Sassy Saturday: The Red, Black, and Stripes

Hooray! My first Sassy Saturday post! Today, I will feature my #ootd this past Friday:

As you can see, I am still very much into my plain white sneakers! I still wear them all the time. I paired my striped shorts with a plain black tank top so as not to "overpattern-ize" the whole look. If you wear something patterned, be it a top or a bottom, it's best to counter it with something plain. Go easy on the patterns when putting together an outfit, unless that's your style, of course! Other people may prefer "louder" outfits, and that's perfectly okay! I guess I am just not that adventurous when it comes to my clothes, hehe.

The red belt in my outfit was actually added at the last minute. I was set on wearing just the black top and the striped shorts as they were, but I found the shorts too loose as it kept sliding down my waist. A black belt would have worked, but I thought this outfit could use a pop of color. Hence, the red belt! I have always loved how well black and red go together (waddup Acts Manila colors!) so I put the red belt on and voila! I think the pop of red added a bit more sass to the look!

For accessories, I put on some dangling earrings which you cannot unfortunately see, and a long silver charm necklace. I had a more difficult time choosing a necklace because of the neckline of the tank top. I saw a guideline somewhere on the Internet that tells you which necklace works best with which t-shirt/top necklines. But I just finally decided on this long charm necklace because I personally liked the way it reached just where the shorts rested on my waist. At least, I felt like it worked!

Black tank top from Calvin Klein (c/o my sister, Angel)
Striped shorts from Forever 21
White sneakers from H&M
Red belt from Fudge Rock (located in ATC)
Earrings from Broadway Gems
Long charm necklace --gift from a friend

Challenge Accepted, Challenge Completed

Accepted the challenge extended by Lormaigne Bockmuhl and Kelly Knight.
Nominated Mico Panis, Jessica Zaksek, and our dance teacher, Chelo Gemina! 

Okay, okay-- I caved. I did say I was going to do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge if nominated, and I got challenged twice! But, I didn't get to do the "better alternative" I talked about in my last post, which kind of sucks since I now feel as if I'm just one of the many people who hopped on the ice bucket bandwagon. Don't judge me, huhu!

Then again, I did have fun filming this and actually going through with the challenge. Although the water wasn't freezing, the amount of H20 that poured over my head was what I reacted to in the video. Mejo madami din pala, hahaha.

My parents found the video so entertaining when they saw it on Facebook. My mom, especially, was strangely proud--she shared my video on her own wall and captioned it:

Hahaha oh, mother!

I have to note what my dad also mentioned when he learned about the mechanics of the challenge and which cause/association the donations are going to. He thought it was clever that something as silly as pouring a bucket of water over your head has already generated millions of dollars for the ALS Association. But as a physician, he said that this type of challenge should also cater to what the healthcare in the Philippines needs the most. He explained that yes, ALS is terrible and the research for it is underfunded, but at least in the Philippines, there are other health problems that inflict more Filipinos and that also need more funding. Makes sense.

So yeah, there ya go.
See y'all later this week with another new post--hopefully!

Love,
Laura

Whatever Wednesday: The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

You know what I'm talking about. It's EVERYWHERE. You go on Facebook and your newsfeed is flooded with videos of people voluntarily dumping a bucket of ice water on their heads. You go on Twitter and your timeline has links of videos of people voluntarily dumping a bucket of ice water on their heads. You go on Instagram, and oh yes, you see 15-second videos of people voluntarily dumping a bucket of ice water on their heads.

Photo from Wikipedia

But don't worry--this is all done for a good cause. If you get nominated by a friend (or an enemy who wants to see you get drenched with ice cold water..you never know), you have 24 hours to replicate the challenge done by the nominator. The challenge is to either donate money to the ALS Association, OR, as punishment for not donating, pour ice cold water from a bucket over your head. At least, that's what I originally understood the mechanics of the challenge to be. But from what I've seen lately, a lot of people have been pouring water over their heads but are still making donations. I think that's pretty awesome.

When I first came across this challenge, I thought it was a really cool campaign to raise awareness of the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis disease, also known as the Lou Gehrig's disease, and get people to donate to fundings for its treatment. I personally did not know anything about this disease at all prior to the Ice Bucket Challenge, so I'd have to give props to the now-viral challenge for putting that out there for everyone to be informed that there is such a disease. You can read more about ALS here.

It wasn't until late last month that I began noticing the trend that is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. It picked up its pace in the popularity race when I saw that different people every day were doing it and flooding my newsfeed. With each scroll on my feed, there was at least one person who was either doing the video, or being nominated for the challenge. There's no escape!

Articles of both positive and negative feelings toward this trend have been making its rounds on the Internet. I have read a fair share of both sides, and I'm somewhere in between. I think it's absolutely amazing that because of this challenge, The ALS Association has received $22.9 million dollars of yesterday from all the donations brought in. Twenty-two point nine MILLION dollars. MILLION! It is also fantastic that this phenomenon has increased awareness among people, who would otherwise be clueless that such a serious disease exists. I believe these points make for a strong argument in support of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Plus, it's fun seeing people get dumped by water, especially if it's a celebrity or a whole cast of your favorite show (did you watch the challenge done by the Grey's Anatomy cast? Hihi pretty cool)

Photo from the Jackson and April Facebook page!

On the other hand, I feel as if some of these challenge participants are doing this popular challenge because that's exactly what it is--popular. It's what's trending, it's what's in, it's what's "cool" (pun intended) on social media right now. I don't mean to sound all judgmental and accusatory since I really don't know what people's true motives are, but I know you kinda get what I mean. Any trend that goes viral on the World Wide Web is bound to be followed by the huge netizen population.

