It’s December again and you know what that means!

It’s that time of the year when some guy relays to the whole world a list of things he wants to have to make him feel loved. Haha. But sadly, it seems like my parents were the only ones responding to my biannual (Christmas and birthday) wish list. It’s a miracle, though, because they never read the one I previously posted. Not even one out of the bunch!

Let’s cut the yada yada, skip the unnecessary statements (like this one) and go to the juicy part. The part where I start to wish I had a magical lamp beside me and rub it to please me. Materially, that is.. I said enough with the unimportant speech!!! Haha.

1. A camera flash. Everyone needs one. I’m in need.. in dire need of one.. or two OR THREE.

2. A studio with complete equipments: lights, background, barndoors, and the list goes on….. A person is never satisfied so let’s take things a gazillion of notches higher.

3. An awesome bag (or more). Man purse, sling bag, backpack. Leather, canvas. Big, small.

4. A red 2010 Ford Focus. A/T.

5. Lenses for fashion photography and portraiture.

6. A really artsy and rad pendant on a leather necklace. And/or a Mauvais Garçon clay pendant.

7. More artsy looking bracelets.

8. Shirts of every color possible which has “J’adore Mauvais Garçon” hand painted on it.

9. A 17inch Mac Book Pro.

10. A black and/or red tracker cap with, again, “J’adore Mauvais Garçon” printed on it.

11. More Moleskines!!! Of different colors and sizes. Sketch pads or the ruled one. Hardbound please

12. Pens that will be awesome for doodling.

13. A customized camera strap with, for the nth time, “J’adore Mauvais Garçon” stitched on it.

14. An English Bulldog.

15. A pearl rosary that can be worn as a necklace. Pearl’s my birthstone.

16. A website of my own

17. Justice for the Maguindanao massacre

18. A better Philippines

19. A peaceful election.. free from cheating, killing, and anomaly

20. Love life. Nge hahaha.

21. A desktop computer with stuff (memory and stuff [I don't know the terms]) that will be good enough for photography and to store movies, songs, and other stuff I have. OR have the one I have here upgraded.

22. The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (book)

23. A photoshoot with Sitti, Miriam Quiambao, and Gael Garcia Bernal.

24. Loafers, espadrilles, canvas sneakers (no loud colored ones please )

Whew! Guess that would be it. I stopped typing for like 20 minutes then tried to think of more stuff to include but thought of nothing… so yeah… that’s it!

And remember:

IT’S BETTER TO GIVE.. THAN TO RECEIVE

: )

Happy Christmas everyone!

don’t let me be this sad this Christmas

Time flies incredibly fast and it’s December already! Just days then it’s Christmas.

If there’s one thing I can’t stand during the holiday season it would have to be the idea of walking the cold streets alone.
But there’s a lot to be thankful for but still, nothing beats the warmth romance brings.
I need to shut up haha.

Happy Christmas everyone!

model: Genetricieva
makeup: Gem Rare
location: Rouge Studio

Okay. Last night I finally got to watch 500 Days of Summer and I confess.. it got me. It got me really hard. I woke up with a severe case of Tom-Summer-gitis.. LOL. and I can’t seem to get rid of this disease.

The movie made certain facts – that I was then too blind to notice – clear to me. Pardon me because this post will be a little lengthy.

FACT 1

It’s funny how our expectations can go mute and still look pleasant. Well.. it’s more than pleasant. It’s whimsical. It’s enough to take us to this world where the only thing that can lead us to danger is when we eat too much butterflies.. or something. Or dancing on top of a cake not noticing it’s ruining our shoes. Or singing our hearts out – and carrying a tune – making people want to hear us sing until we can’t sing anymore.

And the reality. Filled with sounds of laughter. Well.. of other people’s laughter. Everything seems magical.. pleasing – if you ask me. It pleases everyone. Except the one facing the bitter facts.. wishing his eyes were tightly shut letting no stream of light pass through our vulnerable eyelids.. breaking our already-dying heart. it breaks us. Making restoring us seem like completing a million-pieced puzzle.

FACT 2

Right love is waiting for you to make it happen. It’s funny just the other day, I had this conversation with a friend about how love might be waiting for her in a party she failed to go to. Go out there! Meet someone! Make it happen.

It wasn’t love between Summer and Tom.. but to Tom it is. Given that it was only him who believed that it is, indeed, love makes their love questionable. Then Summer married some guy, Tom felt really badly about it. Okay. Let me go against my point. It may be love – the thing between Summer and Tom – but it was not meant to be. Love plus fate results to ACCIDENTAL LOVE and accidental love is the best kind of love there is. It’s the most magical. Surreal but slap yourself.. IT’S REAL!

FACT3

Just because you clicked doesn’t mean you’re perfect for each other.

