My shoes are so fab!

A few days before Christmas, my husband, Simon, asked me what I would want for Christmas. Whenever I am asked that question my mind always goes blank.  Asking for gifts is not something I am accustomed to doing.  This year the only thing I asked for from family and friends was votes to win a camera.   I didn’t win.  But I had to think of something.  Surely there was something I wanted or needed that would not be unreasonable to ask for, right?

I came up with one thing:  SHOES.

My godfather, Uncle Ed, used to give me shoes for my birthday and Christmas, but after I got married I figured I must be getting too old to receive them regularly.  And, as I said, I’m not one to ask so I wasn’t going to remind him.

I believe that every girl should have at least one pair of strappy heels among her shoes.  Aside from gold (or silver, can’t remember) formal strappy heels, all my other shoes are either too formal or too casual.  I have boots, and rubber shoes, aqua socks/shoes, flip flops, and office shoes.  But I realized that aside from hand-me-down Skechers heels I had nothing that would go with anything.  And so, when he asked me what I wanted for Christmas the only thing that popped into my head was “girlie shoes”.

I wasn’t expecting him to go out and buy them for me, though.  Just like underwear, shoes are personal, so more often than not it is better to go out and buy it yourself than have someone else buy it for you.  So … Simon just gave me the money for it.  Worked for me.  That way I was sure to get the style I want and in the correct size.  I;m a size 9-9.5 so it actually isn’t easy to get me shoes.  My feet are too big for regular sizes (which usually stop at and too small for big sizes (which usually start at 10).

Yesterday afternoon Erika went with me to Trinoma and to The Block for shoe shopping.  We ended up getting shoes from the store I wanted to get them from in the first place, So Fab! at The Block.

Aren’t these shoes pretty?  I love them!  Over the years I have bought and worn strappy sandals until they wear out from overuse.  I fell in love with this pair on site.

I showed them to my mom and dad when I got home and mom loved them.  Her only question to me was … am I not too tall already?  With these shoes on I reach a lofty 5′10″. Perfect!

Expect to see me in these shoes many, many times in the coming months.  Thank you, daddy, for giving me the money to buy them.

Twilight contest has a winner

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Guess what? I didn’t win in the Twilight contest on Fizzer.ph that I was making so much noise about for several weeks, hoping and begging for my family and friends to vote for me. Winning it really wasn’t easy. At times it felt like pulling out of quicksand would be easier than convincing people not only to sign up to Fizzer.ph but also to vote for me on the Twilight contest and give me 5 stars. People had different reasons for taking their time or not doing it at all.  For some it was security or privacy issues, for others it was either a very busy social or work schedule.  Which is why I am very, very thankful to all the people who did vote. Your combined votes was enabled me to reach the #2 spot in the photo contest.

Some of my friends told me they were waiting for the last minute to vote. Unfortunately, registration/login bugs prevented them from entering the site and therefore could not vote for me. I actually saw this for myself since one of my friends registered in my presence and was unable to login despite receiving the confirmation email. I guess that SNAFUs are one of the things to be expected when we wait until the last minute to do something.

With more than a 200 vote lead on me, I am not surprised that 24 year old Helga Weber went home with the Canon 450D Rebel DSLR Camera. Congratulations, Helga! 

Pre-Christmas with my in-laws

I am blessed.  You know all the things they say about how in-laws are supposed to be difficult to get along with?  They’re not true, at least, not for me.  Even though they are not the most affectionate of people, I think my in-laws are wonderful.

Whether or not I asked for their help, they have made sure I knew that they are there for me.

Last night was my niece, Marty’s birthday.  We celebrated at TGIF at The Fort.

Dinner itself wastn’t all that great because the food took too long to arrive and there was always something missing … missing sauce, one chicken fillet short, serving size was smaller than Chili’s, food was more expensive than was expected, etc.  Suffice it to say the dinner was a disaster!  We couldn’t help comparing it to when we ate at Chili’s where service was fast, food ordered was complete, and the items on the menu cost less.

But the evening did not end there.

As we stepped out of Friday’s our ears were greeted by the beautiful sound of several male voices blended in pure harmony.  And the first thing that entered my head was, “OMG, that has GOT to be Tux!”  And true enough, it was!

I haven’t heard them in YEARS and I’ve always enjoyed listening to choirs when they actually harmonize.  I rushed over to check and sure enough, it was!  I couldn’t mistake them for anyone else.

Their program was conducted in front of Krispy Kreme so we decided to have our dessert and there.  That way we could listen and sort of watch the show while we ate.  After a while, my nieces wandered off to do some window shopping but I chose to stay until the end of the show.  By the way, Tux is re-releasing their first and second album as well as a Christmas album but they are not yet available in stores.  You can only get them directly from the band.  I have the Road Manager’s card, in case anyone is interested.

