jessica szhor

Stopped watching Gossip Girl after the first season. Now that Season 2 is ongoing, I think I want to catch up on what I've missed. I didn't know that Ed Westwick is with Jessica Szhor. I love her so much because she's so bohemian! I love how her wild curls fit her perfectly.


I love her blue dress here! <3

I believe that each of us is stronger than we think we are. There will come a time when we think we're going to crack but we don't because it's our inner strength that will always pull us through.

one of my favorite movie quotes ever by Lester Burnham (American Beauty)

 I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me... but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... you will someday. 

beanie

I'm staring at a space near my bed and I'm thinking, "I really want a big bean bag chair". It would be really neat so I'd have somewhere to lounge around. I'm going to look for something as big as this.

happiness

Maybe happiness didn't have to be about the big, sweeping circumstances, about having everything in your life in place. Maybe it was about stringing together a bunch of small pleasures. Wearing slippers and watching the Miss Universe contest. Eating a brownie with vanilla ice cream. Getting to level seven in Dragon Master and knowing there were twenty more levels to go.

Maybe happiness was just a matter of the little upticks- the traffic signal that said "Walk" the second you go there- and downticks- the itch tag at the back of your collar- that happened to every person in the course of the day. Maybe everybody had the same allotted measure of happiness within each day.

maybe it didn't matter if you were a world-famous heartthrob or a painful geek. Maybe it didn't matter if your friend was possibly dying.

Maybe you just got through it. Maybe that was all you could ask for.

--page 282, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)

penguins-a-chillin'

IMG_6329, originally uploaded by shutterbug-gail.

I really wanted to get one of these dudes but you have to play to win them. BOO!

rubber duckies afloat

rubber duckies afloat, originally uploaded by shutterbug-gail.

I love rubber duckies! They're my friends.
Taken one December night at Star City on a walk-around trip there just because we got bored.

imagine all the people, living life in peace

let there be peace., originally uploaded by shutterbug-gail.

"Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace."
(Imagine, John Lennon)

I learned from the news today that two UN peace workers died at the Pakistan hotel bombing. One was a fellow Filipina, Perseveranda So, who worked for the UNICEF and the other a UNCHR staff, Aleksandar Vorkapic.

Rest in peace and to all who perished in the terrorist attack.

mt. pinatubo, zambales trek

Some of you may not know it but I am actually a outdoors person. I enjoy being outdoors with nature because I love the feeling of taking it all in-- basking in the beauty that God gave us. Despite my addiction to technology, I love taking it slow in the countryside and exploring nature after getting lost in the rowdy life of the city.

I've always wanted to take a trek to Mt. Pinatubo. I've seen awesome photos, documentary features, and travel stories of hiking to the crater. It's amazing. The beauty of the place is already breath-taking in photos and tv, what more if you're really there? I really want to take that trek and connect with nature.

With beauty like this, how could you NOT go?





Photos by Allan Barredo

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

IMG_8648, originally uploaded by shutterbug-gail.

What a tiring day!!! I made a banana cake and baked cookies. I'm so pooped but baking is definitely therapeutic.

I didn't have baking powder so I did the substitute version of cream of tartar + baking soda. Definitely worked because the cookies turned out great. :) Definitely making these again!

one thing's for sure-- my future kids can always count on cookies & milk all the time especially on days when they're down in the dumps. cookies make me feel happy.

banana cake

sliced banana cake, originally uploaded by shutterbug-gail.

I made a Banana Cake today! I initially wanted to bake cookies but the bananas were already ripe so I made this instead. It turned out okay! I'd add more sugar next time, though because I have a sweet tooth. But it all actually depends on the people who will eat it so I might as well ask for their opinion.

All in all, this was a success and surprisingly easy to make. I think I'll make the Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies tonight. Hmm...

i wonder if they'll have this at the local Mac Center

Paul Frank silicon iPhone/iTouch case!!! I SUPER LOVE IT!

wish list/look-out list

it doesn't look like it's made by Crocs but these are cute!


also on the look-out for the perfect everyday messenger bag. the following are from Free People and they're so pricey but they're perfect!!!






and the ever lovely Prada Nappa Striped hobo bag!!!


again, from Free People. Man, I love their stuff! i wish there was a similar store that's bohemian-themed here in Manila!

i'm a very big greyhead

Grey's Anatomy is the ONLY show that I'm SO INVOLVED with. I love this show for many reasons despite its flaws. Well, if it's perfect then it's not fiction, right? I love this show to pieces and it helps so much that the sountrack is brilliant too! There are so many new artists whose songs are featured in the episodes. I love it that the show gives way to new artists and old artists. They featured a lot of Snow Patrol songs and that helped the band (which happens to be a favorite!) tremendously.

Never mind if sometimes the characters annoy me or they're too involved with their personal lives that's getting in the way of their jobs. Nevermind if sometimes the characters are "too broken" to be real and "too broken" that you'd want to reach into the screen and conk their heads so they'd snap out of it. But this show really moves me and sometimes it speaks to me. It touches the human spirit with so many lessons to learn. Despite how different the lives of the characters are from the viewers, there is an uncanny parallelism to human situations that will awaken the spirit because it talks to the viewers and shows how humans are as fragile as the "gods" that we call surgeons or doctors.

