Always Love

More often than not, music defines my life's moments. I've shared this many times with people close to me. This is one reason why music is very important to me, and I am definitely one of those people who cannot live without it. At any given day, music is able to successfully set my mood. It has been a healer, a confidant, a companion, and more importantly, a friend. It can easily transcribe my emotions into words, give a definition to feelings I have yet to understand, and express those I have yet to acknowledge are there. Most times, it knows me even better than I even know myself. 

My life is music set to motion. 

There are some songs that remind me so much not just of special people, but of moments I shared with them. When a particular song plays, these moments come alive in my mind and for a minute or two, I have to hold my breath and close my eyes because it doesn't just remind me of a person, or a place but of a feeling. Because for a moment there, the feeling returns and I can truly feel it in my heart. At times, it feels so real and so fresh that when my mood calls for it, I allow the feeling to linger a little more than I should and let the moments play in my mind. I let myself get lost in the feeling again, lost in the moment, even if only for a while. Most times, I end up letting out a sigh, and then a smile. Grateful that even though the moments have already come to pass, I can still vividly remember how good a certain person made me feel at one time, how a certain place made me feel like it's where I'm supposed to be, or how a moment made me wish it would never end.  Then it's gone. ;) 

It's a long-standing love affair.

Music and me. 

Now playing: Always Love (Nada Surf)

Mango Summer 2008

With our wedding coming up in less than three months, expenses have been piling up much more than we initially imagined (not a good thing at all!). So, no one understands more than me that now is not a good time to shop. Repeat: Now is not a good time to shop. Not a good time to shop. 

Not at all. 

I intend to stay as far away as I could from my favorite shops on my May trip, most especially Zara and Mango. So for now, let me just covet some of Mango's 2008 summer collections from afar. Right now, I'm really loving their Maxi dresses. 

Speaking of which, here are some non-Mango Maxi dresses I also love.

By the way, I also just found out that Mango has launched HE by Mango. Isn't that great? Now our guys have other options where they can [window]shop while they wait for us, aside from Zara Men. :)

thinking about marriage

From Mere Christianity "I Promise You"

 

"The idea that "being in love" is the only reason for remaining married really leaves no room for marriage as a contract or promise at all. If love is the whole thing, then the promise can add nothing; and if it adds nothing, then it should not be made. The curious thing is that lovers themselves, while they remain really in love, know this better than those who talk about love. As Chesterton pointed out, those who are in love have a natural inclination to bind themselves by promises. Love songs all over the world are full of vows of eternal constancy. The Christian law is not forcing upon the passion of love something which is foreign to that passion's own nature: it is demanding that lovers should take seriously something which their passion of itself impels them to do. 

And, of course, the promise, made when I am in love and because I am in love, to be true to the beloved as long as I live, commits me to being true even if I cease to be in love. A promise must be about things that I can do, about actions: no one can promise to go on feeling in a certain way. He might as well promise never to have a headache or always to feel hungry." 

-- C. S. Lewis 

excerpt from The Invitation

"It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring with your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty, even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence. 

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!".

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand alone in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back...." 

so cute!

Just love this heart-shaped polaroid wall idea! :)

Street Style

Earlier out of boredom, I was browsing through the Face Hunter's blogsite for some street style, and came across quite a few fab outfits.

Me likey.

How 'bout you?

Chuck

I just finished the entire first season of Chuck (NBC). When I first downloaded this show, I wasn't so sure about what to expect because it isn't typically something I would choose to watch. After watching all the episodes, I found that I was glad I downloaded it. 

From the director of Charlie's Angels, Chuck is about a computer geek whose college roommate has become a rogue spy, and sends him an email with all the government's top secret information imbedded in a series of images before he gets shot. Before Chuck knows it, he has downloaded an entire server of sensitive data into his brain, thereby making him an asset of the NSA, CIA, and a bunch of other government agencies. Just like that, he now has access their most important kept secrets. 

Chuck, who works for the Nerd Herd at an electronic shop called Buy More fixing computer viruses, now has to adjust to a new lifestyle as he becomes one of the government's most precious secret agents. With such integral information in his brain, the preservation of his life has become a priority of the US government, so a NSA agent and a hot CIA agent had been assigned to protect his life. So now, Chuck has to life his normal life and keep his crappy day job, lie to his close friends and family, while saving the world from assassins and international terrorists from time to time. 

It's really just a light action/comedy with a clever script and a unique plot. It's not Alias and it doesn't even try, rather it gives a new, fun definition to being a government spy. Chuck's geekdom is very charming, making me instantly miss him when the season had to come to an end. Here's a line from the show that stuck in my head: "The next millennium belongs to the geeks!" Surely, it does! :)

Virtual Makeover

Thanks to Angela for showing me this site. :)

I love my long hair, but it gets boring from time to time. Not to mention, frustrating because it gets dry and damaged so easily. I wonder if I should try for a new hairstyle after the wedding. 

I'm seriously giving it some thought. Hmmm....