My First Dream House Was A Miniature

I have always wanted and longed for dollhouses since I was a little girl. The first dollhouse play set I spied was in the old department store Gazini Plaza, in Cebu (Philippines) when I was 7. The packaging was ingenius compared to boring unimaginative blister packs. The sets were packed in boxes and sectioned to look like rooms. It was called My Dreamhouse.

The whole set cost 50 pesos. I begged my mom for it but she said it was too pricey for a toy. Growing up, we didn't have a whole lot, food and clothing were more important than toys. Whatever toys we had, all four siblings shared. I pined for that set but I eventually settled for a P20 fake Fisher Price Little People set, no house just furniture and people in blister packaging. It was better than nothing. Fast forward 7 years later, I saw the same set at Rustan's, this time it was for P125. Again, I asked my mom for it. I was already 15 years old, old enough to be paying attention to boys but boys were still gross to me. :-P My dad was working overseas at that time and was bringing home a Fisher Price dollhouse for me... again I get foiled by Fisher Price :-P so I let go of that second chance. I did enjoy my Fisher Price dollhouse and got hours of fun with it. For a time, I forgot about My Dreamhouse.

I got by with it but I still couldn't forget my first love ;-)

Compared to the sets I lusted for, the Fisher Price play set looked very childish, with its rounded corners, bright colors and very simple lines compared to the My Dreamhouse sets that were more detailed and actually looked like exact replicas of real furniture.

I expressed my remorse about not getting those sets. So on my 25th birthday, my brother Rico tried to search and scour for these sets with no success. He got me a pink toilet seat instead for my bathroom. Haha.

The dollhouse gods finally smiled upon me and decided to end my plight for I found this set on ebay about 5 years ago. Although not the exact thing because the rooms have a different style but still, imagine my heart overflowing with joy and childlike fervor when I saw this listing! It was like seeing an old friend. That original set I saw had a music room but in lieu of it, the listing had a bathroom, a den and a study. Six sets instead of the original four!

Squeep!

I was mildly surprised that they were made by Bandai. I didn't know Bandai had been around that long since I only heard of Bandai when I started collecting Japanese vinyl toys. The subsequent releases were made by Blue Box.

Here's a closer view of each room set:

bedroom

bathroom

den

study

dining room

kitchen

So there you are, my first dollhouse saga. I have managed to collect and even build a more elaborate dollhouse (that shall be blogged in the future) but this is how it all started. If there's one thing I've been consistent about, it's dollhouses. They fascinate me to no end.

Friday Frockin

I don't really know what look this is. It's comfy and not so blah looking unlike my other outfits the past few days. I've been in pain and not really feeling like strutting fashionably, hence the absence of posts. That's what exercising does to you if you have a body like mine that is fast becoming a lump of clay. I am so out of shape that climbing a flight of stairs to get to the next floor leaves me out of breath.

Enjoying a very very mild breeze this morning.


Serious necklace pile up :-)

The top was supposed to tie at the hips but it's most unflattering. Makes me look like I have a tubby gut so I loosened the tie and just let it fall. I'm taming the layers with a thick belt. Right now, the weather is still ok for a light cardigan so I'm wearing that teal cardigan I got from Target for the first time. I'm pretty sure it's been sitting in my closet for close to a year. My super comfy Seven jeans looked right for this look and my Jeffrey Campbell Snick Wedges to finish this perfectly and simply.

Hurray Friday! ^_^

Maxi Hues for Monday Blues

I bought this maxi dress just yesterday. I don't immediately wear clothes I buy, normally they sit in my closet for weeks or months. More often, I forget about them and it's such a wonderful surprise to go through my closet and see clothes with tags still on!

This is my second maxi dress. I don't particular care for the other one because it has a weird cut. It doesn't look as flowy as this one. Barefooted, it's too long for my petite frame but thanks to my massive Dany platforms, they're a dream...

I bought that fish necklace a long time ago, only got to wear it now. I painted my nails royal blue not really thinking that it would perfectly match my denim jacket!

