Yesterday in Teatro Marikina for the Vocation Festival 2013! :D

Ang dami ko nang naipon na tee shirt ngayong summer sa dami ng activities! HAHA!

#CandyStyleAwards2013: Prom Again

Last week, Candy threw a sparkly awards night for this year's Style Stars! Part of my job was to attend the event. 6 of us correspondents were given assignments for the event. If I maybe blunt, my assignment was definitely most tiring but I have no regrets taking it. Staying in the VIP area and riding a limo ride was part of the job, anyway. I'll blog about that separately. For now, I want to focus on the event.

Prom, the highlight of every girl's life they say, may be the most nerve-wracking, I-Give-Up-Moments of my life. In high school, I've had a junior and a senior prom. Both times, I start out determined to get the perfect dress, shoes, make-up and yes, date. Though my school didn't require dates, I have always dreamed of magical prom nights where the love of life (then) would kneel down and ask if he can love me forever. Blame it on Disney movies that dominated my childhood. By the middle of the planning, I'm somehow give up on trying to make it perfect and accept defeat wearing dresses that I would regret soon in life. By a twist of fate, I actually enjoy the night despite it being far from perfect.

In college, the counterpart would be my college's Glam Night and Sikat Awards. Both held annually become an awaited event for a school of celebrity-aspirants and model-wannabes to flaunt of their most fashionable outfit. Every year, I would imagine myself coming across the perfect dress and finding star status by the end of the night. Every year, I find myself wearing something I already have leaving the event earlier and having dinner with my closest college friends in our after-party of sorts.

None of those things you see in movies happened. There was no perfect dress, perfect date, or even a walk down the red carpet. So when this year's Candy Style Awards chose the theme Prom Pretty, I was iffy inside.

I had the most adorable outfit planned but I never convinced myself to buy the perfect dress rather buying a maxi dress that would keep me comfortable as I did my job, paired with reliable black wedge shoes. I dropped the illusions of prom and went through the day without falling asleep from fatigue.

I was tired with no time to pamper myself  and was only trying to get through the night. Prom nights seem to have made a consistent pattern in my life: a platform for regret and second-best dresses. Yet, if there's one thing I learned in a year as a Candy Correspondent, it's that you will never be able to appreciate what you have if you keep looking at what you lack.

If I focused on wishing I had the outfit I wanted to wear, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the limo ride. If I focused on not having the time to take photos, it wouldn't have been such a memorable night. I was after all sitting at the very center of the VIP area. Perks of the job on a scale of 1-5? Definitely a 5.

The stage was set. The pink star and the bright light deserves the candy name on top of it.

The Candy Armada opening the program.

Sisters and Youtube stars Krissy and Erika Villongco adding prom serenades to the night's agenda.

Hosts DJ Justin and Jasmine Curtis-Smith

 

With candymag.com's Managing Editor, the woman who always baffles me with her skills and talent,

Miss Macy Alcaraz

Miss Macy also posted this photo of me and Entertainment Editor Dyan with the caption Dyan and Dyan, Jr.
Darren Criss Fangirls forever!

Looking tired but extremely happy to be with some of the people who made my stint in candymag.com memorable.

With co-correspondent Chris and Jona's friend Choice. Two photos from this post are from her. Thanks, Choice!

Wishing I had a photo with Miss Patty and my life peg/ style crush/ fave Filipina author Marla Miniano but there's always a next time.

 

Thank you, Candy for giving me a chance on a wiser and more mature approach to prom.

A Short Guide on The Great Gatsby Novel

So I bet you'll be watching the film adaptation of The Great Gatsby some time now. You probably can't wait to see chemistry between Leonardo Di Caprio and Carrey Mulligan. You've been anticipating the glitzy and glamorous costumes that will surely inspire a 1920's trend. You've been spinning the elating soundtrack.

But have you read the book?

First off, who is F. Scott Fitzgerald? You must have heard his name from bookworm friends, your English teacher or the show Pretty Little Liars. F. Scott Fitzgerald studied in Princeton. However, he didn't graduate. Instead, he enlisted in the army. It was then when he met Zelda Sayre. It is said that the story of his life with Zelda reflected strongly in the lead characters of his novel The Great Gatsby.

Why is the novel so popular?
Initially, the novel was a flop or at least, Fitzgerald died thinking it was. It was after the World War II when sales picked up and the novel was included in the high school curriculum because of its depiction of the Jazz Age - a significant era in the United States when idea on gender equality came about.

Where is West Egg?
West Egg is a fictional setting of the novel. It was said to be in Long Island, an island part of the state of New York.

Who are the lead characters?
Nick Carraway, a Yale graduate, tells the story in his POV of how he met Jay Gatsby. His neighbor, who likes to throw extravagant parties, is a mystery in the beginning of the novel. Later on, it is revealed that he is gravely in love with Daisy, Nick's cousin living in East Egg with her husband and daughter. His love for Daisy became the reason for who he was when Nick met him.

What is a bootlegger and a flapper?
Later in the story, it is revealed that Gatsby is a bootlegger. Bootleggers are people who illegally transport alcoholic beverages. A flapper is a  woman from the 1920's who wore short skirts, bobbed her hair, put on make-up and involved herself in smoking, drinking and casual sex.


So far, that's what you need to know before jumping inside a cinema theater. If you have questions, feel free to leave a comment!

And if you want to read the novel, there are copies available in book stores nationwide the cheapest being P99.00 only.