why i love my job

ive said it often enough in the past. i love my job.

so i loved being a court attorney ... until someone told me i needed to get litigation experience. so i did.

and i loved being a "real" lawyer (doing what people generally feel lawyers should be doing - appearing in court, wearing a suit, having clients)  ... until i realized i'm that kind of person who can't really be passionate over something she didn't believe in. and, when you're in litigation, there will always be that one case you don't believe in. 

so, i obeyed tita celia and finally did corp work ... until the salary, the mean girls at work, and certain issues forced me to rethink my options.

thankfully i got this job. i think it's my forever job.

while some of my friends aren't very happy with the compensation, i'm fine with it (although i won't say no to an increase, haha!). i'm happy with the perks. i'm glad they (partially) gave me diego. 

and i'm happy too with the non-compensation aspect of it - my work friends are amazing, my boss is beyond amazing, the job is challenging, and it's so easy to get to the office even on coding days.

then there are the perks. the yahoo omg awards. the nba-pba all star game. then it got better: cirque du soleil's saltimbanco.

last monday was the best: lower box tickets to watch this:

{actually, no caption needed!}

heart was in front of us. directly behind me was cristalle belo. ruffa and her family were two rows behind us.

and J.Lo. ... i could actually see J.Lo (which isn't what i could say for all the other concerts i've watched in the past!)

{believe me when i say my view was much better than this pic}

while sen. miriam santiago claimed otherwise, i'd like to think it was one of the most amazing concerts i've ever watched. she was THAT good.

just check out the last part of her opening number.

i would've uploaded more, except you'd hear me singing and that's one of the most horrible things in the universe. promise.

so thank YOU to the kind people over at HOME who sent my boss tickets. and thank you to my boss for giving me the tickets. i know  you don't read this blog, but YOU are amazing. 

there's a rainbow always after the rain

you know how it's like. the day you get home late is the day you hear water magnificently flowing in your bathroom. you open the door and it's almost cartoon-like as water comes out to meet you. as you resign yourself to the fact that it'll take the good part of an hour to get rid of the water, not to mention take care of the damaged stuff, you just pray that the leak started late in the day so your water bill doesn't encroach on the other items on your budget.

the following morning you decide to do a load of laundry before going to work and an innocent spark - caused by the rat in your house eating through the extension cords - kills off two outlets. you're thankful -- better the outlets than the washing machine and the refrigerator both dying on you.

it's been like that for me, and with a workload that's threatening to bowl me over, a fever that won't "come out" cause of the flu shot that's probably battling with the virus, and a fight with a friend, i'm this close to shutting down and doing something stupid like blow my extra income on shoes.

then i get to work, open my email, and receive amazing news: the po has been signed and delivery date for "hans" is april 30. that's 32 days away. or sooner.

i'm hoping it's sooner. because sooner not only means there's a rainbow, but there's a pot of gold thrown in for good measure!

well hello 2012, so nice to meet you

while it cannot be denied that i'm no photographer by any stretch of the word, the holidays were too overwhelming for me to put down in words. let's just say that it was fun, family is always more than fun to have around, it's great joy to witness two people in love with each other to finally tie the knot, and you never get too old for presents.

{dream come true, thanks to my brother}

{something that happens once in a blue moon}

{lola + the grandkids. only two missing!!!}

{these two made my childhood the best time of my life}

{going to work on the 26th was more than a major bummer}

{me and my look-alike aunt}

{family is love!}

{... and so is getting dolled up and enjoying good food with good friends}

{goodbye 2011!}

good girls don't finish last

{me and gay - nice girls both, except she's much nicer!}

dear gay,

on a particularly sad day, i remember you telling me that good girls finish last. and while i remember telling you that it isn't true, there have been bazillions of times when i didn't exactly believe that myself.

since i met you in 2005, we've been through good times and bad, including liking "mitsa", buying a "special" present from rustan's, waiting for the results of the bar examinations, and countless text messages. you were the one who encouraged me to leave the court of appeals to become a "real lawyer" and you were instrumental in helping me leave the firm when it was time to go. so i couldn't imagine a better person to share one of the most amazing weeks of my life than you.

thank you for your encouragement, for replying to my bazillion text messages, and for listening to me go on and on and on about probably the same things over and over again ... like the window with a view! and thank you for not getting bored even though i've discussed nothing with you but the impending move, the actual move, and the first week at work. thank you for your patience and your kindness and your understanding. after all, who else will i share solsagamnida stories and issues with except for the person who made sure to look up the korean word and actually memorize it?

neither of us know what the future brings - if the weather is unpredictable as it is now, i'm sure our careers will be unpredictable as well. but if there's one thing i'm sure of, it's that your september 16 and my october 1 are both proof positive that good girls don't finish last; good girls finish in god's perfect time.

