30 Day Challenge: Put your music player on shuffle and write the first ten songs that play

DAY 10

(via pitchfork)

The White Stripes - The Nurse

Esthero - Superheroes

Hall & Oates - I Can't Go For That

David Bowie - Under Pressure

Prince - Loveleft, Loveright

Jamie Cullum - Next Year, Baby

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Hysteric

Earth, Wind & Fire - That's The Way Of The World

Astrud Gilberto With Stanley Turrentine - To A Flame

Yann Tiersen - Le moulin

I am going to admit right now that I had to skip some HNRL unreleased songs, so this list isn't completely honest. ;)

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: How important you think education is

DAY 9

(via tumblr)

I don't want to get into politics, but lack of education is the very reason why Americans like Sarah Palin. So yes, of course I think education is important. I can agree that the education system can use some work, but for the most part, education is what keeps children curious. I myself was never into school when I was growing up, but I do believe that everyone needs some sort of formal education in their lives, regardless. That way most Americans can get away with being half-stupid. I think K-12 is good. In college, I learned how to party. I gained my networking skills from going out and socializing, and in the industry I'm in, that's all you really need to know.

How important do you think education is?

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: What you ate today

DAY 8

Ugh! I really like today's topic because I'm always taking photos of my food, but I wasn't very thrilled with the photos I've taken of the food I ate today. Had this topic been this past Monday or yesterday, I would have given you guys some awesome photos of the awesome food Mike and I ate for dinner during Restaurant Week here in NY. Also, I've developed this really bad habit of not eating breakfast and lunch everyday. I know, it's horrible, but I work so much that sometimes I forget to eat. When I do eat, it's usually a small snack. I actually made sure to remember to eat lunch today since I knew today's topic was pertaining to food. I really wanted to show you guys some awesome photos of the food I ate today, but alas, I am ashamed to even publish my poor photography quality of my food!

For lunch, I met up with my friends Marisue and Joe, who are visiting from San Francisco, at a Spanish spot called Despaña in Soho. It was my first time there. Not bad! I had chorizo con castañas with some bread. It was a very small tapas dish, but it was delicious.

I found this photo on their website.
I couldn't leave you guys wondering what my dish
looked like, even though I didn't take this photo!

For dinner, I met up with Mike and we went to 1534, a bar also in Soho. We shared some bar snacks: salt cod fritters and croque monsieur with spicy dijon. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a photo of this dish from their website or Yelp, but it was damn delicious. It was also my first time at this spot as well.

I also want to let you all know that today's food does not reflect my normal intake when I'm in a good mood. I've also been stressed, which explains my lack of appetite as of lately. It's not good. I love to eat food! I love to eat good food, and Mike and I love to dine out. Soon enough I'll get back on track.

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Five pet peeves

DAY 7

(via weheartit)

1. Bad manners
2. Radio music
3. Dirty dishes (actually, dirty anything...besides Chuck Taylors)
4. Poorly made cocktails
5. Distasteful fashion decisions

That was easy.

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Your views on mainstream music

DAY 6

(via musiccityupdate)

So, my friend Toan texted me the other day on my would-be 6th regarding what was up with my 30 Day Challenge. I told him that I had only planned on doing the challenge on work days since hey, I like having my weekends to chill! So, for those of you wondering how consistent I'll be with this, I will only be posting on weekdays. Kapish? Cool.

I bet you're all wondering why I had chosen a photo of NKOTBSB (if you know what that stands for than you are a bopper) for this entry. I have a confession to make: I saw these dudes in concert last month, and I LOVED IT!! I honestly wasn't expecting to enjoy myself, but I really did. I'm glad my roommate dragged me to go with her to watch them in concert. It was such a nostalgic experience, and it rekindled my love for (some) of these boys when I was a pre-teen. Good times indeed.

I'm not sure how popular these guys still are, but they are the prime example of what mainstream music is. I don't listen to the radio; it gives me a headache. Most all of the stuff that these DJ's play on the radio are garbage, so to sum up, I barely have any views on mainstream music, besides the obvious, because I don't listen to it. I can get down to some pop, I think because it reminds me of being stupid and younger, but I don't take it seriously. I love good music, and good music is rarely played on the radio. My boyfriend is in the music business, so of course I can appreciate all types of sounds, just not the kind that kids listen to these days.

What are your views on mainstream music?

xoxo

Resurgence

Holy Whore! It's already been a month since I've blogged. Last month was pretty rough. June 17 marked the year anniversary of my darling Arieson's passing. I took a trip out to California for that weekend to visit my son's grave, only to find out that on the exact date of my Arieson's passing, minutes before boarding my plane, my grandmother had passed away as well. It wasn't easy, especially because I had flown to California alone. Mike had to stay behind in New York for work. But, my mom met me on the other side from the Philippines. It was great to see her. I also saw my aunt from Las Vegas, which was also nice. I even got to see some close friends, and had the opportunity to eat excellent Mexican food (duh...had to). I only spent the weekend in San Francisco, but it was a short and sweet trip.

The view from my hotel in SF


My darling mother

The news of my grandmother passing didn't hit me until I came back to New York, naturally. I couldn't stop crying. I felt so overwhelmed by the coincidental timing of everything. I was back in New York, trying so hard to get back on the grind. My grandmother's funeral wasn't until that Saturday, and I knew I had to fly back to California again to pay my last respects, but I had already spent so much money on my flight the prior weekend. I considered my options, yet I was too tired from life to make any decisions. So I reached out to Mike's mom, who works for United Airlines. I was able to use her companion passes for me to fly out early Thursday morning on standby, hopeful that I would make it in time to at least attend my grandmother's funeral that Saturday. After a rigmarole of 3 full flights to San Francisco, with little to no chances in making it to SF at all, Mike suggested I try and fly out to LA, that way I'd at least be in California. If I had to stay in LA overnight, I'd be able to stay at our friend Darren's house near the airport. I agreed, and Mike's dad was able to transfer my flight now to LA, and after arriving at JFK at 5AM, I made it out by 11:30AM, first class! It was my first time on first class, and I was so thankful I was able to sleep soundly on the plane after eating my complimentary dish of filet mignon. :) When I landed in LA, I rushed to the next gate to check in to the next flight to SF. I made it by the skin of my teeth. I was the second to last passenger on board to SF, and all flights after me were booked by the teens. Had I not made that flight, I wouldn't have made it to SF that day. I felt that I truly had angels watching over me, because I made it in time to make it to my grandmother's viewing, which was more than what I had expected to happen. That was probably one of the longest days of my life, to say the least. I was able to spend wholesome time with my family, and I was able to say my last goodbye to my Inang. I flew back to New York the night of the funeral, and arrived back the next morning, again on first class. :) I was so thankful for Mike and his parents for those difficult two weeks. I didn't feel so alone during my travels because of them.

So now I'm back, and I really need to start blogging again! I haven't forgotten about my 30 Day Challenge that I so vowed to complete when I first started. All you darlings can expect me to start once again tomorrow on Monday. So much change has been going on in my life, and I want to share with all of you. I hope you'll stay tuned!

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xoxo