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Saturday Shoot (Philippines) | Nicole De Leon

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Color My Life With The Chaos of Trouble

For the longest time my Instagram feed has been the most boring feed everrr. From a consistent pastel peach feed to an almost black and white one, I’ve always struggled with trying to balance between keeping the pictures cohesive and posting the pictures that I actually liked.

Now I’ve decided to just wing it. I still try to plan the pictures I’ll post but I will no longer restrict myself to posting just pictures that are against a white wall. Nor will I use just one filter in VSCO just so that the pictures look the damn same. 

My closet used to have just black and white but since college I’ve learned to embrace color into my life (and cabinet lol). And I think my social media platforms should show that. Even if it means a messy feed. Here are pictures we took from our little shoot last last Saturday. You can watch the BTS footage on my vlog:  tinyurl.com/SaturdayShoots

BTW, hello Tumblr. I’m back. Xoxo char 

Sunnies: Aggy.ph // Top and shorts: TBA hehehe // Shoes: Converse

[nicoleingriddeleon]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeIAizYZ7WM)

Finally, this video is up! Now every time someone asks me about how I edit my pictures I can just send them the link to this video hahaha!

[nicoleingriddeleon]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyW76qd4nI0)

Taking this Youtube thing seriously, as you guys can tell. Hahaha! So I noticed a few trends during summer this year. I made this video to share where I got my trending pieces and how cheap they were! I am not bragging, I am simply sharing because maybe this video can be helpful to some of you! I know spending thousands of pesos on one piece of clothing can be heavy on the budget, especially for students like me. Anyway, I hope this video was helpful! Don't forget to like this video and to subscribe for more. See you  ♡

[nicoleingriddeleon]

This girl has officially jumped in on the fashion bandwagon, from the criss cross top to the ripped up shorts up to the knee-high strappy sandals. 

I'm not gonna lie, most of the time I follow the trends instead of setting my own. The latter is hard. To become a tete de'affiche as Ida Anduyan would put it can be a stretch for a conventional girl like me. But I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. As long as I like how I look and I'm comfortable, I don't really care if people rarely or too frequently wear a clothing piece. People are always striving to be different, even when it's against what they want. Being yourself is so important even in how you express yourself in fashion. If you like a piece that everyone else wears, as long as it expresses who you are, then wear it. Don't be different just for the sake of being different. Now I'm not teaching all of you to follow trends. But I am teaching you to be you, whether it means to follow the trends or to make your own. I know all of us are different but a lot of us share similarities in likes and dislikes and that's where the trends come in. Besides, I believe fashion is all about making you feel confident with your body by flattering and accentuating it and about being comfy with what you're in and who you are. Not about trends. No rules, no restrictions. You do you, girl. You do you. 

 On a more personal note, another summer has gone right by and from my light-colored ensemble to the rainbow walls it may seem like my life is sunshine but this was taken in the pastels of Pampanga during break. Inside I'm screaming because it's my third year in architecture (the one notorious for making architecture students break down more frequently than usual) and I don't think I'm ready skill wise. Pray for me and to the drafting and design gods that I make it through this year whilst keeping my other passions and hobbies alive. I never want to graduate and regret not investing enough time in other non-acad related activities that could've filled my soul and made college better by a hundred miles. I hope all of you strive to keep the fire you have for your other passions alive. There is so much more to life than just school and the degree program you’re taking.

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(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U99iM5bvyWQ)

Been trying new things lately! This is my very first tutorial video on my Youtube channel. I honestly did not plan on making this video. I was just playing around with my make-up and decided to film that day. 

Excuse the following: 1. My eyebrows 2. Not putting on foundation 3. My voice (voice overs are hard daaang)

But don't forget to like this video if this was helpful and to subscribe for more videos! Hehe. See you!

[nicoleingriddeleon]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq_QuGXf7no)

So I decided to do something a little different the other week. This is my very first vlog video on my Youtube channel. I decided to vlog my shopping trip to Taytay, Rizal. There's a permanent bazaar there where a lot of people get their stocks of clothing to resell on their online shops for a much more expensive price. The clothes and even shoes are crazy cheap there! Just wanted to share this little gem of a place I've found. I might vlog more often just because I want to document my life on this little space on the Internet. Blogging on tumblr can only show so much. It’s different when you actually see moving clips from your life. Don't forget to like this video if this was helpful and to subscribe for more videos! See you!

