time - PAINT MY NAILS. That despite her ditziness, their mom survived to be the youngest (ditz) to step foot in the Fletcher School of Law in Diplomacy.

Have Yourselves a Merry Fantabulous Christmas!

This is it everyone! Merry Merry Christmas! Let's pay it forward and share our blessings, material and otherwise, with at least three people today in honor of the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future!

G: "The unicorn is the unicorn is the unicorn."

As G says, the unicorn symbolizes the unattainable - it is a myth.

This is quite embarassing for me, considering my numerous attempts to "forget" my own unattainable unicorn, but last night I faced the harsh reality that sometimes there are just certain people and situations that you could never forget. He was, is and would be around for the foreseeable future, and I've no choice but to deal with it. Arriving at this realization was hard. Articulating it is even harder. Deciding how to act - now this is the hardest.

As Professor Bird (my adorable Brit econ prof over at Tufts) would say, "Economists are simple-minded folk. They can't deal with a lot of choices, so mostly they categorize everything into two." Thus, my two options:

1) The more stupid and likely: To keep hanging on amidst knowing that there would never be anything. Stick around and settle for what is existing, while secretly hoping that one day all would change.

2) The "best", most difficult, and highly unlikely (knowing me): To respect principles and stay away. Move on without looking back.

God help me find the strength to push through with option number 2.

The unicorn is unattainable.

It is a mythical creature.

It could be seen just in the imagination.

Never mine. Never thine. Never ours.

This is starting to kill me.

I've got to walk away.

My First Blogger Award Ever!

Oh-Em-Gee! I sooo couldn't believe it when I was reading through Jenny's post over at Practically Perfect and saw that she has awarded my blog!

"This blog invests and believes in proximity - nearness in space, time, and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind of bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly written text into the body of their award."


THANK YOU SOOO MUCH JENNY! You truly are Practically Perfect!

Hmmm... much like Jenny, it is quite difficult to nominate just eight bloggers - hours and hours in front of my laptop has taught me that the blogging universe is just sooo huge and filled with so many interesting people and stories. Nevertheless I shall try my very best to award eight more very deserving bloggers :D

1. Waiting for the Rapture - Aside from being a great friend, G's blog is hip, interesting and funny in all the right places! She is also perhaps the only person who fully understands my posts with all the confusing codes and all considering that she's in on the faces behind the names. Her thoughts about life, love, music... anything and everything under the sun is truly refreshing!

2. Bergdorf Blondes - Shasta was my first follower (other than my Gs who know me personally) and I guess all of you would agree that nothing compares to that adrenaline rush you get upon discovering that there is that first person out there who thinks your blog is worth following. I love her fashion pictures of her daily outfits, and if I could have an older sister, I'd want it to be her! She is my fashion fairytale come true!

3. belle etoile - I just sooo love her celebrity posts! It's amazing how she has the patience and energy to find all the juicy and glamorous pictures of models and celebrities, that I often find myself drooling in admiration and (at times) envy.

4. Glamour Kills - A fresh find I discovered over at belle etoile's, this young lady is just really fab! If I wished Shasta could be my elder sister, now this lovely girl I'd want for a younger sister! Extremely pretty and fashionable, we share the love of pink, Barbie, make-up, clothes, shoes... you get the picture!

5. Good Gals Inc. - Also a recent blog I've stumbled upon from Mrs. Stiletto's introductory Mondays, this gal really is good! Reading her posts make me realize that how a relationship could always be constantly full of surprises.

6. StartingOverat24 - Ok, he is the only male blogger in this list, but I've been hooked on his blog ever since I even started blogging here at blogger. His posts always makes me laugh and it is very very interesting to read about a guy's insights on dating and relationships. I find that I could really relate to his experiences.

7. Newlywed Stilettos - She is just one of the nicest and I mean NICEST bloggers around! She began this Monday tradition wherein she would introduce a couple of new bloggers in her Monday posts, and through this I got the chance to meet and read a lot of other amazing blogs! Thanks Mrs. Stilettos!

8. THAT GIRL - This girl's got me totally hooked! Her posts are extremely entertaining and insightful. From the few weeks since I've started following her blog, I feel that I've gotten to know her more from reading her posts! Such a beautiful individual.