Mirror mirror

presenting, the first-ever piece of furniture that we bought for our new life together!

ta-daaah!


you like? i like. i was surprised that marlon liked it, though. he used to be mr. zen/clean lines, but i guess four and a half years in a relationship with me finally wore him down.

it was a tough choice between silver and gold, though.



to date, the inventory of new stuff bought especially for the new place includes (in the order of purchase):

1. steel sunburst mirror (made in tondo, bought from a roadside stall in tagaytay)
2. custom-made acacia daybed (in the works)
3. 32-inch samsung lcd tv (guess who almost peed his pants buying this. really, what is with guys and big tvs????)
4. lillberg two-seater couch from ikea, spray-painted white with black cushions (for the tv room)
5. ludde sheepskin from ikea (for the tv room couch)
6. ironing board from ikea

eek! ikea invasion. okay, testigo kayong lahat: i vow not to live in an ikea showcase!

Burning questions

should we get a cat?

one of the things i'm looking forward to most about the move is leaving five dogs behind. don't get me wrong, they're great, but i really just want to have a cat after all these years of dogdom.

i love cats. i'm a cat person through and through. i talk to them on the street in the special cuddly voice i reserve for shoes, dark chocolate and marlon. the stray cat in our compound just gave birth to kittens and i positively melt every morning as i pass them on my way out of the house.

this is what i did in the alhambra -- take pictures of all the cats

marlon is surprisingly (adorably) game. he's a dog person, but he says knows i'd be happier with a cat than he would be with a dog that has to be small enough for condo living. (personally, i think he's waiting for us to get a bigger space so he can get his dream st. bernard.) he even interrogated an officemate who has two cats of her own in singapore to see how we could work it out.

so what's stopping me is: can the perpetually out and about, workaholic, wanderlusting couple that we are really take tender loving care of a living creature at this point in time? can we risk the damage to our landlord's immaculate, newly laid wood parquet floors? are we ready to resign the fate of one of our first articles of furniture (a custom-made acacia daybed) to that of a scratching post?

does my impending cohabitation with marlon necessitate cuter pambahay?

i've seen marlon in his pambahay, but he hasn't seen me in mine. mostly it's really big t-shirts with no shorts (i live in a house full of women so this is okay). somehow i can't picture me being young wife-ish, chopping onions in the kitchen or whatever, in this getup.

so i'm thinking shorts and tank tops, or tank tops and pajamas, or smallish t-shirts and shorts... articles of clothing that are in short supply in my closet. (my glee club friends had to give me my first pair of adult-sized pajamas after one too many sleepovers where my giant t-shirts rode up in my sleep and revealed my underwear to them.)

it's strange, but i actually want to be presentable at home. is that weird?

when will trillanes grow up?

he's a senator now, for chrissake. he can't run around doing things like this anymore. what a creep.

Getting trippy at the Taj

i told myself i'd only blog if it was about condo-hunting in singapore. but when i came across these unbelievably trippy pictures of my parents, i couldn't resist sharing them with all of you.

these totally groovy hand-tinted photos were taken by "taj photo studio" at the taj mahal in agra in 1977. note that the colors of their clothes are different in both pictures. quipped my art director officemates: "inaantok na siguro yung artist."

and aren't my mom's wide-legged, high-waisted pants back in style?



truly kitschy classic. yeah baby!

Distract me

Name:
Deepa

Age:
26

Religion:
Roman Catholic

What are you passionate about:
Life

Favorite movie this year:
I really liked Stardust, although I'm saving the favorite spot for The Golden Compass

Most played songs on iPod:
Not on the bandwagon, sorry

Hero:
Nathan Petrelli!

Best quality about me:
I can kick ass.

The worst:
When I'm in a real snit, I avoid doing things and avoid people.

Do you have direction?
More than I used to.

Last semi-sensible purchase:
Wow. I really had to stop and think about this one. It seems I make very few sensible purchases. Okay, a prepaid MRT card.

If you could buy one thing right now it would be:
The four-poster wrought-iron bed Marlon and I saw in Rustan's

Beach or mountains:
Beach

Sport:
Boxing

Movie that makes me cry:
Dancer in the Dark

Apart from what you're doing now, what would be your dream job:
Promo writer or travel show host for Discovery

Temptation you have successfully avoided thus far:
Drugs and cigs. Nobody ever offered me any. Boo.

Temptation you have succumbed to recently:
To put off boxing.

The one thing you can never be:
Waifish.

The one thing you strive to be:
Loving.

