For the Love of Fashion

When Sharon Cuneta’s 3M Hermes bag was featured on SNN some time ago, it was hugely commented as “extravagance” by kibitzers worldwide. Some said Sharon could have donated the money to hungry children instead; others say she was not helping the weak Philippine economy by being lavish. Nonsense! Sharon can’t save our country or the hungry children by not buying Hermes bag alone. She is working (ads, albums, shows, movies, concerts, etc.) thus she is earning thus she has the right to purchase anything she wants and needs. So please, give her a break.

This also goes to Ruffa Gutierrez’s lavish shoe collection which was shown on SNN last night. Before it will create a wildfire on the internet again, I want to say that Ruffa, like Sharon, deserves these indulgences too.

Thanks PEP for the photos. See more of Ruffa's shoe collection here. Related post here.

Drooling Over Hermes

Imagine owning a bag worth.. drum roll please.. 3 million pesos! Wowowie! Well, why not? If you happen to be a megastar and have been working your butt off for 30 years then you unquestionably deserve it.

This is the Hermes Black Crocodile Birkin Bag with diamonds own by Sharon Cuneta. It has surely put showbiz denizens in awe. Check out related post at SNN.

Happiness Comes in Pieces

On Mark’s 25th birthday in 2002, I gave him a book entitled “The Next 500 Stories” by Frank Mihalic, SVD, and I wrote a note on its first page that said, “Age is not a date in time but a state of mind. Our duty here on earth is not to add years to our lives but to add life to our years. I love you honey. Happy birthday.”

For many years, this motivational book has guided him and me on how to make the right decisions and choose the right roads. Sometimes we read our favorite stories all over again and talk about what we have learned from them.

Now, I want to share the #384 story/poem that helps us understand the partiality of happiness and why we don't ask God to give us more of who we are and what we have (though I don’t mind having more) as long as no one in our family gets sick or get into trouble with the law or something. Moreover, it gives us the rationale on why we should have peace of mind first before anything else.

Happiness Comes in Pieces
Happiness is like a crystal,
Fair and exquisite and clear,
Broken in a million pieces,
Shattered, scattered, far and near.

Now and then along life’s pathway,
Lo! Some shining fragments fall;
But there are so many pieces,
No one ever finds them all.

You may find a bit of beauty,
Or an honest share of wealth,
While another just beside you,
Gathers honor, love or health.

Vain to choose or grasp unduly,
Broken is the perfect ball;
And there are so many pieces,
No one ever finds them all.

Yet the wise, as on they journey,
Treasure every fragment clear,
Fit them as they come together,
Imagining the shattered sphere.

Learning to be thankful,
Though their share of it is small,
For it has so many pieces,
No one ever finds them all.

-Priscilla Leonard

5 Steps to Better Sex

If there is one show that I have to follow religiously, it’s got to be Oprah. I watch it every weeknight on Hallmark Channel and find it very informative and entertaining.

This week Oprah ran a special entitled Oprah’s Best Life Series. Last Monday to yesterday, she tackled about money, spirit, health, and weight. Tonight was all about the most sensual of all – intimacy and sex.

Man, to say that it was interesting is an understatement. It was a shocker to someone like me who is clueless regarding the tight spots on sex. Not that I don’t read FHM or other sex-rousing magazines but it was happening for real to real couples.

One wife claimed that she has not experienced an orgasm for all twenty years of being married. Her husband did not know that she was just faking it through the years. Another couple attested that after a few years into their marriage and two children, their passion for sex just simply died down. They could not even remember when the last time they did it.

Well, what can I say? My husband and I have healthy sex life but I don’t want to talk about our bedroom romances here, okay? For me, it’s a very private thing.

However, I admire those couples who guested on Oprah. I think they were courageous to tell the whole world about their sex dilemmas. I know it wasn’t easy for them but in a way, they were being helped by an expert and also they helped other couples who have same problems as theirs.

It was indeed an eye opener.

According to Dr. Laura Berman, a renowned sex therapist, the five steps to reclaim sex life are the following (please click links to Oprah’s site for detailed explanations):

1. Tell the truth about your sex life.
2. Ask for what you want from your partner.
3. Let go of negative messages that affect your arousal.
4. See a doctor because maybe little sex drive is a sign of something serious.
5. Make sex a priority.

Honestly, for me, sex is the most important expression of love for your spouse. If you love her or him deeply, you will ultimately get the happiness and satisfaction you need. Otherwise, you will certainly go down the drain.

Forbes' 20 Billionaire Heiresses

Who isn’t intrigued about the lifestyle of the incredibly rich heiresses in the whole wide world? Most specifically if they are very young, clever, and fabulous?

I certainly get awed with them especially that I have watched its airing three times already on Lifestyle Network. (The last time was just few minutes ago.)

I think 2008 batch is more captivating than the previous one because they exhibit risk-taking and tenacity on their fields (read: no Paris Hilton) that eventually make their parents most powerful people on Planet Earth. They defy the stereotype of spoiled wild bratty princesses owing to their achievements in business, sports, and arts.

Vanisha Mittal Bhatia tops the ranking. She is the daughter of Indian-born, London-based steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal ($51 billion). She holds a seat on Mittal Steel's Board of Directors after finishing Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from the European Business School and has completed corporate internships on their various businesses. Her billionaire father threw her and her investment banker husband, Amit Bahtia, what is believed to be the most expensive wedding in history, a $60 million, week-long extravaganza for some 1,000 guests in Paris. (Yes, $60 million bucks spent with ease and $2 million of that was for expensive wine alone. Whew! What I like about her is she's brainy, young and beautiful. She's only on her 20's, you know. - j)

Number two on the list: Delphine Arnault Gancia, the elegant daughter of France's Bernard Arnault ($26 billion), who runs the Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton luxury goods empire. She is a graduate of the London School of Economics. She is the first woman to have been named a director on the LVMH board at age 28. (Her name spells luxury, isn’t it? - j)

At No. 3 is Marta Ortega Perez, the low-key youngest child of Spain's richest resident Amancio Ortega ($24 billion), the self-made apparel manufacturing giant who lords over Inditex, which counts the Zara fashion chain among its assets. Marta is being groomed to succeed her father, and she's learning the how-to's of retail by working the floor--stocking shelves, assisting customers--in some of the family's stores. (Now this girl is who I like the most. Imagine her stocking shelves on her own mammoth fashion empire! It's what you call loaded down-to-earth girl. - j)

Number four is Georgina Bloomberg, the younger daughter of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ($11.5 billion). She is an accomplished equestrian vying for a spot on the Olympic team. She founded Rider's Closet, which collects used riding clothes and gear and donates it to intercollegiate riders. (Cute, generous, rich, and a horse rider, what else could you ask for? - j)

The rest who made it to the top 20 are the following (in particular order):

Samantha Kluge, Amanda Hearst, Alannah Weston, Josie Ho

Hind Hariri, Dylan Lauren, Holly Branson, Tamara Ecclestone

Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer, Ivanka Trump, Liesel Pritzker, Anna Getty

Anna Anisimova, Allison Sarofim, Charlotte Casiraghi, Paige Johnson

Read more at Forbes.com!

(Source)