Edward & Bella by Pinktonic

Text message from Paul:

iay^ noh a^ol !

Translation: i love you vhe!

 Audrey Hepburn bio, Acer Aspire One mini laptop, Ipod Touch, Ralph by Ralph, Diana+ lomo camera, tons of 120 films, hot pink Chucks, Twilight Saga book set, PEACE, LVE & Total HAPPINESS

I don't just read Stephenie Meyer. I encourage people I know to read her as well. I guess you can call me the Twilight Advocate. And I don't just tell them, "hey magbasa ka ng Twilight, maganda!!!", I also send them (e)books. Yeah, I know this is uh, sort of unethical and (gasp!) illegal, but hello, you can DL almost everything for free nowadays, so...hehe. I still feel guilty though, so to make up for that I'm going to buy the books (pag nakalusot ako kay Paul and when I finally have the moolah).

To my Twilight converts, spread the love (for dear Edward)!

And to those who still haven't read Twilight, ANONG PETSA NA?!

Right now I'm still stuck with Breaking Dawn and, just like with Eclipse, I am taking things slow and just savoring the moment. Ah, Edward and Bella on a honeymoon...Oops, I think that's a spoiler right there, sorry. But that is not an excuse to stop reading!

Moving on, as you can see, my blog is sporting a new layout again. Since it's November already, I have decided to change it into something more lively. Enough with the black & white monotony. Sigh, I don't want to make any promises anymore. I'll just go with the flow (of my very fickle mind).

What else? Hmmm...My body clock is still not working properly, but of course that is purely because of my own doing. I'm too stubborn to hit the sack early for my own good. Plus, I am enjoying (and abusing) our wifi connection so much that I lose track of time. "Ay 11:30 na pala!" or worse, "Naku madaling-araw na pala!" Tsk, tsk.

Anyway, our 6th anniversary is coming up and aside from the movie date (Quantum of Solace) and pigging out, Paul and I still have absolutely no idea what else to do on that day.

Paul: Magtitigan nalang tayo, tutal nagtitipid rin naman tayo.

Great idea. Bahala na.

My heart stopped when I saw the subject of Mia's email to me at lunch time today. It says "Congratulations!" And I was even more shocked when I finally read the contents of the email. It read "Congratulations Ivee! You won the book Please send me your address and contact number so I can have it shipped either by 2GO or Air21."

and the winner is...ME!

Yes, I won Finicky Me's book giveaway! Wow. I feel like Barack Obama winning the US elections, haha! This is the first online contest that I joined and I won! Talk about good luck. But did you know that I was almost disqualified? Well, blame it on my obsession with altering my template. During one of my obsessive layout changing disorder attacks I set my blog to private so only I could see the distortions on my site while I tinkered with the codes. At that same moment, Mia went to check if my entry was still viewable to the public. Of course she saw the "Oh Noes!" page asking her to log in.

Instead of just deleting me from the list of verified entries, Mia sent me an  email asking me to make the entry viewable to the public so I could still qualify for the contest. I felt stupid for overseeing that and I'm really grateful to Mia for understanding my lapse.

Ah, my first Stephenie Meyer book. I'm so excited to meet you!

Many thanks again to Mia and more power to Finicky Me!

 "I will have poetry in my life. And adventure. And love.
Love above all...love that... over-throws life. Unbiddable, ungovernable
- like a riot in the heart, and nothing to be done,
come ruin or rapture."

                                                                                --Viola De Lesseps in Shakespeare in Love

 And all these I now have..thank you!

Happy Sixth Anniversary, love.

I didn't really mind waiting. I'm too thrilled to see the book to be angry at 2Go (and Mia took care of the away part anyway, haha!)

Thanks again Mia for this opportunity to own a real Twilight book!

Last year, one of my resolutions was to read more books and, by some miracle, I was actually able to fulfill that promise.

I'm done with these:

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Memoirs of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Chase by Wales & Shope (Can't remember their first names, sorry)

I know this is nothing compared to the endless book lists of other voracious readers out there. I still have a day job, you know.

I also have my share of unfinished readings:

Twisted Flicks by Jessica Zafra
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostovo

And that last one I gave up for Edward (now that I think about it, The Historian is also about bloodsuckers, but the horrible, more traditional kind).

I am currently (still) reading Breaking Dawn and loving every moment of it. After this, since the release of Midnight Sun is on hold indefinitely, I might try to re-read--and finish--those three or re-read Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, which is now a motion picture (showing May 2009), or buy a new bunch of books. Some more Sophie Kinsella, perhaps?

Reading is bliss! What book have you read lately?

***

Speaking of resolutions, I think you will all agree that my top resolution for next year should be "stop changing my blog template," hahaha! Well, this is clearly another obsession. Sigh. Will do my best to work on that, promise.

