GIVE ME SOMETHING TO DO!

IF ANYONE HAS ANY TEMP/CONTRACTUAL/PART TIME JOBS FOR ME PLEASE LET ME KNOW! I CAN DO ANYTHING! IM SUPERWOMAN!

I'M GOING BACK TO MANILA IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS AND I NEED SOMETHING TO DO FROM NOW UNTIL THEN. IT'S HARD TO APPLY FOR FULL TIME POSITION SINCE I AM LEAVING (AGAIN!)

I AM FRIENDLY AND PERSUASIVE (SO YOU CAN PUT ME IN SALES/RETAIL)

I HAVE EDITORIAL EXPERIENCE/ AM A FREELANCE WRITER/MAKE-UP ARTIST!

BUT REALLY I CAN DO ANYTHING. ANYTHING. (W/N REASON AND NOT AGAINST MY MORALS AND VALUE SYSTEM HEHE)

AND I'M BORED OUT OF MY MIND SO PLEASE GIVE ME SOMETHING TO DO!

I CAN'T WORK WEEKENDS THOUGH BECAUSE I SELL AT THE MARKETS! SORRY! BUT ANY OTHER DAY IS FINE.

MY EMAIL ADDRESS IS ERICAPAREDES@GMAIL.COM

GOD, TALK ABOUT SELF PROMOTING! HEHE

PEACE OUT!

ATTENTION EVERYBODY! YES YOU! IF YOU ARE FROM SYDNEY READ ON!

VINTAGE DRESSES, CUTE TOPS, FAB ACCESSORIES AND COOL GRAPHIC BAGS ALL FROM PEACE JOE!

THIS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, GET READY TO DO SOME SERIOUS SHOPPING !

WHAT: VINTAGE CLOTHES TO DIE FOR, GRAPHIC BAGS, BELTS AND ACCESSORIES PLUS LOTS MORE.

WHEN: THIS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY (MARCH 31-APRIL 1) FROM 10 AM UNTIL 6PM

WHERE: FOR MORE INFO, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT JOEGIRLS@GMAIL.COM OR SMS ME AT 0404366491 (don’t really wanna put my address up on my blog hehe!)

GREAT STUFF JUST WAITING FOR THEIR RIGHTFUL OWNERS!

CHECK OUT PEACEJOE.MULTIPLY.COM

SPREAD THE LOVE! SEE YOU THEN!

PEACE JOES!

INTERNATIONAL JOE DAY!

TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL JOE DAY so TO ALL YOU JOES OUT THERE, LOVE PEACE AND HAPPINESS XOXO!

MAKE SURE TO HUG ALL YOUR JOES TODAY!
(I'm serious! Gina heard it on the radio!)

Speaking of Joes, I miss mine terribly. One is doing the 9-5 grind in Manila and the other is in Cali trying not to miss opportunities like me. Another is juggling 3 jobs, school and a family in Va. and another is studying to become my (free) lawyer in New York. And of course, all my other joes in Manila. *Sigh* The impending doom of cold winter months does this to a person. The past two days have given us a sneak peek.

TWISTS AND TURNS

Life's full of them and I think I just found myself in front of another fork in the road. Should I take the safe path that will leave me bored and unsatisfied or should I risk the one with dim street lamps and random things I could trip over but in the end will probably leave me feeling more fulfilled whether or not I fail or succeed?

Safe can be good but will leave me wanting more. The other one can leave me stunned and lost. The difference between the two choices is the safe choice will leave me smiling but dreaming of being somewhere else while the other will see me jumping up and down with excitement over what I am doing.

I think it's worth a shot to take the risk. It's not a stupid, silly risk after all. It's just not what my family would prefer for me. But I'm 28 in May and I think it's about time I made my own decisions. If I don't succeed, then at least I tried my best.

Hay, when I am more sure of what's going on I will let you know what this is all about haha.

Basta no matter what i end up doing, my little girl stays with me!

YOU KNOW YOU GREW UP IN MANILA WHEN....

1. You find chores such as lawn mowing, toilet cleaning and washing dishes fun and amusing.

2. Your quilts/comforters may be on right on your bed, but underneath your bed sheets are a mess.

3. You forget to pick up after yourself. You leave plates where you ate and papers where you were working and some how are sometimes still surprised that they are still there when you get back.

4. You still almost get run over while crossing the street.

5. You have TFC even if you never really watched local television when you were back home.

6. You go to "McDo" (Maccas) are tempted to ask them if they can make you a special order of spaghetti.

7. You call chips fries.

8. Your head is saying GAS even if your mouth says petrol, trash can when you say bin, to-may-to and not to-mah-to and you can't bring yourself to say serviettes.

