Spring 2011 Shoes: A Rundown

Since the spring runway highlights are too overwhelming to feature (too many and the rest of the blogosphere have gotten to them anyway, also since I am a shoe person), here are shoes to admire and inspire us from the spring 2011 collections.

Orange cheer from Christopher Kane

Luscious booties at Alexander Wang

It seems fashion has a thing for chunky platforms for the season, what with the whole seventies vibe going on and all. These ones from Fendi are absolutely gorgeous. Despite the height they look quite comfortable judging by how the feet are supported by the lovely thin straps and how they are barely elevated at the heel.

Color-blocked at Fendi

These beauties from Derek Lam are my favorite. They would match anything. Being the practical person that I am, I don't really wear heels (I just admire them) but these would be perfect for the flats-loving people like me. The weight of the wearer would be equally distributed on the feet with a bonus height boost.

Monotone minimalist from Derek Lam

These type of practical and forgiving shoes are also seen at Chanel and Marc Jacobs.

Wood and metallics at Chanel

Glittery comfort at Marc Jacobs

These from Rodarte stand out and stun. They feel almost organic, like works of art.

Ethereal at Rodarte

Lanvin and YSL showed shoes to marvel at. Lanvin's looked almost lethal - those heels!

Sleek and sexy at Lanvin

Structured heels from YSL

I have a fondness for masculine footwear for women so I was quite pleased that several designers have updated these staples.

Updated classics at l: Jean Paul Gaultier, t: Balenciaga, b: Rochas

Masculine at Prada and Balenciaga

From all these collections, what for me is the most playful of all is Miuccia's inspired shoes. She combined different textures resulting into the most interesting platforms. She also had woven and striped heels. The bold stripes in those mary janes in particular are fantastic.

Textured whimsy from Prada

Footwear for the next spring has something for everyone; whether you're into wedges, chunky platforms, flats or stilettos, or you prefer structural and modern, or bright and colorful or classic and chic for your shoes you most certainly will have something to look forward to come springtime. 

photos from style.com

No Teasing Required: How to create a big bun

If like me you have thin and not-quite-long-and-not-quite-short-either hair length then gathering your hair up in a bun would leave you with a barely-there knot, which is just sad-looking. But there's a solution!

And it is one that would not put your hair into a terrifying teasing mess because teasing is scary and damaging to hair. You will need:

several hairpins, 3 hair ties: 2 of normal size and 1 that's thick and large
All can be bought at just about any drugstore, beauty area at the department store or accessory shop.

Put your hair in a ponytail. Here I opted for a high one but you could try doing it lower on your head.
Then grab your large hair tie then place it right on top of the first one.

Bring your hair around the large hair tie so as to hide it.

Then grab it along with your hair and tie it which would result into a small bun.
Start pulling the hair outward to make the bun larger.

Gather the rest of the hair around the base of the bun and pin in place.

You could end here if you like the result. But I like mine to be flat on my head.

(Eversince Cheska teased me about how it's somewhat unnatural-looking I thought of a way to make it look better. :P)

So using your finger pull sections of the bun toward your scalp and pin. Do this until you've secured the whole bun. You would get something like this:

It doesn't have to be neat or anything.:))

This is actually inspired by Tricia Gosingtian's hair tutorial. I just modified it a bit. She used a fake hair tie on hers.

And so there it is, fterritory's first hair tutorial.:D

Wear this flattering style low or high on your head or even a side bun.

Bellini's: Home of the Halo-Halo Pizza

Academic battles have waged war against us this week. Not to mention, we have final exams still ahead of us for the remainder of the semester. Of course, the best way to begin: Carbo-loading.



Bellini's have been Cubao's best kept epicurean spot for about 10 years now. It boosts itself as one of the institutions in Marikina Shoe Expo, Cubao (now Cubao eXpo) that opened in 1999.


It offers a somewhat classic Italian ambiance, that I believe aside from relatively affordable Italian food they offer, completes the whole authentic Italian experience.




Cheska and I were looking forward into having Sweet Wine earlier today. And we were so damn disappointed that it was not available. I mean, after all, what is Italian food without wine?


