Family on 3!

Hey friends! Long time, no posts, I know! I am sincerely sorry, but school, work, and life has definitely been a whirlwind for the last couple of months for me. Particularly, my dance life was taking over the majority of my leisure time.

So for the first time, I immersed myself into a dance team that practices hip hop. The norm for me is usually lyrical, contemporary, and a little bit of jazz and ballet, so you could probably imagine how much of a new route this is for me. To me, hip hop is a whole other rhythm and it honestly takes a lot more effort for me. But I am very happy to say that I certainly enjoy trying! LOL.

The dance team that I was a part of this Fall is called Fresh Off the Beat. It stems from one of my university's Asian organizations, the Filipino Student Association. In the Fall semester, there is an annual event hosted by another FSA called Def Talent Jam, where several other teams gather to compete. Although this event was indeed a competition, we as a team certainly never felt the pressure to think of it as one throughout the semester, thanks to our coordinators and choreographers. They really emphasized on making the focus of our rehearsals to be something we genuinely just enjoy being a part of. And when competition came around, our goal was just to simply pour our hearts out on the stage and appreciate the chance to give a great performance. And we did just that!

In past years for this competition, FOB has placed in several occasions aside from first. But for the first time in the past 9 years, we won first place at this year's DTJ XXIII. Although this was a big accomplishment for our team, and we are very honored, it is really just the cherry on top of an awesome season and giving the audience our all. This year's theme was "Dead of Night" and our team performed as inmates that escaped from an insane asylum. (See the performance here.)

Over the couple months of rehearsals, it was a lot of fun bonding with the team and it honestly felt like family. For a first timer in FOB, I wouldn't give this experience up for any other. As much as I wish I had joined this team years ago when I first started college, I am so happy I got to spend my first experience this time and with this group of people. I just felt that everyone made each other feel like we could be ourselves and that was very encouraging. And even though we might have not all gotten super close, we definitely treated each other like family. This was surely one of the best experiences of my college career and I will always look back on it with a warm heart. Thank you Coordinators Garrey and Tevin, and Choreographers Jess and Abby. And another thank you to my amazing team. Love you all!

#FOBon3
#Familyon3
#AsylumonB

From yours truly, DancingMermaid1920s

Blog Post #9

Favorite Investments: Part 2

Hello again readers! I hope you guys enjoyed reading about my first Favorite Investment because I am here to present to you my next favorite! This next investment is actually not that recent, but it came across my mind to talk about because it's a continuous, ever-changing concept. I am particularly happy about this purchase because it was one of the first big investments I ever made for myself and it was during the time when I had my first job. So I think I did rather well in deciding to spend my money. This investment is my bedroom! I lived in this house since I was 10 or 11 years old, and I always had a thing for Hawaii and the beautiful tropical, islandy atmosphere. As I grew up, my room came together very slowly with no paint, but just Hawaiian-themed decor. Even though, I loved this idea, it never really looked put together, and it was always cluttered with random junk. I was a kid, and I saved things that belonged in the trash. Once I hit my twenties, I finally said to myself that it was time for a change. Plus, the color-scheme was then a bit too young for me. This new theme is Asia-inspired: simple, rejuvenating, and zen.

Here is the link to the room tour video of my bedroom!

From yours truly, DancingMermaid1920s

Blog Post #8

Favorite Investments

Hey all! So I've been thinking about posting about a couple of my favorite fairly recent purchases for a while now because I really think they have been some of the smartest investments I've made, ever! I haven't been making my own money for that many years, so of course I haven't been very wise about my spending so far. I'm in college, it's rough. Mama needs her coffee. However, I really feel good about these particular purchases for a number of reasons.
The first item I'd like to talk about is my beautiful Instax Mini 8 camera by Fujifilm. It's an instant film device that prints roughly 2x3" pictures like the old-fashion Polaroids. I had been wanting one of these cameras ever since my Ate Carla took tons of photos at her birthday dinner with her Instax camera (almost a year ago). I just loved the way the photos looked so old and in the moment. And I really think it's nice to have a tangible piece of film in your hands to keep your memories compared to seeing them from a phone or on a computer screen.