Wearing new clothes on a Monday is a surefire way to beat the Monday blues. Frock on!

Make Your Mauve

Hello pretties! I haven’t been posting because sickness took away my inspiration. I guess it’s a lovely day to get inspired since it’s the weekend.

I got every piece of this outfit for a bargain, except for the purse. I got my vintage belt from this fabulous thrift store in town called Here Today Gone Tomorrow. I say fabulous because the building is painted lime green and fuschia. This belt actually reminds me of the lovely Harriet of This Charming Style. She always wears belts like this :-)

I bought this adorable necklace that people mistake for a bottlecap. My bestee Colette spied it first and I followed suit because well, it was cute. A good reason enough. I loved that for how Japanese pop art it looks, it also is in sepia tone. The owl ring is only my 6th or 7th...but who's counting ;-)

Colette convinced me to buy that purse. I don't use it often so it will be a while till I've worn its worth. This purse is not exactly a goes-with-anything purse. The embroidery and colors make it a bit of a challenge but when I come up with styling like this, the purse is well worth it.

The floral wedges were from Forever 21. They were cheap but a beauty! I don't wear them often for I know they will fall apart in mid-sashaying. I wore them because the blue flowers picks up the color of my cardigan. Anyhoo, I hope you guys have a lovely weekend! Frock on!

Sucre Bleu!

Sucre means sugar and bleu means blue but my title is a play on the French expression sacrebleu. I'm just trying to be clever here. Heh. My friend Trammie gave me that electric blue dress. She bought itfrom Vietnam. Actually she bought me a bagful of clothes. My friends spoil me :-)

Yup, I'm wearing the rainbow platforms again! ^__^ I don't think I have a whole lot of pieces in my wardrobe that go with them, sadly. I should remedy that so that I can wear them often. I love them so! I'm wearing mustard stockings this time. It was still a bit cold this morning and well, it is always cold in my office and I was born with icicles toes anyway so stockings should be the order of the day. Or everyday...

speckled sunlight

I got the necklace from Purple Cow, a somewhat pricey thriftstore but you hardly see crap there. It's all carefully picked. I always find knick knacks from the 70s there. My ring was from Forever 21 and the beaded bangle from SM, Cebu

I try to dress especially pretty on Fridays because it's my way of welcoming the weekend and I also have lunch dates with Thad :-)

I hope you guys have an excellent weekend! Frock on!

Dark Black Light White

I was at a loss on what to wear today so I took some old curtains and donned them on. I'm joshing but I admit my dress look like curtains. It was still a bit cold this morning but I wanted still to look a bit airy fairy dainty so I picked this lacy dress to wear over a black skirt and a black long sleeved turtle neck.

My Jeffrey Campbell Backstage wedges are perfect for this ensemble.

Playing the whole black and white scheme to the brim

I came across this lovely vintage pewter dollhouse pendant on a New Orleans based online jewelry store called Dejarnette. A few months later I found the same pendant for $2.00 and what's best, the seller sold them in a lot of 3. I then attached the tree, the watch and key charms on a silver chain that I got from Michael's for $8.00. I feel sorry for that person who bought it for $148 because my pendant cost me next to nothing and looks more fabulous :-D

Frockin on Thursday!

May the 4th Be With You

Thad's little nook and the enshrined vintage Star Wars poster. Guy Fawkes grinning in approval.
I'm wearing Thad's Stormtrooper Crossbone shirt.

Today is Star Wars Day. I'm being a poseur for celebrating it when I've never seen Star Wars and the subsequent films that followed. I subliminally hear the collective gasp of nerd friends appalled at this statement. I'm still celebrating with and for the biggest Star Wars fan I know. This little boy below...