much love,

rosa

the replacement has landed

my first digicam was a casio that i bought because i liked how it looked. one day, i brought it with me to a trip to tagaytay and it wouldn't turn on even if the battery was new. since it was old and didn't exactly take great pictures, i was fine when it died. after all, it was the perfect opportunity to get a new camera.

my dad - my ever-generous supporter and sponsor - offered to replace my camera. it was so funny cause i had to ask him how much he was planning on sending me so that i can get a camera that was more or less the amount of money i'd be receiving. and, when i got the figure, i immediately contacted a seller i had found on ebay and got myself a pink ixus 85is.

i've always wanted a canon ixus and getting that, in pink no less, was a dream come true.

that ixus and i, we went places. i brought it with me to document the most mundane -- like trips to the grocery -- to serious stuff like accidents. it was the camera that i used to take pictures for this blog (albeit not-so-professional and with poor lighting to boot!) and the camera i used on trips here and abroad. i loved it so much and was so satisfied with it that i never thought once of replacing it -- not when my friends all started getting DSLRs, not when new models came out. me and my ixus -- it was love.

and then it got stolen. i swear, i must've condemned the thief (together with zest air) to hell one billion times.

since i can't imagine being without a camera (i know i'm not a photographer, but i like having a camera to document stuff with, okay?), i immediately figured that savings are for times like this and i should get a new camera asap.

since i loved my ixus, i immediately wanted a get another one. but, they were either (1) the same camera, albeit with higher pixels (2) too pink (yes, there's such a thing) or (3) too expensive (i'm kuripot, remember?). i was ready to settle for the two-year-old ixus 95 but since it was "old" i asked about the ixus 105 from the sale seller who had the ixus 95. there was a mere P100 difference in the price so i figured, maybe the 105 is a better deal.

so i ordered, and it was then that the seller told me that his model was an ixy 200f which is the equivalent model from japan. that meant that the default setting would be in japanese. in fairness to the seller, he did inform me about it, and he did say that the settings could be changed anyway. problem is -- and trust me that i know about it as i had once changed the language settings of my nokia phone to thai -- it's pretty complicated to change something back to english if you can't read the menu options to begin with. so that was a no-go.

i then looked for the online seller who sold me the old camera but he didn't have the ixus 95 or the 105. so i tried checking out his other cameras. it wasn't long before i sorta wanted the nikon s3100. it was cheaper, was 14 megapixels, had an aluminum casing, and most importantly, available in pink. so i tried ordering one and while it was available, he didn't have it in pink.

uh-oh. still, after being dropped off by tita celia, lola, and tita jake yesterday, i made a beeline for rob pioneer to buy my camera. or, at least that was what i intended to do. i tried holding the coolpix in my hand but it didn't feel right. and, while the store magically had it in pink, i didn't feel like buying it anymore. a girl is entitled to change her mind, right?

so i went around and searched for models and while doing that, tried reading reviews online using the mall's spotty wifi. i must've looked stupid going around the mall while typing on my blackberry but i was not only desperate, i was super desperate to find the perfect camera for myself.

then i checked out picture city and saw that there was an entire universe of cameras to be had. i thought of the olympus, the GE, the samsung with the dual screen ... all pretty, but not right. then i saw that contrary to my original belief, not all lumix cameras are expensive. for a while, i wanted to buy myself the f3 but because i was getting tired walking around the mall already, i figured, i could go home, research, and then buy the f3 today.

but when i got home and searched the list of my former seller, it turned out that there was this new model, the fh2 which was not only affordable, but also had great reviews. plus it was a lumix, and so many people had been telling me to get a lumix.

bazillions of hours surfing the net for suppliers + texting them + reading online reviews, i had decided that the fh2 camera was for me. and while the search proved super difficult (suppliers either didn't reply to my text messages or didn't have it in stock), i eventually found a seller who was not only nice, but also had a pink lumix in stock. sweeeeeet!!!!!

so, after my makati meeting, i arranged for a meet-up and meet we did and i had myself a lumix fh2. and while i didn't have the opportunity to see it in person prior to purchasing it, i must say it was love at first sight. i loved how it felt "substantial" in my hands, how it was easy to grip, and i know i could sleep at night knowing that the online techies approved of my camera.

while i am still upset over the fact that someone has rummaged through my things to steal my camera and while i definitely miss my ixus, the replacement has landed and i must admit, i am now already in love with it.

best way to start one's monday

i've said it then and i'll say it again: i am a sucker for presents. presents make my day. presents make me happy. presents can turn my foul mood 180 degrees around.

so, while mondays are usually horrible and grumpy and sleep-deprived, my july fourth started out fabulous cause i got this.

