30 June 2014

[CLOSED] Urban Decay x Sugar for Spike Giveaway



Hello! For this post, I present you guys something new and exciting-- a giveaway!! Well, it's not exactly my giveaway per se, but I've teamed up with Sugar For Spike to spread the word about this! 

Sugar For Spike is a new Singapore-based online store. For their launch, they are giving away $100 worth of Urban Decay vouchers each to five (5) lucky winners

Itching to join? Head to the bottom of this post and click on the giveaway photo.

But before that, you'll find my favorites shots from their first lookbook! (Oh how I'd like to have a photoshoot like this haha!) A promising store, if you'd ask me.

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Sugar For Spike is pleased to announce the release of its debut collection editorial lookbook.

The inspiration behind the lookbook comes from two friends, looking for an escape from the perfectionism and commercialism of their city, where they stumble into a “secret” underground hangout to have a little carefree fun. 

Dancing and twirling throughout the night, and forgetting whom they are and what the world deems as appropriate behaviour, they end up discovering that the liberation from the night out will be one of the memories they will treasure about their youth. 






The collection is slated to release at select retailers and online at sugarforspike.com on 7th August 2014. The line is also available for pre-order now, with free international shipping. Closing date for pre-orders is 10th July 2014.

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OR SIMPLY CLICK THIS LINK: http://launch.sugarforspike.com/?kid=3EW7J

The winners will be announced on July 11, 20:00 GMT+8.

Good luck with this contest! Spread the word and share the link!

--- EDIT Jul 12 2014 ---

Congratulations to the winners! (Grabbed from Sugar for Spike's Facebook page):

1. @styleworthwhile
2. @californycrystal
3. @lienicetta
4. @puttheradioon
5. Melissa Lee

Check your emails for a message from them regarding your prize. Spend well!

--- END EDIT ---

x Erika Rosales

23 June 2014

Lace and Denim (and Ramen and Ice Cream!)

Won't you look at that semi-rhyming title (denim and cream, y/n?)! This has been long quite due, actually. But anyway, here's how my family spent Independence Day around two weeks ago.

June 12, 2014 marked the Philippines' 116th Independence Day. As per usual, it was declared a national holiday. Every Filipino has a different way of celebrating the occasion (if ever they do in the first place). Some-- mostly the youth-- took to social media by tweeting about Philippine history in a different light under the #RP612fic tag. (I have to admit, I enjoyed the stuff there!) Most people, however, took the liberty to leave their homes and spend time in the malls, myself and my family included.

We usually refrain from going to the mall on a holiday, due to the throngs of people that fill them up. However, we have kind of missed going to Bonifacio Global City so we took the chance to go there. We're more of the Makati crowd which is actually not that far from BGC, but yeah. Of course, much to my delight, I drove our car! I think my driving skills are improving. (But if you ask my dad, he might have the opposite idea, oops.)

Our plan really was to go to SM Aura, since we haven't been there since they first opened. Back then, the a-already-operating stores were still so few. So we thought it would be nice to check it out again.

But of course, I couldn't pass up the chance of having a nice place to take outfit photos in, so we decided to stop over at High Street first to take some snaps. (The place reminds me so much of America, particularly the premium outlets haha!)

It felt like a warm summer day, so I snagged that as an opportunity to wear my denim shortalls. Crop-tops and dungarees go together like peanut butter and jelly (what kind of an analogy was that???), and if I were daring enough, I would have gone with that alone. However, I wasn't, so I wore a lace top over haha! The delicate feel of lace just contrasts perfectly with the toughness of denim, don't you think? :)









(Yes-- it's a GIF!)

(click photo to view on Instagram)

Lace top & shortalls: H&M || Crop top (worn underneath): Bershka
Sandals: Birkenstock || Bag: from Korea || Watch: Casio
Bracelet: Yabang Pinoy || Lipstick: Maybelline (Coral Crush shade)

Won't you look at that perfectly-messy bun!! I suddenly felt like doing something fun with my hair, so I decided to roll it into a donut bun. I did it with no sock or anything! Just pure pins and ponytails. *feeling smug*

If you guys noticed, 3 of the items I was wearing (shortalls, sandals, bag) were from my Seoul haul! Hihi. But in the spirit of the Philippine independence, I wore my Yabang Pinoy bracelet. It is made of braided abaca, a material that is abundant in the country, and is known for its resiliency. Honestly, I love how it means something yet looks beautiful at the same time.