So many months later, I finally came to a point where I thought it would be very useful to own one for myself because I was going on a couple summer trips. I knew ahead of time that I'd be dishing out quite a bit of money on this product, but it has honestly been so worth it! I am so happy with how my photos have been coming out and I just love the cute size and pretty color of my camera!

The only problem I've had was about 2 photos (out of the 17 that I've taken so far) coming out totally black due to me setting it at the wrong lighting, which was definitely my fault. The film, I'd say, is probably the more expensive part of this investment because it begins to add up as you use them, so if you buy this camera, be careful! It's actually quite disappointing when you take a photo that shows up blank.
Overall, I am super pleased with my camera and the adorable photos that I've taken with it. I haven't decided on a way to display the photos in my room yet, but for now, it's been really cool just picking them up and remembering the moments I spent during those times with friends, family, on vacation, and on special days.
If you're interested in buying one, I got mine on Amazon along with 3 packs of film, sold separately. I recommend going through Amazon rather than the stores because the cameras can cost around $25-$30 more.
You can find this great color or the others here. Fujifilm also offers different film frames.

Stay tuned for the next investment coming soon!
From yours truly, DancingMermaid1920s
Blog Post #7

P.S.: Check out my Ate's latest blog posts at XO, CARLA MAE!

SMaRS Adventure 3: Puerto Rico

¡Hola, guys! I recently uploaded a new video to my Youtube channel and I'm so excited to share it with everyone! I went to Puerto Rico this summer for vacation with my boyfriend and his family and we visited so many different places. It was one of the most beautiful and exhilarating trips I've ever been on and I was so happy to share it with great company. Hope you guys enjoy it! You can watch it here on my blog or follow this link on Youtube.

From yours truly, DancingMermaid1920s
Blog Post #6

SMaRS Adventure 2: Lunch and Shoot

Hey peeps! So my Ate (big), Carla, and I just attempted to do a photo shoot this past Saturday in a few locations we love around the area. First disaster of the day, it began to rain as we were driving out to our first stop at the Black Bean Deli, which was next to this building with a pretty all-pink wall that we wanted to use in our shoot. We were so bummed out that we got all done up just for it to get humid and gray on us. Next thing we knew, we both realized we had forgotten our Instax Mini 8 cameras at home. Even though, they're not the easiest pictures to post online, it's nice to have a memory kept on a tangible film. To bring us even closer to tears, Carla had left her memory card for the DSLR camera at home, too! It was one devastating thing after another, but we turned the day around by making use of our phones and the elements.

Pictured in this tasty-looking photo is the Pan Con Lechon sandwich. I love pork, and this was to die for! It was hearty and so very savory all at once. (P.S.: This was my first time eating at the BBD) The dessert was their Espresso Flan. As a Filipina, I personally really enjoy flan. And the fact that this had a coffee flavor in it topped it all off. Every bite was heaven in my mouth!

Outfit:

Shoes: JustFab (similar here)

Jeans: The high rise girlfriend jeans from Abercrombie & Fitch (buy them here)

Jacket: H&M (similar here)

Crop top: Hollister (similar here)

 It was so fun trying to pose and take photos of each other. It's definitely a lot more work than I expected. I've always wanted to be in photo shoots, so I'm really happy I got to share this with my big. Although we didn't get to take the photos with the DSLR like we wanted, we were pretty excited with how some of the ones from our phones came out.

As always, I'm happy to share my new adventures with you and I hope to be posting many more very soon!

From yours truly, DancingMermaid1920s
Blog Post #5

P.S.: Don't forget to check out my Ate's blog, XO, CARLA MAE!

Pintastic Trades

Readers!

