Vera's blog

Covers - help me choose?

Cover2

Cover1

These are two journal covers I made yesterday for gifts I will be giving to some friends. I'm thinking these will be the generic covers while I will make something more special for others.

Which one do you think is better?




Credits for cover 2: Paper from Elizabeth by Digital Pinay,
Junianas-Follow_your_star_alpha, Frame and bow by A little scrap of me's Funky around the corner kit


I know Cover1 is less color coordinated, but I think the colors are funky and makes it more one of a kind. I actually made Cover2 because my mom was looking for something that was more tied in with the photo's colors (zune's colors).

Credits for Cover1:
Patterned background paper by Jeannie Papai (dude this rawks), Label by Ellie Lash, alpha by Britt-ish Designs' Miss the Bus Kit, frame by An Van Laer (annetje77). Font used: Taco Modern.

3 months paid, many more years to go

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I posted this awhile back, the picture of the model unit at the condo place we've purchased, one each for my brother and myself. I can't believe that we've already made 3 payments, of course there's plenty more to go. The reason it's to good to be true for me is that, I never thought I could set aside 5 thousand pesos each month! And I've done that, so far. 

My poor planner though, I have my expenses written all over it! for some months (the time I wasn't really using it much) all the pages contain my list of expenses per payout! It served it's purpose though. It made me more conscious of where my money goes. Watching Discovery Home and Health's Til Debt do us Part has also helped me immensely, if only to teach me to set aside for emergency expenses and be aware where I put my hard earned money. :)

I have not visited the site of the condominium since we first visited it to decide if we were buying. It's already finished and will soon be turned over to us. Boyfriend hasn't seen it yet, maybe I'll take him there over the weekend.

One thing I'm worried about is that I don't really have funds to fix the place up right away. My brother and I were thinking of renting it out to students because there's a Hospital/University in the area and students will surely bite. But before you can rent it out, it would have to be at least painted and fixtures should be placed. Nothing fancy, but it will still require some amount which I don't have. Investing on a fix-up would be good because the place would self-liquidate, I mean, the monthly rent would probably be good enough to pay for the amortization. If I don't fix it up, then it will remain unused and idle until I do. Even if I do decide to use it myself, all the more reason to jazz it up. 

Oooh... it just occurred to me! I can still probably apply for a salary loan with SSS, like what Edsel plans to do! They have very low interest rates and you wouldn't even feel the monthly deductions. I'll have to seriously look into that. 

Wow, who would have thought I would be thinking about things like these?                                    

Tara Road

Finally, I was able to read. I finished Lipstick Jungle a week or so ago. I finished Tara Road just a few minutes ago. I still have a pile of books to go through though.

Tara Road is the first Maeve Binchy book I've read and I think I will read more from her. Somehow, when I picked the book up I was kind of compelled to turn page after page. It was a rather long novel, with so many things that have happened and yet it wasn't a bore to read.

I think it would be nice to have a life like Ria's. Except for the philandering husband and the eventual separation, of course.

Makes you think about friendships, and in general how we relate to other people.

Would have been too fairy-tale like if the story ended with Ria and the kids getting to keep Tara Road, but one couldn't help but wish it was so.

beverages and great packaging

Gift idea!

SnuggleMuffin shared a notebook she created following this tutorial. I checked out the tutorial and it seems easy enough. I'm now considering making a few for some of my friends. As Christmas gifts. I'll just check with my mom if they have a lot of scrap paper left at work :)

Beyonce Freebies!

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I got two FREE tickets to Beyonce's concert on Wednesday! I won't be using it though. 1) I'm not a big Beyonce fan (I like her and her music but I'm not a big fan); 2) Both boyf and I have work on Wednesday. Even if I can find a girlfriend to go with, I can't, because my boss will surely not be happy if I ask to go on leave with only 48 hours' notice (policy is 2 weeks' notice).

The first person I asked was my brother, he and his girlfriend Diane might be interested to go. He was a bit surprised, and I thought he might have wanted to take the tickets, but they couldn't. They had a wedding to go to.

The next person that came to my mind was my friend Arianne. I just imagined that this was her type of thing and that she's a big Beyonce fan. I wasn't wrong. We haven't arranged yet how she'll get the tickets from me but she will. I hope Y would be able to go with her.

We weren't really expecting to get the tickets. We just went to the Globe center to sign up for a post-paid line for boyf. We were surprised that aside from the free Samsung phone that was also a cutie, there were two tickets, and a Beyonce B'day Deluxe Edition CD and DVD! That last one's a keeper!

It was surely a good treat. :)

Daxterminator!

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My dad is back from his US trip, and with him is my PSP Lite Daxter pack. Love it! We went to Greenhills yesterday to buy a crystal case for it and I found out that the going rate for this same pack here is at around 14k. I got it for a little over 9k!

I also saw Japan versions, with pastel colors. Those go for about 11-12k just for the actual unit. No free game or memory stick. I'm glad we decided to purchase this online.

