Welcome me on Nothing Charming!

Hi and hello to everyone who has been visiting this blog even with the lack of updates recently. Thank you for being so patient and still dropping cards on here. I appreciate it.

I would like to inform you all that I have combined Mara's Personal Bubble and this blog, Mara's Appetite to WordPress with my own domain. I know. It has been long overdue and I have been planning about it since last year. I finally pushed through with the move and the domain earlier this year and now it's ready!

I am so excited although I still have to make some changes and modifications on my old posts from my 2 old blogs to the new one. You know, make it more SEO-friendly and hopefully it will do good (and even better) like this blog.

I hope you still support me on my new and (still working on it) improved blog.
Please welcome me and change all the links on your blog roll to: Nothing Charming


See you all there!

Return What You Borrow

Life Lesson # 1. It's simple really... when you borrow something, return it after use. 


It may be "just" a book, "just" a CD, "just" a shirt, or heck even "just" a pen but it's good manners and basically "just" overall polite to return something that you've borrowed because it may be "just" just to you, but it may not be "just" just to the owner. (note the "" on every just word)


I'm saying this based on experience and because I was going through my things and I am missing some books, DVDs (all original, thank you), and clothing. I don't know if those who borrowed from me just forgot to return it, they lost it, or they just don't want to return it anymore. I'm not mad. Just saying.


In case you're one of those "I was really planning to return it but I just keep on forgetting" type, life lesson #1 applies to generally everything that has something to do with borrowing. Borrowing means it belongs to someone else hence, you should return it. 


I'll say it again, whatever it is you borrowed, have the courtesy to return it to who lent it to you. No matter how long it has been already. Oh please, especially if s/he is not your close friend. That would be embarrassing. 

My first 2012 blog post

As usual, I wasn't able to update my blog for months again. I know I said I'll try and update at least every week but then I had several work loads, deadlines, and interviews and I just couldn't make time. I'm grateful about all the work I'm getting though. SUPER DUPER GRATEFUL. :)

Anyway, just dropping to update and keep a list of what's been up for the past weeks/months.

• Late 2011 has been crazy, fun, and crazy fun. 
• 2012 started off really great, work-wise. I've been doing several trials, interviews, and new clients.
• I know spend less time drinking out, and more time staying home working (if that's even possible, given the amount of time I spend working ever since)
• Been cutting off people on my "friends" list because I feel I'm much closer to those I rarely see and haven't even met, than those I've actually been friends with for some time.
• I met a lot of new friends on Twitter which I'm so happy about. Thanks to tennis and my love, Roger Federer. (MY TWITTER) I had to set my tweets on private though because some people who are not even following me are bashing me.
• I'm reviving my Tumblr account. You can check it out and follow me there too. (MY TUMBLR) It's mostly Roger Federer and tennis-related posts but I'm working on mixing it up with my other favorite things.
• I'm catching up with my favorite TV series.
• I miss Chuck.
• I'm active on the Roger Federer Fans forum. If you are a fan, join us there too!
• Been interested reading about US Immigration law recently. Not like I'm planning on migrating, but..... yeah. Check this lawyer out: Immigration and Employment Law Blog
• Currently enjoying making photo collage. Here's my first work: (of course it had to be him <3)

• I have my eyes and mind set on making a purchase this year. I've been praying and praying and praying. I believe.

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

May all of us remember to be thankful and enjoy this day with our loved ones. :)

- Mara

Music Monday: Maroon 5 - Moves Like Jagger (VS Fashion Show 2011)

WOW!

Need A New Phone?

Are you looking for a new phone? A spare phone? Or a phone not so expensive to give as a gift? I am selling my brand new Nokia C1-01 phone.

This Nokia C1-01 is perfect as a spare phone or as a gift to your teenage son or daughter as their first cellphone.

Here are the specs:

- 2G Network
- Weight: 78.8 g
- Camera: 600x480 pixels
- Bluetooth
- Radio
- Video

You can also check the complete specs on GSMARENA.

I checked some sellers on eBay and they're selling it for P2,500+.
I'm selling mine for P2,300, inclusive of everything. It's Globe-locked, color Grey, opened but NEVER been used, and has a 12-month Nokia warranty. I only opened the box to check if it's complete (battery, charger, manual, headset).

If you're interested, please leave a comment here with your contact number. I won't publish it, don't worry. I hate spammers too. :) Also, I would only be available for meetups. Hopefully, I'll get to sell this within next week.

I know I should be posting this on eBay but I don't have an account there and I think it would be useless for me to create one since I'm not really a seller per se. I just want to rid of things that I don't actually use and need and besides, I would probably get more traffic here on my blog than auction sites.

