J Crew's lookbooks never fail to give me inspiration on how to mix and match patterns and colors that would both look chic and polished. They tend to stick to the same color family when styling and pop a contrasting color here and there. But I guess when you're mixing patterns, those tips work as you can see here.

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Saint Laurent has been coming out with more than their iconic tribute sandals. Aside from the thin strap ankle heels that I manage to get my hands on (the not so expensive one of course), these ankle cuff pumps is what I'm lusting over.

What makes this so interesting is how wide the ankle cuffs are and the number of colors and finishes it comes with. You can opt for the classic black, metalic, python skin and among others. It just edges up the classic black pumps. 

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For the longest time, I was afraid of wearing blues on my nails, especially lighter shades of blue. It's just a bit off for me to be wearing something other than reds and pinks. I think those colors are the most flattering for me. But when I came across this gorgeous Essie Bikini So Teeny, I knew I had to give it another try and I wasn't disappointed. Now I'm a total convert and I can't wait to share with you other blue polishes that I got.

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Essie Bikini So Teeny

When I was growing up, I've always felt that I was different among my siblings. I wasn't as tall or as thin as them and I never felt as pretty or as smart as them. I always thought they had it good and wondered why I didn't have it. But aside from what may seemed very superficial, compared to them, I'm the one who wakes up early just to watch cartoons, spend money collecting stickers, stationaries, books and magazines, went to a different university and pursued a career in a creative industry. Clearly, I was different from them. 

Even until now, the differences are still very apparent and with that comes opinions from our parents on what is deemed right and wrong. Opinions on what I do, how I should spend my weekends and generally, on how I should live my life. I'm not saying that I completely ignore it. In fact, I took everything with a grain of salt knowing that they have more experiences in life to back them up. They are doing their role as a parent, wanting the best for their children, and for that I thank them.

But sometimes it can get in away, so much so that I started to question my ability because I wanted to do something that they didn't really approved of. For example, when I was in college I wanted to take up fashion design and my mom told me that I will just end up drawing all my life. So I pursued marketing instead. Another example is with this blog. I remember when I started 4 years ago, my mom asked me, are you earning money from it. The way the question was addressed is more like, you're completely wasting your time if you won't get anything out of it. But I didn't let that discourage me because that wasn't my goal in the first place. I wanted to share what I love and use it as an avenue to be creative. 

If I had stopped back then, my blog wouldn't be what it is today and I wouldn't have all the opportunities I'm getting now. It's with this blog that I discovered my ability to write, something I wouldn't have known if I didn't have any platform for it. And with my career in advertising, this blog helped me to know and understand more about social media and analytics. All because of my first hand experience. 

What I'm saying here is, trust yourself and be brave enough to be your own person no matter what the opinions of other people are. If you keep listening and don't weigh things yourself, just so you wont disappoint or anger anyone, you will lose sight of your own person and tosses the chance of discovering of what you're really capable of. Don't be discouraged. Just stay true to yourself and know that when you trust yourself fully, you'll discover things you'll never thought possible.

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