One more reason why I love this show is that I understand some of their medical jargons/terms now. I'm currently a nursing student and it's just awesome when you come across familiar terms and actually understand what they're talking about. Although their bedside manners suck sometimes, well, it's a show!

I really love Grey's Anatomy! <3



Currently downloading season 5's soundtrack on Torrent. I love the selection! Here's the list if you're interested:

Other Lives - Black Tables
Beck - Youthless
Jade McNelis - Wins
Emiliana Torrini - Jungle Drum
Steve Reynolds - Mistaken Identity
Bon Iver - Skinny Love
The Perishers - Never Bloom Again
Greg Laswell - And Then You
The Rescues - Crazy Ever After
Taylor Swift - White Horse
Jont - Another Door Closes
Erin McCarley - Pitter-Pat
Emiliana Torrini - Ha Ha
Sia - Cares at the Door
Santogold - Say Aha
Little Jackie - LOL
Patrick & Eugene - Altogether Now
The Bird and the Bee - My Love
Emiliana Torrini - Big Jumps
The Whitest Boy Alive - Done With You
Joshua Radin - One of Those Days
Brett Dennen - Ain't Gonna Lose You
Bernadette Moley - Love To Me
The Rescues - My Heart With You
Erin McCarley - Love save the empty
Emilie Mover - Ordinary Day
Shady Bard - These Quiet Times
Greg Laswell - Comes and Goes (In Waves)
Brandi Carlile - Hiding My Heart
Lenka - Live Like You're Dying
Vampire Weekend - Walcott
Greg Laswell - Days Go On
El Perro del Mar - From the Valley to the Stars
Raining Jane - Prelude
Psapp - I Want That
Brazilian Girls - Good Time
Shady Bard - Torch Song
Erin McCarley - Gotta Figure This Out
The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra - the Uniform
The Coral Sea - Ah, Ah, Ah
Jets Overhead - It's A Funny Thing
Seabird - Falling for You
Lenka - Trouble Is a Friend
Meiko - Boys With Girlfriends
Dido - Quiet Times
Tina Dico - No Time To Sleep
Lisa Hannigan - Ocean And A Rock
Waz - Ordinary Girl
SugaRush Beat Company - They Said I Said
Ray LaMontagne - Winter Birds
Max Morgan - Secret
Kanye West - Street Lights
Daniel Powter - Am I Still The One
Ben Folds - You Don't Know Me
The Coral Sea - Ah Ah Ah
Dido - The Day Before the Day
Santogold - Lights Out
Tandy - Home
Winterpills - Take Away The Words
Anya Marina - All the Same to Me
Right Away, Great Captain - What A Pity
Glass Pear - Last day of your life
Johnathan Rice - The Acrobat
Emiliana Torrini - Birds
Bon Iver - Blindsided
Powderfinger - Drifting Further Away
Nikka Costa - Stuck to You
Panda Transport - Transmission
Trolle//Siebenhaar - These Streets
Bon Iver - Re: Stacks
Kate Havnevik - Halo
Dido - Never Want to Say It's Love
Keri Noble - Emily
Liam Finn - Gather to the Chapel
Shontelle - Roll It
Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson - Winter Song
Slow Runner - Happy Ending
Matt Hires - Turn the Page
Dash & Will - Error Error
Little Dragon - Twice
Calahan - Like a Ghost
Snow Patrol - The Planets Bend Between Us
Metric - Front Row
Rachael Yamagata - Duet
Shady Bard - Treeology
Piers Faccini - A Storm Is Going to Come
Common - Everywhere (feat. Martina Topley-Bird)
Royal Wood - A Mirror Without
Great Northern - Driveway
Gomez - Little Pieces
Sanders Bohlke - The Weight of Us
The Cinematic Orchestra - That Home
Ben Lee - Rise Up
Peter Broderick - With the Notes in My Ears
O+S - We Do What We Want To
The Mostar Diving Club - Vagabonds and Clowns
Jont - Sweetheart (New Version)
Shady Bard - Summer Came When We Were Falling Out
The Rescues - Break Me Out
Emilie Mover - Brand New
The Rescues - Stay Over
Brett Dennen - So Far From Me
All thieves - Turn and turn again
The Hard Lessons - Wedding Ring
Matthew Mayfield - First in Line
Au Revoir Simone - Another Likely Story
Ingrid Michaelson - Turn to Stone (the wedding song)
Joy Williams - Charmed Life
Katie Herzig & Matthew Perryman Jones - Where the Road Meets the Sun
Sugarplum Fairies - Hold On to Me
Ingrid Michaelson - All Love
Missy Higgins - The Battle
Hollywood, Mon Amour - Flashdance...What A Feeling (featuring Yael Naim)
Greg Laswell - Off I Go