Thanks guys!

Music Monday: Coldplay - Paradise

From Coldplay's latest album, Mylo Xyloto, this song has this relaxing and soothing vibe to it which aside from the artist makes me love this song even more.

It makes me imagine myself in a more less-stressful place. :)

I love Coldplay. I love their music. I love their songs. And now, I love Paradise even more because it was played during the Championship ceremony at the recently concluded ATP World Tour Finals™ when the 6 time ATP champion, Roger Federer, was being awarded his championship trophy. <3

"This could be para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
This could be para-para-paradise
Oh oh oh oh oh oh-oh-oh"

Now, every time I hear Paradise, I see Roger lifting his huge trophy up.

photo from: Roger Federer's Facebook

Tonight Is Sports Night

For someone who is not as athletic as myself, I'm surprised why I even follow sporting events especially tennis and football. Seriously. I don't even have a sport that I play except for the occasional Wii Sports and the old-school Dance Dance Revolution which I doubt are considered as the real sporty thing.

Anyhow, tonight is a jam-packed night of sporting events: LA Galaxy vs. PH Azkals; Arsenal vs. Wigan; and Nalbandian/Schwank vs. Verdasco/Lopez, and I made sure that I finish work before football and tennis begin. I almost did it but not quite, I had to finish an article all throughout the LA Galaxy vs. PH Azkals match. Still glad it didn't take me until the Davis Cup to finish or else my concentration would be everywhere.

It blows though that Arsenal vs. Wigan and the Davis Cup Doubles are on at the same time, 11PM Manila Time. On the upside, Arsenal is shown at Star Sports (miraculously!), so I can still get to stream Davis Cup. Yey!

Ooooh, by the way, here's a sweet photo of David Beckham handing Manny Pacquiao his jersey at the match earlier:

photo from: ANC Alerts Twitter

Needless to say, LA Galaxy won over the PH Azkals with 6 goals to 1. It was a good first half though for the Philippines.

So okay, I have one eye on the TV for the Arsenal vs. Wigan and one eye on my laptop for the Davis Cup.

Who says non-sporty girls can't watch and enjoy sports? :)

Moonlit Bazaar at the Rockwell Tent

You know it's Christmas season when bazaars start to show up in every corner and malls and you get invites on Facebook from different online shops who are participating in that particular bazaar.

If you are one of those who enjoys "window online shopping", now may be your chance to get your hands on that pretty little dress, cute pair of shoes, and cool accessories without the hassle of going to the bank to deposit your payment and still wait 2-3 days for your items to be delivered to your doorstep, or the worry that you might be a victim of bogus sellers, who after you deposit your payment won't reply to you ever again.

Visit the Rockwell Tent

photo from: Manila Life

You can start your Christmas shopping for yourself or your loved ones this coming weekend at the Moonlit Bazaar at the Rockwell Tent. There are a lot of shops participating in the said bazaar, from clothing, shoes, accessories, and gift items, you name it, they have it.

Some participating brands: Coup de Love, Made U Look, Accent, CULTUS, Olivia and Fifth, Gift Hub, Posh Pocket Shoes and a lot more.

Moonlit Bazaar is open tomorrow, December 2 until Sunday, December 4 from 12 noon to 12 midnight.

At A Loss For Words

For the 3rd consecutive Sunday, Roger was up against Jo and like the previous Sundays, he won.

Roger Federer won his 6th straight ATP World Tour Finals™ title, won his 807th wins, won his 100th finals, won his 70th title.

I am at a loss for words right now.

Please check out OnCourtAd and The Federer Blog.

I have so much to say but my mind's too overwhelmed with joy and excitement about his ATP win.

Blog post to follow soon! :)

Roger Federer's On-Court Interview

If you are a follower of mine on Twitter, then you've probably read a lot of tennis in the past weeks or so following the ATP World Tour.

But since I can't contain my excitement and joy over my favorite player's record breaking titles and well... records, I will bring these feelings to my blog and share it with more people other than my friends and Twitter followers.

I believe by now even my blog readers know how much of a tennis and Roger Federer fan I am. I am proud to be on #TeamFederer!

ATP World Tour Finals started last Sunday, November 20 and I didn't miss a 1st game match (10pm MLA time), more so a Roger Federer match even when it was second game match at 4am. Last night was the first game I missed and it's a Semi-Final match. How great was that? I got caught up with friends and just followed tweet updates about the ongoing semis between Federer and Ferrer.

Of course, Roger won and he is now on his 100th ATP Finals and hopefully 70th ATP Finals win!!!

