Allow to me to gush for a moment, as it is on very rare occasions that these things come into my life. 

One of my favorite cousins is getting married next month! (Remember the engagement photos I posted a while back?) I’m part of the entourage, and for one reason or another, I decided to make a big deal about my shoes. Everybody knows I’m more the boots-with-everything kind of girl, but it’s very seldom that we get to attend weddings, so I may as well have at least one pair of go-to shoes for just such occasions.

I’m actually not a fan of the thin stiletto heel (is that redundant?), but I figured I’d be spending most of the wedding sitting down anyway.

The amount of confidence I feel when it comes to how my feet look is non-existent (hence the absence of photos of these shoes being worn), so I look for shoe designs that cover them up. Hence my inclination to boots. While these don’t really cover much, I guess the wide, chunky straps appealed to me. Especially the ones at the toes, as my toes are all but pretty.

What won me over was the buckle and the fabric on the ankle straps! I’m afraid I believe very little in those shoes with fake buckle straps (the ones that hook, instead of actually buckle), as I’m very fidgety, and afraid my shoes may fly off my feet.

I also like that they kind of have a nautical feel to them because of the fabric! Which, now that I think about it, is a little off-theme, as the wedding’s theme is autumn/fall. OH WELL.

This actually came in a dark brown (almost black), but I thought that the gold buckle went better with this brown (“Cognac”, according to the box), plus it would look nice with the color of the dress they’re making for me (orange!). Not to mention that these could pass off as something I could wear even on a more casual day, if there ever comes a time that hell freezes over and I go out on the town in 4-inch heels.

Charles & Keith is my new go-to brand for fancy shoes! Very pretty, but not too obscenely pricey. :)

Obligatory picture of high school friends to commemorate this tiny reunion!

My high school batchmate and friend Chami invited me to shoot for her brand Chubbly! I had a grand ol’ time, as I very rarely shoot in studios. It was a nice change of pace from shooting food, even more so with strobes! I think I got a little excited when I was handed the wireless remote for my camera’s hotshoe.

While I was busy shooting the lovely ladies of Chubbly, Den popped in! We were best friends in elementary school, and it’s been so long since we last hung out together properly! Den, Chami, and I talked long after the shoot was over, reminiscing grade school and high school days — from the “social networks” of yore like Friendster (remember the phrase “gawan mo ko ng testi!”?) and mIRC (#comfortroom and #alphabetamama!), to random tidbits about our other batchmates, to stories about my love life (how’d we get here??) — and just talking about how suddenly, we’ve all grown up.

It was a great afternoon, all in all! The shoot itself was tons of fun, and the catching up bit with old friends was priceless. :) A proper MCHS reunion, please! Reserve na natin yung sportscom, dali!

In other news, something from today’s Tender Blender meeting. LOL

Kiks asked me to come over this morning for brunch at his house. He said that since he didn’t have money to date me, he’d cook for me instead. And when is that ever a bad thing? :)

I was so excited, that I completely neglected my self-imposed duty of taking photos before eating. He made me cheese pizza for my appetizer, his signature Kikomeshi™  rice and bacon-wrapped chicken fillet (SO GOOD, UGH) for the main dish, with brewed iced tea on the side.

A meal isn’t a meal without dessert, and he knows how much I love dessert! I was a bit full from his spectacular rice, that I couldn’t bring myself to finish off the dessert — his version of deconstructed apple pie, making use of pancakes instead of pie crust. With cream and maple syrup. You can tell I’m a very lucky (and spoiled) girlfriend. :)

I promised Tristan yesterday that I’d buy him Magnum, so he, Kiks, and I headed to Rustan’s to do a little shopping. Kiks and I looked like horribly young parents to a very hyper and talkative 7 year old who liked to check prices on the price checker, haha! He impressed a lady when I asked him what 31 plus 31 was, to which he answered 62 after a few seconds of calculating in his head.

He didn’t seem all to happy about me taking his photo while he was eating his ice cream and proceeded to try and block my view of him with his iPod. But he later asked me a series of questions regarding me & photography, which I will not put here, as you may think I’m just boasting. Hahaha!

Another day in Katipunan, abundant with promises of food!

I’m spending the week at my cousin’s place in Katipunan, and I’ve had a glimpse at what the rest of my week seems to look like.

My baby nephew Tripp is in my constant presence, so that means very little reason for me to be in a bad mood. Even though he’s asleep half the time, I still enjoy just looking at him and at how peaceful he looks. I sometimes catch him smiling in his sleep. The little guy is having some wonderful dreams. :)

I like holding his tiny hands, and how he grips my fingers.

While I work on my computer, I like to do it with a bowl of cereal. I can enjoy cereal at all times of the day! I’m lucky this house is well-stocked.

I can expect some serious quiet time after lunch — after Tristan comes home from school, has lunch, and does his homework, he takes a nap along with his little brother. Ah, to be a kid.

I think one of these days I’ll do a little shopping and bake something for my cousins and nephews. :)

Also, I think I’ll take tons of pictures of my nephews, haha!

There’s no such thing as weekends for freelancers. At least for freelancers like Kiks and I.

We spent the whole day shooting (he took the morning shift; I had come after lunch to sub for him), but the day’s not over yet — I got home about half an hour ago, and just about to start on the post-processing work. Then I’m sending all of the photos to Kiks so he can lay them all out on the menus and things.

Don’t get me wrong, though, I’m not complaining. I like — no, wait. I love what I do, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it as a chore. Sure, it would be great to get XX,XXX every month and buy myself all these fancy things like an iPhone or new equipment or even my own little car if I were employed at some huge company and work only 5 times a day, 8 hours a week (on average). It would be fantastic. But I’m happy to give up my weekends to take and post-process photos, as long as I’m doing things that I discipline myself to do, and not things I am told to do (which could result in a stressed out, whiny Tracy).

Being an entrepreneur is no easy task, most especially in the early stages when you’re still trying to figure stuff out on your own and trying to get yourself out there. We’re well aware of that fact, but I honestly think it’s a bold move for young people to make, especially when we started from scratch — no funding from our parents (this is an especially big issue), and just making do with our own little equipment and skills. We’ve been at it for a little over two years, and we’re determined to make this work.

The three of us — Kiks, Karl, and I — keep a positive outlook on things, and it’s been doing us pretty well. We especially appreciate the support from our friends and family who believe so strongly in us, and that’s worth spending a rainy Sunday doing what we believe we do best.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have photos to post-process.

Taking a break from my New York posts just to tell you that I’ve been in Washington DC for the past couple of days.

While I look completely ridiculous (and not to mention darker in complexion due to extensive exposure to the sun), I urge you to vote for me as your next president.

(Source: blog.tracymonsod.com)