Bonifacio High Street
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City

These photos have been post-processed. But putting that aside, you can notice how the outfit shots looked sunny yet the landscape ones have turned gloomy. The weather decided to be moody on that day, apparently, so it began acting up a few minutes after I took these photos! The wind blew so hard and the rain poured with as much intensity. It's nice how the security of Boni High treated the Philippine flag with the respect it deserves by sheltering it from the rain.

And so we finally headed to SM Aura. As expected, there were lots of people milling around. Restaurants were full too! I was on a hunt for a potential 'best ramen in town' though, so we endured queuing for this one:




(click photo to view similar post on Instagram)

Universal Noodle Ramen Nagi
SM Aura Premier

The waiting time was around 45 minutes (may not be that much, but for hungry people, it just may be), so I thought, 'this better be worth it'. Indeed, it was! My parents already tried it (yeah, they ate here without me and it broke my heart loljk), and they had so much praise for it, but I had to try it for myself. After all, I'm doing micro-reviews on ramen joints (check out #RamenRavesByErika on Instagram!)

I got the Butao King, their bestseller. But that doesn't end there! You get to control how you want your ramen to be! Cool, right? You can choose the intensity of the flavor, the spice level, firmness of the noodles, the pork part that will go in it, and other stuff! I took a photo (see above) of my choices in case you haven't seen! Of course, the extra order of tamago ("egg" in Japanese) is a constant for me hehe.

Given that we can all come up with different combinations (or permutations? lol), I can't really give a detailed review aside from saying that Ramen Nagi is a MUST-TRY. I'd love to go back again and maybe try their Green King (pesto and cheese) or Red King (spicy) next time! (They say the Black King is really good, too, but I don't eat squid to that's out of the question haha.)

After a fulfilling lunch, it was then time for dessert! We made sure to leave some room in our stomachs because that was actually the main point of us going all the way to Aura. What am I talking about, you ask? Why, Magnum Café of course!





(click photo to view on Instagram)

Magnum Manila
SM Aura Premier

I've always been a fan of Magnum ever since it hit the country. So when I heard about the Magnum Cafe finally coming to the Philippines, I was so excited! I think the concept of getting to make your own ice cream is totally rad.

For P100, you get to choose the ice cream inside, the coating, the drizzle, and three (3) toppings! You can choose from usual toppings like almonds and marshmallows to the unconventional ones like quezo de bola and chili flakes. They also have suggestions for combinations, in case you're having a hard time choosing what you want. But for myself, I got chocolate ice cream coated in dark chocolate; topped with gold nuggets, freeze-dried strawberries, and honeycomb, and; drizzled with gold chocolate. My very-own Magnum came out to be colorful. It also tasted great! I love how the sourness of the strawberries clashed with the sweetness of the honeycomb (and also the light bitterness of the dark chocolate shell). I also enjoyed the crunchiness of the toppings.

Magnum Cafe also offers wonderful dessert creations, but we'll have to try that some other time. Some other cheat day, perhaps?

Wow, I never talk about just one thing on any of my posts, don't I? Well anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this post! I'd love to hear from you guys-- whether you've tried these places, want to try, or whatever. :) Also, kindly follow me on GFC, Instagram, and/or Bloglovin! And let me know so I can return the favor, (I'm also planning to make a Facebook page for my blog soon-- once I've reached a hundred followers here or 300 on Instagram, maybe?) Thanks! :)

x Erika Rosales

14 June 2014

The Mid-Year Instagram Recap / Liebster Blog Award

Hullo!!! It's already June 14, and that means: we're just about halfway through 2014! Unbelievable, isn't it? So did you guys have any resolutions when you welcomed the new year? How've you guys been accomplishing them?

I'm not exactly the kind that makes it a point to set goals at the beginning of every year. But this year was different, for instead of the usual zero, I actually ended up with quite a lot! One is with regards to my photographic skills. For 2014, I decided to work on my picture-taking chops by trying to be more "artsy-fartsy". I also made it a point to post more OOTDs! (That's the part where this blog comes in, actually)

I don't frequently post on my Instagram profile, but I hope that the ones that I've been posting lately show that I'm doing well on my new year's resolutions. I may be biased when I say that I think I am doing a great job so far, so here's recap of all the photos I've taken since the beginning of 2014! You guys be the judge and let me know what you think!