You know that feeling of relief and satisfaction that one feels after passing on a hard task or tough responsibility to another person? It's like getting a huge lump off your throat or being relieved of a really heavy baggage, right?

Well, unfortunately I am most of the time at the receiving end of that relay. And it sucks. Big time. Especially when you're already tied up with too much work--your work, the ones actually written on your job description--and you have a freakin' deadline to meet.

I can't blame them though. I'm the one who can't say "NO." I guess it makes me feel guilty to not be able to help them so I end up saying "yes, I'll do it," even when I already have a handful of backlogs. Then again, in most cases, I really have no other choice but to do it.

I'm not saying that I'm the savior of the world, okay? Don't get me wrong. I am happy to help others, but we all have limitations and anything in excess is bad. Be a little more sensitive and considerate and, for once, try--really try--to do it yourself first before seeking help from others. You'll love the feeling of self fulfillment after, promise!

I just had to add more of Audrey Hepburn to my layout. And also, the previous banner looked too plain. Though I'd like to keep my template as simple as possible, I do not want it to look like I didn't even make an effort to be creative.

Hay naku. Tama na. This is it na talaga, promise!

...and let's stay this way for the rest of forever.

Got tickets already. And I said I wouldn't dare watch on the first showing day! Thanks Paul, you're the best!

Since I'm not really in the mood to blog (here in Tabulas anyway, because I just finished posting on my Blogspot journal), I'm just going to share some photos.

the traditional bouquet and cake...

...and the huge purple tote that everybody loves.

I used the tote as an office bag and I know now that it's not a good idea to bring a beach bag to the office. "Ivee, parang mag-a-outing lang ah!"

From being a Net addict she now wants to be a book-a-holic. And I'm not just talking about chick lit and vampire romances here. I mean real literature, as in titles that would make other people's eyebrows rise because they sound so intellectual.

Ha. I'm not so sure how I'm going to do that because I don't really have the patience to comprehend more than five highfaluting words used in a single sentence nor the endurance to try to understand the deeper meaning behind those prose and almost unintelligible word-plays. BUT I am going to try. Heck, I must've tried a gazillion times in the past, but everytime I hit the bookstores I always ended up getting distracted by the pretty pink covers of the latest Sophie Kinsella books and the idea of buying a classic novel was instantly forgotten. And of course, the biggest distraction of all would be the most loveable bloodsucker ever created.

Anyway, I'm not saying that I am totally giving up Stephenie Meyer (because I'd like to read The Host, too) and Kinsella (I just read the first of the Shopaholic series. There are three more...I think), but I'm thinking of adding some Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Amy Tan to my reading list for next year. See how little I know of this stuff? Any other suggestions? Hey, don't give me any of those Philosophy thingies, okay? I am not willing to go that far.

Oh look at the time. Better hit the sack. But before I go, can somebody explain to me why Manny Villar resigned as Senate President? Hay. Ang gulo gulo gulo gulo......talaga ng pulitika sa Pilipinas!

(Sorry I don't have any picture with more "intellectual" books because I don't have much of that kind on my bookshelf now...and I love this shot! LOL!)

I don't know about you, but I was kind of disappointed with Breaking Dawn's ending. Of course I loved that it's happily ever after for all of them, but I think it failed to really build up the climax. Then again what do I know about writing novels?

Anyhoo, so I'm finally done with the fourth book. Next stop: Midnight Sun. Or at least snippets of it that are legally posted on Stephenie Meyer's site. But before that I'm going to listen to the Twilight ebook, sort of a review in preparation for the movie next week. Ah, will this vampire obsession ever end?!

Okay, enough with Twilight. Like my music? I can listen to this all day! 

I'm breakin' dishes up in here
All night (uh huh)
I aint gon stop until I see police and lights (uh huh)
I'm a fight a man (tonight)
I'm a fight a man (tonight)
I'm a fight a man
On a man, on a m-a-a-a-aan
On a man, on a man, on a m-a-a-a-aan
Ohhhh

Gotta go now. Later!

My sister thinks Geoff and Tisha won the race and that is why we're uber excited for tonight's episode--it's the season finale!

Since the beginning of the race the other contestants have expressed dislike for the dating couple, mainly because of Geoff's arrogance. But the pair from the Philippines never let that get in the way of their bid to be "team number one" at every pit stop.

They may have disagreements of their own (there was even an episode where Tisha said something like "we're so over after this..."), but their tandem proved to be one of the toughest in this season and the hostility of the other teams probably even helped them build a sturdier teamwork.

Geoff and Tisha were the second team to get in the final three next to Ida and Tania of Malaysia. Now these two were just lucky that there were pre-determined non-elimination rounds in the race. Otherwise they should have already been eliminated a few episodes ago.

Hong Kong boys Sam and Vince completed the top three this season. They had trouble with the last Roadblock, which required one member to cross a canyon gap via a Tyrolean traverse to obtain a clue on the other side before heading back.

