Let me tell you a little secret... 

My husband and I decided that we will open a joint Youtube account and post videos that we can share to each other (but not necessarily to the rest of the world yet). He has uploaded quite a few which showed how his family celebrated the holidays especially Christmas. He has also shown me a tour of his house and their  farm which I find very amusing (I gave him an A for effort). I would love to share it too but my husband is a little too shy for that. He is using the Canon Powershot S100 which I gave to him after our wedding. The video and sound quality was really good so I thought of buying one for myself too. 

Unfortunately, I was not able to find the same model so I decided to get a Nikon D7000 instead. However, my sense of reason convinced me not to buy a "bigger-than-my-hands" camera instead settle for a lighter compact one. So yes, I got myself a Canon Powershot S110 based on the reviews that I have read. I might buy the Nikon camera on my birthday or maybe not anymore. 

I will try to vlog as well but I am not sure yet if I will post it publicly. I know my life has been out there the past few years but I don't think I have enough audacity to let you in on my daily life through videos. I don't think I am ready as well for bullying (i.e. negative comments on Youtube among others). 

I decided to buy the camera because of a review I read online. According to Mario Aguilar, the Canon Powershot S110 is the best camera that you can fit in your pocket. Who would not want that right? I guess I just got tired of carrying my Panasonic Lumix camera which takes more than half the space inside my purse. I need something portable and compact right now without sacrificing image quality. This may not be a zoom camera but the reviews were enough for me to switch. 

What's so cool about this camera? 

1. It is a touch screen camera. 

2. It is so light and thin that you can put it inside your jeans pocket. Trust me on this. 

3. It is a Wi-Fi camera. It can upload pictures and videos to social media and file transfer between the camera and a phone, tablet and computer. How cool is that? I have yet to test this though. Although I think I would not really be using this too much. 

4. The ISO setting is set at 12,800. Photos taken at ISO 3200 have little to no noticeable noise at all. 

5. The night setting is awesome. I can't wait to share a picture with you. 

6. The camera allows its users to edit the photo inside the camera. 

7. The camera shots at 1920x1080 HD video. This would be perfect for vlogging.
8. Need I mention that this is made in Japan too? 

Canon Powershot S110 Key Features

12MP 1/1.7" Canon CMOS sensor

24-120mm equivalent F2.0-5.9 lens, 4-stop "intelligent IS"

DIGIC 5 processor

ISO 80-12800

Touch-sensitive 3" 460K dot Purecolor II G screen

Built-in WiFi

RAW format recording

Built-in 3-stop neutral density filter

Warning: Don't buy this camera if you have large hands. Some of the features may mean much trouble to you if  you do. 

I am really happy that I got this camera. This will be used (and maybe abused) to test its functionality. I also got my sister a new camera for her birthday. I got her a Sony Cybershot DSC-W630. I hope she likes it.

UPDATE: This camera conked out on me during our Denmark Vacation - October 2015 because of lens error. The lens won't retract anymore and I decided to just give it up instead of getting it fixed. 

Finding Mr. Right is never the same as Finding Mr. Right Now. I think I do have a little authority to share what I have done in my quest to Finding Mr. Right because I did find my very own Mr. Right and I am happily married to him now. This article is written by someone who at some point in her life has almost resigned to not being able to find the right one this lifetime. I did not panic nor succumbed into a state of depression. The best thing that I did was to cast all my cares and my hopes and wishes to God and let him take the wheel in this part of my life where I basically took charge right from when puppy love has hit me. 

When I was younger, I was stubborn, I was reckless. I only thought of the fleeting happiness that an adventurous relationship provides. I'd skip some of my classes in school, I'd feign sickness to just be with someone. Looking back, there are actions that I wish I have not done and there are decisions I wish I did not do. When I turned 28 and found myself in a relationship hell, I began asking myself if I did deserve to be in one. The answer was no and that realization only came after so much heartache and wrong turns. I guess in my younger years, I was inlove with being in love. I am moving from one failed relationship to another in the hopes to finally find Mr. Right. Big mistake... 

1. Stop looking for someone to love you and find the one that is going to treat you right, respects you. 

I was once a believer of love at first sight but yes I can tell you now that it does not happen to everyone and may even be untrue. Take some time to get to know a guy and only agree to be in a relationship with that person when you have seen how he treats the girls in his life because then you would know how he will treat you too. If he hangs up the phone when his mom calls, he would most probably do it to you too at some point. If he forgets to pick up his younger sister from school, he would forget about a dinner date with you too. 

2. When you stop trying to find the right man and start becoming the right woman, the right man will find his way to you. 

The most important thing is to be Ms. Right yourself. You have to be interesting if you are boring. You have to be loving if you are hateful. You have to have a good heart if you are deceitful. You have to generous if you are selfish. Yes, no one is perfect but you can always work hard to become a better person. Love yourself first and when you can love yourself, other people will begin to love you as well. Stop insisting that you can be yourself and your flaws and that someone will just eventually fall for you. Wrong! You can do things to make yourself more lovable and you are doing yourself a favor as well for being a more well-rounded person. No man, no matter how right is going to make you a better person. 