From left to right, top to bottom: (1) New Year's day outfit, complete with polka-dot shorts haha! (2) Make-your-own pizza at Project Pie (3) Raided mom's closet for this outfit (4) Feeling tough (5) Sneak-peek of my blog before I launched it! (6) Went on my first ever fun run ever! (7) Summer festival-esque outfit (8) Wandering Chinatown (9) Black and white party OOTN with my Lanvin x H&M skirt (10) Sick-day dressing (11) Spring dressing AKA first blog post ever! (12) Photoshoot for a summer party (13) Elsa-inspired getup for a debut (14) Throwback to my high school graduation ball (15) Texture and print (16) Sweets from The Box (17) Obligatory mirror selfie at the gym after Strength and Conditioning (18) First time wearing a midi skirt (19-22) Albay adventures (23-24) #TeaForThoughtByErika (25-31) Snaps from Seoul (32) #RamenRavesByErika (33) Korean throwback (34) At the Lee PhFW show (35) Another ramen rave (36) First time wearing a mullet skirt ever (37) Make your own Magnum ice cream (38) Ramen rave, again (39) Lace and denim kind of day


So that's my midyear insta-recap! Do you guys have any favorites among all the photos? Do let me know!

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In other news, I actually got nominated for the Liebster Blog Award back in April! Huge thanks to the lovely An-Katrien of Teacups & Dresses for this! I haven't gotten around to posting about it until now though. In case you guys aren't aware of what LBA actually is, it's actually a sweet thing given to starting out bloggers (normally those with less than 200 followers). So anyway, here are the rules:
  1. If you are tagged/nominated, you have to post 11 facts about yourself.
  2. Answer the 11 questions the tagger has given you & make 11 questions for the people you are going to tag
  3. Tag 11 more starting bloggers.
  4. Tell the people you tagged that you did.
  5. No tagging back.
So anyway, here goes! I'm pretty random so excuse the trivia and questions haha!

11 THINGS ABOUT ME
  1. I am an only child.
  2. I love houndstooth.
  3. I stand at roughly 5'1" only. (I know, I'm short creys)
  4. I am currently on my third year as a university student.
  5. I have an irrational love for the Windy City. Yes, I love Chicago!
  6. I took ballet lessons when I was really young, but eventually stopped after I got into a related accident that ended up with me in an arm cast.
  7. I am fond of Greek mythology.
  8. My favorite ice cream flavor is strawberry.
  9. I don't eat squid.
  10. I have a bit of Japanese blood (my great-grandfather from my father's side was pure Japanese).
  11. I have this crazy dream of wanting to dye my hair blue!
11 QUESTIONS FROM AN-KATRIEN

1. What is your dream vacation?
My dream vacation would be a trip to Europe!! The continent boasts a lot of wonderful places, but if I had to be more specific, I'd like to go to France or UK the most.

2. What do you love so much about blogging?
The thing that I love the most about blogging would be that by doing it, I get to be many things all at the same time. In my own way, I'm like an author-- I get to write stories about myself and other things; a stylist-- to myself, specifically; a model (lol)-- of the stuff that I wear. Though I haven't exactly made a name for myself, I hope that I can add being inspirational on that list! (One can dream, right?)

3. What's your favorite designer bag?
I don't own for myself, but I've been longing for a Chanel 2.55 for so long, so I'll go with Chanel. I think Prada is nice too by the way. 

4. What's your favorite snack?
Oohh this is a tough one! Do fruits and yogurt count?

5. Which color is your favorite one for summertime?
I have to say blue is my favorite color of all time. But for summertime, I'll probably go with its pastel shade. Or maybe its lovechild with green, teal.  If it counts, I also think white is perfect for summer!

6. What do you do next to blogging?
Well blogging isn't the main thing I do in the first place. I'm a student above all else, really. So yeah, I engage in extra-curricular activities from time to time, but that's pretty much all I do lol.

7. What do you prefer: dresses/skirts or jeans/pants?
Practicality aside, I choose the former! I think one can never have enough dresses or skirts. I have more jeans in my closet though haha!

8.Name the 3 most important things you really can't miss in your life
Not sure how serious I should be in answering this one, but here goes: (1) water (2) my senses; and (3) my sanity.

9. What's your favorite movie?
I don't really have a favorite movie. But I guess I can share with you guys the latest movie I watched that I really loved, and that's X-Men: Days of Future Past (okay, I just watched How to Train Your Dragon too and it's just so adorable!!!)! I'd also like to share this one movie that holds a special place in my heart because it stars one of my favorite actors, Chris Colfer (who also wrote the movie!)-- Struck by Lightning.

10. What's your favorite low budget brand/store?
I guess this can be pretty subjective, but I'd go with Forever 21. It's prices are relatively lower compared to other brands. And they offer a lot of choices of items!

11. With which designer would you want to collaborate?
Oh  my! This one's hard. I think I'd go with Donatella Versace! Seeing as I have some dreams of becoming a fashion designer too, that would totally be a dream come true if it did at all.

