Excessively Random

It was a weeknight, no different than all the others. A friend invited us to a party - some guy's birthday. The place was packed and we couldn't hear what anyone was saying so we danced in our own little corner until he arrived. I was with someone at the time but he was really smooth. I still remember the way he tasted on my lips. The rest of the night was a blur. 

It wasn't until a few months later that I would meet him again. A friend of a friend's graduation party. I ignored him when I walked in, but as the night wore on we got reacquainted. Still as smooth as the night we met. 

We'd meet up every so often. At parties, celebrating. At local haunts to unwind. In speakeasys and watering holes to nurse a broken heart. Sometimes I'd go months without him, forgetting he was there. He was an acquired taste. Other times I'd see him for days until we got tired of each other. It can be too much. 

These days, our meetings have become far and few in between. There are meetings to tend to, adult responsibilities that need to be sorted out.

But every now and then, I come out of hiding and crave for him. So I order my favorite drink.

Thanks for the years spent together Jack Daniels. Can't believe I used to order Mai Tais before I met you.

would be no, not in a million lifetimes.

I have always been scared of heights. My fear was born mostly out of my overactive imagination supplying me with images of a brutal death from falling, the pain of breaking my bones and a fear of being paralyzed (think Me Before You). I have reluctantly explored the caves of Sagada, made it out in one piece, but without my dignity as I ugly cried when we finally emerged. I was so scared I was never getting out of that place alive (I was claustrophobic too, what a great combination of fears to have). I have been on two sky walks, mountain treks with no safety gear and also did a cliff dive even though I barely knew how to swim. I did it all with sweaty palms and almost always on the verge of tears. A friend pointed out that if I was so scared, how come I managed to do all these things. Two words. Peer pressure. 

One afternoon as I was walking down a narrow flight of stairs at my new job, my heel snagged at a loose piece of metal that stuck out and I fell down 8 painful steps. I sprained my ankle but it was nothing serious. 6 months later, I tripped at the parking lot and once again sprained my ankle. As I sat on my wheelchair in Makati Med, I thought to myself that, all my life, I had been extremely cautious and very scared whenever a trip I'm taking involved heights or a risky activity yet I've never been injured in any of those situations. But here I was, coming from an uneventful day at work, sitting on a wheelchair with a sprained ankle. And when people asked why I was in a wheelchair, I had no fascinating story to tell. 

From then on I resolved that If I was going to get a sprained ankle, might as well get a good story out of it. Life was too short and I was shortchanging myself by being afraid instead of living in the moment. 

I took small steps to start facing my fear. I started by going to a wall climbing facility (once), I did a relatively easy mountain trek and then finally decided to go skydiving (what a leap right?). I mean, if I was going to die then free falling at 14,000 feet would have been a good way to go and it would make for a much better story at a funeral. 

What's a swap meet? It's a barter of sorts and a really good way to declutter and get rid of things you don't really need with a chance that you get something good in return (if you have amazing friends like mine, you get really interesting things from the swap. I mean who gets Nars and Shu Uemura at a swapmeet? I do!). 

What usually happens at a swap meet? We set a schedule ahead of time and tell our friends what categories we plan to bring. It's usually make-up that doesn't fit our skin type, books and accessories we've outgrown, clothes and shoes that we bought that don't really fit that well, stickers, stationery, recycled gifts that we don't want to throw away. It can be anything as long as it's still functional! It's a fun activity. Just make sure you don't fight with your friends over anything.

I forgot to take a photo of my swap meet loot but I got a nude lipstick, a Mac Illuminator, a new Roxy Swimsuit, Burt's bees toner, a gold necklace and a bunch of rings to name a few.

Our Swap Meet Venue: Todd's English Food Hall

Looks like 2014's off to a good start! :)

But it was also a year of learning and re-learning. It was an exercise on trust, loyalty, getting back up on my feet and re-discovering myself. Doing a re-cap on the positive things that happened will help put things in perspective and seems an appropriate thing to do to end the year. 

Click for the re-cap

The Coral Bodycon Chevron Print Dress of my dreams!

Maxi dress with chevron printed top and cotton coral colored mullet skirt

(let us start this post with the most apt photo: abs and hot men)

Kids, this is the story of how I met your mother we booked a stripper for my friend's bridal shower.
Me: What do I text him? How do I ask what his rates are? What do I say?

Friend: Just ask him how much his package costs. 

Her eyes widen and we both laughed so hard at the unintentional pun.

We decided to get serious again and composed the text message

Me:  Okay, so I ask him if he's available for the bridal shower. Then I ask him what the rates are, if he has a portfolio and how long.

We both laugh again! Why is it so hard to phrase a decent sentence for this!
We finally decided to not overthink it, text like we were contacting a supplier. It also helped that we replaced the word long with duration and package with availability. It went pretty well.

For the non-funny story, read on.