9. Don't flinch when someone honks their horn at you on the road. (You're so used to it!)

10. Find it kadiree when people walk barefoot in public places.

You can take Filipinos out of the Philippines, but they will forever prefer longanisa over lamb, jollibee over hungry jacks and Maging Sino ka man over Home and Away. Hehe.

Don't get me wrong. I like it here too hehe.

Anyway, GLEBE MARKETS this saturday. See y'all there. Make me happy :)

I WANNA BE A SUPER MODEL!

My daughter has decided her fate. She wants to be a "modol"

It started with me telling my mom how this girl I knew from Manila asked if Ananda could model for one of those parenting magazines and I had to decline because I was already back here in Sydney then. She asked me "mama, what's a modol?" And I told her "Models are people who other people dress up and put make-up on and then they get their pictures taken" (I needed a simple answer ok! haha) Suddenly she got this look in her eye and I almost saw a lightbulb turn on over her head. She looked like she had an epiphany or found out the meaning of life in those ten minutes.

"Mama. i want, I want! I wanna be a modol!" And from then on, everytime we'd see a commercial on tv or an ad in the magazine, she would point and say "Mama, that's a modol. When we go back to the Philippines, I'm gonna be a modol"

The other day, I caught her reading FOLLOW, w/c is an Australian based fashion magazine. And it's not one of those mainstream mags, this one is hard core, high fashion. Then when she saw me watching her, she started showing me poses. Nakakatawa!


Ananda's "modol" poses.

Hay Nako.


MY LIFE AS A PALENGKERA

So, Glebe started out ok last Saturday. We got there early, we were able to get good parking, we set up early and got to relax a bit. There weren't as many shoppers as last week so I wasn't really getting my hopes up for lots of sales, but what really pissed me off was the sudden (but expected so i shouldnt bitch, really) rainfall that drenched my sister, our helper Beng and I while we furiously tried to save all the clothes from the same fate. Thank God, most of the items stayed dry. I should invest in a tent of some sort but they are so expensive! Does anyone have an old one the don't need? hehe!


Before the natural calamity happend.

The first time around was way better, weather and traffic wise. Sure, i baked under the scorching heat of the sun but I would rather that then getting caught in a downpour (I say that until I see more freckles sprout on my face) I absolutely hate rain and I'm afraid of it because I always get sick. So I took a hot shower as soon as I got home to prevent a part 2 of my near fatal (ok maarte) flu 2 weeks ago.

I have to admit, although I made a decent amount of money selling at the markets, it's much harder than having bazaars in my backyard, even if I have really dope stuff. First of all, there are like a hundred other stalls you are competing with and second, I don't have an Eftpos machine or anything so it's harder when your buyers only have a little cash on hand. At the bazaars in Manila, we lived right by Katipunan w/c made it really easy for people to go to the atm if they needed to and pop right back to my place.

Otherwise though, I'm having loads of fun which cancels out the stress of having to prepare my stuff each week, trying to secure a stall and setting and packing up.

So, all you Sydney-siders, pass by my stall in Glebe Markets again this Saturday. Hopefully I get a stall this weekend, please check back again on Friday. But if weather forecasts say rain, then fuhgedaboudit. I also updated my Peace Joe Sydney multiply site.For Pinoy Joes, I'll get to updating very soon too. I'm just waiting for pictures of what we have left in Manila.

AND ALL THE OTHER THINGS...

So, I am doing my first shoot here in the land of Oz tomorrow. I don't know exactly how much work I'm doing yet because I'm working with another artist from an agency that will be representing me (yay) pero nakakasar kasi it's for sunnies. Nyek! wala ka din makikita sa make-up hehe! But it's all good. I just keep thinking...portfolio, portfolio, portfolio hehe.

I seriously think I am meant to live in Paddington because all the jobs I end up getting and everything I have to do are all usually there. Aside from that, I find those terrace apartments so pretty, I love the big trees and the whole vibe. I just don't love the rent prices. Well, maybe someday when I am more set on staying in Oz for longer periods of time I'll be able to live in Paddo, but for now, I'll imagine it muna :)

I'm really excited for Peace Joe Manila. I have some great new ideas and a slight change of direction and I really wish I could talk about it further but I don't wanna speak about it just yet since I'm not even going home to get it going until June. But Peace Joe Sydney will be featured in a fashion editorial in The Australian Filipina magazine's April issue! It's a great shoot that i did with my dad and model/Aussie Lucy Watmore.

Anyway, that's all for now joes! Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi! hehe!

Where do I belong?

Glebe was fun last Saturday. I'm going to try and get a stall again this weekend so please try to come!


The sun was scorching that day and I ended up going home with t-shirt and skirt tan lines. I also have tan lines from my flip flops! Lots of stalls at Glebe means plenty competition but I was happy because I went home with a decent amount of cash. Hoping to get a chance to sell at Bondi also soon.

