Taking Back Summer

At long last, Summer classes are finally over! I would jump for joy and do a little jig, but in this instance, I just want to crawl into bed, nuzzle my pillow, and if it weren’t hot, I’d cocoon myself in my blanket. Part of me actually wants to break into a song and dance number just to celebrate and revel in the moment. I finally have my freedom back, but it’s like being at the finish line after a long, arduous race and you’re ready to drop dead, that’s how I feel, right now. Happy, but extremely worn out. I suppose the most accurate, the best, and most suitable word to describe what I’m feeling is, relief. Finally! I can breathe a little easier. Of course, I’m still worried about my grades, but that’s another battle. For now, I’m just going to take it easy. 

Summer classes went by fast and slow simultaneously. We were in a hurry to cover all the necessary topics, squeezing a semester’s worth of learning into the span of barely a month, but going to school from Monday to Friday was such a drag, I tell you. Technically, Summer classes are supposed to be until today, but yesterday was my last day, since my PI 100 class had wrapped up the previous Monday and my Speech 111 followed suit, one day shy of the actual end of classes. So I can afford to be laidback today, I’ve earned my day-off.

Anyway, yesterday, as part of my Speech 111’s culminating activity, we had to deliver a piece in class, be it a poem, essay, or excerpt, employing everything we had learned about good voice and diction, and afterwards we had a small party. It was really enjoyable listening to the different materials, some were hilarious, some somber, but everyone had a chance to shine. And then we all snacked before parting ways. I only grabbed a few bites because I didn’t want to spoil my appetite for lunch, and to be honest, I was eager to get home and get on with my vacation. Well we were a pretty small class, so you could say we had grown fond of each other, after spending a whole month together, and I’m glad I took a worthwhile elective for Summer, but the call of Summer trumps all else.

Let me just share my makeup and outfit yesterday. As I’ve said, we had an oral reading and we were asked to dress appropriately for the occasion. UP doesn’t have a dress code, and except for some strict professors who have their own house rules when it comes to students’ attires, generally you’ll see anything and everything from ratty old shirts and slippers, provocatively short shorts, to the most conservative of get-ups and posh color-blocking and prints.

I always try to look presentable and I take care to dress nicely, but some days I get lazy, and I just wear whatever’s on top of the pile, or whatever’s on the first hanger I can reach for in my closet. But yesterday I wore a magenta colored sleeved dress. I just love how it hugs my body and makes it look like I have curves where they don’t exist! I also wore a pair of white wedges to offset the bold color of the dress.

Here I’m wearing Nyx Round Lipstick in Narcissus. How fitting. A Barbie electric pink just for a girl like me. I also used my Dollface 88 color palette here and applied a little bit of cream and gold eyeshadow, which unfortunately is so close to my complexion, that it’s hardly noticeable, and my hooded eyes don’t help matters much either. At least it complements my whole ensemble. Le sigh. My eyebrows are in need of grooming too. But never mind. Here I’ve already got on the Ellana foundation in Café Breve that I switched to from the old shade I was using, White Choco Mocha. Can you see a difference from my old posts? I can’t say. It’s very subtle, but I get less of the pinkness, and it’s a lot closer in skin tone to my neck and chest, so that’s good. And the blush I used was Happiness, I love the glow it gives without making me look flushed. Just right!

And I also have on the green color corrector I bought! I am amazed, I didn’t think it would really be that effective at neutralizing, versus covering up my rosacea that I used to do with traditional skin-tone concealer. I mean, in principle, I get how it works, but I was a bit skeptical if it would do much for my rosacea, and I didn’t have really high expectations. And to be honest I wasn’t sure how a powder concealer would hold up, if it would adhere to my skin and not get brushed away by the succeeding layer of foundation I applied over it. I just wanted to try it out and see if it would help reduce my redness at all, and at PhP 190 for 2.5 grams, I was sold.  But look and see for yourself! The fine blue and violet veins I have near the corners of my mouth nearly vanished and the red blotches on my forehead and cheeks were visibly less glaringly red than before! I’ve found a winner here! Next time I’ll get their under eye concealer, such promise, and I never knew!

With that, I closed Summer classes, on a high note. I hope my grades won’t prove me wrong though. And even if the first semester is closing in on me fast, the remaining days of sweet Summer and our upcoming trip to Singapore are what I look forward to the most. Two weeks that I can still call my own.