Is "pretty" unholy?

Someone who used to go to my church once told me that women shouldn't wear make-up--or even lipstick--to church. I was shocked.

In my Wordpress blog post "In the 'kikay' of the beholder," I wrote that looking well-put together is my way of honoring God as my Father. In his bestselling book "Your Best Life Now," Joel Osteen said that how we present ourselves in our personal appearance is not just a reflection of how we feel about ourselves. It is a direct reflection on God. I liked the way he drove home the point. As a father of two, he knows that if any of his kids would be seen looking unkempt, people would probably say "What kind of a father would let his kid go around like that?"

A final check before walking out the door

We serve a God who loves works-in-progress. It's as simple as that. Let's say you walk past a shabby garden, won't you feel bad that the owner doesn't even bother to prune the trees, pull out the weeds, and water the plants and flowers? Of course you'll feel terrible, because it's such a waste. You'll feel bad because we're called to take care of what we've been given. The same goes for our body and appearance.

As we work out to get healthy and toned, we're pruning trees of dead limbs. When we apply sunblock and moisturizer, we're protecting our skin like it's the softest, most fragile of petals. When we go for a wax... Nah! That's too graphic, not to mention a metaphor overkill.

You have to strike a balance, though. Ecclesiastes 7: 18 tells us to "avoid all extremes." I must admit that there's a very thin line dividing vanity and excellence. It all comes down to your motivation. A preacher once told me, "When confused about something, ask yourself this: 'Why do you do the things that you do?'" It's interesting that the best advice I've ever gotten so far is actually a question.

Does prettifying herself make a girl unholy? NO. What makes it unholy is what you're doing it for. In my case, I work with what I have, showing my appreciation to God by taking very good care of it, and more importantly, strive to be a better person each day. After all, Proverbs 31: 30 says, "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised."

All the single ladies... in alphabetical order, please

Just came back from my cousin's wedding. They called the single ladies, uh, that's us, BY NAME for the bouquet toss. There were 5 of us. The number of single men for the garter toss? O-N-E. Grammar check. That's "man." Encouraging, huh? Statistics was never my best subject. LOL

No, I didn't catch the bouquet. When it's time, God himself will hand it over to me. Or through an angel disguised as a florist. Call me idealistic--delusional even--but I do believe that the truest, most fulfilling of relationships happen when God brings two individuals together. In the book "When God Writes Your Love Story: The Ultimate Approach to Guy/Girl Relationships,"   husband-and-wife team Eric and Leslie Ludy encourage singles to challenge the culture of sensuality-based relationships that often lead us feeling betrayed and empty once the romance is gone. 

“I had dreamed of a perfect love story for my entire life. But somewhere in the midst of the endless cycle of temporary romances, my dreams had shattered.” How can I find a love worth waiting for?  

The book dishes out Four Secrets to an Amazing Love Story. It emphasizes and teaches us how to have a Christ-centered approach to relationships. One of the top-selling Christian books, When God Writes Your Love Story also aims to help readers find direction, focus, and yes, passion. It's one read that will bring hope not just to singles, but even those in need of a second chance.

What's your bouquet toss story? Please comment and share your story. Or, get a copy of the book When God Writes Your Love Story RIGHT HERE.

Disappointed much?

You bet I am. I've been counting days 'til Lent, thinking I'd be contemplating the ironies of joy and suffering and meditating on my life choices on idyllic Aglicay Beach in Romblon. Around lunch time today, I found out that we'll have to postpone the trip. The reason, which I can't disclose, is quite valid, but still, it doesn't make disappointment much easier to handle.

Photo credit: aglicaybeachresort.com

My antidote? As Elle Woods used to say, "Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands. They just don't."

Elle Woods' famous Bend and Snap
Photo credit: The Purse Forum

So, I finally made good on my promise to try raqs sharqi all over again. Don't be too fazed. I'm only on a bellydancing fat burning program. The funny thing is... if it's called "bellydancing," how come it's my calf muscles hurting? Ow!

Does it work? I don't know just yet. I've tried this program out a couple of years ago, but I stopped too soon. I hope this time I'll be more consistent. Patience is a virtue. If interested, here's a DVD you might want to check out:

Hello, stranger!

Long time no see.

It's been a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time.

I've been busy with lectures, exams, and finally, I managed to submit the students' grades at the university registrar ahead of the deadline. Summer's finally here!

Now, I can catch up on my blogging duties. *Fingers crossed* That's if I can take a break off Skype every now and then.

The Job-Waistline Equation?