This was my husband Thad at 4 years old, dressed as Luke Skywalker. This wasn't Halloween. This was everyday and around Christmas time. Shirt and tunic all made by his late grandmawmaw Elsie. It's a cute family story of how he would refuse to take the clothes off and how his mom Marilyn had to fight with him in order for her to wash them. Thad was out one day when his dear Uncle Marvin mistakenly called him "Thad". The 4 year old grimaced and snarled, "I'm not Thad, I'm Luke!" Uncle Marvin jovially conceded and to this day, he still calls him Luke. ^__^

I can claim 3rd degree of separation from George Lucas. My bestie Cezoralene, whose uncle, Nilo Rudis-Jamero, was assistant art director for the all the Star Wars movies. Cool points! Here's a funny quote from him:

"I met George Lucas at his house in San Rafael where I failed three questions: 'Do you like science fiction books? Do you like science fiction movies? Do you like movies?' He hired me."

He is Filipino, where did you think some of the alien languages in SW came from? :-P The ewoks spoke bits and pieces of Tagalog.

Thad has had these Star Wars toys and knick knacks, remnants of a massive childhood collection that never made to the garage sale tables. I've gathered what is left along with newer toys I've serendipituously found and housed them in a bookcase where his geeky computer literature reside as well.

Also, special mention to my bestfriends' band Eisley who were orignally called Mos Eisley. Hehe. I didn't really wanna grab a photo of the internet so I'm posting the goofy one I took of them the last time we all hang out. I get to see them in June!

The only Star Wars memory I can recall from childhood was how grossed out I was to see Jabba the Hutt eat frogs. Or did he? I'm not so sure now. Anyway, to all Star Wars fans, especially the ones who've altered their homes to look like the interior of:
a) Death Star
b) The Cantina
c) Lars homestead
d) Cloud City
e)all of the above

May the 4th be with you.

Walking On Rainbows

I'm dressed like a box of crayons all because of this magnificent pair of heavenly shoes! I spied these Jeffrey Campbell Salvatore Ferragamo-inspired rainbow shoes last January, a day too late for they were sold out! Imagine my heart crashing to the ground in myriad pieces. I eventually swept the pieces up and emailed solestruck.com if they will ever restock. Fast forward 3 months later, I finally got email of news that they've restocked and I didn't dally. I immediately snagged a pair. The impetuousity paid off because they were out of stock again in a matter of hours! I've never been so excited over a pair of shoes. But look at them! You can't blame me! :D

Salvatore Ferragamo designed this shoe for Judy Garland in 1938, an homage to the song Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

I may have to reconcile myself with wearing bright primary colors in order to wear this pair of shoes often. It's too awesome to just sit in my closet. We'll see...

thrifted embroidered belt, paid for by bestie, Colette, editor-in-chief of the best Japanese collectible toy website there is tomopop.com ^__^ She rocks more as a bestfriend, though.

In my backyard, braving the cold breeze this morning that came from nowhere...

On my second favorite rocker. First one would have to be Thad :-). Hehe.

Can't end this series without a photo in the room called, Mr. Buttersniff.
Fun shoes. Fun room!

Litas and the Itch

This dress feels like a vintage dress in the is-it-comfy gauge. It's not. It's kinda of stiff and itchy. The only thing lacking is the moth ball smell. I figured I'd wear it today, it's still pretty after all. Probably not wearing it again...wearing my black Jeffrey Campbell Litas for good measure. You can hardly see but my stockings has Jolly Rogers pattern on it :-)

I'm glad no one's here...just me by the tree.

I'm glad no one's here to mess it up for me but man I wish I had a hand to hold. I'm in the habit of being alone. I try hard to break it, I can't on my own... -Edie Brickell


I seldom take pix inside my house

Happy Monday! I was able to finish a project I kept putting off last weekend. The sense of accomplishment that I feel right now is so staggering that I want to do some more stuff! My sombre colored attire doesn't really express how lighthearted I feel right now.

Photo is above is (obviously) taken in the kitchen. In the background is my out dated but hardly used stove, since I rarely cook. The red microwave on the other hand, is the slave appliance. The dish towel hanging on the stove door is a Helen Dardik print. I am highly influenced by her, but then there are so many many many illustrators who influence me. I'm really trying hard to come up with my own style of illus.

I'm kind of baffled why these photos came out crappy, all I did was resize it. I'm too lazy to figure this out... ^___^