You know you're getting old...

...When you start getting excited about buying house-related stuff, especially cute furniture and kitchenware. You get excited with the silliest stuff like scented candles, cute bowls that match your dinner mat, or those colorful measuring spoons you use when cooking. I personally love multipurpose stuff and those thingamajigs used for organizing things! I don't know about you but I'm currently onto these things like there's no tomorrow. Getting old is just a state of mind anyways; mind over matter is what they say. ;)

This post will serve as my "ideabook" for that day when we start building our own house. The thought of recreating and DIY-ing some of these make me blush.  Photos are from Houzz.

Pan storage so they won't come crashing when you open that door.

A hanging daybed in the backyard for some relaxation. 

Love these glass jar chandeliers.

Human sized mirror - a necessity.

Use every inch of your house by creating corner shelves.

Spices organizer

Not your ordinary clock

Apothecary jars as food storage. 

Glass lamp

Fire pit kit for a backyard get together with friends at night.

Cord labellings for less confusion

I prefer sliding doors.

Knives organizer

Another glass chandelier/lamp. Love how glass are aesthetically endearing.

Pull down kitchen faucet.

A nice headboard.

Built-in hamper/clothes bin

Positive reminder

A nice tub with caddy for some alone time.

Built-in trash cabinet

Dream kitchen

Lion's head knocker

Space saving pantry ideas.

Wood looking porcelain tiles

Study desk with storage for the kid

Walk-in closet

I cannot wait for the day when we move out of my parents' house and finally have our own place we can call 'home'. I've been quietly envisioning how I'll decorate our first home -- majority will be painted white and pops of colors and personalities will be delivered through wall arts, furniture, textures, fabrics, decors, lighting and etc. I'd like bedrooms to be eclectic while the rest of the house would be a mixture of contemporary and modern styles. If money weren't an issue I'd like to have my own office and walk-in closet, Al's recording studio and office, game room for kids, a guest room, and a large backyard with a pool. Hey, no wrong in dreaming big... and it's free!

What's your dream house? And how would you decorate it?

90s Hiphop

As of late, I was forced to analyze what things me and my boyfriend both like and enjoy; purpose being an upcoming major event in our lives. It actually came easy to us because it is what bonded us from the very start - music. I remember our first date was at a hiphop event at a coffee shop in Taft (now closed) which its name beats me.

The contemplation led me to listening to songs for inspiration. What better era (of hiphop) to choose but the 90s, right? These are some of the songs that bring me back to the 90s once I hear them play. There are lots more but it's impossible to post all of them, so yea.

90s hiphop it is!

Also, apologies (again) for the absence, I will try (again) to update more often. There are about three posts in the drafts that, for some reason, I haven't yet the time to finish. Enjoy listening!

Style inspiration

Personally, I think fashion is different from style. Fashion or trends have more rules and they come and go with the seasons. While style is who you are, it has more freedom, it lasts longer (unless you change your personality often), and it's all about expressing who you are through dressing up.

People have their own likings and differences; to each his own, they say. Some do cosplays because they like anime, some like to wear all black, spikes, and skulls. All of these, I think, convey something -- clothes serve as a lifestyle statement.

I, personally, tend to lean towards monochromatic, versatile, detailed, and un-girly pieces. I love prints, denims, leathers, sheer, sequins, studs, black and white, lace, gold details, piling on accessories, and pops of color. Some things that doesn't appeal are too much pink and pa-cute stuff and too revealing clothes.

I'd say my style is casual and laid-back. Here are some styles that caught my eye:

 

 

 

 

This as formal as it could get:

Pop of colors:

 

What's your style? How do you manipulate pieces of clothing to express who you are?

*Photos grabbed from Tumblr and Pinterest*

Mi Ombré!

Ombré hair has been around for quite a while, I know, but I am not one to follow trends so kiber! If you follow me on Twitter you'll know that I have been bored with black hair for more than a year and was looking into things I could do. Ombré hair was on top of the list, I also considered whipping out the good ol' bangs, shaving one side of my head, and dying it whole lilac or any purple shade, srsly!

It took me this long to finally do ombré hair because bleaching powder and toners are such a b**ch to get a hold in this country-- it's either you wait for HBC to restock their bleaching powder (which are always sold out) or wait another 2 months for pre-ordered items. Since waiting is involved in both options, I went for the former because it's cheaper. Anyhoo, this post is to show you guys how I did mi ombré hair.

Things needed:

• Hair bleaching powder and developer (or you can buy a bleaching kit or a highlighting kit for less hassle)
• Non-metallic bowl and a hair color applicator brush
• Long hair clips for making hair partitions
• Aluminum foil and scissors
• Barber's cape (or whatever you call it. Not in picture.)
• Hair color kit of your choice
• Gloves (I used the ones that are included in the Revlon kit)

Notes: Aside from this particular bleaching method I used, you can also use a highlighting kit for no mixing hassle but I highly doubt it's also available in stores. // Non-metallic bowls should be used to avoid chemicals from the bleach to mix with the metallic bowl's chova. I know you know what I mean! // They said that you should get hair color kits with "ash" on them to serve as your toner -- which takes out the brassiness and orange of your hair. Since "ash blondes" isn't readily available too (sucks!) I went with whatever blond shade is on sale just to take out the orange parts.

 First split your hair into small sections using long hair clips to make sure your application will be even throughout. I know my partition skills are bad, hah! But you get the idea.

Then mix the bleach powder with the developer. I mixed 1 part bleaching powder to 3 parts developer. Mixture shouldn't be sticky because it'll be hard to work with it.

Next step, which I didn't get to take a photo of, is put on an old shirt and your "barber's cape" to avoid bleach going to places you don't want. Then apply the mixture on the bottom ends of your hair first where you want the color to be the lightest.

Once you're done applying the bleach, cover it with Aluminum foil and leave it on for 30 mins. After 30 mins. wash the bleach out and repeat bleach application  - this time apply the bleach higher on your hair. Maybe from under your lips up to the ends of your hair. Wrap it with Aluminum foil again and wait another 30 mins.

Above is the result after 2 sessions of bleach application -- orange-y ickyness. I had to have 2 sessions of hair bleaching (1 day apart) in order to really lighten my hair and reach the shade I wanted.

I let my hair rest for 3 days then I applied the Revlon Colorsilk kit to take out the horrific orange in my hair. Halloween lang ang peg!

Above is the outcome of my experiments. Chos! But seriously it was trial and error; I didn’t know what I’d look like after every application. Left photo is raw and the right one’s edited.

Considering I’m no hairdresser and this being the first time I bleached my hair, I’d say I did a good job. My mane still isn’t the blond color I’d like it to be but I achieved the “fading effect” the ombré hairstyle is all about. And being the restless person that I am, I am now thinking about dying my ombre pink or purple or red. I don’t know! We’ll see. Haha!

I hope this “sort-of-ombré-tutorial” made sense. I’m really bad at explaining things but, hey, I tried! Also, I apologize for the quality of the photos. The DSLR is with the sister so I had to make do with the iPhone’s cam.

Enjoy!