Fall 2011 Trends: Chunky Sweaters

I check on College Fashion daily because of their interesting articles regarding the latest trends and outfit combinations.Earlier this month, they started posting articles regarding the latest trends for Fall 2011. There was an article regarding what a girl needs to update her wardrobe for fall and this season's must-haves are pretty interesting, even the color trends.

Photo Credit

The "-ber" months are in which means colder weather and more opportunities to experiment with layering and take out those jackets, coats, and sweaters! Here in the Philippines, we may not have fall but the "-ber" months are relatively cooler, plus with this parade of storms passing through the Philippine Area of Responsibility, lower temperatures and bed weather are expected. On days like these, I like to curl up on a couch or in bed wearing a chunky sweater. Chunky sweaters are so comfy that I can get a good snooze while wearing one. Fortunately, chunky sweaters are included in this season's trends!

I currently own one chunky sweater which my dad bought for me on one of his trips to Baguio City. I never get to wear them outside the dorm or condo because it gets too warm to wear them to class but thanks to colder days, I just might get to wear them outside.

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I took this shot three months ago. It was a pretty cool day when I took this out of the bottom of my clothing pile. Yes, I own a "Bill Cosby"-type sweater. This is the type most souvenir shops sell. They're pretty comfy and excellent for lounging or on days when you're feeling lazy. 

Embrace the colder months. Embrace the thick clothing. Embrace the chunk. Now, I ask you, would you wear a chunky sweater? 

Blue Lovin'

I came home tired from 171 work. For the past month, my classmates and I have been working on a 1:10m model of a steel and concrete structural frame. We just finished the beams of the first storey awhile ago and just added concrete to the form. The concrete mixture stained the underside of my fingernails and the Mighty Bond we were using to keep the ties in their places have made my fingers rough. My fingers have been a rough, flaky mess thanks to Structurals class. I was deciding on whether to continue my acad work here at home and proceed to sprucing up my plans for Design or to paint my nails. And then I thought, "Screw it. I'll paint my nails."

Photo Credit: Symphonies of the Overdosed

I have not painted my nails in months and I think my nails have thanked me for it but I wanted to see some color on myself. Now, I'm not one to pick subtle colors for my nails. I've tried blood red, bright yellow, orange, and purple on my nails. My mom tells me the colors don't suit me because of my skin color but this never stopped me from going outrageous with my nails.

This has got to be the darkest hue of blue I've used on my nails, The Face Shop BL605. There's a lighter shade of blue in our collection but I went for this just so that my nails will have that weird pop of color. This isn't my first time to use blue on my nails. I had BL602 last April and had something that looked like "Ateneo blue" in the summer of 2010.

Me trying and failing to make a shisha puddle (2010)

Is blue my favorite color? I don't know really, but I have noticed that I have a lot of blue pieces in my wardrobe. I have blue accessories, a pair of polka dotted blue flats, and A LOT of blue tops. So, I guess I am a lover of the hue. I don't know if I can call it a favorite though because whenever asked "What is your favorite color," my mind draws a blank. I am that lame.

Looking at my posts on Lookbook, I've noticed that most consist of at least one blue item. I remember telling myself years back to inject color into my wardrobe and I guess I injected too much of one color. I'll never get tired of blue, it being a neutral color and all, meaning it goes well with EVERYTHING, but every girl needs versatility in their closet and I think my wardrobe has been limited. Can anyone else suggest a color for me?

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Chocolate and Peanuts

     I have been pretty busy lately with academic work that I have not had the time to blog. I spent my weekend working on my schematic site development plan for Design and studying for my third long exam in Math 53 which I took earlier today. I hope I pass that exam. Nothing eventful has happened so far. I have not been able to chill with my friends since last Thursday due to the pile of work we have been dealing with since we only have roughly a month left before the semester's over. The only highlight in the past few days was me being able to step into the Regic Center Building, that new building along Katipunan Avenue, last Sunday. That place has been crowded ever since it started operating. And how will it not be crowded? It houses Red Mango, Saint Alp's Teahouse, Bon Chon Chicken, and the Peanut Butter Company. People have been raving about Bon Chon Chicken and this is the main reason why the building is packed and why I don't visit the place. They say it's awesome chicken but I have yet to try it. Maybe, at the end of the month, when people will be frequenting the place less. It was still packed when I first visited the building so I decided to have lunch at Peanut Butter Company with my sister and mom after mass.

 Photo Credits: Trip Ko Lang

     I saw a huge photo of a burger with lots of peanut butter and I was thinking, they aren't serious about having everything with peanut butter, right? Wrong. My sister ordered barbecue buffalo wings and my mom ordered classic spaghetti and an oriental kani salad. All three orders had peanut butter. Even my Chili Fried Chicken Sandwich had peanut butter. Damn, they do love their peanut butter.