FACT4

When you’re trying to get over someone, don’t just look back on happy memories.. dude! SNAP OUT OF IT! There are bad ones too! And those rotten tomatoes in a basket of fresh, ripe, and juicy bunch can cause the good ones to go bad. What I’m trying to say here is that: It ended! It ended because of a certain reason. Something bad happened. It’s true that the good ones are too awesome to be forgotten but stop fooling yourself! The bad ones are just as important. They are of greater power in dictating which way your (you and your then-partner”s) fate will go to.
Best thing to do is to ask yourself: is going back to the time where the sun is shinning, the birds are singing, the sky is at its bluest shade worth coming back to? Given that in your heart it’s going to be forced – fate did not bring you two back together but it’s a result of late night text messages of you begging and being insanley pathetic or a series of convincing your friends to find a way to get you two back together. We all know that it’s plain DUMB!

FACT5

THERE ARE MILLIONS OF FISHES IN THE SEA. Go grab your fishing rod, wear your best fishing outfit, get the best worms.. wait patiently. If you can’t get some there, then off to the next pond you go!

The movie has taught me a lot. And I feel bad. I preach but I can’t practice. BOO ME!
I’m embarrassed by this post.

No emo stuff on this one.

model: Genetricieva
makeup: Gem Rare
location: Rouge Studio

CHEERS!

the Paella that almost didn’t make it

I must say the food was awesome! But man.. the service! Particularly this waiter who messed up our order… GADDD!

First thing we ordered was Arroz con Marisco the waiter even did his spiel about the dish.. then he left. Then a waitress came to get the rest (or so we think) of our order: Gambas al Ajillo, Croquetas Mixtas, two iced teas, and Coke. **sorry failed to take photos of our appetizers.. busy talking

Bread for the table. GOOD!

Appetizers served.. DELECTABLE!

As indicated on the menu, we waited for thirty (30) minutes for the paella. Thirty minutes came.. no paella’s on our table yet. Forty-five minutes.. an hour.. STILL NO PAELLA! Good thing my friend thought of reminding them of our order. Then the waiter came and told us that we didn’t order for such dish. And we were like WTF! So we went on and “ordered” for Arroz con Marisco.

good thing it was good

FINALLY! PAELLA! Good thing the dish was spectacular.

free dessert

Then after paying.. the crew pulled a 360 by giving us a complementary dessert that we hardly ate.

Thanks to the blunder we failed to have a real dessert at Miss Desserts.

I’d give this restaurant an 9 out of 10.. but since the guy messed up I’d give it a 7

We all have an ideal partner..
lucky are some they found theirs.
Boo me, I haven’t.
Sometimes being a tad too perfect leaves us doubting.
Mannequins are the only ones perfect..
from skin to height;
body proportion..
chiseled to perfection.

Thank you for visiting! Cheers!

model: Genetricieva
makeup: Gem Rare
location: Rouge Studio

it took me quite a while to master this one XD
best viewed with a calibrated screen : )

]]> http://mintsandcigarettes.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/mannequin/feed/ 0 Arvin Photobucket http://mintsandcigarettes.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/the-purple-dress/ http://mintsandcigarettes.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/the-purple-dress/#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:00:08 +0000 Arvin http://mintsandcigarettes.wordpress.com/?p=96 Continue reading →]]> My apologies for the inconsistency this post will cause.

If you notice, I have a “Next Attraction” box to your right. But I thought of posting that some other time because I think my site needs color.

model: Genetricieva
makeup: Gem Rare
location: Rouge Studio

half body…

and whole body. YEAAHHH! lol

It was really tiring! We had to run, work fast, and fix relevant stuff faster. Plus our biggest downer: TIME CONSTRAINT! We had to produce 12 sets in three hours! It’s funny how a page of a calendar remains unmoved for, well, a month when us, the ones working on it, had less than a day to do it.

Nonetheless, it was one of the best shoots I’ve ever been part of

So here’s a taste of how the shoot was like, ermmm.. before the chaos started:

me and Gem (makeup artist)

me and Genetricieva (model)

makeup artist and model

me, Genetricieva, and Gem

the tandem (after the shoot) DUCK! My nose looks flat here! DUCK DUCK!

First dates can make or break you.
Everything is carefully done
just to have him thinking nonstop..
Of you.
Who calls first?
Kissing on the first date a taboo? No.
A kiss will always be a kiss.
Magic will happen..
when it’s supposed to happen.

FYI: this post is called First Date because the model wore this outfit to a basketball game where she met the love of her life.

model: Genetricieva
makeup: Gem Rare
location: Rouge Studio

Life is a masquerade
What they see can’t always be what they can get.
The outside may speak of what is inside
but it can’t tell every inch.
Once the masks are off,
that’s when the beautiful unraveling begins.

model: Genetricieva
makeup: Gem Rare
location: Rouge Studio