Love is in the Air

Due to a recent stay at the hospital where my room was flooded with flowers from family & friends, I have been seeing (as well as smelling, cutting, arranging, & admiring) all sorts of petals & blooms for weeks now.  Aside from books, magazines, DVD's and facial moisturizer (uh-huh!), I was sent all my favorite blooms by thoughtful well-wishers: alstromerias, stargazers, tulips, azucenas, orchids, and my birth flower, roses.  

You can just imagine how lovely (and fragrant) my room was with all of these in sight: 

it was impossible to NOT feel better post-surgery looking at them all...

...some of them made it all the way to our home afterwards. 

alstromeria overload

this one right here was particularly awesome

it was like a stargazer on steroids

Whenever the nurses entered my room, they would breathe deeply and take in the scent of the flowers like they can't get enough.  I told them to take some to the nurses' desk but they were too shy to do so.   God has a way of sending you love and in my case during those 8 days of confinement, I believe it was through the love & care of my family, time & laughter from my best friends (you all know who you are)...and these flowers that my eyes would always rest on in times of discomfort or pain.  

A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man cannot live without love.

-Max Muller

One

 Lusting after these one-sies the whole day.

Mmmm mmm mmm. :-)

all bathing suits from J.Crew

A Heima Wedding

My friends from Heima, Bong Rojales & Rossy Yabut, finally tied the knot one lovely day last January.

On the tiny Tagaytay hilltop, guests were few and dinner was intimate.  The decor was beyond charming: paper cones & buntings in unmistakeable Heima colors, colored pencils & flags & all things a child daydreams about on lazy afternoons.  All this with the omnipresent Taal Volcano looming below.

The guests were told to wear colorful, printed & fun outfits.  And so we did. 

The brains & talents behind EWWS (Everywhere We Shoot) & fashion designer Mich Dulce who created the bride's beautiful wedding dress.  I remember just giggling and being goofballs with these table-mates during dinner.  We wanted to take home every single pretty thing on the table! 

I was happy to be seated beside my friend, fashion designer and singer/ musician extraordinaire Kate Torralba. It was a chance to catch up on each other's recent lives and share some serious secret boy issues (haha!).  She was excited to share with me her new blog, "KTLately". Check it out here. 

This was the most boldly printed dress I could find in my closet. I paired it up with orange & violet snakeskin stilettos.  But the venue was a bit, uhm...challenging to reach from where I parked the car, 

so I just took them off & walked barefoot across the pebbled lot.  #surfersoles

Outerhope performed while Bong & Rossy entered the party & greeted their guests.  It was magical.  Too bad, siblings Mick & Mike Benedicto had to rush to a gig in Manila and couldn't stay long.  

The wonderful designers & sales staff of Heima. 

Lanterns made with love by the Heima creatives.

Fireworks sealed the deal, with Kate Torralba playing piano in the background. 

The occasion was a simple, heartfelt, & happy one.  With all your dearest at your nearest, you can't go wrong.  I couldn't have planned a more perfect wedding.  Congratulations to the newlyweds! Make little Heima kids ASAP please.  :-)

A Sea Story

"The sea to me is my life...it represents love, hope, heart, fun, sometimes sadness...everything. I wouldn't want to live without it. "- Belinda Baggs

Blue & Green: From Beach to City

A bit obsessed about blue & green color combinations nowadays.  Is it a mix that was bound to be popular because in the middle of our everyday stress, it happens to be the color of our sea, sky & everything serene in between?

Infinity pool in a Thailand villa.  

Via Freshome.com

a resort somewhere in Bali

A blue & green longboard I used in Siargao July 2012.

photo by Charlie Gomez  

and now to unload the images from my mind:

interiors, fashion, & the little details everywhere. 

patterns & shades to inspire

my fave style icon Anna dello Russo

(alongside Kelly Wearstler, Jenna Lyons, & Gwyneth Paltrow!)

from VT Interiors

paint swatches at the Grupo Santamaria office

Speaking of Jenna Lyons, I quote:

(screenshot from J.Crew)

Hear, hear!

That zigzag pattern above was used for a chair in one of my projects. 

Along with a padded wall, I put it in a dressing room for a young mom & wife in the Philippine South. 

Quite a gracious lady, this one (both the chair & the client).  

Chair by Heima

A wreath I saw at Shangri-la Mall in Pasig. 

Elegant holiday decor in metallic blues & greens. 

more random images on my mind:

blue & green at very chic beach houses 

 this is what they call a 1.5 seater armchair-- somewhere in between a 1 and a 2-seater.  

A verrry comfy size to lounge in!

the stud detail on that white ottoman...I love it.  

who wouldn't love a turquoise beaded droplight? 

This could very well be an ideal chandelier-by-the-sea *wink* :-)

Blue & Green at the city apartment...

Mabley Handler Interior Design

and I imagine someone like HER lives here. 

I love the hunter green jacket!

via Habitually Chic

My desk at the office a few months ago.

I was experimenting with a blue, green & mustard color scheme for a restaurant. 

Speaking of the color mustard, this was taken at One Workshop Gallery at LRI Design Plaza 3 days ago.  Mustard walls went well with the beach photos taken by my friend Spencer Ty.  I was checking it that day if it the prints were dry already (By the way, try printing your iPhone photos on canvas & have it on stretch frames). Soooo cool! 

  

via Habitually Chic & Stockholm Street Style

my blue & green Brown Belly bed jacket

Of course there are other colors that make me happy.  It's not just green & blue (although they are my all time favorites!).

For now, these are recurring color schemes in my interiors...inspired by nature, the cosmopolitan Manila life, other designers' work, and what the awesome universe keeps bringing me everyday.  Like this place. 

photo by Charlie Gomez, Siargao 2012.