Culshoeral differences

How does a place where we live or were raised influence our thoughts and mannerism? The different languages, types of food, beliefs, and customs are sometimes used to describe different cultures. While it seems like we all have individual tastes and preferences, there are a number of things that are shared or that are common to specific places throughout the world. While traveling to Asia, I changed out of my shoes and into my comfy Free People moccasin slippers, and with me, they took notice of a number of things during the eighteen plus hours moving through different time zones to our final destination, the Philippine Islands. While on the plane, flying Asiana, the flight attendants were primarily Korean women, and there was definitely a language barrier. My shoes had a hard understanding what they were saying, and for the attendants, I’m sure the had the same difficulty understanding what I was saying as there was a lot of pointing at things, nodding, and smiling on both ends.

I met my mother on the stopover in Korea, since she flew out of San Francisco and I flew out of Los Angeles. When we finally arrived in Manila, my Uncle Amboy (nick name short for American Boy for having blond hair when he was a child), who I haven’t seen since I was five years old, and his wife picked us up. Not too long during the conversation, my shoes made the observation that while some people in America find it offensive to ask some one’s age, how much money one makes, and why some one isn’t married with children yet, in the Philippines, these types of questions are commonplace in casual conversation. In fact, these questions aren’t even necessary to ask since many Filipinos volunteer information that in the United States we might consider “personal.” Another observation that they made was how nonchalant people in the Philippines are about comments on appearances, like saying some one is too fat, or too skinny, or balding, or aging poorly. Being known as “dark” or “chinky-eyed,” is used as a matter of fact or even endearingly. Just as something that could be interpreted as criticisms are freely said, compliments are just as easy to come by. It wasn’t a very long car ride that my shoes started making their own matter-of-fact comments, like “It’s so hot and muggy, the weather here is so different,” “I could never live in a place this congested with so many cars and people everywhere,” and “It seems like through out this entire trip, people just don’t have a sense of urgency.” While I did agree with them, I asked them what was up with all the negativity. They respond, “I guess, it’s a culshoeral thing.”

Favorite Spring Things: I ♥ Spring TAG

What are your favorite Spring things? I was tagged by the lovely and beautiful Vera from http://avecveritas.wordpress.com/ and was excited to be tagged since I ♥ Spring and this post will allow me to share my faves…

Favorite spring nail polish?
I love bringing out bright polish colors for Spring and nails with fun fruit designs like apples, strawberries, and watermelons. I don’t have a favorite spring polish per se, but I am currently wearing American Apparel NEON Nail Lacquer in Neon Red, with American Apparel Nail Lacquer in Office, and MAC Nail Lacquer in Creme Nocturnelle (Black). I love how the colors stand out look good against tanned skin, not to mention, they work well in Spring’s warm weather.

What is your must-have lip color thing spring?
Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupté Shine Lipstick – Fuchsia in Excess No. 5 is a must! I love how it’s really hydrating and we can apply slightly less for a muted look or add more color for intensity and shine. I usually like matte and neutral lips, but for Spring, I’m able to have a little more fun with lip colors that pop and are super glossy, enabling me to still have a finished look without having to wear much else in terms of make-up.

Show us your favorite Spring dress!
It was tough picking a favorite Spring dress; I had another dress in mind for this post, but I decided that my initial thought couldn’t be a Spring favorite since I haven’t worn it recently. So, I picked Mara Hoffman’s Fitted Mid-calf Multicolored Dress. It’s really soft and comfortable, can be easily dress down with a chambray shirt or top, and paired with heels, flats, or sandals. I love the colors and so far as worked out great for Spring.

Favorite flower?
Orchids all the way! The kitchen is one of the first places I enter after waking up and I always like to have some right by the sink, in front of a window looking out to the backyard.

Favorite spring scarf/accessory?
My Favorite Spring Scarf is a Floral one by Zara. The colors just make me happy. My favorite accessory is a beaded necklace inspired by Isabel Marant’s Pop color necklace. When I saw it, I knew I had to have it but like most IM pieces that I fall in love with and attempt to find, it was completely sold out. While browsing Etsy, I discovered this store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/rokcandyofnyc and as I was looking at their items, it was noted that they make custome pieces. I sent them a picture of the IM inspiration and asked if they would be able to make one similar for me, and they did. I absolutely love what I received, it was a lot less expensive than the IM necklace at the time, and the Etsy store also gives 5% of every purchase to http://www.womenforwomen.org Helping Women Survivors of War Rebuild Their Lives.

What spring trend(s) are your most excited about this year? (make-up, fashion or both!)
I’m excited about the “Haute Grunge” make-up and hair trends. In fashion, you’d think I’d be excited about bright or pastel Spring colors, but I’m actually more excited about the bold stripes and black-and-white combination trends, which have led me to buy: Nastygal’s Next in Line Blouse, Zara’s Faux Leather Combination Dress, Zara’s Combination Striped Blouse, Zara’s Striped Cropped Trousers with zips on ankles, Nastygal’s Trimmed Tux Pant, and Free People’s Skinny Ankle Jeans with Vegan Leather Tuxedo Trim.

Favorite spring candle?
Acquiesse “Shoreline” scented candle. The fragrance is a mix between ocean air, coastal flowers and wood, all things that remind me of Spring. The candle comes in a beautiful, ultra-thick, and unique smoke-brown glass in modern packaging that I keep to store other things. Acquiesse uses a soy wax blend and is made with organic soybean oil and lead-free wicks. There are also several different scents that I really like from Acquiesse.

