It’s Tough Love, Denim Love

I must admit I have this fixation with denims. Or an obsession probably. From tops to bottoms, I must have it. And just by having these amazing hauls keeps more happy than actually wearing them. Right! It’s quite nice to have a dependable denim top and pants. You can never go wrong with your trusty old denim.

Although it’s super hot now, and wearing this denim top with this weather is quite self-punishing. But of course there are light weight jeans that could still be worn.

This is my growing collection of denims. All of these were just thrifted from almost anywhere. With a creative mindset, I turned each of these outfits even cooler from various fabric manipulation techniques like dyeing and bleaching. Though not that refined,  I am just so happy of what I have achieved.

The things that you value the most are the things you have worked hard for.

♛ AUK ♛

From Baguio with Love

Work does make one go nuts. Luckily, I got my sanity back. I was so stressed out and tired working from the last quarter of December until the end of January so I thought of having a cool off from work.

My friends and I went on a 3-day vacation in the City of Pines, Baguio City located north of the Philippines. It is a great place to unwind and to get inspired. I haven't been to Baguio in ages so having to go there again is quite a thrill plus a freezing weather(for me that is). Having said that, we kicked off our first day with a trip at the famous Burnham Park and we did a photo shoot. Of course, I did pack all my nice goodies for this. Haha. The climate was really a challenge. Some of my friends went with a sleeveless dress that did gave them quite a cold shoulder. Literally. Haha.

 A view from our place.

 Burnham Park

We had a not-so-cool incident at a local restaurant, Good Taste. Though it really lived up to its name. The waiter was passing by our table holding a tray full of glasses of iced tea, when he accidentally spilled everything on our table and unfortunately on us too. I don't know what's worse, to get spilled by boiling cup of coffee or a glass of iced tea in an 8 degree weather? Lol It caused me and my friends to feel a little maddened by the whole situation. Of course. But we decided to move on so as not to spoil the night.

We concluded the night with a shopping trip at the night market. All in all we headed home with glee. It really is more fun in the Philippines. Isn't it?

The pictures were just captured with my 5MP Blackberry Bold 9780 camera phone. They look so fine.

♛ AUK ♛

I Don’t Like It.

My best friend, Tel Mistal went home from Dubai. She is my shopping buddy/best friend/confidant. I missed her really. It was refreshing to see her in the flesh again. Although, Audrey, our best friend went missing-in-action that day. Perfect to catch up, we did babble about her stay there and some crazy wild stuffs. Haha. We went to see Les Misérables with her gorgeous boyfriend, Cente. Though I wasn’t keen on seeing the movie initially but it proved that my impressions were wrong. The movie was spectacular.

On top of that, she got me these pair of Sanuk sandals. I don’t like it. I love them! Thank you Telers. And thank you too Jel for the chocolates.

♛ AUK ♛

C’mon Ke$ha!

Check this second single from Ke$ha’s Warrior album plus this awesome lyric video! Is it me or what but I can hear Your Love is a Drug song in the rap part. :)

Underdog

Vest: Thrifted

Shirt: Chapel

Shorts: Thrifted

Oxford Shoes: Custom made

Watch: Casio DB360 from Alboe Fashion

Specs: Giordano

This is a randomly put together look for a mall trip. I hope you guys liked it.

Hype this look on my Lookbook.nu account: Lookbook.nu/Knyfortaleza.

Xtina's Lotus

Before any haters can cast a curse upon her album, I just want to say that this album says that she is here to stay whether you die of hate. Haha. The cuts on the album are Billboard Hot 100 ready. Like Red Hot Kinda Love, which has an upbeat vibe and personally, I am LSS stricken by this song. My personal favourite! There are barely just album fillers in there. Let There Be Love can be at par with Kesha's and Riri's hits. This was penned and produced by Max Martin and Shellback. Light Up The Sky is also one of my favourites in her album which gave her a chance not to overdo her vocals and still want to make you go up and down. Collaborations with her The Voice co-judges Cee-Lo Green and Blake Shelton moreover added highlight to Lotus.

Let’s give her some time to solidify her presence, this time in the music scene. In my point of view, she doesn't need to prove herself anymore because she has, long time ago and Lotus is just an I-am-here reminder to her loyal fans and to the younger audience who haven't witnessed her golden days. Although her album debuted only at no. 7 in the Billboard 200 charts in the US which is by far the lowest sales in her career, let’s support her music even more.

Let there be love!    Love love love!

Just Another Day On Earth

The night before Halloween I celebrated my birthday with a pretty simple party with my closest best friends. Actually, this was an instantaneous idea we had with my Mom while we were dining at McDonald’s the day before my birthday. We were supposed to just go out with my family to celebrate my day.

Mads came super early and I am not even home yet! I thought that she will eat drop and run haha just like what she did last year. Right my dear? Good enough she was early because there was a power outage in their area. We had a long chat about her hang ups and issues. Haha. Don’t worry Mads I won’t drop the bomb here. Audrey and Cente were my other guests but Audrey couldn’t make it because she chose my birthday of all the days that she can schedule her tooth extraction! But that’s fine. She did make it up to that and I shall post about that part soon.

Cente came and we started loading food in our tummies. Mom was toxic serving us. Thank you Mom! The three of us stayed all night opening up stories to talk about and secrets to unveil. They did crazy things. Haha. It was definitely fun. You all made me happy.

A really simple but happy day for me.

Mom and I

 With my friends Cente and Mads

We went out the day after with Audrey.

