My new family celebrates New Year even before Dec 31. We ate at Annapolis Seafood Restaurant. (OT: The food was okay. They say that Gloria Maris is still better. I wouldn't know. For me, they taste the same. Haha!) I didn't want to wear something over the top because it was just us with the nephews. Plus I was going to stop by  ShopSui after lunch and head back home.

So I chose this look: (Pardon the blurry photos. Used my camera phone to take the pics.)

Skin Hour Mattifying Day Cream

CoverGirl True Blend Minerals in Creamy Natural
Fanny Serrano 2 way foundation in Rajah (for contour)
Monave Blush in Damask


Also, I wore red because they say its a lucky color. So I plan to welcome the New Year with lots and lots of good luck. :)

It's always fun to celebrate the holidays with your family and friends. I'm a big family person and we really have a close relationship. Same with my friends. We try to meet up occasionally since we all live our separate lives and are all busy with our own thing. We catch up during birthdays or like this time, Christmas.

We headed to Dayrits at The Fort, since my friend G works in that area and we met up on a Monday. We decided to stay in the vicinity so G wouldn't have a hard time anymore and will just go straight to Dayrits after work.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to take photos. I actually don't know why we didn't. Haha! Especially since C just got a new camera. Anyways, here's a group photo taken by H.

using C's Lumix camera

Photos aside, the food was good. Order Macau, which is like longganisa, and the Mandarin Pork (if I'm not mistaken), I liked it. The Roast Beef was really good too. It's quite amazing that it turned out we paid about P250.00/person only. And we were already full. Not bad right? I think they really priced the food cheap because a lot of offices were around the restaurant, and while we eat, some tables were filled with employees from nearby offices.

Will I go back to Dayrits? Yes most probably. The only thing is I don't usually go to The Fort. But if a chance arises, I'll dine there again.

Let's talk about choosing a wedding church. H and I are both Catholics so we wed in a church. Choosing a church is not easy at all. First of all, this is in the top of the list once you start preparing for the wedding.

We started preparing for our wedding September 2008. (We got married October 2009) And the first thing we discussed was churches. We thought of the criteria and factors we should consider and here are some of the key points I can still remember.

So with these factors, we were able to narrow down the list to a handful. We went to see each church, get a good feel and have a peek of the facilities. Actually my first choice was already booked! Imagine it was a year and a half before our wedding but the church was still booked. And so was our second choice. Tsk tsk. Then we came across another church which we liked with when we saw. It wasn't in Makati nor was it in Pasig, but it was in Greenhills (quite near Pasig, so it was okay).

We chose to use the aircon even though it wasn't hot. We didn't want to risk it. We wanted to make sure that it'd be perfect or as perfect as we can plan it to be. There was also an option to have tulle and upgrade of flowers. I didn't get that anymore. We thought that it wouldn't really matter because it was just decor. We felt that during the ceremony, the guests would be looking at us and not the decor. Plus the church was already beautiful as it is.

A side story: When we booked the church, the door was glass doors and not the one shown in the photo above (wooden doors). That was actually my only problem/issue. I wanted the whole dramatic effect, people couldn't see you until the doors open. For the glass doors, of course they'd already get a peek of you outside or your shadow at least. We were offered curtains to cover the doors for the drama. Luckily, a few months before my wedding, they changed the glass doors to wooden doors. So happy that we didn't get the curtains anymore. We were able to save P1,000 and still get the drama I wanted.

The officiating priest we chose was the priest who interviewed us for the "canonical interview", a requirement by the church. We felt that at least we were able to talk to him and meet him before the wedding. You also have an option to get a priest from outside and invite him to officiate your wedding.

For the choir, the package we got already includes a soloist and pianist, but we opted not to get this, instead hired a quartet for the ceremony and reception. I wanted the whole wedding to be romantic, and strings always set that mood.

A lot of our guests told us that the church was beautiful and it really set the mood of romance. We weren't very particular about the antique feel, as long as it was elegant and simple. Plus another great thing about the church is it's so easy to talk to the church staff. It's so important that the staff are friendly and accommodating, because we went back and forth for our church requirements. So that's another positive point for SSJ.

I've been into FOTDs and EOTDs lately, probably because there's a lot of events and celebrations now so I get to do makeup more. On a normal day, I don't wear too much makeup even eyeshadows. But of course for special occasions such as Christmas, birthdays, etc. I get to doll myself up more. Yey!

I got this E/S from MAC and at first wanted to sell it again, because I was able to buy a deeper shade less the glitters, but eventually realized I like this better. Hehe!

with flash

without flash

Applied as eyeliner. I chose to use this because I wanted to smudge my liner. My pencil eyeliner is smudge proof and my liquid eyeliner obviously cannot be smudged as well.

applied near the lash line, tightlined

and applied to 1/2 of my lower lash line

CoverGirl True Blend Minerals in Creamy Natural
Fanny Serrano 2 way foundation in Rajah (for contour)

MAC Mont Black E/S

Avon Lipstick (I forgot the shade, sorry. :))

I have acidic skin, so I use a foundation that is a shade lighter than my real skin tone, because my makeup darkens after an hour or two.

