Hi guys! Hope you all had lovely Valentine celebrations yesterday. Just because February 14th is over, though, doesn’t mean the love season is!
Our Forever21 Valentine’s Lookbook contest is still on-going!
The contest is open to all fashionable couples who want to show off their unique sense of paired-up style in Forever21 outfits.
We’ve posted a few samples already to help get you inspired. The winning couple gets to win a P10,000 shopping spree.
Schoolboy meets schoolgirl in collared button-downs, knit cardigans and loafers. “Campus crush” looks for the Forever21 Valentine’s Lookbook contest.
We’ve been blogging these sample entries to give you guys a better idea how you can go about your own entries for the contest.
It could be as matchy as you want, or not! It could be in a studio, or outdoors.
It doesn’t really matter as long as your theme is pretty clear, and you’re able to express your individual and paired-up styling.
Show off your sweet style and get to win a P10,000 shopping spree from Forever21.
Denim button-downs layered over tangerines and blues, worn with nude shoes. One of the many ways we’d style ourselves for the Forever21 Valentine’s Lookbook contest.
How about you? Join the contest for a chance to win a P10,000 shopping spree at Forever21.
The love month is here! As always, we were looking for little ways to spend Valentines together and be able to share what we find with you guys. How about an organic nail pampering session for you and your special someone?
No purchase required. Make an outfit collage showing how you would wear Skechers sneakers for Valentines, and you might just win them for you and your partner! Open to Love Chic followers on Twitter and Facebook 18 years old and above, residing in Metro Manila or otherwise able to come here in case of win.
To give you an idea, we created these sample entries on Polyvore. It allows you to put together an outfit collage (called “set”) by searching the web for product shots that you specify (i.e. type “mens button down” and click on a particular blue shade). We typed “Skechers sneakers” and “Skechers sneaker wedge” to see if our favorites from the Facebook album were there, and they were.
If your chosen pair isn’t found on Polyvore, it has a clipper option that will allow you to import the photos from the Facebook album to use for your collage. The nice thing about Polyvore is you can use backgrounds and frames, but you’re free to use any application (such as Picasa) or website (such as Fotor) for creating your looks. After all, it’s the outfits that will be judged and not how pretty your collage is. :)
Entries will be accepted until midnight of February 13, Wednesday. We’ll announce the winning couple On Valentines Day, who each get a pair from Skechers Philippines. ♥
…On a graffiti-filled rooftop of an abandoned building. Pity we couldn’t show you just how high up we were—the lower floor is filled with trash and weeds and other unsightly things not suitable for anyone’s sensibilities. When we say abandoned building, we mean abandoned, even by any hope of salvation. We mainly just braved that rooftop and sat on the edge for our own sense of fulfillment.
Anyway, we’re usually a little more subtle now about our matchy outfits than this, but this was for a Valentines PR collaboration with Skechers Philippines (posting only now because we’re Slowpoke like that) so it’s cool.
Besides, it could be a lot cheesier. We could’ve been posing sweetly with the lines of some song sprawled on the picture and the letters L-O-V-E behind us. Oh wait…
Well, still could be cheesier. We could’ve been wearing all red and, you know, have a red heart-shaped balloon or something. Oh wait…
Darn it. All right, we’re cheesy. Still a better love story than Twilight.
***
We’re both wearing Skechers Go-Runs. Special thanks to Jay Dalisay and Katrina Ong for tapping us for this project. Check out Skechers Philippines on Facebook!
Click pics for other outfit/photo credits.
Sparks flew—literally, when we had our pre-Valentines dinner at Torch Restaurant in Greenhills. The dinner comprised of a sumptuous four-course meal for two, exclusively offered just for February 14th. The owner, Mike Chua, invited us for a taste.
This cozy setting for two was waiting for us when we arrived, after which we were asked to choose our dishes.
The menu definitely made us smile—it was as if Mike had known us since forever! The choices were actually some of our favorites, as friends and family would attest. Then again, who doesn’t love steak or salmon or mushroom soup or chocolate?
Photo by Marj, who also had dinner in Torch that night with Val and a date (see her own blog post about it here). We were excited to take a bite, but it would’ve been a crime not to take photos of the lovely plates before us and so we did.