Ananda is sleeping on her own little bed! We were sharing a queen sized one but even then, I would find myself falling off the bed in the middle of the night because she would take up so much space and move around so much! I finally put my foot down and decided enough was enough. I would wake up tired every morning from lack of sleep so when we found her kiddie extendable bed at Ikea a couple of weeks ago, we snagged it before we could change our minds.

She's taken to her bed quite well. I haven't had any problems with her and she'll continue to sleep on it by herself even after she wakes up in the middle of the night. She usually wakes up asking for milk, then will see me across the room on my bed and say "mama, sleep on my bed. sleep beside me" and I'll say "NO, I wanna sleep on my bed, I'll see you in the morning" and she'll say "Oh. Ok." Haha. At least we don't have to argue at 3 am.

Ananda's First night on her new bed

She also started her first day of Day Care, which she calls "Big School" and she loved it. I had no problems with separation anxiety or anything and she basically forgot I existed the minute she stepped into the place.

She actually ate beans! Their lunch was mexican something with beans and she came home saying she ate beans and she loves it. I was wondering why she was farting all evening. Haha.

My little girl on her first day of "big school"

Manila Manila

I like Australia. It's nice here. It's clean, it's safe and it's quiet. I'm sure I could probably get a job here and settle in and that will be it for me. But, still, I'm not sure if that's what i want to do yet. I find myself dying of boredom and bulokness when I'm here. It's not because I don't go out, because I don't go out in Manila either.
When I was in Manila, I was never ever bored. I made so many new contacts from Peace Joe and for my make-up, which gave me more jobs and more income. I felt like I was moving and doing something everyday. In other words, i felt useful and like I was doing something to get closer to my goals.

So, yeah, I sometimes feel like I'm wasting all this time here when most of my bussiness is still taking place in Manila. But still, I will give it more of a chance, because like I said, I like it here also. I just don't know if i should be here right now, at this time in my life.

I will know, in time.


Kung sa Pilipinas to, hindi ito seseryosohin. haha.

PEACE JOE at GLEBE MARKETS

Hi! For all of you in Sydney and the surrounding suburbs, I'll have a stall at the Glebe Markets tomorrow.(Saturday, MARCH 10) Come by and check out my stuff from 10am-4pm at Glebe Public School Grounds along Glebe Point Road. Just look for the Peace Joe signs!


Now grab a pen, mark it in your datebook, set you phone alarms and write it on your arm. See y'all tomorrow :)

Letting Go and Life Sentences

My blog was starting to feel like a piece of paper with too much stuff written on it so I decided to start with a fresh sheet. Besides, that blog carried to many memories, and although both bad and good, I decided that it's better to just let everything go at one point and start on a clean slate.

So here I am. Another blog, another set of adventures but still the same journey. There may be different versions of Aycs as I grow, slip back, stumble and get up again but it's still essentially me.

I wrote about a sensitive topic but deleted it just now. I wrote it with good intentions but the people involved may not take it as such so I decided against publishing it.

Instead I will ask the question that my friends and I are forever asking ourselves and each other: Am I ever going to get married?

1. The question is not asked out of extreme desire of wanting to get married but a well thought of inquiry based on events of the past and present situations.
2. We realize more and more that marriage is not the be all and end all of life. It is not the holy grail or the ultimate goal. Life doesn't stop after marriage.

I used to think I was going to be married at 28, with children by 30 but clearly that is not happening seeing as I am turning 28 in a couple of months and my daughter is turning three in June. The thought of marriage used to keep me in my daydreams for hours. I, like so many young (meaning like early 20's) women had my wedding all planned out, even before a prospective groom wa sin the picture. So much so that i was actually offered a job based on an article I wrote giving a blow by blow account of my wedding that has yet to happen.

Our parents got married really early so I kind of thought, it would be the same for me and all my friends. Well, here we are closer to thirty than twenty and I only know a handful of people close to me who have tied the knot. Reasons for not getting married are usually:

1. I'm not ready.
2. I still wanna do so many things.
3. I want to focus on my career first and make a gazillion dollars.
4. I'm traumatized from a past relationship.
5. I don't believe in marriage.

I, personally DO want to get married, but maybe not right at this instant. In a few years probably but there is really no rush. I do know though that it would be nice to grow old with someone regardless of any socially required labels or tags the law requires.

Some people like my best friend Dee, "just know" when they are as young as twenty, or like Amina, can be fortunate enough to find him on the first try, but for most of us, it really is trial and error. It's a wonderful and horrible roller coaster ride that we all hope will be worth it in the end.

Before I go, here's a little something to get excited about...

Peace Joe featured in the GCASH ad!

Styled by Bea Cons-who is now in Killa Cali making her fashion dreams come true!

To moving forward and cherished memories joes!