Here's his on-court interview after defeating David Ferrer to advance to his 100th finals with 7-5 6-3:



A huge thank you to FedererNews for sharing this link and to kissakiss for the video upload.

Follow me on Twitter if you want to exchange tennis-related tweets or just about anything. :)

Manage your files using Dropbox

photo: Startupcfo.ca

Have a huge file you can't just send via email to yourself or your friends? Need to save and access your files using different computers? No need to carry around a USB device or worry about huge file size because you can now save and access your files, hassle-free with Dropbox.

You just need to:

1. Click Dropbox
2. Create an account
3. Install on your laptop or desktop
4. Copy or drag files (documents, spreadsheets, videos, photos, mp3s, etc.) on to your Dropbox folder and you can access your files anywhere there's an internet connection

True to its tagline "Simplify your life", it makes accessing and sharing files, especially large ones, to your friends. You can create your own private folders and you can create one and share with your friends like those photos you had during your out-of-town trips or birthday celebrations.

Adense problem

I have been having problems with my blog's Google Adsense for the past couple of months and I have zero idea on how to deal with it and fix it.

Is there anyone here who can help me with it? I'll send you an email or IM. I've tried searching Google's FAQ but I don't have the patience and the time to sift through each of the hundred topics posted and find a specific solution or explanation to my problem.

It would be a huge help and I would really appreciate it.
I can link you back as a thank you. :)

Thanks in advance, guys!

The Swiss Maestro's First Paris-Bercy Title!

If you have been following my blog since the start, you would know that I am an avid fan of tennis and my all-time favorite player is the Swiss maestro, Roger Federer.

After the 4 Grand Slams which caused me heartbreak seeing him lose each time, I didn't lose hope that he'd be back with grace and win some more titles. I wasn't wrong.

Even though he slipped down 1 notch in the World Rankings, I believe this year hasn't been all that bad for the former World No.1, current World No. 4 and 16 Grand Slam winner.

Roger Federer...
- won his 800th career win which makes him the 7th player to earn it
- won his first ever Paris-Bercy title
- won his 18th Masters title, now 1 win away from the current top on the list, Rafael Nadal
- won his 69th title

Not bad, eh?

Your fans are so happy and so proud of this win, Roger!!!

After the BNP Paribas Masters is the World Tour Finals in London next week.
Looking forward to it!!

Music Monday: Coldplay - We Found Love Radio 1 Live Lounge

This song is a cover of the Rihanna and Calvin Harris song and I say the Coldplay version

is way, way, better than the original. It sounded more sweet, I am a fan of upbeat songs

but this song is better off sung by Coldplay.

What do you think?

Series Review: Covert Affairs

One boring weekend, I've caught up with my favorite TV series and got nothing left to do so I browsed through TV.com and TVFanatic.com in search for something new to watch.

Covert Affairs caught my eye mainly because it is still on its second season and I wouldn't be catching up for so long. I didn't read the reviews, I just read the synopsis and thought it would help me pass my boredom.

I was wrong.

I apologize if you are a fan of this series, but personally I found it too boring and bland for my taste. I didn't expect it to be an instant favorite of mine, but I expected it to be at the very least interesting enough to make me want to continue watching it.

The Series

photo: ShareTV.org

So okay, I finished all 11 episodes of season 1 until season 2's 10th episode and it's not because it was too gripping, thanks to Auggie Anderson (played by Christopher Gorham). He was the only reason I stuck through all the episodes, he was just too charming and irresistible.

I thought after the first two or so episodes of the series, it would catch up with the story line. Not. There's just something lacking. The story is there, the characters and the actors are all good, the script is okay (can still be improved but it's not bad), but they just can't seem to make the story solid.

I watch a lot of TV series, CSI, Criminal Minds, White Collar, Leverage, The Mentalist, NCIS LA just to name a few. These series have different stories per episode but there's just one or two general problem that binds 1 season. Every episode have a "crime", they will investigate and what we're watching is the "what", "why", "how", "when", and "where", somehow, Covert Affairs missed this. At the beginning, they'll present a problem and then all of a sudden it's solved.

GAH!

But I'm sticking to it until the end of season 2. I'm still giving it a chance because Season 2's Episode 7 was great. It was complete, intriguing, and okay...it was Auggie's episode. Let's see if the writers can keep it up and start doing episodes like Episode 7.

Rating: 5/10

Tuesday Random Thought

I was going about my Twitter timeline when I saw a a tweet from a friend of mine:

"What makes two people come together? By fate or destiny?"

I replied:


"What makes two people come together? CHOICE."

You choose your fate, you choose your destiny. Basically, it all comes down to CHOICE... whether you want it bad enough or not, whether it's worth it or a waste of a time, whether it's good or bad, right or wrong.