Favorite body spray/perfume for spring?
Chanel Chance Eau Tendre Eau de Toilette is my most recent fragrance purchase for Spring. I tend to gravitate towards lighter, more delicate scents and since I was happy with the previous facets of Chance that I own, I figured the third generation of this fragrance family would be another great addition to my collection. I love how fresh, airy, and sweet it smells, without being overpowering. There are subtle floral and fruity traces and is perfect for Spring and Summer.

What is spring like where your live?
Pasadena California has beautiful weather all year-round. Because of its position both higher and further inland than Los Angeles, Pasadena experiences slightly warmer weather in the spring and summer seasons. Spring is consistently warm and temperatures increase gradually as it gets closer to the hot summers. Rainfall is uncommon and erratic; those rare rainy days will be followed by hot, dry ones. I snapped a pic on a typical Spring day driving around my neighborhood, and as we can see, Pasadena is blessed with usual blue skies and suburban streets, lined with trees that are green and blossoming in the Spring.

Are you a spring cleaner?
Yes! I am a constant closet purger. I am a big proponent for gifting, donating and selling unwanted things. I am a little compulsive about things having a home.

Any plans for spring break or an upcoming vacation?
I will be experiencing the chilly and crisp weather in a ski-town with snow-capped mountains, then experiencing the dry and hot weather under the sun in the dessert during the second week of a three-day music fest, then experiencing the humid climate in the Islands in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. I am looking forward to going to South Lake Tahoe California for a friend’s Wedding, and Indio California for the Coachella Valley Music Festival. I am also looking forwarded to traveling to Philippines with my mom, where I will also be visiting the beautiful island of Boracay with girlfriends. While these places aren’t new to me, the experiences will be and have a feeling there will be a lot of Spring time savors.

I tag:

http://joannaloves.com/
http://stylesalvation.wordpress.com/
http://freeurcloset.wordpress.com/
http://soathome.blogspot.com/
http://tuesdayswithrachel.com/

Perfect Sitshoeation

What could be better than spending time with some of my favorite people in the whole world in one of my favorite places to visit in the whole world? Not much. I wore my Chanel espadrilles in our travels to Honolulu Hawaii, where my bf and I will be spending the next 5 days with my dearest friends: Dreams, Face and their guys celebrating my, my bestie’s and my boyfriend’s birthdays and celebrating life.

The day started off with me putting on my perfect for traveling and walking shoes and running out the door to the car service waiting to take us to the airport and a driver who informed that we would most likely be missing our 8am flight. We sat in the car as it poured ran in traffic from Pasadena to LAX. My BF called Travelocity, the site where we booked our flights, and an agent informed that to get confirmed seats on the next flight, it would cost us four times what we paid originally for the fare difference plus change fee, which was ridulous and therefore not an option. I then called the airline, to check if there was a flight delay, which there was none, so I proceeded to ask about our options after missing our flight. There is a $75 change fee to get on another flight after missing one; however, there were no seats available that day in order to even get confirmed seats. So we headed to the American Airline counter after arriving at LAX to seek advice about what do to do next. We were put on the stand-by list on the 1030 flight, which was oversold by 6 and already had 5 people in front of us already on stand-by, which could also be pushed back further for priority AA members, etc. The next flight was in the afternoon (also oversold), and after that, our next best option was to try the next day. We waited at Gate 47, where AA agents were offering vouchers to people on our flight since they oversold the plane and people with confirmed seats didn’t even have one. It wasn’t looking good, and my shoes did not want to walk me back home sulking. Fifteen minutes before departure, and to our relief, the ticketing counter called both our names and we traded our stand-by tickets to boarding passes. It took a perfect storm of people missing their flight, people on stand-by leaving because they didn’t think they would make it, and people getting moved to first class, which were the only open seats, to be able to get the last two seats on the plane. We didn’t pay a dime extra in fees and they even took one of our bags that we carried on and checked it in without charging the normal bag fee. We were given the last middle seats, piggy-backed in rows 31 and 32, but we really couldn’t complain, we were just happy to have made it on the flight. Luckily, there was a family of 8 sitting in those two rows, who were nice enough to make accommodations so we could sit together by the window. Things were falling nicely into place, I kicked of my espadrilles and I thanked the powers that be. On the plane, I read Heads in Bed, by Jacob Tomsky, which is a very entertaining memoir of an author (who freely dropped f-bombs throughout the book like you wouldn’t believe) and his experience in the hotel and hospitality industry. I learned a trick or two about the life of working in a hotel, and when we arrived at the Royal Hawaiian on Waikiki Beach, we used what I had learned and took care of our front desk agent, who happily upgraded our basic room with garden view (which was supposedly the only room type available in its class while making reservations over the phone and constantly checking in to see if anything opened up prior to our arrival) to a junior suite with ocean view and who sent a birthday cake to our room for my boyfriend and I to enjoy (Thank you Jacob Tomsky for the heads up and thank you hotel agent for saving us over a thousand dollars in upgrades and phenomenal customer service). We finally settled into our spacious room, and while looking down at my shoes, they told me that we were pretty damn luckily that everything worked out in the most perfect way imaginable considering how the day started. Instead of sitting at home during a rainy weekend, we are in a perfect sitshoeation on an island in the sun.