It may be one of the most cliche things ever, but from recent events, I really do believe that when God closes a door, he opens a window. In my life, he blew the whole thing open.

If you know me personally and you’ve seen/talked to me in the past two months, you probably are privy to a huge personal change that has left me singularly different. It’s forced me to change in so many ways, and have made me grow up so much in such a short period of time.

Things change, people get surprised, life deals you cards that you didn’t think you could use. Sometimes you just need a different perspective to see the big picture, and find out that you have the capabilities to handle.

Professionally, there has been a huge change as well. Something that is going to stretch me mentally, emotionally, physically in a short span of time, in a very crucial time. It’s a challenge, but also an opportunity that will make me see how much I can learn under pressure, and if I come out shining, or just end up a bunch of coal.

Life is good. It’s thrown me in such huge curves, but it’s made me amazingly happy in crazy ways.

I can do this.

Also known as another: I think you should listen to The Vitamin String Quartet’s Dare You to Move cover today post.

If  you’re a sap like me and you’ve watched “The Mirror has Two Faces”, you’ve probably heard the line “When we fall in love, we hear Puccini in our heads”. I think Puccini is still a little too mature for my tastes, but this cover of Switchfoot’s Dare You to Move, feels to me, a little something like that.

When I first heard this arrangement, I was floored. The swell before the chorus of strings, with the punch of drums to top it off, pure bliss. I couldn’t stop listening to it, and I still stop all I do when this comes on in my ipod.

Simply said, this song sounds like love.

And I hope the next time you fall in love, you hear this song in your head. Because we should all be so lucky to have someone that opens an orchestra in our heads, even if it is imaginary.

Have you ever had friends that will literally pick you up when you fall? I do. The people in this photo are four of the most amazing people in my life. I know I’ve never been much for the public displays of affection, and I don’t really show too much details of my actual life, I just write about them, but these people are wonderful, amazing people, and they deserve an “outing” of how lucky I am to have them with me in this struggle that we go through, also known as growing up.

We don’t see each other as much as we could (my fault really), and we don’t talk everyday, but when we do, it’s almost like we just saw each other hours before. Even with years of moving forward and moving on, our lives going so differently, choices maybe not as great. They’re there if you ask. And even if my attendance to events has been spotty, they don’t take it against me. Letting me be and just in the background watching out for me.

If I haven’t said it enough, I really am a lucky sonofa to have these people in my life. I found out yesterday just how much they’ve come through for me, and really, last night, they went through some more because of me.

I hope in your life you have friends as good as mine. 🙂

1. The power that scent has on memory. You only need a whiff to bring you back to the same exact moment weeks, months, years ago. It can take you back to the person you were in that memory, and give you the giddy/melancholic feeling back in a snap.

2. A perfectly timed random text. It can make/ruin a day, no matter what was said.

3. Pandesal breakfasts.

4. Friends that make you laugh, but can also kick the shit out of your self esteem, then slowly build it back up by honestly telling you what’s wrong with you, and what’s going great.

5. Being honest. There is no riskier path than the truth. It can hurt. It can be embarrassing. It can also be life changing.

6. Dressing in loud, obnoxious colors to get you out of the doldrums. When you look like a rainbow, it’s hard not to feel like a Care Bear.

7. Ice cream.

8. Hugging. Wrap your arms around someone today. It’s a two-way feel better formula.

9. Laughing at yourself. Take work seriously. Take life a little less so. It’ll age you less.

10. Being patient. Some things are worth waiting for.

What do you believe in today?

No matter how hard you plan, predict what’s going to happen by considering every possibility, there will always be something that goes awry in your life.

That’s how life is, we can never be fully in control of anything that goes on. We can roll with the punches as best we could, but sometimes there are game changers that will shake you to the core, and these are the times we have to sit, think, and decide what path we want to take from that moment on. Because there are some things that you can’t just let flow, you take one direction or the other, but you do have to decide which one you want to take.

Dreams get crushed, paths swerve. Sometimes we wake up and realize that what we had fantasized about, or thought we would be, aren’t really what is for us. And when that time comes, it’s up to you to take back what control you can get and steer your life towards what you want.