[nicoleingriddeleon]

Another lazy shoot, taken in my bedroom. My sisters and I have been bored to the bone these past few weeks. We’ve just been munching on chips and watching then rewatching movies. The rainy sleepy weather has crept in and it’s like we’ve been sucked into our black hole of a bed. Walking from our front door to the car while it’s raining to actually go somewhere is just too much work for lazy teenagers like us. 

Kidding aside, we have been stuck in a slump lately. Gone are the days of academic hysteria, lost in oceans of plates and GE homework as I move into just the middle of my “summer” break. No more planners scribbled on with chaotic notes and no more cluttered bedroom that looked like it got trashed by international rock stars. The mental peace is nice but having a gloomy summer is the worst for me right now next to being forced to stay at home and just binge on Lolo’s secret stash of chocolate. 

So within the pink walls of my room we decided to make the most of the grey-skied day and shoot inside instead. Lights plus a black backdrop plus three bored girls equals this. I’ve been wanting to do a shoot like this since I found the world of Pinterest in freshman year. Planning to do more shoots before I start regular classes again and return to my non-sleeping vampire form. 

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Growing up just an hour away from Boracay was a blessing. Being the mermaid child I was, I loved the smell of salt in the strong seashore breeze and the cool crawl of the waves on my feet. 

The drive to Boracay was beautiful too. The quiet life of rural living was a dream and we would all sit comfily in our humble little yellow jeepney that whipped across the curves and edges of the road leading to Caticlan, where the boat station to Boracay was. My first ever sleepover was at my friend’s Boracay beach resort and our activities included swimming in pools and getting tanned under the sun.

Now that I live in the middle of the hysteria of the city, surrounded by a horizon of cement and a skyline of glass structures, the beach really is something to miss. So when my dad invited us for a last minute trip to Zambales, I jumped. I found myself doing and loving the same things I did as a kid. 

Although my bum sored after the four hour drive, I loved every second of just sitting shotgun in dad’s car and talking about the most random things with him from Yamashita’s treasure to karaoke machines. At Zambales we did nothing but swim and stuff grilled food into our faces. I rarely see my dad, so I rarely see my relatives from his side too. Floating around in the pool and getting absolutely roasted under the sun at the beach with my cousins was the best. Hoping for more vitamin sea before school starts again.

[nicoleingriddeleon]

I’m a feminist. Now I don’t want to over-complicate things. This just means that I am part of a movement that aims to give women the same rights and opportunities in society that men have. Password: Feminism

This also means that I believe in supporting other women. Girls can get so Regina George-ish and catty nowadays. I honestly don’t understand why we gotta bring each other down. Why do we steal boyfriends, subtweet and slut-shame each other. I’m outspoken and I’m not really known for being quiet. I speak my mind out especially when I see girls stabbing at each other. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to join in on the fights but I feel like being quiet is exactly what has gotten us in this situation, silenced by society and under the patriarchy. Speaking out against all these Mean Girls things is so important because we should be empowering one another and coming together to stop inequality. Why fight for a crown when we can all be queenz, or you know kings like Kylie ❤

Cady Heron in Mean Girls said, “So why is everybody stressing over this thing? [The crown] I mean, it's just plastic. I could really just... Share it.” (Or you know, you can always buy your own one like I did hahaha)

On a lighter note, here are a few life updates. I’ve been playing around with my drawing tablet again and I’m starting to love pink. Hence this extremely girly colored post and the quick sketch of King Kylie at the end. You can head over to wildflowerssecrets.tumblr.com for more of my quick sketches. Passowrd’s in this post. Au revoir ❤

[nicoleingriddeleon]

Black Sheep Dress x Parisian Heels x Swiss Tech Case

I feel like for the longest time, I’ve been so insecure about my weight, especially when I gained so much of it after high school. The Freshman Fifteen is real, guys.

I never used to mind my weight. In my fourth year of high school though, I decided to start eating healthy. The food was healthy, but sometimes not enough. And because school required so much of my time and energy, I lost weight. 

And then came college. I gained so much weight mainly because the food in UP is bomb AF and second because I just cared about being able to adjust to my new school and to my college that I just didn’t have the time and energy to think about what I was putting in my body. 

That’s when all the mean comments came in. People from my high school would call me fat because the last time they’d seen me I was a malnourished stick. “Friends” would DM me just to tell me I had gained weight. Teachers, too, would say I was fat. I stopped visiting my high school because of that. I accept constructive criticism but dang people can be so brutally tactless. Ever heard of euphemism?  Password: FuckWeight Here are a few of my thoughts on weight:

1. This is my body. No one else should care if I’d gained weight, lost weight, if I’m conscious of weight, not conscious of weight, etc. It’s my body and I get to decide what I want to do with it.

