Tsuya

Believe it or not, I am not very comfortable taking outfit shots. (My husband will object to this with all his might, strength and vigor. Probably with placards too. Haha!) Okay, I am not that at ease posting outfit shots. I totally admire those who can do so every single day as it is quite tedious. I have a handful (Husband will nod in concurrence until he breaks a bone or something) of un-posted OOTDs, as they fondly call it, but most of it I either dump in my storage or in my Instagram (polkabikini). But, I love this top so much I couldn't let it pass. I am a big, big sucker for white, dainty tops, bishop sleeves and cut-out details. Very feminine!

This is what I wore to Shu Uemura's Tsuya Skin product launch and intimate beauty workshop. For more details about the launch, visit:
http://www.stylecebu.com

Also, dainty tops like this will soon be released in my online shop, City of Vintage. Like us on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/cityofvintageph

What's your take on outfit shots? Give me tips! :)

Au Revoir

That freeing moment of awakening when you realize you have no more reasons to hold on. That one clear instance when it hit you that there wasn't really something there. That liberating feeling when you accept the fact that it was long over. That unbinding flash of relief knowing that it doesn't hurt you anymore. That split second lucidity when the throbbing stops. That unburdening feeling of letting go.

That. That, I celebrate now.

Au revoir, le faux-amis.

Yulia

I've been calling this peasant-style of a do medieval braid for the longest time. But when a friend told me to look up Yulia Tymoshenko of Ukraine, I found it more apt to call it Ukrainian braid. Even at the peak of her tumultuous political career, you won't see a strand of her hair that is not in place.

Photographed by my husband.

Arrow of Carnations

  HUSBAND AND I
09.24.2012   Sonnet XVII

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way than this:

where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.   -Pablo Neruda

Photography and photo manipulation by my husband.

Daze

As Wonderful As Sunsets

People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don’t find myself saying, “Soften the orange a bit on the right hand corner.” I don’t try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds.
 

-Carl Rogers

Posy

Sally Forth

I started my humble swimwear line because of my love for vintage swimsuits. And this one I am wearing here is one of my favorites, most probably one that started it all.

Like City of Vintage on Facebook HERE

Gratitude

“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”

Pundaquit, Zambales

Photographs by my husband.

Maternity

Disclaimer: This is one very delayed blog post. Haha! 

These photos were taken by my husband during the early stages of my pregnancy. I can remember craving for the beach every second of every day during that time. I consulted my OB if we can still push through with our scheduled travels and when she said yes, I was off packing my swimsuits like a maniac. These photos were in Guimaras, one small, lovely island here in the Philippines.

Tiptoe

“All around you, people will be tiptoeing through life, just to arrive at death safely. But dear children, do not tiptoe. Run, hop, skip, or dance, just don't tiptoe.”

― Shane Claiborne

Baguio Country Club

I guess we can all safely say that we were once young, stupid and, at one point, we overly saturated our photos, yes? No? Just me? Okay.

I am hating myself right now for ruining my photos back then. *Kicks self*

Club Balai Isabel

I'm assuming that you all know that Multiply is already closing this December. So, this is me trying to salvage my photos which I have not backed-up yet and well, that includes EVERYTHING! I have yet to discover an easy way of doing so given that I have hundreds of albums there. The only way I know is to click on every single picture, view full size and save image. Tedious, tedious!

I couldn't help but be all nostalgic brought about by the sudden flash of a haze of memories here and there. I also couldn't help but say to myself, what were you thinking overly over-saturating your photos?! And now, here I am trying to de-saturate what I still can. Let us just say I am OC like that.
 

Club Balai Isabel, Batangas 2009. 

Sheer

Top: WAGW || Shoes: Head Over Heels || Shorts: City of Vintage || Sunnies: Rayban
Photographed by my husband

Insta-Feed I

I blame Instagram for my lack of willpower to lug along my camera with me like before. And Twitter for the sudden halt of my unabashed enthusiasm to write anything that comes to mind in long, lengthy paragraphs. However, scapegoating aside, who wouldn't love Instagram? Even supposed nonsensical things may seem laudable through filters and whatnots.

So, I start sharing with you what's really keeping my hands full these days, I blame poetry for the my shortage in this area. Ha! Scapegoating at its finest. 

1. The weather has been crazy lately. But if it were up to me, I'd prefer the sun over the rain at any given day. Okay, maybe I'd take the rain on a rather lazy day.

2. View from our dining at night.

3. Everyday dip with husband.

4. Just what our black, brick wall needed. I need more bold wall clocks in my life.

5. Went surfing recently and now that I have tried, I can safely say that waiting is the hardest part.

6. My favorite in my husband's vintage camera collection.

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM: POLKABIKINI

Next to Nothing, Close to Everything

I only want five things,
five chosen roots.

One is endless love.

Two is to see the autumn.
I cannot exist without leaves
flying and falling to earth.

Third is the solemn winter,
the rain I loved, the caress
of fire in the rough cold.

My fourth is the summer,
plump as a watermelon.

And fifthly, your eyes.
Matilde, my dear love,
I will not sleep without your eyes,
I will not exist but in your gaze.
I adjust the spring
for you to follow me with your eyes.

That, friends, is all I want.
Next to nothing, close to everything.

Pablo Neruda

Photographed by Mark Cantalejo for our post-nup shoot.

Stare

The power of a glance has been so much abused in love stories, that it has come to be disbelieved in. Few people dare now to say that two beings have fallen in love because they have looked at each other. Yet it is in this way that love begins, and in this way only. 

-Victor Hugo

Photographed by Mark Cantalejo for our Post-Nup Shoot
http://www.markcantalejo.net

Fields

  Without warning we lose
the vastness of the fields





singular enigmas
the clarity we swear





we’ll preserve
but it takes us years



 

to forget someone
who merely looked at us

Calle Principe, 25
By: José Tolentino Mendonça

Photographed by my husband