Math on my feet

Gotta love TOMS's advocacy – "One for One." With every purchase, TOMS gives a pair of new shoes to a child in need.

I ACED calculus in college.  Where I studied, the grade “1.00” meant “excellent” or the equivalent of 99.00% – 100.00%.  I got a 1.00 for Differential Calculus, and 1.25 for Integral Calculus.  (My other favorite subject was Chemistry, for which I got 1.00 on three of four semesters, and a 1.25 on the fourth one.)

So when Mama saw this pair of TOMS Classics in “Calculus,” she just had to get it for me for the holidays.  I woke up on New Year’s morning with this gift by the bed.

Good thing I’m no longer in school.  Otherwise, my professors would probably make me take off these shoes on exam days.  Hahaha!

 

Very environmentally conscious... these shoes are made from pesticide-free cotton!

 

The box is finally opened! Nice...

 

The print looks like someone's notes.

 

For me, TOMS are quite comfortable. This is my third TOMS gift... all from my family.

 

I debuted my new TOMS on the first Monday workday of 2012, together with the Lacoste LIVE! graphic shirt from a sister-in-law and Philippine-made jeans from one of my brothers.

 

Copyright © 2012 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MunchTime™©.  All rights reserved

Today in jeans and shirts

WHEN MY penny-pinching started, my blog post “Life in the time of bailouts” came to be.  Nothing much has changed a couple of years since I wrote that.  If there’s anything that three consecutive days and nights at the Mall of Asia (MOA), and a serendipitous find at the “Shell of Asia” along NLEX further affirmed to me, it is that I will shop only where it says S–A–L–E.  Preferably in big, bold, red letters.

Last Friday, while doing the rounds of stores at MOA – for shirts and toys for my nephews – I chanced upon this window display at Lacoste.  I was drawn to how well-put-together the whole ensemble was.  I loved the shirt and the shoes, but it was the pair of pants in royal blue that pulled me in to the store.  Now I could say that the green scarf speaking to Rebecca Bloomwood, luring her to yet another unnecessary purchase, wasn’t so preposterous.

Lovin' the pants in my fade shade of blue!... Lacoste ensemble at their window display in MOA.

I actually hesitated to inquire because I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford it.  Besides, I didn’t want to risk having to call the pants “that blue stuff on display” – because I’d always articulate my inquiry to sales people rather than point with my fingers – lest I earn the ire of Miranda Priestly and get a dressing down on how this shade of blue trickled down to the masses.  Sensing my indecisiveness, my sister-in-law did all the asking on my behalf.  Php 4950.00 for the pair of pants.  Quite steep for my standards for things I buy for myself.

I told myself that I could save up for it.  Then another voice in my head told me that if I will have to do that, I don’t have a business wanting it in the first place.  So, goodbye Lacoste pants in my favorite shade of blue.

Then came the weekend.  On the drive back from Fontana in Clark we decided to stop for Starbucks, which we found at this gas station that purports itself to be the “Shell of Asia”.  Do you know how it feels like when you know what your goal or intention is and yet so many other things seem more attractive, piquing your curiosity and pulling you to directions other than your original goal?  That’s exactly what happened to me on the way to Starbucks.  And it was because one store screamed: “O–U–T–L–E–T”.  Giordano Outlet, to be exact.

Giordano Outlet at the Shell of Asia along the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX)

Walking past the Php 299.00 shirt pile, I ran my fingers through the jeans rack and that was where my eye caught a certain shade of blue peeking from what appeared to me as a slice of vanilla gateau de crêpe turned to its side.  Eureka!  And when I checked the tag – reduced three times! – it was just for the very affordable price of Php 750.00.  Sold!  Hahaha!

So here it is, my new pair of jeans.  In the shade of blue that I love.  For a price I was willing to pay.

Giordano jeans in my favorite shade of (royal) blue!

 

(At MOA, I also found a statement shirt that appealed to me in all its cheesiness.  Yes, cheesy but undeniably…  hopeful too.  Hahaha!)

"God is writing my love story"

 

Today in jeans and shirt

 

This is just so cute.

 

Starbucks at the "Shell of Asia"

 

My usual "goodness" is chai tea latte over ice. Sometimes, it's green tea latte, which I discovered through Green Lantern.

 

Starbucks Flourless Chocolate Brownie

 

Dessert and tea

 

Copyright © 2011 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MunchTime™©.  All rights reserved.

Retail therapy

Lacoste Gray Weekend Duffel

RETAIL THERAPY shall give the best relief available.  I’ve held on to this belief from that one fateful early evening when Partner picked me up from the office.  When I pulled open the door of her car, my eyes popped out at the sight of a humungous Louis Vuitton shopping bag at the backseat.  I looked at her and without the need to blurt out my query she said something like, “Hay naku Partner.  The person I had to meet up made me wait.  So instead na ma-stress, I bought that bag.”  I could still paint the picture in my head.  Upon learning that the other party would be unfashionably late, Partner took one more sip of her caramel machiatto, upped and left, and crossed the street to Louis Vuitton at Greenbelt 4.  NOBODY makes Partner wait!

And unlike most shoppers, she actually bought a Speedy 30 in Mini Lin.

I can imagine seeing Partner nodding in approval as I exhaled this same claim on retail therapy over the weekend – letting go of pent-up frustrations and probably a little holiday burn-out.  (But wait, how can the holidays lead to such burn-out?  I wonder.)

This, coupled with feeling a bit under the weather, led me to set aside a little “me time” that resulted to a plan a.k.a. eNTeNG’s post-holiday S-A-L-E mall tour.  Thursday and Friday yielded nothing.  But Saturday and Sunday were a different story.