At the end of the evening, Erika and I decided to take some lookbook worthy photos.

What? Fizzer is giving away more gadgets?!?

The first time I heard about Fizzer was when my daughter and I watched the blocked screening at Greenbelt 3 of New Moon, the second movie of the Twilight Saga, sponsored by Twilight Coven Philippines.  And before you ask, yes, it was MUCH better than the first one by leaps and bounds.

As we entered the movie theater we were warmly greeted with smiles and invitations to an after movie party at Capone’s by a group of uber-hot, well-muscled sexy men dressed in jeans and tank tops (dressed as the local version of the clean cut La Push wolf pack) and sexy, curvaceous women dressed in tiny black dresses with plunging necklines (“dressed to vamp”, so to speak in the stereotypical “look” of the female vampire). Turns out these guys and gals were representatives of Fizzer.ph (one of the sponsors of the screening).

When I asked them what Fizzer.ph was they said, “it is a  real social network”, and in response, of course I said, “oh, you mean like Facebook”.  Apparently the similarity ends at the words “social network”.  Fizzer is a “real” social network, they say, because:

• Fizzer.ph is a localized social network – this means that the target market are Filipinos from all over, but specifically those that reside in the Philippines
• Fizzer.ph not only connects people online but also creates opportunities for fellow Fizzer members to meet and interact (face to face) initially in Fizzer sponsored events and later in events sponsored by Fizzer members themselves
• Fizzer.ph gives really great prizes in their contests which I hear they will have every month!

Speaking of contests, they have an easy contest running right now with wonderful prizes in store for those who join.

Like with any other website, the gauge of its success is measured by its popularity.   In social networking terms this can be measured by simply looking at its total membership.  Fizzer.ph is a very new player and to get their numbers up and in conjunction with the season of giving, they came up with a new contest called “The New Year Blowout” which starts on December 15, 2009 and will end on Valentine’s  Day, February 14, 2010.

Joining is so easy to do:  

• Sign up on the website.  There are 2 ways of doing that.
• If you received an invite code to join the Fizzer.ph website, such as this one: http://www.fizzer.ph/signup/8ad1435363.html (This is my daughter, Erika’s code.  Please use it to help her get the numbers she needs, too.) then click or visit the link and then fill up the registration form it leads you to
• If you did not receive an invitation code you can just go straight to the homepage of Fizzer.ph and click on the word REGISTRATION found at the bottom
• Once logged in go to http://www.fizzer.ph/competitions/christmasGiveaway.html
• Click on the “join competition” button

It’s that simple.  But what are the rules?

• Participants have to be Filipino and residing in the Philippines.
• The user with the highest number of confirmed invited users wins.  The confirmed invite must upload at least one photo of themselves and add at least one school in  their personal information for the invitee to be counted as a confirmed invite.
• Your friends must use the invitation link to register for the invites to be counted.
• Fraudulent accounts will not be tolerated. The number of confirmed registrations through your invites will be tracked by Fizzer.
• Note: Fizzer.ph reserves the right to disqualify contest participants.

The prizes they are giving away to the people who place in  the top 5 make it totally worth it to invite people to sign up.

• 1st place receives a Macbook
• 2nd place receives a PS3
• 3rd place receives an HP Mini
• 4th place receives a PSP
• 5th place receives an iPod

I myself find all the prizes drool worthy and certainly worth the effort of inviting people to sign up.  My daughter takes after me.  She loves gadgets, too, and she would love to  finally own a Macbook.  How about you? Care to try for the Macbook, too?

Grad School Is Fun

So far grad school is a blast!  After a few weeks I already have good friends among my classmates.

And wonderful camaraderie with the rest of the Master in Communication Society members.

There was none of the awkwardness I remember from meeting people for the first time when I was in elementary, high school, or college.  I guess when everyone are professionals getting along with each other is much, much easier.  We are more confident.  We are more helpful towards each other.

Perhaps it is because we are all more self-confident now?  More self-assured?

I can’t be sure, but I think I am the oldest of all my classmates, although I don’t think I look it.  When we were introducing ourselves they would mention the year they graduated from college and most of them said “two thousand and …” so … ’nuff said.

Lectures in all my classes are done in reporting style, which forces us, the students to do a lot of research.  I don’t mind it.  I actually think we learn more this way, especially during the classroom discussions which are always lively.

I feel blessed in having intelligent, friendly, and inquisitive classmates.  Looking forward to when school resumes in January.