2. The photos of these perfect girls on ads, magazines and almost everything are unrealistic. These photos go through a shitload of photoshop to make it look perfect. If you see someone with tummy rolls or without a thigh gap, that’s normal. 

3. Saying “Uy tumaba ka,” is rude. Saying this when you bump into a person is not a very nice thing to say. We Filipinos say this all the time and it’s time to stop body shaming people just because they’re not a size 2. 

Now I try to eat as healthy as possible and now I make sure I get enough food. I may not be a size two but I’m happy with my body. I now feel comfortable in my skin. I know I’m healthy and I love my body. 

I just want to say that you should feel confident, no matter what size you are. But what I want to promote is health. We’re beautiful now, even if we don’t have Emily Ratajkowski’s boobs and body. But I think that loving our bodies include eating healthy. Just because we accept that we’re curvy/thin/etc doesn’t mean we should be chugging down fries and burgers from McDonald’s everyday. We should accept our bodies and keep improving and taking care of it. 

P.S. Thank you for reading! You can head over to wildflowerssecrets.tumblr.com for an additional post! It’s password protected. The password’s somewhere on this post. Only people who actually read the posts will know the constantly changing password. This’ll be our little secret, hihihi!

P.P.S. To all the people who called me fat, fuck you. This is my body.

[nicoleingriddeleon]

Hapee Jonee Swimsuit x Sunnies Studios Sunglasses

I’m all about being independent. People nowadays are always so eager to look for that Instagram-able relgoals kind of relationship and I completely understand why. It would be nice to have a go-to person for everything, to have someone to go with to see the movies or someone to talk to at night. 

But I feel like at my age, I should be more focused on finding out who I am and what I want in life. I’m so complicated that even I don’t understand myself sometimes. Or maybe that’s PMS?

Kidding aside, because I don’t completely know who I am yet, I feel like rushing into a relationship would be such a bad move. I’m not gonna lie when I have a boyfriend I get sucked into the relationship and I forget about myself. To be honest I wanna think about me for now. I know it sounds kinda selfish but I know I still need some time to grow because I’m nineteen and I can be immature AF. I stop growing when I’m somebody’s girlfriend. Also, I don’t want that to be my identifier, you know? “Who’s that?” “Oh, girlfriend ni *insert name here*” I wouldn’t like that. I want to be known for me. Not for who I’m dating. 

Ariana Grande once said, “I'm tired of needing to be linked to a guy. I'm not Big Sean's ex, I'm not Niall's possible girl. I'm Ariana Grande. If that's not interesting enough, then don't talk to me.” #Slay

I can stop growing in a relationship if I date a boy around my age because we could both be immature and that’ll get us nowhere. Being in a relationship with someone as immature as you can be so restricting. “No shorts and skirts. No talking to other boys. No going to parties. No sleepovers with friends if there are guys. Why’d you like this guy’s Instagram pic? Why are you groupmates with your hot classmate from Philo?” The relationship would be so prone to irrelevant fights and I so do not need drama in my life right now, or ever. 

I’m still working on myself. I love me some Selena Gomez but I honestly just wanna look good for ya myself right now. If ever I do start dating, he better be a hundred times more mature than me. Because I need someone who can turn me into a better version of myself. Not someone who turns me into a psycho girlfriend. For now, I think I’m doing good at being on my own and improving myself. For now that is.

[nicoleingriddeleon]

I love the water. I grew up in Kalibo, Aklan which was just an hour drive away from Boracay. On weekends we’d take trips to the beach and as you could imagine my skin was always sun-kissed with just a few streaks of milk skin, marking where my teeny tiny kiddie bikini had been.

The water had always been my favorite place. The world is always so loud, but when I’m in the water it all quiets down. When we moved to Manila I stopped loving to swim. Why? It always came with the thought of looking dark in a city where whitening soaps and lotions were always selling. I never used to mind being brown, but I started to when we moved here. I guess the city changes you, huh?

But after a tiring school year, we finally found the time last weekend to drive to the outskirts of the city away from all the hustle and bustle. I found myself not caring about getting dark (or anything at all actually) and I finally found the kid still in me that loved to play mermaid with her sisters and cousins in the pool, soaked ‘til midnight.

[nicoleingriddeleon]

I won’t dwell on how I’ve been swallowed up by school work these past few months (yep, months) but dang, this post is way overdue. Let’s just say that what happened to me this school year was pure, hot hell.  

