My shoes are so fab!

A few days before Christmas, my husband, Simon, asked me what I would want for Christmas. Whenever I am asked that question my mind always goes blank. Asking for gifts is not something I am accustomed to doing. This year the only thing I asked for from family and friends was votes to win a camera. I didn't win. But I had to think of something. Surely there was something I wanted or needed that would not be unreasonable to ask for, right?

I came up with one thing: SHOES.

My godfather, Uncle Ed, used to give me shoes for my birthday and Christmas, but after I got married I figured I must be getting too old to receive them regularly. And, as I said, I'm not one to ask so I wasn't going to remind him.

I believe that every girl should have at least one pair of strappy heels among her shoes. Aside from gold (or silver, can't remember) formal strappy heels, all my other shoes are either too formal or too casual. I have boots, and rubber shoes, aqua socks/shoes, flip flops, and office shoes. But I realized that aside from hand-me-down Skechers heels I had nothing that would go with anything. And so, when he asked me what I wanted for Christmas the only thing that popped into my head was "girlie shoes".

I wasn't expecting him to go out and buy them for me, though. Just like underwear, shoes are personal, so more often than not it is better to go out and buy it yourself than have someone else buy it for you. So ... Simon just gave me the money for it. Worked for me. That way I was sure to get the style I want and in the correct size. I;m a size 9-9.5 so it actually isn't easy to get me shoes. My feet are too big for regular sizes (which usually stop at 8) and too small for big sizes (which usually start at 10).

Yesterday afternoon Erika went with me to Trinoma and to The Block for shoe shopping. We ended up getting shoes from the store I wanted to get them from in the first place, So Fab! at The Block.

Aren't these shoes pretty? I love them! Over the years I have bought and worn strappy sandals until they wear out from overuse. I fell in love with this pair on site.

I showed them to my mom and dad when I got home and mom loved them. Her only question to me was ... am I not too tall already? With these shoes on I reach a lofty 5'10". Perfect!

Expect to see me in these shoes many, many times in the coming months. Thank you, daddy, for giving me the money to buy them.

Christmas 2009

Christmas is the time to see our relatives, catch up on news, eat 'til we bust, and, for those who could afford it, gift giving.

Christmas eve was spent with my immediate side (Angeles) of the family. The clan Christmas celebration will be in a few days.
Here I am with my immediate family and their spouses and children. My mom and dad were not in the picture because dad was in bed with the flu. Uncle Vic was with us for Christmas but he was busy taking pictures, so could not be in the picture with us. Noche buena was simple. We just had Majestic ham, queso de bola, scalloped potatoes, mango float, soda, wine, Absolut Vanilla vodka

Christmas day we went to San Juan to spend the day with Simon's side (Tan) of the family.

After lunch my in-laws decided to go to the mall, but I opted to go home so I could catch up on some sleep.

Yesterday we went to relatives on the Zaragoza (my mom's side) side of the family. There are quite a number of first degree relatives on the Zaragoza side and this photo is nowhere near complete because most of my mom's siblings are either in the U.S. or out of Manila. Same goes with their children (my cousins) and their children (my nephews and nieces).

There is one more celebration left before the year ends. It's the Aben/Angeles clan reunion on the 30th. 'Tis definitely the season to be loosening the belts. Exercise, we will reunite on January 3.

Help me get my Christmas wish, please

Growing up there is one gadget that I remember wanting more than any other. No, it’s not the phone, and it isn’t the computer either (personal computers were not commonplace until much later). The one gadget I wanted most was a camera. And not just any camera, I wanted an SLR (single-lens reflex) camera.

I love taking pictures. For me there is greater joy in being behind the camera than in being in front of it. Back in the days of analog photography I always looked forward to picking up my contact sheets/prints from the film developer and hoped fervently that I got more good shots than bad. Now that’s it’s the new millennia, SLRs have evolved into DSLRs ("D" for digital) and seeing the results of my attempts is almost instantaneous thus making me more eager than ever to own a decent camera.

This month I have the opportunity to win a Canon EOS 450D Rebel XSi Digital Camera complete with lenses, but I need your help to win this prize. I’ve joined the Twilight Saga photo contest on Fizzer.ph and the person who receives the most number of votes wins!





For my Twilight inspired photo I had the choice of going ethereal (angelic), wolfish, or vampish. I opted for ethereal. (I’ve never been a Goth girl so I fear I won’t be able to carry off the dark, menacing vamp look, hehehe.) Like I said, I went for ethereal --- wind blowing through my hair, an expectant and wistful expression on my face, as if breathlessly waiting for my wolf-man to return. Yeah, you read it right; I said wolf-man, not vampire. Call me weird, but I’ve always been on Team Jacob from the time I read the books more than a year ago. I’m not denying Edward’s old world appeal, mind you, I just like my man warm and cuddly and rippling with the muscles.   For me to have any chance at winning this wonderful prize I desperately need your help, and this is how you can give it to me:

1. You have to be a member of Fizzer.ph (http://www.fizzer.ph). If you are not yet a member then please do sign up. It's free! Fizzer is a new local social networking site, so don’t worry about getting spammed or sent viruses by it. It would, perhaps be comparable to Facebook but with less features at the moment.
2. Go to http://www.fizzer.ph/#competitions/twilight and vote for me by clicking on the VOTE button below my picture and name.

It’s that easy! Perhaps you would like to join the contest yourself? If you do, then you need to know that the rules for joining the contest are very strict.

1. Contestants need to be a member of Fizzer.ph
2. The photo entry has to be Twilight inspired, meaning it should be vampish, wolfish, or ethereal.
3. The photo should be exactly 382 by 500 pixels.
4. The photo should not be posted in other social networking sites.

Contest ends on 20 December 2009 at exactly 10am. I will really, really appreciate all your votes. Thank you, friends, in advance, for my Christmas gift! Hope you like my pic, too. No , the pic posted here is not the one I entered.