It completely baffled me how the waiters kept serving red concoction-filled shot glasses at nearby tables when they were almost done eating. Only to find out that they serve complimentary Sweet Wine to customers once done eating.
OUTRAGEOUS! They didn't serve us those :(
Yea, probably because we look like minors. (When I ate here with Paula, we never were served such as well. Maybe it's me. Yea, my cuteness interferes with my epicureanicity sometimes. LOL.) Eeeh minus pogi points for you, Mr. Bellini :/



The meal starts with a complimentary serving of bread sticks.




Waiters would recommend this:

Bellini's Special
But please, I beg of you: do not go with this suggestion. They are after all, waiters who never gave us our Sweet Wine fix. Haha. Bitterness aside, it was definitely like Halo-halo Pizza: there was eggplant, cucumber, onion, salame, and other Italian cold cuts laying in the bed of Mozarella cheese and Pomodoro.

I didn't like it.

I don't know, well fine, maybe it was just not the pizza for me. Like love, it was too complicated o_0 Emphasize on like, it wasn't love at all.

I mean, I never got the memo that Italian food isn't about producing the simplest high quality foods cooked out of the freshest ingredients anymore.


Thank God for the pasta dishes!





Fettucini al Funghi
This has been the unanimous favorite among foodies. And surprise, surprise! Foodie in the house yo! Yes, this is definitely my personal favorite: creamy mushroom pasta, so much love ♥






Fettucini Pesto Mare
Tell me to Think Green, and I will think about Pesto.
I have been so in love with Pesto lately, and this creamy white one with lots of seafood definitely intensified such.






Contadina
And while I am already in love with two pastas, I really could not take my mind off this one. It's spaghetti in olive oil, garlic and chili. You'll definitely enjoy the spicy kick in your pasta, if you ask me.

Oh and their Iced Tea tasted like Iced Mango Tea, bearable, but never completely satisfying.




Oh Italia, Italia! This afternoon I consumed you, and there is no doubt about it, you, consumed me.









Bellini's
Cubao eXpo, Gen. Romulo Ave., Cubao, Quezon City
Italian Cuisine
Estimated Budget: ~300 per meal

Celsius: A Gastronome's Lounge

Celsius is said to be named after the unit of temperature commonly used in the kitchen. The food was delightfully pleasant, no less than as expected from ISCAHM education (its students and chefs run this place), definitely a gastronome's lounge.



True enough, the place isn't entirely a fairytale land. But tonight's dining experience here definitely made me feel like a princess.


For one, the prices were a bit fit only for the royal market. Nevertheless, they were entirely worth it. Aside from the superb food quality, they came in big servings.

They even serve complimentary bread.


For such hefty and well-cooked entrees, it amazed me so much that they were able to finish all these in just about 10 minutes or so.




Chorizo and Spinach Stuffed Chicken
They do not have so much choices in their menu. Then again, everything sounds so perfect. But this one, definitely is! I swear my word for that.







Seafood Grill
This is a giant platter of Calamari, Celsius Tuna, Grilled Salmon, Pesto Prawns and Scallops with Sun-Dried Risotto, Crunchy Spinach and Asparagus on the side. This will definitely have you converted into a Pescetarian (no red meat diet).

The way they were able to keep the seafoods fresh, at the same time, savory, will and always be one of the many reasons why I have great respect for ISCAHM.

This is really heavy for the tummy. The risotto probably is the main reason why.






Chocolate Banana Bread and Butter Pudding
And this my friend, is definitely dessert at its finest. I wish they'd put up a new word in the dictionary. Because I know none right now that could embody this dessert's awesomeness.

Oh, and do try Lychee Iced Tea as well! It's something new and refreshing.



And so I extend infinite gratitude for ISCAHMers.

You made sense of the world tonight and put up into our table a montage much, much bigger than that of kilig moments in my romantic comedy library.
Thank you ♥











Celsius Gastrolounge
#67 Scout Rallos St. corner Tomas Morato, Quezon City
Asian Fusion Cuisine
Estimated Budget: ~500 per meal