Saturday saw me going to The Podium, then Megamall, then Shangri-La Plaza.  Lacoste would always be a requisite stop – not for me, but for my brother and really close friends.  I can’t afford Lacoste…  for me.  Hahaha!  At Megamall, I scored this really nice, small-ish gray weekend duffel (photo above).  The exterior is made of a wool and polyester blend and is quite sturdy.  And the inside is lined beautifully, with a spacious inside side pocket and compartments for a cellphone and a number of pens.  Perfect!  My very loyal brother – the one I tease as the jetsetter (Hahaha!) – would love this.  He won’t even need to wait for the weekend to use this bag.  Any second thoughts I had about getting it (as the price was almost phohibitive), was quashed by the charms of the very lovely sales associate who attended to me without getting annoying at the slightest.  I sought her out to thank her before I darted out their door.

Inside the orange "Manny" shopping bag was the weekend duffel. I asked them to "fit" it in there because I found the blue shopping bag TOO MUCH. Hehe. My brother who received this gift is a staunch supporter of presidentiable Manny Villar. As I favor yellow, I had to get something for myself as well. Hence, the yello bag you see.

 

"Noynoy" at a busy cafe.

For myself, I got three different pairs of jeans.  My favorite?  This pair of Giordano denims that I have been so lusting after for quite a while now.  I almost snatched the same at their Town branch eventhough it was a size larger, all because I felt I wouldn’t find the perfect fit anywhere anymore.

It's all in the details. The back pockets got to me!

Patience paid off.  I got it in my size finally.  And at the price it came for, it was literally a steal from the original price of Php 2499.  Oh, that’s one more thing about me – I’d never pay full retail price for stuff for myself.  Hahaha!

Love these jeans!

 

Copyright © 2010 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MuchTime™©.  All rights reserved.

Manny and Noynoy

Meet "Manny" and "Noynoy"...

I CAN’T help but caption this photo: “Manny and Noynoy.”  More about the tale of these Lacoste shopping bags later.

Copyright © 2010 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MuchTime™©.  All rights reserved.

Bringing back the heartache

APART FROM good food and wristwatches, scents are another passion of mine.  A good scent – top, middle, and base notes considered – has the power to evoke intense emotions, brighten someone’s day, or pull the past through the time and space continuum back all the way to the present.

Some of my favorites on the shelf here at home.

I’ve ticked off quite a number of fragrances as personal favorites through the years.  And as a tradition at the start of a new year, I put together a list of up and coming scents that have piqued my interest and have merited a trial whiff or two at the department store fragrance counter.

My all-time favorites include In Motion by Hugo Boss (memories of Stanford University), Style In Play by Lacoste (my birthday 2004), Carolina Herrera 212 For Men, Michael Kors’ Michael For Men, Egoiste Platinum by Chanel, Clinique Happy For Men, Ralph Lauren Polo Blue, Kenneth Cole New York (the classic one in the round gray bottle…  reminds me of someone in my one-and-a-half years in the States), M by Banana Republic, Fahrenheit by Christian Dior, and Lacoste Original (from Batman…  this is THE BEST).

So just how much perfume does one need to put on?  Just enough that only the person close enough to kiss you will smell it.

I don’t usually follow my own rule.

Some of my faves on my DVD/CD cabinet. I don't think they make that Kenneth Cole anymore.

 

Copyright © 2009 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MuchTime™©.  All rights reserved.

eNTeNG making list

CHRISTMAS IS undeniably around the corner when newscasts end with their these-many-days-to-go-before-Christmas countdown.  And for me this year, I actually am holding a couple of countdowns – the other one is at “36 days to go” as I write.  (I spoke too soon.  There’s a third one at “62 days to go.”)

I also know that the season is upon us when I myself begin seeing stuff in the malls that I would want to surprise someone with.  And given that the recession is still hovering above us like an overcast sky, I’m thinking about window-shopping this early as a good enough preparation to shove my “it’s the thought that counts” belief upon just about everybody.

Of course I’m just kidding.

Last Friday, I took down on my Starbucks® date planner and journal my very first note about a Christmas 2009 gift idea for someone.  I was seated comfortably at my favorite spot at Powerbooks in Town and as I excitedly turned a page of Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa at Home – I couldn’t wait to check her version of marinated raw tomato sauce! – my sight hit the display diagonally across the other side of the piazza.

Taken down at the exact moment of epiphany – seeing the very first item on my gift list this year.

The handwritten note I took reads: “18^th September 2009, 07:43 P.M., Lacoste dark brown with multi-colored stripes polo shirt…  town…”

I’ll be saving up for this one.  I know exactly who to give this to.

When it comes to Lacoste shirts, I'm partial to the ITALIAN FIT. By the way, these aren't the ones I saw on display at Town last Friday (I said what I saw was brown!). These are from about a year ago. But they look kinda similar anyways.

 

I think it would be nice for anyone to receive this box and paper bag bearing gifts!

All things amazing… definitely Swiss!

I AM going against the theme of my blog to make this special shoutout.  The “definitely Swiss” on this post is neither chocolate nor wristwatch.

CONGRATULATIONS to THE Roger Federer for winning his first French Open.  I’m not a tennis fanatic. But having sort of “followed” Roger’s journey this past year – leading to his triumph on clay last Sunday – speaks volumes of just how charismatic this legendary athlete is.

Truly, for everything there is a season.  And there was no giving up on THE Roger Federer, even after Jessica Zafra proposed a group therapy session for all his fans after his loss in Australia.  I’m not going to go into the details of his track record.  That’s not my thing.  Besides, I don’t want to end up just printing here “research” material.  I’m leaving that to the real “vanguards” of the sport.  Superman being foremost of them.

Anything and everything I know about tennis, I learned from Superman.  Anything and everything I appreciate about THE Roger Federer, I got from Superman.

Which makes me think – why not get a Lacoste Roland Garros 2009 shirt for someone special?