Whoa! My last post was dated May 25th! I've been off the blogosphere long enough. Upon visiting Sunny Side Up today, I saw something that made my day a little less sunny: my Comments and Recent Posts RSS are messed up. On the bright side, however, I came back with 3 inches off off my waist! Some people even wonder whether I'm on weight loss patches (they work like nicotine patches except that they help you curb your appetite for food instead of a cigarette). I don't know whether they work or not, as I've not tried them yet. What I do know is that my waistline went from 29 to 26.5 by taking on three jobs.

Teacher by day. Teacher by night.

This June, I started teaching Management at a university in my city. The classes are from 5:00 to 7:00 PM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays only, but some students are as cooperative and as enthusiastic as glaciers that I have to work my backside off to get them to study and participate in the discussion. So, I guess, if you want to lose a few inches, a monologue and getting your creative juices to gush out (gush not flow) would be in order. Every night, I also teach ESL at an online language academy, and what with the power fluctuations in my city for the last couple of months, the stress should keep the inches at bay.

And an administrator in between.


On days that I don't have classes, there's paperwork to complete, errands to run, bills to pay, and yeah... events to organize at my mom's preschool. My fuchsia Sanrio organizer is simply running out of space, and it's only the 3rd quarter of the year. (Note to self: Since I can't afford a Blackberry--preferably unlocked--just yet, maybe I should just go for the Hello Kitty electronic organizer next year hahaha.)

To sum it all up, pun intended, there could be a job-waistline equation to slimming that is waiting to be deciphered. If I lost 2.5 in with 3 jobs, and my desired waistline is 24, how many more jobs should I take on to get to my desired waistline?

n = no. of jobs you should have = no. of current jobs x (current waistline - desired waistline)
                                                                   (previous waistline - current waistline)

Is your answer also 2.4? This means I should get at least 2 part-time jobs. If my equation and answer is wrong, then that means I should stick to teaching English, because I totally suck at Math.
                                                                      

In honor of Geek Pride Day*...

... I'm posting the 4-year-old Geek Manifesto and my list of the hottest geeks. To the self-confessed geeks out there: Wear your royal geekness loud... wear it proud! If I miss tagging you, feel free to tag yourself ;)

*Geek Pride Day is an initiative which claims the right of every person to be a nerd or a geek. It has been celebrated on May 25 since 2006, celebrating the premiere of the first Star Wars movie in 1977.

Basic rights of geeks:


1. The right to be even geekier.
2. The right to not leave your house.
3. The right to not like football or any other sport.
4. The right to associate with other nerds.
5. The right to have few friends (or none at all).
6. The right to have as many geeky friends as you want.
7. The right to be out of style.
8. The right to be overweight and near-sighted.
9. The right to show off your geekiness.
10. The right to take over the world.

Basic responsibilities of geeks:


1. Be a geek, no matter what.
2. Try to be nerdier than anyone else.
3. If there is a discussion about something geeky, you must give your opinion.
4. To save and protect all geeky material.
5. Do everything you can to show off geeky stuff as a "museum of geekiness."
6. Don't be a generalized geek. You must specialize in something.
7. Attend every nerdy movie on opening night and buy every geeky book before anyone else.
8. Wait in line on every opening night. If you can go in costume or at least with a related T-shirt, all the better.
9. Don’t waste your time on anything not related to geekdom.
10. Try to take over the world!

THE 4 HOTTEST MALE GEEKS I KNOW



#4

Playing Prof. Charlie Eppes in Numb3rs, David Krumholtz is one of TV's hottest geeks. He has appeared on, uh, FREAKS AND GEEKS and played Joseph Gordon-Levitt's nerdy friend in 10 Things I Hate about You. Unfortunately, he got married 3 days before Geek Pride Day 2010, and THAT would be the 11th thing we hate about him.


#3

Pete Cashmore!!!!!!!!!!! Aaaaaaa! Social media blogger, web consultant, and founder of Mashable. Aww... don't you just want to mash him with amorous rapture?


#2

CSI: NY's Hill Harper is caramel fudge in eye-candy heaven! He's not just an onscreen brainiac, though. He graduated from Brown University and also graduated with a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Aside from playing medical examiner-turned-CSI Sheldon Hawkes, he is also an NY Times bestselling author.


#1

Matthew Gray Gubler was a fashion model. Okay, I admit that's not geeky. Allow me to continue... He is a sketch artist (ta-dah!), film director, and actor--best known for playing the near-schizophrenic, genius, and autodidact (that's someone who teaches himself) Dr. Spencer Reid on Criminal Minds. His self-promoted work as a director (via YouTube) is pure genius. Oops, I almost forgot... As Reid, he has eidetic memory, allowing him to quote 6th-century European literature verbatim.