Feast your eyes on my new obsession: the addicting game of Disney pin trading! Summer is coming to a close and so what better way to end it than with a day at Disney World with special people? This past Monday, I went to the parks with my boyfriend, Tito, my big, Carla, and her boyfriend, Eric to enjoy a summer double date with the mouse! Little did Tito and I expect to find ourselves hooked into the world of pin trading.  I distinctly remember having a lanyard once as a young girl with one Princess Jasmine pin on it, not knowing what to ever do with it. Carla and Eric had already started decking out their lanyards with pins from past visits and encouraged us to try it. At first, I thought it was just a cute display of the characters to simply wear around your neck. But after opening up our first mystery packets, there was no turning back. My packet had Cruella Devil and Duffy, and Tito found the Mulan parking lot symbol and Pascal (from Tangled)!! I was so jealous he had Pascal, I begged him the whole day to trade him to me (he wasn't giving in just to mess with me).

As the day progressed, we found ourselves on a hunt for any selection of pins either in stores or on the lanyards and shoulder bags of cast members. I'm pretty sure we rode maybe 2 rides out of the entire day. We couldn't help ourselves! It was like every corner we turned, we saw more and more pins. We found some pretty awesome ones and some we didn't even recognize.

A little tip, cast members can't say no to a trade! So if you see something you like from their pins, you can make any offer up for theirs. Some cast members like to switch it up by placing their pins backwards on their display pieces to make it a game of mystery. I especially loved making conversation with some of the cast members as we went on trading. Some were from other countries and spoke to us with pleasantly different accents. And some just simply made our day. Speaking of which, from the start, Tito had been on a wild goose chase looking for a limited edition of Oogie Boogie (from the Nightmare Before Christmas) that was only sold in a starters pack. After asking a lot of cast members, we concluded that he was quite a rare character to find alone as a traded pin. Finally, we went to the main trading post in Frontier Land at Magic Kingdom where Tito asked for the millionth time if anyone saw Oogie Boogie. He told the cast member his whole story about how we've all been on the lookout for this pin. Now I'm not sure if this was like one of those "No Strings" acts, but he opened up the starter pack with Oogie Boogie in it and handed it to Tito free of charge! We were all so shocked at how kind this cast member was to just give the pin for free. I guess it was just one of those magical gestures to make Tito's dream come true. Lol

The whole day was truly magical all because of the amazing rush we got from trading our pins. We're all so obsessed now that we bought a bundle of pins from online to up our trading game! We even found a few for keepsies. Here are some pictures of what my lanyard looks like now.

This is Pascal! Isn't he adorable? We found out he's also very rare.

This is a shoe representing Maleficent (from Sleeping Beauty). I thought this one was pretty cool because of how it features her horns and her golden scepter.

It's super heavy now! Haha! I plan on buying another lanyard soon to use for my keepsies and the other for trading.

I hope that if you are a frequent Disney-goer that this post encourages you to start your own collection of pins and join in on the trading fun! We saw some pretty serious traders around the parks with 2-3 lanyards full of pins around their necks. Of course, you can propose exchanges with guests, too. Just remember that they CAN say no. Thanks for checking out my pin collection! If you start one or already have one, I'd love to see what yours looks like!

From yours truly, DancingMermaid1920s
Blog Post #4

Beach Stop

Hi readers!
I was itching for some sun and waves and went to this gorgeous all-natural beach stretching along the central East coast of Florida called Playalinda, which translates to "pretty beach" in Spanish. I visited this beautiful land over this past weekend with family and friends for some fun and relaxation.

This beach has a considerably short shore due to not being altered by man. Yay for less walking! The large, emerald waves are strong and crash onto the rugged sea floor; so I recommend that you have strong swimming skills before entering these waters. Since the sand isn't too shelly, you don't have to worry too much about getting those nasty cuts on your feet. It's a private property, so you do have to pay a small entrance fee to get into the park. The good news about that means it's not a super crowded place compared to the popular Cocoa Beach. If you like seeing smaller crowds of people, then I highly recommend this beach!

So if you're ever in the central Florida area and are looking for a beautiful experience at the beach, give Playalinda a visit. I thought it was definitely well worth my time!

From yours truly, DancingMermaid1920s

Blog Post #3