Old post: Happy + Love

I finally managed to open my Friendster account after eternity and checked my blog there (yes, I did the blog thing on Frienster, then Wordpress, but I was never loyal until now). Some of my posts are actually fun - revealling a much younger and naive me. Hahaha.

Here's one my oldest post related to love - written about a year and half into happy coupledom and I think the week we got engaged. I was so giddy it makes me laugh knowing I wrote this five years ago. Haha.

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August 15th, 2005 by cristinacruz

it’s been forever since i last checked out friendster… been too busy with work. but just as i’ve told my friend carli over lunch today, i actually enjoy being busy. i love the pressure of seeing my ofc mailbox crammed full and my desktop pc barely able to keep up with all the files kept open (no wonder my pc keeps making these strange sounds like its going to explode any minute). and i actually love staying late in the office because i have so many things to do! and that is a very rare case - me loving anything that keeps me thinking ten to twelve hours straight. and i actually have this ugly kalyo on my right wrist — and you know what? i don’t care. this must be love!!! (hahaha)

speaking of love… i’m soooo happy right now. i mean, it’s almost a crime to be happy and oblivious to what’s going on in the country — but honestly, i’ve always been apathetic. Couldn’t care less as long as i’m left to mind my own business. Politics and the economy is already too messed up for me to join the fray. Besides, i know just as much as my dog, Tiger, does so it’s best that i keep myself out of where i dont belong (am i making sense or am i just rambling on???).

 

back to love. yes, i’m so happy. everybody deserves to be as happy as i am now. most of you probably know already why (if you don’t, then why are you even reading this???). but it feels even better to write it down and let the whole world know (hey, this account is free, i can write anything i want so bear with me).

but happiness does lead to one problem- i cant think straight, can’t write straight (err, i think having to talk to Japanese all day is largely to blame — haha!). I’ve always been more effective with words when i’m sad, near the point of depression. Now that I’m happy, there’s just nothing to write about. Or rather, too much to write about that I can’t start. And I doubt if there is any way you can ever write how happy you are. I mean, we analyze sadness, bitterness and all these feelings because we want to lessen them, we want to understand and make them go away. But with happiness, there’s just nothing to analyze there. Nothing to dissect, because you take happiness as it is. You don’t make some excuse or find a reason. You’re just happy and that’s that.

oh yes, i’m so happy. just wanted to emphasize my point.

Valentine's Day (not)

I am not a fan of Valentine's Day.

When I was single, my other single friends and I would get together and have a date with each other on February 14. It was a logistical nightmare as all the usual places are fully booked and managing schedules of people from different professions (accountant, IT specialist, PR, researcher, journalist, architect - we are a varied lot) makes it ell altogether. But we managed it somehow. It was our way of rebelling against the stereotypical Valentine's Day date.

Of course, when Ipe and I became a couple, we tried the date routine too. But only once, on our first Valentine's day together.

I still remember it was almost 8PM and I was very hungry coming straight from a twelve-hour work day.Ipe picked me up at the office with that requisite bouquet of roses. Since neither of us are very good with the reservation thing (we usually just eat where our stomachs lead us), imagine our despair when we roamed around the Glorietta and Greenbelt restaurant row and found all the nice places full.

It took as almost two hours until we finally stopped in front of Pancake House (was it in the old Greenbelt building?). Lo and behold - it was almost empty. That was when I started loving Pancake House - that single night of saving me from hunger. Haha.

And I was like? What the hell is all the fuss for one single day? Nowadays, we are bombarded by endless commercials and ads advocating Valentine's Day. No, I'm no Scrooge. It's just that celebrating on February 14 (or even any day in the whole month) feels so contrived and so commercialized that I often wonder if there is some conspiracy going on.

So, no. Ipe and I don't have any special plans for Feb. 14.

The Exit Interview

I had my exit interview today. Prior to meeting with our HR, two thoughts run through my mind:

a) This is my fourth such interview.

b) Should I be honest or keep my mouth shut and just smile my way through the entire thing?

Well, there really isn't much to the first - P&G is my fourth company and I'm proud to say that I've always finished this part of the process. In fact, I look forward to exit interviews as they are my only/last means to air my grievances (which is usually the case for leaving employees) or sing my praises.

For point B - I had always prided myself on honesty. In fact, I sometimes think I am too honest. I know how to lie of course, but I prefer the honest way out of anything - it makes things less complicated for someone with as poor a memory as myself.

Some people say that you should only say good things at your exit interview - leaving the door open should you want to come back. But I believe in saying things as they are; after all, you're leaving for a reason and it's best they know why so they can prevent the same thing from happening in the future. And it's not like I'm backstabbing anyone (now, I am against that). I am okay with airing whatever sentiments you have with regards to the work you're leaving but I am not for badmouthing anyone (besides, I had more or less wonderful bosses).

So, yeah. I was honest in yet another exit interview. And you know, I even got teary-eyed. Haha. Well, probably because this is the company I've stayed with the longest.

So now, the countdown begins. Six more days to go.

The Month of Hearts (and Birthdays)

February is celebrated the whole world over as the months of hearts, owing entirely to Valentine's Day. This is the month when all the romantics come out to play and when prices of flowers soar to astronomic heights and restaurant reservations are virtually next to impossible (and I heard, motels are also fully booked. hahaha).

