Blue Nails for Autism

Hello!

I (once again) woke up late because I consumed an ample time reading the book. I am thankful my cat Moe-Moe Furballs woke me up by licking my nose... it's been a while since he last did that, and for a while I wondered maybe my cat is now an adult that he didn't want to be babied anymore. Since my sister slept next to me a few weeks ago, which totally made the cat sleep elsewhere, he hasn't made an attempt to sleep next to me, until last night. Although he wouldn't stay that long, he would come back in my room, leap into my bed and lie next to me.


Today is World Awareness Day for Autism. Fashion and nail bloggers took the chance to dress / paint their nails blue. I don't have that much blue nail polish in my stash, but I had this cracked nail polish which I decided to use. Like what I said on the other blog, I don't know anyone in my family who has autism, but I do know certain people who has a sibling or a child with autism, so I partly understood what they're going through. I know painting my nails blue won't do as much, but because of this, I have checked several sites about autism, so the purpose of "awareness" served well for me.

By the way, if you donned a blue nail polish today, you might want to share it on this Facebook Group.

Thank you to my brother for taking this picture.. it was quite embarrassing to ask him to photograph my nails, but he's the only one I can turn to. I am glad he didn't complain.


My mom was so sweet to leave some veggie dish for my lunch. She knows the Alukon (the one that looks like worms) is my favorite vegetable during summer and I can really eat it everyday. Anyway, it wasn't much, but enough for me to get through lunch. I had this with 1/2 cup of rice... but I didn't eat the sweet potatoes because of the carbs - rice was enough, I guess.

For dinner, brother cooked Dinuguan (Pork Blood Stew) with some sayote... as soon as I saw it on the table, I put the diet scale and measuring cups aside because I was tempted and was quite determined to eat a lot for dinner, but for some reason, I decided not to. I just took a little rice (didn't measure it), took about two heaping tablespoons of the Dinuguan, a piece of Fish (sinigang) and that was my dinner. Add to that a cup of coffee and one bottle of Yakult, that was pretty much what I ate today (I didn't eat breakfast). Water intake is about 19 as of this writing.

Workouts for today, I pretty much rocked the Hip Hop Abs - Cardio, but I totally suck at the 8 Minute Legs. Yes, it may just be 8 minutes, but anything that has to do with leg workouts, I find difficult to do. I also did the Hip Hop Abs - Hips, Buns, and Thighs, but because my legs were quite jelly from the 8 Minute Legs, I wasn't able to pull it through. Actually, ever since I attempted this, I never really got to finish it because my legs were just too darn heavy to carry, and I am too heavy for my legs to carry.

Right now I am feeling some pain - triceps, legs, knees. Tomorrow, I lined up some dance workouts (LesMills) to allow my body to relax, but still move in some ways.

I will try to sleep early tonight so I can wake up early and walk.

Paint it Blue for the World Autism Awareness Day

I usually post my nail of the day post every weekends, but allow me to post on a Wednesday to make way for this mani. Today is the World Autism Awareness Day, and although I don't know anyone in my family and close relations who has Autism, I do know of some people who has a child or a sibling who has Autism, so I partly could understand what they are going through.

Last week, some nail bloggers posted something about Painting it Blue on this day. Some of them sported a nail art with light bulbs and puzzle pieces, but since I am not talented to do nail art that involves forming shapes using the brush and / or dotting tools, this was the best I can come up with.



I decided to go for Klik Cracked Nail Polish in Agua, the only cracked nail polish I have in my stash. In some ways, I think the blue cracked nail polish looked a bit like puzzle pieces, don't you think? Anyway, the only time I got to hear about cracking paint was through scrapbooking. When the cracked nail polish came out, I wasn't really into it - my sister says it looks dirty on the nails. I bought this bottle last January to be used on my planned simple nail art for my cousin's wedding. However, I decided to go with the Saran Wrap nail art, but I did use this one my toes.

I must have gotten an old and used bottle because when I arrived home after purchasing this and swatched it on one of my nails (I always do that), the opening of the bottle already had some nail polish residue. The paint itself was already thick, but because of its consistency and pigmentation, it was difficult to tell how much polish was left in the bottle.

What did I love about the Klik Cracked Nail Polish?

• It was very cheap... the cheapest cracked nail polish I've seen in the market.
• Even if the consistency was thick, it still produced pretty cracks.

What I didn't love?

• The smell. It was quite strong compared to the other Klik Nail Polish I have.
• It doesn't have a list of ingredients, but I do trust the brand... this isn't the first time I used this brand anyway, although I do hope as their brand gains popularity, they would include the ingredients list, like what they had on their OMG Nail Polish (which has the same manufacturer)
• The brush was a little stiff, it drags the base nail polish as I glide the brush.

Since the polish was already thick, I can't go for thin coats. The brush issue was resolved by applying it very gently, but because it drags the base nail polish and would mix with the cracked nail polish, I recommend going for just one pass and not go back and forth with the painting like we usually do when we apply nail polish. This dries very quick, too, so be sure you apply them as fast as you can. If you want to have more cracks, blow on it after application or use a hair dryer.


I watched on a YouTube video that the cracks will depend on how you applied them. If you want variation of cracks, apply them in different directions - vertically, horizontally, or diagonally - but because I can't do much with this, I only applied them vertically. Thankfully, blowing on it create some horizontal cracks as well.

I don't know if I will buy more cracked nail polish in the future, but I am not closing my doors on it. I probably would get a black one as it goes well with any nail polish color. What I want to own though, is that crack nail polish that produces a look as if you had crocodile leather on your nails. I know Tony Moly has it, as well as Elena (I won't mention Dior - though I just did - because I know it's impossible for me to buy that one), but because those were expensive and I am such a thrifty girl, I will just wait for the need to arise before I buy one.