Pepperoni Panizza for the amuse bouche. The term literally means “amuse the mouth” in French. It’s kind of like an appetizer, except it’s more like the way in which a chef greets the diners—by presenting them with a small bite before the actual meal begins. This panizza did more than amuse our mouths or greet us a warm welcome; each bite was a combination of comfort-food pizza and fancy-dining hors d’œuvre.
Whether at home or eating out, we love to start our meals with soup, usually cream of mushroom or pumpkin. We were delighted by the Wild Mushroom Bisque with White Truffle Oil. It tasted exquisite, every sip bursting with tangy creaminess. It was a tad filling to the tummy though, so that we had to ease up a bit to leave room for the main course.
Seph had the Flaming Mignon with mashed potatoes and buttered beans. It was served on a slab of what looked like flooring tiles, and we thought it was a novel approach. The melt-in-your-mouth angus beef tenderloin was as juicy and well-done as we had hoped. We’d say we were “floored,” but that would be too much, heh.
Shai had the Salmon Puttanesca Amore. The menu described the puttanesca as “moden deconstructed,” and it was essentially that. A cute cherry tomato topped the pasta, partnered with a strip and a bangle of garlic parsley bread. Of course, the star of the meal was the Cajun spiced Norwegian Salmon—if you follow us on Instagram, you’ve probably balked at the sheer amount of salmon we consume (and take photos of).
After we’ve had our fill, the kindly waiter who has been serving us with a bright smile all evening dimmed the lights. Dessert, he told us, would soon be served.
He went back with a small heart-shaped cake on a chocolate-brown tile. We thought it was the cutest thing—until the waiter lighted it up. It looked as lovely as it tasted. Not too sweet, not too fudgy, just the way we like chocolate. Sweetest way to cap off a wonderful evening.
Happy Valentines, everyone! We hope you enjoy today’s celebrations, or lack thereof :)
Torch Restaurant is at 63 Connecticut, Greenhills. The Valentines dinner costs P1,250 net per person. For reservations, their number is (02) 477-3771. They also welcome walk-ins. Tweet @TorchResto for more.
@Sparklingmag @Megmagazine @Previewmag and @Chalkmagazine this month! From wardrobe wisdom to fab features, they’ve definitely got you covered (‘scuse the pun).
Sparkling’s Winter 2012 issue is chock-full of K-pop goodies for both guys and girls, along with this neat Street Beat (try saying that five times!) feature on us and some of our favorite bloggers.
Meg’s February 2012 issue is all about love (just call us Captain Obvious)—but not just the cheesy romantic type. While there’s that, as seen in this omnibus feature on stylish couples, the mag also dishes out tips on loving yourself: from moving on to enjoying single life to fashion and beauty must-haves you deserve to treat yourself with. Oh, and this nifty bit about online faves: Love Chic, the new Yahoo Philippines and Miss-match.com.ph :) Thank you, guys!
We’ve probably read Preview’s January-February issue from cover to cover about seven times now—even brought it with us on our Hong Kong trip! Their first issue for the year boasts of a feature no other local magazine has done so far: QR codes. Yes, the kind you scan with your smartphone’s QR reader. With an even stronger tie-up with their web platform, Stylebible.ph, Preview’s first Multi-Media issue is bound to amuse techy fashionistas—scan any QR code you spot in the mag and it leads you to lots of cool additional content. Also, thanks to the wonderful ladies of Stylebible for including Shai in their nominees for Top Fashion Blogger for 2011. To be lined up with such names is flattering in itself :)
Chalk’s February 2012 issue is big—figuratively and literally. The cover actually has big bold yellow letters that scream “Dream Guy” right below Mario Maurer’s name, but it couldn’t fit our scanner and we had to crop! What’s inside? A feature on seven sporty couples (us being the least sporty, although we do try to be more so!) and lots of useful style and beauty tips to tide you through the Valentines season and beyond.
So head to your nearest bookstores now! Our moms have bought copies. And they bought lots. LOL but no seriously, check ‘em out :)
Special thanks: Gigi Yia of Sparkling, Grace Libero, Ekai Magtoto and Elisa Aquino of Meg, the editors of Preview and Stylebible, Nana Caragay and Sara Aunario of Chalk. Y’all are awesome.