But to me, February is one of the most important months because it is all about family. My mom, lola, uncle and of course, Joey, all have their birthdays on this month. Mom and Lola have the same birth day - Feb 22 -  and tito and Joey share Feb 21. I also have lots of friends who count February as their birth month; in fact, seven come to mind right now. (I guess I should be thankful - it means lots of free dinner, hahaha).

So, as a tribute to the month of hearts and birthdays, I will be posting stories about love (real or reel) and the people who are celebrating their birthdays this month.

Keep tuning in. :)

Daily Fashion - Summer Is Here

Yes, new hair finally. Although I'm not quite sure what to make of people's reactions. Some say they prefer my curly hair, some say straight. Ipe actually wanted me to curl it back. Hahaha.

Anyway, February has only startet but I can already feel summer fast approaching so I'm preferring summer-y outfits nowadays. Here's what I wore to the office the last two days: 

white dress, Plains and Prints; belt, RAF by Plains and Prints; necklace and earring, Accessorize; mauve peep toe sandals, Charles and Keith

floral dress, Mango; stainless steel necklace, My Diamond; bag, Aldo; shoes, Charles and Keith

Cleaning Out My Closet

It's probably quite obvious that I'm obsessive-compulsive by nature -  I want my books arranged by height, by thickness, genre... I compute for square roots of any random number in my mind... The list goes on. And this OC-ness translates as well to my closet.

I say our instead of ours because it contains mostly my stuff, then Joey's and then Ipe's, all crammed into a 4x1.5x6 feet wengue finish closet. And it's basically mine since I'm the one maintaining its orderliness.

I actually tried having two closets - one for me and Joey and another for Ipe. But it just tookup too much space in our small bedroom that I was more than happy to put the contents of both closets into one, and put the unused closet in the other bedroom. I didn't want to keep Ipe's clothes in the other one since it would mean his having to move from one room to the other in the morning.

Anyway, since Ipe is fond of just yanking things out, our closet almost always looks like a tornado just hit it. And since I was on sick leave today, I figured it won't hurt to do a little bit of organizing the closet.

What I did was took out everything - clothes, toiletries, accessories. Then I checked one by one which items I still want to use AND keep, which items I don't use but WANT to keep, and which items I wouldn't be caught dead wearing again.

A multitude of realizations as high as the pile of clothes on the bed hit me, and here are just snippets:

a) I have over seventy dresses. Six of which I haven't even worn since I bought them. Two of which I've gotten too big to fit into. Of the remaining number, I probably put ten to fifteen on heavy rotation - meaning I wear them almost every month, not knowing that I can survive three months of not repeating my dresses.

b) I have only three pairs of jeans. Yes, three. And two of them bought in the last half of the year with my shopping friend Momer. I used to have at least half a dozen but I must have thrown them away since jeans became illegal in the office - at least in our team though (it's now perfectly legal to wear them on casual Fridays).

c) I have over twenty blouses and twenty shirts. Most of them don't even get worn as often as they should be.

d) I have only three pairs of slacks - and my favorite pair has been missing in months. Actually, my main agenda in cleaning the closet was to look for my favorite pair. I had long suspected it was missing but I was maybe hoping I just tucked it in some dark part of the cabinet. But it was gone. And I have no idea where I lost it. And I forgot to add - I have a dozen skirts.

e) I have nineteen belts. Yes, 19. And here I was every morning, complaining that I don't have a belt. I have belts in leather, fabric, pvc, denim (both acid wash and dark denim). I have quirky (think butterflies and another one made of tiny spikes), wide, slim.

f) I have over twenty fashion necklaces, a dozen bracelets, half a dozen bangles and more than a dozen earrings. This number does not include the valuable stuff - watches and jewelry. Although most of my accessories don't really come cheap - I have a chunky bib necklace and a long-strand gold-plated one with ceramic charms, both worth a couple of grand. And yet, I inexcusably sometimes (or oftentimes) show up to work or date nights sans any bling. 

With the above inventory, I realized I can go to the office without repeating my outfits for at least five months - mix and matching plus accessorizing not yet factored in. Ipe, can likewise survive three months or so. Also, I realized that most of my salary in the last year went to clothes (and shoes). In fact, when I tried putting a value to our clothes (me, Ipe and Joey; Ipe's closet is even more discriminating as almost 90% of his stuff are from the same brand - Van Heusen), I realized they would exceed hundreds of thousands. Can you freaking believe that???

I could have bought other more important stuff with that amount of money. I could have bought an LCD, which up to now, I haven't gotten round to buying (I'm a cheapskate when in comes to gadgets and techie stuff). I could have gone to Europe. Heck, I could have paid the downpayment on a car. Hahaha.

All these I could haves only bring me to more important realizations - like how I should buy less stuff this year and put more into my anemic bank account.

But first, I need to bring my jeans total to at least half dozen. :P

Then and Now

It's funny when you look at old picture and realize how much you've changed.

From our pre-nup taken four years ago. Look at how thin my arms were and how fair I was. Look how thin Ipe was! He was probably forty pounds lighter here.

This one was taken almost two years ago at RSM, Tagaytay:

Me: top, plains and prints; woven leather belt, SM Dept. Store; shorts, Market Market; orange leather bag, Australian

And now, here we are. Taken at Sonya's Garden a month ago:

My arms are flabby, my tummy not so flat, and Ipe... well, you can tell what changed. Hehehehe. :P