Music Monday: Just The Way You Are

I spent my late Sunday afternoon with one of my closest guy friends, Kiko at the Powerplant Mall. As usual, we had the "lovelife" talk and I cannot remember exactly what it is I said that made him say: "Hindi ka hopeless romantic, romantically frustrated ka." (You're not a hopeless romantic, you're romantically frustrated.)

I think it was that old couple (and by old I mean wrinkly skin, gray hair and slow motion walk) that we passed by walking... holding hands. Fingers-intertwined kind of holding hands. I know, right? We don't get to see that anymore. It's like those kind of relationships are too rare, extinct.

So anyway, that statement from my friend got me second guessing my claim that I'm a hopeless romantic.

I realized I have been listening to this song for a while now. I don't think that makes me hopeless, I actually think it's frustration.




Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars

Oh her eyes, her eyes
Make the stars look like they're not shining
Her hair, her hair
Falls perfectly without her trying

She's so beautiful
And I tell her every day

Yeah I know, I know
When I compliment her
She wont believe me
And its so, its so
Sad to think she don't see what I see

But every time she asks me do I look okay
I say

When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
And when you smile,
The whole world stops and stares for awhile
Cause girl you're amazing
Just the way you are

Her nails, her nails
I could kiss them all day if she'd let me
Her laugh, her laugh
She hates but I think its so sexy

She's so beautiful
And I tell her every day

Oh you know, you know, you know
Id never ask you to change
If perfect is what you're searching for
Then just stay the same

So don't even bother asking
If you look okay
You know I say

When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
And when you smile,
The whole world stops and stares for awhile
Cause girl you're amazing
Just the way you are

The way you are
The way you are
Girl you're amazing
Just the way you are

When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
And when you smile,
The whole world stops and stares for awhile
Cause girl you're amazing
Just the way you are

Get ready to be struck by Thunder!

I think it's amazing how blogging is rapidly becoming a tool for advertising, marketing, socializing or just simply sharing your writing skills about your choice of topics or niche. Every day we stumble upon new blogs born out of love of something, some we find interesting, some so-so, and some really promising.

I used to blog and blog hop every single day for the past years, I have had my share of visiting blogs and reading blog posts with content written just for the sake of being able to write something. I'm not judging any of those blogs, maybe some of them really are just for personal collection of their daily routines in life and maybe they just got too old for me. I need something new, funky, and has the local and foreign touch all in one. Don't we all want that? And although it may not be obvious with my older blog posts, I am actually a fan of fashion. I make my eyes pop and let myself drool over celebrity style blogs like  Who|What|Wear and now an addition to my daily routine of blog hopping: Steal Her Thunder.

Steal Her Thunder is a fashion/style blog by Maita Baello and Sacha Carlos. Yes, I personally know them so don't judge me with my shameless plugging of their new baby. *wink*

Their blog is not an ordinary one, you can read their opinions and suggestions in a "professional" but still hip way of writing. They have what they call "Thunder Watch" where they "show and tell what your favorite stars are wearing". From make-ups, clothes, shoes and other accessories, Steal Her Thunder has it all.

So get ready to be struck by thunder and steal those celebrities style by visiting Steal Her Thunder!

Have you Googled yourself?

One sign that I'm extremely out of my mind is when I start doing silly things and today is one of those days when I just feel like doing nothing but can't afford to not work yet I'm procrastinating a teeny tiny bit to relax, so I went to Google and typed "Mara De Guzman" and here's what I found on the first page of the search results:

It's cool that the first result is my blog and that the only link that's not mine is the second Twitter URL and the fourth result... aaaahhh... my 18th birthday celebration. Now I'm starting to have flashbacks.

Check out: Events! Events!

You'll read there about my birthday celebration written by my Debut Coordinator, there are also a few photos there, a testimonial I wrote for Events! Events! and a lot more of their previous clients.

If you have any upcoming events (e.g. wedding, birthdays, etc.) and is looking for someone to help you conceptualize and organize, Ernest (the founder of Events! Events!) will be of great help to you. He's amazing at what he does! Believe me. Events! Events! have also been featured in some local magazines here already and if I'm not mistaken, they have also appeared in Martha Stewart's Weddings magazine. You can go through their website and read about the past events that they've handled or you can leave me a comment here and I'll personally contact them for you.

Uhm, did I just plug? Oh well. Just in case any of you is in need of one. :)

Back to Google-ing yourself... have you ever tried it (well, I'm pretty sure a lot of you did already... don't deny!)? What results did you get?

I'm a curious girl.