Anyway, last December (lol omg what happened), we went to a nice resto called The Daily Grind for my sister’s birthday. I’m not gonna lie, I hate eating out. One, because I hate being forced to eat unhealthy food. And two, most of the time the food’s not worth the calories. Sue me for thinking about fats but I’m just not one of those girls who can pig out and not even get an evening food baby. 

But I’d have to say, the food here was worth it, babe. T’was reaaal good. Plus the interiors of the place were nice, the walls cladded with brick matched with dark and wooden furniture. Like I usually do, I ordered pesto and they ordered pork ribs. The food was good and not unless you’re Gordon Ramsay, I think you should give this place a try.

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Metro’s Grand Opening

So much has happened since the last time I’ve posted on this blog. My second year as an architecture student has been impeccably life changing. I’ve made so many mistakes (one of which was taking Math 53 and Physics 71 in the same semester) but I’ve learned a lot too! But we’ll get into detail on that later. But I’m finally back to blogging and major blog changes are coming soon! But before that, I just wanted to get you guys up to date on a new shopping stop!

Metro Department Store finally opened in UP Town Center, Katipunan Avenue last Friday, April 29! I was invited to the event and it was such a wonderful opportunity ♥  The store is right in the middle of the glamorous to homey scale. The walls are a crisp and clean white, some cladded with white brick for texture. Brown panels act as dividers and color accents. I love the color combination of white and brown especially in the kind of light that lit the two floors of the store.

I’d say that Metro is now my go-to shopping place for all my basic needs. One of the main reason would be how near it is to my school and how it has almost all the things I need. The cosmetics section has your essential drugstore brands including Revlon, L'Oréal and Wet n Wild which are the brands you need when you’re starting up your make-up kit.  They also have Orly nail polish and other cosmetic goodies!

The women’s section surprisingly had clothes that were on trend and affordable. Right now these soft stretchy tops, the flowy off shoulder tops and sleeveless cropped tops are in season and they were all available when I came to visit.

I bought a few things from the store which I’ll be sharing in my next posts. Other than clothes and make-up of course, Metro also has stuff from shoes to school supplies to appliances.

The grand opening was wonderful! My sister and our friend Fonsi (a.k.a. Pia Wurtzbach) came with me. I had the pleasure of meeting a few new wonderful people, one of which was Kim from iamkimcharlie.weebly.com (If you’re reading this hi Kim!) ♥

Here’s what I wore to the event. I just put on a really simple green jumpsuit from Forever 21, the right mix of formal but not too formal. After the event I had Physics class and I had to go to class in whatever I was wearing to the event so I couldn’t wear anything too over the top. Then I just paired it with white heels from Tutum and a white bag.

It was an exciting experience but I’m just extra excited I have a new place to go to when I need a little retail therapy as a break from all my acad stress. UPTC is walkable pa naman from where I park to go to my Physics class (which I have every day so bye bye moolah). Anyway, don’t forget to check out Metro Department Store guys! I’ll talk to you guys real soon!  ♥

P.S. Thank you to Achie Cristy for inviting me ♥

[nicoleingriddeleon]

I love the city. I love it when it’s sunny and the glass buildings reflect the sun’s rays. I love it when it’s rainy and rain drops drip and trail on our car windows. I love the in between when the air is sleepy and the pavement is warm.

I complain a lot about living in such a busy place. But when I really gave it a thought I realized just how much I loved the city. One of the few things I love more than the city itself is it’s view. I love the old and new buildings and the small and big cars. I love thinking about the life that thousands of people live in this concrete jungle.

People go on vacations to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. But I say you just have to find the right place in the city to fall in love with it. In my case, the cityscape is my escape. 

Forever 21 terno x Penshoppe purse x Sunnies Studios sunnies x Tutum Shop wedge heels

[nicoleingriddeleon]

I finally finally finally got to eat at the Breakfast Table! I don't even know how long it's been bookmarked in my Zomato app! I've heard about this place months ago and ever since I've been dreaming to go to the said quaint little restaurant at Maginhawa. 

So I went with my sister and my Dad (when he visited us). It's at the end of Maginhawa street in a building where the Wicked Kitchen and Via Antonella are as well. The place was adorable! It kinda felt like I was visiting my non-existent grandmother at her home in the British countryside (hahaha). 

The walls were white (which I loooved) and the interiors were shades of blue. But other than the cute buckets and maong place mats, the food there was great. Enough food servings! I mean look at that pancake! I don't remember what Papa ordered but the longganisa in that dish was beautiful. We also ordered the super pancake and churros! All in all the experience at the place was great because the food was good and the place was cozy! SML for this place!