…and so was my birthday!

I promised myself a birthday treat yesterday, so after a delicious lunch, I went shopping at H&M. (On an unrelated note, I love it that I can get away with numerous layers and boots while I’m in Berlin). I saw a pretty, ruffled camel-hued dress (nude tones + ruffled chiffon = me), but as it was one of the key pieces in the Fall 2010 collection, all the smaller sizes were understandably taken.

The only ones left were huge enough to fit in two anorexic models; I checked five—count it, five—H&M stores just to be sure. A little crestfallen, I went back to the first (and biggest) store I visited, and picked out a sensible-but-trendy gray blazer to wear for the office and other events.

When I looked at the rack of the ruffled nude dresses again, I blinked and looked more closely. There, right on the racks, was a lonely size 34 nestled among the 44s and 48s. Someone had apparently tried it on and returned it; I snatched it up and went to the dressing room, where other women surreptitiously checked out the frilly thing draped over my arm. I held my breath (quite literally, because it’s a tight 34; the dress has a built-in corset) and looked at the mirror. It was pretty and impractical—something that I can’t really wear a lot—but it was the perfect birthday dress. I headed to the cashier feeling like a winner.

My birthday had a couple of surprises as well; I can’t say anything yet, because whether those surprises will turn out to be gifts or not will still be decided in the next few months (also entirely up to me). Still, my first birthday abroad, which was spent in complete, glorious solitude, turned out to be a lot more fun and productive than I thought. Even managed to hear mass at St. Hedwig’s Catheral, which is apparently the seat of the bishop in Berlin.

Looking back, my 25th year (still can’t fathom than I’m 26), entailed a lot of drama. But it also brought a lot of things that I never dreamed could happen. Most of it was spent gearing up to face something more challenging, and I’m guessing that my 26th year is only part two. I’d like to think that I’m ready and willing to take on almost anything.

It’s a little weird being “back to school” again, sitting in lectures the whole day and being sent out of class to do activities. The photo was something we had to take outside the building (photos with people in them were not allowed) in order to test our skills at composition. I’m not a great photographer, but I do know what a good photo looks like. This photo isn’t great; heck, it’s just ordinary. But I liked the bear sticker on the trash can, and that blue blob in the back is a statue of the Berlin bear. Good times. I’m looking forward to learning a lot more, because I’m finding out that I really know so little.

After a 13-hour Manila-Amsterdam trip, plus a connecting flight to Germany, I’m finally in Berlin. I’ll be here for the next three weeks for a workshop on advanced multimedia and online journalism, so I’ll probably be updating a lot anyway. The weather’s nice and nippy, and I’m really excited to be in Europe at this time of the year, since I don’t usually find myself in other countries during autumn.

Can I just say, I’m really looking forward to learning and keeping my own place again. My apartment isn’t as roomy as the one I had last year, but it’s nice and quiet, with pinewood furniture, a small kitchen, and a huge lawn outside. Photos to follow soon! For now, I need to catch up on some sleep so I won’t waste my time on jet lag in the coming days.

Yes, the whole title. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, not TMNT. That’s what a friend and I spent the ride to my house talking about our Friday night viewing habits as kids, and this came up. Out of sheer curiosity, I tried Googling the show just to see what came up. Apparently, the old school Ninja Turtles I liked before just weren’t cool enough, because it was difficult scrounging up images of the real show. Behold the evolution of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

Vintage 2D animation

With a little airbrushing, but the faces are still the same

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Behind every page on a magazine is a story. Each photo shoot is the result of hours of collaboration, coordination, and discussion: Who will we feature, and why? Who will write the story? What will he/she wear? Who will do the hair and makeup?

Usually, an editor’s job is to be on top of all those things. Clinton Palanca once said that the higher you go up the editorial ladder, the less writing you actually get to do. It’s true; the editor-in-chief usually just dashes off the editor’s note, although she does a lot of other things. I used to write a bunch of things for Metro, but lately, I’ve been asking contributors to write instead of doing all the articles myself (I’d rather not spread myself too thin because there are a gazillion other things to do).

But once in a while, we still get our hands dirty. Check out our feature on Julia Abad, the head of the Presidential Management Staff, in the October issue of Metro. I didn’t do the article myself, but I asked questions at the interview. And well, this:

...there I am, holding the painting closer to the frame

The final product

See, who said editors don’t do the dirty work?

At 25, “You are young enough to believe that anything is possible, and you are old enough to make that belief a reality,” says this article.

It’s exactly 15 days until I turn 26. To be perfectly honest, I’m dreading it. I know that age is just a number, but turning 26 puts me on the wrong side of the 20s. It’s the period that makes (slightly older) co-workers shake their heads and say that they’re glad to have hit their 30s; they’ve issued me dire warnings about Saturn Return and other similar rites of passage. “I went through my late 20s feeling like I was walking with a veil in front of my eyes,” one reported. She threw a big party for her 30th birthday.

It’s a pretty New Age concept, but the idea of Saturn Return, which supposedly happens in the mid-to-late-20s) makes sense. It’s allegedly a period when you’ll be making crucial decisions because one leaves childhood behind (for real; do you really think that people leave childhood when they hit 18? Of course not). It’s when people get married, take big steps in furthering their careers, or just make big, life-changing decisions in general. New Age or not, it’s just logical for the late 20s to be a turning point in most peoples’ lives.

So yeah, I get it that turning 26 brings me closer to that point. But the thing is, I don’t feel ready to make any big, life-changing decisions just yet. I already made one early this year by planning to go to grad school in New York; I ended up deferring to next school year (for a very good reason, though). So pardon me if right now, I’m not feeling as courageous as any spunky 20-something should be.

“Some of the most life-shaping decisions you make in this season will be about walking away from ‘good enough’ in search of ‘can’t live without,’” the article went on. Well, I’ve done some of that. Maybe not enough, but I’m working on that.

I’m spending my first birthday away from home—I’ll be in Berlin, where I’ll be doing some training for multimedia and online journalism for a few weeks. I just got my visa in the mail today, and things have been moving pretty fast. Every step is hopefully one made to that big, life-changing leap. I’m just hoping I’m headed in the right direction.

My God, being in my mid-20s makes me sound like an emo teenager.

Another gem from The Oatmeal! That guy is a genius.

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I’m actually not the best person to say this, as I’m constantly complaining about my own perfectly normal weight, but there really is such a thing as being too skinny. While watching episode one of Glee’s second season, the thing that struck me the most was how thin Lea Michele was. She was never big to begin with, but for most of the show’s first season, she looked normal. Then in the last few episodes, she started getting thinner. Hollywood thin, to be exact.

Lea Michele in the first season: normal, could still pass off as a high school kid somehow

She attributed her weight loss to a vegan diet and daily yoga workouts. She actually looks good in some photos, and you won’t notice the weight loss until you compare it to previous photos, but her skinniness upstaged her rendition of “What I Did For Love.” Her already prominent nose and lips just popped out even more because of her thin face; the edgy bangs didn’t help, I suppose. It amuses me that people in the U.S. raised a ruckus because of Charice Pempengco’s Botox, but aren’t as bothered by Lea Michele’s unnecessary weight loss.

I honestly think she looks good here, but seriously, you have to watch Glee just to see how underfed she looks.

She looks okay here, I think. I like the dress.

On the other hand, Dianna Agron looked fantastic: fit, healthy, glowing and ready to kick ass in her Cheerios outfit. Not anorexic, but pretty. I also think she has the potential to be a better actress. But that’s just me.

Any thoughts?