{presents are even better when there's a lovely note attached to it!}

{it's from accessorize, a store i learned to love, thanks to the boss}

{it's a passport holder!}

a short background: i regretted not buying the kipling passport holder when i went to vietnam last year, especially when i saw my friend using one as a wallet. when i spied this at the accessorize sale last january/february, it still wasn't on sale. so i made a pledge to buy it when it does. i pointed it out to my boss when we went to robinsons manila and asked her if she could get it for me once it goes on 50% sale. she did, but she said it was a gift. isn't she the best?

you expect bosses to be way smarter than you. you expect them to mentor you, impart know-hows, and watch out for you. you expect them to get mad when you screw up and to praise you when do a great job. but aside from christmas and birthdays, you don't really expect them to shower you with presents. my boss has, and she's not like that cause she's making up for her inadequacies cause she's crazy brilliant and fierce and fabulous.

{polka dots! i love dots!}

{oh, please take me places!}

thanks, boss!!!

smile naman diyan

{part of my rainy stormy friday DVD loot}

to break the non-stop pity party that's been going on the past couple of days, let me just share how positively pirated my grey's anatomy season 7 dvd is. not only is katherine heigl still part of the cast list, worse, it has the cast of house pictured. ☺

thank goodness the dvd was problem-free. started friday night and finished the last episode tuesday evening. the next emotional roller coaster won't be till next year i suppose, as season 8 won't start till september. then again, i also got the house season 7 dvd (and, in case you're asking, i checked, and no grey's anatomy cast on the cover, ha!ha!) and since house and cuddy got together in season 6's cliffhanger, am not so sure the new season won't be emotionally gut-wrenching.

then again, there's the option of watching top chef just desserts and big bang season 4. at least there, it'll just be a toss up between getting horribly hungry or terribly nerdy. not bad, not bad at all.

thinking of sipping buko while digging my toes in the sand

{last photo of jackson wagner before it crashed}

maybe it started the day i got home and discovered that my hard drive had crashed. or maybe when i allowed myself a totally inappropriate crush. or maybe the day i got horribly disappointed about something at work. i can't really tell when, but i do know that i'm not the same girl who was blogging with so much gusto just a month ago.

maybe hormones are to blame (although i've always hated anyone who'd insinuate that my bad mood could be attributed to me having my period -- that's just an excuse, IMHO) or maybe i'm just tired. maybe it's cause i haven't really spent time with my true love, henry sy. i don't know. something's amiss, and i can't fix it for the life of me.

so now, as the title implies, i'm thinking of sipping buko while digging my toes in the sand. and i don't even like buko. tita celia has so generously offered to share her room at the shangri-la mactan when she goes there next month for a conference. and, while i initially said no since i have a cebu trip planned with theo and cathy (we were able to get piso fare tickets) that same month, i figured that no one in her right mind would turn down shangri-la mactan. so, i reconsidered and told tita celia i'd look for cheap tickets online and if i could find one, i'd go with her.

the cheapest i found were P2,000++ ... not bad, considering that in the span of six hours last sunday, i spent half of that for lunch, a pedicure, and a facial. so now i'm just waiting for tita celia's confirmation that the trip is a go, and once i get that go-signal, i'd buy my tickets (keeping my fingers crossed that pat the pilot will be able to get that flight as well ... it would be cool to actually see if he's as great a pilot as he claims) and start scrimping (translation: baon + no lakwatsa for july) and start thinking of, well, what else, sipping buko while digging my toes in sand.

it doesn't get happier than that.

KFC lang ang katapat ko

as you might very well know by now, i've been having a bad week. all recent sightings of forbidden boy v. 2 notwithstanding, my week has been beset by one issue after another.

and as if things couldn't get worse, my office PC's powercord died this morning. yes, a powercord that's barely a year old.

in any case, this week also brought one of the happiest things in the universe to me: a bucket of FREE kfc chicken.

let's backtrack, shall we?

monday, i think i was wallowing in the sheer number of stuff to be done, half of which i could barely make sense out of, i saw pam's tweet asking who wants a bucket of kfc chicken.

i immediately replied: me! me! me!

much to my surprise, she asked me to DM her my address. is a bucket of free KFC chicken actually going to make its way to me?

apparently yes. cause yesterday, it arrived. 8 pieces of chicken, four pieces of rice, four sidings, and a big bottle of coke.

now, the entire universe can gush about the chicken-all-you-can from max's, but this girl, i'm a KFC girl through and through. as a matter of fact, when my friends and i went to max's to actually do the chicken thing, i chose to order lumpia and potato salad instead. and while friendster is oh-so-passe, can i just say that the best testimonial anyone ever wrote about me there was that "i'm the best thing since KFC started giving out free gravy." ♥

so, bring on the four hours of sleep at night, a laptop that lost the past 1.5 years of my life, issues with certain people, and three board meetings. because free kfc came my way, i can do anything.

i always knew that one day i'd benefit from all that tweeting, ha! ha!

five things to be happy about

yet another happy list (as inspired by my boss and this book)

one ...