By the way, I used Bobbie Premium Nail Creme in "Kohl" as my base nail polish as it is my only black nail polish I have.

If you want to see more blue nails and blue nail polish, please click this link - Paint it Blue! - and of course, you're most welcome to share your blue nails.

This Weekend, I...

Painted my nails. 
Time for me to switch to a different collection. I still haven't bought any new nail polish since mid-February, and I just want to swatch off every bottles I have bought so I can buy new ones


Participated in Earth Hour.
Earth Hour is celebrated yearly (usually during March) wherein all lights will be off from 8:30-9:30PM. Keeping still in one hour is such a nice activity to contemplate about many things.


Had a date with my sister.
We were supposed to go to Aunt Mary's house for the birthday of our cousins, but I hate the traffic going there, so sister and I decided to just go to the mall, while mom and brother went to the party. This was my early dinner at Ristorante Bigoli, and this was our last "pig-out." I am now trying to cut back on the eating out, until K comes over (because of course, when we go on a holiday, that meant eating out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for three weeks).

It was a nice weekend, but I got sick, too, so it also has some down moments.

PAO Rolls Out EyeBags Project for School Children

The Philippine Academy of Ophthalmology (PAO) has recently organized “Eye Bags,” a campaign that seeks to support the education of students from underprivileged families through the donation of various school materials. Incorporating ‘green’ into the advocacy, eye doctors from all over the Philippines have committed to donate hundreds of unused bags from medical conferences that they attend every year.

“These convention bags are highly functional. Instead of throwing these away, we thought of engaging all the eye doctors who are members of the PAO to donate the bags and reach out to Filipino school children in need of support. The project has grown tremendously that we have expanded to donating other school materials to help promote and enhance students’ learning experience in their schools,” shared Dr. Johann Michael Reyes, PAO Committee Chair for Public Relations.


This year, volunteers from the PAO and graduates from Xavier High School, Class of ’82 trooped to Paraway Mangyan Elementary School in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro to distribute bags, school supplies, clothing items and teaching materials that will benefit both students and teachers. “We believe that education is one of the best ways to change society. With this project, we endeavour to help instil hope in the hearts of Filipino children, one Eye Bag at a time,” Dr. Reyes said.

The PAO accepts donations through its secretariat. Individuals and organizations may contact PAO at 813-5318 or send their donations to Unit 815 Medical Plaza Makati Condominium, Amorsolo corner Dela Rosa Streets, Legaspi Village, Makati City.


The PAO is an internationally-recognized specialty society of ophthalmologists in the Philippines. It aims to ensure access to quality eye care for Filipinos. The PAO commits to continuously develop its members professionally through clinical education, research and practice management, in a collegial and harmonious environment, contributing to ethical, professional and compassionate practice.

For more information about the PAO, please visit: www.pao.org.ph.
{Press Release provided by Bright Idea} 

  

Baguio City Trip, Day 2

I was ready to sleep by 11:30pm, but my phone rang. It was my dear friend DeeJay who shared stories about the Fun Run activities he has done. He told me he's joining a Fun Run this March and would like me to join, too. He's aiming for 21K (as he successfully finished 10K on his last run), but he said he would be happy if I could join even if I'd run the 5K. That means I have to start training.


I called it a night at 1am, and because I was lacking sleep the last few days, I only turned off the alarm at 6am and went back to bed. I regret not taking a peek out of my window - I missed a great sunrise view, which Iris and Jen managed to capture.

Anyway, our day started at 8:30am when we had breakfast at the hotel. by 9:30am, we were already at SM City Baguio for the Ceremonial Tree Planting. SM City Baguio through SM Cares is currently doing the "Green Road to 50,000 Trees" and marked the planting of 30,000th tree a milestone in their three year period project. This was the main purpose of us traveling to Baguio City, and I was very blessed to be asked to attend this. I wasn't actually the one invited...but the the one who got invited couldn't attend and planned to pass this to my cousin Marge, who passed it to me.


Celebrities present at the event were Cosplay Sisters - Alodia and Ashley Gosiengfiao, Ms. Earth (Air) Stefany Stefanowitz, and Sam Concepcion. After the tree planting, there were a few minutes break and seeing my chance, I asked the Gosiengfiao sisters for a photo-op.


One funny, but nice blessing came after...I admit my camera's shutter is proving to be difficult to use. Iris was asking us to hold for more pictures, when Ms. Earth (Air) came to us, asking Iris for one more picture because she wanted to join in. Somehow in that particular instance, I felt I was a celebrity. Hahahaha.


The program was short, but fun filled. Right after, we all went to Good Shepherd Convent to buy pasalubong, and while waiting for our companions, Iris, Jen, and I went back to Session Road to find this particular signage. Jen spotted this the night before and we found "Taiyaki" funny. We wanted to buy some, but there were a lot of orders and we were rushing, so we could only imagine how it taste like.

It was 9pm when I finally reached home. It was indeed a very short trip, but very memorable. It was a pleasure spending time with Iris and Jen... and even if I used up all my 1000 pesos pocket money for this trip (I bought quite a lot of goodies to take home), I am considering this one of the most memorable trips I've had.

- * - * - * -

Going back to DeeJay's invitation to do the Fun Run...

I am now set to prepare for it, and will go to the gym tomorrow to learn the basics of using the treadmill. Of course, I'd still do the things I have to do for Monday (using the dumbbells). Wish me luck!