Thank you Guys! Love you. :)

Denim Darko

Do you have a pair of jeans that you have loved before but not anymore? And you still can not let it go. I have a simple remedy for that. Old jeans will fade out in time. Dyeing is the answer. This will save it from potential handing it down to whoever. I have a favourite pair of jeans that I purchased circa 2009 that I still want to stay in my closet. My friends even tease me that they want to have my jeans but I just shrug it off. Haha. This is the perfect time to salvage it by dyeing it dark.

You will need:

1. Dye - available in powder and liquid form

2. Stainless Basin

3. Salt

4. Pair of gloves

5. Tongs

6. Jeans



Here’s what you need to do:

Step 1

Wear protective gears like gloves and apron to prevent it from staining your clothes.

Using boiled water, dissolve the dye powder in a small stainless container. In my case, I used the powdered form but there are liquid dyes available of course. You will need to add a lot of dyes here to achieve a darker shade. Here I used 6 packets of blue dye.

Step 2

Pour in water into the stainless basin that can cover up the entire fabric and boil it. While waiting for the water to boil, wash the fabric to remove any finishes that may prevent absorption of the dye.

Step 3

When the water boils, pour the dissolved dye. You need to put on 2 tbsp. of salt for every gallon of water you put in the dye bath.


Step 4

Then, put the article into the dye bath. It is important that the jean is fully submerged in water to allow equal shades of dyeing. Continuously stir the garment for 15 to 20  minutes using a ladle or a tong.

Step 5

Take out the fabric from dye bath using a tong because the jeans is now smoking hot. You don’t want to burn your hands. Squeeze out excess dye. Run it through the water until the water runs clear. Wring out the fabric for excess water and iron it until dry.

And your good to go!

I love love the result!

THE BEFORE AND AFTER

Try this and have fun.

Don’t forget to drop some comments!

Truly,

Kenny 

The Best Comes From Random Things

I love it when I don’t have generous time to think what my outfit would be for a particular event or night out. The best ensembles come out when I do not think too much. Well, that is certified true even for exams! haha. Don’t give me so much time because I will surely make the most out of it.

What I wore: thrifted plaid shirt, MTI striped shirt, tailor made wool shorts, Glads sandals from Oxygen


This is what I wore to a catch-up coffee treat by Doc Jess, the kindest and sweetest Doc we know! I am thrilled to get to talk to her since she started her training 2 years ago and it has been a while.

With Mommy A and Doc Jess

Hell of a Month

I was supposed to publish this a week ago but then I thought I might entitle this post with "Hell Month”. Because it has been and will be but I ain’t complaining! Octoberiffic it is!

Last week welcomed me with an explosion of appointments. Monday started with a graveyard shift work at the hospital. It ended with a very controversial meeting with co-employees that tackled serious issues related to work. I haven’t slept enough so I was really eager to get out of the meeting and I did. 

At 11 AM of Tuesday, I got out of the hospital. With a strict intention to look fresh and hot (haha) as I can before my meet up with my special best friend Mads who just got back from the U.S. and my other best mates Audrey and Cente. I caught some sleep and I headed out again. And there we all met. We had the best time!

Foster My Mind

With this kind of gloomy weather and this euphoric song from Foster The People, I Would Do Anything For You who will not feel high and drugged. Seriously, this song sends me in pure euphoria bordering to like being high on drugs. Haha. But I love Foster The People do not get wrong. Their songs are my kind of thing. Feel good music without being too mainstream is Foster The People.

Love Xtina!!!

Love Love Love Xtina!!!!

Ke$ha, The Warrior Princess

The Tik Tok singer has a new track released called Die Young. Her yet to be released latest album, Warrior should have been launched at the latter end of 2011 but Kesha insisted on its release. The reason is that she wanted to reinvent pop music into the rock direction. I certainly applaud her for this move and got me thinking that she is not just a puppet controlled by music’s bigwigs. Kesha thinks of what is next for her and for the future of music. Her album is slated for release comes December 2012. A perfect present for Christmas! Isn’t it?

Actually, I was really puzzled about her absence in the mainstream. But later I found out about this plan of hers. This album has got us waiting and craving for some Kesha music. It must have been cooked in just right for our hearing buds.

The Queen is Back

The golden voiced Christina Aguilera has just dropped a brand new single called "Your Body" that is filled with vocal gymnastics, an Aguilera signature. This is the lead single from her up and coming 7th studio album entitled Lotus. Her album is set to be released on November 13.

The queen is definitely going full on with this one since her Bionic album which did not do so well commercially. I am guessing this one will be a redemption and got to be bigger. Her judging stint on the hit reality TV singing competition, The Voice has helped her build and spark her career taming career. With no one in competition with her powerful voice and matching talent, Xtina as what we her fans call her is set to dominate the charts and air waves yet again. Xtina will not disappoint this time! The queen is effing back.

Living Like It’s Always The Last Day

Yesterday, my best mates at work and myself included had our amazing shift. From tears of joy to actual tears from heightened emotion from watching a tearjerker movie, we did stretch out the time.   It makes one person forget what sort of problems he/she is facing for a while and that for a moment you can still have time to elicit a smile. 

Being in a circle of cheerful folks and friends induces a positive atmosphere sending us all into a bliss. Thank you friends: Robin Pena, Aizle Dizon, Janice Sombillo, Noeline Maurer and Jevreline Montoya-Olalia for making the day feel like it’s the last.