{finding P300 in my travel wallet}

two ...

{my raincoat/trenchcoat bought on sale at an insanely cheap price}

three...

{betty crocker candles in cinnamon bun and cherry pie}

four ...

{freshly-popped popcorn with lotsa salt}

and, five...

{only one more load of laundry to go}

life isn't particularly good right now: a number of friends don't have jobs, my roof is leaking, and there are stuff at work that's making my heart sad. but this list is a reminder that no matter how bad things get, nothing's so horrible that god isn't on top of it.

things loved

there are times when the world comes together to give you a week that will cheer you up, notwithstanding the fact that your hair, after a gruelling six-hour session in the parlor, decides to mimic the arnel pineda look, pre-haircut days.

thanks, universe, for these things:

{organizing a surprise advanced birthday party for gwapo boss,

whose birthday happens to be today}

{baked donut sandwich with bacon and ham from mister donut}

{birthday vouchers for gwapo boss' birthday

p.s. i made these!}

{two-day seminar at EDSA shang with free-flowing food!}

{shallow} dreams DO come true

i first saw it at made by girl.

clicked on the link and got here. since it was kate spade, i thought it was going to be crazy expensive. prohibitive expensive. turns out, it wasn't.

so i made plans on how to get it. good thing tita mayu was going to go to the US so i could have someone order it for me and she could bring it home. since i'm madaldal, i blogged about it first. and then i made arrangements to have tita mayu order it for me and bring it home.

the following day, i read this comment on my blog. papa was going to get it for me ... as a belated birthday gift.

i had to restrain myself from jumping up and down in the office. after all, i'm sorta respected out here.

and now, here it is.

thanks, papa. turns out, no matter how old you are, fathers can still make their darling daughter's dreams come true.

100 30 things to be happy about

when i was in college, i borrowed the book 14,000 things to be happy about from a girl named vicky. she was one of those cool girls who resided in ilang-ilang residence hall (i was one of those noisy, crazy girls who almost always got in trouble with the dorm head), cool enough to have a non-fiction book (to my mind then, books were mostly either of the fiction variety, or the textbook variety).

reading the book then inspired me to, every so often, write lists of things to be happy about. you could find them in my notebooks, in my planner (remember those tickles planners that were all the rage in college? gah, i'm dating myself.), in post-its stuck to random pieces of furniture, like my bookcase at home and my desk in the dorm. the included the most inane things, like bachoy from the canteen (something that i still love to this day) and the most important, like bacon (yes, bacon is important).

recently, my favorite girl boss started writing her own list of things to be happy about (brought about by the gift of a lovely (and uber expensive) moleskin notebook. and it reminded me of the joy that writing the list brought me, especially when i was tired, frustrated, and just unable to cope with the rigors that came with college life (thinking back, i can't exactly imagine how i thought college life was rigorous. i mean, what could've stressed me then? that i had to wear my jeans for two days in a row? crazy!)

and so, in no particular order, 100 30 things that currently make me happy.

1. a non-thinking book, a bag of cheetos twisted puffs, and diet sarsi on a cold rainy day with nothing to do.


2. moniegold chewy tamarind candy


3. zippered pillowcases in lovely fabrics and prints from SM


4. the realization that while the blackberry is a dream come true, i am still a nokia girl through and through


5. being able to travel to a whole lot (okay, to me it was a whole lot) of places last year


6. hk disneyland with mama and kit. wish papa could've come with us though.


7. balikbayan boxes


8. using my secret crush's name as my password. ha! ha!


9. almost-over root canal sessions with dr. jennifer, unarguably the best dentist when it comes to injecting my gums. she gets it in one go. how fabulous is that?


10. yakimix or sambokojin ... it doesn't really matter. as long as they use bacon to wrap stuff with, then you've got my attention.


11. the new bedroom arrangement


12. water in bf.


13. no wait, 24 hour water supply in bf


14. automatic washing machine


15. water + washing machine = being able to do laundry whenever i want to, whenever i need to, or whenever i just feel like it


16. bros flores and last weekend's retreat ☺


17. cd-r king -- the stuff they sell, not the service. it doesn't matter which branch you visit. their service is uniformly crappy.


18. home bloggers who inspire me to just be a better at taking care of my home


19. every day light devotionals. brief, to the point, but very very good.


20. sans rival from dumaguete


21. sparkly toenails


22. hi-top and their 50% off on near-expiry merchandise


23. free stuff from work


24. gummy bears


25. bachoy from the canteen


26. ... as well as their sopas


27. ... and their spaghetti


28. cheap books


29. kids on summer vacation which means i get to work much faster


30. universal channel and law and order every morning (reason why i never make it to work before 8 am anymore :(

i was (as you could see) aiming for a hundred. but i realized that a hundred is a bit hard when you've got stuff to do.