Finding your own style

"All dress is a fancy dress, isn't it, except our natural skins."

- George Bernard Shaw

According to InStyle, "All fashion is about seduction." If so, personal style is a love affair. Finding the style that works for you requires intimacy--knowing who you are and what you are most beautiful and comfortable in. I'm not saying that we should get stuck in a fashion comfort zone. On the contrary, I believe that just like in a fulfilling relationship, our sense of style should evolve as we do so.

As you can see, I'm no fashion expert. Neither am I someone schooled in the art and science of style. In fact, the closest thing that I had to education on this subject is reading Cosmo--and even then, I had to call on my style-savvy little sister for help all the time. She would take one look at what I had put together and give me a poker face, which, by the way, is her subtle way of asking, "Are we really related?"

Before she left to embark on her personal adventure, we had taken so many trips to the mall together. In fact, we did it on a weekly basis as part of my "training." Whenever we had our budget prepared for shopping, we'd each buy pretty and versatile items. If we didn't have the money for it, we would window shop but do it with a twist.

We'd pretend that we were really buying an entire outfit, and she'd make me pick my items without her help. Only after I've made my choices and managed to put together a complete "look" would she share her insights. She would tell me which of the items work and which don't. More importantly, she'd explain why. It's as if I was a makeover guest on Tim Gunn's Guide to Style--talk about teaching someone how to fish to feed her for a lifetime!

Now, I feel quite confident about my choices and sense of style--just like what happens to the guests on Tim Gunn's (of Project Runway fame) show. It's not because I can now snag what appears to be a good bargain (with an "okay" fit to boot), but because I've found the style which is a genuine reflection of me: feminine but low maintenance.

One of the reasons why I keep this blog is that I want to share information that has brought me some feel-good, look-good moments. It's my personal epiphany. Even without taking a crash course in Fashion Design, you, too, can discover the style that you can be both beautiful and comfortable in--like a second skin.

To be your own stylist, all it takes is for you to be CHIC:

• Comfortable with yourself - Assess your strong and weak points and accept that not all the latest, most fashionable items will suit your shape, lifestyle, and budget. Be fabulous but keep your style true to who you are.
• Humble - Be open to suggestions and take criticisms in stride. There are always new ways to improve yourself.
• Independent - Know the trends but don't let yourself be enslaved by fads that only make you spend more and that may not even be flattering for you.
• Creative - Play with colors, and don't be afraid to experiment with accessories, cuts, and fabrics. There's no need to shop like crazy and spend all your dough.You can bring a whole new life into items that you already own just by being resourceful and innovative.

Lastly, check your motives. Wanting to look good doesn't make you superficial; it's your motivation that can make you one. Fashion and style should tell a true story, your personal story. As the great Coco Chanel said, "Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening."

Our SATC Girls Are Back!

Don't look now, but Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda, and Samantha are back on the big screen for 2010! *Squeals* Twelve years after the hit TV series premiered on HBO (Read: Six seasons and the first Sex and the City film), Candace Bushnell's breakthrough characters are making the grand comeback in a movie sequel due for release in May 2010. This time, our favorite Manhattan vixens take on Morocco! With the tagline "Carrie on," we can expect more of Carrie's upbeat sense of style and neurotic leanings, witty lines over café lunches, Mr. Big, and--who knows--maybe Samantha getting married???!!! I don't really know for sure, but what I'm certain of is the influence that Sex and the City 2 will have on 2010 fashion trends. The trailer premiered last December 22.



Do you have a favorite SATC girlfriend? If you want to know which of the beautiful, strong, and successful women is most like you, take this quiz.

You Are Most Like Carrie!

You're quirky, flirty, and every guy's perfect first date. But can the guy in question live up to your romantic ideal? It's tough for you to find the right match - you're more than a little picky. Never fear... You've got a great group of friends and a great closet of clothes, no matter what! Romantic prediction: You'll fall for someone this year... Totally different from any guy you've dated.

Which Sex and the City Vixen Are You?

Blogthings: Discover the Parts of Your Personality that Have Been Hiding

Hmm, interesting! It's consistent with my result in a similar app on Facebook, but enough about me... So, which one are you?

Happy Christmas, Everyone!

Since I've been nice, Santa handed over his "naughty" list. He's outsourcing, too. Shhh...