Besides my wallet, planner and phone, one thing I don't leave the house without is a trusty pair of eyeglasses. I have been dealing with myopia (or in layman's term, nearsightedness) since I was 9 which made me dependent on peepers every day.
If I were to count, I had changed eyeglasses six times in 20 years. While it is ideal to have lenses changed every year or two years, my optometrist, Dr. Vangie Olmedilla told me in my recent appointment that it's a good thing that my visual acuity has not increased much, contrary to what I first thought.
I have been using my old glasses for four years and so, a few days before Christmas last year and as a gift to myself, I decided that it was time to get a new pair of glasses. In my line of work, that requires a lot of reading documents and staring in front of the computer 40 hours a week, I should really invest and take good care of my eyes. Like what Dr. Olmedilla said, my visual acuity increased by 0.25 and my astigmatism from 100 is now 150. I only found out that astigmatism occurs as you age. I am now using this cute pair from Old Navy (yes, the shirt brand also has a line for eyeglasses) which I chose after checking five different styles. And just like how Frances of Topaz Horizon mentioned in one of her posts, eyeglasses don't come cheap. Given that I am using prescription Nikon lenses, I had to shell out PHP 6,000 for this pair. And while it made me cringe at first, getting a new eye wear had been the first thing in my priority list when I got my 13th month pay last year.
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| This is me wearing the glasses on New Year's Eve :-) |
I did not have second thoughts because given that my eyes are the most used part of my body in the kind of work I have, it deserves all the care and investment that I could avail to make sure that my eyesight is all okay. I've been using this for a month now and contrary to thinking it would make me look nerdy, I think scholarly would be the appropriate description.
Three years ago, I wrote a post about going through what they call quarter life crisis. I was actually done going through the said phenomenon when I wrote it down. The experience isn't unpleasant but I can't say it's something good either. In my case, it was a year's worth of confusion, uncertainty and "emotional turmoil".
Luckily for me though, I had well meaning family and friends, one of them assured me that things would eventually be okay. It's a good thing that I believed because eventually, things did start falling in place.
Now, you may be wondering what's the relevance of the pair of shoes. Just recently, I came across this
article listing down the 8 signs that can say that the phase is over. It was not a waste of time reading it as I found myself smiling as I went through because I could identify to most of the points: from the practical ones like liking the job that you have, having your own savings account, to the things you don't expect to indicate it like owning a pair of dress shoes.
I am not much of a shoe person but when I first saw the pair of Softawalk shoes from the brand Unlisted (pictured above), I knew that later on, I would need to get one.While I don't have formal events all the time, sometimes, my job needs that I dress smart and a good, comfortable pair of shoes is included in the ensemble. Eventually, I realized, looking presentable at some days also adds a boost to my self-esteem. It's like giving me an accomplished lift.
I have worn this to church and to the office once. I'm actually looking forward to wearing this to an important event. A wedding, perhaps? :-)
I was on a rather earlier schedule in the office the past week. Indeed traveling to the office at 4:30 am and having my lunch at 10 (while others are just having breakfast) is an alien concept for me. Good thing though is that it's only for a week and I'll be back to the usual schedule on Monday.
But for now, here are the things I discovered and what I am loving at the moment:
I discovered that my office webmail has been upgraded. I have been using the old version for more than a year while my other colleagues had been on the new one and I did not hardly notice the change until Tuesday.
A few shades of pink to pop up some color – one to break the usual outfit, the other to add bright hue when I doll up for work :-). Though I find it funny sometimes at how my office friends react when they see me on collared shirts instead of the usual T-shirt, jeans and sneakers; it's as if i got converted to someone else hahaha!
I now get the hag of this kitchen gadget. For a year I stayed away from the pantry microwave for the fear that it might explode after seeing what a fellow office mate did -- placing an aluminum-lined paper plate in it and we had instant fireworks during lunch break.
And after three years, I finally found the time to sit and change my profile photo on this blog. But aside from my hair getting longer now, I don't think any other thing had changed.
If you have been reading my blog, you probably know about what I do for a living too; and while working in a law firm meant wearing suits, blazers, pencil skirts and stilettos, mine's the opposite. Given that I am in Manila and almost everyone's overseas, my boss isn't that strict with dress codes.