Photo Credits: Between Bites

Photo Credits: OpenRice 

Photo Credits: ClickTheCity

     I enjoyed my meal, to be honest, and I'm planning to go back to try their other stuff, especially that burger smothered in peanut butter. I'm quite adventurous when it comes to food so I wouldn't mind biting into something that has beef AND peanut butter. But, enough about PBCo. After lunch, we headed to Mom and Tina's Bakery Cafe to grab some sweets. My sister is a cupcake addict and also mentioned that they had the Beehive. For those who don't know, the Beehive is a chocolate cupcake with a towering icing swirl covered in chocolate on top. So, we decided to grab dessert to take home. Mom got Sugar-Free American Apple Pie for herself.

Photo Credits: Mom & Tina's Bakery Cafe

     Just look at that cute little bee! It looks like heaven, and it tastes like heaven. I'll definitely go back there for more. Regic Center Building, you are a blessing to Katipunan Avenue. I have to say this, I had a DQ Sandwich before eating my Beehive. Yes, there's Dairy Queen along Katipunan Avenue (finally!) and yes, I had an extreme calorie fest last Sunday because I felt like I deserved to treat myself after not going out and staying home insteaad to do my homework. I like treating myself with food. I get guilty after but when I can't shop, I go for awesome food. Everyone's allowed a cheat day, right? Let's just say I abuse my cheat days due to academic stress. I am trying to discipline myself, though. I definitely need help with that, especially if I want to look great by the semestral break. What's a girl to do when food = love but food = weight gain as well?

Photo Credits: The craving project

ADHOC Party Virgin No More

I am writing this while sipping some green tea, as a way of detoxifying my system after a night of heavy alcoholic consumption. Last night, for the first time, I attended an event by the UP Junior Marketing Association (UP JMA), which was ADHOC: We Live For This which was held in the World Trade Center. I did mention that it was my first time, right? Don't get me wrong, I'm not new to the whole college partying scene but I have never attended an ADHOC party in my whole UP life. Plus, I limit my partying because I'm not much of a fan of the whole looking-good-to-get-smashed thing (I apologize for the description) but what the heck. My sister wanted to go, my girl friends (who I miss a lot) wanted to go, so I decided to give it a try and lose my "ADHOC party virginity."

I was having a major wardrobe malfunction while preparing for the event because I was too busy for the past few days to even bother thinking about what to wear. Thank God for my sister who's an expert in quick mix-and-matching. She even did my eye make-up. I am such a noob.

At 8:30pm, we, my sister and I, our parents, plus our friends Jeth, Dax, and Beato, piled into the car and left for ADHOC. My parents were in the car because they wanted to go out, too. They just ended up having coffee at Starbucks. Beato Bongco is Dax's friend, who I just met last Wednesday night at Drews. Jeth and Dax came from the same high school as my sister and I. Anyway, it was a long, awkward ride to the World Trade Center and when we finally got there, we immediately stepped out and made our way into the venue. We headed straight towards one of the booths and got ourselves The ADHOC Drink. Everything had El Hombre tequila in them. This gave me nasty flashbacks but I managed to finish my drink, anyway.

The ADHOC Drink

We felt like we were there way too early but at least we had time to get our buzz on before we end up rubbing shoulders with people just to grab a few plastic cups for ourselves. We met up with various friends at the event. I saw David with his girlfriend, Patty, who, at long last, was finally introduced to me. She really is a beauty and it looks like David has a good thing going on with her. I also saw old schoolmates, some Arki friends, and friends I just recently made in college. I squealed when I saw Farrah, Mithi, and Jane. I missed them immensely and the tight hugs and squeals weren't enough to express my happiness when I saw them. It's sad that I didn't get to take a photo with them last night. I was jumping from one social group to the other that I didn't have time to catch up with my girl friends. I was hanging out with Dax and Beato, looking for a chick that Beato could flirt with(because Hannah and Jeth went off on their own), then I teleported and started hanging out with Wangchuk and his friends from the IC, had slight language barrier problems with a Japanese girl who got introduced to me, said hi to a few other friends, and basically just socialized. I was no longer with the people I came with during the duration of the party. I was with Matt, a guy that came with Wangchuk. I had no idea in hell how we managed to wind up being alone together and not knowing where our crowds were. I did enjoy his company, him being a new friend and all.

With Beato and Dax
Photo taken by Hannah Torralba

Now, I have to utilize my Sunday for detoxification because my body my first time at ADHOC was preceded by days of alcoholic consumption as well. Detox just to retox, honey. My barkada was in Sarah's having a chill drinking session while I was at the World Trade Center. I wished they were there with me but it was good to hang out with people I have not seen lately. I'm planning to catch up with Mithi and hopefully I'll get to see Farrah before she goes home to Davao.

All in all, my first time was a fun experience. Intoxicating and a tad crazy but overall, it was a good night. We let out our inner wild child and there's no point regretting anything. UP JMA definitely delivered and meant it when they said that it was going to be EPIC.