Narnia!

Who knew Narnia would be just an hour away from home?

It's no closet but for sure when you come back from there your closet [or drawer, or jewelry case] will be happy and your wallet, not.

Maine and I finally got to visit ze magical place!

First up: Bunny case vs. Hello Kitty case

For the loooongest time we both wanted the Bunny case for our phones. Mahal lang talaga! It's P250 at St Francis Square last I checked. The one we saw today was just at P100! Almost bought it but since we were trying to practice 'self-control' we went around more stalls and found a reaaaaaaally cute Hello Kitty case ... for iPhone 4s. HANEP. Masama na talaga loob namin since all cases [Cath Kidston, Kate Spade, Dior] were all for iPhones! One Dragon Dance and three stalls after, TADA!

Proud ako sa pinaglaban namin ni Maine! No amount of squealing can express how happy we are! 

Then Maine led me to two stores store where all caution, self-control and reasoning were thrown to the wind. If you've gone shopping with me you would know there is no accessory that I say no to, especially if I have the means to buy it [aka if it's payday, someone's buying it for me, or really affordable!] 

To say I went cray-cray is an understatement:

Trust me it's hard to sort through everything that I stashed in my basket! Ang bigat sa loob magbalik ... I wanted to buy them all!  [Is that such a bad thing, though?!]

I'm not a ring person because all the ones I like are either too tight or too loose. On the rare occasions that I do buy/wear a ring, it has to be the adjustable kind. Imagine my delight when a non-adjustable ring [the one with the animal print stone] fit right into my ring finger! The ring/earring set was also a steal at way less than P100! The price tag on the other pair of earrings will make you believe I got these three accessories at just a little over P100 :)

BRACELETS. You have no idea how many of them can be found in my room! The problem with me is whenever I buy a new one, I tend to forget to wear the previous ones I bought. So what I'm doing now is dig up long-forgotten bracelets and start wearing them again. But I guess I have to forget that practice with all these new babies I got! 

I personally love the tiger cuff because it's my Chinese zodiac, I love over-sized bracelets, and it looks so fierce when worn. It's just coincidental that I got animal print bangles as well kasi pag si Maine kasama mo, she'll choose whatever is with animal print. Haha! The leather cuff is for an officemate who asked a favor for me to buy her one, but I got the silver metallic one for myself. The store actually does personalized bracelets [think Eiko] but you can buy the strap as is for just a little more than P20. 

These are the best steals of the day! I know, they look like snakes and you're going "WTF?!" Haha! Just looking at them makes me shiver, too! Lakas maka-Medussa!


[EDIT: A 'How-To' for this Medussa necklace is coming soon, courtesy of Quintessential Shop Manila!] 

It's actually a necklace that can be 'folded' into a bangle. Adds instant glam to a rather dull outfit.

Since it's Chinese New Year on Monday, I think it's the perfect time to wear these Chinese zodiac bracelets.

You see these charms being sold at kiosks in malls [way overpriced, really] but what made me buy it there was because they perform a certain 'ritual' on the bracelets, which is supposed to energize them and 'activate' the luck the charms are supposed to bring. 

You buy the bracelet then they take it from you and give you a number so you can claim it at the cashier after you pay for it along with the other stuff you bought. Then you go back to one of the Ates who's carrying a sort of mortar and pestle and ask her to 'gong' the bracelet. Put it in the bowl and she'll do circular motions of the pestle around the bowl and tap the four sides after. She'll ask you to pick it up with your left hand because she can't - I repeat - CAN'T do it herself as this will 'interrupt' the vibes of the ritual. Also, if you're going to give it to someone [as my case since I bought one for Mama], only you and the recipient can touch the bracelet.

Yes it sounds crazy [ang hirap i-explain nung ritual, ha!] but there are Chinese/Feng Shui ways that I believe in. Maybe the rose quartz will work, right Maine? ;) Very 'My Binondo Girl' lang ang peg!

In just two hours I felt like I bought more than a week's worth of accessories. I swear the office might come up with a 'no over-sized accessories rule' already! 

Maine and I enjoyed too much that we forgot to eat and go on a restroom break. Gano'n kami ka-saya! 

The last time I went there was when I was still a kid, believe it or not! Definitely the best finds are in the places you never thought you'd find them in, it just takes curiosity and a great shopping buddy to discover them!

<3