That is to say, whether your life gets sideswiped by catastrophic, or wonderful circumstances, it’s still yours. Once you realize that, that you’re the one in charge, that’s when you can get out of the funk, or that cloud and move your life along.

Because we can’t just get stuck because we’ve been stupefied. Shake it off and move forward.

Life is wonderful. It’s tragic. It’s amazing. And it’s soul crushing.  What you decide to do with what it throws you, is entirely your call.

 

So maybe it doesn’t count because my date was my amazing friend/uber talented makeup artist Anna Angeles (she blogs here ), but Lola Cafe + Bar was built for the chill date.

I only read about the place when I was looking for a place to meet Anna, and I really like meeting her in nice places. So we met at

Lola cafe (Anton Diaz blogged about it here) for an afternoon session of girl talk, food and drinks, what we usually do every few months (or if we’re lucky, more often than that).

I found the place very pretty. Not in a girly, explosion of pink way, but clean, with a mostly black and white color scheme, with splashes of color here and there. I definitely loved how the bar looked, with a faux grass front.

The food wasn’t bad either. People have raved about the kare kare, (my favorite Filipino dish ever) but I didn’t feel like scarfing down a whole bowl that day, so I went with the other rave, the Tartufo pasta, basically, truffle cream pasta with portobello mushrooms. It was good. Not amazing, but fairly clean and easy to eat, perfect first date food.

Coupled with the really good drinks we had, it was an afternoon well spent. I had one drink called the lighthouse with ginger and I think apple and rum, and was amping up to drink more, but my date had a deadline, so it was a one drink afternoon.

We had the place mostly to ourselves, so the service was great. We also had two desserts (a pistachio pavlova and a banoffee pie) so we left full, happy, and psyched about our next outing.

So I’ve been lazy and have been eating at the same places these past year, but no more. Here’s to new food experiences, and maybe new adventures altogether.

Anna, fencing? 🙂

They say a person is the entirety of the choices they make. We get to where we are based on the combination of the big and small things we decide to do.

So the question that may be itching at you right now, at any age, is are you happy with who or where you are now? Do you wish you did something differently or went on another path? Are you still waiting for things to happen?

I guess all I’m asking now is: Are you able to look at the person you’ve become and be pleased with what you’ve accomplished? If you’re not, what are you doing about it? Do you recognize the person you are now?

So many questions, not a lot of answers. I guess there needs to be either 1. a therapist 2. alcohol involved in these kinds of questions to be feel truly comfortable with answering them honestly.

Me, I’m getting there. Gimme a minute.

 

In college, we had a subject called Art Appreciation. See, I am not one to understand art much. I look, and I like what strikes me. Too much symbolism, I will admit I won’t understand it. However, when we talked about Pre-Raphaelite artists, this painting really spoke to me. John Everett Millais’ Ophelia. They say it depicts the scene in Hamlet when Ophelia is driven insane when her lover Hamlet murders her father. To me, the woman in this painting has haunted me since I saw it in 2006.

So it may look a bit macabre, and really, Ophelia does eventually drown in the river. But in this scene, she floats on. Head afloat, a bit serene. A moment of calm in the middle of the tragedy she just suffered. And in all this, she remains unforgettably beautiful. Clutching a garland of flowers in red and blue, in a gorgeous dress. Her face just so. Not weeping, not really showing too much of anything.

I have no new thoughts, as this is a painting that’s been loved, hated and unnerved millions. It just hit me this morning. Sometimes everyone feels like Ophelia, driven mad by their circumstances, but in the midst of it, finds an eerie moment of calm.

Beautiful, haunting, unnerving. Ophelia.

Share happiness by sharing ice cream with a loved one today.

I’m sure it’ll make your day better.

Have a great weekend eight readers!

We’ve shared so many memories. You’ve been with me to so many events. We’ve gone through so much. We’ve biked. Gone to the beach. Gone to gigs. Been to family dinners. Shared amazing meals. Life has been amazing with you.

But now we have to say goodbye, and I don’t really want to. I’ve grown used to you being with me. We fit. But you left me. Without a warning, you just went.

I’ll miss you, but life needs for us to move on.