Another perspective that was pointed out that critiqued the challenge comes from this article(click) I read by William MacAskill. Basically, the point he was trying to get across was that as great as it is that the ALS Association is getting literally millions of donations from participants of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, this tends to overshadow other charities and causes that may have the same value and urgency as ALS. E!News has written an article on why some critics aren't that excited about the challenge. You can read it here.

I understand both positive and negative sides to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. I support the challenge because along with funds, awareness is also being raised. And as I've mentioned, it's kind of fun/funny to watch the videos, especially when things don't exactly go the way as planned...Exhibit A right here(click).

Top Ten Tuesday: It's A Girl Thing!

Hello, people of the internet! I am stoked to kick off our first Top Ten Tuesday! This week's post is a list of my own top ten items that I have to have in my wardrobe, plus a few non-clothing accessories. I will be doing a separate list on beauty products, so you won't be seeing those in this particular list.

I actually had a difficult time narrowing these items down to ten, because as a girl, I feel like I need EVERYTHING in my closet, haha! But here they are, the top ten girl essentials I personally have to have:

(10) Sweatpants or Yoga Pants 
Whether it’s a lazy Saturday or an errand-running kind of Monday, sometimes we just gotta put our comfort first. However, I found that this wardrobe staple made more sense to me when I was in the states. It would always be a little cool in our townhouse back in Missouri, so I would use either sweatpants or my favorite yoga pants whenever I just lounged around at home, or when I didn’t have time to get all dressed up for class in the morning. Now that I’m back in hot and sunny Manila, I realized that I actually have not worn either of these clothing items because I would get way too warm if I do. I think if you live in the Philippines, it makes more sense to have running shorts (or just any kind of shorts, really) as a wardrobe essential instead of sweatpants!

(9) Plain White Sneakers

Now, this isn’t necessarily a top item for every girl. I actually know someone who despises wearing sneakers! But for me, my plain white sneakers have always been the perfect go-to shoes whenever I wanna pull off the cute but comfy look. White sneaks look totes adorbs with shorts, sundresses, rompers, jeans, you name it!

It was my trusty pair of white sneakers that I mostly used
when I went around the world with Semester at Sea last year!
I literally wore it everywhere, no matter what the outfit!

(8) Lip Balm

Because girl, chapped lips don’t look cute on anybody. EOS lip balm eggs are my favorite kind! I am obsessed.

I once bought a whole pack of EOS eggs on Amazon.com because I was that obsessed..
Plus, Amazon had a good deal. YOLO

(7) Perfume

More than just smelling pretty the whole day, I really like it when people I know and are close to have their “signature scent”. I automatically associate the scent with the person, and if I get a whiff of it elsewhere, I instantly get reminded of that person which is nice. Currently, I wear the Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy. I fell in love with this scent the first time I came across it in 2010. I have been wearing it ever since!

I got hooked on Juicy Couture scents, but eventually just stuck with Viva La Juicy, the one on the left with the pink bow. The one in the middle is called Couture Couture, while the one on the right is Peace, Love, and Juicy. 

(6) Pearls (Earrings And/Or Necklace)

Adding this to a blah outfit instantly adds a touch of sass and a whole lot of class! Whether you are going to a picnic, a job interview, or a ball, pearl earrings are a safe staple to have.

Genesis

Hello, everyone, and welcome to my new space-- Love, Laura! 

I am Laura, 23, Filipina-- coffee drinkin', ballet dancin', chocolate lovin', Jesus followin'. Fresh graduate of Westminster College, and still finding my way through the tangles of the real world. In the meantime, I have decided to devote some time to do more writing, hence this blog!

I have had multiple blogs in the past, but have always struggled to keep them updated. My history with blogging traces all the way back to when Xanga was cool. Huh, Xanga? What the heck is that? Exactly. I've also tried LiveJournal during my high school years, and then switched to Wordpress when I was in college. Finally, last year, I chose to go with Blogspot to document my study abroad experience with Semester at Sea.

So, yes, I have had my share of blog sites, but I am so excited for this new one because I have already planned out some ideas that will hopefully make this blog fun, trendy, and constantly updated! Here's a sneak preview of what you can expect to find on Love, Laura:

Top Ten Tuesday
Every Tuesday, I will be listing my top ten items of a certain category. For example, my top ten beauty products of the month, OR my top ten movies of all time. Hopefully, I can get your guys' suggestions on what category I should do every week!

Whatever Wednesday
Some Wednesdays will be dedicated to any random post I would like to put up. ANYTHING at all. Something funny, something thoughtful, something encouraging, something annoying. It's...whatever!

Travel Thursday
This is when I'll be taking you with me to reminisce some of my favorite travel destinations I have been to, and share my travel experiences!

Sassy Saturday
Saturdays will be more about fashion and beauty. This can include #ootd, makeup tutorials (not too sure about this one yet since I am in no way a beauty guru haha), morning/night routines, etc!

Life 101
Life 101 will focus on the spiritual aspects of life (yehes). I'm thinking maybe I could share a devotion or something new I learned in church. This could also maybe run as an advice column! We shall see!

There you have it, folks! Hopefully these ideas will keep me motivated to constantly keep this blog up and running. Disclaimer: Not all of these themes will be present in one week. Some weeks, there might be a Travel Thursday, but no Sassy Saturday, or there could be Top Ten Tuesday but no Whatever Wednesday. At least, for now, while this blog is still in its beginning stages. We'll see how things roll! Oh, and posts will start next week. :)

Cheers to new beginnings!

Love,
Laura