Daxter isn't a bad game either. It's fun for me. My gamer boyfriend enjoys it so far. Can't wait to borrow games from a PSP fanatic from work so we can have variety too...

My dad's arrival also meant that there were goodies from our relatives there. I got a brand new Levi's bag courtesy of Aunt Tessa who never fails to send bags for the ladies. Last time, we got Liz Claiborne bags that I over used! Hahaha...

His arrival also meant a trip to Duty Free Shopping. It was a little different this time because we didn't go to the home section. We totally forgot! It was mostly because we had to grocery shop for my cousins because that was the instruction from another uncle who sent money for them. It was fun though. :)

Mom and I both got Epsrit perfumes, I got one for boyfriend too.

Of course I picked up a bottle of Bailey's, and two bags of Reese cups. There's lots of chocolates too. Yummy. I'm good for the next two weeks or so. Hehehhe :)

Thanks for Tito Boy for sending 50 USD for my shopping pleasure. :)

Read up

LIPSTICK JUNGLE

Candace Bushnell

 

 

 

 

These are two of the three books I bought two weeks ago. I've started reading Lipstick Jungle but I haven't really devoted time to finish it. I thought the long weekend I just had (and kinda still having) would present the perfect opportunity, but it didn't.

One, I forgot to bring my books along with me. There was plenty space left in my bowling bag! I really just forgot to grab the books on my way out :(

Two, even if I had taken the books with me, there was no chance of having 'alone' time just to read books. During the drive to and from Zambales, everyone was chatting and sharing stories. I would have looked like a miser if I whipped out a book and started reading. When we got to the resort, there wasn't any time for reading either.

So the third book is one by Lisa Scottoline, but I forgot the title. I got it for mom because she's a fan. I will read it too though, because I've so far enjoyed the Scottoline books I've read.

Tara Road (Oprah's Book Club)

Maeve Binchy

I've put three other books on reserve in the same book shop. I was supposed to pick them up last week but didn't get a chance to. I did ask a friend to tell the guy manning the booth to hold it for me for a few more days, and that I will pick it up. I hope he hasn't sold them yet. One is The Color Purple, the other is by Amy Tan, and there's one more that I just can't seem to remember now... Maybe I'll pick them up tomorrow morning. We'll see.

 

Last of my goodies :)

I received the second and last* of the goodies I shopped online from Multiply, this time from another shop.

I got me a cute pink ballerina earring stand. I didn't expect it to be so small though, but it's still okay for the price I got it for. And it still holds a good number of pairs, so that's just fine. Having one though, makes me want to have a good dresser with a nice big mirror and kikay organizer in my room. I don't really need one though hehehe. :)

With the package was my big shimmery brown bowler bag (no, I don't know why it's called a bowler bag). This one, I didn't expect to be as big. My mom could really use it for her overnight trips or day trips to provinces on weekends when she needs to work.  I probably won't be using this bag too much, but I would love to, even as huge as it is :)

When I made the purchase, I actually thought the bag had a vinyl-like texture to it, but it doesn't.  I can't quite describe its texture though, kinda rough, but not still ok to touch.

I love my new bag!

(*when I say last, I meant last for the time being.)

I'm addicted!

So my shopaholic streak isn't over. I got myself a Starbucks Bunny Bearista last week (or was it the previous week?). Mine is the the second picture, the brown one. I have him sitting with me on my work station everyday, beside the McDonalds MighTY Bear.

Yesterday, the bangles I purchased from an online shop over at Multiply were delivered. Each piece is so cute!

I bought those bangles there because they were a steal at the price I got them. There's an accessory stand in our building and they carry pretty much the same items. The one's I purchased were priced at about 50 pesos more in that shop! Paying for shipping still made the online shop a cheaper alternative. (I know there are probably shops in Greenhills and Divisoria where I could get those items cheaper, but this way it was hassle free. And I would have ended up spending more with taxi fare and food)

I found out on Sunday that there's a new used-books store in our building and since I was still at work til about 10am, I decided to go ahead and check it out. I do not regret going there! They have a great collection of books there and they restock on a weekly basis. I bought three books today and had three others reserved! All bargain prices when the books were in very good condition!

Over the weekend, I placed an order for a PSP Lite! yay! Boyfriend and I talked about it a lot the past couple of weeks and we decided that my dad's trip to the US this month would be a good time to purchase it. I had the goods delivered to my uncle's house and my dad will pick it up in about two weeks. Can't wait!

Seems like I've been getting a lot of retail therapy, but to be honest, it still hasn't cured what's been bothering me.  I don't expect it to, though.

Perhaps I'll be cutting my spending for the time being.  I declare a moratorium on shopping for accessories!

Did I mention that I also placed an order for a bag and an earring holder? Hehe, I'll post pics when they arrive (not that anyone's interested). After this, I won't order anything for a while. :)