I was going to a casual Christmas party for the temple we go to in Quezon City. So I didn't want to overdress, and since I was already wearing makeup, I kept my look simple by putting hairpins on both sides of my head and wore casual clothes.

Top- unlabeled from KL, Malaysia

Jeans- Wrangler

Bag- from Backstage, Serendra

Accessory- Bracelet from The Bead Shop I got years back

As I've mentioned, I'm really liking Mont Black. Plus it stays put on my super oily lids! It isn't the usual deep black which is quite interesting. I'm roadtesting another brand now which I'm using as my pencil eyeliner aside from my MAC liners. A brand a lot cheaper than MAC but so far is doing its job well. Let's see how it goes. *cross fingers* I'll update you guys about it soon. :)

Rating:

Eyes:

Monave E/S Semi Matte Beige for crease

Elianto Off White as highlight

In2It Eyebrow Powder

Styli-Style Heavenly 1511 (gift from my mum)

headshot my Hilda Bonnevie

CoverGirl True Blends in Creamy Natural
Fanny Serrano 2 way foundation in Rajah (for contour)

Fanny Serrano Blush Warm Peach  (Artist Pro set) (I forgot the exact name.)

Other photos from the night:

with cousin Ni

I was playing with her I-Phone.

gift from Titams for my sister

I LOVE CHRISTMAS! :)

Merry Christmas again! :) I had a blast during our Christmas Party last Dec 24. And Dec 25 wasn't bad either. It was my first Xmas as a married woman and H and I had a Xmas lunch date at Fazoli's in Eastwood. I'll share more about the party etc next time. For now, I'll post about my FOTD.

SHOPSUI had a TV feature to be aired sometime soon and for the shoot, I wanted to look "normal" but still have an "edge". Plus I wanted to show the beauty of mineral pigments.

Face:

Skin Hour Mattifying Day Cream

Dream Minerals Foundation in Charlene

Monave Blush in Silk Garnet

Fanny Serrano 2 way foundation in Rajah (for contour)
Skin Hour Firming & Clarifying Toner (to set makeup)

without flash

Lips:

Monave Pigment in Desert Sun (can also be used as E/S)

mixed with

Skin Food Lip Balm

topped with

MAC Lipglass in Icescape

I've talked about my love for Behrouz Persian Grill in my old blog, Stilettos to Sweets. Now, I've learned about another MUST GO TO restaurant for your Persian dish cravings!

I've gone to Persia Grill twice already. And I keep wanting more. It's located in Megamall, which is really good since we go often there. And they accept credit cards unlike Behrouz.

Disclaimer: Sorry for the blurry photos. I did not bring a camera with me. These were taken using my CP.

Chelo Kobideh Rice (P199)

One order of this dish has 2 beef kebabs, 2 grilled tomatoes, butter, eggplant tartar and persian rice. 

This dish is similar to Behrouz' Chelo Kebab Kobideh Rice, thus the similar names. As usual, this is my favorite!!!! Unlike Behrouz' Chelo Kobideh, this has eggplant tartar. I mix it with the rice and the butter and the sauce. Yumyum!

This is actually "more filling" than Behrouz. I'm not exactly sure why. The rice in Persia Grill is not as delicious as Behrouz though.

Overall, I like Persia Grill. :) It's a lot cheaper than Behrouz, plus we get to use our credit card when dining here. However, Behrouz is still my comfort food. I love love love Behrouz. It's still my no. 1 Persian cuisine as of now. :p

Persia Grill is located at Megamall A Strip, beside Kenny Rogers, Ortigas, Pasig City

Unblended Dream Minerals blush in Cupid

I actually like that it's easy to blend. I used Mineral Makeup for my blush but it worked fine. Afrer blending it, it glided smoothly on my skin.

If you're like me who likes it fresh and not too over the top, the Facial Massager with the sponge mouth really does the job. :)

I will be celebrating the Christmas with my family so before we celebrate, I just wanna wish everyone

A MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! :D

I have tried using the massager, the sponge and brush. The scrub/loofah, I tried once but am quite skeptic and scared that it might hurt my skin.

The massager is pretty good. I use it after applying my night cream. Although honestly, I don't have the luxury of time to do this every night.

The brush I tried with my makeup, it would give you fuller coverage. The sponge I love most! I use it for blending my blush. It gives a soft finish. It makes the blush stick more to the skin and it blends evenly.

It's our last day of bazaar this year 2009! So I'm still quite busy. To add to that, I got sick! Boohoo. So I just wanted to post an entry before I rest since I still have to go to the bazaar later (Greenmeadows Clubhouse. We're inside the function room Booth 77).

Here's my EOTD yesterday. I took the photos after 6-7 hours, since we had to set up our booth and do errands. Plus I got sick. I actually wasn't able to man our booth because I already wasn't feeling well. So I was already in ShopSui when I took this photo. I think I actually just woke up when I took these pics.

You'll see a black dot on my left eye. The eyeliner was still wet when I opened my eyes, and I didn't notice it until it got already dry so it was already hard to remove. :)