Sam took the challenge but couldn't finish it so they were given a four-hour penalty. The team after them, A.D. and Fuzzie of Singapore, became hopeful when they learned about Vince and Sam's decision, but all their hopes got lost when Fuzzie, the one who traversed, also couldn't finish the challenge. They ended up taking the penalty as well, which made them the fourth casualty of the race.

Oh I really hope that my sister's hunch is right. I don't like Geoff either (and I don't think he looks anything like Wentworth Miller, like what my mother claims), but hey, they are Filipinos. Maybe they can't speak a word in Tagalog, but they still carry our flag. So good luck Geoff and Tisha. Make us proud this time!

You know what power I'd love to have if I were to be reborn as a sparkling, gorgeous vampire? Its the power to make my officemates pick-up the ringing phone against their will. That way there will be one less annoyance here in the office, at least for me.

Another interesting and very helpful power to have would be the ability to repel people who make me sick just by their mere presence (Abby would love to have this power, too ) Yeah it would be nice to automatically make the people whom I couldn't stand to be with in the same room--even if we're meters apart--turn their backs and head to the opposite direction the moment they felt like talking to me. And they would have absolutely no idea why they suddenly "changed their minds."

I am obviously feeling ranty today. Do you know why? I'll tell you why. Because Tisha and Geoff didn't win the Amazing Race. They were only in second place, thanks to their "fantastic" cab driver. Most of the time in this race your chances of winning depend on the cab drivers that you get, which just makes it a lot more exciting and unpredictable. Imagine being in the lead in the race. You are already celebrating because you are certain that you would be team number one at the pit stop. But then your cab suddenly takes a wrong turn on the way to your next clue and the driver finally admits that he doesn't know where you are going. In that situation you could only scream in frustration and hope that the other teams decided to tail you.

So anyway, I have to give it to the Hong Kong boys because they really did great. They had a four-hour penalty and yet they still managed to get to the final pit stop (in Thailand) first. They truly deserved to win. As for the actress and the heiress, they had trouble with booking a flight to Thailand. Oh well, second is better than last. Maybe the Philippine team will have better luck in season four.

Oh there are other things that are more deserving of my rants, but I choose to stop now. I just hope my day gets better.

Have a happy weekend.

Another photo blog. Yes, you guessed it. I am not in the mood again to blog.

My FIRST book on Audrey Hepburn! I got it from A Different Bookstore in Glorietta yesterday and it was the last copy. Ain't I lucky? (Well actually I wasn't. I read about its availability in another Audrey fan's blog Friday night so the next morning I rushed to the mall and picked her up.)

Look it's still tagged as "new arrival"

 
Twilight-Twilight. My Palm blaring the Twilight Audiobook and those are our tickets to the movie.

I'm tired. So tired. But I'm enjoying Enchanted so I might stay up for a while to finish it. Hope you guys already got your bonuses!

Notice anything new with my blog's layout in the past couple of days?

None?

Exactly!

While we worry about getting the latest gadget and planning our next vacation, here's an 11-year-old boy whose final wish was to help the homeless.

First of all, I don't see the point in posting a review of the film since nobody wants spoilers (except for Cleo, maybe) and everybody will be watching it anyway.

So I am just going to give you an idea of what to expect from the audience. Yes, including yourselves!

•  Ladies, if your boyfriends are not fans of the saga and despise screaming moviegoers or any reaction at all from the audience, this is not the flick to drag them into. Better ask your girl or gay friends to watch it with you.

• When the lights went out, which meant that the film was about to start, a bunch of girls started shouting "on my god, oh my god!" and everyone else started laughing.

• When Edward and Bella were about to kiss, someone, this time a guy (or gay) shouted "do it! do it!" and the theater burst into laughter once more.

• There were a lot of hilarious scenes in the film, actually. Charlie had some sense of humor and just seeing Jasper on screen made the audience roar with laughter. Think Edward Scissor Hands.
  

• The girls (myself included) went "aaahhhh" when Carlisle first appeared on screen. Never mind that he was white as snow, literally.
  

• Why did Robert Pattinson get the part again? His Edward didn't dazzle me at all. Must be the lipstick.

It wasn't so bad, especially if you haven't read the book. And if you have, well, just pretend you haven't. What movie adaptation remained 100% faithful to the book anyway?

I am going to stop here. You go watch the movie now.

The rolling of the eyeballs really ticked me off this time. Don't worry I won't be needing your precious assistance again EVER. You may now concentrate on making everything in your life complicated!

And I was just getting started! Tomorrow will be Audrey flick marathon day! How to Steal a Million, Charade, The Nun's Story, Love in the Afternoon (yes Ana, finally!) and My Fair Lady!

That is if my mom and sis don't insist that we finish our Christmas shopping.

...but I still have tonight and tomorrow to watch as much Audrey film as I want!