Busy as a Bee

*Giddy* I styled a print ad again!

Monday morning, pickup time for the shoot was at 5 a.m. Woke up at 4 am to make sure I downed a cup of coffee to wake me up. Oh god my head! Morning person I am not.

Location was at Mall of Asia and man, the sunrise from there at that time of day is just fantastic! Pink and red and blue! I have a pic in my digicam but it doesn't do justice to the real thing. It made it even more fun that we had an adorably cute baby for a talent who was just SO good natured and smiling all the time.



I did the styling again with Joan, Lisa and Irene, our makeup artist. And I enjoyed it a lot, glitches and all. Nag-chikahan pa kami with Irene about makeup. Saya.

Of course, we had a bit of a problem initially because we didn't have a pre-fitting of the clothes we pulled out from SM with the talents before the shoot. May ibang outfits were nice on the hanger pero 'di pala bagay sa talent. Eeeks sorry po, copywriter lang. Well, I know better now and should do that next time. Mas kakaririn ko yung next one. :)

The one project I styled that came out the way I liked it was with our ICT account. That was easy 'cause we just generally asked the talents to bring their own clothes with specific directions on what to bring. Plus Ige was with me to help and we basically agree on a lot of the style decisions. Not to mention, his layout was really young and informal and edgy so I had the freedom to be a little more risky than usual. Like cut-up stockings as leggings and cut-up fishnets for the arms of the girls. And at that time, a longer top for the girls than usual, the silhouette that was just starting to get picked up. I don't think our bank clients would ever let me do that hehe.

We just brought our own stuff and bought just a few key pieces to build around to mix and match so we didn't have major fitting problems. But you learn each time, right? It CAN take a lot of the time away from my real job which is to write but multitasking is never a bad thing because you learn a lot in doing and making mistakes.

So now I know, you never really know how some outfits will look on a talent from a picture and even a list of vital stats until you make them wear the clothes. Like some have big hips pala. A narrow shoulder. Big boobs. Too long legs pala in proportion to the torso.

Other factors include the color of the layout's background, client's taboo colors (black for some Chinese clients or they might prefer red kasi lucky; competitor's colors, etc), the lighting to be used. So many other variables to consider.

Anyway, the second one in the studio was a bit better but had the same issue. Otherwise, it all turned out okay.

Next time, I want to assert myself more during the shoots because there can be all sorts of different opinions on the set. Sometimes contrast is important. But sometimes, a tone-on-tone color palette CAN look classy and won't really make the talent disappear into the background naman. I've seen it done in Bazaar or Vogue and wala namang na-wash out.

Recording

This morning, finished some TVCs then off to recording at 3 pm with actress G and her hubby with cute kulit kids in tow. It was easy, breezy fun though had to contend with some personal matters outside work in between. Bilis mag pickup ni actress syempre actress :) Nag-kodakan moment pa kami afterwards haha.

Last minute, of course, we had some lines changed so we're recording a new line tomorrow. All's well that ends well.

Healthy Veggie Dinner


And since I vowed to eat out less to save money and eat healthier, I looked at my ref and realized the veggies I bought the weekend, as usual, were in danger of getting spoiled again.

The problem with cooking for one is when it comes to fresh items, you can't 'stock up' cause you only cook a little at a time. If you stock up naman, they get bulok. But considering how busy work can be, I can't do the 'grocery' everyday thing naman.

I looked at my squash flowers which I bought at Saturday Market last Saturday and cooked that. Took out the mushrooms. And my salad. It was quick and easy and healthy. Happy, happy.

For the squash flowers, which I absolutely love but can be hard to come by at the supermarket unless I went to the wet market, cooked all four stalks. Mukhang madami but when you cut off the stems, konti lang pala hahaha.

I relished eating and cooking this. It's my absolute favorite: simple, tasty and well, relatively healthy (minus the chemicals in the bouillon--next time, I'll use organic chicken stock).

I learned this recipe from mom and manang at home. It's a modified version of diningding, but you can add fish or other meat of your choice or none at all.

In a sauce pan, pour water enough to cover about an inch of the pan, chopped onions, pepper, a bagoong balayan (I use Fiesta Anchovy Sauce) and a chicken bouillon (you can use beef or seafood or whatever, your choice). Let this come to a boil. Toss in the squash flowers. Remove the stalks cause they taste bitter. Cover pot and let flowers cook for about 5 minutes or until they wilt a bit and voila! Eat ka na.


Of course, I needed protein, so I transferred the squash flowers into a bowl with a bit of the broth and left some in the pan. I looked in the ref and cooked 2 Chicken Breasts with 4 large mushrooms and a teaspoon of oyster sauce into the sauce pan filled with the broth. Brought that to a boil and tapos! I had a complete meal with some brown rice. On the side, I had a bit of arugula, lettuce and grapes pa.

Too bad I don't have any squash flowers left for the rest of the week. Rats. But then again, at least I know how to cook it na.:) I'll bring some at work next time.

Oh try this sawsawan! Mom did this last weekend and I recreated it for lunch to eat with my Chicken Kebabs kasi ang sarap. I LOVE cilantro!:

Mix chopped wansoy (cilantro), sliced tomatos (seeded) and a bit of patis. Eat with your ulam. Whooohoooo kahit anong meat dish, sumasarap. Suma-salsa sya pero with the patis, may ibang kick. YUm.

oOo

I often don't care what other people think of me. I just do what I have to do short of hurting people. I sometimes feel it's not good. Sometimes. But for the most part, I see this is a good way to be authentic and real.