happy birthday, spike

dear spikey,

three words:

you.are.loved.

xoxo,

your beloved driver ☺☺☺

my own leather satchel

because of thebaghag's mulberry alexa + frances' post about her own desire to own one, i likewise wanted my own satchel.

of course, it didn't help that emily loves her own alexa so much that she uses it enough to remind me to be on the lookout for a version that my taongbayan budget can actually afford.

at the forever 21 sale, i found a pewter satchel, and since the price was perfect, i snagged it up without thinking. it's great -- i actually love the color pewter -- but it's not exactly the easiest bag to use. so when frances asked her readers if they'd be interested in an affordable handmade leather satchel, i immediately fired off an email and hoped that i could get my hands on one.

as i was tidying up my room, i realized that long before i lusted after the mulberry alexa, my dad had already given me a satchel.

{my reward for winning my first case as a lawyer}

after graduating from law school, and with zero plans and zero prospects, i jumped at the chance to clerk for my former student's mom who had just been recently appointed to the court of appeals. the money wasn't bad, and at that time, i was a law graduate who had just spent the past five years (i was working + was in the evening class, so i needed an extra year to finish) earning a degree. i was so focused on graduating that i realized i didn't even know what i was going to do with my degree after i had earned it!

after almost three years, the "itch" to be a real lawyer (translation: abogado de campanilla) bit me, so i left my cushy government job and moved to a firm. one of the first original (in the beginning, all of my cases were passed on to me by the lawyer who had just resigned) cases was a labor case that i had actually prayed would be assigned to me. less than a year later, the labor arbiter came out with a decision in favor of my client.

i had just won my first case.

i was so excited that i immediately sent my parents as text message about the win. days later, i received an email from my mom -- apparently, my dad was so excited for me that he got me what he deemed a "lawyer's bag" from coach.

{my dad isn't a big fan of coach, but i am.}

side note: both of my parents aren't fans of the brand, and couldn't exactly understand why i liked the overpriced leather goods, so i was actually more than surprised that my dad got me this beautiful handsome leather satchel.

*sigh* while i totally love my new job, and while i don't miss the stress that comes from being a litigation lawyer, i truly wish that one day, i'd get the opportunity to use this bag on a regular basis once more.

my weekend

{this weather}*

plus

{these new pillows}

equals

{christmas snoopy shirt from mama}

girl in an off-season christmas shirt.

i had a list of errands to run saturday, including a trip to SM to buy wooden hangers using the GC i won from the ascof super mom contest (papa - i'm not the super mom, i just wrote this essay for a contest at work) but i ended up staying at home (save to make a trip to baliwag to buy liempo for dinner. i hadn't eaten anything the entire day!) because of the rain. the weather was crazy -- it was super sunshiny in the morning, prompting me to tackle the mountains of laundry that had accumulated over the weeks cause of the weather, but i was only a load and a half into my wash when it started raining.

and raining.

and raining some more.

so i ended up going online, catching up on FB stuff, writing future blog posts, and cleaning the house.

i know it's more than half a year away from christmas, but when the weather's this gorgeous (i love the rain, just like my dad) and new pillows are on the bed, a girl can't help but think happy thoughts. and, if you know me well enough, you'd know that for me, happy thoughts = christmas.

*weather map image from here

happy happy joy joy

it was an innocent enough text. would i be able to be at alabang by 7pm?

i said, yep, 645 even.

so theo replied, okay meet me at switch near the spa. may bibilhin daw siya.

i thought he'd be buying headphones, or something innocuous like that. and then we entered the store and he told the salesperson who greeted us, i'd want the macbook pro. do you have it in stock?

oh-kay ... i think i must've choked on my own saliva. i don't think i've ever entered a store in my life and offered to buy something in a snap. then again, we're talking about theo here. and he's able to shock me just like that.

the salesperson rung up the purchase and theo asked, can i test it? and so she volunteered to set it up for him.

during the unboxing, i was surprised at how un-excited he was over the entire thing. so i interfered and said, wait, this deserve pictures! it's the unboxing of a major gadget (at least, major to me).

so i whipped out my camera and forced him to pose:

{theo holding the plastic-wrapped macbook pro}

i couldn't actually believe he allowed the salesperson to rip the security sticker and un-pack the entire thing. but then, that's him and his kayamanan. i am, after all, taongbayan lamang.

{username and password please!}

theo kept laughing at me cause i was more excited than him. he said that the only reason he purchased it was that he couldn't be the society blogger he wants to be (seriously!) unless he has a working pc. and since nahamugan the one-and-a-half year old laptop he's been using, he needed one asap.

gosh, my friends are so alta.

pasalubong

i think i've mentioned it here before: i am a major sucker for presents. thus, when i first started working for the government, my brother teased me and said, "oh no, ate, you might end up being horribly corrupt."

i didn't.

it didn't change the fact, however, that my undying love and loyalty can be had with presents (and boys with mazda 3 vehicles, but that's another story entirely). so imagine my utter joy when i met up with tito gil + the entire baltazar clan once more and was given lovely, lovely presents.

like this bag.

and this perfume. (incidentally, it's the same perfume as last year's. wonder what's the fascination with carolina herera. do i tell him i'm partial to elizabeth arden fragrances?)

and these chocolates.

*sigh* i'm feeling the love.

incidentally, i'm so blessed with good friends cause theo, after learning my fascination with wooden hangers, ordered a bunch for me from ikea. happiness!!!

thanks for the lovely pasalubong!!!