The one thing you struggle with the most:
Myself.

The most beautiful woman you've ever seen:
Iza Calzado. Grabe.

The best thing your mom taught you:
If you really love him, panindigan mo.

The best thing your dad taught you:
Not himself, but via my mom and his side of the family: What you do for love makes a difference in people's lives forever.

The thing you surprisingly enjoy doing:
Sucking on ketchup sachets from McDo.

Last time you kissed someone:
Marlon, goodbye in the wee hours of the morning on Monday.

What turns you on:
Massive men

What turns you off:
Men without a passion

Most pointless thing a girl can buy:
An ill-fitting bra.

Best thing a girl can buy:
A fabulous pair of shoes that perks up any outfit. (Best to wear on "fat" days.)

Favorite sound:
Marlon saying "hi" in his cute and cuddly tone when I pick up the phone. (You're welcome to gag.)

Worst sound:
Joyce Jimenez's voice.

Favorite swear word:
Shet. The colegiala version.

When no one's looking I like to:
Rub my eyes.

What would the movie of your life be called:
Hmmm. I have no idea.

What is the most ironic thing about yourself:
I constantly think I can't do things, yet I am Superwoman.

What do you like most about yourself:
I have a passion for life, the world, and humanity

What do you hate most about yourself:
I'm lazy

Issue most important to you:
Now, gearing up for an adventure. In general, bringing people ways to express themselves in the world.

What is the bravest thing you've done:
Did something I believed in and NOT be liked

What is the one brave thing you've still yet to do:
Stop believing that I need approval

What's food for your soul?
Physical affection, discovery, travel, music, art and design, communion with God

If you were to enter heaven, what would you like to hear at the pearly gates:
"It's about freaking time!"

Move it

gasp.

the cost estimate from the professional movers just gave me a heart attack.

now, on to the unprofessional movers, i say.

A flurry of firsts

aaaah! ang daming nangyayari!

life is hurtling forward at an amazing speed these days, and i'm dying to blog about it all. i've been thoroughly tempted to take a leave from work just to blog. but then the only thing stopping me is that my internet connection at work is so much better. mwehehehe.

i just want to call in the following firsts, really quickly. in the past five days alone:

marlon and i have made a deposit on our very first house, purchased our first piece of furniture (that we still don't physically have with us, yet), and bought our first piece of furniture that we actually carted home.

and i bought my very first painting, fulfilling a promise i made to myself to start collecting art this year. hurray!

i have no time to blog (or at least, in the detailed manner i love to blog in) and i'm totally exhausted right now. but it doesn't mean i can't love my life! love it love it love it!

Something new

first, jenny raved about the class.

second, she told me about the schedule.

then, she showed me this video of the teacher. (excuse the cheesy filter/color effects, i have no idea why they shot it this way.)



i actually didn't want to tell marlon about it. "why not?" he asked.

"baka kasi umasa ka, eh," i replied.

but what the hell. last wednesday, just about two hours after a particularly grueling session at the boxing gym, i went to try it for the very first time.

poledancing.

yes. me.

and...

it was fun!

i mean, never mind that all of the girls in the class are what i am not... which is extremely skinny and able to shimmy all the way up/dangle upside down from/use nothing but thigh power to hang horizontally from a 10-foot metal pole. i'm definitely coming back for more.

as i grunted and sweated to lift my legs off the floor from a bridge position, pole between my legs ("diyos ko! pinagpapawisan na ito!" murmured ed as he held up my butt), i really got how my utterly unworkable physique was the result of so many broken promises to myself. you know, those promises to exercise so many hours per week, to stay off sweets, to eat brown rice, to not attack buffet tables? i swear! they couldn't have been more real if they were in the form of lead weights attached to my ass.

strangely (and happily), i wasn't discouraged. i may have almost burst a major artery lifting myself up half a foot off the floor, but it doesn't mean it can't be done! so i promised jenny (who's quite the star of her class, i must say!) i would come back for at least two more sessions before i would even consider giving it up completely. i'm actually already looking at where to get the money for 10 sessions.

from tugging my shorty shorts down at the beginning of the class, to actually hitching them up by the end of it and prancing around in heels by the end of it, it actually felt great to just do something i had never done, and really push myself to do it. plus, after all the rough and tumble of boxing, it felt great to do something so unabashedly feminine.

and it's not all batting eyelashes and slapping butt, either -- two days later and i can barely move my arms without groaning.

but no matter. looks like i'm going to have a regular appointment with something long, hard and that makes me sweat.

jejeje.