3. Finding love is like finding the perfect pair of shoes. 

Do not just settle for a good-looking pair. You have to make sure that you find what will be most comfortable for you. This is true in terms of sharing the same ideals, sharing the same values and opinions. Comfort does not mean being in a perfect relationship because truth be told there will be trials and there will be hardships. You will not just toss a perfect pair of shoe that was once comfortable because you got a blister right? 

4. Know what you are looking for in a man.

Write all the characteristics you are looking for in a man in a piece of paper and be specific. Pray for it. Do not settle for anything less than your list. Of course, you have to be reasonable too. Keep in mind that ultimately what you choose today will be what you will get later. Life will never hand everything to you in a silver platter. I dare say you have to be realistic as well. 

5. Go out and explore. Don't ditch the internet (he may be in there somewhere-like mine was). 

I have never really enjoyed the night life so meeting someone who enjoys such life is not my thing. When I do go out I do not expect to find my Mr. Right in bars and the party scene. So when you do go out to find Mr. Right, go to places that interests you the most or where you think you would share the same passion with someone is lurking. If you are a foodie, go to food bazaars or to weekend markets. If you love photography, attend photography classes. I practically live in the internet when I am not busy with work and other personal errands. So guess where I found my Mr. Right? I found him in the internet. We practically talked about everything about our lives before we met and now we are married and still truly, madly, deeply in love with each other. 

6. Be patient, be very patient. You can never hurry love.

It's awards season once again and of course all eyes are on the gowns and jewels and wardrobe malfunctions of the Hollywood stars. Black dominated the scene and was undoubtedly the go-to color of the event.  Red, pastels and floral as well as nude were also seen at the red carpet this year. 

Here are a few pictures from the red carpet arrivals:

BLACK

COLOR

RED

NUDES/WHITE/PASTEL

I reviewed my blog stats for the previous year and I noticed that I posted lesser than 2011 but had more saved drafts waiting to be published. It would be fun if the draft posts are just waiting to be published. In my case however, I need to finish the posts. So forget it! I will just leave the posts as is and move forward and try to find and catch my rhythm back. 

"I will blog more this year!" - one of my New Year's resolution. Yes, I will stay on top of my blog more. 

If you are like me who feel guilty for not religiously and diligently updating, then I guess it's time to strategize. I still have not made up my mind on how I will do this plan but I will do my best so I won't struggle to keep up with how often I publish new blog posts. 

Here's to igniting the spark and resurrecting my blogging mojo!!!

I just discovered a growing social platform that may fuel your shopping lust. It is a great way to do some "window shopping" online. It can be pretty addicting too and for the past couple of days that I have been a member, I have spent a good deal of hours scouring through pages and pages of items that I want to include in my wardrobe. Hmmm, in my little Lyst world, I even came up with a collection sourced from different fashion brands from the runway to high-street fashion.

Lyst has a wide array of clothing, shoes, bags, accessories and jewelry.

So, what exactly is Lyst? Lyst, a startup founded by Chris Morton, Sebastjan Trepca and Devin Hunt, is gaining traction with high fashionistas and looking to achieve just that. It’s latest enhancement – launched to coincide with London Fashion Week – is designed to allow fashion fans to be alerted as soon as clothes on the catwalk become available to purchase, usually some weeks later. -TechCrunch 

It is one of the social curation sites that is fast gaining popularity among fashion bloggers all over the world. If you have not done so, sign up for your own account and feed your shopping wants. Click on the picture below so you can follow my collections and leave a comment with a link of your Lyst profile so I can check your Lyst out too.

   

 

So, how many ways can you tie your scarf now? 

I figured I also need to compile magazine covers in the US after I have compiled the covers for the Philippines as a good chunk of my blog readers are in the US. I know there are still some people like me that appreciates flipping real magazine pages than reading the online version. 

I admit I still prefer buying magazines from a bookstore than reading the online version or flipping through e-magazines. I love the feel of the glossy pages in my hands. I have a whole stash of magazines in different titles at home (ranging from fashion, wedding, home design or food among others). This month, however, I will not be buying a copy of the OK! Magazine as they have published they have announced that they have already published the final issue last month after almost 8 years in circulation. I am surely going to miss OK! 

For this month, I have only bought the Cosmopolitan with Taylor Swift on the cover and I have yet to buy the rest (still contemplating if the other titles are worth it). 

Lately my usual conversation with my husband always involves plans on how we can organize our little home and maximize every single square inch of the space. We have initially planned to install additional cabinets for storage so we can get rid of some items on the floor. We also plan to buy a new couch that would fit perfectly in our living room. We have so much stuff to do and it will be our first ever project together. It scares me and excites me at the same time. 

I have found a video in YouTube with tips on how to organize the pantry, kitchen, home office, bathroom, and other parts of the house:

 

Before 2012 ended, almost everyone in my Facebook or Twitter friend list talked about the impending doomsday as predicted by the Mayans. Such theory were accepted by fatalists, refuted by the religious and brushed off by the skeptics. Oh yes, it didn't happen. We earthlings are still alive and well and here I am typing this post away. I think it is a good thing that the world did not end because I still have so much things that I need to accomplish, so many countries that I want to visit, so many plans that I want to start and so many goals that I want to achieve not to mention the hugs that I need to give. I am sure that I am not the only one rejoicing that the circle of life moves on. 

I wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year and I hope everyone woke up today with a more positive

outlook in life. Claim that this year will be your year. 

Own it... like I do!