MY 11 NOMINEES
  1. Herringbone Heroine by Brianna
  2. Infinite Dreams by Chrissean Mae
  3. Steal the Style by Lou
  4. Dimitri's Code by Enrique
  5. My Life Would Suck Without Fashion by Livia
  6. Five Feet of Awesome by Angela
  7. The Faceless Style by Louise
  8. Floral Constellation by Christel
  9. Coco Colo by Coco
  10. Blossoming Wallflower by Sarah
  11. SapeToiBien by Cecile
*I know not all of you guys have below 200 followers but I'd like to know about you all still!

11 QUESTIONS FOR MY NOMINEES
  1. What is the most expensive item of clothing (clothes, shoes, accessories, etc.) that you own?
  2. What is your biggest fear?
  3. Name a celebrity that you have a crush on.
  4. If you were to be a part of any TV show, which one would it be and who would you be (can be an original or actual character)?
  5. What is your favorite part of the day?
  6. What superpower would you like to have?
  7. Which season (winter, spring, summer, fall) do you love the most and why?
  8. If you were to wake up as someone else and be that person for a day, who would you want to be?
  9. What song is stuck in your head right now?
  10. What is one trend that you would never/never did follow?
  11. Which decade/era do you like the most and why?
To my beloved nominees (the word "liebster" actually means "beloved" in German!), do let me know once you've posted about this. I'd love to know your answers and get to know more about you! x



PS: It would be great if you used the same button that I'm using for the LBA! I made it myself so I could put it on my website. I'd love to see it on yours too!

x Erika Rosales

05 June 2014

Casually Chillin'

Just a quick outfit post here to let you guys know that I'm still alive! (Though it sure might have been the opposite even though I'm just barely two weeks in as a third-year college student-- whoa, time flies by so fast!!)

When the rain falls, it seems to throw a blanket of laziness on people too, doesn't it? That's pretty much what I felt last Saturday, when it was pouring in the afternoon. I usually plan my weekend outfits ahead, but the weather was too gloomy for my original idea. Actually, my goal for that day really was to wear my new Birks (from my Seoul haul) for the first time. So I took it from there, and eventually ended up with this. I have a tendency to go on extremes when it comes to what I wear-- either I really dress up, or really dress down. Well, lazy dressing usually equates to slouchy clothing in my head. In fact, I was so lazy that I just decided to wear the cardigan that I also wore the previous day. (That's not really a fashion no-no, is it? I see it as a cover-up only anyway.)

Nothing much has happened during the past days, except from the fact that, for tonight, I get to take a breather from the intense classes. Also, I've created a Tumblr account! I've missed writing (not this kind of writing, but the creative kind), so that's where I'll be dumping my poetic attempts. Aside from that, you'll actually find out a lot about me just by looking at my posts there! I'm a bit of a fangirl myself, so that side of mine will be reflected there a lot. There's not much there yet though because I just started out. But feel free to follow me!

Also, I just watched Maleficent today. To be honest, the storyline seemed a bit anticlimactic to me. But being the stylephile that I am, I can't help but marvel at Ms. Angelina Jolie's costumes in the movie!! Especially that. catsuit. Talk about fierce!!

And because I'm incredibly smooth with transitions, here's a sidenote on the photos: Used Adobe Lightroom for the first-time in processing these photos! I used to use Photoshop, but man, Lr is so much easier and faster!! You might notice that I've also added watermarks on the photos. I discovered that Lr can do that automatically so I decided to give it a shot!









Cardigan: Aeropostale || Tank top: Uniqlo || Shorts & necklace: Forever 21
Midi rings: Aldo Accessories || Watch: Casio
Sandals: Birkenstock (Rio style) || Nails: L'Oreal (Club Prive color)

Can I also share how proud I am of actually maintaining my manicure properly for more than a week??? I love the shade of my nail polish! (It's brighter in reality.) I bought it for myself, so it's about time that I used it again. 

Before I wrap this post up, I'd like to share some realizations I had while looking at these photos: (1) I clearly do not know how to model from H2T; I need tips from Tyra lol. (2) Perhaps I need to inject more color into my wardrobe???

Anyway, so that's it for this post! Please be sweethearts and leave some comments below, would love to hear from you guys! Will try to get back to y'all as soon as I can. Also, follow me on GFC, Bloglovin, Instagram and Lookbook!

x Erika Rosales

PS: Thinking of giving my blog a revamp sometime! Also, I still have to post about the Lee PhFW show haha! Please bear with me and my backlogs in the future.