If not for telling people my line of work, no one would believe me because I dress like a PA (personal assistant). If you will raid my closet, you will find that it contained nothing but shirts. Yes. I always go to work everyday in T-shirt, denim jeans and sneakers. And while a little black dress (or an LBD as they call it) should be among the staple find in every girl's wardrobe, unfortunately, it's something that you could not find in mine. For one, given that I am skinny, the color black will simply emphasize being payat even if it could be neutralized by the fair color of my skin.
But if the color black does not work, the good thing is white outfits do. It's a good one that social functions aren't occupying my calendar so I don't see dressing up to be a problem. I only wear whites whenever necessary as the color itself is a bit high maintenance (read: being stain friendly is a not an apt description) I have two favorite white outfits which I wear if the event (or in some cases the whether) permits me to.
While I have had this dress for almost three years, I only got to wear this three times; during my 26th birthday, when I went to Mass last June 30 (pictured above with my friend) and during dinner with some office mates from the firm three weeks back. Maybe that's the good thing about being payat too. I get to be thrifty with clothes -- which works to my advantage, I guess.
This one was my recent purchase from Bench. I was at a hunt for another white outfit and after scouting stores in SM Megamall (all of which were of futile attempt), the style I wanted happened to be in the department store itself. I got this from Bench at PhP 699. The blouse could be worn either long-sleeved or style to appear as a three-fourth sleeved. I'd say I got my money's worth.
I realized I looked good in white so I am thinking of investing in a few pieces of it to my wardrobe; just for a change. After all I've been donning the same shirt-jeans ensemble to work daily for years, it's about time I experiment.
But before you think of anything, I'm actually talking about the clothing brand, Dorothy Perkins.
They do have a branch just three minutes away from my office and en route to work one morning, I found this dress on display and absolutely fell in love with it -- as in immediately!
I only found the time to ask about this dress last Thursday. What they currently have was the same dress in red violet. When it came to the size, I (sort of) found it disappointing because they have the Size 8 -- and it's already their smallest size for this dress. I'm just size 4 (but Beth said she think's I'm either a size 2 or size 0).
The lady suggested another dress which she thinks would fit me (and I might like). That dress was this:
This was the exact same color they have at the store. When the lady showed it to me, I knew it would fit me well but the style was so sophisticated that I doubt about getting it. Social functions that I attend to could be counted with my fingers so I won't really use this much. Besides, I was madly (as in head over heals) aiming for the blue lace dress (and I don't know what hit me to love it like that). It's just that the size aren't amendable with me (and my budget -- for now :-p).
Oh well, as much as I love the dress, if it's not really meant for me I can't do anything with it. But then, for sure, there must be something better out there that would fit me -- perfectly.
Blue lace dress and wine lampshade dress images from Dorothy Perkins website.
A line from an old song goes, "the heat is on". And I know you will agree with me when I say that the weather these days had been so crazy. I hold office at one of the country's budding business district and my schedule converted me from a former night owl in the advertising industry to a day person. And since the ungodly hot weather strikes most in the morning and mid afternoon, going out of the building to grab a cup of iced joe or even fast food bites is such a harsh activity lately. If there could be modern-day vampires (aside from Edward Cullen of course), then you can count me in.
Like other people, I try to do some alternative to lessen the agony of this season. Take it from these photos:
While I was lucky to be given a day off for Australian Anzac Day last Wednesday, I took the chance to pay my favorite hairdresser a visit. It has been months since I had my haircut and while my hair had grown slower since I went for a bob cut four years ago, it has been long enough to cover my nape and just makes me more uncomfortable especially in the afternoons when the temperature shoots the highest.
I also sport wearing summer dresses and cotton sleeveless tops whenever I am just at home. The summer dress I am wearing on that photo was from SM. I think I got that for PhP 199 (about $5) and it's one of my favorite items in my closet lately.
The other thing that people do these days to feel at ease with the weather is going to malls. We're too far from Antartica or even the North Pole, so the most accessible place similar to their temperature are our shopping malls. Given that I had a bit of a tough week at work, I decided to give myself a treat this afternoon and ordered a Spam with cheese and egg sandwich and a tall iced tea from Starbucks. While the sandwich was originally a breakfast item, it was sufficient fill me. Their iced tea is not like the usual teas out there. They use real (as in brewed) tea and it's evident with the taste and the dark color. Now with regards to the price, I'd say I got my money's worth with what I had.
What about you? Any tips that you can share on how you ward off the summer heat?
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